244 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Nov. 1, 1S66. 



The larvse have a general resemblance to the 

 perfect female ; they are of a dusky black colour, 

 and composed of twelve segments, to each of the 

 three first of which are attached a pair of short 

 strong legs. They have the power of withdrawing 

 their heads beneath the first thoracic segments, as 

 a tortoise'would do — a peculiarity also possessed by 

 the perfect beetles. They are quite carnivorous in 

 their habits, feeding on snails — their stout, sharp 

 mandibles enabling them to make short work of 

 their victims, the shelly houses being no protection 

 against the savage little assailants, who thrust 

 themselves into the soft bodies of the snails, and 

 luxuriate during the autumn and winter on the 

 gelatinous banquet so provided, and are said to be 

 epicures enough not to refuse the feast even when 

 in a very " high " state. They form, however, no 

 exception to the general cleanliness of insects, but 

 are provided with a "peculiar apparatus, composed 

 of seven or eight white radii, capable of being pro- 

 truded from the anal aperture, beneath the last 

 abdominal segment, and which is employed not 

 only as a point of support, assisting in locomotion, 

 but also as an instrument to cleanse the head and 

 fore-parts of the body from the slime left upon them 

 by the snails while engaged in their repast." Thus 

 the revellers pass the winter ; and late in the spring 

 they are transformed into active pupse, in which 

 •condition they remain about a fortnight, and then 

 assume the perfect state, generally appearing about 

 the end of June. The imagos do not despise the 

 food of their infancy, but still persecute the poor 

 molluscs, as does the Drilus flavescens, a beetle 

 belonging to the same family as the Glowworm, but 

 which is not luminous, though the large fleshy 

 'females (nearly an inch long) are equally destitute 

 •of wings or elytra. The Liliputian males, however, 

 have antenna? with deep pectinations, the sensitive- 

 ness of which may render them independent of light 

 to guide them to their giant consorts. Mr. Rennie, " 

 " in his " Iusect Architecture," mentions having 

 found, in the summer of 1829, a large snail with 

 three white grubs burrowing in it, and gives the 

 following interesting account of them : — " It ap- 

 peared to us that they had attacked the snail in its 

 stronghold, while it was laid up for the winter, for 

 more than half of the body was already devoured. 

 They constructed for themselves little cells attached 

 to the inside of the shell, and composed of a sort of 

 fibrous matter, having no distant resemblance to 

 shag tobacco, both in form and smell, and which 

 could be nothing else than the remains of the 

 snail's body. Soon after we took them, appearing 

 to have devoured all that remained of the poor 

 snail, we furnished them with another, which they 

 devoured in the same manner. They formed a 

 cocoon of the same fibrous materials during the 

 autumn, and at the end of. October appeared in 

 their perfect form, turning out to be the Drilus 



flavescens, the grub of which was first discovered 

 in France in 1821. The time of their appearance, 

 it may be remarked, coincides with the period when 

 snails become torpid." I believe the male beetle is 

 frequently found in the lanes near Darenth Wood, 

 but the curious female is rarely observed. 



W. C. 



SERPENTS AT MEALS. 



A S probably not many of my readers have 

 J -^- witnessed the operation of feeding the 

 reptiles at the Zoological Gardens, perhaps a short 

 account of what was seen during a visit a few 

 weeks ago may be interesting. It must be pre- 

 mised that the sight is not altogether an agreeable 

 one ; but, notwithstanding, it seemed to exercise a 

 sort of fascination over the spectators, and some 

 ladies, who kept expressing their horror and disgust, 

 were nevertheless as eager as any to see all that 

 was going on. One might go there many times 

 without seeing the operation, as these creatures are 

 only fed once a week ; or, as the keeper said, " all 

 Fridays in the year except Good Friday." 



It was quite by accident that I happened to enter 

 the Reptile House a few minutes before the feeding 

 commenced, which was late in the afternoon. 

 Before beginning, the keeper locked the door, 

 apparently to prevent persons crowding in, as not 

 many can see well at the same time. He then 

 brought supplies of the different kinds of prey, and 

 cast them into the serpent's dens, the doomed 

 animals being young rabbits, young mice, white 

 mice, ducks, fowls, sparrows, and frogs, which were 

 distributed to suit the size of the various snakes, 

 except the frogs which were provided for the 

 aquatic species. The large Boa Constrictors, into 

 whose case three rabbits, grown specimens, were 

 introduced, seemed the principal attraction, but 

 their mightinesses were in no hurry to dine. As is 

 generally the case after long watching, I was 

 looking at something else when there was an excla- 

 mation, " He's got it ! " and I found one of these 

 large snakes was coiled round a rabbit. The latter, I 

 thought, struggled a little, but it might be fancy ; 

 all remained quiet for a few minutes, and then the 

 huge reptile uncoiled himself, and the rabbit lay 

 perfectly dead. The Boa showed no inclination to 

 eat its victim, but glided about in a languid manner 

 after the other rabbits, who showed little sense of 

 their danger. It was curious to see them in happy 

 ignorance sniffling at their dead companion, or 

 putting up their noses to a hand held near the 

 glass. Two ducks were introduced into the den of 

 another large Boa; or, rather, I believe it was a 

 Python, which is the Boa Constrictor of the Old 

 World, and similar in size and habits. 



He moved slowly after the birds, which showed 

 more fear than the rabbits, but made no attempt to 



