214 



HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Sea-shore" (chapter on star-fish), he would suc- 

 ceed better, as the thin bones would dry and harden 

 rapidly above ground, so that the ants would 

 probably be unable to destroy them. — 67. H. H. 



Local Floras (p. 163).— I forward titles of a 

 few English local floras, extracted from one of Mr. 

 Wheldon's catalogues, hoping that they may prove 

 useful to Mr. Wilkinson and other intending excur- 

 sionists/ should we have any summer this year : — 



Bristol— "Flora Bristoliensis," by Swete, 1854. 



Cambridgeshire. — " Flora," by Babbington (sic), 

 1S60. 



Cheltenham and Environs. — " Flora," by Buchman, 

 1844. 



Chudkigh, Lustleigh, &c— " Botany," by Halle, 

 1851. 



Devon. — " Flora Devoniensis," by Jones and King- 

 ston, 1S29. 



Essex, "Flora of," by Gibson, 1S62. 



Faversliam. — " Catalogue of Plants," by Jacob, 

 1777. 



Kent, East— "Floral Guide," by Cowell, 1839. 



Kent, South. — "Rare or Remarkable Plants," by 

 Smith, 1S29. 



Isle of Wight— "List of Plants," by Bromfield, 

 1840; "Flora Victiana," 1823. 



Liverpool. — "Flora," bv Dickenson, 1851. 



Northumberland and Durham, "Botauists' Guide 

 through," 1807 ; " Botanical Guide through," 

 by Winch (N.D.). 



Nottinghamshire.— '"Flora," by Howitt, 1839. 



Oxfordshire.— ''Flora," by Walker, 1833. 



Poole and Neighbourhood. — " Botanv," by Salter, 

 1839. 



Salisbury and Enviro)is. — "Natural History," by 

 Maton, 1843. 



Shropshire.—" Flora," by Leighton, 1841. 



Tunbridge Wells, "Plants growing wild in Neigh- 

 bourhood of," by Forster, 1816. 



Woodford, Essex. — " Catalogue of Plants," by War- 

 ner, 1771. 



Yorkshire.— " Flora," by Baines, 1840. 



To these may be added Lee's "Botanical Looker- 

 out," 1851 ; and Turner and Dillwyn's " Botanist's 

 Guide through England and Wales/' 1805.— W. H. 

 Groser, Barnsbury, N. 



Borrago (vol. vi. 165, vii. 139).— The redupli- 

 cated r in this word would be perfectly justified by 

 giving up its supposedorigin from the Greek fiopa, 

 and referring it to a Latin word of later times —burra, 

 short wool, flock wool. There are a great many 

 derivations in the Roman languages belonging to 

 this root, and I believe borrago is one of them. The 

 rough hairs of the plant were probably the cause of 

 giving it the name. This etymology appears to be 

 in concordance with the names of our plant in 

 otber languages — borraggiae (Ital.), borraja (Span.), 

 borragem (Port.), bourrache (French), borretsch 

 (Germ.). I am unable to decide whether the 

 Arabic name ul-kahild (Colmeiro, "Examen de los 

 Trabajos concernientes a la Flora hispano-lusitana," 

 Madrid, 1S70, p. 24) expresses a similar idea. (In 

 vol. yi. p. 165, of Science-Gossip, the Italian, 

 Spanish, and Portuguese names are incorrectly 

 spelt.) — A. Ernst, Caracas, Venezuela. 



To Clean Birds.— Will you, or any of your 

 readers, be kind enough to inform me of a receipt 

 to clean birds' feathers ? I have a case of preserved 

 birds, which, having been standing some time with 

 a broken glass, arc now very dirty. — S. B., Brighton. 



Squirrel versus Missel-Thrtjsii.— 1 cannot 

 agree with the Rev. R. Blight that the interesting 

 occurrence which he relates in last month's 

 Science-Gossip affords sufficient ground for find- 

 ing a bill against the squirrel on the charge of so 

 heinous a crime as "entering dwelling-houses with 

 intent to murder;" and, as this pretty little 

 quadruped is an especial favourite of mine, I will 

 venture to write a few lines in its defence. Every- 

 body is aware of the pugnacity of the missel- 

 thrush, and its vigilance in defending the neigh- 

 bourhood of its nest, which is frequently carried to 

 such a pitch that it may be seen to "drive small 

 birds (such as finches, &c.) out of the tree which 

 it has chosen for the purposes of incubation. 

 Certainly these would not resort to the place with 

 the intention of sucking its eggs. Not one hundred 

 yards from where I write_ there js a missel-thrush's 

 nest, which I generally visit once a day to see how 

 the young ones are progressing; but, far from 

 being "permitted to climb up the tree so as to 

 overlook the old bird on the nest without disturbing 

 her," I cannot approach the spot without hearing 

 the peculiar harsh cry of this bird : and the aspect 

 of the female is most threatening when I am at the 

 nest, as she will occasionally swoop close past my 

 face, scolding fiercely all the time. This being the 

 case, 1 cannot imagine that the Rev. R. Blight's 

 missel-thrush would show so much "pluck" from 

 any feeling that her eggs or young were in greater 

 danger from the squirrel than from the other 

 visitors above mentioned, but that she was simply 

 actuated by that strange instinct which charac- 

 terizes this bird so strongly, especially during the 

 breeding season. But, looking at the other and 

 more important side of the question, why should 

 the squirrel be obliged to resort to a kind of food 

 which we know is never eaten by its relations — 

 the rabbit, hare, dormouse, &c, in a wild state? 

 Surely our little friend is as well able to find a 

 sufficient supply of vegetable food as its congeners. 

 And again, judging from the formation of the 

 squirrel's mouth, I don't exactly see how it could 

 suck eggs, even were it to visit a nest with that 

 intention. Although I doubt the sufficiency of the 

 evidence against the squirrel, I believe there is 

 more ground to prefer a similar charge against the 

 hedge-hog, which, however, would be obliged to 

 confine its depredations to terra firma. — H. C. Sar- 

 gent, Fenketh, near Warrington. 



Cockroaches. — From the remarks made by cor- 

 respondents I was induced to try borax as a de- 

 stroyer of cockroaches, but my experience (like 

 others) has been a complete failure. A friend of 

 mine who was for a long time sadly troubled with 

 these vermin and also crickets, was advised to try 

 powdered hellebore, which I suppose will be the 

 white hellebore, Veratrum album, and the result he 

 tells me has been surprising; their numbers are 

 diminishing very rapidly, and dead carcasses may be 

 counted by the score. The powder is to be put in 

 their haunts, and of course needs very careful 

 handling, being an acrid and active poison : its 

 effect on the eyes and nose is very severe also. — 

 S. H. Gaskell. 



Sirex jtjvenctjs (p. 166). — I have one male 

 and two females of this insect, which were found 

 last autumn in Kensington Gardens, but I do not 

 know whether it is of common occurrence here or 

 elsewhere. Your correspondent may like to hear of 

 its occurrence in this neighbourhood. — it. Egerton. 



