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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE -GO SSIP. 



the pectoral, ventral, and anal fins are of a rich 

 yellowish-green colour, darker towards the extre- 

 mities. The tail is remarkable for its breadth 

 and consequent power. In adults it is perfectly 

 square.' " 



HOW TO REMOTE BEETLES FROM CARDBOARD. 



—Would you be kind enough to inform me through 

 the medium of Science-Gossip in what manner 

 I could remove beetles, which have been fastened by 

 coagulum, from cardboard, without injuring either 

 the insect or the card ? I should be greatly obliged 

 by an answer to above.— H. Wiglesworth. 



Cats and Frogs.— Erom the cool shelter of some 

 tall weeds I turned out the other day a number 

 of frogs. Upon a loud and prolonged squeak 

 I looked up and found Puss, who had been quietly 

 watching the operation, had seized one, and after 

 the usual preliminaries he proceeded to devour it. I 

 understand he is in the habit of doing this. Is it 

 a common thing for cats to do ?— W. J. Horn. 



Sexes in Hermit-Crabs.— In answer to " G. G.'s" 

 inquiry respecting the means of distinguishing the 

 sexes in hermit-crabs, I extract the following 

 from Bell's "History of the British Stalk-eyed 

 Crustacea." The abdomen in the female of the 

 common Hermit-crab, Pagurus Bernhardus, is fur- 

 nished with four ovigerous false feet, each consist- 

 ing of a basal joint, which is elongate and cylin- 

 drical, and two terminal laminar branches, the 

 fourth much the smallest. In the male there are 

 three false feet, composed of a basal and a double 

 terminal joint, one finger of which is laminar and 

 large, the other rudimentary. The terminal joint 

 of the abdomen is notched.— Thos. D. Russell. 



Arran Argus. — I took a female specimen of the 

 Arran Argus in Margate last summer. Have any 

 of your readers found this insect so far south 

 before? — W. J. Mercer. 



Tingis.— I shall be much obliged if any one who 

 is familiar with the habits of the British Tingidse 

 will inform me when and where to collect them. 

 I have searched thistles in vain, although from the 

 name of Thistle-bug given to one species I should 

 have expected some success. — H.C.W.A. 



Local Plant-Names. — "Bazier" is the name 

 given in some parts of Lancashire to the Auricula. 

 It is, I am told, of very ancient origin, as an old 

 song, called " A Swinton May-Song," proves. The 

 Auricula came to us from the Continent, and the 

 name signifies "little ear"; can bazier be a cor- 

 ruption of base-ear, sow, or little-ear ?— Helen 

 E. Watney. 



Gram or India.— Can any reader of Science- 

 Gossip give me the botanical name of this kind of 

 pulse, which, I believe, is much used in India ? It 

 is a fabaceous plant, growing in a garden in Dorset- 

 shire, about 1 ft. high, and bearing small thick pods 

 containing two seeds about the size of peas. The 

 recent wet weather has caused many of the pods to 

 damp off. — John E. Daniel. 



Our "Exchange" Columk.— Allow me to pro- 

 test against a practice which is creeping in amongst 

 contributors to the "exchange" column of request- 

 ing a "stamped directed envelope" to be sent 

 in addition to an object of interest. In the case of 

 a gratuitous distribution, of course a stamped enve- 

 lope should be sent, and besides, gratitude should 

 be felt to the donor for his courtesy ; but when an 



exchange is wanted, it is rather too much of a good 

 thing for one of the parties to wish to throw all the 

 expense on the other ! Might I suggest that you 

 refuse to insert exchanges with the objectionable 

 condition referred to ? — 0. P. G. 



Instinct of Ants. — My attention _ has been 

 drawn to what appears to me to be an instance of 

 the wonderfuljnstinct of the Ant. The beds in my 

 garden are edged with dwarf box about 9 inches in 

 height, and correspondingly thick. Into this the 

 ants have, in many instances, conveyed soil in suffi- 

 cient quantities to form their abode. In one of 

 these I found to-day numerous eggs. I am no 

 entomologist, but it struck me that this proceeding 

 was caused by the very wet season we have had, 

 which has been quite sufficient, I should imagine, to 

 drown out any of the ordinary nests.— Geo. H. 

 Payne. 



Frog Orchis.— Are there two varieties, or 

 rather, is there a sub-species of Habenaria viridis ? 

 One form growing in the low ground here, near the 

 sea, has been out of flower nearly six weeks, 

 while the other is now in perfection on the hills 

 near Goodwood and Harting. The perianth of the 

 latter is tinged with a much deeper purple, and the 

 spike is less lax. In Sowerby's plate two plants 

 are represented, very dissimilar; are they supposed 

 to give the two forms? For any conjecture on 

 this point I shall be glad.— .P. H. Arnold, LL.B., 

 Fishboume, Chichester. 



How to preserve Mites. — Can any of your 

 readers tell me how to preserve such common objects 

 as Acarus sacchari, cheese-mites, &c? They become 

 destroyed by endosmose in a short time when fluid 

 media are used, and grauulate and lose all their 

 detail when media that dry solid — at least all that 

 I have tried — are used. Is there any cement that 

 will confine alcohol in cells ? — E. G. 



" Call the Birds ! " — A lady living in the 

 neighbourhood of Birmingham is in the habit in 

 cold weather of feeding the sparrows, and some 

 years ago she taught her dog, a little black and tan 

 terrier, to stand at the dining-room window aud 

 bark when she said to him, " Call the birds !" The 

 sparrows got to understand the call, aud would fly 

 down to the window as soon as the dog began to 

 bark. This morning (November 11th, 1874) being 

 very cold and frosty, the lady thought it was time to 

 begin feeding her feathered pensioners again, and 

 made the remark, " I wonder will Trip remember 

 his duty " ; but the instant she began to prepare the 

 plate of food, all doubt was set at rest, for he ran to 

 the window to await his orders. We were pleased to 

 see such an evidence of memory in the dog, and still 

 more pleased and surprised when immediately the 

 dog began to bark, before ever the window was 

 open, about a dozen sparrows flew down, in eager 

 expectation of their morning meal. In the summer 

 months the birds are not fed. Is it not rather an 

 unusual thing to find them remembering a custom 

 of this sort from year to year ? — E. J. It. 



Arms Migrations. — We are still in lack of 

 reliable details as to the cause and extent of the 

 migrations of aphides, which take place every sum- 

 mer, mostly iu May and June, therefore I venture to 

 put on record a modicum of information. On a 

 June morning, following a calm night, and rather 

 cool, a party of winged females arrived on a hazel- 

 bush in my garden, about 6 ft. high, which had 

 previously been free from them. To all appearance 



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