Nov. 1, 1SGG.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



2G1 



A Recipe for Murder.— "H. M." must get a 

 few flower-pots, fill them with moss, and invitingly 

 introduce a few pieces of raw carrot into them ; 

 the woodlice will go there to feed, for they prefer 

 this vegetable to all the fern-roots in creation ; and 

 all " H. M." will have to do, will be to take a kettle 

 of boiling water out in the morning to his fernery, 

 and give his pests an efficient hot bath. Should it 

 be possible to pour boiling water under the blocks 

 and stones of the fernery, without injury to the 

 ferns, it would be advisable to do so. — //. E. 

 Watney. 



Pygmies of Malacca— I think "W. T. H." 

 will find all he wants in a work published by Murray, 

 and entitled " Our Tropical Possessions in Malayan 

 India," by Cameron. The wild and dwarfish tree- 

 dwelling race which he speaks of as inhabiting the 

 interior of the Malayan peninsula is probably the 

 aboriginal race of the country, and a branch of the 

 Alforas, Negrittos, or Oceanic Negroes, as they are 

 sometimes called. This black race is spread over a 

 vast area, extending from the Andamans in the west 

 to the Fiji archipelago in the east. It is, or was, 

 found in the interior of the large islands of Luzon, 

 Ceram, Celebes, Papua, Australia. Tasmania, and 

 New Ireland, as well as in the smaller archipelagos 

 of Melnnesia and Western Polynesia; seemingly 

 driven from the shores of the East Indian islands 

 by the superior ferocity and prowess of the Malays. 

 Of course the Fijians, Papuans, and Australians are 

 very different from the physically-weak and diminu- 

 tive Alforas proper ; but all these are, as a rule, of 

 a colour very nearly black, and probably derive their 

 superior stature and courage from a slight_ ad- 

 mixture of Malayan blood. The extent of territory 

 covered by this race, in all its ramifications, is far 

 wider than seems apparent at a cursory glance. We 

 can hardly imagine that the dwarfish savages of the 

 Andamans, and the black tribes in the islands of 

 Hainan and Formosa, in the China Sea, established 

 themselves in these seats by conquest, and in the 

 face of the powerful and semi-civilized Hindus, 

 Chinese, and Burmese. We seem then irresistibly 

 forced to the conclusion that they are a remnant of 

 the original population; in short, that the Oceanic 

 Neffroes, at a remote epoch, formed the population 

 of South-eastern Asia. Again, it is not generally 

 known that the missionary Taylor has discovered in 

 the legends of the Malayan Maoris most positive 

 proofs of a prior occupation of the three islands of 

 New Zealand by a black people— a branch of the 

 Alforas— now only surviving in the Chatham Islands, 

 at a short distance from their coasts. This im- 

 portant fact, tending to connect the original popula- 

 tion of New Zealand with those of Australia, the 

 East Indian islands, and Southern Asia itself, he 

 records in his interesting work on " New Zealand 

 and its Inhabitants." The islands of Eastern Poly- 

 nesia are now exclusively inhabited by tribes of 

 Malay origin; we may premise, therefore, that the 

 Alforas never reached so far eastward as this, or else 

 have been exterminated, as is happening in Luzon, 

 Ceram, &c, at the present time. A rather curious 

 field for conjecture is opened at this point by the 

 fact recorded by the Spanish conquerors, that they 

 found a sooty-black, taciturn, and forest-dwelling 

 race, utterly dissimilar to the typical copper- 

 coloured American of both continents, dwelling in 

 Paraguay and Chili, at the time of the conquest. 

 Unfortunately, these Charruan Indians, as they 

 were called, have been entirely exterminated, so that 

 we cannot ascertain, for certain, whether the 



Oceanic Negroes did not extend into South America 

 itself \—F. A. A. 



Snakes in Yorkshire.— The common snake is 

 to be found in great abundance in some parts of the 

 East Riding, and is met with frequently, by those 

 who seek it, in the North Riding. I had two 

 brought to me this year : they had been beaten to 

 death by sticks. A few years ago, in pulling a 

 manure-heap to pieces, a barrow-load of eggs was 

 obtained. The heap had stood some years in a 

 private lane, and would contain 300 loads of litter. 

 — Jno. Ramon, Linton-on-Ouse, York. 



Hybernation of Toads. — A few years ago, in 

 removing the trunks of some felled trees, I found 

 some toads in a state of hybernation. They had 

 hollowed a small hole in the soil, which was lined 

 with grass, and a quantity of dried grass had been 

 heaped over the hole, and into that the toads had 

 crept, being completely covered with it. Last year, 

 one hybernated in a hole in an old stump, the mouth 

 being covered with dry grass ; and another under a 

 tile in my garden. They invariably, as far as my 

 experience goes, make a slight depression in the 

 soil in which they lay. Sometimes their backs are 

 below the surface of the ground. — Jno. Ramon, 

 Linton-on-Ouse, York. 



Flint Flakes. — I have collected in various 

 localities around Belfast some very excellent speci- 

 mens of the now celebrated flint flakes. In some 

 places, as at Toome Bridge, on the river Bann, co. 

 Armagh, they are found in great quantities and very 

 well formed. I have found them also in the gravel 

 on the banks of Lough Neagh, near Lurgan ; and 

 also in the raised beach gravel at Larne. They 

 occur in several other places, and may be collected 

 in the fields under cultivation. 1 shall be very 

 happy to exchange specimens with any other col- 

 lector. — William Gray, Mount Charles, Belfast. 



Cement for Aquaria. — "S. S." recommends 

 Collins's Patent Elastic Glue for securing glass 

 sides of marine aquaria. 



Ticks on Puffin. 

 Island, Pembrokeshi 

 large ticks, similar 

 ordinary dog ticks, 

 the head. Is this a 

 seen many hundreds 

 it before.— E. K. B. 



A parasite of this 

 doxus, is given in ' 

 — Ed. 



— In June last I shot, at Skomer 

 re, a puffin with a number of 

 in size and appearance to 

 firmly attached to the side of 

 common occurrence ? I have 

 of puffins, but never observed 



bird, named Docophorus celi- 

 ' Denny's Monograph," p. 77. 



Cynofhallus caninus. — I do not know if this 

 fungus has been generally noticed this year, but my 

 old friend John Lloyd sent me some beautiful speci- 

 mens of it, gathered by him in the neighbourhood of 

 Wandsworth. I shall not despair of seeing this rare 

 fungus in our garden; the other (the larger and 

 more common) species we have here already, and it 

 i9 more or less abundant in the neighbourhood every 

 year.— W. P. Llandderfel. 



It appears to be more common than usual this 

 year. — Ed. 



New Condensor.— Mr. W. Hislop has produced 

 a new condensor, which, we are informed, is every- 

 thing that a microscopist can desire, and performs 

 its work admirably. 



