HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



281 



father has often seen it simulate death ; when thrown 

 into the river it would immediately sink, but as soon 

 as his back was turned it would rise and swim away. 

 Some years ago my grandmother tasted soup made 

 from the hedgehog, which is also good eating, cooked 

 gipsy fashion, with a paste of clay all over it, and 

 baked in a bonfire. This was told me by a lady who 

 went among the gipsies to learn their language. 

 In " Museum of Animated Nature " I find the 

 following. The hedgehog's food consists of insects, 

 slugs, frogs, toads, mice, and even snakes, eggs, 

 young nestlings, and various kinds of vegetables, as 

 the roots of grass and plantain, and ripe orchard- 

 fruits which fall from the trees. As regards the 

 destruction of snakes by the hedgehog, it appears 

 that the cunning quadruped makes a sudden attack 

 on the reptile, and giving it a hard bite, instantly 

 rolls itself up for safety, then cautiously unfolds, and 

 inflicts another wound, repeating the attack until the 

 snake is "scotched." It next passes the body of the 

 snake gradually through its jaws, cracking its bones 

 at short intervals ; which done, it proceeds to eat its 

 victim as one would eat a radish, beginning with the 

 tip of the tail. The female breeds early in the 

 summer, forming an artful nest, roofed so as to 

 throw off the rain ; within, it is well lined with 

 leaves and moss. The young, from two to four in 

 number, are blind at their birtli, about two inches 

 long, perfectly white, and naked, though the rudi- 

 ments of the prickles are perceptible. These soon 

 develope themselves, and harden even before the 

 eyes are opened, Init it is not till a later period that 

 the young are able to draw down the skin over the 

 muzzle, and fold themselves into a complete ball. 

 The mother is devoted to her offspring. — Clara 

 Kiii;::;sford, Barton House, Cantcrlniry. 



Peculiar Hailstones. — A heavy shower of hail 

 fell at Polmont, N.B., on the 6th of last May. I 

 examined carefully about thirty of the hailstones 

 which I picked up at different parts of my garden. 

 The longest diameter of each was about one-fourtli 

 of an inch in length. I do not remember previously 

 to have seen such structural appearances as I will 

 now, with your leave, very briefly describe. Each 

 hailstone was in shape an almost perfect pyramid ; 

 hitherto those which I have observed have been all 

 more or less spheroidal, but every one of these was 

 distinctly pyramidal in form. I made rough transverse 

 sections of about a dozen and found that most of 

 them exhibited an internal radiated structure which 

 could lie seen by the naked eye, but could be much 

 more clearly made out by means of the addition of 

 a good magnifying glass. The radii were all focused 

 along the longest axis of the pyramid. Would any 

 of your readers, with your permission, kindly inform 

 me if such appearances have been seen before ? — 

 Alex. Johnstone, F.R.S.S.A. 



Water Voles. — In answer to Mr. F. H. Parrott's 

 query : Are water voles entirely vegetable feeders ? 

 I wish to quote my observations of this little animal, 

 as it has long been my favourite of the fera: naturic 

 of North Yorkshire. Many times have I stolen at 

 eventide to the banks of the Wiske, and watched 

 them gambolling amongst the grass, swimming and 

 diving in the river, or nibbling at the herbage. 

 They delight in gnawing the base of the leaves of the 

 iris. Later in the evening they may be found a 

 little way from the banks of the stream, luxuriating 

 amongst the grass or corn. Of the hundreds I have 

 watched, I never saw them partaking of anything 

 but a vegetable diet. The finding of shells in their 

 runs is hardly sufficient proof of their carnivorous 

 nature, as these runs may not be inhabited liy the 



vole, or the shells might be ilcposilcd there by some 

 other agency. It will be a sorry day for the poor 

 little creature when flesh-eating proclivities are as- 

 signed to it, as the angler will without doubt banish 

 them from his preserves. I must repeat a fact I 

 mentioned in this journal some time ago, viz. that 

 the brown rat is a great lover of water, as witness his 

 delight in drains, dockyards, &c. In some streams 

 in Yorkshire he is frequently seen, and in one near 

 Scarborough he is so abundant, that the more in- 

 nocuous vole is entirely supplanted. As the brown 

 rat swims and dives with ease, he is liable to be 

 confounded with a vole, althougti a closer obser- 

 vation at once reveals the wide tlifference between 

 them. I believe I have seen the small black variety 

 of the vole by the Wiske, but being unable to get a 

 close view, I cannot be certain of its identity. Could 

 any of your correspondents inform me if the l)lack 

 rat is still to be procured in the London dockyards ? 

 — J. A. JV/ieldon, Northallerton. 



Early Emergence of Insects. — In Science- 

 Gossip lately there was a paragraph on the early 

 emergence of insects. The writer did not think that 

 a second brood of Attaciis Peryni can be reared in this 

 country. His experience is, eggs laid 25th August, 

 hatched I2th September, and the larva; after passing 

 through several changes all died by loth November. 

 I have much pleasure in giving you my experience with 

 dates. Second brood of Attacits Peryni : eggs laid 

 5th September 18S2, and hatched on the iSthand 19th 

 of the same month. First moulting on 26th and 27th, 

 and on the 3rd and 4th October they threw off their 

 "Old Clo." Their third on 12th and 13th, their 

 fourth between 22nd and 24th October, and went 

 into their cocoons between 5th and 13th November, 

 eleven in all. They were reared in cages made up of 

 four panes of glass cemented together at the corners, 

 with stout paper bottoms, and perforated zinc 

 covers, and the temperature ranged from 65 to 72 

 degrees of heat. I unfortunately put them away into 

 a colder room before they had changed to the pupae 

 and consequently o insects came out. In 18S3 I 

 was more fortunace, although later in the season the 

 eggs did not hatch till about the end of September, — 

 the particular dates of moulting have not been pre- 

 served, but, if anything different from those of the 

 previous year, they were, perhaps, a little longer 

 between the moultings. The nearly full fed larvae 

 were exhibited at the South of Scotland Entomo- 

 logical Society's exhibition of Insects, held here on 

 1st December, and about the middle of the month 

 the whole of them, 22 in number, had " spun up." 

 Owing to the advanced season two or three of the 

 larvae before spinning had to be content with eating 

 dry and withered leaves, as every favoured spot and 

 sheltered nook had been sought in vain to find them 

 fresh food. The cocoons are thinner in the shell, and 

 the silk much whiter, than those of the^first brood, 

 and a number of them were hung up in the same 

 temperature in which the larvae were reared, antl up 

 to the iSth of February last, ten fine specimens had 

 emerged. — A. Litster, 67 Channel Street, Galashiels. 



Ospreys. — -It may interest some of your readers, to 

 hear that the osprey eagles (water-eagles) have this 

 year again paid their visit to Loch-an-Eilan, and, like 

 good parents, have nursed their young ones. Loch-an- 

 Eilan stands in the midst of the Grampians, antl 

 almost at the foot of the mighty Ben Macdhui, from 

 which the snow never disappears. It is surrounded 

 by the famous wools of Rothiemurchus, and is fitting 

 summer home for the osprey. It is within easy 

 reach of both boat of Garten, and Aviemore stations 

 on the main-line of the Highland railway. In the 



