216 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



We must remind our friends, who make use of this column, 

 that the following rules should be strictly adhered to : — 

 First. That perfect specimens be sent. Secondly. That all 

 the information as to habitat, &c., that the inquirer can give 

 should be forwarded with them. Thirdly. To bear in mind 

 that drawings, unless very perfectly executed, are useless, 

 and a tyro is very apt to omit some distinctive characteristic 

 which would enable the examiner to decide the genus and 

 species of the object sent. Lastly. Never to send an object 

 for identification until the inquirer has used his best endea- 

 vours to find out for himself all the information he requires. 

 Questions are very frequently sent, which the slightest effort 

 on the part of the querist, in looking through some elementary 

 treatise, would have given all the knowledge required. 



Geo. Barnbs. — The " Hair-worm" (Gordius aquaticus) is 

 the name of your specimen. It usually lives in water, but 

 passes its earlier stages as a parasite in insects. 



H. H. C. wants to know the English and scientific name of 

 the bird commonly known as the " Call Duck." 



Mrs. G. Hoare. — See the articles in Science-Gossip for 

 .Tune 1S72, January 18"3, and March 18/2, for information 

 as to the food and general habits of the water newt when 

 kept in aquaria. 



F. B. — Your specimen of Daunts carota showing retrogres- 

 sion of the carpels is very curious. We have not seen the 

 phenomenon before. 



A. R. G. — The "growth " on the leaves of a larch tree are 

 the stalked eggs of the Lace-wing fly. 



W. H. J.— You will find the description of how to make a 

 botanical vasculum in most elementary botanical works. 

 Why not procure one at some natural history dealer's in 

 London ? 



Geo. Smith.— Your specimen is the male catkin of th^ 

 Goat Willow (Salix caprcca). In the northern counties thes^ 

 catkins, when in full bloom, are commonly called " palms,' 

 chiefly, perhaps, because they are in bloom about the time 

 when Palm Sunday falls. 



J. T. Bea.v. — You will find several methods of destroying 

 ants in the " Notes and Queries" columns of Science- 

 Gossip for 1873, and the present year. 



S. A . NoNC UTT.— The plant with spike of small yellow flowers 

 is G'llium verum, or " Yellow Bedstraw; " the Tormentil is 

 Potentilla tormentilla. 



J. Green. — Accept our^thanks for the packet of foramini- 

 ferous silt. 



E. C. R. — Accept our best thanks for your valuable cor- 

 rection. 



W. M. — Will tills contributor (who offered material for 

 mounting in last month's " Exchange "column and forgot 

 to send us his address) now forward it, as we have several 

 letters for him ? 



R. W. (Westward). — Yoiir Carex is not allied to either 

 vp.iicaria or ampuUacea, but is a small form of Carex pendula, 

 Huds. 



C. T. (Brighton).— Your umbelliferous plant is the wild 

 state of Fastinnca safifa, L. It diflfers very much from the 

 cultivated variety : we do not wonder that you have been 

 puzzled.— J. F. R. 



W. S.MART, M D. — The specimen inclosed is a Valerian, not> 

 however, a British plant : it is the true Valeriana Phu ; it is 

 strange, however, it should be called " Sidwell." Probably 

 this name is intended for the V. tifpciimlis, L. Would you 

 kindly send us your opinion upon this interesting point? — 

 J. F. R. 



F. H. A." (Fishbourne). — The inclosed grass is a stunted 

 form of Phleum pratense, h. The barren field will explain 

 ■why it is so small.— J. F. R, 



H. J. McG. (Walford).— No. I is a very poor specimen, but 

 it is probably Carex dioica, L. No. 2, Carex curta, Good : 

 the one not labelled is also C. curta, perhaps your duplicate. 

 No. 3, Carex panicea, Linn. — J. F. R. 



E. E. (New Brighton).— The plant marked No. 3 is Erythrea 

 linnrifolia. It is a most variable species ; we have met with 

 numerous forms on the N.B. sand-hills, sufficient almost to 

 puzzle a philosopher. No. 14 is not an /»«/«. The specimen 

 was broken and crushed, so as .to render identification 

 impossible. — J. F. R. 



T. B. S.— The place where the green fluor spar is most 

 abundant in Great Britain is Alston Moor, Cumberland. 



T. Jones. — No better elementary manual than Cooke's 

 "Microscopic Fungi " (.London : Hardwicke) is to be ob- 

 tained. 



W. Knowles. — See article in Science-Gossip, vol. for 1872, 

 on " Collecting and Preserving Fungi,'' by Mr. Worthington 

 Smith. It will give you all the information you require as to 

 preserving fungi. 



QfERisT. — Your specimen is not afossil plant, but a sponge. 

 They are not uncommon in flint nodules. 



