HARDWICKE'S SC I EN CE-GOS SIP. 



:9J 



cular as to the quarters in which it takes up its 

 winter residence, when this larva usually remains 

 without food. One may even be seen crossing a 

 highway, and thus exposing itself to various 

 dangers, especially as it is tardy in its movements. 

 The larva of the Goat-moth can sustain the absence 

 of food for a long time. As an instance, one of 

 these was kept in a box without food for nearly a 

 year, and at the end of that time it was alive, but 

 verv lansruid and wasted, too bad to recover itself. 



—J. R. &\ a 



The Oldest Tree. — Can 'any of your readers 

 tell me which is the oldest tree in Great Britain, 

 its age and species, and where it groAvs ? Yew- 

 trees reacli a good age ; for there is one still living 

 at Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, which 

 is said to be 1400 years old, and measures 34 ft. in 

 circumference. — C. H. B. 



Ravages of Zeuzera ^sculi (Leopaud 

 MoTu). — The account given by Newman in his 

 "British Moths" is supplemented by a much fuller 

 description of the larva and its ravages in the E>i- 

 tomologist, vol. ii. p. 92. He admits there that the 

 species is frequently destructive to young trees, 

 and cites an instance where in one district in Kent 

 it destroyed, in 1862, ash poles to the value of a 

 thousand pounds. But he still maintains, and, as 

 I think, correctly, that the Leopard rarely destroys 

 large trees, though it may, as 1 have often wit- 

 nessed, cause their branches to perish and fall off, 

 when the mines have been carried along these, I 

 liave no doubt the instance given by Mr. Lefroy 

 (p. 236, vol. viii.) is a clear one against this insect, 

 yet one rather exceptional, as I imagine. ]\Ir. New- 

 man remarks that the stimulus it give to fruit-trees 

 is very notable in some instances, the fruit-bearing 

 power being greatly increased ; yet tiiat is not ne- 

 cessarily a proof that the tree is in health. — 

 /. R. S. C. 



The Singing Mouse. -;-Having read during the 

 past year accounts of the singing mouse, I send you 

 the following from my own observation. During the 

 summer of 1862 or 1863 (which 1 am not positive) 

 1 vras occupied at my office at Newport, Monmouth- 

 shire, when I heard what at first seemed a bird's 

 ■warble, and having caught several birds that had 

 found their way in, I hunted for the cause of the 

 sounds. Being pretty distinct, I traced them to a 

 cupboard where several unused articles were kept. 

 An old office-coat hung near a shelf, and from the 

 pocket of the coat came a mouse, which ran up the 

 coat on to a shelf. The mouse appeared very tame, 

 and, instead of making away as mice usually do 

 when disturbed, took a deliberate look at me, raised 

 its little head, and warbled a low, soft "tootle- 

 tootle" kind of song, continuing some seconds. I 

 was so near as to distinctly notice the movement of 

 the throat during the song. I afterwards took some 

 cheese-rinds, and placed them handy for my visitor. 

 I frequently heard it afterwards, but it did not 

 grant me the pleasant interview again. I spoke of 

 it to our foreman, calling his attention to it when 1 

 heard it one evening: he heard the warble, but 

 would not be convinced it was a mouse unless he 

 saw it.—/. /. M. 



Botanical Nomenclature.— There is required 

 a thorough revision of botanical nomenclature, and 

 it is greatly to be regretted that some committee of 

 leading botanists does not meet for the purpose, 

 and as a result, issue a standard work, i'rom which 



all obsolete and useless names should be excluded, 

 and only those employed which the advanced state 

 of the science at the present juncture reriuires. 

 Here, for instance, is a plant which is called in- 

 differently — Petasites fracjrans, Tussilago fragrans, 

 and Nardosmia fragrans, although no one doubts 

 it to be a Tussilago, and so closely related to T. 

 petasites _ as scarcely to make it worth one's while 

 distinguishing between them, except for the sake 

 of the nomenclature of the science. As Mr. Hark- 

 ness suggests, the specimen I mentioned may be an 

 "escape ; " but against this supposition stands the 

 fact that the plant grows in a spot entirely remote 

 from any garden. — Sam. Smith, M.R.C.S.JE., §-c. 



Stings of Wasps. — I have read with much in- 

 terest the remarks of your correspondent H. P. 

 Malet, and also the paper by Dr. Mills (Science- 

 Gossip, March). Still I do not think the question 

 is quite settled. A further examination of one of 

 my specimens, prepared almost precisely according 

 to Dr. Mills' suggestions, discloses what appears to 

 be a fine thread-like duct running down the tubular 

 portion of the lancet, nearly as far as the extreme 

 point of it ; and I fancy that what 1 thought were 

 branches from this duct to the teeth, should rather 

 be described as grooves channelled in the horny 

 substance of which, the lancet is composed. — R. H. 

 N. B. 



Skeletons of Animals. — To " T. A. R.," who 

 inquires as to the best method of preparing the 

 skeletons of animals, perhaps the following will be 

 of some little use in the preparation of the smaller 

 kinds ; e.g., mice, rats, squirrels, &c. Take the 

 animal in question, and after skinning it and remov- 

 ing the entrails, cut as much of the flesh away as 

 can conveniently be cut off without injuring the 

 bones ; next procure a wooden box in proportion 

 to the size of the animal to be placed in it, and 

 having perforated it on every side with holes about 

 the size of a small shot, enclose the specimen. la 

 the vicinity of an ant's nest, scoop a hole in the 

 ground equal each way to about half the size of the 

 box, and place it therein. In the course of a week 

 or so the specimen will, in all probability, be 

 cleaned, the ants feeding upon the flesh ; should, 

 however, it happen to the contrary, let it remain 

 longer until cleaned. The larger the family of ants 

 is, the more expeditious and complete will be the 

 work done. The foregoing will also hold good to 

 procure the skeletons of the smaller kinds of birds. 

 —F.S. 



Large Butterflies. — Of a number of specimens 

 accurately measured by Mr. Wallace (and recorded 

 by him in his " Contributions to the Theory of 

 Natural Selections "), the largest, a male Ornitho- 

 pfcra priamvs, from Amboyna, gave an expansion of 

 eight inches and three lines. An 0. Helena, also 

 from Amboyna, measured seven inches six lines, 

 and 0. Poseidon, from New Guinea, exactly seven, 

 inches. 



HuMMiNGs IN the Aiu.— That purely rural, 

 little-noticed, and indeed local occurrence called by 

 the country people "hummings in the air," is 

 annually to be heard in one or two fields near my 

 dwelling. About the middle of the day, perhaps 

 from twelve o'clock to two, on a few calm sultry 

 days in July, we occasionally hear, when in paiticu- 

 lar places, the humming of apparently a large 

 swarm of bees. It is generally in some spacious open 

 spot that this murmuring first arrests our attention 



