HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



167 



from the shoulder-blade, leaving the socket exposed, 

 and a dreadful wound about two inches in diameter ; 

 the flesh had dried, and no blood was visible. She 

 drank some milk with avidity, and during the day 

 took bread-and-milk, and did not appear to be in 

 pain. Friends counselled her being drowned, but 

 when a family council was held to decide the case, 

 poor pussy began to purr, and that decided the 

 Terdict in favour of her life being spared — she even 

 attempted to play with a bit of string. For several 

 days she was quite cheerful and ate well, but at last 

 the wound seemed inclined to suppurate, and moving 

 about seemed too much exertion, and I felt it a duty 

 to close what, after all, could only have been an 

 unhappy life. What seems so extraordinary is that a 

 cat having had an entire limb torn off its body, should 

 not have bled to death, and what is very annoying is 

 that no clue has been found to the occurrence. 

 Perhaps your readers can throw some light, or parallel 

 the circumstance from some similar case, observed by 

 them. There were no marks of any injury such as 

 would be caused by a bite ; and the cat showed no 

 aversion to the collie, who endeavoured to show his 

 sympathy by licking the wound. — F. Le-B. Bedwell. 



Notes in New Zealand. — I am sorry to say 

 there are not many contributors in New Zealand to 

 your pleasure-giving and instructive paper, so that 

 fault-finding is most painful, but when one sees a 

 letter like that from R. N. H., of Kohimarama, one 

 cannot help wondering what his particular affliction 

 may be. The English birds do increase most 

 marvellously in this sunny climate, and there are 

 many who have spent, and more who would spend, 

 money, seed, time, and labour, rather than not hear 

 the little birds' sweet songs, and be reminded of the 

 old days at home. I differ with R. N. H. too, by 

 believing the balance of nature to be preserved, not 

 upset, by introducing birds. Years ago our crops were 

 always in danger of being destroyed by a plague of 

 caterpillars : since their enemies the birds came it is 

 only occasionally we hear of a crop being destroyed, 

 and in time they will disappear. Farmers do sow a 

 little poisoned grain sometimes, but few would care 

 to have the birds exterminated. My advice to your 

 correspondent would be to sow a handful or two 

 more seed to the acre, and if he is not deaf, he will 

 be rewarded by the grateful songs of the skylark and 

 his friends. It is the importing of these birds too that 

 in another way preserves the balance of nature, for 

 our native birds are fast disappearing. Most of them 

 are honey-feeders, and I fancy the bees (imported) 

 have helped to kill them by using their food, and 

 also by stinging, particularly when the cup-like 

 flowers of the flax {Phormium tenax) are filled with 

 honey, and a long tongue is poked in among the 

 stamens, to the annoyance of the bee that was first 

 there. Just after writing the above a neighbour 

 dropped in who said that he had watched for two or 

 three days a number of larks, English and our 

 native lark, Anthus nooaz, busy upon some newly 

 sown grass seed, and at last he shot two of them. He 

 opened them, but failed to find a single grass seed, 

 but plenty of insects and larvae. So you see even a 

 lark may get a bad name without being guilty : 'tis 

 hard he must be shot to prove him innocent. — J. W. 

 Baker. 



Redstart in Winter. — Surely the birds 

 mentioned by Mr. Blaby on p. 143 were specimens 

 of the black redstart, which is a winter visitor to 

 our south-west coasts, and may be known by its 

 black or grey breast. We should like to know the 

 locality.— Rev, J. E. Krfsall, 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers.— As we now 

 publish Science-Gossip earlier than formerly, we cannot un- 

 dertake to insert in the following number any communications 

 which reach us later than the 8th of the previous month. 



To Anonymous Querists.— We must adhere to our rule of 

 not noticing queries which do not bear the writers' names. 



To Dealers and Others.— We are always glad to treat 

 dealers in natural history objects on the same fair and general 

 ground as amateurs, in so far as the "exchanges" offered are fair 

 exchanges. But it is evident that, when their offers are simply 

 Disguised Advertisements, for the purpose of evading the cost 

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 of " exchanges," which cannot be tolerated. 



