20S 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Tortoise Eggs.— Two months ago I procured 

 a pair of the common Land Tortoise, male and 

 female, as I was assured. The female was the 

 largest, and by far the more active of the two. I 

 placed them in the flower-garden on a lawn, and on 

 Monday last I perceived the female excavating a 

 small hole under a hedge, using her two hind legs 

 as spades. When she had dug a hole about five 

 inches deep, and about six inches in diameter, she 

 laid two hard-shelled white eggs, the size of 

 pigeons' eggs. Then she proceeded, using only 

 her hind legs, to shovel in the earth she had 

 thrown out, and when the hole was full, to spread 

 some grass over the place, so as to conceal it en- 

 tirely. She laid no more eggs as far as I am aware. 

 Since the eggs were laid under a hedge, where they 

 could certainly obtain no warmth, I removed them 

 to a cucumber-frame, and placed them in some fine 

 sand, about two inches from the surface. I hope I 

 was right in doing so. Thinking that this, to my 

 mind, uncommon circumstance may cause some 

 interest to your readers, I forward to you the full 

 account of what happened. — B. T. Guillemard. 



TnE Entomological Season op 1871. — One 

 occasionally sees in advertisements issued by 

 insurance companies, that, amongst other induce- 

 ments held forth to intending members is this, that 

 they may join in a bonus year. There is need 

 enough, certainly, that our entomological ranks 

 should be recruited, for, from several causes, the 

 sum total at the present time is not what it should 

 be ; and especially do we need to add to the number 

 of those who are observers as well as collectors. 

 But it would be rather delusive to announce that 

 this is a " bonus year," when beginners would be 

 likely to fill a good number of store boxes by way 

 of a start. It is not, certainly, at all a good 

 season ; insects of all orders that are at all choice 

 being difficult to obtain. The Lepidoptera, as 

 usual, have suffered most, in consequence of the 

 cold winds and the ungenial spring and the heavy 

 rains of summer. That butterflies and moths are 

 not scarcer even than they are, may be attributed to 

 the favourable influences of the winter. Such a 

 winter as we had in 1870-71 is more conducive to 

 the well-being of hybernatiug larvae and imagos, 

 and to that of the dormant pupae, than one which 

 is wet and mild. If we had had a fair average 

 summer, many rare species would have swarmed. 

 As it is, we have to observe as we stroll along 

 rather discontentedly, net in hand, that " Things 

 are bad, but they might be worse ; " in fact, they 

 are much better than in 1S60, which stands out in 

 the memory of many an entomologist as so notably 

 unfavourable that we have since had none to equal 

 it. One unpleasant drawback attendant upon the 

 pursuit of insects this year has been the time 

 required for the capture of certain species, which 



though "out " as the phrase goes, are certainly not 

 "about," but must be driven from their hiding- 

 places by diligent beating and shaking. Though a 

 few species of our butterflies have appeared in 

 their usual proportions, the majority are particu- 

 larly scarce ; and even the " Whites," those foes to 

 the gardener, have not escaped scathless, through 

 wind and weather. Yet with a less number than 

 usual of those insects sought by collectors, we find, 

 very generally, hosts of those which nobody wants 

 or wishes to see, such as the destructive Aphides 

 and Cocci, which evidently regard the science of 

 meteorology with contempt.—/. R. S. C. 



Rather Alarming !— Under ordinary circum- 

 stances, tens and hundreds of thousands, nay, 

 millions, of eggs of tapeworms are daily discharged 

 into our sewers. I suspect that at least 4,000 of 

 the inhabitants of the metropolis have the honour, 

 if you may so call it, of playing the part of host to 

 these singular creatures, and every day one or two 

 of the individual segments of each living tapeworm 

 will pass to the outer world, causing 4-0,000 eggs to 

 escape along with each of them. These go down 

 the sewers, and if that sewage be collected and 

 utilized over our fields, it follows that these hun- 

 dreds of thousands of eggs will be also distributed. 

 And what happens ? The eggs, furnished with a 

 covering which it has been stated will resist any 

 amount of atmospheric changes, are swallowed by 

 the cattle feeding on the grass. — T. Spencer Cobbold, 

 M.D., F.R.S. 



Albino Blackbirds. — A man who lives near us 

 (Hitchiu) has this year found two blackbirds' nests, 

 each with two white birds and two black ones. 

 He thinks that both nests belonged to the same 

 pair of birds, as about nine weeks elapsed from the 

 time he took the first to the time he took the second 

 nest. He has, however, parted with all but one, 

 which is a very fine bird, full grown, and perfectly 

 white. — W. Nash, Dunstable. 



Orange-tip {A. cardamines). — Small males of 

 this butterfly are by no means uncommon ; I have a 

 specimen measuring If inch from tip to tip, and 

 have seen others even smaller in various collections. 

 I find the males of this species outnumber the 

 females in the proportion of ten to one ; and until 

 the present season I have not taken a female since 

 1SG6. Many are, no doubt, passed for common, or 

 Green-veined Whites (Pieris napi and rapte) ; but 

 few collectors of any experience can mistake the 

 marbled markings on the underside, which are 

 visible, during flight, at a considerable distance. I 

 should like to hear the opinions of other entomolo- 

 gists on this subject. The Green-veined White 

 {Pieris napi) is also subject to great variation in 

 size. I have captured specimens, of both sexes, 

 measuring barely 11 inch, and others rather over 



