214 



IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIF. 



Earth\vorms.-I think W. H. Brachett would 

 best lessen the <iuanlity cf earthworms in his ij^arden 

 l.v if possible, inducing birds to frequent it. 11 that 

 cannot be done, he would find a hcdge-ho- very use- 

 lul • it would live for a length of time if there was a 

 drv' place for it to sleep in, and, as hedgehogs are out 

 chiefly at night they make great havoc amongst the 

 worms and slugs, and do not destroy the flowers. We 

 liad one in the garden for two years ; it used to make a 

 bed of dried leaves in a dry spot, and hybernate 

 through the winter. I believe land-tortoises devour 

 earthworms, but they are difficult to keep through 

 the winter.— .7. £. Vhiit. 



L\TE Tadpoles.— In reply to your correspondent 

 G. K. R., I I'eg to say that 1 have a tiny frog (English) 

 that I took just as it emerged from the tadpole state. 

 I have now had it in confinement about three weeks. It 

 crows very slowly, but is active and jilump. I have it 

 in a large aquarium glass with a number of tree-frogs 

 that I have kept about a year. Wlien I feed them 

 with flies I also drop in some very minute flies and 

 insects that 1 sweep off the ivy, grass, and ferns with 

 a net. The little English fellow is very active in 

 catching them, and his ambition one day led him to 

 atiack a bluebottle ; he caught the wing, but of course 

 the fly instantly escaped without injury. He is very 

 amusing to watch, often lying spread out on the water 

 lor a long time together, and I have seen hirn up 

 on the branches vis-a-vis with his green companions, 

 who are perfect giants compared with him, but seem 

 on friendly terms. — J. J'itz Gerald. 



Ci.iMBiNG rowKRs OF EARTHWORMS.— Last even- 

 ing, after some hours of rain, I observed on the upper 

 p.art of my study window, outside, what looked at 

 first sight like a leafless twig, about three inches 

 long, stuck on the glass. Looking, however, at it 

 more closely, the pointed head of an earthworm was 

 soon protruded at one end, and it proceeded, with 

 great slowness and caution, to wriggle a tortuous 

 course upwards on the vertical plate glass, till, dark- 

 ness coming on, I lost sight of it. Apparently it 

 must have managed to climb a height of at least 

 seven feet before getting on the glass ; but whether 

 the climbing was on the brickwork, or in the angle of 

 the window-frame, I cannot say. At any rate, there 

 it was peacefully progressing over the glass, which I 

 tapped close to it, to test its adherent capacity ; but 

 the glass being so thick, the jarring was not sufficient 

 to make it fall. On first seeing it move, I thought it 

 could not be an earthworm, but closer inspection 

 ]iroved that it undoubtedly was. I have not seen 

 Darwin's work on worms, and am therefore ignorant 

 of anything he may have observed on the subject ; 

 but the fact is certainly new to me, and possibly to 

 many of your readers. — /,'. Biiikland Kemp Welch, 

 lionrneiiiottth. 



)SSII', G. R. R. stated that he had been unable to 

 ep young frogs [ok more than eight days after they 

 d left the tadpole stage. Allow me to mention 



Young Erogs. — In the July number of Science- 

 Gossil', G. R. R. stated that he had been unable to 

 keei 

 had 



ihat I kept one for tliree weeks, feeding it on small 

 flies and insects. It died at the end of this period, 

 however, having hardly grown at all since it left the 

 tadpole stage. — A. 11. Fisher. 



Land and Fresh-water Shells. — Will some of 

 ihe readers of SciKNCE-Gossii' inform me if the 

 following species of land and fresh-water shells have 

 recently been found, or if they may be considered as 

 indigenous ? A list supplied to me recently men- 

 tioned as IJriiish, Helix aperta. If. villosa (Drap.), 



some specimens said to have been procured near 

 Cardiff, 1873. " Annals and Magazine of Nat. Hist. 

