HARDWICKE'S SC IE N C £- G OS? J P. 



215 



by. There she remains quietly till the malearrives 

 with food, which she receives from him, gapinj? and 

 shivering' her wings like a young bird. — W. H. 

 Warner, Kingston. 



Praying Mantis. — Will some of your corre- 

 spondents kindly send a description of the " Pray- 

 ing Mantis" to Science-Gossip?— £". C. 



The Oldest Trees (p. 142). — Your correspond" 

 ent will find pretty well all that is known about 

 aged, or otherwise remarkable trees, in Great Bri- 

 tain, in the third volume of the Arboretum Britan- 

 nictim, where Mr. Loudon has collected a great 

 deal of information on the subject. It is to be 

 feared, however, that the traditions on which the 

 reputed great age of certain individual trees has 

 been supposed to rest, are at best but untrust- 

 worthy, and the identifications frequently uncer- 

 tain. I have extracted some of the more conspicuous 

 instances, but the subject is treated at great length, 

 and with very considerable detail, so as to make it 

 impossible to give more than a very limited selec- 

 tion. — Oaks (vol. iii. p. 1775). "Those oaks in 

 England which are reputed to be the oldest are : 

 the Parliament Oak [mentioned by your corre- 

 spondent] ; Cowper's Oak (Northampton) ; the 

 Winfarthing Oak, which is said to have been an 

 old oak at the time of the Conquest (Norfolk) ; the 

 Nannan Oak, which was a hollow oak in the reign 

 of Henry IV. (Merionethshire) ; the Salcey Forest 

 Oak (Norlhampton) ; and the Bull Oak in Wedge- 

 nock Park (Warwick), which was made a park 

 about the time of Henry I. To these might be 

 added several others, perhaps of equal age, such as 

 the Flitton Oak (Devon), but which have not at- 

 tracted public attention in that particular so much 

 as those above enumerated." Spanisli Chestnut 

 (pp. 198S-99).— "The old Chestnut at Tortworth 

 (Gloucester) may possibly have been one of those 

 planted by the ^Romans, and is mentioned as a 

 famous tree in King John's time, and by Evelyn, in 

 his 'Sylva,' to have been so remarkable for its 

 magnitude in the reign of King Stephen as then to 

 be called the great Chestnut of Tortworth, from 

 which it may reasonably be presumed to have been 

 standing before the Conquest." Yews (vol. iv. 

 pp. 2073-80).— "Fountains (York), thought to be 

 over SCO years old ; Aukerwyke (Bucks), said 

 to be upwards of 1,000 years old ; the Darley Yew 

 (Derby), according to Decandolle's method of cal- 

 culating the age of trees, would be 1,356 years old ; 

 but these are all thrown into the shade by the For- 

 tingal Yew (Perth), which venerable yew, in 

 all probability a flourishing tree at the com- 

 mencement of the Christian era, may yet survive 

 for centuries to come." Some of these trees, how- 

 ever, have ceased to exist since the date (1S38) 

 when Loudon wrote. — R. A. Pri/or, 



The Camberwell Beauty.— I think it may 

 interest entomologists to hear that I caught last 

 week, at Mapledurhani, near Reading, a small but 

 perfect specimen of the rare butterfly, "Camberwell 

 Beauty" {Vanessa antiopa). — Reginald M. Glaz- 

 brook. 



_ Wasp. — The common wasp is of a very predatory 

 disposition. Last August I saw a flying wasp bear 

 to the gi'ound a fly almost as large as itself, which 

 struggled desperately to escape; whereupon the 

 wasp, holding the fly in its grasp, bent over the 

 end of its body and stung it repeatedly, and, having 

 thus disabled it, flew off with it.— F". H. Warner, 

 Kingston, 



Smoke from Steamboats.— Whilst staying at 

 Folkestone lately I observed a curious phenomenon 

 in the action of smoke from steamboats. On some 

 days the smoke rose high, and, mixing with the 

 atmosphere, was soon lost to sight. On other days 

 the smoke could not rise, but formed long lines, 

 with a smooth straight upper surface and an undu- 

 lating lower_ one ; this condition exactly reversing 

 the undulating and straight lines exhibited in 

 mountainous regions by tiie clouds, as they gradu- 

 ally rise in the morning. May I conclude from this 

 that there are certain conditions of atmosphere, 

 which conditions are below the moisture, and 

 above the smoke, — the height of these conditions 

 being dependent on temperature and moisture ? 

 —H. P. Malet. 



Canadian Natural History.— A scientific and 

 microscopic amateur, about to take a trip to 

 Canada, asks for suggestions, &c., as to specimens 

 and objects of interest. — F. M. S., Blackrod Vicar- 

 age, Chorley, Lancashire. 



The Stag-beetle [Lucanus cervus). — Until this 

 season I had only known this insect by straggling 

 specimens picked up in the vicinity of the metro- 

 polis, but on the 28th of June last I witnessed quite 

 a flight of the species between 8 and 9 p.m. This 

 was along the edge of a field, and over the adjacent 

 road, between Gravesend and Swanscombe. It 

 would have been easy to capture dozens, had any 

 one so desired ; since, though the beetles rose occa- 

 sionally to a considerable height among the trees, 

 they often came along a few feet from the ground, 

 and some actually descended to it, or else " pitched " 

 upon the palings adjacent. What was the object of 

 their aerial excursion was not evident ; it was not, 

 seemingly, the attraction of the opposite sex, for 

 not a female was to be seen about. These males 

 had, to appearance, just emerged from the pupse, 

 and thus, probably, preceded the female insects, 

 which are much more shy in their habits, and when- 

 ever they are found, are generally crawling on the 

 earth, or reposing on some tree-trunk. Like other 

 large beetles, the " Stag," when its flight is inter- 

 rupted, has considerable diificulty in getting off 

 again, and a start from a flat surface is quite out of 

 the question. I had another opportunity of veri- 

 fying a fact, to which I have already called atten- 

 tion, and in regard to which opposing opinions have 

 been expressed ; viz., as to the biting proclivities of 

 the insect. As stated, under ordinary circumstances, 

 these beetles are not inclined to use the horns as a 

 means of defence, otherwise than by threatening 

 with them. This they will do at once if the finger 

 is held near them, raising the front segments, and 

 quivering the palpi, but they will not attempt to 

 advance and seize any object ; and even should the 

 finger, or any other object be thrust between the 

 horns, they rarely close them. This at least has 

 been my experience ; whether in some counties 

 they are more inclined to bite, or at certain states 

 of the weather (as at least is possible), I cannot 

 venture to say. — /. R. S. C. 



Water Dropwort. — Professor Cameron, of 

 Dul)lin, reports to the Lancet, that seventy-four 

 head of oxen were turned into a demesne of Lord 

 Duuraven, at Adare, co. Limerick, in April last. In 

 a few days the animals began to sicken; in a week 

 forty-three died. On investigation it was discovered 

 they were poisoned by eating Water Dropwort 

 {(Eiianfhe crocata). Seeing some notice of poisoning 

 by this plant in Science- Gossip, I send the above 

 contribution. —F. H. 



