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HAEDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



as most other insects, viz. by inserting a pin through 

 its body, setting the legs in their right position, and 

 leaving it in a dry place, till it gets quite stiff, when 

 it is ready for the cabinet. But the difficulty is in 

 preserving the bodies of the spiders, which, in a 

 very few days, generally shrink into a shapeless 

 mass. To prevent this, the end of the abdomen 

 should be pricked with a triangular awl, and the 

 contents pressed out by gently squeezing it between 

 the forefinger and thumb. It should then be stuffed 

 with very fine carded cotton or down, which can be 

 pushed in by a heckle-tooth when properly dis- 

 tended. The small aperture should be filled up 

 with a little cement, or a solution of gum-arabic. 

 Spiders having rich colours, which are likely to be 

 affected by the action of the atmosphere, should be 

 immersed in a solution of corrosive sublimate, and 

 in an hour after with a thin coating of very weak 

 white-spirit varnish, which is easily made by taking 

 a teaspoonful of the ordinary white spirit or elastic 

 varnish, and adding to it two teaspoonfuls of spirits 

 of wine. Apply this with a fine camel-hair brush. It 

 will quickly dry, and have a strong tendency to 

 preserve the colour. Some entomologists prefer 

 filling the abdomen with very fine sand, instead of 

 cotton ; however, both methods answer equally well. 

 There is also another method, though rather a 

 difficult one. Immediately after the insect is killed, 

 extract the entrails ; then inflate it by means of a 

 blowpipe, and you may preserve it tolerably well. 

 You must cleanse it on the inside no more than is 

 sufficient to prevent mouidiness, lest you injure the 

 colours, which depend very considerably on the 

 substance that lies beneath the skin. I may here 

 add that the best blowpipe for this purpose is a 

 glass tube which has been drawn to a very fine 

 point.— a P. Hall. 



Red- throated Diver.— A specimen of this 

 beautiful diver {Cohjmlus septentrionalis) was killed 

 near a pond in this town on March 4th. The 

 extreme length was about twenty-seven inches from 

 bill to toe.— W. Macmillan, Castle Cary. 



Basking Shark.— A fine specimen of the Bask- 

 ing Shark {Selachus maxlmus) was captured on 

 Saturday, Eebruary 27th, at Shanklin, Isle of 

 Wight. It was seen stranded on a ledge of rocks 

 there, and with some difficulty, owing, not to its 

 resistance but its weight, it was hauled ashore by 

 horses, a gang of men having failed in the attempt. 

 Though it quietly submitted to its fate, it continued 

 to live for some hours. The length of the fish was 

 28 feet 10 inches ; girth 15 hat.— George Gmjon. 



Spiders' Webs and Spinnerets.— I have a 

 paper on this subject nearly ready, which I hoped 

 to have published some time ago, that answers the 

 queries of Mr. Statham and Captain Lang as fully 



as I am able. This is not saying much, for I cannot 

 yet make out the exact method of the production 

 of the viscid beads. Almost all that is necessary 

 to complete the article are the figures : when I find 

 " a convenient season," which I hope to do very 

 shortly, I will draw these, and I trust that the 

 Editor will accord my observations a place iu 

 Science-Gossip. I am uuable to say for certain 

 to what species of spider the web figured on p. 53 

 belongs, but. I venture to hazard a conjecture, for 

 which I trust Captain Lang will forgive me, 

 namely, that notwithstanding his remarks, he has 

 found the web of a Ciniflo. The threads are often 

 curled very much tighter than is represented in my 

 drawing; and the "film," there so evident, until 

 you know what to look for, is quite invisible, unless 

 it has been previously stained. I should also 

 remark that the tightly-curled threads look like 

 viscid globules with an inferior microscope, or with 

 a good one a little out of focus : besides, I should 

 imagine, if the "viscid globules" shown in Captain 

 Lang's figure were fluid like those onanEpeira's 

 web, that they would run one into another, and not 

 remain separate globules as delineated. I would 

 also suggest, that the best way to obtain a view of 

 the occupant of an unknown web, is to put a fly or 

 other insect in it, carefully avoiding touching the 

 web in any other manner. Spiders rarely refuse a 

 bait of this sort. — H. 31. J. Uiulerhill. 



BOTANY. 



Spartiuji Junceum. — It may interest some of 

 your readers to know that this plant occurs in 

 great quantities near Whitby, in Yorkshire, about 

 two miles inland, near the banks of a small rivulet, 

 and was bearing seed in August. It was curious to 

 notice that, when the sun was upon them, the seed- 

 pods continually broke open with a crack resembling 

 the noise made by a series of miniature artillery. 

 The seed-vessels were about two and a-half to three 

 inches in length, and are of a black colour when 

 ready to fall. Hogg, in his " Yegetable Kingdom," 

 states that thread is manufactured from this plant ; 

 also that bees are very fond of the flowers. He 

 further states that it grows abundantly in Turkey, 

 Italy, and in the South of France.— W. J. Simpson. 



The Glastonbury, or " Holy Thorn."— Mr. 

 J. A. Fletcher has inquired (Science-Gossip, No. 

 122) as to the Glastonbury Thorn, as being in his 

 view "a miraculous thorn-tree"; and as such it 

 was no doubt represented by the monks of Glaston- 

 bury Abbey; for almost every monastery possessed 

 some object intended to excite popular wonderment 

 and veneration. But this double flowering of trees 

 and shrubs is not a very uncommon circumstance, 

 and I have noticed it in the elder, dogwood, and 



