Oct. 1, 1866.] 



IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



239 



Insect Aquarium. — Being much pleased with 

 ct H. R. B.'s" account of her Insect Vivarium in 

 Science Gossir for September, I should like to pain 

 more information on the subject. 1. Would spiders 

 thrive in one? 2. How often is fresh food to be 

 . given ? 3. How is it to be managed during the 

 winter months ? 4. How is it possible to remove 

 the glass for fresh flowers and food without the fly- 

 ing insects arcing off? 5. Is there a hand-book for 

 the Insect Vivarium ?— E. S. 



Grand Lory. — Tbelieve that the bird called Grand 

 Lory is scientifically known as the Eelectus grandis. 

 Waeler puts it in the genus Eelectus. It is found 

 in New Guinea, and is most beautifully plumaged. 

 The Lory-birds are members of the Parrot family, 

 but they do not eat the hard nuts aud seeds that 

 most parrots delight in. They have a much more 

 slender bill and a softer tongue, showing that their 

 natural food consists of pnlpv fruits and the juices 

 of various plants. — Helen, E. Watnoj. 



Pygmies of Malacca. — Apropos of " the Track 

 of the Pygmies " noted in your July and September 

 numbers, I could wish that some of your readers 

 who may be living near Malacca would give you a 

 brief yet clear account of a race of small men and 

 women who are said to dwell in trees in the interior 

 of the Malacca district, and among whom the labours 

 of a resident French nriest have been not altogether 

 without success. When I was a resident in the 

 Straits, some years ago, I heard some particulars, 

 but never got over to see them ; and I think any 

 certain facts respecting them by those who can 

 speak with personal knowledge would be interesting 

 at this time. I presume you to be acquainted with 

 the, fact that on many of the less easily accessible 

 hills of India there exist to this day numbers of 

 wild races. I could soon count up a score who 

 ■would seem to have been aboriginal and to have 

 been driven to their present retreats by the ad- 

 vancing wave of the forefathers of the present 

 Hindus. Those of them that I have seen in Arracan 

 are, if I remember rightly, shorter in stature than 

 the average Hindu, yet not deserving the name of 

 dwarf— W. I.E. 



A Detonating Fireball. — I am reminded by 

 the perusal of a letter by Mr. Herschel on Detouat- 

 ing Fireballs, _of a magnificent phenomenon of that 

 kind which 1 saw and heard about fourteen or 

 fifteen years ago. Walking on the outskirts of 

 Newcastle, on a late autumnal evening at about 

 eight o'clock, my attention was arrested by the 

 sudden illumination of the entire neighbourhood, 

 and turning rapidly to the left, from which direc- 

 tion the light appeared to proceed, I saw a splendid 

 fireball, in apparent size about one-third that of 

 the moon. It moved with considerable speed from 

 N. to S., parallel to the horizon, and at an altitude 

 not greater than 30°. At the moment of its ex- 

 tinction, it burst into fragments, aud within two 

 seconds of the time of its bursting I heard a deafen- 

 ing report, yery much resembling that produced by 

 a large cannon when it is fired within a distance 

 of a few yards of a spectator. Not being at the 

 time specially engaged in astronomical or meteoro- 

 logical investigations, I did not collect such evidence 

 as would have enabled me to determine its precise 

 elevation from the earth. It must, however, have 

 been very near, as, judging by the short interval 

 between the explosion and the report, it could not 



have been more than half a mile from me. I have 

 never had the good fortune to witness a similar 

 phenomenon either before or since that time. — T. P. 

 Ba rkas, Newcastle-on-Tyne . 



Sanguinaria. — The following extract is from a 

 paper entitled " Brazilian Sketches," which ap- 

 peared in Our? a Week, December 21th, 186L I 

 should feel obliged if you, or any of the readers of 

 Science Gossip, could inform me what plant is 

 therein referred to, and whether it has yet been in- 

 troduced into England. 



" I was particularly struck with one magnificent 

 shrub ; it has bunches of leaves just like scarlet 

 velvet, surmounted by small cup-like flowers of bright 

 orange. I was told that it is called amor di vi/iva 

 (widow's love) ; and I can only say that, if typical of 

 Brazilian widow's love, the latter must be of the 

 most fiery nature. The plant is also called San- 

 guinaria" — J. F. C. 



Cement for Marine Aquaria. — Can any corre- 

 spondent inform me how to make a cement for an 

 aquarium that will be proof against the action of 

 sea-water ? I have one, the sides and ends of plate 

 glass, and bottom of slate 3 feet long, 1 foot wide, 

 and 1 foot deep ; a mahogany frame, with pillars of 

 the same at each corner, grooved to receive the 

 glass, with an iron bolt passed through each to 

 fasten top and bottom securely. It was framed 

 together with putty, and held rain water. But the 

 salt water soon found its way through. I have tried 

 various expedients, one after another, and all 

 without success — viz., pitch, French polish, marine 

 glue, pitch and white wax, mixed, &c. I was at 

 last advised to try a mixture of india-rubber and 

 shellac, dissolved separately ; and I did this for 

 three weeks almost daily, and thought surely I 

 was now safe. I procured a nice variety of sea- 

 anemones and some pure sea-water, and was pre- 

 paring to stick it ; when, to my disappointment, 

 last night the water found its way through on to the 

 carpet. The poor anemones are waiting in basins 

 and bottles, waiting till their home is ready. — F. 

 E. W. K. 



Bat Poison. — M. Cloez reports to the French 

 Academy of Sciences, that bisulphite of carbon has 

 been successfully employed for the destruction of 

 the rats which infest the cellars of the "Musie," 

 and that they speedily die in an atmosphere con- 

 taining Troth part of the vapour of that compound. 



— r. t: 



Epithelium Cells.— The cells which form the 

 scarf-skin or cuticle of the human subject can be 

 obtained in several ways. They are always interest- 

 ing, and sometimes they form beautiful objects for 

 polarization. Thin sections of a callosity, or 

 thickened part of the cuticle, as also thin sections 

 of corns, are of the latter kind. The skjn which 

 covers the fluid of a blister sometimes shows not 

 only the cells of the cuticle but the pores of the skin 

 also. The best way of getting individual cells is by 

 scraping the roof of the mouth with a blunt knife. 

 They lie loosely on the surface of the skin, and are 

 easily removed with the small quantity of saliva which 

 is necessarily collected by the knife in the operation. 

 The colour-mixing knife, which has not a sharp 

 edge, is the best for this purpose. Cells obtained 

 in this way are best examined when fresh; but they 

 may be mounted dry, as they preserve their form 

 and character a long time. — Titos. Brittahi. 



