164 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



=Lumbricus olidus, Hoffm.) and A Ho. mucosa, Eisen, 

 from Kendal; Alio, clilorotica, Ben. ( = Lumb. 

 riparius and L. viridis), Alio, turgida, Eisen ; Alio, 

 longa (Ben. ?), from the River Eden at Carlisle ; Alio. 

 celtica, Rosa, from a stream near Langholm, N.B. ; 

 Lumbricus agricola, Hoffm. ( = Z. terrestris, Linn) or 

 common earthworm, generally distributed. There 

 are a few other representatives of the group which 

 were too immature when I collected them, but which 

 I hope soon to find in a recognisable condition and 

 add to the list. The leeches have not yet been 

 carefully worked, but I have found the following all 

 in one locality (Monkhill Loch), and have others yet 

 to record : Nephelis octoculata, L., Clepsine sexocu- 

 lata. Moq.-Tandon, and Clepsine bioctilata, M idler. 

 It is curious to observe the eggs and embryos 

 attached to the ventral surfaces of these peculiar 

 creatures. — Hilderic Friend, F.L.S. 



British Hydroel-e. — In my contribution on the 

 distribution and habits of the British Hydrobice in the 

 May number of Science-Gossip, page 105, the pro- 

 posed non-carinate variety of H. Jenkinsi has been 

 incorrectly described as var. A. carinata instead of, 

 var. A. ecarinata. The synonyms should read as 

 follows : Hydrobia Jenkinsi, E. A. Smith ; syn. H. 

 ventrosa, var. caritiata, Marshall ; var. A. ecarinata, 

 Jenkins; = H. ventrosa, var. ovata, Marshall (non 

 Jeffreys). The figures of the shells of H. similis are 

 enlarged quite three diameters, the other figures 

 being enlarged a little over two and four diameters, as 

 previously stated. Adult shells of the above species 

 in my collection measure four and three-quarter 

 mill, in length by three and a quarter mill, in breadth, 

 and correspond almost exactly with the dimensions of 

 IT. similis given by Forbes and Hanley in their work 

 on British Mollusca and their shells. Since I wrote 

 the above account of the Hydrobice, specimens of the 

 Plumstead-Becton type, which I have kept alive and 

 vigorous in hard tap-water for eighty-four days, have 

 largely reproduced their species, and the young 

 Hydrobice, which seem to be brought forth alive, are 

 as active as their parents, and grow with amazing 

 rapidity. Other specimens of the same species are 

 also breeding freely in aquaria supplied with pond 

 water. At present I have not succeeded in getting 

 young Hydrobia from either IP. similis or II. ventrosa, 

 — A. y. Jenkins. 



How Deep do Hybernating Mulluscs 

 Burrow? — Like Mr. L. E. Adams, I have often 

 vainly dug and searched for land and freshwater 

 molluscs during the winter. During this last winter, 

 however, I have been rather more successful than 

 hitherto, and a few notes on my finds may perhaps be 

 of interest to Mr. Adams and others interested in the 

 habits of the mollusca. From observations made I 

 am of opinion that a number of the larger land- 

 molluscs do not generally burrow into the earth 

 during hybernation, but attach themselves to flower- 



pots, stones, etc., in out-houses and elsewhere and in 

 the trunks of hollow trees. I have found IP. aspersa, 

 nemoralis, hortensis, arbustorum, Cantiana, in such 

 localities in large numbers. //. rufescens I have 

 frequently met with at a depth of five to six inches 

 below the surface, sometimes under piles of stones ; 

 I have also found this species, together with Hyalina 

 nitidnlus, in the trunk of a hollow tree. In the. 

 district of Collingham Bridge, Wetherby, and Boston 

 Spa, Cyclostoma elegans is very plentiful, but I have 

 never found it any lower than three to four inches. 

 Regarding the freshwater mollusca, the Spluzriidic 

 burrow to the greatest depth of any I have as yet 

 seen. ^. comenm and laaistre I have taken in hard 

 mud thirteen and fourteen inches below the surface. 

 P. contecta and Bythiina tentaculata I once collected 

 at a depth of about twelve inches, but this was 

 during the summer. Some two or three years ago I 

 collected specimens of L. trnncatnla on Clapham 

 Common, N. W. Yorkshire, in a dried-up pond 

 quite eighteen inches below the surface. A point of 

 great interest to me is how these molluscs, e.g. the 

 Sphariidce, manage to extricate themselves, as it is 

 with some difficulty that they manage to get through 

 three or four inches of fine mud. The subject is one of 

 great interest, and I trust further communications will 

 be published from other observers. — W. E. Collinge. 



Grey Plover. — About ten days ago a fine 

 specimen (female) of the Grey Plover {Squatarola 

 Helvetica) was killed by flying against the telegraph 

 wires two or three hundred yards north of this town. 

 As the breeding ground of this bird is on the tundra 

 of Northern Siberia, it is curious that it should have 

 found its way here so late in the season. The bird is 

 now in the hands of Mr. W. Norman, of this town, for 

 preservation. — Joseph P. Nunn, Royston, Cambs. 



BOTANY. 



The Orchid and Isosoma. — The insect referred 

 to in Science-Gossip for April, p. 95, by your corre- 

 spondent as affecting Cattleya, is without much doubt 

 the Isosoma orcliidearum, belonging to the hymen - 

 opterous group Chalcididre. This species was de- 

 scribed by Westwood in " Trans. Ent. Soc. London," 

 and is also mentioned by him in " Gardeners' 

 Chronicle," 1869, p. 230. Mr. E. A. Fitch (" Ent. 

 Soc. London," May 7th, 1884) records the same 

 insect from Southport, Lancashire ; and in " Insect 

 Life," 1890, p. 250, a variety of the same is reported 

 from Massachusetts, U.S.A. Other species of the 

 genus, /. hordei, Harris, and /. tritici, Riley, are 

 injurious to cereal crops in America. The genus 

 Isosoma is of very exceptional interest as being a 

 plant-feeding genus in a family consisting almost 

 entirely of species parasitic on other insects. — T. D. A. 

 Cockerell, West Cliff, Colorado. 



