HARDWICKE'S SC LEN CE-GOS S IP. 



191 



was told of two collectors who came down to q;et 

 Callimorpha domimda, the scarlet tiger-raothj'iWbich 

 lhey tried to destroy, collcctius" as many as six 

 irross in a day or two ; this fact speaks for itself. — 

 Harry Leslie. 



Laby-birds and Lady-bugs.— The Yankees call 

 everything in the insect line " a bug," and say of an 

 entomologist "I guess he collects bugs." The word 

 was perhaps in frequent use among our ancestors 

 who went. there. In South Devon they called 

 beetles " Ocops ; " thev were further divided into 

 "Olly-ocops" and "Golden Ocops," the latter 

 comprehending the more brilliant species. As is 

 the case with local names, their application was very 

 indiscriminate. I do not know what could have 

 been the derivation of the worA..— Harry Leslie. 



HerpvING Gull. — The readers of Science-Gossip 

 may be interested by the following observations 

 respecting this bird, a tame specimen of which 1 

 possess. It is now two years old, having been taken 

 from the nest and pinioned and kept, in a garden 

 until this spring, when I brought it into the fowl- 

 yard, where it took up with the poultry. It was at 

 iirst rather shy, and screamed whenever they ap- 

 proached him, but now he has got quite bold, and is 

 able to beat the turkey-cock, seizing him by the 

 tail, in fact he has quite cowed the fowl. His food 

 is rather peculiar ; being naturally a lover'of fish and 

 worms, he seems to have lost his taste for the for- 

 mer. I may here observe, as it has been often 

 stated that gulls keep gardens free from slugs, that 

 this bird would not look at one, having offered them 

 to him continually ; he threw them about with his 

 beak, which he washed immediately, showing his 

 utter disgust. His favourite food is the inside of 

 rats and mice, which he nicely dissects, leaving only 

 the skin ; he also eats whatever is given to the fowl, 

 meal, &c., picking up the grains of corn, which are 

 scattered for them. His latest performance is to 

 catch sparrows, which he kills and swallows whole ; 

 his way of catching them is like a cat, crouching 

 down he silently pounces on his victim, which he 

 immediately kills, holding it by the neck and 

 shaking it violently. He is partial to eggs, devouring 

 them whenever he can get an opportunity. — Rev. S. 

 A. Brenan, Pomeroy, co. Tyrone. 



Spideus and Chestnut-Trees. — Will some one 

 kindly tell me if it is a fact that spiders will not 

 spin a web on the .wood of the chestnut-tree ? The 

 beams of the roof of Beaulieu Abbey are certainly 

 free from a web of any sort, and the old keeper of 

 the place assured me that this was owing to their 

 being chestnut-wood.— r. W. G., Alresford. 



Aee Elvers young Eels ? — This question was 

 asked a few days ago in the columns of the Western 

 Daily Press, and the following case shows that the 

 lawyers cannot answer it:— "At the Gloucester 

 County Petty Session, three fishermen were sum- 

 moned, at the instance of the Severn Pishery 

 Board, for catching the fry of eels, commonly called 

 ' elvers,' between January 1st and June 24ith. Mr. 

 Henry George, the secretary, prosecuted, and Mr. 

 ChesshjTe, of Cheltenham, was for the defence. 

 The case resolved itself into a question whether 

 elvers are the fry of eels. Mr. George quoted from 

 Acts of Parliament in the reigns of Charles II, 

 and George III., wherein the fry of eels are com- 

 monly called elvers, and the brood of young eels 

 as elvers. Mr. Chesshyre contended that it must 

 be scientifically proved that the elvers were the 



spawn of eels, and the onus of proof rested on the 

 prosecution, M-ho had failed to do so. The magis- 

 trates held that the case was not proved to their 

 satisfaction, and dismissed it. Notice of appeal 

 was given." — IF. Macmillan. 



