238 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



E,EAUiNG Larv^. — Will any of your readers 

 kindly inform me as to tlie best mode of rearing 

 lepidopterous larvse, that have only just emerged 

 from the e^g ? The ordinary breeding-cages are not 

 suited to them, as the very diminutive larvae can 

 easily escape ; and even if they do not, there is the 

 probabilitv of their straying too far from their food. 

 —31. A. H. 



Maggots in Stufpeb Bikds. — Your corre- 

 spondent "K,. M." wants to know how to keep the 

 nia2:gots out of a stuffed bird. The following way 

 ■will, I think, prove effective : Dip the bird into a 

 weak solution of arsenic and dry in a draught, at a 

 partially opened window. — C. B. B, 



How TO MAKE AqTJAEIA WaTER-TIGIIT. — 



" W. K. G." wants to make an aquarium out of an 

 oblong glass shade, but cannot make it water-tight. 

 Has he tiied the common marine glue, wliich can 

 be bought at almost any oil-shop ? If so, and this 

 has failed, I should recommend Kay's coaguliue, 

 which can be purchased of any druggist ; but I 

 should think marine glue would keep the water in. 

 —C. B. B. 



Mounting Microscopic Fungi. — I should re- 

 commend Mr. E. L. Hull to use some of Kay's 

 coaguline for mounting microscopic fungi.— C.B.B. 



Singing Mice. — A friend of mine, whose veracity 

 I have no reason to doubt, states that he has several 

 times noticed the peculiar singing noise made by 

 field-mice, but has never noticed it in its more 

 domesticated relative. — C. B. Barnes. 



Entomologt of London.— Is there any guide 

 to the entomology of the neighbourhood of Loudon 

 beyond Mr. Newman's brief notes on the subject in 

 the " Saturday Half-holiday Guide " ? 



British Butterflies. — Your correspondent 

 "Maberley" will find full information as to locali- 

 ties, &c., of all the British butterflies in any of the 

 following works : — Newman's " British Butterflies," 

 published by Tweedie, 7s. 6d.; Coleman's "British 

 Butterflies," 3s. 6d., col6ured plates, and the first 

 two or three numbers of Stainton's " Manual of 

 British Butterflies and Moths," price 3d. each num- 

 ber.— 1?. A. H. 



Saturnia carpini. — In Science-Gossip for 

 July last I notice an article on the Emperor Moth 

 {S. carpini), in which a very full description of the 

 various changes of the larva is given. The only 

 account given by Newman, in his " British Moths," 

 is the following : — "The caterpillar is of the most 

 delicate green colour, the segments being very dis- 

 tinct, and each being adorned with pink tubercles, 

 each surmounted by a black ring, and emitting a 

 few short black bristles." 1 found, on August 23rd, 

 one of these larvae in its last stage : it turned to 

 pupa on the following day. In this specimen the 

 breathing-holes were pink, the tubercles on each 

 segment were bripht yellow, each being surrounded 

 by a black ring. Your correspondent mentions the 

 yellow tubercles, but the description in Science- 

 Gossip last year, p. 230, mentions j»w?^ tubercles. 

 Is the variety in the colour caused by change of 

 skin or by the food-plant ? My specimen was 

 found on heath. Perhaps some correspondent can 

 tell me the name of a caterpillar marked something 

 like S. carpini, but having at the end of each bristle 

 a spot or lump of some substance exactly resembling 

 a small opal. It was found at Fontainebleau some 



three years ago, and spun a cocoon exactly similar 

 to that of the Emperor, but unfortunately died in 

 the pupa state. It would be a good thing if readers 

 of Science-Gossip would now and then note the 

 changes in, and description of, larvEe which may 

 come under their notice, and jot them down in the 

 same manner as Mr. UUyett has done, and as Mr. 

 Newman and the Rev. H. H. Crewe did in the 

 Zoologist some nine or ten years ago. — W. T. P. JF^ 



Notes on Aphides (p. 173).— In answer to the 

 query of " E. P. P." I beg to state I have often 

 seen a young Aphis adhering to the syrup-tubes of 

 its parent : but the one I wrote about was the only 

 young Aphis I ever saw actually partaking of the 

 syrup. It might have been doing this on the former 

 occasions, but I'rom not having examined the case 

 closely, I cannot state it as a positive fact. The leaf 

 on which I saw the one that did it, was attached to 

 the currant bush, which grew out of doors, and was 

 largely infested with Aphides. In my examination 

 of the above Aphis, I used the ordinary Coddington 

 lens, subsequently the 3 and 2-inch objectives of 

 my microscope. 1 never myself saw an Aphis actu- 

 ally laying its eggs; but a friend, a studious observer, 

 states he has seen the process, and says, "that 

 they are laid on the stalk of the youngest shoot of 

 the plant in autumn ; the eggs being placed close 

 together, and covered with a greenish kind of 

 mucus ; they are of a reddish colour, and it is the 

 'Winged Aphis' that lays them." I have observed 

 similar eggs, as those just described, but thought 

 probably that they belonged to some kind of fly or 

 other insect. — Ralph II. Westropp, A.B. T. C. 1). 



The Liver and the Seal op Liverpool. — 

 Although the seal of Liverpool has been the object 

 of great discussion, particularly amongst local anti- 

 quaries, and has of late likewise been a point of 

 argument amongst naturalists, I beg to make a few 

 remarks which may elucidate the subject, and show 

 the " liver" to be but mythical. Hithertofore and 

 up to the present time the bird which is on the 

 face of the seal of the borough of Liverpool has 

 been looked upon as a " liver," or sea-duck, with a 

 branch of laver, a species of seaweed, in its beak. 

 This has been afiirmed on the authority of Randle 

 Holme, a well-known antiquarian. It was not until 

 a few years back that one of the local antiquaries 

 discovered, after much careful study and observa- 

 tion, that the inscription on the tablet or scroll 

 which formed a footrest for the bird, signified 

 " Jokannis." It had been before this inexplicable, 

 on account of the letters being inverted. The bird 

 is not, as has been supposed by some, the duck, with 

 a fragment of seaweed in its beak, or the dove of 

 Noah with the olive-branch ; nor is it, as has been 

 supposed by others, the eagle of Jove: it is the eagle 

 of St. John, who, whenever he is represented, is 

 always accompanied by the eagle which attended 

 him during his mission in the Isle of Patmos, carrying 

 in its bill what is, or what is intended to be, an ink- 

 horn. Those skilled in deciphering aucient sepul- 

 chral inscriptions will know how often the figures, 

 emblematical of the four evangelists and Christ, 

 occur. How the burgesses of the town came to 

 adopt the emblem of the Evangelist for their seal is 

 slightly shrouded in mystery. It is, however, sup- 

 posed, that it was on account of there being in the 

 town a guild dedicated to and under the patronage 

 of that saint. There was no church in honour of 

 the Evangelist; but in that dedicated to St. Nicholas, 

 the patron of mariners, there is a small chantry 

 erected in honour of St. John. The reason the 



