Jan. ], 1866.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



23 



Sphinx Cokvolyuli.— Surely, the Hawk-moth 

 generally known as the Convolvulus Hawk-moth, has 

 not a double trunk, or proboscis. For my own part, 

 I cannot sec why it should be called the Unicorn 

 Hawk-moth, it' it had a double trunk; for it is pro- 

 bably the remarkable length of the proboscis, which 

 is quite as long as its body, t hat suggested the name 

 of unicorn. — Helen Watney. 



Black Beetles. — I think that A. H. will find 

 that cucumber peelings form a better bait for black 

 beetles than even beer, as these insects are quite 

 incapable of resisting the smell of the cucumber, 

 and will eagerly climb the sticks to reach the 

 delicacy— II. J'.B. II. 



Pilchards.— How is it that pilchards are not now 

 to be had in London ? Some years back plenty were 

 sold. The little dried sticks called " capelins," 

 seem to be the only substitutes. — R. H. I. 



Behoving the Cuticle of Leaves.— Can any 

 one tell me how to separate the cuticle of leaves for 

 mounting? The leaves of some plants offer great 

 difficulty, and cannot be stripped off in the slovenly 

 manner recommended in some treatises. — W. W, 11. 



Proboscis oe Blow-fly. — In reply to ' : T. S.," 

 I would say, that of the twelve slides usually 

 mounted to illustrate the anatomy of the blow-fly, 

 that containing the proboscis is the most difficult to 

 manage. To succeed, the microscopists must exer- 

 cise some ingenuity, as he is left altogether without 

 hint or guide by the handbooks as to the method of 

 manipulation to be pursued. I have mounted several, 

 and as the method I have pursued may he useful to 

 some, until a better be given I freely supply it. But 

 first I should say, that for various purposes con- 

 nected with mounting, I find that pieces of strong- 

 glass, less than an inch square, with their edges very 

 slightly ground to take of their cutting sharpness, to 

 be very useful. I cut off the head, and lay it on a 

 glass slide with a little water, antenna; upwards. I 

 then lay one of the small squares of glass upon the 

 head, so that its edge may lie along the front edge of 

 the head. I then find that, by pressing down the 

 upper glass, the proboscis will shoot out, and the 

 lobes of the ligula will expand beautifully, and, in 

 most cases, just as I require. If the pressure be 

 removed the tongue will relapse to its former con- 

 dition. I therefore take advantage of the moment 

 of expansion and, with another piece of glass, fix it 

 in the expanded position, and maintain the pressure 

 until the water has evaporated, when I supply tur- 

 pentine, which gives it a permanent set. If the 

 tongue does not expand properly, or I fail to fix it 

 when expanded, I try another head, as it is utterly 

 useless to work with needles, for they only tear, and 

 mess, and lacerate the structure. I might have ex- 

 tended the above, so as to be more minute in giving 

 the details, but enough has been given to guide the 

 operator, who in other respects may improve by ex- 

 perience beyond any further hints I could give. I 

 would only say, that I believe by no other method 

 will he succeed with this object without more than 

 usual trouble and care. — Lewis G. Mills, LL.B., 

 Secretary Nut. His. Soc., Armagh. 



Action of Fungi-spokes.— Some recent investi- 

 gations by French medical men serve to prove that 

 the spores of Fungi introduced into the blood of 

 the human subject are capable of inducing disease 

 and causing death. 



An Ancient Sea- Anemone— In the year 1S20 

 the late Sir John Graham Dalzell took from the 

 sea an Anemone {Actinia mesembryanthemwm), which 

 he supposed to be then about seven years old. 

 He placed it in a glass, and kept it till he died 

 at about the year 1852, when the specimen was 

 transferred to Professor Fleming, and on his death 

 il passed into the hands of the gentleman in whose 

 keeping it, I believe, still remains. Some time ago 

 a friend of mine told me that its then possessor was 

 a little oppressed with the responsibility of properly 

 keeping alive such an historically valuable animal, 

 and that if I wrote to him, offering to take great care 

 of it, and to provide it with a luxurious home, it- 

 might probably pass into my charge; but the answer 

 I got was that there was no intention of parting 

 with it. I quite forgot the gentleman's name, but 

 if he should read this he will perhaps kindly accept 

 it as an apology for what I did not intend as a piece 

 of iutrusiveness : I was simply misinformed. Up 

 to the year 1850 this specimen gave birth to about 

 700 young ones. I have often thought whether it 

 is possible that Sea- Anemones and some few other 

 animals never die of old age, but only of accident, 

 or neglect, cold, heat, hunger, and so forth. I have 

 kept anemones aud madrepores for many years — the 

 same specimens, — and I have never beeu able to 

 detect any signs which may be interpreted as 

 "getting old."— W.Alford Lloyd, Zool. Garde,/*, 

 Hamburg, Nor. 1S65. 



Evaporation and Condensation.— Over the 

 vast area, consisting of nearly three-fourths of the 

 whole surface of the earth, now covered by the 

 ocean,— an area of 115,000,000 of square miles, — 

 there is ever present an atmosphere of aqueous 

 vapour, which, with the other air, is constantly 

 being carried along by the winds, and at length 

 reaches laud. In passing over the land the air 

 becomes changed in temperature and in its electrical 

 state, and ceases to retain the aqueous vapour 

 mixed with it. From vapour the water passes into 

 cloud, and from cloud to rain. Water or rain falls 

 on the fifty millions of square miles of land, this 

 water having previously been sucked up from thrice 

 that area of sea; and the rain that falls in the 

 course of a single year on the land would, if accu- 

 ■ mulated, cover its whole surfcae to a depth of nearly 

 three feet. — Ansted's Practical Geology. 



Pozzuolano is the name given to a natural vol- 

 canic earth or trass, of a reddish colour, origiually 

 found in the vicinity of Pozzuoli, not far from 

 Naples. Similar material has since been obtained 

 in large quantities from extinct volcanic districts, 

 especially at Vivarais, inCentral France, at Briihl,near 

 Andernach, on the Rhine, and even near Edinburgh. 

 In the latter case it is also a volcanic material, but 

 of very ancient date. It varies in colour, but retains 

 its mineral characteristics. — Ansted's Practical 

 Geology. 



New Species of Chare, — At t.ne meeting of 

 the Zoological Society, on the 2Sth November last, 

 Dr. Gunther pointed out the characters of a new- 

 British species of charr, from Loch Killen, m 

 Inverness-shire, for which he proposed the name 

 Salmo killenensis. 



Crested Blackbird. — A specimen of a crested 

 blackbird was exhibited at the last congress of the 

 British Association, which it is supposed may even- 

 tually prove to be a distinct species. 



