Jan. 1, 1S66.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



17 



the others a neutral tint. The tentacles vary much ; 

 in one they are of a grass green ; in the other three 

 shades of grey and violet specked with white. Two 

 of the latter have a rim of bright crimson round the 

 mouth, and these have the rays of the disc more 

 clearly marked than the others. The largest of the 

 four, which is least attractive in its colouring, stands 

 about five inches high without the column being 

 fully stretched, and more than five inches in 

 diameter of flower. Turning to another branch of 

 natural history, you may like to hear that a Great 

 Northern Diver, in mature plumage, was brought 

 to me alive yesterday. It was found on the beach 

 at Porth Crepa, too weak to make any effort to 

 escape. It was probably driven here from a great 

 distance by the recent storms, for, though it was 

 miserably poor, it refused fresh fish, and died in 

 the morning, apparently of exhaustion. It is 

 twenty-two inches long. — I). P. Alford, Dec. 9. 



Late Swallows. — Hearing, last week, Swallows 

 have been seen on the wing in Norwich and its 

 vicinity, I wished to ascertain the truth of such an 

 unusual occurrence. On inquiry, I found the state- 

 ment to be correct. A friend of mine informed me 

 that on the 4th and 5th instant he saw them at 

 Carrow and Bracondale, and on the 6th, 7th, and 

 8th they were circling round the Castle Hill; but 

 their flight in both cases was languid. I can only 

 suppose these birds were hatched too late in the 

 autumn to gain strength enough of wing to migrate 

 with the rest of their companions. Has any corre- 

 spondent noticed a similar appearance of these birds 

 in any other part of England ? — E. J., Norwich, 

 Dec. 11. 



Phosphorescence of the Sea. — In the number 

 of Science-Gossip for November there is an article 

 on the Phosphorescence of the Sea — that when 

 animalculse of any kind are concerned, the light 

 always proceeds from an electrical spark. I do not 

 undertake to say, though I cannot help fancying it 

 does, from many experiments I have made. There 

 is a small kind of Medusa to be found on some parts 

 of the coast, which I have caught sometimes when 

 the sea has been luminous. It is about half an inch 

 in diameter, and of an hemispherical shape, with, I 

 think, five rays proceeding from the centre to the 

 circumference. This shows the light very beautifully, 

 and can be examined in the microscope. By touch- 

 ing any one of the rays, or the part of the body 

 where they are situated, the animal seems to be 

 irritated, and a small spark of light, just like a 

 spark of electricity, is emitted along that ray, and 

 may be repeated at any one of the others. The 

 shape of the animal— a kind of plain convex lens- 

 causes the light at a little distance to illuminate the 

 whole body; but it will always be found to be a 

 sudden spark along one of the rays, and is evidently 

 voluntary, being given out at that part of the body 



which is touched, and in colour and appearance 

 exactly resembles a very minute electrical spark, 

 perfectly sharp and distinct, not at all like the light 

 from dead shell-fish— E. T. Scott. 



Guano and Guano-birds. — Much has been 

 spoken about the Guano Islands during the last 

 war between Spain and Peru. The three Chincha 

 Islands contain more than 12,000,000 tons of it; 

 the contents of the Lobos, Guanape, and other small 

 islands is not known. Prom 1S11— first year of the 

 exploitation— to the 31st December, 18G0, the 

 exportation amounted to -1,026,] 71 tons, valuing 

 200 million dollars, or average value 10 millions of 

 piastres a year; the exportation of 1861 reached 

 11 million dollars. The following birds are the great 

 contributors to the produce :— The variegated gannet 

 or Piquero (Dysporus variegatus, Ch. B.) ; different 

 sorts of sea-gulls, or Gaciota (Blasipus Bridgesii, 

 Ch. B. &c, &c.) ; the Alcatraz {Pelecanits s. Onocro- 

 talus tliagus, Wagler.) ; the inca tern or Zarcillo 

 (Sterna inca, Less.) ; the Potoyunnco {Pufinuria 

 Gamotii, Less.) ; the Pdjaro nino (Spheniscus Hum- 

 boldt/) ; different sorts of cormorants, or Cuervos de 

 mar (Carbo cormoramis), (Stictocarbo Gaimardi, Ch. 

 B.), (Hppoleucus Bougainmllii, Less.) ; the Anldnga 

 (Plotus anldnga, L.), &c. — Bernardin. 



Bees and Eruit. — The season for collecting 

 honey this year was very short. After Midsummer 

 my bees did not add to their stores. When the 

 fruit became ripe they took the place of the wasps, 

 which are very scarce. I don't remember ever 

 seeing them take to the fruit before as they have 

 done this year, but don't think they obtained any 

 honey from it, or carried any of it to their hives. 

 They most probably lived on it, instead of consuming 

 their scanty stock of honey, keeping that for more 

 pressing times. The quantity of honey collected by 

 each stock has been small in the neighbourhood. 

 The honey-producing flowers did not appear this 

 year as usual ; the extreme dryness of last year, I 

 believe, killed them. I found most of my stocks 

 wanted feeding in October, to enable them to stand 

 through the winter. My plan is to make a syrup of 

 2 lbs. of lump sugar to 1 pint of water ; this I place 

 in a feeding pan on the top of the hive, opening 

 the aperture so that only the bees in the hive can 

 get at it. They will take it in freely, if the weather 

 is warm, and store it for winter use. I put some 

 pieces of old comb, which I always keep by me for 

 the purpose, into the pan, to prevent the bees 

 drowning. I was very near losing one of my best 

 stocks this season in feeding them ; not having put 

 sufficient comb in the pan, the weather suddeuly 

 changed to cold, and the bees ceased to take the 

 food in. It was quite by chance I went to look how 

 they were going on, when I was very much surprised 

 to find the queen-bee struggling in the syrup and 



