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HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSS IP. 



Gigantic ants scurried here and there. One large 

 black fellow, solitary in habit, , carries a massive pair 

 of jaws, but fights only when disturbed. He is 

 known commonly as the "policeman or bull-dog 

 ant " because he separates the " soldiers," a fierce and 

 warlike tribe with red bodies ; the latter have uncon- 

 trollable fits of passion. Tickle one with a stick, 

 and he will simply lie on his back kicking with fury. 

 Beware how either species touch the skin. I am 

 informed that the sting or bite is intensely painful, 

 like the touch of a hot iron. But there is a more 

 extraordinary species still in Queensland, called the 

 meridian ant ; the hillocks erected by them are 

 several feet high, but remarkably thin. Passing in 

 the train they have the appearance of so many tomb- 

 stones. The strange thing is, each one is erected due 

 north and south ; they never vary from this position. 



Small white ants (Termites, I suppose,) I saw at 

 work in a gentleman's stable, near Sydney. They 

 had ruined the coach-house, in spite of constant 

 petroleum dressing. 



In Melbourne I had the good fortune to receive an 

 invitation to the conversazione of the Field Naturalists' 

 Club, and was fairly amazed at the evidence of work 

 accomplished in all branches of Natural History. 

 The collections and groups of birds alone repaid us for 

 the evening expedition. A crimson-breasted specimen 

 of Columba supcrba, a pair of frontal tit-shrikes, 

 rifle-birds, regent-birds, and many others dwell in 

 the memory ; while the variety of robin is quite be- 

 wildering. Flame-breasted, crimson-headed, yellow- 

 breasted, grey-throated, hooded robin, pink-wood 

 robin ; and I believe this does not complete the list 

 of the New South Wales species. 



When the club organise an expedition in holiday 

 time, they simply start off for a week or so to some 

 spot hardly known to naturalists, say an island, 

 perhaps ten times as large as the Isle of Wight. 

 Here they camp, shoot and hunt, collect unknown 

 treasures from the sea-shore and botanise inland to 

 their hearts' content. It is virgin ground. Things 

 unknown to science may turn up in any direction. 

 Such conditions are enough to excite our envy, 

 cramped up in over-populated England. I saw 

 scores of bottles crammed full with strange sponges, 

 Echinoderms, Hydroids and Polyzoa ; not one quarter 

 of these had been examined, and doubtless new 

 genera and species lie waiting to be described. The 

 difficulty during a short visit — where life is so prolific 

 — is to know what to study ; there is material for 

 years' work. If these lines should meet the eyes of 

 any member of the Melbourne Field Naturalists' Club, 

 I venture to suggest that he should forward a short 

 account of one of their splendid expeditions (say to 

 King Island this last year), to the Editor of Science- 

 Gossip. It would prove deeply interesting to scores 

 of fellow workers in far off Old England. 



At one of these meetings in Melbourne, Professor 

 Baldwin Spencer, Biological instructor at the Uni- 



versity, showed me a dish of sea water, containing the 

 curious fish in a living state, Amphioxus lanceolatus, 

 dredged up in Port Phillip. They are transparent, 

 and barely exceed two inches in length, and possess 

 the slightest possible structure. Having notes on 

 this fish, I hope to deal more fully with the subject 

 in the future. 



Confirming the repeated assertion, that snakes 

 swallow their young ones at the approach of danger, 

 the following may not be without interest. On the 

 28th March, 1888, Mr. H. J. M'Cooey, at Coogee 

 Bay, surprised a black snake (Psaidcchis porphyriacus) 

 in the scrub. It made a hissing sound or gulping 

 noise, and opened the mouth wide ; no less than 

 eighteen young ones rapidly disappeared down its 

 throat. He killed the snake and thirteen young 

 ones ; the remainder escaped as the parent was 

 dissected. Mr. John Taylor, a shipper well known 

 in Queensland trade, informed me he had himself 

 seen a large black snake swallow her young. I think 

 ample proof of this now exists from various parts of 

 the world, and in England we may still look for 

 evidence that the common viper performs a similar 

 feat. 



I cannot at present put into shape my impressions of 

 the Sydney and Melbourne Botanic Gardens. From 

 the directors of both, I met with all facilities and 

 assistance in studying the Australian and tropical 

 flora. I am now occupied in planting seeds of typical 

 Australian plants in an English green-house, from a 

 splendid collection given to me by Mr. W. Guilfoyle, 

 F.L.S., of Melbourne Gardens. Among them are 

 hakeas, acacias, eucalypts, casuarinas, pittosporums, 

 and many beautiful species. 



It is strange to see how the weeping willow 

 flourishes at the antipodes. Indeed, this Salix 

 Babylonka is a wonderful tree, and appears to be 

 transmitted by cutting all over the world, wherever 

 civilisation advances. I believe the male plant only 

 is known, and the original home is said to be Asia. 

 I picture it drooping on the terraces of the famous 

 hanging gardens at Babylon, aud likely enough it 

 was the same tree mentioned by the Hebrew poet : 



" By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept . . . 

 As for our harps, we hanged them up upon the trees that are 

 therein." 



But where on earth has the female plant gone ? 

 Have any of your readers seen it ? 



THE ERRONEOUS REPUTATIONS OF 

 REPTILES. 



IT is surprising how manifold and ridiculous are 

 the popular errors connected with reptile life. 

 The common slow-worm {Aiignis fragilis), alias blind- 

 worm, is believed by ninety-nine out of every hundred 

 of the uneducated to be, as its latter name implies, 

 blind ; although its eyes, though small in comparison 



