HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE- G S SIP. 



IB 



felling timber in a wood near Cudham, Kent, cut 

 down ail old liollow oak-tree, when upwards of thirty 

 squirrels rolled out, most of which were dormant 

 or in a state of semi-sleep ; but upon being roused, 

 they dispersed to various parts of the copse. A 

 large stock of nuts was stored away in the hollow 

 of the tree, which had been coUeccted by these 

 industrious little animals as a provision for the 

 winter. It is common to find squirrels laid up in 

 shelter during the winter, but. it is seldom such a 

 swarm is found together.— Elizabeth Ethoards. 



Saxifraga grantjlata (p. 94).— In answer to 

 " W. G. P.'s " inquiry about the above plant, I beg 

 to quote the following from Dresser's " Botany," 

 page 28. " True bulbs appear to be found exclu- 

 sively amongEndogens; nevertheless, minute bodies 

 analogous to bulbs occur in Exogens, which are 

 called granules. Ex. : S. gmnulata."—R. B., jvn. 



Insects' Eggs.— In answer to the query of H. 

 Glazbrook in the March number of Science-Gossip, 

 whether it is usual for Thecla quercus to lay its 

 eggs on Fraximis excelsior, when Quercus pedun- 

 m/ate is more plentiful in the same locality, I beg 

 to state that I have observed the same myself, and 

 also that in the second volume of the Entomologist,^ 

 a gentleman writes that he saw several specimens of 

 T. quercus ' gsca^hoWmg and settling on an ash-tree 

 near Beckenham, and also on the same day shook 

 several out of a sapling ash at West Wickham. 

 Some thirty or forty have also been seen gambolling 

 about one limettree. 



The Warji Season.— As a notable example of 

 the extreme mildness of the season, I may record 

 that I captured a specimen of the Brimstone but- 

 tprfiy {Gonepteryx rliamni) in flight on January 27th. 

 This was a very warm day, the thermometer attain- 

 ing a lieisht of 5.38 degrees in the shade.— /T. E. 

 Benning, F.B.3I.S. 



Origin of "Laby-bied." — In reply to T. 

 Palmer, the name "lady-bird" is said to be a cor- 

 ruption of "lady-bug" (lady, i.^. the Virgin Mary). 

 In France it is still called " Bete de la Vierge," 

 and in Germany, " Marienhafer."— 72. H. 31. 



Euplectella.— I do not think that the small 

 crustaceans, &c., found inside the above-named 

 sponge were placed there by the finder or preparer. 

 Some uncleaned specimens sent over in spirit contain 

 one or two specimens of small crabs, and in one of 

 them is a shell of some species of pteropod. In 

 one of the specimens a reticulated diaphragm has 

 been formed about two inches from the bases : 

 within this sponge a small crab is caged. This 

 could not have been introduced by human agency. 

 The occurrence of organisms in the Euplectella 

 may, [think, be accounted for in another way; viz., 

 by their swimming through the meshes of the 

 sponge, and then being unable to find their way 

 out, and in the course of a few days they would 

 either have grown too large to do so, or probably 

 have died from lack of nutriment.— .f. K. 



The HoLLT(Z/eA- Jquifolium).—! observe that this 

 evergreen flowering shrub is not mentioned in the 

 recent edition of Sowerby's "British Flora." I 

 am surprised that a tree which seems to be the 

 most interesting in the whole Flora should have 

 been left out of such an exhaustive Botany as 

 Sowerby's great work certainly is. What a crowd 

 of associations surround this tree, which produces 

 its fruit at the great feast of Christmas ! Certainly, 



nobody needs a botanist to show the glossy leaves 

 of the boughs and the bright red berries we are so 

 familiar with at Christmas, decorating our churches 

 and chapels, mansions, and the smallest cottages. 

 No tree yields so much fruit as this. The skilful 

 botanist, too, enjoys, with regard to this tree, the 

 advantage of examining the blossom in February 

 or March, and can examine the fruit without wait- 

 ing for autumn. The Mistletoe, which accom- 

 panies the Holly, enjoys the same prestige as that 

 tree. It resembles the holly in blossoming early 

 in the year, when some berries may remain. — S. A. 

 I^otcutt,ju)i. 



The Name of the Lady-bikd.— Mr. T. Palmer 

 inquires, on page 70, as to the origin of this title. 

 I venture to suggest that the word "Lady-bird" 

 is a relic of Catholic times, and that these beetles, 

 like many of our native plants, derive their popular 

 name from having been connected, by legend or 

 otherwise, with the Virgin. It should be observed, 

 that the term is by no means confined to any indi- 

 vidual insect, but is applied indiscriminately to all 

 the British representatives of the genus CoccineUa. 

 — C. Lovekin. 



Gentiana verna. — The readers of Science- 

 Gossip may be interested to hear that Gentiana 

 verna blossomed, February 2, in my weedery, for the 

 first time since it was brought three years ago from 

 Teesdale Forest. 



Slugs. — I should be thankful if any one could 

 tell me of something to keep slugs away from 

 Leucojum eestivum, Gagea lutea, and Maianthemum 

 bifolimn. I have grown them three years in my 

 weedery, and each spring leaves and flower-buds 

 have been completely devoured. I have tried soot, 

 ashes, lime, salt, &c., but in vain ; also I have 

 planted crocus, snowdrops, and wild hyacinths to 

 protect my pets ; but no, the slugs will not touch 

 them, and I am in despair. I catch them morning 

 and evening literally by dozens, but their numbers 

 do not seem to diminish. — Mary Longhear. 



Lizards. — Having often kept the green Jersey 

 lizard, and having one now in my possession, I can 

 corroborate " H. F. M." as to its habit of licking 

 its lips after taking a fly, as a cat does after her 

 saucer of milk, and can add that it also uses its 

 tongue in cat-like fashion when drinking, which it 

 always does by lapping. It also reminds one 

 strongly of a cat in its stealthy approach to its 

 prey, and the wriggling movement of the body and 

 tail which often precedes the final spring. These 

 beautiful green lizards are quite an ornament to 

 a fern-case, and are superior to most reptiles in 

 intelligence and capability of being tamed. Mine, 

 which I have had about three years, looks up for 

 food, and wiU take a fly from the hand. — G. Guyon. 



Welsh Seaside Shrubs. — Will any of your 

 readers do me the favour to let me know what are 

 the best shrubs and trees to plant on an exposed 

 and windy part of Anglesey, near Holyhead ? The 

 young plants will be at first .protected by stone 

 walls. — Edmund H. Verney. 



MoLLUscAN Threads (Sc.-Gos., p. 49).— Often 

 when a mollusk (pulmonobranch) is ascending by a 

 thread, it returns before reaching the surface of the 

 water: its method of reversing the attachment of its 

 thread is by curling its body until the extremities 

 meet, when the thread is transferred from the tail 

 to the head.— (?. S. T. 



