HARUWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



17 



sexual organs of eels (now in the College of Sur- 

 geons). At certain seasons of the year the milt 

 and ova may always be found. If the stomach of 

 an eel is opened, two narrow sacs running on each 

 side of the air-bladder and extending the length of 

 the abdomen, will be seen and continued past the 

 anal orifice on the inner surface of the membrane 

 forming this tubular sac. The milt in the male is 

 secreted, and the ova attached in the female. One 

 edge of the membrane is' attached to the membran- 

 ous .lining of the spine, the other is free, and appears 

 puckered or plaited like a frill. The caudal heart, 

 or rather pulsating vesicle, of the eel forms a very 

 interesting microscopic object. It may readily be 

 seen in the tail of a young eel about four or five 

 inches in length. I have found the best way to 

 examine it is to place the eel in a weak solution of 

 chloral, and when it becomes motionless put it in 

 a glass trough filled with water; it will remain 

 quiescent for half or three-quarters of an hour. 

 The above plan is the best way to quiet the newt 

 and frog tadpole : the circulation in the branchia; of 

 the former when rendered motionless is a sight 

 worth seeing. — F. K. 



English Anchovies. — In an interesting and 

 suggestive paper read before the East Kent Na- 

 tural History Society in November, Dr. Gulliver 

 stated the Anchovy {Engrmdis encrasicolus) was 

 much more abundant in the seas off the southern 

 coasts of England than has been supposed. During 

 a recent visit to Devon, Dr. Gulliver has seen many 

 anchovies lying among the young herrings, which 

 might have been collected for potting, sauce, or 

 pickling. He thought this was an instance of the 

 many too well-known examples of the waste of our 

 fish, and of the neglect of what might be made a 

 profitable branch of native industry. Mr. Couch 

 had previously shown that this fish abounds off the 

 coasts of Cornwall towards the end of the summer, 

 and that well-known ichthyologist had suggested 

 that if attention were paid to them, sufficient might 

 be caught to supply the consumption of the British 

 islands. 



Distribution of Insects in dieeekent Locali- 

 ties. — I have recently been impressed by a curious 

 circumstance which perhaps other collectors of 

 Lepidoptera may have noticed. When beating or 

 searchin for larvae, there is more difficulty in 

 obtaining them sometimes just in those localities 

 where they might be expected to be more numerous. 

 Thus, in the Kentish roads, twenty or thirty miles 

 from London, the result of a few hours' work 

 in pursuit of larvje will be less than in a locality 

 seemingly more unpromising, as, for example, 

 Wimbledon Common. I imagine the reason is this . 

 in an extensive wood, caterpillars will be unequally 

 distributed ; the parent moths take fancies for 



certain spots, and deposit eggs there by preference ; 

 so that one may hunt a good deal, and yet may 

 not chance to hit upon the best places. But at 

 Wimbledon, and other resorts of insects nearer 

 London, the various food-plants are limited in 

 quantity, and therefore the moths and caterpillars 

 are, as it were, concentrated about these. — 



/. B. s. a 



A Means oe Capturing Moths. — I am in- 

 formed by a friend that a tolerably successful mode 

 of securing individuals in wood-ridings, or other 

 narrow avenues where there are trees on each side, 

 is to bang a white sheet across in a good position. 

 The entomologist stations himself beside it with his 

 net in the dusk, or even by day. Many moths will 

 settle upon it at various elevations, and they may 

 thus be boxed or netted ; others flying across are 

 seen reflected upon the sheet, and are more easily 

 captured. In some cases the insects seem dazzled 

 or bewildered by this object, and do not exhibit 

 their usual agility in escaping. — /. R. S. C. 



BOTANY. 



Littorella lacustris.— I am not sure whether 

 Mr. Hind (Science-Gossip, Oct., 1S72, p. 231) con- 

 siders this plant as extinct ; but Bentham speaks 

 of it as apparently widely distributed, and it is 

 abundant near here. — B. J. Austin, Beading. 



Littorella lacustris. — I see by a notice in 

 your last number that the Littorella lacustris has 

 been found this summer in Ruislip reservoir, the 

 last recorded discovery of the plant being so long 

 ago as 1S05. This plant was found by my son, now 

 the Rev. R. M. Stewart, near Porthleven, Corn- 

 wall, in the year 1S65. I have the specimen, which 

 was an excellent one, and is still in very good con- 

 dition. — L. Steioart. 



Epipactis latifolia.— I saw a good many fine 

 plants of this somewhat rare orchis last summer in 

 the lower part of the Crystal Palace grounds, 

 Sydenham. Though I have passed the very spot 

 scores of times during the last few years, I never 

 observed it before, though I feel sure 'it must have 

 been growing there for a considerable time. — H. E. 

 Wilki7ison. 



Epipactis palustris. — The notice by " Al. I." 

 of the discovery of a station for Epipactis palustris 

 between Mortlake and Kew recalls to my mind a 

 similar instance of its occurrence in another part 

 of Surrey. The extensive hilly district of Hind- 

 head contains numerous valleys, consisting of wet, 

 marshy meadows drained by small rivulets. In one 

 of the meadows was a small patch of ground, lying 

 at the confluence of the rivulet and a side drain, 

 which was of a more distinctly fenny nature than 

 the rest of the meadow, it being so wet that sphag- 