 1877."' Also 67(?/«/7/(Z /<?re7//(? (Studor), and Claii- 

 silia solida (Drap.).— ^. Loydell. 



Trichinae.— In the June number of Science- 

 Gossip, M. E., Upton House, says, " he has read that 

 it is believed pigs get trichina; from rats," and in- 

 quires " how does this come to pass ? " The "belief"' 

 is new to me, but is not altogether improbable. 1 re- 

 member some years ago, being at a farm-house, when 

 a rat-catcher came with dogs and ferrets and tried his 

 skill in exterminating these pests of the farm. The 

 scene of his operations was a large barn, and from be- 

 neath the floor and from holes in the walls a consider- 

 able number of vermin were caught. When the work 

 was done, the rats, which were of all sizes and ages, 

 were laid on the top of a low wall to be seen and 

 counted by the steward who paid the rat-catcher so- 

 much per head. Turning to the steward, I said, " and 

 what will you do with all these dead rats ? " ' ' Oh ! " 

 he replied, "give them to the hogs," and sure enough 

 they were thrown into an enclosure containing about 

 twenty pigs, who immediately and with evident relish 

 devoured their filthy meal. How far such a custom 

 is common, I am unable to say ; it was no unusual 

 thing with this person, and if it is an ordinary thing 

 for farmers to do, it easily accounts for the " belief" 

 to which M. E refers.— T: S. King, Sheffield. 



Talc— Will any reader of Science-Gossip tell 

 me if Talc is used in microscopy, and if so, what is it 

 used for ?— Z. Francis, Abergavenny. 



Helix Cantiana. — During my conchological 

 rambles, I, to my own surprise, stumbled across a 

 herd of Helix cantiana feeding on the short grass 

 on the banks of the Tees near Billingham. I have 

 not observed this locality recorded, and therefore 

 take the opportunity of giving it to you to deal with. 

 They appear to have been found near Newcastle-on- 

 Tyne, where they were introduced with ballast, and 

 possibly this may have been the case with those 

 found by myself. However they, together with 

 H. aspersa, are in great plenty at the place I name. — 

 Baker Hudson. 



A Suogestiox.— As tending still further to en- 

 hance the value of Science-Gossip, might I suggest 

 the insertion of references to books and papers on 

 special subjects which come under the notice of cor- 

 respondents ? The following will illustrate what I 

 mean :— Musical Fishes. {Science-Gossip, 1870, pp. 

 t;7, 87, 95, 97, 146) ; Mitchell, Trans. Lit. and Phil. 

 Soc. N. V. V. I, p. 411 ; " Bombay Times," Jan. and 

 Feb. 13, 1847 ; "Nature," vol. ii. pp. 25, 46, 356 ; 

 vol. iv. p. 26; "Field" newspaper, Oct. 26 and 

 Nov. 23, 1867 ; Giinther, "Study of Fishes," p. 420, 

 Tennent's " Ceylon," vol. ii. ; Tennent's " Sketches 

 of the Nat. Hist, of Ceylon," p. 383 ; Cuvier's 

 " E'ishes," vol. x. p. 504.^''. A. IVesiiuood Oliver. 



Suffolk Names. — I do not know whether the 

 following have appeared in print before, but at least 

 they will do no harm by doing so again, " Spink " 

 (chaftlnch) ; "slight" (swallow); " billy-wix " 

 (owl); " pudding-poke " (long-tailed tit) ; "harnsa," 

 (heron); "barley-bird" (nightingale); "tomtit" 

 (common tit) ; " oaf" (some kind of finch) ; " bud- 

 doaf " or "bloodoaf" (bull-finch); "pincushions" 

 (corn-cockles); " drawk " (darnel); "head-ache" 

 (wild-poppy); "brakes" (brachen) ; "nip" (cat- 

 mint); "gottridge" (gelder-rose) ; "guys" (corn- 

 weeds, poppies, &c.) ; " sinsion " (groundsel); 

 "locks" (sedge and rushes); "lords and ladies" 



