214 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Sept. 1, 1S66. 



Slugs in the House. — How can I get rid of 

 some slugs with which I am much troubled ? They 

 occur in the closet of a sitting-room ; the greater 

 portion of the house is new, but one wall and the 

 floor of the closet are old.—// 7 ". J". 67. 



Tones of the Cuckoo. — The musical ear of your 

 correspondent at Taunton has correctly noted the 

 call of the Cuckoo, with its variation at this season 

 of his summer sojourn with us. He is not probably 

 aware that this change of tone occurs with much 

 regularity, for which we have the authority of the 

 old rhymes : — 



"In April Come he will. 



In May He sings all day. 



In June lie alters his tune. 



In July He prepares to fly. 



In August Go he must." 

 ~C. F. White, St. Anne's Heath, Chert sey. 



Scotch Snakes. — Dr. Ellis corrects an'error in our 

 last, relative to the common snake {Coluber matrix) 

 not being found in Scotland. He has been informed, 

 upon the authority of Dr. Smith, of Forfar, that it is 

 otherwise, and that he has seen it there. Also, that 

 it has been reported to him, a common snake was 

 lately killed by a hedger and ditcher at Garthorpe, 

 near Crowle, of the unusual length of six feet three 

 inches. Professor Bell gives four feet as the maxi- 

 mum length. 



Snake in Yorkshire. — I have seen two in the 

 West Riding of Yorkshire — one I captured as it 

 was crossing the road between Batley and Wake- 

 field ; it was a fine specimen, a yard in length. The 

 other I have preserved in spirits ; it was found 

 coiled up in a cabbage, in a cottager's garden at 

 Soothill, near Leeds ; it is quite as good a specimen 

 as the first. In Middleton Wood, a little out of 

 Leeds, I am told that snakes abound in consider- 

 able numbers. — H. A. Allbutt, Batley. 



The common snake was often met with a few 

 years ago, close to Leeds, at a place called Stony 

 Pock ; also near the Lime-kilns at Giggleswick 

 Scur, and in the Willow Garths at Aberford. — J. S. } 

 Leeds. 



Dinobryon. — Early in July, 1SG3, while searching 

 in a small pond in the neighbourhood of Cleadon, 

 Durham, I found in very great abunclauce a species 

 of Dinobryon, which does not correspond with any of 

 the species described by Mr. Prit chard, in his recent 

 volume on "Infusoria." The family Dinobryina is 

 described in pages 546 and 547 ; it is divided into 

 two genera, and the genus which most closely re- 

 sembles the specimens I found is that of Dinobryon, 

 and the species closely resembles D. sertularia, the 

 difference being that D. sertularia is represented as 

 one vase proceeding from the mouth of the pre- 

 ceding, while in the specimens I discovered each 

 vase was on a separate stripe, and each branch 

 divided and subdivided until they formed a fan-like 

 expansion. I have, since the time I discovered this 

 form, frequently searched the same pool, but always 

 without succeeding in finding any specimens of 

 Dinobryina. Pritchard's " Infusoria," plate 22, fig. 

 49, is a good representation of each polype case, and 

 fig. 4S would also be a good representation of a group 

 if the vases sprang from a central stem, and did not 

 originate from the mouths of the adjoining vases. 

 Have any of the readers of Science Gossip dis- 

 covered the species 1 have attempted to describe ? — 

 T. P. Barkas, Ncwcastle-on-Tyiie. 



Attheya decora (Sc. G., July).— I examined on 

 the 1st of August a gathering of Diatoms forty 

 per pent, of which were Attheya decora. — B. Taylor, 

 Whitehaven. 



Athela of Babylon.— In MichelPs " Ruins of 

 many Lands," note 3, there is described a very an- 

 cient tree of the supposed age of 2,500 years, which 

 he designates "Athela of Babylon"— can anyone 

 help me to its specific name ? It is also alluded to 

 by Buckingham, and is said to be on the north side 

 of the Kasr. — Bangalore. 



BiDMUSK— Moore, in "Lalla Rookh," People's 

 Edition, page 57, quoting from Le Bruyn, says "a 

 wind which prevails in February, called Bidmusk, 

 from a small and odoriferous flower of that name." 

 What is the flower ?— H. G. 



Blue Birds of Galilee.— In the translation of 

 Renan's "Life of Jesus" (cheap edition), there is 

 mention made at page 74 of "blue birds (at Galilee) 

 so light that they rest on a blade of grass without 

 bending it." Is there a blue bird in that region so 

 small as to afford foundation for the statement, and 

 if so, what is its scientific name ? — H. G. 



Toads changing their Skin. — In the usual ac- 

 counts of the Toad changing its skin, it is said to 

 finish the operation by swallowing the integument 

 " at a gulp," having rolled it into a ball ; but in 

 " Our Reptiles " the action is described as gradual — 

 a statement which I have lately had the opportunity 

 of confirming. A few clays ago, on looking into my 

 Toadery, I found one of the inmates with a good por- 

 tion of its skin hanging out of its mouth ; it was 

 entirely detached from the animal, and most of it 

 had been already disposed of, while the remainder 

 was disappearing by a succession of efforts with a 

 pause of ten or fifteen seconds between. The ap- 

 parent strain in gulping, the eyes being ^depressed 

 longer, I thought, than when swallowing ordinary 

 food, did not give the impression of much enjoy- 

 ment of the strange meal. In about two minutes 

 the whole affair was over ; at least that part of the 

 operation which I witnessed, as I cannot tell at 

 what time the business commenced. It may be ob- 

 served that most animals " sicken," as it is termed, 

 before casting their skin, refusing food for some 

 time beforehand. The Toad in question, however, 

 ate a large earthworm with apparent relish about 

 two hours before this took place. It is not unlikely 

 that this preliminary fasting, by causing the flesh to 

 shrink, may assist shelly-skinned creatures in getting 

 out of their case, while soft-skinned animals like the 

 Toad have no need of such a period of training be- 

 fore they are capable of getting out of their old 

 garments. — George Guy on, Vent nor, Isle of Wight. 



Clearwing Moth. — I can fully corroborate your 

 correspondent A. B. F.'s notice in this month's 

 Science Gossip, as to the abundance of the Currant 

 Clearwing (Sesia tipulifonnis) this season. Here 

 they have swarmed amongst the currant and rasp- 

 berry bushes. I took about a hundred and thirty 

 in a very short time, and might have captured 

 hundreds more. As your correspondent states, they 

 were easily boxed off the blossoms and leaves of the 

 raspberry. Here the raspberry bushes were in close 

 proximity to the currants. Was that the case with 

 those your correspondent took his on ? If not, itwould 

 be interesting to find out whether the larva ever 

 feeds in the stems of that bush.— 67. T. Forrett. 



