HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



47 



Napoleon, when laying down the plan for his great 

 road over the Simplon, diverged from a straight 

 line to avoid injuring this tree." — G. 0. Howell. 



Preserving Alg^e. — In the last number of 

 Science-Gossip, Mr. T. McGann asks how to 

 preserve marine algse. The means I have found the 

 most effectual are as follows :— The sea- weed is put 

 into a shallow dish (such as used by photographers.), 

 which should be slightly inclined, to allow the water 

 to run slowly away ; the whole is then placed under 

 a dripping tap of pure water, and left there till the 

 whole of the salt is washed away. It is then allowed 

 to drain on blotting-paper for a short time, when it 

 is immersed in pure alcohol, where it remains till I 

 am disposed to mount it. When this occurs, it is 

 removed from the alcohol, drained as before, and 

 soaked in chloroform, when it is ready for mounting 

 in balsam, a medium I always use in preference to 

 any other. The only disadvantage is that the object 

 is rendered very transparent, besides destroying the 

 colour ; but this is easily overcome by staining. I 

 generally use a warm solution of logwood, which is 

 easily made, and gives a first-rate colour. I have 

 some very good specimens treated in this way, and 

 I may say that I have been very successful with 

 what I have undertaken; among which are Plocamium 

 coccineum in fruit, Batrachospermiim moniliforme, 

 Callithamnion tetragonum, all beautiful specimens. 

 — Thos. Palmer, F.R.M.S. 



Imitation of Animals.— Under this head I may 

 mention an instance I have myself seen. A friend 

 of mine has a young canary and a Java tom-tit. In 

 some of his habits the tom-tit is peculiar ; he will 

 never leave his perch in the centre of his cage, but 

 in order to feed swings himself backwards until his 

 head is level with the seed-glass ; thus he always 

 feeds willi his head downwards. The birds are 

 hung side by side. The canary tries very hard to 

 imitate the other's mode of dining, but generally 

 upsets himself, but I believe he still continues trying 

 it. He imitates the note of the tom-tit exactly, but 

 canaries will generally do this.— E. T. Evans. 



Hedgehogs Carnivorous.— In reply to your 

 correspondent " P. C. S." I would state that one of 

 my friends kept a hedgehog which was fed on cat's 

 meat, whilst some other friends had one that ate 

 scraps of meat, and was fond of picking chicken 

 bones. I strongly suspect that beetles, though 

 their reputed fare, do not form the staple of their 

 food. When I .was staying down in north-west 

 Norfolk I found they were accused of poaching 

 partridges' eggs, and lynched accordingly whenever 

 caught ; but I am not aware whether there is any 

 positive proof of their crime in this latter case.— 

 B. B. Woodward. 



A Carnivorous Hedgehog.— In answer to 

 inquiry by "P.C.S." in the last number of Science- 

 Gossip;— it is a well-known fact that hedgehogs are 

 carnivorous, and there is no lack of instances to 

 support this statement. I may mention one or two 

 cases on the authority of Mr. Timbs {vide " Eccen- 

 tricities of Animal Creation"). " The voracity of 

 the Hedgehog," he says, "is very great. A female, 

 with a young one, was placed in a kitchen, having 

 the run of the beetles at night, besides having 

 always bread and milk within their reach. One day, 

 however, the servants heard a mysterious crunching 

 sound in the kitchen, and found, on examination, 

 that nothing was left of the young hedgehog but 

 the skin and prickles— the mother had devoured her 

 little pig ! A hedgehog has also been known to eat 



a couple of rabbits which had been confined with it, 

 and killing others ; it has likewise been known to 

 kill hares." Again — " A hedgehog was placed in one 

 hamper, a wood-pigeon in another, and two starlings 

 in a third ; the lid of each hamper was tied down 

 with string, and the hampers were placed in a gar- 

 den house, which was fastened in the evening. 

 Next morning the strings to the hampers were found 

 severed, the starlings and wood-pigeon dead and 

 eaten, feathers alone remaining in their hampers, 

 and the hedgehog alive in the wood-pigeon's ham- 

 per. As no other animal could have got into the 

 garden-house, it was concluded that the hedgehog 

 had killed and eaten the birds." The same author 

 records their eating frogs, toads, and other reptiles 

 and mice, and, in captivity, snakes. It wouldjthus 

 appear that the Hedgehog's appetite is nottonly 

 carnivorous but almost omnivorous.— W. Sharp. 



Peline Oddity.— I have noticed the pheno- 

 menon referred to by J. W. Horsley, once in a 

 collie dog, and twice in a horse. In both latter cases 

 one eye was greyish-white, and the other brown. I 

 cannot vouch for the perfect eyesight of the horses, 

 but can for that of the dog. I did not know, but 

 once met a gentleman who had this peculiarity ; 

 his right eye was of a greenish or yellowish-grey, 

 while; the other was of a deep blue colour. — W. 

 Sharp. 



Peline Oddity. — In your January number, a 

 correspondent asks whether any of your readers 

 have ever observed a human being exhibiting the 

 peculiarity of two differently coloured eyes. My 

 gardener has all his life had two such eyes, one a 

 rich brown, the other a greyish blue, and his sight 

 has always been very good.— W. H. Gtvillim. 



How to put Aquaria right. — Will any of 

 your correspondents, who have more experience than 

 I in such matters, tell me what is the matter with 

 my aquarium ? It is a large bell glass, containing 

 about ten or twelve gallons of water. Having been 

 cracked, I have covered the bottom with Portland 

 cement. In it are a few gold fish, a dace or two, a 

 couple of carp, and two minnows, a few snails, and 

 six mussels, a pot of wiry glass, and a root of 

 valisneria. My trouble is, that the weed, shells, 

 bottom and sides of the glass, are continually get- 

 ting covered with a sort of hairy slime, of a whitish 

 colour. The water gets thick, and the fish come 

 to the top. Simply'changing the water is of no use, 

 as in an hour or so it is as bad as ever. Every- 

 thing must come out, be thoroughly scrubbed and 

 cleaned, and replaced, and then it will sometimes 

 last three days without changing, but the slimy 

 substance makes its reappearance in a few days. 

 Several people have seen it, who have aquaria well 

 organized and balanced. One said I must have 

 mussels, but they do no good ; another said snails, 

 but with no effect ; I am now told I have too many 

 fish, so I took out two carp each about six inches 

 long, leaving ten small fish, none over four inches, 

 but the evil is still unabated. But I think I shall 

 doubtless get some valuable information through the 

 medium of your journal.— W. H. C. 



Rare Birds.— A spoonbill (I am sorry to say) 

 was lately killed in this county, as were a pair of 

 hoopoes last year, that visited my grounds. If a 

 fine were exacted from the shooters of every spoon- 

 bill, stork, hoopoe, roller, oriole, bee-eater, king- 

 fisher, Cornish chough, some of those which are 

 migratory would be induced to rest here more fre- 

 quently, and the numbers of the constant residents 

 increase.— C. F. 



