190 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



animals. These creatures are said to destroy 

 nsects, earth-worms, slugs, and snails ; but the cases, 

 whenever they occur, are, I suspect, merely sup- 

 posititious ones ; for no author appears to set them 

 forth upon his own experience ; and in Mr. Murray's 

 history of the Peterborough tortoise (" Experimental 

 Researches") we are informed that that individual 

 discarded " all animal food"; and, finally, Swain- 

 son says that laud-tortoises " feed only upon roots 

 and vegetables." Goldsmith states that in hot 

 countries tortoises have actually been kept for the 

 express purpose of destroying bugs ! It is more 

 than probable that the appetites of this species have 

 been confounded with those of the well-known 

 Tesfudo EuropcBa, which is a member of a carnivo- 

 rous genus. Mr. White's " Timothy " appreciated 

 lettuces, the leaves and stalks of dandelions, the 

 sow-tliistle, grass, and cucumber. In confinement 

 they have been known to devour currants, rasp- 

 berries, strawberries, gooseberries, pears, apples, 

 peaches, nectarines, and various kinds of gourds, as 

 well as endive, green peas, leek, the flower of the 

 dandelion,_the pulp of oranges, cabbages, corn, and 

 bran. This long list will show how destructive 

 this reptile can become in a garden ; in fact it will 

 do a vast deal more mischief than good. To keep 

 them for amusement a hole should be bored through 

 a part of the shell, and a piece of string leading 

 from it to a stake or tree. In this humane way our 

 Peterborough friend is said to have existed for 

 more than 220 years 1—^. Halse. 



ZoNiTES GLABER.— I aus'wer to " A. P.," Zonites 

 (/laber was first discovered and described by Mr. 

 Miller; in 1822 he published it in his "List of 

 Shells about Bristol."— .&. H. 



Tortoises.— In the interesting article by Mr. E. 

 Halse in your number for June on the Tortoise 

 and its Skeleton, he states that he " was always 

 imder the impression that this species [speaking of 

 the tortoise now so commonly seen in this country] 

 was Testudo Graca." He then says that he was 

 "forced to come to the conclusion that it is Cher- 

 sina marginata" and adds : " May not the land 

 tortoises said by Pliny to inhabit the desert of 

 Africa, and calledlby him Chersinee., be this species ? " 

 It may indeed be T. Mauritanica, which is also 

 very abundant in that region. Mr. Halse does not 

 seem to be aware that the tortoises which are sold 

 so cheaply by the London costermongers come from 

 Africa. These creatures are collected in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Mogador arid Safii.'and exported to 

 this country packed in barrels. Mr. Halse's con- 

 clusions as to the species are therefore confirmed 

 by the locality from which the tortoises are derived. 

 — Arthtcr Leared. 



Bees and Glow-woems.— Would any of your 

 readers or intelligent contributors let me know 

 through SciENCE-Gossir whether the following is 

 a common circumstance or not in the apiary, and if 

 not, how can it be accounted for on rational 

 grounds ?— A young hive of bees belonging to John 

 Pender, Esq., M.P., at Minard Castle, Argyllshire, 

 left the skep on the 26th May last, settled down at 

 a short distance and was secured in the usual Avay. 

 Two days after, another hive left, but after settliug 

 down on a bush close by for a short time, returned 

 to the skep ; and thisit continued to do at intervals 

 of one and two days for six successive times. Tlie 

 last time it came off, the hive flew to a distance of 

 twenty or thirty yards farther off than on the pre- 

 ceding occasions, and skepped iu the afternoon. 



The gardener who has charge of the apiary tries 

 to explain the circumstance by there being no queen 

 bee, but is not sure. The hive on the 26th May 

 was the first we heard of in this district. Last 

 night (17th June) when walking home about 11 

 o'clock, I saw a large number of glow-worms by the 

 road-side in a small pass, and secured two of them. 

 So far as I can learn, they have never been seen 

 there before. How have they come, and is it the 

 rnale or the female that emits the phosphorescent 

 light, which I noticed is given forth from sub-pos- 

 terior part ?— /. A. [It is the female insect which 

 " glows," the male is winged.— Ed. S. G.] 



Dytiscus and Mussel.— When pond-hunting 

 recently, I saw on the bank a few inches from the 

 water a Dytiscus beetle, which to my surprise made 

 no efi^ort to escape. On closer inspection, I found 

 that a small mussel, about half an inch across, had 

 attached itself to one of the beetle's antennae, and 

 held on to it. I transferred the "attached" couple 

 to one of my bottles and took them home. The 

 next time I looked at them, some eighteen hours 

 later, I found the beetle was dead, the anteima was 

 broken off and still remained in the mussel's grasp. 

 It is remarkable that such an active and powerful 

 insect should have been entrapped by a small 

 mussel. It would seem that the creature's instinct 

 prompted it to leave the water to rid itself of its 

 troublesome companion. Was the beetle or the 

 mussel the aggressor ?— ZT. E. F., Wood Green. ...j 



The Nonpareil.— The Nonpareil or Painted 

 Einch {Cijamspiza Clris) is a bird imported from 

 the Southern States of America ; it combines both 

 great beauty of colour and loveliness of song ; it is 

 easily kept in confinement on summer rapeseed, 

 fruit, German paste, and enjoys grape-juice or a 

 piece of lump sugar in its water ; it is also fond of 

 flies, mealworms, &c. With care and attention it 

 will live for years, and breed in confinement. — /. S. 

 Metcalfe, Kendal. 



Songs of Birds.— "P." will find Neville Wood's 

 "British Song-birds," or Syme's "Treatise on 

 British Song-birds," to fully answer all his require- 

 ments, though Keuleman's "Natural History of 

 Cage-birds," now in course of publication by Mr. 

 Van Voorst, when completed, will be far the most 

 magnificent work in the English language on the 

 subject. It will contain a full account of the song- 

 birds of all countries, our own included, together 

 with a beautiful plate coloured by hand of every 

 species. Mr. Keuleman is one of the best ornitho- 

 logical draftsmen living, and "P." and all lovers of 

 our British song-birds ought to patronize his 

 work. Mr. Dovaston once proposed to Bewick to 

 rewrite for him the whole of the birds, wherewith, 

 from early and lasting habits, he was well ac- 

 quainted, their characters and manners, interspersed 

 with anecdotes. Such a work has been produced 

 for our wild flowers in the last edition of Sowerby's 

 " English Botany," but for our birds, Mr. Dovas- 

 ton's proposal is still a desideratum. Respecting- 

 the distinction between'the song of the Nightingale 

 and Blackcap Warbler, I may say, from years of 

 experience of both species, both wild and in con- 

 finement, that there is no resemblance, though in 

 many works the authors would lead their readers 

 to suppose such was the case; their meaning gene- 

 rally is not that their song is closely alike, but 

 that the Blackcap nearly approaches tiie Nightingale 

 in the quality of its song. The Nightingale's song^ 

 reaches to three octaves, is abundantly varied, at 



