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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSl P. 



as we move onward, the sound becomes^ fainter, 

 and by decrees no longer audible. That this souud 

 proceeds from a collection of bees or some such 

 insects, high in the air, there can be no doubt, yet 

 the musicians are invisible. — Knapp, " Journal of a 

 Naturalist." 



Entomology. — Let those who will look scorn 

 upon our pursuit; but few are better adapted to im- 

 prove the mind. In its minute details it is well 

 calculated to give habits of observation and of 

 accurate perception, while, as a whole, the study of 

 this department of nature, so intimately linked with 

 others above and below it, has no common tendency 

 to lift our thoughts to the great creative Source of 

 JBeing, to Him who has not designed the minutest 

 part of the minutest object without reference to 

 some use connected with the whole.—" Episodes of 

 Insect Life." 



Insects on Ferns (p. 282, vol. viii.).— As I am 

 making observations with regard to the various ene- 

 mies of cultivated ferns, I should be glad to know 

 what arc the insects of which "T. B." complains. 

 Perhaps lie will kindly describe their appearance if 

 he is not aware of their designation. Scheele's prus- 

 sic acid would hardly be a safe application as a 

 remedy in the hands of many fern-cultivators, its 

 higlily poisonous properties and its colourlessness 

 leading to serious accidents in some cases. And I 

 should think, speaking from my own knowledge of 

 those engaged in the employment of a chemist, that 

 there are few amongst them who would venture to 

 retail prussic acid for such a purpose, even to those 

 persons known to them. Surely some other destruc- 

 tive agent, less risky, must exist.—/. R. S. C 



Eels (p. 282, vol. viii.).— I believe that eels are 

 oviparous, but that the ova are so minute as to escape 

 detection. They spawn in salt-water when they can 

 reach it, but will also do so in fresh water. Your 

 correspondent will, I think, find all that is known 

 on the subject in Couche's " British Pishes," vol. iv. 

 — R. Egerton. 



Smooth Newt (Lissotriton punctatus).— On 

 reading the notes on the Smooth Newt by Mr. C. 

 Pobson, it reminds me of some I placed in an 

 aquarium in May, 1871, and, to my surprise, about 

 a month afterwards, some young newts made their 

 appearance, when I at once removed the old ones 

 to another aquarium, and the young ones, left alone 

 in their glory, got on very well, living through the 

 winter, and appearing more lively as the spring 

 advanced, but did not seem to giow in the proportion 

 I should imagine they should in order to arrive at 

 maturity in a reasonable time, for on June 1st, 1872, 

 the largest scarcely measured an inch in length, and 

 some not more than half an inch. At this time they 

 would be from eleven to twelve months old. I left 

 my situation on the 1st of June, and left my newts 

 in the care of my colleague, from whom 1 hear they 

 have disappeared without any apparent cause. 

 Would Mr. Robson or any of your readers inform 

 me at what age the Smooth Newt is supposed to 

 arrive at maturity?— I*. B. P., Wrotham, Kent. 



Ants : Are they Pirates? — How often has 

 this question been asked, although, I think, Horace 

 sang of the " little ant with much labour," storing 

 up food for the winter; and the moral of the little 

 creature's life is enough to make one pause before 

 rashly destroying it. A very competent authority 

 (the Rev. W. P. Radclyffe) stated in the Gardener's 



Chronicle that "ants are one of the greatest fruit- 

 scourges I have to contend with. 1 have this spring 

 killed legions with hot water and by hand ; yet still 



they swarm. lam uncommonly obliged to 



for his recipe. Immediately on reading it I got 

 some sweet oil, and put a little in a saucer in my 

 vinery, where there is a nest under the wainscoting. 

 In a few hours the saucer, sunk in the mould up to 

 the brim, was replete with dead ants. It is a most 

 valuable recipe. The whole horticultural world 

 will feel obliged. I am sorry to destroy them, but 

 they make the first impressions on wall-fruit, and 

 blue-bottles, flies, hornets, bees, and woodlice_ take 

 advantage of the first impressions." Por the infor- 

 mation of " Ant-eater," in your last issue, I beg to 

 give the recipe :— Pill small phials two-thirds with 

 water, and add best sweet oil to float on the water 

 to within half an inch of the top. Plunge these 

 upright in the ground, leaving only half an inch 

 standing out, near the nest or runs of the ants. 

 Every ant will come for a sip, and go home to die. 

 No insect can exist with oil in its throat, yet ants 

 are very fond of it. Another sure cure is a few 

 drops of tincture of iodine, or powdered camphor, 

 dropped in the holes ; its effect is very suggestive 

 on the part of the ants of "good morning," quantum 

 sufficit. — C. Mace, Reading. 



Nonpareil. — I shall be much obliged to any one 

 who can give me information about the "Nonpareil" 

 or " South American Robin." I can find nothing 

 about such a bird in the natural histories and books 

 on birds which I have read. Has it been lately 

 brought over from America? — F. A. 



Ants and Precious Stones.— We give the fol- 

 lowing paragraph, kindly sent us by a correspon- 

 dent, for what it may be worth. It is extracted 

 from a Cape of Good Hope newspaper : — "In the 

 narrative of the explorations of the Arizona diamond 

 mines, it is stated that one of the party, an intelli- 

 gent young Englishman, stepped upon an ant-hill. 

 His attention was called to the appearance of the 

 broken surface, and to his astonishment he found 

 that the whole was a mass of diamonds, rubies, and 

 other precious stones, 'too numerous to particu- 

 larize.' Can Mr. Trimen, or any other entomologist, 

 inform us whether the habits of collecting precious 

 stones is peculiar to Arizonian ants, or may it 

 possibly be shared by the South African ? " 



The Boldness of the Mustelid^e.— On De- 

 cember 26th, forty volunteers were prize-sliooling 

 at a range surrounded by woods. In the midst of 

 the firing a squeal was heard; and on looking in the 

 direction of the sound, and within fifty yards of us, 

 a rabbit was seen to jump awkwardly as if entangled 

 in a net. Some men ran to it and found a weasel 

 clinging to it ; their arrival frightened the vermin, 

 and they secured the rabbit. Within half an hour 

 another rabbit was seen to run across the range, at 

 about seventy or eighty yards' distance, followed by 

 a stoat ; they were watched for fully two minutes ; 

 the rabbit doubled, so did the stoat, but at length 

 the latter overtook the rabbit and pounced upon it ; 

 but some of the men were up nearly as soon, and 

 drove away the stoat and secured the second rabbit. 

 Is it not a remarkable circumstance, — the boldness 

 of these two creatures, weasel and stoat, so near 

 such a body of men and constant firing going on? — 

 Br. H. G., Chepstotv. 



Natterjacks and Snakes.— I have for several 

 years past kept a natterjack in a large fern-case. 



