HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



37 



four feet six inches, and though it never molests man, 

 is, if attacked, to be dealt with cautiously. Its sharp 

 teeth form two serrated rows, and inflict gashes like 

 the cut of a saw. This lizard is a great enemy to 

 birds ; it ascends trees, regardless of the screams and 

 flappings of the birds, thrusts its snout into any nests 

 it may find and devours the eggs or the young. 

 Hence, notwithstanding the absence of cats, mon- 

 keys, weasels, etc., the birds of Australia have their 

 share of troubles. 



It is to be hoped that no one, with the intent of 

 waging war against the rabbits, will introduce weasels 

 or the smaller felines into Australia. The mungus, 

 which does not climb trees, will be a much safer ally 

 both against rabbits, rats, snakes, and centipedes, of 

 which later anon. 



The iguana may sometimes be seen clinging to the 

 trunk of a tree, or hanging from a branch, and in 

 such attitudes has such a bark-like appearance as 

 often to pass unnoticed. A newcomer in Queens- 

 land, seizing hold of one of these lizards, had his 

 thumb nearly taken off by its saw-like teeth. A 

 valuable sheep-dog, which had been muzzled lest he 

 should swallow some of the poisoned baits laid for 

 the dingos, foolishly disturbed an iguana, and though 

 rescued by his master, had been very severely 

 injured. 



The iguana sometimes gets in collision with 

 venomous serpents and mostly comes off victorious. 

 The common opinion is that he possesses no immunity 

 against snake-bite, but that he knows of some herb 

 which is an antidote. 



Many attempts have been made to find this plant, 

 and rewards have been offered for its discovery, but 

 in vain. Scepticism is here justified by the fact that 

 the same rumour was formerly current concerning the 

 mungus, which is now found to owe its success in 

 serpent-killing merely to its own agility. 



The chief poisonous serpents found in Queensland 

 are the death-adder [Acanthosis torlor), which is 

 fortunately rare. The "brown snake" reaches the 

 length of nine or ten feet, and lives chiefly in holes 

 or chinks in the ground. Hence it is very dangerous 

 in a country where so many of the settlers live under 

 canvas without any flooring. A family removing 

 from New South Wales into Queensland, were 

 delayed by the floods which set in on the breaking 

 up of the long drought in March last. They 

 encamped near the bank of a river, and in the night 

 one of their children was bitten by a snake and died 

 in a few hours. The next night another child, being 

 carelessly let sleep on the same extempore bed, was 

 also bitten and died in the same manner. Then' a 

 search was made ; a hole was found in the earth, 

 and, on digging down, a "brown snake" was 

 unearthed and promptly destroyed. 



In "camping out" it is needful to examine any 

 hole in the ground by pouring boiling water down, 

 if procurable. 



The whip-snake, grey in colour and not more 

 than a foot in length, is also very venomous. 



The " Mulga-snake," found only in the so-called 

 " Mulga scrub," is greenish on the back and red 

 underneath. It also is venomous. 



The carpet-snake, which reaches the length of 

 fifteen feet, is harmless; but it is sometimes con- 

 founded with the ferocious and deadly tiger-snake, as 

 the general colouration and pattern of the two, if 

 hastily seen among herbage and brushwood, are not 

 very unlike. 



The tiger-snake reaches the length of eight, or 

 occasionally even ten feet. Contrary to the sweeping 

 assertion of Waterton, it will go out of its way to 

 take the offensive. If it hears a noise it erects its 

 head to look round, and if it espies man or beast, it 

 comes forward to the attack. A team-man told my 

 son that on one occasion, when driving along a road, 

 a tiger-snake advanced out of the bush to attack the 

 horses. Fortunately he succeeded in killing the 

 snake with his long whip. Australian horses are 

 very much afraid of snakes, and generally shy or bolt 

 if they see one on the road. 



It is a remarkable fact that snakes very rarely 

 molest the " black -fellows," whose bare feet and 

 general habits might seem to lay them quite open to 

 attack. Indeed, some old bushmen say that they 

 never knew a " black -fellow" die of snake-bite. 



Among amphibians, mention may be made of a 

 rather small, green frog, familiarly known as " The 

 Catholic," because it bears on its back the mark of 

 a cross in yellow spots. This frog is one of the few 

 living creatures which enjoy an immunity from the 

 attacks of ants. It squats down in one of their 

 crowded highways and gobbles up the ants as fast 

 as they approach, until, in the words of Sam Weller, 

 it "swells wisibly." Yet these insects do not, as 

 they would in case of a spider, a lizard, or a man, fall 

 en masse upon the enemy, but allow him to work his 

 will. Here is an interesting problem to solve. 



J. W. Slater. 



A DOUBLE SUNFLOWER. 



THE so-called monstrosities in plants have assumed 

 a new interest and meaning in the light of 

 evolution. Perhaps there is no natural order of plants 

 whose members have gone through so many floral 

 changes in their past history as the Composite. The 

 very fact that each flower-head represents a colony of 

 flowerets or florets is indicative of a change which 

 must have reduced a spike of small flowers by 

 depression into a flower-head or capitulum. Even 

 the British members of the Compositae exist in nearly 

 every possible stage of composite arrangement, from 

 the unattractive flower-heads of the Cud-weed to the 

 gorgeous infloresence of the Leopard's bane. Compare 

 the dwarf and poverty-stricken groundsel with the 



