HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



239 



insect have become perfectly acclimatized iu France, 

 and the latter, indeed, is fast becoming a pest, 

 stripping the ailanthus-trees of their foliage to a vast 

 extent. The larvae spin their cocoons close to one 

 another, one in each leaf, which they wrap round 

 them, after having spun a thick carpeting of silk 

 along the leaf-stalk and the branch, to prevent the 

 leaf and cocoon from falling to the ground iu the 

 autumn. Sometimes groups of forty or more 

 cocoons may be seen dangling from the branches on 

 one tree. This insect, first introduced iu ISoG from 

 Japan, is now much more common than ever was a 

 native species — Salia-ida Tyri, the Great Emperor 

 moth — which feeds on elm and various fruit-trees, 

 and which is now fast disappearing from the neigh- 

 bourhood of Paris, the large elms on the roads having 

 been cut down during the siege. A friend of mine 

 ■collected last year upwards of SOOlarvc'E and cocoons 

 of the Ailanthus moth {Attucus Cynthia), all at large, 

 and I gathered perhaps a hundred last autumn 

 without any trouble. The larvae are fine beasties, 

 remarkable for a kind of whitish powdery bloom, 

 ■with which they are covered ; they feed very cou- 

 lentedly on branches of their food-plant placed in 

 pans of water, and do not wander much. They feed 

 •exclusively on the Ailanthus, I believe. The moths, 

 which appear here early in June, are frequently 

 attracted by the light in shop-vv'indows, and occasion 

 much wonder at their size and beauty; and no doubt 

 the bats must find them a toothsome.morsel. There 

 are several manufactures iu France which work up 

 specially the silk, which is very strong, and well 

 adapted for making cheap goods ; but the silk 

 ■cannot be reeled, as that of the mulberry-worm, and 

 must be carded : the cocoons are in constant demand, 

 at about three francs the pound. The Ailanthus 

 {Ailanthus (jlandidosus) is now being planted on tlie 

 side-walks of many of our boulevards : it grows 

 ■exceedingly well, and nothing besides the silkworm 

 appears to touch it. Like the Acacia {Robiiiia 

 j)seudo-acac.ia), it grows perfectly wild wherever it 

 has beeu introduced ; its foliage in the autumn is 

 very beautiful, being of a fine red colour, — E. L. 

 Ragonot, 27, Rue de Buffoii, Paris. 



Seaside Shuubs. — The common juniper {Junipenis 

 ■communis) grows in the greatest luxuriance on the 

 mountains of Dumfriesshire, Scotland. 1 have also 

 found it growing on the sea-banks of the county of 

 Durham ; but it does not seem to attain to the 

 same luxuriance as on the mountains. Never having 

 seen it cultivated iu such near conjuncticm to the 

 sea, 1 cannot say much as regards its ornamental 

 properties ; but I believe, by a little oarc and study, 

 that the Juniper might be successfully cultivated so 

 as to bear a high cliaracter of being a highly orna- 

 mental evergreen. Possibly some other readers of 

 Science-Gossip may have tried its culture by the 

 sea, and vi'ill give its history as far as observed.—/. 

 Broicn, Sunderland. 



Tortoises and Eggs.— It may interest Mr. C. 

 F. W. T. Williams to know that a -year or two ago 

 I also procured a tortoise from London, I believe iu 

 May, and it had the run of a large garden all the 

 summer and autumn. At the latter end of 

 December, owing, I suppose, to the unusual mild- 

 ness of the weather, it began to take its walks 

 abroad, and one day was fuund dead. At the earliest 

 opportunity 1 opened it, but, owing to the hardness 

 of the carapace, 1 was obliged to use much force. 

 When the body was laid bare, I found three eggs, 

 about the size of a small pigeon's ^%z. The shells 

 were white, and, with the exception of the two euds 



I being of nearly equal curvature, would easily have- 



' passed as birds' eggs. Unfortunately, two were 



I broken during the operation, and the' third imme- 



; diately afterwards, accidentally. I do not remember 



I seeing traces of any other eggs. The inside ap- 



I peared similar to other eggs ; the yolk was rather 

 large.— -i^. C. Haddon. 



F. VESCA AND p. FKAGARIA. — I should feel 



obliged if you or any of your correspondents cau 

 furnish me with a good general distinction betw^eeu 

 Fragaria vesca and Potentilla fragaria (Lindley). 

 There appears to be no little difiiculty encountered 

 by young botanists in distinguishing them by the 

 characters usually given. The principal differences 

 are not exhibited until the fruit ripens ; but if a 

 characteristic feature exists and is permanent in one 

 or the other, I should be glad to hear of it.— i/. 

 Marshall Ward. 



Electricity.— The phenomena described by 

 George Roberts, on page 95 may ibe observed 

 when one strokes a cat which has been lying before 

 a fire or in the sunshine : if the fur be Very warm, 

 the electricity is sometimes suiScient to make it 

 stick together as if it were wet ; and if a finger be 

 approached to the fur, it will rise on end and touch 

 the finger. Even the human hair, when pomade is 

 not used, w-ill crackle and emit sparks when a comb 

 is drawn through it.— i^. /. Allen. 



Orthogouiscus.— I once found a specimen of 

 Orthogorispus jnola, and was much struck by some 

 peculiarities iu its anatomy. Dr. Spencer Cobbold 

 {Intellectual Observer, vol. ii. p. 86) states that the 

 Professor of Anatomy, University of Edinburgh, 

 anatomized a large specimen of the fish in 1856. 

 Cau any of your readers inform me of his name, 

 whether he published his observations, and if so, 

 where they may be found, or refer mc to a good 

 anatomical description of Orthogoriscus ?— Z. N. 



BOOKS, &c. RECEIVED. 



" Manual of Botany, Anatomical, and Physiological." By 

 Robert Brown. London: VS'. Blackwood. 



" Les Koches." Par E. Jannettaz. Paris : Rothschild. 



" Causeries Scientifiques." Treizieme Annee, 1873. 



" La Pluie et le beau Temps." Par Paul Laurencin. 

 Paris : Rotlischild. 



" Monthly MicroscopicalJournal." September. 



" Grevillea." September. 



" Journal of Applied Science." September. 



"American Naturalist." August. 



" Canadian Entomologist." August. 



"Ben Brierley's Journal." August. 



Co.MMU.VICATIONS RbCEIVi;!) UP TO THEllTH ULT. FROM : — 



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 —A. H.-B P. P.-C. W.— J. L.— G. O. H.— G. C. D.— 

 J. H. W — T. H.-A. Y. C.-T. D. M.— G. H. P.-A. H.— 

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— J. V^. F.— H. M. W.— W. C— W.H. H.— A. L.— Dr. C. H. B. 

 —J. M. M.— W. H. R.— Dr. T. W. W. S.— F. E. L.— C. K.— 

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 —J. K.-Dr. M.— J S. H.— W. E.-J. W. S.— W. H. G.— 

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