278 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Dec. 1, 1SG6. 



Shore-collecting. — At the October meeting of 

 the Quekett Microscopical Club, Mr. S. Bighley 

 read a pnper on this subject, in which the dress to 

 be worn and the implements to be used were 

 minutely described. This was succeeded by an 

 account of the zones of oceanic life, the objects to 

 be found, and how to capture them. The whole 

 formed an epitome of the outfit of a shore-collector ; 

 accompanied by such instructions and cautions as 

 a novice would require, interspersed with hints of 

 a useful character for the practised collector. 



The Common Shrimp. — I kept for a long period 

 a couple of the common Shrimp (Crangon vulgaris) 

 in an ordinary bell-glass aquarium, the water of 

 which was aerated by a large piece of that beautiful 

 green seaweed, TJlva latissima. My shrimps soon 

 became accustomed to the tank, and showed 

 unmistakable signs of recognition whenever I 

 approached, invariably rising to the surface of the 

 water in expectation of receiving the small pieces 

 of beef with which they used to be fed. On ten- 

 dering a small piece, it was instantly taken from my 

 fingers, and a most interesting struggle would take 

 place for possession of the prize, each of the shrimps 

 retaining their hold, and being in turn dragged 

 round the tank by the other. On one occasion my 

 attention was arrested by seeing the shrimps, as I 

 thought, fighting ; but on looking closer, I was 

 much surprised to find that one of them was in the 

 act of shedding its coat, an act which it appeared 

 to be performing with difficulty, and in which it was 

 being assisted by the other, who, with remarkable 

 instinct, was retaining hold of one end of the shell, 

 whilst its companion gently disengaged itself and 

 escaped at the other. — TV. H. Congreve. 



Camberwell Beauty.— While at Caversham, in 

 Berks, the latter end of September, I saw a very 

 fine specimen of the Camberwell Beauty on the 

 wing. It came twice within my reach ; but having 

 no net, I was afraid to strike it with my hat, and 

 after following it for about half an hour, I was forced 

 to give up the chase, as it did not settle. I was 

 also shown some good specimens of the Clifden 

 Nonpareil (C Fraxini), taken this year, by an 

 entomologist. — TV. T. H. 



MoLi.vsKS.^Planorbis lineatus, Walker {Plan. 

 lacustris, E. & H.). — In addition to the neighbour- 

 hood of London, as given by R. Tate, and Tuddenham 

 (Suffolk), by A. Mavor Brown, as habitats of this 

 local species of our freshwater mollusks, 1 may add 

 that, ten years ago, I observed it in great abundance 

 in a sluggish stream at Heigham (environs of Nor- 

 wich), of somewhat more than the average growth. 

 Helix serioea (Mull) was plentiful amongst the 

 damp grass and moss not far from the same locality. 

 A stream fifty yards' distance yielded good speci- 

 mens of Paludina vivipara and Pal. Lisferi, and a 



ditch at a similar distance produced Succinea elegans 

 (Risso), Valvata cristata, and remarkably fine Pla- 

 norbis marginatus and Bythinia tentaculala, and in 

 the river Yare, close by, I dredged up scores of Pisi- 

 dium amnicum, where also abounded dead specimens 

 of Valvata piscinalis.—Jno. H. Ashford, Scarborough. 



Death Watch. — Some of your readers may be 

 interested to learn that the doubts expressed by 

 some entomologists respecting the "tapping" of 

 Atiobium have been set at rest by the observations of 

 Mr. Doubleday, and by the following communi- 

 cation, obligingly sent to me by the Rev. Leonard 

 Jenyns, in reply to an inquiry which I had been led 

 to make concerning a passage in his "Observations 

 on Natural History:" — "I am quite sure of the 

 correctness of what I have stated respecting the 

 tapping of Anobium tessellatum, having witnessed it 

 repeatedly. With regard to A. striatum, I do not 

 recollect now (it is so many years since) whether 

 what I have added in reference to that species was 

 stated on the ground of having seen it make the 

 noise in question, or only having heard it." I 

 make this quotation from the " Proceedings of the 

 Entomological Society" for March last. — W. H. 

 Groser. 



Elying Fish. — In the uncomfortably calm Pacific, 

 where I watched the Elying Eish every day, and 

 often all day long, I had ample opportunity to 

 observe its so-called "flying." The species that 

 tenant the two oceans are very nearly allied, Exocetus 

 volitans being the one common to the Pacific ; but 

 it is of habits I wish to treat, not of minute specific 

 distinctions — that can be settled in the studio. It 

 seems to me that the distance traversed when the 

 fish leaps from the sea, and the length of time it 

 remains out of the water, are much over-estimated 

 in books on Natural History. Ten or twelve seconds 

 may be taken as the average time of its flight, and 

 eighty yards the maximum distance traversed when 

 the water is perfectly trauquil ; if aided by a breeze 

 of wind, or propelled from the crest of a breaker, 

 the distance accomplished would necessarily be 

 greater ; but the fins have no power to raise the 

 fish a single inch above the level of its leap, and 

 simply aid in its support, as the extended skin of 

 the flying squirrel bears it up in its spring from 

 bough to bough. I have never seen the fins vibrated 

 or flapped, as all wings invariably are, but stiff and 

 rigid, are extended and still, until the fish plunges 

 into the sea. Numbers, beyond all computation, 

 were constantly seen by us in the air together, when 

 chased by predatory fish. The Elying Eish, as a 

 rule, is about twelve inches in length. — J. K. Lord's 

 " Naturalist in Vancouver 's Island." 



Late House-Martins (Hiruudo urbica). — On 

 the 13th of November I saw from twenty to thirty 

 active specimens of this bird flying about at Bourne- 



