206 



HARDWICKE'S SC IENCE-GOSSIP. 



interested [in the study of the Diatomacea to in- 

 form hitn of any errors iu the nomenclature, &c., of 

 the genera and species figured : by this means he 

 hopes to make the Atlas a powerful means of ad- 

 vancing the knowledge of the Diatomacea. 



"Centerer " for Mounting.— The figure below 

 is a sketch about half-size of my " centerer " for 

 mounting objects truly. It is made of wood, a 

 tolerably thick bed, thin sides; so that the bed, 

 3 in. by 1 in., just takes a slide; a card with a hole 

 punched in the middle of it, over coloured paper, 

 lies on this, and the slide is placed on it. An ec- 



Fig. 139. Half-siz»d *• Centerer " for mounting objects. 



centric button keeps it steady. The depression at 

 the sides allows a slide with thin glass on the 

 under side to be inverted over it for dismounting, 

 and pressed down, when a tap at one end will dis- 

 lodge the glass, and leave it adhering over the 

 object. The slide should not fit tightly in the bed : 

 a variety of cards can be kept. I have found it 

 very handy : any one can easily make one. — W. 

 Locock, Corscombe Rectory. 



Quekett Microscopical Club. — The tenth 

 annual meeting of this flourishing society was held 

 on the evening of Eriday, July 23, at University 

 College, Dr. Matthews, president, in the chair. The 

 report of'the committee congratulated the members 

 upon the continued prosperity and progress of the 

 club, and showed that during the past year much 

 useful work had been accomplished. The meetings 

 had been well attended, excellent papers had been 

 read, field excursions had been made at frequent 

 intervals with good results, and the library and 

 cabinet were in a satisfactory condition. During 

 the year,five members had been removed by death, 23 

 bad resigned, and 43 had been elected ; the present 

 numerical strength of the club being 530. Special 

 allusion was made in the report to the lamented 

 death of Mr. Robert Ilardwicke, who had so long 

 and ably filled the office of treasurer. The financial 

 statement showed the year's income from all sources 

 to have been £291. 13s. lid. ; and that, after pay- 

 ment of all liabilities, a balance remained in hand of 

 £73. 9s. 9d. The president delivered the customary 

 annual address, in which the aims and objects of the 

 club were enlarged upon, and congratulations upon 

 the past and present were happily intermixed wilh 

 excellent advice for the future. Votes of thanks to 

 the president and officers (some of whom were 

 specially mentioned on account of exceptional ser- 



vices) were unanimously carried, as was also a 

 most cordial vote of thanks to the council of Uni- 

 versity College, for the continued privilege of hold- 

 ing the meetings of the club in the library of that 

 building. The ballot for the election of officers for 

 the ensuing year then took place, with the following 

 results: — As president, Dr. Matthews; as vice- 

 presidents, Messrs. Erank Crisp, JR.. T. Lewis, 

 B. T. Lowne, and T. C. White ; as treasurer, Mr. 

 E. W. Gay; as hon. sec, Mr. J. E. Ingpen; as 

 hon. sec. for foreign correspondence, Dr. M. C. 

 Cooke; and to fill four vacancies on the committee, 

 Messrs. M. H. Johnson, E. Oxley, T. Rogers, and 

 Joseph A. Smith. 



ZOOLOGY. 



A Grampus. — A fine specimen of grampus was 

 captured in the river off Cargreen, Cornwall, on 

 Saturday, 19th of June, 1S75. It measures 14 feet 

 in length and 7 feet in girth before the dorsal fin ; 

 the tail is 4 feet wide, and the weight is calculated 

 at about one ton. It took four boats and twenty 

 men to effect the capture, after several wounds had 

 been inflicted by gunshots. 



Thread -spinning by Slugs. — Your corre- 

 spondent R. S. Terry alludes to a slug spinning a 

 thread. This is no uncommon phenomenon with 

 two species of our native Limaces. The one thing 

 that particularly attracted my attention was the 

 colour of the auimal, viz. white. In England we 

 have, as I think, eleven species of so-called slugs. 

 1. Arion ater, 2. A. hortensis, 3. A. albas (No. 3 is 

 by many authors considered very doubtful), 4. Limax 

 gagates, 5. L.marginatus, 6. L.flavus, 7. L. agrestis, 

 8. L. arborum, 9. L. maximus, 10. L. brunneus, 11. 

 Testacella haliotidea. This last is only a slug in 

 appearance externally. Of all these the only two 

 that I am aware of being able or ever forming a 

 thread, are Limax arborum, which more especially 

 lives on beech trees, and it lowers itself gradually 

 and with care, forming its thread from the mucus 

 or slime which envelops the entire body. Jeffreys' 

 description (and very correct it is) :— " Body rather 

 slender, gelatinous, sea-green or bluish-grey, with 

 irregular yellowish-white spots, indistinctly streaked 

 with a darker colour down the sides, having a 

 lighter stripe in the middle from the shield to the 

 tail, finely wrinkled." It evidently thus uses this 

 rope to search for fresh pastures rather than take 

 the trouble of travelling back to the main trunk, 

 and then selecting some branch. The other species 

 which I have seen suspended by these threads is 

 Limax maximus, Linn., syn. cinereus, E. and H., 

 which only uses the thread at the pairing season, 

 and they generally conduct this operation in the 

 evenings of damp weather. I have thus seen them 



