IIS 



HARDWICO'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



merit, it having occurred to me that hedgehogs 

 preferred flesh to other food. Accordingly I placed 

 one morning before a tame hedgehog, a saucer full 

 of bread and milk, and also one of rate beef ; the 

 hog at once smelt at the bread and milk, then at the 

 saucer containing the beef, which he at once, with a 

 squeak of approval, devoured, I may say ravenously. 

 I have found that all the hedgehogs I have kept 

 would always leave anything for raw meat ; not so 

 with cooked, which they seemed not to care for. 

 A. friend once told me he gave his pet hedgehog 

 dead field-mice every day, which were readily 

 devoured by the hog ; indeed he went so far as to 

 say, that during the summer the hedgehog would 

 capture mice of his own accord. It is stated by 

 some that hedgehogs have a great liking for worms 

 (see Wood's "Anecdotes of Animal Life," p. 257). 

 Goldsmith, in his "Animated Nature" (vol. ii. p. 338), 

 mentions a hedgehog's attempts to procure meat. 

 With all these proofs before us then, and no doubt 

 many others not yet come to light, I think we may 

 conclude that the hedgehog's appetite certainly is a 

 carnivorous one, if, indeed, we don't say omnivo- 

 rous. — Charles Williams, Reclland. 



Cytistjs Scoparius.— This plant, which until the 

 last thirty years was classed under the genus Spartium, 

 grows in a dry sandy soil, and attains the height of 

 about 7 ft. The flowers are large and yellow, and 

 the numerous and graceful branches, in summer 

 loaded with blossoms, look extremely beautiful. 

 The seed-vessel is a broad black pod fringed with 

 hairs, and contains about twenty seeds, which when 

 eaten act as an emetic. In parts of England the 

 plant has been used for thatching cottages and 

 haystacks. Curtis, inhis "FloraLondinensis"states 

 that he has been told on good authority that in 

 parts of Scotland where coals are scarce, whole 

 fields are sown with its seeds to form fuel. On the 

 root of this plant the Great Broomrape (Orobanche 

 major) grows, and attains a height of 16 or 18 in. ; 

 its flowers are generally of a purple hue, but are 

 variable in colour, and the seeds are very small and 

 numerous ; this plant does not confine itself to the 

 roots of Cyiisus scoparius. Curtis gives a list of 

 shrubs that it grows on, which are all, with the ex- 

 ception of one, leguminous. Another kind of broom, 

 besides the C. scoparius, which grows in this 

 country, is called the Spanish or Rush Broom 

 (Spartium junceum). According to Burnett, in his 

 "Outlines of Botany," it received its name from its 

 rush-like branches having been used in the manu- 

 facture of cordage. The same author also states 

 that its fibres are twisted and used as thread in 

 Languedoc. Its yellow flowers are very attractive 

 to bees.— £ H. G. 



The Upas Tree. — Those who have visited the 

 galleries of the South Kensington Museum will 

 have noticed the picture on this subject. Apropos 

 I would ask if there be any foundation for the 

 certainly remarkable stories respecting this tree. 

 It is said that condemned malefactors are deputed 

 to collect the poison, and accept the mission only as 

 a last chance for life. As the supply of capital 

 offenders must necessarily be limited, it would be 

 interesting to know how the requisite stock is kept 

 up. 



White Varieties, &c. — Having often found 

 Erica tetralix perfectly white, I thought " W.," of 

 Oxford, might be glad to know the localities for it. 

 Near Teignmouth, in Devon, there are several large 

 downs, and on all of these (a few years since) I have 



often found the E. tetralix growing with ~E. cinerea 

 in tolerable abundance, and perfectly white specimens 

 every here and there, especially on one of the downs 

 called Millbourne, not far from Newton Abbot, the 

 white variety abounded. I have also, near Kynance 

 Cove, the Lizard, Cornwall, found specimens of the 

 E. vagans quite white. A curious fact occurred in a 

 copse at Sandling Park, near Hythe, in Kent, in 

 relation to the sudden appearance of Digitalis 

 purpurea. A part of the trees had been cut down 

 early in the year 1872 ; in July the site was covered 

 with a large bed of the Digitalis, the greater part 

 of which were of a beautiful cream-colour. The 

 next summer these had, all but two specimens, dis- 

 appeared, and last year none of the cream colour 

 were to be seen, and only a very few of the ordinary 

 coloured plants were left. In the meantime r of 

 course the trees had been growing, and I fancy the 

 Digitalis is a plant that requires both air and sun- 

 shine to bring it to perfection. In Devon, especi- 

 ally near Lustleigh Cleave, I have often seen pure 

 white flowers standing out conspicuously from the 

 midst of hundreds of their darker brethren. I 

 have also very often in Devon found the Geranium 

 molle quite white ; and here, in the neighbourhood 

 of Folkestone, G. Robertiamm, with pure white 

 flowers often occurs. — /. Fitz Gerald, Folkestone. 



New Zealand Forests.— I scarcely think your 

 correspondents have understood all the elements 

 connected with the transplanting of New Zealand 

 native trees. In my thirty years' expei'ience the 

 difficulty was not the soil, but the atmosphere. The 

 habitat of these plants is a still and moist atmo- 

 sphere, without frost ; and give them that, they will 

 grow almost anywhere. I tried repeatedly to grow 

 the beautiful Rimer {Dacrydium cupressimuni) as a 

 detached tree, but it always grew sickly until it was 

 planted amongst a thick mass of other shrubs and 

 kept from the wind and sun. Three or four species 

 do well on the edge of the forest, having shelter and 

 moisture on one side ; but two of these (the Karaka, 

 Corynocarpus, and the Parrot's-beak, Clianthus 

 puniceus), were introduced by the natives when they 

 emigrated from a warmer climate. — Henry Weekes. 



Anodonta. — Can any of your readers tell me the 

 largest size which shells of this genus attain in 

 Britain ? I have one (A. cygnea) from a pond at 

 Southampton, which measures 7i in. in width. — A. 

 W. Langdon, Hastings. 



Cure for Toothache (?)— Dr.Phipson's work on 

 "The Utilization of Minute Life" contains the 

 following paragraph with reference to those familiar 

 insects, Ladybirds (Coccinella). "They secrete 

 from their legs when captured an acrid yellow fluid, 

 having a disagreeable odour. It is, doubtless, to 

 this fluid that they owe their property of curing the 

 most violent toothache when they are placed alive 

 in the hollow part of the tooth." I should be glad 

 to know whether any correspondent has observed 

 the emission of this secretion, and experienced its 

 strange medicinal property. If this is so certain a 

 cure for " the most violent toothache," could not 

 this valuable fluid be artificially extracted from 

 insects cultivated for the purpose, and would it not 

 become a rare remedy for such a troublesome 

 malady ? — G. Dannatt. 



The Death's-head. — May not the native species 

 of Atropa and Solanum have served for the food- 

 plant of this species, prior to the introduction of 

 the potato ? It seems most probable that the insect 





