HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



"5 



of rain till nearly full of rain-water. They were not, 

 however, bell-shaped, and only contained from six to 

 eight stamens, their size being in proportion to that 

 of the branch on which they grew. Being called 

 away for some weeks to another part of the country, 

 to my very great regret, I found, on my return, the 

 greater part of the stems removed by the amateur 

 gardener, and was only able to secure a few seeds 

 from the latest flowers.— J. Wallis, Deal. 



Tenacity of Life. — In reference to a note by 

 Mr. Bedwell in the July number, page 166, on 

 " Tenacity of Life in a Cat," it is well known that 

 lacerated wounds, such as that inflicted on the cat, 

 do not bleed. It sometimes happens in machinery- 

 accidents that the human arm is torn off at the shoulder 

 without a drop of blood being lost. There was also 

 a case recorded in the "British Medical Journal," 

 some two or three years ago, in which a boy's leg 

 was torn off at the knee without any serious 

 haemorrhage, the boy making a good recovery. In 

 these cases the inner coat of the artery curls up, and 

 the middle or muscular coat contracts strongly, so as 

 to occlude the vessel. — A. IV. Harrison, M.R.C.S., 

 House-Surgeon^ Westminster Hospital, S. W. 



Huge Moths. — Some time ago I was staying 

 with a friend at a place called Ramgarh, in the 

 district of Gorahkpur, N.W. Provinces, India. It 

 was, as well as I remember, about the end of July, or 

 the beginning of August. The place is situated in 

 the midst of the forests. One evening, about night- 

 fall, I was out for a walk, and on my return, in a very 

 dark place, I heard a strange clicking noise, I went 

 over to where the sound seemed to come from, and 

 although I could see nothing, the sound appeared to 

 come from things flying about, at some four feet from 

 the ground. As I could see nothing, I lay down on 

 the ground, so as to get the sky as a background, 

 and then saw that the noise was caused by either 

 largish moths, or very small bats. The following 

 evening, at about the same time, I was passing by 

 the same place, and I heard the same noise. I went 

 over, and, of course, saw nothing. However, I was 

 wearing a stiff pith hat, and with that I struck in the 

 direction of the sound, and, after a couple of misses, 

 I heard by the thud that I had struck something, and 

 at the same time the clicking stopped. I thought I 

 had knocked something down, but I could not see 

 anything. However I felt about on the ground, and 

 after a while I found a dead moth, which I brought 

 home. On the way I heard the clicking in several 

 places, so that I knew that even if I had killed one 

 there were plenty more. The next evening I took a 

 butterfly-net with me, and in the same way, by 

 striking in the direction of the sound, I succeeded in 

 catching another, which I brought home alive. 

 Subsequently I caught several others, but always by 

 sound and not by sight. The moth was about 2 in. 

 9 lines across the wings, and had broad wings, so 

 that it was either a bombyx or a geometer. The 

 body was slightly stouter than that of V. Atalanta, 

 the under-side of the wings was a blackish-brown, 

 and the upper side was also a dark blackish-brown 

 with a velvety gloss. The only marks were small 

 yellowish spots, one on the costa of each fore-wing. 

 The cause of the clicking appeared to be two stiff 

 bristles about two-thirds of an inch long, which pro- 

 jected, one on each side, between the roots of the 

 wings. The noise seemed to be caused by these 

 striking against the costa of the hind-wings, although 

 if that were so, I would have expected to find the 

 wings somewhat torn, which was not the case. I 

 allowed the ones which I brought home alive to fly 



about the lamp, and they sometimes clicked, and 

 sometimes did not. As far as I could form an 

 opinion, the noise was made when flying steadily, 

 and not when fluttering. It could be fairly well 

 imitated by clicking the thumb- and finger-nails 

 together, and apparently imitating the noise 

 attracted the moths. I suppose the species is well- 

 known, but I should like to know the name. — J. R. 

 Holt. 



NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 



White beet seen in Arboe school -house, 1889, co. 

 Tyrone. Piebald fieldfare seen in Ardhea parish, co. 

 Tyrone, 1889. A tumbler-pigeon hatched out a 

 Minorca chicken, a hen having laid in the pigeon- 

 box. — Arboe Rectory, 1S90. 



A hen was observed going down the chimney of a 

 cottage in Arboe parish. The owner was asked how 

 it came to do this ; he said the house was often 

 locked up when he was at work, and this particular 

 hen discovered this strange way of ingress. 



A hen sitting on eggs in an outhouse at 

 Cushendun, where there was a small hole in the roof, 

 just above her nest, moved her nest and eggs to one 

 side to prevent the rain falling on her. 



A goose made her nest and laid on the top of a 

 thatched cottage in Glendun, co. Antrim. She 

 pulled away the thatch off the rigging of the roof, 

 and sat there during the time of incubation — she had 

 to fly up and down. 



On July I2th the thermometer at Cushendun 

 stood at 31 during the night. Several nights it was 

 33J Max. Ther. ; 74J on the 26th. 



May 22nd. — The aurora was very bright after sun- 

 set, rose-coloured. The reflection gave the river a 

 rose-coloured tint. — Rev. S. A. Bretian, Cushendun, 

 co. Antrim. 



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 ou» 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 Advertisem bnts, for the purpose of evading the cost 

 of advertising, an advantage is taken of vur gratuitous insertion 

 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. 



H. B. — You could hardly do better than procure a copy 

 le " Manual of British Seaweeds," published by Routledge 



A. 



of the ' 



& Warne, price 7s. 6d. 



" Sponge." — A good way to clean a toilet sponge is to boil it 

 repeatedly in rain-water, to which a spoonful of vinegar has 

 been added. 



F. H. Arnold. — See the figure of the Monstrous Foxglove 

 in the May number of this year's Science-Gossip. The 



