HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE -GOS S IP. 



167 



of the parents to the young with mouth fuls of 

 grubs or worms in their bills, and I found that one 

 or the other would alight near the nest thus laden 

 every two, or at most three minutes. — JF. E. 

 Warner, Kingston, Abingdon. 



ZoNiTES GLABER. — Will any of your corre- 

 spondents kindly inform me the date of the year 

 when Zonites glaber was added to the British fauna? 

 —A.F. 



Ladybied {C. septem-punctata). — In breeding 

 this insect from the chrysalides collected from the 

 hedses in summer, I tiud tlie pupa of the male (or 

 smaller insect) is black, wiHi a few orange spots, 

 and that of the female orange, with two rows of 

 small black dots down the middle. Books that 1 

 have consulted only mention the pupa of the male. 

 — W. H. IFurner, Kingston, Abingdon. 



Longevity of the Owl.— Can any of your 

 readers give me information as to the longevity of 

 t\ie owl, especially of the tawny and white species ? 

 I have, a notion that, if undisturbed, they are long- 

 lived. I need this information for a purpose. 



-T.q.c. 



The Greasy EfvITILLARY {Melitte artemis).— 

 Until within the last three or four years I knew of 

 a spot where I was certain of meeting with this 

 insect. Now, from some unexplained cause —at least 

 to me— it has completely vanished. Of late cows 

 have been turned into the pasture to graze. Could 

 it be possible th;it they have destroyed the pupjB ? 

 though I should say this could hardly be the case, 

 z^galathea still abounds therein great profusion. 

 Does this butterfly, like some others, such as ediisa, 

 hyale, and antiopa, disappear for some seasons ? — 

 Joseph Anderson, Jun. 



The Cole-Tit. — Mr. Edson, of Malton, has 

 brought to our notice a very singular and interesting 

 occurrence in connection with the Cole-tit. Mr. 

 Watson, the stationmaster at Rillington Junction, 

 had, a few years ago, a hive of dead bees, and the 

 old hive was hung against the wall of the house, 

 as any one would hang his hat upon a hat-peg. 

 There was but a very small aperture, but through 

 this a pair of Cole-tits entered, built, and brought 

 off nine young birds. This has been repeated four 

 times, the progeny, thirty-six in number, have some 

 of them come back to Rillington station to build. 

 This year the old birds have for the fifth time occu- 

 pied the old bee-hive, but there were only eight 

 eggs, one of which got broken. There are now 

 seven young birds in the nest, and the removal of 

 the hive where the nest is built only causes the old 

 bird to fly oft", if strangers ai'e near, to which she 

 returns immediately. The bird is one of the most 

 interesting of the Paridse, is comparatively rare in 

 England, though tolerably common in Scotland, 

 frequenting plantations of pine, fir, &c., which 

 seems everywhere to be its favourite habitat. The 

 annual visit of the birds to an old bee-hive, hung 

 on a nail in a brick wall, is therefore all the more 

 remarkable. 



The Harvest Bug,— Referring to J. Buckmau's 

 sufferings from harvest bugs (Science-Gossip, 

 p. 45, February), 1 resided a few years ago in the 

 country, and suffered at first very severely, gene- 

 rally from the 20th July to the 24th of August. 

 After tryimj scores of remedies, 1 was led to ex- 

 amine my person night and morning. I then applied 

 a drop or two of iodine, covering the spot with a 

 bit of the common linen adhesive plaster about the 



size of a sixpence. In 1867 I had at one time more 

 than 100 of such on my arms and legs. The insect 

 being armed with spines lying backwards on its 

 body, cannot, on entering the skin, return. I pre- 

 sume, rubbing a bite crushes the insect and causes 

 the powerful irritation. I obtained a small bottle 

 of iodine, wrapped a little cotton wool round the 

 head of a pin, ran the pin into the cork of the 

 bottle, allowin? it to lay in the iodine : the wool 

 will contain sufficient for each application. — JF.B. 



