HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



215 



{Arum maculattim) ; "masslinn " (mistletoe) ; "plum- 

 piiddings" (campion); " dodman " (snail); "dor" 

 (cockchafer); " pinpatch " (periwinkle); " tan- 

 tittles "" stickers " (stickleback); "swift" (newt); 

 "pollywog" (tadpole); " ranny " (field-mouse); 

 "arywiggle" (earwig) ; and "brock" (badger). 

 *' Harnsa." for heron, recalls " Hamlet," act ii. 

 scene 2 ; " I know a hawk from a handsaw." Give 

 " handsaw " a twist of the Suffolk tongue, and one 

 has "harnsa," a heron, making the passuj^e easily 

 understood. — P. S. Taylor. 



Local Names. — (Suffolk.) Common heron 

 {Arc/a ciiwna) harnser ; common fieldfare [Titrdiis 

 iliaris) dowfelfeet ; common t\\XM'A\{Titi-dus nmskus) 

 mavish ; wryneck ( Yiinx torquilla) barley hi rd ; 

 common whitethroat {Cicrnica cinerea) hay-jack ; 

 chaffinch [Fringilla arkbs) spink ; goldfinch {Cav- 

 il it elis elegans) King Harry ; blue tit (Par us cccru- 

 lens) pickcheese ; chiff-chaff [Sylvia hippolais) and 

 willow- warbler {Sylvia trocliiliis) oben birds ; long- 

 tailed tit (Pants caiidatus) pudding-poke ; common 

 wren {Troglodytes vulgaris) titereen ; common gull 

 (Larus can us) seacrow. Our rural lads and lasses 

 are now educated so liberally that the above local 

 names must soon become things of the past. — E. 

 Lingivood, Stonham, Suffolk. 



Setting LEPioorTERA. — Individually I shoul 1 

 not be much predisposed as regards the use of shellac, 

 glue and gum tragacanth, to obviate the spring of 

 the wings in resetting desiccated lepidoptera, as there- 

 by at the very least the specimens would be in 

 measure deteriorated from a biological stand-point, and 

 though otherwise avowedly the pink of perfection 

 they might prove of less service when their structure 

 had to be considered. Better seems to me the plan 

 of submitting the awkward examples to a good 

 soaking by allowing them to float on the surface of a 

 cup of water for a day or two and so to fairly emasculate 

 the muscular system before applying the braces. 

 Many a refractory old Indian I have lately got the ad- 

 vantage of, and finally fairly overcome, by this method, 

 and it has occurred to me that if the water had been 

 previously heated surer results might have been 

 anticipated. Then a word as regards the setting of 

 lepidoptera and other insects. I do not know whether 

 it is known generally that peat as sold for firing makes 

 a very good substitute for cork and might be rendered 

 very serviceable for entomological purposes. Apart 

 from the outstanding drawback of heather roots and 

 a slight variation in texture, it is tough and even in 

 measure elastic, holding the pin well, its soft fibre also 

 taking the prick of the smaller sizes in use without 

 breaking or bending them. I should have been in- 

 clined to say that the only obvious drawback to the 

 employment of peat would lie in its weight, did it not 

 at the moment strike me that German dealers are 

 actually in the habit of placing some soft compound of 

 similar nature at the bottom of their post boxes. As 

 regards extemporising setting boards, the case in point, 

 it will be found perfectly invaluable from the facility 

 with which it may be cut and trimmed with a knife, 

 it slices and cuts quite like a turnip ; four strokes 

 make a plane for the wings and groove for the body, 

 and there remains but to pin the object of admiration 

 and display its perfections. Travellers and school- 

 boys, whose fortunate shilling has been expended on 

 sweets and cakes, might any way seize the idea. — 

 A. H. S'iuinion, Biufield House, IVaterdon Road, 

 Guildford. 



Eyestones. — The eyestones which are occasion- 

 ally met with in the chemists' shops are found on 

 the beach of Cape Araza and exported. They are 



theopercula of certain species of small univalve shells. 

 If you place one on a smooth plate in lemon juice 

 you will find it, I am told, move about, for the evo- 

 lution of carbonic acid gas, from the carbonate of 

 lime of which it is composed lifts it up, as if it were 

 alive. The natives of Venezuela call these stones 

 '■'■ Pddras de los ojos." — Helen E. IVatiiey. 



Vine pest. — Last October, I made an inquiry in 

 your columns (1881, p. 234) as to a vine pest de- 

 scribed by White in his "Nat. Hist, of Selborne." 

 To abbreviate as much as possible, I gave, in lieu of 

 descriptions, the Latin name as given by White, 

 '■'Coccus vilis T'/////('r(r(Linn.)," and perhaps this may 

 explain the fact that I got no answer. May I now 

 repeat this query ? I am not enabled to enclose 

 a specimen of this insect, to get my identification 

 confirmed. — C. Fred IVorters. 



Frogs climbing. — On the 5th inst, on coming 

 home in the evening, I was told that there were five 

 frogs climbing up one of the cellar windows. Going 

 downstairs I found two young frogs clinging to a 

 pane of glass, being about halfway up it, and stretched 

 out at full length. The others were on the window- 

 sill. There was a layer of leaves, and some water in 

 the space between the glass and the cellar wall. 

 During the afternoon we had had a severe thunder- 

 storm. Is there any connection between the position 

 of the frogs and the thunderstorm ? Supposing the 

 frogs were charged with electricity, did they go on 10 

 the glass to become insulated ? Did they know tliat 

 they would probably be more comfortable on the 

 glass ? Have any of your correspondents ever noticed 

 Irogs in a similar situation ? — IV. Arnold Linnell. 



Birds' Eggs. — Surely your correspondent X .V. Z. 

 mu^t be labouring under the disadvantage of apauiity 

 of observations, when he endeavours to throw doubt 

 on the belief that a bird will forsake if all its eggs are 

 taken, but not if one or two are left. I have always 

 found this to be the case in the various parts of 

 Yorkshire in which I have lived, and have verified it 

 by large numbers of experiments. In the case of a 

 hedge sparrow, I once succeeded in taking eleven 

 eggs from one nest, by abstracting them as they were 

 laid, taking care to leave one in, each time. This 

 must be done, however, before the bird has com- 

 menced sitting, or it will then probably forsake, or at 

 best continue sitting, without laying any more. There 

 is a belief amongst schoolboys here, that it is possible 

 to " lay a hedge sparrow to death," by continually 

 taking its eggs, but of course it is only a belief. On 

 the other hand, I never yet knew a case, except one, 

 in which a bird continued laying after all the eggs 

 were taken. That exception was a jackdaw, the 

 nest of which was in a hollow tree, and which was 

 remarkable from the fact that it consisted of merely 

 a thin layer of wool, instead of the usual heterogeneous 

 collection of sticks, rubbish, &c. It had four ei,'i s 

 when I found it. Next day it contained none, some 

 one evidently having taken them. On visiting it a 

 week after I found four eggs again. Whether tney 

 were laid by the same pair of birds, or not, I am 

 unable to say. Blackbirds, thrushes, yellowhammers, 

 black headed buntings, sparrowhawks, and a host cf 

 others, will not forsake, if one or two eggs are left in 

 the nest, I fail to see that there is any need of a law 

 to protect birds' eggs from being taken. The persons 

 whom X, Y, Z. specially wishes to stop from this 

 practice, viz. the country urchins, would be the last 

 to be caught, and, moreover, would not be restrained 

 from fear of correction, as they would live in h q:>py 

 ignorance of the law, just as they do now with regard 

 to the "Small Birds' Protection Act,"— ^. A. JVkeldon. 



