July 1, 16G6.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



m 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Proboscis of Hawk-moth.— In all Lepidoptera 



this organ is double, i. e., it consists of two hollow 

 portions joined together, and forming a tube in the 

 centre, through which the food passes. It is easily 

 to be discovered in most species. In Burmeister's 

 Manual your correspondents will find a figure of a 

 proboscis, and section of same, PI. VI., figs. 1, 2 ; 

 and in Kirby and Spence's Introduction there is 

 also a figure, Pi. VII., f. 13.—/. L. B. 



Can the Hedgehog be Poisoned ? — Having 

 read in the Natural History, edited by the Rev. 

 J. G. Wood, that it is impossible to poison the hedge- 

 hog, I was induced after having destroyed some 

 mice with Battle's Vermin killer, to feed the hedge- 

 hog with one of the mice so poisoned. The effect 

 was almost instantaneously fatal to our erinaceous 

 friend, whose brief span abruptly terminated on the 

 spot, leaving pendant from his mouth the tail of the 

 poisoned mouse. Have any of your readers tested 

 the same question, and if so, with what results ? — P. 



Swoed Geass. — Both the Armaria segetalis, and 

 the Melilotits seyetulis, are known by the name of 

 Sword Grass. Gladiolus also is often so called. — 

 Helen E. Watney. 



Aeeow-Root. — I have been told that although 

 this name is given to the produce of various plants, 

 it applies more especially to that of the Maranta 

 arundinacea, which is cultivated in the West Indies 

 for the sake of its starch, and hence the word arrow- 

 root, a corruption of ara-root. The Brazilian arrow- 

 root mentioned by Professor Bernardin, is made 

 from the Manihot uiUissima. — Helen E. TFainey. 



Falconry.— Your Correspondent "N. E. C." 

 will find Preeman and Salviu's work on Falconry a 

 good one, it is the only one that I know of, that is 

 not high-priced. The price is, I think, half-a- 

 guiuea, and the Publishers, Longman &_Co. The 

 only other English work I have heard of, is Salvin's 

 "Falconry in the British Isles," price 21?., but the 

 book is out of print, and is scarce now. If N. E. C. 

 intends training or keeping hawks, and will com- 

 municate with me, I will give him if he requires it, 

 any information I may be possessed of respecting 

 their management.- — /. G. 67. 



Can Bieds walk under Watee ?— The 

 question has, as yet, been evaded rather than 

 answered. It is easy to heap up arguments, show- 

 ing that it cannot be done. Many such theories 

 have been constructed which a strong indisputable 

 fact has knocked to pieces. As my contribution 

 towards this controversy, I beg merely to quote 

 the following sentence from Bennie, a well-known 

 and very accurate observer of Nature. "The 

 amphibious nature of those winged beetles which 

 can walk at the bottom of water, is matched, if not 

 outrivalled by the water-ouzel, which we have 

 repeatedly seen walk deliberately under water, and 

 continue its pace for many yards, as if it had been 

 on land. As this little bird lives on water insects 

 and the fry of fish, its amphibious powers are indis- 

 pensable." — J. G. 



Htemony.— Not being a Botanist, I cannot 

 answer J. Cleveland's question satisfactorily, but 

 he and other readers may be interested to' know 



that some have supposed Milton had Christianity in 

 view throughout this quotation, aud thus the 

 humble plant Hsemony, "of which I little reckoning 

 made," stands for the divine cure 'gainst all the 

 evils flesh is heir to. Probably the Greek word 

 Eumencia may have suggested Hcemony.— /. G. 



Limn.ea Involuta. — Your Correspondent 

 E. W. mentions having found this extremely 

 local shell in comparative abundance "in a canal." 

 As far as I am aware, no locality but one small lake 

 in County Kerry, has yet been assigned as its 

 habitat. Would E. W. state whether the canal is 

 in England, Scotland, or Ireland ? If he has really 

 found this animal out of Ireland, the fact should be 

 at once recorded more definitely. — G. A. 



[Having examined shells forwarded by our corre- 

 spondent since the paragraph appeared, and sup- 

 posed to be those of Limiuea involuta, we regret to 

 announce that they are those of P/iysa funtinalis. 

 This affords another proof how essential it is that 

 specimens should be forwarded with communica- 

 tions on new or rare objects, and leads us again to 

 urge on our correspondents the desirability of per- 

 mitting their names and addresses to be published 

 with such communications. In this instance it has 

 cost us time and trouble to clear the mystery. — Ed.] 



Common Dog Fish.— Is it usual for this fish to 

 swallow its young ? I caught one about two feet 

 in length a short time ago, and after having kept it 

 on board all night, cut it up for bait the next 

 morning, when to my surprise, three small fish 

 about five or six inches long came out of it and 

 swam away, as if nothing had happened. — B. 8, 



Sex of Gold Fish. — I wish to learn what are 

 really the distinguishing marks of sex in gold fish. 

 Do the short fin on the back and the burnished 

 spots near the tail mark the male or female:' 

 Different dealers, influenced probably by what 

 they have for sale at the time, give me most posi- 

 tive but contrary assurances. — E. H. H. 



Oak Galls.— I was astonished at Professor 

 Buekman writing that the oak galls were confined 

 to Devonshire prior to 1853, for when a boy, which 

 is at least thirty years ago, my father, a field natu- 

 ralist of some local note, called my attention to 

 these very galls and explained to me their origin, 

 showing me the larva in the interior. We had 

 some stuck in a flower-pot and covered with a large 

 tumbler glass, and from these galls the perfect fly 

 was bred, aud that was as far back, at least, as 

 1830, and in the neighbourhood of Hull. During 

 a seven years' residence at Harrogate I frequently 

 found them, aud during the last nine years I have 

 also frequently found them here. Last year they 

 were numerous on the young shoots of some oak 

 saplings growing in a hedge-row ; the saplings had 

 been trimmed with the hedge. From these I bred 

 the imago in considerable numbers, but did not 

 preserve them. — John Sanson, Linton-on-Ouse, York. 



Sticklebacks. — To view the circulation of the 

 blood in the young fry is worth purchasing a micro- 

 scope. The fish should not exceed fths of an inch 

 in length. The Bianchire (not having the gill flap) 

 branch like the boughs of a tree, through which the 

 oval globules circulate with astonishing velocity. 

 With an animalcule cage any power from 25 to 400 

 can easily be brought to bear. — A. Martinelli, 106 

 Albany Street. 



