140 



HARDWICKE'S SC lENC E-G OS SIP. 



sec what remained of it lookin,? so vigorous. I 

 have not observed in your pages any mention of the 

 yews in Norbury Park, near Leatherhead. They 

 may not be in existence now, but more than thirty 

 years ago I saw them, and was toid that they were 

 mentioned as a grove of old yew-trees in "Domes- 

 day Book," One of them was lying prostrate, 

 having been blown down. It was sawn through at 

 the butt, and, as far as my recollection serves me, 

 was sound throughout — a most beautiful piece of 

 timber, and destined, I believe, for a dining-room 

 table. The oaks in Bagot's Park, Staffordshire, 

 and the Snilcar Lawn Oak close by, will amply re- 

 pay a visit ; while, less grand, but far more pictu- 

 resque, are some old oaks in a small remnant of 

 Needwood Forest at Berkely Lodi^e, near Barton- 

 under-Needwood. This is one of the most exquisite 

 bits of sylvan scenery that I have ever seen. — II. 

 M. Mapleton. 



Yeast. — Can any of the readers of Science-Gos- 

 sip furnish me with a few particulars concerning 

 yeast? What is the cause of yeast fermenting a 

 sugar solution ? Does the yeast plant in its growth 

 take some of the elements of the sugar to itself to 

 enable it to propagate, and thus leave the other 

 parts of the sugar to form carbonic acid and alco- 

 hol (please give formula of reaction) ? Wliat is the 

 cause of yeast making bread light ? Does bread 

 undergo any fermentation by the action of yeast ? — 

 IS. J. 



Indiscri:m:ixate Collecting.— The article writ- 

 ten upon the, now, universal destruction of species, 

 more particularly of insects and plants, by " C," 

 I entirely agree w;ith. I have been a naturalist from 

 a very early period, and I am now seventy, and I 

 can conOdently eay, from observation, that in the 

 last few years many species of insects, chiefly of 

 the favourite butterfly, are so far decreased, that, 

 now science is being taught in our schools, there 

 will not be species enough to supply the great de- 

 mand of an army of boys with their great sweeping 

 nets, and whose general practice is to take every 

 specimen on the wing, partly to have a good store 

 of duplicates, not allowing time to make a single 

 ohsertaiio)i or enjoy the delightful sight of seeing 

 these charming creatures flit from flower to flower 

 sucking their honeyed food, so kindly and beauti- 

 fully provided for them in the innumerable golden 

 cups of the earlier flowers, and throughout the year. 

 Natural history is a science of observation, not of 

 destruction. 1 am afraid it is of no use to write 

 to these young beginners, or even to some older 

 ones, whose pleasure seems to be in capturing a 

 great number of individuals. Even when a new 

 or rare butterfly makes its appearance, it is gone 

 immediately, such as the Queen of Spain Pritillary ; 

 for if two or three do but make their appearance, 

 some indiscriminate sportsman is down upoii them, 

 and they are not allowed a chance to spread over 

 the country. Wliat a beautiful land this would be 

 if the pastures, hill-sides, and woods swarmed with 

 the lovely butterfly. They are taken now in every 

 state of their existence — the ^%%, the caterpillar, and 

 the perfect insect ; what chance is there for them ? 

 They must go, and that quickly, — all the most local 

 and attractive species. Wiiy do not the Linnaan 

 or Zoological Societies, and other societies of natu- 

 ralists, take the matter up ? 1 am afraid they rather 

 encourage it, in the hopes of getting a mio species. 

 —J. B. 



Skeletonizing.— Can any of your correspond- 

 ents inform me as to the best way in which to pre- 



pare the skeletons of birds, and also what is the 

 easiest and most elegant form to mount them in 

 when obtained ?— /. E. IF. 



Sudden Appearance of Plants. — The fol- 

 lowing, which came under the notice of the writer 

 some years ago, is offered in further illustration of 

 the " Sudden Appearance of Plants " noticed in 

 a recent number. In 1855-6, during the deepening 

 and extension of tlie wells and adits at the Dover 

 AVaterworks, on the west side of the Castle-hill, 

 a quantity of chalk was brought up, from a depth 

 of about 200 feet, and temporarily deposited near 

 the top of the well. This heap, containing several 

 hundreds of cubic yards of newly excavated chalk, 

 without any covering or mixture of soil or mould, 

 was in the following year thickly covered with 

 red poppies, to account for which no satisfactory 

 or self-evident reason could be assigned. The 

 most common plant immediately around the heap 

 was the common wild mustard, or charlock, which 

 grew in abundance; poppies were comparatively 

 rare ; they were common enough in the fields below, 

 but not particularly so, and certainly_ nowhere 

 seemed to take such exclusive possession, or to 

 flower so freely, as on this heap of chalk. Again, 

 three or four ye:»rs afterwards, on the construction 

 of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, a 

 tunnel was driven under the Citadel Heights on 

 the opposite side of the valley ; a large quantity of 

 chalk was similarly brought up and deposited near 

 the mouth of the shaft. This, in the following 

 season, was also covered with red poppies, pre- 

 senting at the distance of more than a mile, a very 

 conspicuous and somewhat remarkable appearance. 

 ~H. Gooch, Cardiff. 



Field Clubs. — The members of St. Mary, 

 Lambeth, Sunday School Teachers' Field Club, 

 held their first outing of the season on Easter 

 Monday, going to Box-hill, Dorking, Leath-hill, and 

 surrounding neighbourhood. The fielding was very 

 successful ; several interesting specimens, geological 

 and botanical, having been obtained during the 

 ramble, including, among the latter, some fine 

 specimens of mosses. 



Lady-birds. — In a lafe number you invite ex- 

 planations of the word " Lady-bird." In Kent, and 

 perhaps other counties, that insect in called " Lady- 

 bug." Now bug is the old English equivalent to the 

 Latin word insedum ; and in Kent all insects are 

 popularly called bugs. " The air is full of bugs," 

 is a common expression on a summer's evening: 

 and more, various kinds of insects are specified by 

 the suflix " bug" to their own names, as beetle-bug, 

 cockchafer-bug, &c., while those sleep-staying pests, 

 which we call only bugs, are with them " bed-bugs." 

 But what about "lady"? It is said by some to 

 have been " our lady's bug," these creatures being 

 so useful to hop-grounds, by eating the "dolphin" ; 

 but I should ratiier think it is owing to the crea- 

 ture's gaudy colour ; lady-bug thus meaning only 

 painted or swellish bug, the fine madam of the family. 

 — Cyril A. Greaves, B.C.L. 



Plica Polonica. — I have been obliged to de- 

 stroy a fine white Persian cat in consequence of its 

 being aifected with this peculiar disease. As a 

 kitten its coat was perfectly healtiiy, but being occa- 

 sionally washed, it lost all interest in clcai!ing 

 itself, and the hair then bcf^ame dirty and matted, 

 as in the above disease. — W. T. Iliff\ Epsom. 



Snowdrop (p. 1>2).— I fancy that if your corre- 

 spondent from Bradford Aboas would pay us a 



