180 



HARDWICKE'S SCIEN C E-GOSS I P. 



the second edition of "Gerard's Herbal" in 1633, 

 speaks thus of the garden Cabbage:— "This is the 

 great ordinary Cabbage, known everywhere, and is 

 commonly eaten all over the kingdom." 



No doubt vegetables continued to be imported 

 from Holland and other countries as they are in 

 our own day, although in a less degree, and the 

 quotation from Ben Jonson's " Volpoue " (Qrst 

 acted in 1605), saying he had received intelli- 

 gence from the Low Countries in cabbages, does 

 not prove that they were a scarce vegetable in his 

 day. One of the characters in the play just men- 

 tioned is Sir Politick Wouldbe, who, describing a 

 newsmonger, says — 



" He has received weekly intelligence, 



Upon my knowledge, out of the Low Countries, 

 For all parts of the world, in Cabbages." 



No doubt the closely-packed leaves of this vege- 

 table might be used as a convenient place for 

 smuggling a secret letter over to this country in 

 those days, and most likely it was to this circum- 

 stance that Jonson refers. 



{To be continued.) 



THE ICHNEUMON OF THE APHIS. 



rpHE general habits and structure of the Ichneu* 



-^ monidse are familiar to most naturalists. They 



are the weasels of the insect tribe, their bloodthirsty 



instincts being, however, of great economical value 



Fig. Il6. Ichneumon of Aphis (Op/iion) magnified. 



in the balance of nature. Allusion was made by 

 Mr. Southwell, in the last number of Science- 

 Gossip, to the Ichneumon of the aphis. As less is 

 known concerning this useful little insect than many 

 of its fellows, we give an illustration of one. The 

 aphides in which the characteristic Ichneumon is 

 being hatched may be distinguished from their 

 globular form. Indeed, the skin of the victim 

 partially hardens over the parasite, and thus forms 

 a tolerably protective cocoon. The specimen now 



figured was captured on some aphides that were 

 preying on a Pelargonium. We would particularly 

 draw attention to the near resemblance between 

 this Ichneumon and the Winged Aphis. 



The total length of the Aphis Ichneumon 

 {Ophion luteum) is about a line. This genus of 

 Ichneumons is distinguished from the rest by 

 their sickle- shaped abdomens. Of all the friends 

 to the rose-grower, not even excepting the Lady- 



Fig. 1 17. Globular Apliis, showing where the Ichneumon has 

 escaped. 



birds and larvae of the Lace-wing Ely, the Ophion 

 luteum is most useful. The extraordinary repro- 

 ductive powers of the aphides are well known, 

 and were it not for the many enemies which find 

 in them their staple food, very soon our planet 

 would become their legitimate abode, to the ex- 

 clusion of all other forms of life. 



SPIDERS' WEBS AND SPINNERETS. 

 Bt H. M. J. Undekhill, 



SOME years ago there appeared in Science- 

 Gossip several articles on Spiders, their habits, 

 anatomy, and webs. Interested in the latter subject 

 from having prepared several slides of spinnerets, I 

 wished to learn how the silk was produced, and 

 therefore carefully re-read the articles in question, 

 and also examined as many books as I could obtain 

 at the Bodleian Library, in which information was 

 likely to be found. Not learning all that I wanted, 

 I resolved to investigate for myself, and therefore 

 made various observations and dissections, the re* 

 suits of which I now detail. 



To render intelligible the description of the several 

 points which seem hitherto to have escaped notice, 

 it is necessary here and there briefly to note a few 

 things which are well known to arachnologists. 



The exterior parts of the silk-producing organs 

 are called spinnerets. They are four, six, or eight 

 papillae, or sometimes instead of papillae, flat plates, 

 situate on the under side of the end of the abdomen, 

 in a little depression adapted to their size and shape. 

 As far as I am aware, no British spider has a less 

 number than six. On the ends of each spinneret 



