HARDW JOKE'S SCIEN CE- GO SSIP. 



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of the cage from the sun, if it is very hot. Secondly, 

 keep the cage clean, especially the perch and food- 

 vessels. Thirdly, never give it meat, or anything 

 that contains salt. Let the staple of its food be 

 Indian corn, either raw or boiled ; the first is prefer- 

 able if the parrct is accustomed to it, as when boiled 

 it soon turns sour. Give it for variety, hempseed, 

 not exceeding a table-spoonful, canary seed, biscuit, 

 or filberts. Hempseed being heating is useful in 

 winter. Rice pudding, or bread and milk once a 

 day, may be given without detriment, but be careful 

 in giving the latter that it is squeezed dry. Too much 

 moist food causes diarrhoea, and if this occurs, the 

 parrot should be kept entirely on dry food, giving it 

 water to drink. Any kind of ripe fruit will not 

 hurt it, when in health, but very little at a time, say 

 a strawberry or division of an orange. A parrot 

 does not often want to drink, unless it has dry food 

 only, and from its mischievous propensity to upset 

 the drinking-vessel, it is better not to leave water 

 in the case ; but in this' case remember to offer it 

 water two or three times a day. The floor of the 

 cage should be daily sprinkled either with fine 

 gravel or sand, but take care, if the last is 'used, that 

 it is not salt. When out of his cage offer him a 

 bath if he enjoys it, but I have never known a 

 parrot care much for it. 1 have now had one for 

 fifteen years, having previously lost one two years 

 old, from careless feeding and exposure to cold. 

 Beeton's Book of " Home Pets," Part I., " The 

 Parrot Tribes," price 3d., contains many excellent 

 hints ; but if a parrot is taken good care of he will 

 rarely need doctoring- — A. Tregelles, 



Musselling.— I remember several years ago 

 being told by the medical gentleman who attended 

 me when I was ill from the effect of eating mussels, 

 that these shell-fish were rendered poisonous at 

 certain times of the year by feeding on the eggs of 

 the Star-fish, [/raster rubens. An old Welsh cook 

 of my acquaintance used to put a silver spoon in the 

 stewpan along with the mussels, and always said 

 that if there was a dangerous one amongst them the 

 silver would turn black. Mackerel will occasionally 

 affect persons disagreeably ; so will various kinds of 

 shell-fish. A lady on a visit to me in Hants a few 

 years ago, was made ill by eating crayfish. — Helen 

 E. Watney. 



A Water-snake. — People in this district talk 

 much of the existence of a water-snake, which they 

 describe as being very different from the common 

 species, and almost black in colour. I have seen 

 the common snake swim across a river with the 

 grace and agility of an eel, and this latter I suspect 

 to be the water-snake of the rustics. — W. H. Warner, 

 Kingston. 



Gooseberry Pests (Science-Gossip, No. 122, 

 p. 46).— Your correspondent " A. N." is rather too 

 hasty in his statements about the Gooseberry Cater- 

 pillar, as 1 hope to show to any one who has the 

 patience to read these few lines. Among the nu- 

 merous pests that infest our gooseberry and currant 

 trees, two stand pre-eminent for their destructive 

 properties. One of these is the true Gooseberry 

 Caterpillar, the larva of the Currant moth, Abraxas 

 grossulariata, which is so abundant sometimes that 

 one collector, Mr. Bishopp, of Ipswich, I think, 

 reared 1,400 imagos in a single season, to obtain 

 varieties of course. The other, which is if possible 

 even more destructive, is the larva of a sawfly, 

 Hematite ventricosus, whose general appearance is 

 well described by "A. K." 'lhe former, which 



hy bernates in the old leaves of the currant and 

 gooseberry, is best destroyed by collecting them 

 after they have fallen, and burying or burning them. 

 For the latter, which does not hybernate, I am 

 afraid there is no better remedy, speaking from long 

 observation and experience, than the tedious process 

 of hand-picking.— G. P. H. 



Common Smooth Newt (L. >punctatus).—This 

 interesting little reptile is commonly found in quarry 

 and sand-pit pools, localities which should be 

 frequently visited by every out-door naturalist. Ou 

 the 4th of June, seeing a bundle of willow twigs 

 lying in a small pool frequented by smooth newts, 

 curiosity prompted me to examine some of the 

 submerged leaves. Several of these had their ends 

 folded over very tightly, and under each a single egg 

 of the newt, oval in shape, and transparent in 

 colour, except the germ, which was of a greenish 

 white. Various common grasses growing at the 

 edge of the pool had also been utilized by the newt, 

 some of the blades having been folded two or three 

 times, each fold inclosing an egg. I mention these 

 little facts merely to show that the newt is by no 

 means particular on what plants she places her eggs. 

 Thus, when starwort fails, she is not averse to using 

 in its stead grass blades and willow leaves. — W. II. 

 Warner, Kingston, Abingdon. 



Microscopical Query.— A few days ago I was 

 engaged with my microscope, and 1 was, by way of 

 experiment, dissecting an ant in turpentine. Having 

 done so, about a minute afterwards 1 examined the 

 leg of the creature, and was much surprised to find 

 the small drop of turpentine in which it lay greatly 

 agitated, and full of minute black spots, which 

 revolved rapidly, and which I took for animalculse, 

 but which, on inspection under a higher power, were 

 not more clearly defined. 1 should be much obliged 

 to any reader of Science-Gossip who could supply 

 me with any information on this point. — H. C. Mo! 



Preserving Insects. — Insects of the beetle 

 kind are best preserved by throwing them into 

 boiling water. They die instantaneously, and I 

 advise "Euto., Hull," to try this plan. — Helen E. 

 Watney. 



The Queen Bee.— Sir J. Lubbock, in his recent 

 lecture on bees and ants, expresses a doubt as to 

 the death of a queen bee being lamented by the 

 hive. An amateur bee-keeper, and a naturalist in 

 his pursuits (my [relative G. Fox, of Kingsbridge), 

 showed me a piece of comb, in the centre of which 

 a dead queen bee was hanging by her claws. About 

 100 dead bees were also on the comb, all, both 

 above and below her, having their heads turned 

 towards her, having looked on their sovereign "in 

 articulo mortis.'" As the hive contained plenty of 

 honey, could anything but despair at their forlorn 

 condition have occasioned their death ? Possibly 

 there was no brood young enough to be fed and 

 trained as royal highnesses, whose individual 

 strength, on emerging from . their cells, would be 

 tested, and the most vigorous, or the first that 

 attained the imago state for occupying the vacant 

 throne. — C. Fox, T rebate. 



Aquaria.— In reply to your correspondent 

 " W. H.C." withregardto the difficulty he has with 

 his aquarium, it is, in the first place, a great mistake 

 to use a bell-glass for such a purpose however 

 large, for the most important thing connected with 

 the success of keeping aquatic animals, &c, is that 



