HARDWJCKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



139 



green. These snakes, as far as I can discover, are 

 subject to the ravages of a species of tapeworm, of 

 which I append a rough sketch taken from a micro- 

 scopic view of one that I extracted from the intestines 

 of one of the reptiles. I found, upon a careful exami- 

 nation, that there were no less than six tapeworms, 

 and each appeared to be mature. They were each 

 about a foot in length, by about /jth of an inch wide 

 in the widest part. The entire body consists of small 

 segments, of from j^ih to j'ijth of an inch in length, 

 except at the head, where the segmentation ceases 

 to appear for nearly an inch. The thickness of the 

 body is very small, so much so as to be transparent 

 throughout the greater part of its entire length. The 

 colour is a pale creamy white, somewhat bluish when 

 examined with a microscope. The head [a, fig. 102) 



Fig. 102. — Head and Turtion of Body of 

 Tapeworm of Snake. 



appears to have eye-like spots that have the power of 

 contracting inwards and outwards, but my microscope 

 being of low power, 1 was unable to detect anything 

 like a mouth or hooks by which the animal could 

 fix itself. When exposed to ordinary air, with the 

 temperature at 78° Fahr., these worms dried up, 

 leaving nothing but a thin film upon a microscopic 

 slide. If placed in water, after extraction from the 

 body they infested, they exhibited considerable power 

 of movement, and continued to live and move for a 

 lengthened period of time, and increased in magni- 

 tude, probably from the absorption of water. I 

 failed to detect the presence of ova, though I am 

 aware of the existence of minute eggs in the Taenia 

 solium^ but this may probably have been owing to 

 the low power of my microscope. It would be very 

 interesting to discover the means by which these 

 worms obtained access to the stomach of the snake, 

 and if different varieties infest different serpents. I 

 may add that the food of the " Green Tick Polonga'' 

 is often made up of rats and mice, which they swallow 

 whole, with the exception of the head, that is usually 

 broken up into a " mash." The figure I have given 

 represents the head (a) and a portion of the body at 

 its thickest part, both being magnified about twice. 

 In conclusion I may add that the snake is considered 

 venomous, but I have never heard of the bite proving 

 fatal to human beings. The Singhalese " Vederalars," 

 or doctors, say that the bite can be cured, though the 



cause of considerable suffering. — F. Z., BallangodcL, 

 Ceylon. 



Fylde District Natural History Society. — 

 We are pleased to see that a society bearing tlie above 

 name has been founded for this very interesting 

 district of Lancashire. 



Early Insects. — It may perhaps interest your 

 readers to know that ou Tuesday, the 9th of last 

 month, I captured two specimens of the " Green 

 Drake" on the water, and yesterday, the loth, several 

 of the " Grey Drake." Is not this unusually early ? I 

 had an idea they never appeared before the end of 

 May, or the beginning of June ; Gilbert White never 

 saw the '■ Angler's May Fly " before June 3.— G. T. B. 



Norwich Natural Science Club. — At a general 

 meeting of the above club, it was decided to alter the 

 name to that of Norwich Naturalists' Field Club. 



BOTANY. 



Malformation of Daisy. — During the Easter 

 holidays a friend found in Bloodshot Woods, Tun- 

 bridge, Kent, a common daisy malformed, the 

 peduncle near the head half divided into two, there 

 being a groove almost cutting through the stalk. 

 Each branch was continued into a disc made up of 

 tubular florets as usual, joined to each other on the 

 inner side, the whole surrounded by an oval ring of 

 ligulate florets, slightly puckered in where the yellow 

 discs coalesced. I have no work on the subject at 

 hand, and am therefore unable to say whether this is 

 a common phenomenon or not. Perhaps some of 

 your readers know what I mean. — E. G. IT. 



Green Primrose. — I have just met with a speci- 

 men of the common primrose (the "pin-eyed " variety), 

 in which the corolla is exactly of the usual size, shape, 

 and veining, but the petals are denser and their cells 

 are filled with chlorophyll, exactly like that which 

 gives the leaves of the primrose their characteristic 

 tone of greenness. — J. E. Taylor. 



Prunus spinosa (v.\rs.). — The common black- 

 thorn and its varieties have perhaps never assumed so 

 marvellous a white dress as this year. Every spray is 

 literally a sheet of white, and the individual flowers 

 are considerably larger than we have ever before 

 noted. Blackthorn is very common to the bushes and 

 hedgerows of the inferior oolite, but it is always shy 

 of fruiting. — Js. Buckiiiaii, Bradford Abbas. 



Viola odorata. — A remarkable fact of this won- 

 derful season has occurred in regard to what the fox- 

 hunter irreverently calls the " stinking violet." This 

 sweet flower, Viola odorata, has actually flowered and 

 o^one out of flower long before the sport has been 

 "iven up for the season. With some it is a matter of 