The Botanical Locality Record Club. — In 

 reply to Mr. Atkinson, I may state that the lists, 

 &c., published will be distributed to members only, 

 and great care will be taken that none shall be sold 

 or get into the possession of mere collectors, &c. 

 1 believe that all the present members are true 

 botanists, — those who would not exterminate a 

 plant for the sake of drying it, and calling it a 

 specimen. Many of our rarest plants are to be 

 obtained only at the risk of falling down high 

 cliffs, and no collector would care to risk his neck 

 for the sake of obtaining a few specimens. And 

 further, in plants of great; rarity, the localities will 

 be given so as not readily to be found. Mr. Atkinson 

 will perhaps then say : " Of what use is the club it' 

 the plants cannot be found ? " The answ^er is : 

 " Any member may obtain the exact locality on 

 making application to the recorder, on condition 

 that he shall not abuse the confidence reposed in 

 him." It is by these means that the sinister plans 

 of collectors and exterminators will be defeated, 

 and the bond fide student and botanist assisted. 

 Therefore I think that the danger seen by Mr. 

 Atkinson is not much to be feared. Mr. Atkinson 

 does not seem to see the importance of correctly 

 ascertaining the geographical and geological dis- 

 tribution of plants. I think Mr. Watson is the only 

 one who has written on this subject. He has 

 devoted his entire life to this work, and his scries 

 of invaluable works sho>v how ardently he has 

 laboured. Instead of giving the distribution in 

 provinces and counties, the club intends to give 

 the localities in those provinces and counties. Thus 

 in course of time the club reports, &c., will become 

 a trustworthy flora of the whole country.— r/iOOTi^i 

 Bates Blow, Welwyn, Herts. 



BOOKS received. 



" Chronos, Mother Earth's Biography." By Wallace 

 Wood, M.D. London : Triibner & Co. 



Third and Fourth Annual Reports of the Geological Survey 

 of Indiana. By E. T. Cox. 



Maps for ditto. 18;2. 



Fourth Annual Report of the Trustees of the Peabody 

 Academy of Science for 1871. 



"The Lens." April, I873. 



" Boston Journal of Chemistry." May, 137-3. 



" Les Mondes." 



" Canadian Kntomologist.'' Nos. 3 and 4, vol. v. 



" Monthly Microscopical Journal." June, IS73. 



"The American Naturalist." March and May. 



"The London Saturday Half-Holiday Guide." 



" The American Agriculturist. June, I870. 



Co.MMU.VICATIONS RKCKIVE7I UP TO 14TII ULT. — J. 



J. G. M.— J. S. S — C. A. J.— W. G. S.-S. H.— F. E.— J. 

 —J. T.— A. C. T —A. H. W.— R. M.— W. L.— W. P. 

 C. L. J.— H. L. J.— W. H. B.— E. W.-J. C. S.— W. D. 

 E C— B. T.— H. P. M.— T. B. W.- F. K.-T S.— W 

 E. E. -T. Q. C— J. S. T.— G. R.— J. B. J.— E. M. P.— J 

 E H.— J. C. W.— VV. N.— W. W. E.— J. S. M.-J. A., j 

 E. A. W.-G. T.— E. A.-A. P.-E. B. K. W.— W. 11. 

 R. p. P.— E. H. G.— J. H. A.— J. H.— T. B. B.— A. E 

 W. W. S.— W. E. h.-m. a. H.-J. L. J.-E. L.— T. R.— 

 _A. W.— W. L. S.-C. J. M.-H. M. J. U.— W. T.— H. 

 A. h.— h. f. m.-r.a. p.— S.T. P.-E. W.— T. w.— n 

 — L. S. S.— H. H.— F. T. M.— W. j.— F. a.— j. S., j 

 E. H.— D. G.— j. W.— W. E. S.— T. B. B.- j. a. jun 

 S. W. M.-H. G., &c. 



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