230 



HABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Oct. ], 186G. 



ZOOLOGY. 



African " Pwai-ngyet." — The very interesting 

 article on the " Pwai-nyget " (p. 199), brought to 

 my mind the following reminiscence of Sierra Leone, 

 where I resided for many years. On the weather- 

 boarding of my quarters in that colony, I have often 

 noticed a construction very like the lower engraving 

 on p. 199 of your serial, only the African specimen 

 was very small ; indeed, the tube was about the size 

 of a goose-quill, projecting, perhaps, 3-inch, and 

 slightly trumpet-shaped, the orifice, also, was quite 

 circular, instead of being elongated as shown in the 

 upper sketch on p. 199. It was composed of a 

 gummy, waxy substance, of a dirty yellowish colour, 

 which was quite malleable, and I have often amused 

 myself by squeezing the mouth of the tube close, 

 and watching the operations of the insects in open- 

 ing it from within, which they would do without 

 loss of time. These insects appeared to me to be 

 like small-winged ants, only of a rather stout build, 

 very similar to that engraved on p. 252 of S. G., 

 vol. I. Their wings were transparent, and had a 

 beautiful steely-blue sheen. The most remarkable 

 fact is, that the "Pwai-nyget," or "Poonyet," must 

 have been brought from a distance, as it could not 

 have exuded from the boarding, which was old, dry, 

 and thoroughly painted. The structure was usually 

 placed under the window-sill, as if to keep it dry, 

 and over one of the interstices between two boards, 

 and, I always imagined, served as a portico to the 

 dwelling-place of these ingenious little insects, two 

 or three of which were always on guard at the mouth 

 of the tube, pacing backwards and forwards with 

 the regularity of a sentinel. I have been induced 

 to offer the above remarks in the hope that they may 

 prove interesting to some of your readers, and also 

 because my experience (such as it is) of these in- 

 sects appears to localize them in a different quarter 

 of the globe from that assigned to them by your 

 correspondent.— JV. W. Macdonald. 



The Dipper dipt. — I have frequently watched 

 these birds descend from a rock in the middle of the 

 river Brathay to the bottom of the river bed. They 

 do not dive, and the form of their wings, which re- 

 semble those of the blackbird, would not permit 

 them to do so, but they seem to sink down with 

 great ease, and, where the water is deep, keep them- 

 selves from rising to the surface by a sort of vibra- 

 tory flutter of the wing, and, walking debberately 

 along the bottom, feed on any spawn or larvce they 

 can find there. Some sceptical readers may ex- 

 claim, that the ripple in the current of a rapid 

 mountain stream (and the Brathay brings down the 

 waters of Dungeon Ghyll, and the Langdales, into 

 the head of Windermere Lake) might easily de- 

 ceive the eye of a spectator as to the motions of the 



bird : but in confirmation of my statement, may I be 

 allowed to add, that spending a Sunday afternoon 

 one day last summer at the Zoological Gardens in 

 company with Dr. Gray, the late lamented Dr. 

 Harvey, Mr. Boget, and others, we watched the 

 water ouzel walk under water the whole length of 

 the large glass trough at the end of the Pish-house ? 

 —P. S. B. 



Sagacity of the Dog. — Notwithstanding that 

 anecdotes respecting the instinct of the dog are as 

 numerous as the dogs themselves, I venture to 

 mention the following, thinking that they may pos- 

 sibly afford interest to some of your readers. A 

 gentleman in my parish possesses a fine retriever, 

 which he is accustomed to send daily to the railway- 

 station for his newspaper, the distance being about 

 a quarter of a mile. As soon as the train has 

 arrived, the dog takes the shortest cut across the 

 field to the station, and looks at the station-master 

 in a knowing manner, clearly announcing the object 

 of his errand. The railway official duly delivers the 

 paper to the canine messenger, who forthwith takes 

 it in his mouth and trots back again to his master's 

 house, with a degree of importance which shows 

 that he is fully alive to the trust committed to his 

 charge. 



A shepherd in the parish of Hardingham, in 

 Norfolk, is accustomed to leave his dog in charge of 

 his flock during his absence, giving him a coat by 

 way of a bed, and also as a token of his intention 

 to return. It so happened a short time ago, that 

 after the shepherd had left his dog, he was suddenly 

 taken ill, and lost his consciousness for two days. 

 Upon recovery, he asked for his dog, and was in- 

 formed that the animal had not come home ; search 

 was immediately made, and the sagacious dog was 

 found still lying upon his master's coat, faithful to 

 his watch and charge. — H. Wright, Thuxton Rectory, 

 Norfolk. 



Snails and their. Houses.— By some unac- 

 countable oversight in our last number, figs. 188 

 and 194 were transposed (p. 19S), whereas fig. 18S 

 should have appeared as the Hybrid Snail (H. hy- 

 brida), and fig. 194 as the Zoned Snail (H. vir- 

 gata). 



Fig. 223. The Pisa Snail (Helix Piscina). 



We now furnish a figure (fig. 223) of the Pisa 

 Snail (H. Pisana), which we were unable to supply 

 at the proper time. Its trivial name of Pisana is 

 said to have been derived from the fact of its first 

 occurrence at the city of Pisa. 



