HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



71 



good Earl of Bedford." After 200 years his lord- 

 ship seems to have come to life asain. It is a pity- 

 that he died twice— Rev. J. 0. Wood. 



Sagacity of Cows.— A very singular instance of 

 sagacity in a cow came under my observation during 

 this week, and under circumstances which leave no 

 doubt of its truth. The following paragraph, clipped 

 from The 'Northern Whig of 16th January, is from 

 the pen of the newspaper reporter present at the 

 hearing of the case " in court." " Anecdotes of dogs 

 rescuing children or defending their master from the 

 attacks of robbers are common, but it is not often 

 that a cow figures in such cases. At the Petty 

 Sessions on Thursday, however, a circumstance was 

 brought to light which goes to show that a cow can 

 at leasf sympathize with an ill-used woman, and 

 protect her from the violence of a wife-beater. A 

 farmer had been summoned for beating and abusing 

 his wife, and it transpired in evidence that on one of 

 the many occasions when the husband was abusing 

 his wife, it was in a field, in which were some cows, 

 the property of the combatants. One of the animals 

 was a pet of the woman, and when the husband 

 twisted his hand in the wife's hair, tore her clothes, 

 pulled her to the ground, and was about to inflict 

 severer punishment, this cow came charging up 

 the field to the rescue of her mistress, and, 

 assuming an attitude of defence, protected the 

 woman for that time, at any rate, from the fury of 

 the wife-beater. This cow may be again useful to 

 this woman." I may be allowed to go a little into 



detail, as I was acting professionally for Mrs. E , 



the wife referred to. When the cow came up and 

 " presented arms " at the husband, he retreated, and 

 the woman struggled to her feet, and supported 

 herself by leaning on the flank of the cow until she 

 had recovered sufficiently from her shock to be able 

 to run away. The cow during all this time, she 

 assured me, stood still and prevented the husband 

 from renewing the attack. It is but fair to say that 

 the cow "never could bear" the husband. The 

 greater part of the above particulars came out in 

 evidence in the case, and were sworn to by Mrs. 

 E . The remainder was told to me as her advo- 

 cate, but were not necessarily elicited. _ Have any 

 of your readers ever heard of a similar instance of 

 such conduct on the part of cows ? We do not con- 

 sider cows, as a rule, capable of displaying much in- 

 tellectual power. It might be interesting to the 

 readers of Science-Gossip to hear some well- 

 authenticated anecdotes from your correspondents 

 as to the reasoning powers of these animals. — G. C. 

 Russell, Newtownards. 



The Name " Tray " as applied to Dogs.— Is 

 it not probable that this name is a corruption or 

 shortening of the name " Terry " ? The transition is 

 easy. Mr. A has a dog Terry. His children as 

 they grow up call it Tray, and this name is appro- 

 priated by the household in speaking to the child- 

 ren ; and ultimately the dog is called by no other. 

 Other families call their little dog by the sanie 

 name. This seems to me more natural than looking 

 into the German, Saxon, Sanscrit, or any other 

 foreign tongue, for the derivation of the word. — 



c. c. r. 



Differences in the Colour of Eyes of 

 Animals. — Numerous examples of this have been 

 recorded in Science-Gossip lately. I believe it to 

 be the rule, not the exception, that the sheep-dog is 

 " ringel-eyed," as it is called here, i.e. has the iris of 

 one eye of a different colour from that of the other. 



I know of two iustances'in'men where this pheno- 

 menon existed. Singularly enough, both ox these 

 were Presbyterian clergymen in Belfast. One is in 

 full vigour, and hard at work; the other died some 

 few years ago, over eighty years of age. — C. C. R. 



Eern Owl. — In the woodcut, fig. 2, illustrating 

 the paper on the Eern Owl, in the January number 

 of Science Gossip, the comb-like structure at 

 the inner edge of the claw is imperfectly repre- 

 sented. A better idea of it may be formed by 

 taking two or three types of the 13th letter of the 

 alphabet (italic) mmm, and joining them together. 

 But the strokes must be supposed to be somewhat 

 opened, and a little curved. — R. 0. 



Sparrow v. Mouse.— In the summer of 1873, 

 when taking a walk on Hampstead Heath, just at 

 the top of the Middle Heath road, I saw a sparrow 

 dashing after something in the road with the utmost 

 fury. The object of pursuit rushed to and fro, 

 trying vainly to escape from its pursuer. The 

 sparrow at last discovered me, and flew olF, when, 

 taking up the chase to see what the other object 

 was, I found that it was an unfortunate mouse. I 

 should like to know what could have caused this 

 conduct on the part of the cock-sparrow ? — B. W. 

 Woodward. 



Sudden Appearance of Plants. — On this 

 curious occasional circumstance, I wish to note that 

 about seven years ago, visiting a Kentish wood, 

 about a mile from Greenhithe, in a space which had 

 just been cleared of the underwood, I found an 

 abundant growth of Digitalis purpurea, though it 

 had not been visible there when I had been at the 

 same place a year or two before. This year, ex- 

 amining the spot, I find no trace of the plant, which 

 has seemingly died off as rapidly as it sprung up. — 



/. r. s. a 



Superstition regarding the Hawthorn. — 

 In Kent, there is still current the belief that it is an 

 ill omen to pick and bring indoors the flowering 

 sprays of the above. Some persons say the death 

 of one of the family is likely to ensue. — /. R. S. C. 



White Worms in Plant-saucers (p. 191, last 

 vol.). — These creatures, noted by " W. D," I have 

 also seen under the like circumstances, but never 

 brought them to maturity, though I suspect that 

 some, if not all, of them are aquatic larvae of a minute 

 fly of the Dipterous order, which thrive under those 

 peculiar conditions. I have noticed a small fly 

 allied to the gnat resting on flower-pots. Several 

 of these dipterous larvae are worm-like. — /. R. S. G. 



The Early-history of the Death's-head. — 

 I venture to submit to the numerous readers of 

 Science-Gossip a query which an editor of an 

 entomological journal acknowledges is beyond him. 

 What was the food of the larvae (supposing the 

 species then British), ere the potato was introduced 

 by Raleigh ? The difficulty is to discover any allu- 

 sions to the insect — if such there are — in early 

 English books on natural history.—/. R. S. C. 



Preserving Alg,e.— I should feel extremely 

 obliged by you or any reader telling nie of any fluid 

 in which I could preserve alga? (marine) until I had 

 time to mount them. I often get some, but their 

 condition spoils before they are all ready. I should 

 also like to send some fresh to friends living in 

 inland places by post, but they spoil on the way.— 

 T. McGann. 



