HARDW.ICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



95 



tiling like the En;D:lish viper, of 20 inches in length ; 

 for a reptile of this length to receive say six or nine 

 young ones into its body, seems a stretch of the 

 imagination when we consider that the young ones 

 are generally about six inches long when born — 

 nearly one-third the length'of the parent. I hope 

 that the ensuing summer will settle this question. 

 If any observer should have the good fortune to see 

 the swallowing operation, secure the reptile, and 

 put it in a place of safety, and if the young should 

 ever emerge into the light of day, we should then 

 be satisfied as to the swallowing theory ; till then I 

 should say, well, it is not proven. — James Kirby. 



Zoological Study.— Will you kindly insert the 

 following ? — A society is at present being formed for 

 the promotion of general Zoolosy, by means of 

 collection of types, a library, and general investi- 

 gations. The hearty co-operation of zoologists in 

 the furtherance of the object is earnestly desired. 

 A committee of management has been already 

 formed. Further particulars may be obtained upon 

 application to t he Secretary, A. J . R. Tunbridge, 2, 

 Ashurst-street, Battersea. 



Marine Aquarium.— In reply to " J. G." I 

 think the best tiling he can do to obtain his supply 

 of "salt-water" is to manufacture it himself, unless 

 he can purchase any of Mr. Lloyd, of 20, Portland- 

 street, Regent's Park, who used to sell it. If "J. 

 G." is unable to obtain any, he had better make use 

 of the following receipt. — Table-salt 3.^ ounces, 

 Epsom-salt i ounce, chloride of potassium 40 grains 

 troy, chloride of magnesium 200 grains troy, to every 

 gallon of water. With regard to the maintenance 

 of the aquarium, if "J. G." will communicate with 

 me, I shall be glad to give him every information. — 

 /. T. T. Heed, Ryhope, S^mderland. 



An Ornithological Opera.— The Manchester 

 Evening News, of February 17th, had the following 

 paragraph copied from the Swiss Times .•— " An 

 extraordinary public entertainment has been pro- 

 duced in Lima, Peru, by an Italian named Contarini, 

 who proposes to bring his exhibition to Europe. 

 He has taught and trained, by dint of great patience 

 and perseverance, an opera company, made up of 

 thirty parrots and paroquets, who perform two of 

 Bellini's operas, " Norma " and " Sonnambula," on 

 a miniature stage, with full chorus and recitative. 

 The director and manager accompanies the artists 

 on a piano harmonium, and the perfection with 

 which each bird sings his part, and the excellence 

 of the chorus, are prodigious. The debut of his 

 lyrico-ornithological company in "Norma" was 

 attended by the wealth and fashion of Lima. When 

 the paroquet that sang the contralto had finished 

 the allegro to the " Salutation to the Moon," such 

 was the enthusiasm, the shouting, and the applause 

 at hearing a bird sing the " Casta Diva," that the 

 bird company, affrighted, took flight, and sought 

 refuge among the side scenes. This interrupted 

 the performance for fully a quarter of an hour, and 

 Signor Contarini had to tranquillize the " artists " 

 by giving them bread soaked in wine, and henceforth 

 the expressions of approbation were moderated, in 

 order not to spoil the play. It appears that the 

 bird artists have now become accustomed to the 

 applause. The correctness and propriety with 

 which they give certain parts of the opera are 

 wonderful. The primo tenore possesses all the airs 

 and graces of the school of Mario, and the ladies of 

 Lima have named the prima donna, Patti." One 

 does occasionally see some remarkable performances 



of animals, from fleas_ to elephants, but they pale 

 into insignificance beside the above account, which 

 must surely be either a hoax or a skit upon some 

 human operatic company. — Robert Holland. 



Electricity. — A friend of mine has a pony 

 whose skin, when rubbed, emits electric light. 

 When the finger-ends are rubbed smartly along the 

 animal's back till they become hot, a stream of 

 light accompanies them. I should mention that 

 the pony is closely clipped. Darkness is of course 

 necessary for the experiment. Has such a circum- 

 stance been commonly noticed ?— George Roberts. 



The Oldest Trees in Britain (p. 265, last vol.). 

 — The Yew-tree mentioned by Evelyn as growing in 

 the churchyard at Brabourne, Kent, has long since 

 ceased to exist. The Cowthorpe Oak near Wetherby, 

 Yorkshire, appears to have undergone very little 

 change during the last hundred years. I' "have a 

 beautiful water-colour drawing done by a lady from 

 her own sketch of the oak in the summer of 1872, and 

 on comparing it with the engraving in the " Silva." 

 edition A.D. 1776, there is very little perceptible 

 difference. At present the lower boughs are propped 

 up and the trunk is hollow -. this may have been the 

 case in 1776, although not shown in the engraving. 

 Dr. Hunter, in describing this veteran, says : 

 " When compared to this, all other trees are but 

 children of the forest." Humboldt, Mrs. Somer- 

 ville, and Professor Balfour (probably upon the 

 computation of Decandolle), estimate the age of the 

 Brabourne Yew-tree at 3,000 years, whilst the age 

 of a yew-tree at Heddon, Bucks, has been com- 

 puted at 3,200 years ; and that of the Cowthorpe 

 Oak at 1,600 years. It is a singular fact that many 

 of the largest yew-trees were formerly, or are at 

 present, growing in churchyards, as at' Brabourne, 

 Gresford, Crowhurst, Fountains Abbey, &c. &c. 

 Did the early Christians select the proximity of 

 such trees for their churches and burial-grounds ? 

 If the computation as to their great age can be 

 depended upon, such would appear to have been 

 the case ; and 1 shall be glad if any of your cor- 

 respondents will express an opinion upon this 

 subject. — Francis Brent. 



The Liver (p. 238, last vol.).- Thereseems tobe 

 no inherent improbability in the proposed identifica- 

 tion of the Liver with the emblem of St. John. It is, 

 however, an error to suppose, with your correspondent, 

 that the eagle was ever imagined to have been tiae 

 actual companion of the apostle, either during his 

 "mission [exile] in ths isle of Patmos," or at any 

 other period of his career. Indeed, the evangelistic 

 symbols {vid. Ezekiel i. 5, seq.) were not always 

 at first assigned in precisely the same manner by 

 early writers ; and the eagle was finally attributed 

 to St. John, because, as St. Jerome tells us, 

 "Joannes quasi aquila ad superna volat, etad ipsum 

 Patrem pervenit, dicens : In priucipio erat Verbum, 

 et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum." 

 But the subject is, perhaps, rather out of place in 

 the pages of Science-Gossip.— 72. A. Pryor. 



Disappearance or Colias Edusa.— " J. R. S. C." 

 observes in the March number of Science-Gossip, 

 that he did not observe a specimen of C. Edusa 

 during the autumn of 1873 near Gravesend. I was 

 staying then in the Isle of Wight, where it is usually 

 plentiful, but only saw two specimens, one of which 

 I captured, though I spent several days in searching 

 the clover-fields. This shows that the scarcity of 

 C. Edusa last autumn was not confined to North 

 Kent.— C. G. Thomas. 



