HARDWICKES SC lEN CE-GOS SIP. 



215 



the poor bird's throat. The hen was still worm 

 wheu the discoverj; was made. It appeared as 

 tliough the mouse in its struggle to escape, had 

 forced its way down the fowl's throat, and so caused 

 the death of both.— ^. 31. F. 



Moths' "Wings.— Entomological writers in their 

 instructions how to distinguish butterflies from 

 moths, give four characters;— the two principal ones 

 are: 1st. The antennae in butterflies have a knob 

 at the end ; moths are always without knob, and are 

 generally longer and fine at the end. 2iid. When a 

 butteiflyis at rest, its wings are always upright and 

 pressed together back to back, whilst a moth rests 

 with its underwings folded round its body, the 

 upper wings onlybeing visible. One evening I caught 

 what I supioose'd was a butterfly, and put it in the 

 killing-box' with some moths, but on returning 

 home, I could not find the butterfly at all. Some 

 little time after T again caught what I thouglit vras a 

 butterfly, but on examining it by the lamp, I found 

 it to be a moth with its wings upright like a butter- 

 fly, and to the best of my recollection, it was the 

 small Phoenix moth {Cidaria silaceata). Since then 

 I have frequently caught moths with tiiis pecu- 

 liarity, but they all belonged to the tribe of Geo- 

 meters. — Arthur Smyth. 



Remarkable Trees ik Tewix Churchyard. 

 — A few observations on "J. E. S. C.'s" article may 

 not be out of place. Some days sincj I visited the 

 tomb out of, and around which the trees grow. I 

 counted seven trunks of ash. The bases of the trunks 

 had grown together, so that it was impossible to 

 say how many trees there are. "J. K. S. C." does not 

 mention that three trunks of sycamore occupy one 

 side of the tomb. So altogetlier there are ten 

 trunks. The original iron railing round the tomb 

 is in some places entirely hidden, the wood of the 

 trees having quite overgrown it. The stones at one 

 corner are burst quite open, so that the brickwork 

 in the interior of the tomb can be seen distinctly. 

 The old wood railings have been removed, and tall 

 iron railings substituted, which effectually prevent 

 visitors from carving their monograms in the bark 

 of the trees. Both sycamore and ash bear samaroid 

 or winged fruit, which might be blown by the wind 

 into the joints of the tomb and there germinate, 

 which would account for the trees growing there. 

 Still I think it a very remarkable occurrence. It 

 is still more strange that the trees were not removed 

 when young. With ditficulty I made out the date. 

 It is 1713. This was the year when Lady A. G. 

 was buried.— T//o«ffs B. Blow, Welwija. 



CocKROAcriES OR Blackbeetles ?— " J. P. n.," 

 in Science- Gossip for June, speaks of a correspon- 

 dent being infested with "either blackbeetles or 

 cockroaches." Does he mean to imply that black- 

 beetle's, as they are called, are not cockroaches ?— 

 R. R. iraniiigtoii. 



The Nocttjle Bat {Noctulhua altiirolans). — 

 One evening in July, 1871, I was passing some 

 beech and elm-trees near my residence here, and 

 hearing a loud humming, as of insects, I looked up, 

 and saw a perfect swarm of the late cockchafers — 

 Summer Dorrs they are called, 1 believe— flying 

 high in the air round the trees, and among this buz- 

 zing host sailed and swooped five of the largest 

 bats I had ever seen. Whether the bats were feed- 

 ing oil the dorrs or not, I am unable to say, as the 

 height at which they were flying prevented my 

 seeing this. These bats I have since discovered 



were without doubt members of the above species. 

 A specimen which came into my possession on the 

 2±th of March last, measured IS^ inches in extent 

 of " wing " ; it is therefore appropriately called the 

 Great Bat. It occurs most commonly in July, and 

 is seldom seen singly. Its flight is rapid and 

 powerful, and more commonly exercised in a 

 straight line than that of the smaller bats; it is 

 likewise accompanied with a rattling noise. My 

 specimen was a male, and this induces me to ask — 

 Has the female noctule ever been taken ? White 

 of Selborne, who first placed this bat on the British 

 list, had suspicions that it was merely the male of 

 the smaller species. I find the people hereabouts 

 are well acquainted with the noctule, and style it 

 the " Bat-rat." The small bat is kno^vn as the 

 "Bat-mouse." On p. 67 of this magazine for the 

 present year, in a short notice of the Barbastelle 

 Bat {Barbastellus Dauhentoiili), I said I did not 

 believe that the specimen in question was hybernat- 

 ing where it was found. This I find on further 

 inquiry was incorrect, as it was in reality in that 

 state, and had to be hustled and shaken before it 

 could be roused from its torpor. — W. H. Warner, 

 Kingston, Abingdon. 



Poisonous Efeects of a Viper's Bite. — A 

 bricklayer living at Andover, named Charles 

 Chandler, was bitten by what he supposed to be a 

 harmless snake, and has suffered a great deal of 

 pain in consequence. I draw particular attention 

 to the matter, because some statements I made a 

 few yeai's ago in Science-Gossip, relative to the 

 dangerous effects of vipers' poison, were doubted. 

 Charles Chandler saw the reptile in the road near 

 a small public-house, into which he carried it for 

 the purpose of inspection, and when placed on the 

 table it darted at him and bit him on the forefinger 

 of his right hand : the pain became in a short time 

 most intense, and the finger very discoloured ; so 

 Chandler went off to Dr. Latham, who directly 

 cauterized the wound. The pain extended all the 

 way down the arm from the finger to the shoulder, 

 and the man was exceedingly ill. There was con- 

 siderable sickness, accompanied by great coldness of 

 the system. The adder is supposed to have been 

 brought into the town from " Hai-ewood Forest" 

 in a bundle of fagots, a dealer, living in East-street, 

 having discovered several of these reptiles on his 

 premises from time to time this spring, and de- 

 stroyed them immediately ; but the one in question 

 had pi'obably made its escape from the yard, and 

 was en route for the country when Chandler met it. 

 — //. E. Watuetj. 



Insects and Flowers. — In the last number of 

 Science -Gossip, some observations of Sir John 

 Lubbock are referred to, indicating that bees can 

 distinguish colours. It would appear that some moths 

 can appreciate resemblances in form and colour, as 1 

 was assured some time ago that a humming-bird 

 hawk-moth entered a room here, and went from 

 flower to flower in the pattern of the wall-paper, 

 evidently mistaking them for the real thing and pro- 

 bably much disappointed at the want of flavour, — 

 George Guyon. 



Hawks. — I have noticed in several hawks ("ap- 

 parently sparrow-hawks) that have been shot near 

 me, a peculiarity not mentioned in any book that I 

 know of. Over each eye is a hard, prominent, bony, 

 sharp-edged, arched eyebrow. What is the use of 

 this ? Is it a protection to the eye when the bird 

 suddenly pounces from a height ?— /S". T. P. 



