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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



strata of the United States show what "missing 

 links" may yet be brought to light in other parts of 

 the world, if all were equally well worked. One of 

 his last discoveries, in the Eocene of Wyoming, is an 

 entirely new form of mammal. With the size of an 

 elephant it combined many of the features of the 

 rhinoceros, but had, instead of one or two median 

 horns, six, in pairs, arranged one behind the other, 

 the front ones being just at the tip of the nose. A 

 large pair of canines and an absence of incisor teeth 

 were also peculiarities of this extraordinary animal, 

 which has received the name of Dinoceras. 



The Woodwardian PfiOFEssonsHip. — We have 

 much pleasure in announcing that Mr. Thomas 

 M'Kenuy Hughes, M.A., of the Geological Survey, 

 has been elected Woodwardian Professor of Geology 

 in the University of Cambridge, in succession to the 

 late Professor Sedgwick. 



Prop. Hyatt, of Cambridge, Mass., by means of 

 sections of the central spirals of Ammonites and 

 Goniatites, has been able to obtain some valuable 

 results on the subject of the embryology of Possil 

 cephalopods. He finds that the shell in its first 

 stage is represented by a globular sac, which is not 

 retained in Nautilus. Into this sac opens the first 

 whorl of tfie shell, and the others are coiled round 

 it. Prof. Hyatt has endeavoured to prove that the 

 series of forms, so well known as depending on the 

 amount of coiling or uncoiling of an elongated cone, 

 is epitomized in the life of the individual Nautilus 

 or Ammonite, the young being at first uncoiled, 

 and the different degrees of coiling up finding a 

 permanent expression in the genera of Ammonitidse, 

 • — Nature. 



New Ptebodactyle. — The Athenceum states 

 ihat a specimen of the Pterodactyle, the flying 

 lizard of the secondary rocks, has been recently 

 discovered in the quarries of Eichstatt, in Bavaria, 

 Avhich is believed to be unique. The integument 

 of the wing has been found, for the first time, in a 

 fine state of preservation. 



NOTES AND GUEEIES. 



Simethis bicolor. — The rare plant Simethis^ 

 bicolor, inquired for in the January number of 

 Science-Gossip, was certainly growing in at least 

 one locality near Bournemouth in 1864. 1 have a 

 specimen gathered from an inclosure in the grounds 

 of Branksome Tower, to the right of the carriage 

 road, about midway between the house and the gate 

 nearest Bournemouth.—//. M. A. 



Spiders. — In a recent number I saw some inter- 

 esting matter relative to spiders and their poisoning 

 apparatus. The following, which comes from per- 

 sonal observation, will vouch for the efficacy of this 

 apparatus, and also show what a weapon of defence it 

 becomes when the parental instinct is roused by an 



attack upon the offspring :— One day in the autumn 

 I captured a fine specimen of the garden spider 

 {Epeira Diadema), which was running over a flower- 

 border, skilfully conveying the precious filmy bag 

 of eggs underneath its body over the various obsta- 

 cles which impeded its progress. It did not seem 

 averse to the shelter afforded by a small wooden 

 box, and remained at one end with its treasure so 

 contentedly that I left it for a few moments, and 

 placed it on the top of a dahlia-pole. On returning, 

 I discovered that an exploring party, consisting of 

 four ants, was scaling the wall of the fortress. 

 Until they were fairly within, its walls, the spider 

 appeared unaware of their approach ; and in iact 

 until a forcible attempt was made by the intruders 

 to grapple with the egg-bag, it remained strangely 

 apathetic. But this insult offered to the helpless 

 young was too much. It darted forwards, and 

 assailed the foremost. It was a tough fight — four 

 to one; but the valiant mother conquered in the 

 end ; for three of the invading foe lay dead (evi- 

 dently poisoned by a venomous bite), and the fourth 

 was fairly driven off. The victor then retired with 

 her insulted property to a corner, and I carried off 

 the box. An untimely escape prevented an experi- 

 ment I hoped to make ; viz., of trying to tame this 

 member of the usually disliked Araneida family. — 

 F. C. Rawlins. 



TussiLAGo petasites. — Your correspondent, 

 S. Smith, confounds the Tussilago petasites, or 

 Butterbur, a common British plant, with Tussilajjo 

 fragrans, or Eragrant Coltsfoot. The latter 

 (fragrans) was brought me in full flower on New 

 lear's Day, from Walton-on-the-Hill. The scent 

 was exceedingly powerful, likethatof theHeliotrope, 

 and was called, like it, " Cherry Pie." The Petasites 

 has no scent and much larger leaves. I may add 

 that the T. fragrans alluded to had evidently been . 

 thrown out from some garden, as it is not a British 

 plant; and when once introduced it becomes of 

 troublesome growth. — W. T. Iliff. 



Diffebe^ice between Labv^ of a. caja ani> 

 A. villica. — Thinking that some young entomolo- 

 gists may not know how to distinguish the larv;© 

 of A. caja (common Tiger-moth) from those of 

 A. villica (Cream-spot Tiger-moth), I beg space 

 enough to describe the differences which I have 

 noticed. The great difference lies in the colour of 

 the head and legs, which are red in villica ; while 

 in caja they are shiny black. The colour of the 

 hair with which they are covered is in villica dark 

 sooty-brown ; but in caja it is of a warm yellowish- 

 brown tint, tipped with grey. Again, the larvae of 

 A. villica appear much earlier after hybernation. 

 Eor instance, I have found larvae of villica in the 

 middle of March over an inch long; but I have 

 never found caja until the middle of April, and even 

 then they were quite small — about half an inch in 

 length. The larval food-plant of A. caja is said to 

 be blind-nettle, and that of A. villica chickweed ; 

 but my own experience shows that neither is at 

 all particular in this respect, as I have found both 

 on dock, blind and dead nettles, groundsel, chick- 

 weed, and the early leaves of teazle ; but by far 

 the best food is dock, and it is possibly easier to 

 provide. — Claude Ryan. 



Larva of the Goat-moth.— September seems 

 to be the montli when these larvae occasionally quit 

 their mines, and wander from tree to tree. It is 

 only, I believe, in the last autumn of its larval life 

 that it thus migrates, possibly because it is parti- 



