April 1, 1S66.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP 



93 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Stormy Petrel.— Can any of your subscribers 

 inform me what foundation exists for the following- 

 statement respecting the stormy petrel :— " Their 

 whole bodies are so filled with oil, that the_ in- 

 habitants of the Hebrides actually make them into 

 candles by merely thrusting a rush through their 

 bodies, and bringing it out at the beak, when it is 

 found to burn brightly" ?— E. F. P. 



Pennant says ("Brit. Zool." vol. ii. p. 553), "Mr. 

 Brunnich tells us that the inhabitants of the Ferroe 

 isles make this bird serve the purposes of a candle, 

 by drawing a wick through the mouth and rump, 

 which, being lighted, the flame is fed by the fat and 

 oil of the body."— Ed. 



Insects in Winter.— It is generally thought 

 that a hard winter kills a great number of insects 

 in the egg, larva, or ckrysalid state ; this opinion 

 seems not to be well founded. "The caterpillars 

 and chrysalids do not perish though they be con- 

 verted into a piece of compact ice," says Professor 

 Larcordaire. Perfect insects can also resist the 

 same cold. De Geer has seen gnats return to life 

 after having been some time inclosed in ice. Ac- 

 cording to Lyonnet, winter is an inclement season 

 only for a few species of insects ; the greater number 

 resist the severest cold, and a rude winter kills less of 

 them than a too mild one. — " Tehan, Harmonies de 

 la Creation."— B. 



Kerria Japonica had its first flower here (Melle, 

 near Ghent) on the 2nd February. It is rather 

 remarkable that this plant, which _ supports so well 

 the cold of our climates, was first introduced in the 

 hothouses, and later in the orangeries. — B. 



Guayacol. — Several French papers said lately 

 that the oily nuts of a palm tree, growing on the 

 Pacific coast of Mexico, afford an excellent fuel for 

 the steam vessels ; they call the tree Guayacol. 

 Would any one have the kindness to tell me its 

 botanical name ? Is it perhaps the same as the 

 Ceyol, or the Cocoyol, two Mexican palm-trees ? I 

 possess two small round nuts of the latter. — B., 

 Melle, near Ghent. 



Bois Immortel (p. 69). — The Erytkrina indica, 

 Lam.,/?, coral lodendron, /3.L., is called in theAutilles 

 and probably in Demerara also, "Bois immortel, arbre 

 a feu ;" at Mauritius it is called inFrench "Nourouc," 

 and in English " Indian coral tree." This plant is 

 used in Trinidad, Mexico, &c, for protecting the 

 young cacaos or cocoa-trees ; thence the Mexican 

 name " madre cacao." — B., Melle, near Ghent. 



Mode of Cutting Glass Tubes into Cells 

 (p. 69). — Try making at the section a line with tur- 

 pentine-oil, and then use a file. — B. 



"Purple-winged Sultana" (p. C)0).—Sultana- 

 heii is the Porphyria hyacinthiuus of Northern Africa, 

 sometimes met with in Southern Europe. Accord- 

 ing to the " Ornitologo Ticinese, Lugano, 1865," it 

 is domesticated and brought to market by the 

 peasants of Lower Italy. — B., Melle, near Ghent. 



Proboscis of Hawk-moths. — Among the "Notes 

 and Queries" in the Science Gossip for January 

 is one in which the writer (apparently in reference 

 to my query in the November number as to the use 

 of the double proboscis of the unicorn hawk-moth) 

 questions the fact of its being possessed of a double 

 proboscis. I am sorry to contradict a lady, but if 

 the writer will look in the 30th volume of the 

 " Naturalist's Library," edited by Sir William 

 Jardine, she will find, in plate 6, the Sphinx con- 

 volvuli pictured with a double proboscis. The name 



unicorn, therefore, which she seems to think settles 

 the question, is simply a misnomer. Further, since 

 writing to Science Gossip in November, I have 

 discovered that all the hawk-moths which 1 have 

 been able to examine share the peculiarity of the 

 divided or double proboscis. I should be glad to 

 know from any of your correspondents whose op- 

 portunities of investigation may have been more 

 extensive than mine, whether the peculiarity be 

 universal as regards the hawk-moths. — E. M. 



Desmids. — In answer to W. W. S., on treating 

 desmids, when they have dried, the best way is to 

 place them in distilled water until they have swollen 

 to their natural size ; then wash them off with a hair- 

 pencil into a watch-glass, or small phial, if many ; 

 see that the endocrome or granules are not broken, 

 if so, they are spoiled. Should they require cleaning- 

 wash with distilled water, pour off the dirty water 

 gently, and place the desmids' for twenty-four 

 hours in the preserving liquid before mounting ; 

 then place a sufficient number to Jill a shallow cell, 

 either of glass or cement, till the cell with the liquid 

 preserve, and cover with thin glass in the usual way. 

 The liquor I use is one-third glycerine and two- 

 thirds distilled water ; if stronger, the glycerine 

 will soften the cell and spoil the object. There are 

 several preserves mentioned, but I find the above 

 the best. I have specimens mounted ten and twelve 

 years. It is also an excellent preserve for marine 

 algae. I have at present a specimen of a beautiful 

 green conferver, exceedingly delicate— root and 

 fronds occupying only half an inch diameter cell — 

 as fresh as when put up three years back. I am at 

 present manipulating upon some dried desmids. — 

 li. S. Bos/cell, Torquay. 



Dipper Walking under Water. — I was much 

 surprised, on opening my number of Science Gossip 

 for last month, to see that Mr. J. K. Lord, F.Z.S., 

 in his article on "The Belted Kingfisher," still be- 

 lieves in what I thought was an exploded doctrine. 

 I will, however, quote his own words—" They 

 cannot swim or walk under water like the dipper." 

 I will only use one argument which I think will 

 strike most naturalists as a clear proof that the 

 ■walking is impossible, namely, How is it that the 

 water ousel, or dipper, which is specifically lighter 

 than water, can manage, by some inherent power, 

 to walk on the ground at the bottom of a rivulet ? 

 The above argument is not my own, but one of the 

 late Charles Waterton's, and I strongly recommend 

 Mr. J. K. Lord, F.Z.S., to read his "Essays on 

 Natural History," and after so doing, he will then, 

 I fancy, not tell amateur naturalists the absurd 

 story that a dipper can walk under water.— Geo. F. 

 Smith, Durham. 



Preserving Anatomical and Physiological 

 Preparations, &c— Perhaps some of your readers 

 who have " put up " these preparations in spirits of 

 wine, may not be aware that they have the ingre- 

 dients for a much cheaper substitute close at hand, 

 namely, chloride of sodium, or common salt and 

 water." I have repeatedly tried a saturated solution 

 for lizards, snakes, &c, and found it answer as well 

 as the far more expensive spirit. The method I 

 pursue is as follows : — Having made a saturated 

 solution— or nearly so -of common salt, by pouring 

 hot water upon it and leaving it until quite cold, it 

 is then to be filtered through blotting-paper into a 

 suitable glass vessel, and the animal to be preserved 

 placed into it ; then tie the vessel over with a piece 

 of bladder prepared by soaking it for some time in 

 warm water, which in a few days hardens and drys, 

 when it will be ready to receive a few coatings of 



