20 



HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE-GOSSIP. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Stenocephaltis agilis.— The " works on Ento- 

 mology" to which Mr. J. O. Harper (Science- 

 Gossip, No. 106, p. 228) has referred for an account 

 of the "ovipositor saws" of this insect, are, judging 

 from the one mentioned in the note to his paper, 

 probably of no scientific value whatever. The struc- 

 ture of the rostrum and genital segments of the 

 Eemiptera heteroptera is, of course, noticed in a 

 general way by Westwood, in his admirable "Intro- 

 duction;" and intheonlywork exclusively discussing 

 the Bugs in this country, viz. "The Britibh Hemip- 

 tera," by J. W. Douglas and J. Scott, published by 

 the Eay Society (of which all naturalists should be 

 members) in 186.5, will be found a more recent and 

 ample account of the structure referred to. The 

 lancets of the rostrum are simply two of the four 

 setae representing the normal mandibles and maxillae 

 of insects, and which in all the Heteroptera are in 

 eluded in the rostrum. The "ovipositor-saws" at 

 the terminal segment of the abdomen, are simply the 

 genital segments, which in the description of the 

 genus Stenocephalus (as in the account of all other 

 British genera) are, as to both male and female sexes, 

 fully described by Douglas and Scott, "Brit. Hem.," 

 p. 141. This structure, in one of the type forms of the 

 order, is also well figured in outline at p. 1 of their 

 work.— .E". C. Rye. 



Helix obvoltjta. — In reply to Mr. C. Griffith's 

 inquiry respecting Helix obvoluta, I beg to say that 

 the species has an extensive range on the Continent. 

 Pfeiffersays ("Mon.Heliceorum," i. 413), "Habitat 

 in Europse borealis et mediae terris plerisque." In 

 Lis last edition (v. 423), he gives as the habitat 

 "Europa media" only. Jeff^reys ("Brit. Con- 

 chology," i. 230) states that it occurs in Erance, 

 Germany, Switzerland, and Italy ; and I posssess 

 specimens from Hungary. Amongst other Erench 

 localities, it is found in the Bois de Meudon, two 

 or three miles south-west of Paris. Helix obvoluta, 

 in fact, is only one of the many instances of species 

 that are very abundant on the Continent and rare 

 in the British islands. Clausilia Rolphii is a 

 similar case, and every entomologist knows of many 

 such in his branch; e.g. Carabus auratus, Culosoma 

 sycophanta, &c. — C P. Gloyne. 



Indian Insects. — As my duties lead me to 

 travel a good deal in the districts of western India, 

 I have, of course, ample opportunity of obtaining 

 specimens of insects, &c. ; but, having no books of 

 reference, am unable to say, as a rule, what are 

 already known to naturalists and what not. The 

 difiiculty of preserving specimens in cabinets is 

 almost insurmounlable. 1 have had the work of 

 two years destroyed in one week during the mon- 

 soon. I propose in future to send home my gather- 

 ings in small batches, and with this view would be 



glad to correspond with any one interested in the 

 subject, who would send me the names of the spe- 

 cimens and where described, or any works on the 

 entomology of India, in return. — A. Stormont. 



Snow-buntings. — Perhaps it may be interesting 

 to some of the readers of Science-Gossip to know 

 that an extraordinary number of Snow-buntings 

 {Emberiza nivalis) were taken the last week in 

 November. One man caught 250 in a field of oat- 

 stubble near Brighton, some of which are very beau- 

 tiful. To the lovers of the feathered tribe these birds 

 will be very welcome. They are a good aviary bird ; 

 their food is canary-seed ; they are very hardy, and 

 soon become tame. — Chas. W. Riidcl. 



The Bkeathing of Ekogs.— Mr. W. Muller 

 has been comparing the amount of oxygen con- 

 sumed by two species of frog, the Green Edible Erog 

 {Ram esculenta) and the ordinary Brown Erog 

 {R. temporaria), in order to ascertain whether the 

 amount consumed by the more voracious species 

 was not the greater. Erom these experiments he 

 has concluded that the Brown Erog consumes more 

 oxygen than the Green Erog. When hungry they 

 consume less oxygen, but there is still the same 

 difference between the species. In winter time, 

 under water, they consume the same amount of 

 oxygen as when breathing air. Erogs frozen in 

 ice for eight hours nevertheless breathed at the 

 normal rate after being released. The amount of 

 oxygen consumed by the common mouse {Mus 

 musciilus) is twenty-four times as great as that of 

 the frog. 



Spontaneous Changes in Eggs. — M. Gazon, 

 who has previously shown that the putrefaction of 

 eggs corresponds with the development and multi- 

 plication of vibrios within them, has contributed the 

 result of some further investigations on this sub- 

 ject. He thinks that these organisms might be 

 easily introduced into the egg during its passage 

 down the oviduct. Recent experiments confirm 

 this opinion. M. Guyon examined the oviduct of 

 a recently killed fowl, and found there both bacteria 

 and spores of fungi. 



GEOLOGY. 



Sub-Wealden Exploration.— At the Novem- 

 ber meeting of the Brighton and Sussex Natural 

 History Society, Mr. Wonfor reported that Mr. H. 

 Willett had sent him for examination the second 

 specimen of Lingula ovalis, found at a depth oi 

 294 feet, in the Sub-Wealden boring. It was be- 

 lieved they had reached the Kimmerage clay, and 

 some even thought they were nearing the Palseo- 

 zoic rocks. 



Shells of tue Lancashire and Cheshire Low- 

 level Clay and Sands, by T. Mellaud Keade, 