We request that all exchanges may be signed with name (or 

 initials) and full address at the end. 



Special Note. — There is a tendency on the part of some 

 exchangers to send more than one per month. We only allow 

 this in the case of writers of papers. 



Anodonta.— We cannot undertake to name Indian shells. 

 Your varieties of L.peregra are (1), oblonga ; (2), acuminata'; 

 {■$),labiosa. No. 9 is 3". corneum, probably \3X.Jiavescens. 



G. W. H. — The " scum " on your pond is a species of fresh- 

 water algae [Oscillatoria). It will do no harm to the fish, but 

 it is a terrible plant for increasing where it finds a favourable 

 habitat. When next you clean the pond, put a good bottom of 

 quick lime in it whilst the bottom is muddy. 



D. Butler. — Thanks for your specimens of the malformed 

 fruit of Pruuus communis. We do not think, however, that 

 their elongated and pod-like shape has anything to do with 

 bees crossing the flowers with the pollen of the broom. It is a 

 well-known malformation. The single seed within shows the 

 two cotyledons separately. 



H. Durrant.— The "dark brown stuff" forming at the 

 bottom of your aquarium is probably composed of diatoms. 

 This, however, you can prove by the microscope. All aquaria 

 in which plants and animals have been very long kept, however, 

 deposit a brown sediment, which is frequently the decom- 

 position of the vegetable matter. The other objects you mention 

 are probably the eggs of some species of freshwater mollusc. 



" Interested Reader." — It is not uncommon to find prim- 

 roses to have the sepals of the calyx reverted to green leaves. 

 The remarkable fact about your specimen is, that the green 

 calyx leaves are polyphyllous, or nearly so. 



F. H. Arnold.— Thanks for the specimens, which shall be 

 duly noticed. 



" Pebbleridge."— The fungus on the leaf of mountain flax 

 [Linum catharticum) is Lecythea lini, Berk. It is not un- 

 common. 



J. C. Smith. — Thanks for your specimens of Geum rivale. 

 They are exceedingly interesting. The sepals are developed 

 into true leaves, the stamens are changed to petals, petals are 

 all modified, and the pistils have shot up and grown into buds. 

 Your plant appears to be Rubus conglifolius. 



R. G. Mumcray. — The fossilized mass of Teredo was doubt- 

 less derived from the London clay, in some parts of which it is 

 very common, and always associated with fossil wood. See 

 Taylor's "Common British Fossils," p. 273. 



R. Coupar (Galway). — Williams & Norgate's address (pub- 

 lishers) is 14 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London. You 

 should procure the "Transactions of the Chichester and West 

 Sussex Nat. Hist. Society," and "Trans, of the Hertfordshire 

 Nat. Hist. Soc. and Field Club," through the agency of Mr. 

 W. P. Collins, 157 Great Portland Street, London, W. 



J. Hodgson. — Thefungus resembling the seaweed Padina 

 pavonia is Sterczim hirstctum. 



T. A. Delcomyn.— Mr. Mosley's addiess is Beaumont Park 

 Museum, Huddersfield. 



W. E. Windus. — The plant is the buck-bean, or bog-bean 

 {Meuyanthes trifoliatd), common in the north of England. 



\V. Tapper. — There is no doubt the "enormous vertebra" 

 you speak of as being found in the basement bed of the red 

 crag, near Yarmouth, is that of a fossil whale. We don't know 

 of any red crag in that neighbourhood, however, but fossil 

 whale's vertebras are not uncommon in the red crag. 



Jas. Bellas. — We cannot make anything out of the worms 

 other than the hair worm [Gordius aquaticus). Both speci- 

 mens revived when placed in water. • 



EXCHANGES. 



Wanted, any books on British insects ; illustrated preferred. 

 Good microscope slides offered in exchange.— H. E. E. 

 344 Caledonian Road, London. 