To CoRRESPON'DENTS.^ We liavc been obliged (through 

 absence from home) to postpone acknowledging communi- 

 cations this month. 



EXCHANGES. 



For packet of Foraminiferous Silt, partly prepared, send 

 mounted object of interest to J. Green, Causeway Villa, March, 

 Cambridgeshire. 



Collections of Malta and Gazo land and fresh-water 

 shells, for others.— H. W. Feilden, 10 1, Strada Bretanica, 

 Valletta, Malta. 



I have duplicates of a dozen rare plants and am in want of 

 Hyoscyamus niger and Conium maculatum. — H. Higginson, 

 New Ferry, Birkenhead. 



Wanted, a quantity of smooth- skinned Larvje, large Grass- 

 hoppers or other insects suitable for dissection, alive or 

 fresh killed; Microscopic and Entomological Books and 

 other things. — J. S. Harrison, 48, Lowgate, Hull. 



I-ARV.i! of Piniperda, Menyanthidis, Fuliginnsa, for other 

 larvse or pupce ; silkworms preferred.— A. Pickard, Wolsing- 

 ham, Darlington. 



Desioerat.\ : Sinapis, Daplidice.'Syale, Lathonia, Pruni, 

 Betulas, Acis, Arion, a.nd Pangicus. Duplicates : Alsug, Cury- 

 don, jEgon, Qdercus, Rubi, Galatliea, Adippe, Paphia, and 

 Semele.—K. I. Stent, 70, Queen-street, Portsea. 



Duplicates: Tersceta, Emarginuta, Adustata, Marginata, 

 Chrysorrhcen, Jacobeteu, and Fitipendulx. Desiderata: Cyfi. 

 aaria, Firidaia, Sinaragdaria, Ornata, Dealbata, Ulmata, 

 Hastata,a.nd. Tristata.-E. R. Roberts, 104, Fratton-street, 

 Portsmouth, Hants. 



Epithemia Syndmanii, E. Zebra, E. Argus, Hydroseira 

 triquetra, Triceratium favus, for well-mounted Slides of 

 other Diatoms named. — Send list to M. D., The Esplanade, 

 Deal. 



I SHOULD be glad to exchange specimens with any one 

 collecting British Coleoptera. — James Walkden, 150, Stock- 

 port-road, Manchester. 



Rare Shells offered : Clausilia rvgosa, var. Schlechtii (new 

 variety recently determined by Mr. Jeffreys), Helix obvoltiia. 

 Helix recelata, Pisidium cinereum, Achatina acicula, Clau- 

 silia dubia, for Pupa anglica, P. pusilla, P. antivertigo, P. 

 substriata, P. Venetzii, P. alpestris, or Tstacellus or Surcinea 

 oblonga.—W . F. Sutton, Gosforth Grove, near Newcastle-on- 

 Tyne. 



Dried specimens of "8, 174, 274, 276, 395, 694, in Lon. Cat. 

 for47,83,77, 110, ill, 131.— Address, Miss Howorths, Burnley| 



For Erysephe montapnio on Burdock, send stamped 

 envelope to T. Brittain, 52, Park street, Green Heys, Man- 

 chester. No exchange required. 



FiRT-CLASS Micro Slides offered for Mole Crickets, great 

 Green Grasshoppers, Field Crickets, Locusts, or good Foreign 

 Species of Grasshoppers, Crickets, &c., any quantity during 

 gCason.- C. L. Jackson, II, Hesketh-street, Southport. 



For Palate of Trochus ziziphinus and Chiton (unmounted), 

 send stamped addressed envelope to Jas. Lumsden, 197, 

 Dorning-street, Wigan. Any good object acceptable. 



Well-mounted and prepared Diatomacere from Richmond, 

 Virginia, or Yarra Yarra, for Diatomaceous Material and 

 pieces of Holothurise, cleaned or uncleaned. — H. B. Thomas, 

 Boston, Lincolnshire. 



BOOKS, &c. RECEIVED. 



" Monthly Microscopical Journal." August. 



" Journal of Proceedings of the Winchester and Hampshire 

 Scientific Society." 



"Sulphur in Iceland." By Dr. Carter Blake. London: 

 E. & F. Spon. 



" Smithsonian Report." I872. 



" Ben Brierley's Journal." July. 



" Monthly Journal of Education." August. 



" Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalists' Society." New 

 Series, vol. I. part I. 



" Monthly Report of Department of Agriculture." For June. 



" Boston Journal of Chemistry."' July. 



" Bulletin of the U. S. Geological Survey of the Territories." 

 No. 2. 



" Synopsis of the Flora of Colorado." By J. C. Porter and 

 J. M. Coulter. London : Triibner & Co. 



" Canadian Entomologist." No. 6, 



