152 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



A cork must be provided which fits tightly to the 

 collecting-bottle ; this is to be bored with two holes ; 

 in each is fitted a glass tube, as seen in the diagram, 

 one (a) having a slight curve, the other {b) bent at 

 right angles an inch from the end ; this can easily 

 be done with the aid of a spirit-lamp. To tube b is 

 attached a piece of elastic tubing, about the length 

 of the collecting-stick, and the free end (c) may be 

 held to the stick with an elastic band, and the 

 apparatus is complete. 



It is especially useful in collecting the very thin 

 films of diatoms from the surfaces of mud and sand, 

 so difficult to raise to the surface of the water in the 

 ordinary way with the spoon or bottle. 



Fig. 99. New Diatom-collecting Apparatus. 



To use the apparatus, the thumb of the right hand 

 must press the tube firmly against the stick at c, 

 and the bottle lowered until the mouth of the tube 

 (a) is within a quarter of an inch from the surface 

 of the diatoms ; the thumb is then to be raised, and 

 if the water is deep, the bottle will fill by atmo- 

 spheric pressure, carrying the diatoms in at the same 

 time. In shallow water suction will be necessary to 

 exhaust the air in the bottle : in that case a ball 

 pipette (fig. B) will be useful as a mouthpiece. 



The gathering can be further cleaned by placing 

 it in a long bottle in the sun for a few hours. 

 Cover the lower part of the bottle with black paper, 

 when the free diatoms will separate themselves from 

 the mud, and rest on the surface. 



Bolton. John Redmayne. 



"In a general sense we may say that the 

 mechanism of respiration is the same in animals and 

 plants."— Masters. 



A CHAPTER ON WINGLESS BIRDS. 



BY T. W. WONFOK,. 



THE following paper was read at a meeting of 

 the Brighton Natural History Society, by Mr. 

 T. W. Wonfor, Curator of the Brighton Museum, 

 and is a careful compilation of one of the most pe- 

 culiar and suggestive of all the orders of birds :— 



The idea ordinarily associated in the mind with 

 the word ' bird' is that of a creature possessing the 

 power of flight, and, as a matter of consequence' 

 provided with wings. In the north of England 

 'bird' or 'brid' is a term used when speaking of 

 any flying thing, so that a moth, butterfly, or beetle 

 would be equally included under the term ' bird.' 

 Now as there are wingless or brevipennate insects, 

 the question may arise, Are there wingless birds, 

 in the usual application of the term ? We know 

 that the expressions ' wingless ' and ' brevipennate ' 

 have been applied to some members of the family 

 Aves, yet still we fancy, if we inquire into the cha- 

 racter of those birds which have been so designated, 

 we shall find that, though we cannot in all cases 

 hold that they are flying creatures, yet no one 

 member of the great family of Aves is absolutely 

 deprived of wings. They may be merely rudimen- 

 tary, as in the case of the Apterix, or changed into 

 flappers or paddles, as seen in the Penguins, but still 

 they are present, and correspond with the anterior 

 pair of Jimbs found in all members of the', family 

 possessing the power of flight. 



The Apterix Australis. — It is related that a few 

 years since the skin of a bird brought home by some 

 one from New Zealand, was given to a taxidermist 

 to set up, and he, taking into consideration the 

 shortness of wing and absence of tail, assuming 

 that it was a penguin, stuffed it in a sitting posture, 

 with the head and neck arranged after the manner 

 of the Penguins. This bird proved to be the Ap- 

 terix Australis, a native of New Zealand, and, for 

 a bird, exhibiting peculiar features. In addition to 

 an almost want of wing, it presents a strange 

 appearance, the plumage consisting of long, flat, 

 slender, lanceolate feathers, each furnished with 

 a soft, shining, silken down, for the basal third of 

 their length, and then narrowing rapidly towards 

 the extremity, where they present the appearance 

 of single shafts, with hair-like webs on each side. 

 The quill portion is very small and short, and over- 

 lapped by the down when the feathers are removed 

 from the skin. Above and below the eye, at the 

 base of the beak, and on the forehead, are groups or 

 pencils of long whisker-like hairs. As the Kiwi, 

 as the natives call it, is nocturnal in its habits, and 

 lives among the fern-beds, boring into the ground, 

 and seeking shelter in deep excavations, these hairs 

 may serve the same purpose as the whiskers of the 

 cat, and supplement the eye, which, unlike that of 

 the other nocturnal birds, is small. So small is the 



