HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCR- G OS SI P. 



119 



inconvenience. I have only noticed it in the tram 

 horses, and have never seen it in any otliers. I 

 should very much like to know the cause of these 

 swellings, and if they cause the animal any pain. — 

 JV. Finch, jicn. 



Another Bat. — Mr. Barlow's interesting account 

 of his pet "Tommy the Bat," in a recent Gossip, 

 reminds me of a similar capture made in a bedroom 

 when I was living at Twickenham. I placed the 

 "strange visitor" in a disused aquarium covered 

 with perforated zinc. Like Mr. Barlow's, he treated 

 flies rather contemptuously, but ate moths of all kinds 

 very voraciously, fluffy wings and all. I did not try 

 the meat and milk diet, or possibly I should have 

 succeeded in keeping him longer. As it was, he 

 died about a fortnight after the commencement of his 

 captivity. — W. MattJiieii IVilliains, Stonchidgc Park, 

 N.IV. 



What is a White Elephant? — Mr. C. P. San- 

 derson, " Superintendent of the Government Elephant 

 Catching Operations in Bengal," says in a letter to 

 the " Times," respecting the Barnum animal, 

 " Neither in the general colour of his body, in the 

 flesh-coloured blotchings on his face, ears, and chest, 

 nor in the smallest particular does he differ one whit 

 from the hundreds of elephants of the Commissariat 

 and Forest Department, which may be seen any day 

 in India and Burmah, carrying the baggage of troops, 

 or dragging timber down to the banks of rivers." 

 " The value of such an elephant in Burmah or India 

 is from ^150 to ;^200." " Tire testimony of all 

 trustworthy observers who have seen the sacred, 

 so-called white elephants of the Kings of Burmah or 

 Siam, proves that they are but ordinary elephants 

 possessed of certain whimsical ' lucky ' marks." 

 " My own experience, ns well as that of many of the 

 older native hunters attached to the elephant-catching 

 establishment at Dacca, satisfies me personally, that 

 there is not, nor ever was, such a creature as a white 

 elephant, in the ordinary acceptation of the term." 

 He then speaks of "two very young elephants 

 (newly captured) of a dirty cream-colour ; one died, 

 the other turned as black as his, fellows in a few 

 years." The "Newcastle Weekly Chronicle " gives 

 a quotation from Mr. Crawfurd's " Embassy to the 

 Court of Ava " (apparently referring to about the 

 year 1820) : " Our attention was chiefly attracted to 

 the celebrated white elephant, which was immediately 

 in front of the palace. It is the only one in posses- 

 sion of the King of Ava, notwithstanding his titles 

 (Lord of the White Elephants), whereas his Majesty 

 of Siam had six when I was in that country. The 

 Burman white elephant was of a cream colour, and 

 by no means so complete an Albino as any of those 

 shown to us in Siam." He then mentions their 

 rarity, and says, " Several of a light tint, but not 

 deserving the name of white, have been taken within 

 the last twenty years" (in Burmah). Tiiese state- 

 ments effectually dispose of Mr. Barnum's prodigy, 

 but the fact of Mr. Sanderson having satisfied himself 

 as to the non-existence of a white elephant is not quite 

 satisfactory to people in general, and any information 

 on the subject would just now be very acceptable. — 

 IV, Gain, Tiixford. 



Anatomical Preparation. — Can you, or any 

 of your readers, inform me where I can obtain fresh 

 animal tissues, (either human or from lower animals) 

 foi Microscopic preparation ? — W. H. Pratt, 



Nottingham. 



The Rook (Corvus frugilegus). — Is the name 

 rook, applied to this bird, universal in the British 



Islands ? The carrion crow [Corvus coronc) is, I 

 believe, often confounded with the rook, in poetry 

 and novels, from the writers often not knowing they are 

 distinct species. I have heard persons remark they 

 thought the names rook and crow referred to the 

 same bird. Of course the term " scare-crow" proves 

 that "crow" is another name for the rook, as it is 

 the latter that frequents the corn-fields, the crow 

 being a more solitary bird, and not generally associa- 

 ting with the rook. Which name is most commonly 

 used for Corvus frugilegus, crow or rook ? — Henry 

 Lamb, Maidstone. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now 

 publish Science-Gossip earlier than heretofore, we cannot 

 possibly insert in the following number any communications 

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



To Anonymous Querists. — We receive so many queries 

 which do not bear the writers' names that we are forced to 

 adhere to our rule of not noticing them. 



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 of 

 advertising, an advantage is taken of our 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. 



J. H. C. R. — Thanks for specimens of Lathra:a sqjtaviaria 

 and primrose. 



Dr. T. S. R. — The swellings at the buds of the stem of the 

 apple-tree are galls, probably caused by a species of Andricus. 

 Wash, or brush the bark of the trees with a mixture of petro- 

 leum and water, stirring well before using. 



W. P. Q.— Write to Dr. M. C. Cooke, 146 Junction Road, 

 Upper Holloway, N., for particulars. 



H. W. Parritf. — The usual way to obtain skeletons of small 

 mammals, &c , is to skin the bodies and place them near an ants' 

 nest. Tadpoles are also capital nibblers, and will pick the 

 bones quite clean. See chapter on "Bones" in "Collecting 

 and Preserving Natural History Objects," price 3J. dd., pub- 

 lished by W. H. Allen & Co. 



F. T. — Tripp's " Mosses " is a good book, although we pre- 

 fer Hobkirk's "British Mouses" (without plates, however). 

 The " British Moss Flora," now being issued in parts by 

 Dr. Braithwaite (beautifully illustrated), promises to be the 

 best work of its kind when completed. Rossiter's " Scien- 

 tific Dictionary " is very good as far as it goes. We want a 

 really good one, and the new dictionary being issued by Cassell 

 and Co. promises to be very complete as regards the portion 

 devoted to scientific terms. 



J. Black. — The insect of which you sent us a sketch, 

 brought from Syria, is evidently a species of Notonecta, one of 

 the water bugs. 



A. W. Lyons. — All the exchanges in our columns are in- 

 serted gratis, unless more than three lines in length. 



S. G. — Thanks for the specimen of Matricaria partheriiinn. 

 All the plants seem to have forgotten the proper time of flower- 

 ing, owing to the last three mild winters. Look at the list of 

 plants in flower in our February number. 



L T. M.— Get Watt's " Manual of Chemistry." You would 

 have to go through a course of practical instruction at some 

 good laboratory before you were fit. 



S. S. desires to know the publisher of Blewer's " Flora of 

 Surrey." Perhaps some reader will oblige by sending it. 



H A. F. — The pirasite has been sent on to be named. The 

 answer will be given shortly. 



F. Ravner. — Sprin'icle the eggs with benzine to destroy the 

 maggots. 



R. H. Batterbee. — There is no reason why the wall- 

 flower should not be the wild kind under the circumstances you 

 mention. It is a plant which rapidly spreads when the con- 

 ditions are favourable. 



J. B. Bessell. — Sir Joseph Hooker's " Student's Flora of the 

 British Islands " would be of great help to you. Hobkirk's 

 " British Mosses," and Miss Ridley's little book on Ferns, 

 would be useful for those plants. 



EXCHANGES. 



Offered, thirty-six well-mounted human pathological slides, 

 beautiful slides of marine algae in fruit (50 varieties), many other 

 good slides. Wanted, cabinets or boxes for slides, — T. H. 

 Buffliam, Connaught Road, Walthamstow. _, , 



