HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



263 



fine and mild, the wind being southerly and soft, 

 three swifts were vigorously hawking about in the 

 village of Killingworth, near Newcastle-on-Tyne. 

 On the day previous I had also observed a swift 

 flying, as well as one on Sept. 1st. Never before 

 have I observed swifts so late in the year, though 

 keeping a watchful eye on natural phenomena. — 

 Charles Robson. 



Scarcity of Wasps (Vespa.). — In the spring and 

 early summer I detected very few of the hibernated 

 queen social wasps on the wing ; nor have I observed 

 a single worker during the entire summer — either in 

 this neighbourhood or at Birtley, Durham, during a 

 ten days' stay at the latter place in the end of July 

 and beginning of August. Until this month (Sept.), 

 indeed, I have not seen a wasp of any sort or sex 

 since the queens of spring ; when, on the 2nd, I 

 observed a queen ( Vespa rufa) ; on the 3rd a male 

 {V. sylvestris), and on the 15th and 1 8th respectively, 

 a solitary worker (V. rufa). — Charles Robson. 



Re Helix Hortensis, var. Trochoidea 

 (Clessin). — I hope Mr. Williams will kindly allow 

 me to correct a slight error or wrong impression he 

 inadvertently made in your last issue. My specimen 

 was taken in July of last year at Simonstone, Lane, 

 and not at Clayton-le-Moors, as Mr. Williams 

 indicated. — R. Wiggles-worth. 



An Aquatic Garden in New Zealand. — 

 Reading in your June number of Science-Gossip 

 an interesting account of an aquatic garden near the 

 Malvern Hills, I was reminded of a very similar one, 

 though perhaps not so complete in matters of detail, 

 at Opawa, a suburb of Christchurch, N.Z., that I 

 had the pleasure of visiting in the early part of this 

 year. The Troutdale Farm, at Opawa, is not of many 

 acres in extent, but the owner, Mr. Johnson, has 

 made it one of great interest and pleasure, not only 

 to lovers of the gentle art, but also to the lovers of 

 nature. The water that flows through the zigzag 

 canals, cut through the tenacious clay with sluices of 

 wood here and there, partly filled with shingle from 

 the stony bed of the river, and again widening into 

 small ponds in which many pieces of trout are reared 

 among the aquatic plants that have been brought 

 from England, America, and other parts, the different 

 species are all kept separately, and this is arranged 

 almost as easily as the sheep are managed on a farm. 

 The water is supplied by means of Artesian wells 

 through pipes, some of which are driven to consider- 

 able depths, the water from certain depths having to 

 fall out of the pipe several feet and then over two or 

 three artificial falls before it is sufficiently aerated for 

 the fish to live in. You also see the fish of various 

 ages in their respective homes, and it is really 

 wonderful, when standing near a small pool, not a 

 sign of living fish to be seen among the free-growing 

 plants, when a spoonful of food is dropped in, the 

 water seems in a moment to be alive with fish. I 

 think one of the most beautiful of the trout species 

 is "Fontinalis" American brook trout, though it 

 does not attain the size of the English trout. Mr. 

 Johnson showed us some beautiful fish that he had 

 produced by crossing the English trout with Fon- 

 tinalis, the hybrid being always fit for table purposes, 

 and its markings were peculiar and very beautiful, 

 the spots appearing to have run together, resulting 

 in stripes something like those on a tabby cat. There 

 were some eight of the Artesian wells constantly 

 flowing, thus keeping up a sufficient supply and to 

 spare. In some ponds were perch enjoying them- 



selves among the stems of the beautiful Aponogeton 

 distachyon, with its sweet-scented flowers, the banks 

 covered with the yellow musk and many other 

 varieties of mimulus, in another part the American 

 carfish ; gold and silver fish in another, and what is 

 quite a new style to us at this far-away corner of the 

 globe, frogs and tadpoles lazily moving about — a few 

 N.Z. molluscs, but the kind principally to be seen is 

 Liinnia stagnalis, which increases here at a marvel- 

 lously rapid rate. Among the numerous aquatics 

 are Anacharis, which has in a few years become 

 quite an obstruction to the boating on the beautiful 

 river Avon that seems to flow all round Christ- 

 church. The strange Vallisneria spiralis, and a 

 plant brought by Mr. Johnson from one of the island 

 lakes, Nitella, a plant most useful in oxygenating 

 water. I trust I am not writing too long a descrip- 

 tion, but I was delighted with my visit to Troutdale, 

 and brought away to my home in the North Island 

 a few of the fish, not omitting the tadpoles, in the 

 hope that, on a small scale, I may keep up a pleasant 

 reminder of my visit south, although we have not 

 the Artesian water, I have utilised a small perennial 

 spring. Seeing the paper by Mr. Carter, induced 

 me to send you this, thinking it might surprise as 

 well as please you to know that here in New Zealand 

 besides the rearing grounds of the Acclimatisation 

 Societies, there is one something like that near 

 Malvern Hills from which many thousands of young 

 fish are annually sent through this well-watered 

 country. — Jas. W. Baker, Brookdale, IVanganniy 

 N. Zealand. 



Banded Cochlicopa Luerica. — On the 3rd of 

 October, just ended, I picked up a banded live shell 

 of the ovate form of this species at Clayton-le-Moors, 

 and, as no manual to which I have access has placed 

 this on record, my conchological friends will kindly 

 pardon me for appending the following description. 

 Shell, ovate, greenish, more opaque ; spire shorter, 

 duller, with a faint, narrow band of a darker hue 

 above the periphery of the last and penultimate 

 whorls. — R. Wigglesworth. 



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

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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. 



S. W. B. — The specimen you enclosed was too obscure to 

 make out. It seemed to be a lichen rather than an algae ; or it 

 might be the first or mycelicum stage of some fungus. 



J. Fletcher. — Many thanks for your teratological speci- 

 mens of wood-avens and knapweed, both of which shall 

 receive due attention. 



W. A. Smith. — The growths on oak-leaves are common, 

 and are caused by insects, species of cynips. They are there- 

 fore galls, and go by the name of " oak-spangles " and " button- 



