"in 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Dec. 1, 1866. 



A WHEEL ANIMALCULE. 



(Stephanops lamellaris.) 



SOME time ago one of our correspondents sent 

 for identification a very characteristic sketch of 

 a strange Rotifer, which for some time remained 

 unnamed ; simply because no figure which we had 

 seen resembled it enough for us to give the name 

 with confidence. At length an opportunity pre- 

 sented itself, and it was submitted to a most excel- 

 lenf authority on the subject, so that not only are 

 we enabled to furnish the name for a correspondent, 

 but to give a figure of the animal for the benefit of 



Fig. 25S. Stephanops lamellaris. a, front view ; b, side view. 

 From Drawing by P. H. Gosse, Esq. 



any one who may hereafter capture it. Before pro- 

 ceeding to give its name and character, it is but just 

 that we should acknowledge, that the sketch alluded 

 to being somewhat deficient in detail, we are indebted 

 to Mr. P. H. Gosse for the loan of a drawing from 

 which our woodcuts have been engraved. 



The genus of animalcules to which our species 

 belongs has the front of the lorica expanded into a 

 hood or shield. In a side view this hood gives a 

 very eccentric character to the present species, so 

 that it looks] a very caricature. Leydig affirms of 

 Stephanops lamellaris that the eye has a distinct 

 hemispherical lens, and thus the little animal receives 



additional dignity, and becomes invested with an 

 importance shared only by one or two others in the 

 same family. 



Only one other species is recorded in the list of 



British liotifcrs, and the chief differences appear to 



be that while Stephanops mutiens has the lorica un- 

 armed posteriorly, that of Stephanops lamellaris has 

 three posterior spines. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Keyhole Wasp (Pelqpeeus spiuola). — A fqssorial 

 wasp of the family of the Sphegida>, which is distin- 

 guished by its metallic lustre, enters by the open 

 windows, and changes irritation at its movements 

 into admiration of the graceful industry with which 

 it stops up the keyholes and similar apertures with 

 clay, in order to build in them a cell. Into this it 

 thrusts the pupa of some other insect, within whose 

 body it has previously introduced its own eggs ; and 

 enclosing the whole with moistened earth, the young 

 parasite, after undergoing its transformations, gnaws 

 its way into light, and emerges a four-winged fly. — 

 Tennenfs Ceylon. 



Cats and Young Bieds.— In reply to the query- 

 asked in the November number of your magazine, 

 respecting cats and young birds, 1 beg to give you 

 the following incident, for the truth of which I can 

 vouch, as I was an eye-witness of the fact : — A few 

 summers ago 1 observed our old favourite cat basking 

 in the garden walk near the hedge, closely attended 

 by a hedge-sparrow, which kept hopping and twit- 

 tering around him, within what was certainly a very 

 unsafe distance. As this state of things continued 

 for several mornings, I determined to search the 

 hedge, where I discovered a hedge-sparrow's nest 

 with four young birds. 1 did not at the time sup- 

 pose that our cat had any sinister intentions towards 

 the young birds, for 1 did not believe that he would 

 risk the chance of pricking his feet by climbing the 

 thick-set thorny hedge. Having, however, at length 

 missed from the nest one of the fledgelings, I deter- 

 mined to watch ; when I saw the cat climb up the 

 hedge, crawl towards the nest and seize upon one 

 of the young ones ; and this feat was repeated the 

 same day, till the entire progeny fell a prey to the 

 feline enemy, in spite of the cries and agitation of 

 the parent birds, and our endeavours to keep the cat 

 from the nest. May we not draw the conclusion 

 that the cat deliberately watched the nest day after 

 day, till instinct told him that the young birds were 

 in a fit_ condition to suit his palate ? — H. Wright, 

 Thuxton Rectory, Norfolk. 



Eishixg Gossip. — A short time ago, as a gentle- 

 man was fishing for trout, with one of Eaton and 

 Deller's artificial minnows, he was surprised to see 

 a gudgeon rise at and take the bait. A few weeks 

 afterwards, as he was fishing with the same bait for 

 perch, a pike of about six pounds in weight also 

 rushed at and seized the bait. That pike feed on 

 minnows is a circumstance well known to fishermen, 

 but that gudgeons will take minnows is perhaps a 

 fact not so generally known. — H. W. 