White Worms, &c.— Will any reader tell me 

 the name of the small white worms that appear in 

 the water in saucers under flowerpots, what causes 

 them, and if they do any harm to the plant ? — 

 W.B. 



The Holly. — In the May number of Science- 

 Gossip, Mr. S. A. Notcutt, jun., makes ."some state- 

 ments which are not strictly accurate. He will 

 find Ilex aquifolium figured in the " national work," 

 Symes's "English Botany," ii. 316. Even with us 

 in the south it does not flower " in February," but 

 at least two months later; this year it was fairly 

 in flower about the first week in May. The " skil- 

 ful botanist " can of course examine the flowers of 

 the Holly at the time mentioned — in his herbarium. 



A Eeline Oddity.— At a town on the South 

 Devon coast, 1 have recently seen a white cat with 

 eyes of different colours, her right eye being ayellowish 

 grey, and her left a bright blue ; the owner informed 

 me that the grandmother and the mother of the cat 

 had the same peculiarity, the mother, however, was 

 quite black; the cat is suckling a white kitten 

 whose eyes are bright blue, like its mother's left. 

 Can you or any of your readers state whether the 

 peculiarity referred to often occurs ? I do not see 

 it alluded to in any of the seven vols, of " Science- 

 Gossip " I have.— r. ^. Z. 



Aquaria. — I have a small glass aquarium, and 

 wish to stock it with small sea-fish, anemones, &c., 

 but I find a difficulty in getting the former, even 

 with a net, at low water on or between rocks. I 

 have got anemones ofi" the rocks, but they did not 

 live in my aquarium more than a few hours. 1 

 think they stick so hard to the rock, that pulling 

 them off injures or kills them ; mine, when I put 

 them into the aquarium, distinctly refusing to adhere 

 to anything in it, and ceased to expand as they 

 usually do. Perhaps you could let me have a few 

 valuable hints as to how to rear things in an aqua- 

 rium with success. — Querist. 



BOOKS, &c. RECEIVED. 



" Flora of Dorsetshire." By J. C. Mansel-Pleydell, B.A. 

 Blandford : W. Shipp. 



" Manual of Botany." By Robert Brown. London and 

 Edinburgh : W. Blackwood & Sons. 



" Grevillea." July. 



" Journal of Applied Science." July. 



" Popular Science Review." July. 



" Blonthly Microscopical Journal." July. 



"Dr. Carrington's British Ilepaticae,'' part 2. London: 

 Hardwicke. 



" American Naturalist." June. 



Communications Received up to the 12th ult. from 

 F. K.— T.B. W.— H.E. W.— J. S. T.— H.L.— H.G.— W. W. 

 — H. M. J. U._W. H. B.— F. W. E.-H. B. V^^.— W. W. R 



F. H. A — E. R. L.— H. M. C. a —J. B.— W. H. W.— W. F. 



G. F. B.— CF.B— H. L.— A. S.— F. S.— E. H.— J.S . H.— H. M 

 — W. S. jun.— H. N.— S. M. B.— J. C— A. H.— R. N.— E. L 

 J. R.— E. W. jun.— T. B.-R. N. W.— M. W. N.— S. T.P. 

 L. C— F. R.— C. L. J.— B. M. W.— E. T. S.— C. T.— C. W^. 

 G. B. W.— H. E. W.— a. S.— T. McG.— T. P. B.— T. B. B, 

 E. M. p.— J. H.— A. L.— W. H.— F. H. A.— M. S. J. -J. S. 

 —A. C. S — E. E.— G. C. D.— H. p. M.— Dr. B.— B. M, B 

 J. R.— T. W.- J. R. J.— E. L.— K. L. G.— S. A. B.— W. H. 

 — R. G.— J. E. W.— G. P.— W. M.— W. W. S,— J. B.— A. C. 

 — V^. L — G. H— H. S.— C. T.— E. L.— T. B.— W. B, F 

 E. D. M.— W. J. S. S. 



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