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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Areas of Britain," by Grenville A.J.Cole. F.G.S. ; 

 "Water Supply of the Metropolis," by G. F. Harris, 

 F.G.S. "Work of Prehistoric Artizans," by W. J. 

 L. Abbott; "Geology of the Isle of Purbeck," by 

 Professor G. S. Boulger, F.L.S. F.G.S. ; " Silver Ore 

 Deposits of New South W^ales," by W. Clunies Ross, 

 B.Sc, and " Some Notes on a Chalk Section at 

 Grays," by J. T. Day. The report for the past year 

 shows that there have been excursions to the Museum 

 of Practical Geology ; to Erith and Crayford ; to 

 Hampstead ; to Caterham and Tilburstow Hill ; and 

 to Ealing. The Meetings are held in the City (lo 

 Arthur Street West, London Bridge). Professor 

 Boulger, F.L.S., F.G.S,, is the new President. 



Gault Fossils. — I have observed the inquiry of 

 J. H. A. Verinder, " How to preserve Gault Fossils," 

 and the reply of Mr. W. E. Windus. I have had no 

 experience of " Picture Mastic Varnish," but should 

 think it too thick a varnish for the purpose, and with 

 some specimens would be very difficult to apply. I 

 have some Ammonites, Scaphites, and other fossils 

 characteristic of this formation, which I obtained 

 some years ago at Folkestone. I at once carefully 

 washed and dried them, and then gave them a 

 covering of " Gum Acacia " dissolved in water. No 

 signs of crumbling or disintegration can be seen ; and 

 the beautiful natural colours are as bright and iri- 

 descent as when I took them from the Folkestone Chffs. 

 I have been accustomed to treat Fossil ferns from the 

 coal measures in this way, and I have specimens of 

 Lycopodium, Lepidodendron, Pecopteris, &c. ; which 

 reveal all the details of structure, with the sharpness 

 of outline and beauty of appearance, which can be 

 obtained (as far as I know) by no other process. In- 

 deed the general plan in Museums and private 

 collections, is to let them alone ; with the result, that 

 the ferns crumble away, and .the specimen is rendered 

 of little practical use or value. Whereas, one appli- 

 cation of Gum Acacia will set the ferns, and unless 

 they are exposed to strong sunlight, or undue heat, 

 they will retain all their beauty, and show up rich 

 and black against the Shale or sandstone, and require 

 no further attention for many years. — T. S. King, 

 F.G.S. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



The Mild Weather before Christmas. — 

 Through the mildness of the weather that we have 

 been favoured witli this winter, there are many 

 records of plants flowering, birds nesting, and other 

 works of nature which otherwise only occur during 

 the summer months. Norfolk has been no exception 

 to this rule, for a gentleman in Norwich had, during 

 December, a good supply of peas growing in his 

 garden, and they no doubt formed a relishing addition 

 to his winter fare. Another writes to a local paper, 

 stating that he had strawberries for his Christmas tea 

 of which he plucked a quantity that morning, whilst 

 another (also in a letter to] a local paper) confidently 

 asserts that he heard the notes of a cuckoo. At 



Yarmouth, a partridge's nest was found on .Sunday, 

 December 29th, amongst some furze bushes, containing 

 fourteen eggs ; whilst roses, chrysanthemums, daisies, 

 pansies, wild and garden primroses, and many other 

 plants were in full bloom in open gardens and the 

 surrounding districts. — J. B. Beckett, Trinity Place, 

 Friars Lane, Great Yarmouth. 



The Mildness of the Season.— December 6th 

 is quite phenomenal : primroses are in bloom in the 

 lanes between this and Caerphilly. Thrushes and 

 robins vie with each other in song. To-day I heard 

 the note of the blackbird, and the merry twitter of 

 finches made the air alive with sounds familiar to 

 early spring months instead of the dark side of 

 Christmas. — IV. //. Harris, Cardiff. 



The Warm Weather. — No doubt notes of 

 unseasonable flowers in bloom have reached you, but 

 the following may be, worth recording. A nosegay 

 brought me yesterday contained : winter coltsfoot, 

 yellow jasmine, orange marigold, greater leopard's 

 bane, white musk mallow, white double fever-few, 

 crane's-bill (Herb Robert), [lesser alkanet {A. offici- 

 nalis), fronds of male shield fern. Altogether, a 

 curious mixture of flowers of different seasons. — 

 M. E. Pope. 



Longevity in a Beetle. — Occidit Idus Novembres 

 Calosoma Sycophanta, exsequias ite frequenter coleoptcra, 

 captured in a leaf-strewn oak copse behind the 

 Marienburg at Treves at the end of June or beginning 

 of July last, he has kept company with me for the 

 space of four months, and had doubtless seen happy 

 hours among the fallen leaves before we met. This 

 is a green old age in insect-life which numbers its 

 days at a fortnight. While he lived I fed him on raw 

 meat and earthworms ; he went with me up to town, 

 where his last repast was a gigantic worm from the 

 neighbourhood of the Regent's-park Canal, that 

 stretched to half a foot or more ; he tackled it finely, 

 although he had long been feeble and ailing. He 

 was a great favourite with our girl Mary at Ramsgate, 

 on account of his shiny coat, otherwise his manners 

 were objectionable. Of him it may be said that death 

 has not tarnished his comeliness. The beautiful 

 beetle has ceased to live. — A. H. Stvittton, Gery 

 Stj'cet, Bedford. 



A Singular Feature in an Explosive 

 Mixture, — The house in which I write has been the 

 scene of a gas explosion that has scorched or cracked 

 the cornices, blown out panes of glass, and committed 

 direct personal injury by the ignition of hair. I was 

 asleep at the time in a room on the top flat, with my 

 door shut. My top pane of glass went smash, and 

 directly beneath on the washhand-stand there remains 

 a white blur as if a bombshell flung at it had there 

 burst. These explosions around the lines of least re- 

 sistance, and the solitary explosion in my room, so 

 remote from the centre of disturbance, are both 

 curious and remarkable as illustrating a law of nature. 

 The accident is attributed to the opening of a window 

 in a room where a light had been lit, and in which a 

 gas escape had taken place owing to the lowering of 

 a gaselier found to be defective. — A. H. Swinton. 



A Flea's Life, &c.— We should be glad if some of 

 your readers would kindly give us information on the 

 following points. What are the phases of a flea's life ? 

 Does the tlea pass through the different stages of larva, 

 pupa and imago, or is the perfect insect hatched from 

 an egg ? Are white moles common ? Two have been 

 found in this part at an interval of some months, and 

 at places a mile or so away from each other. Are 



