HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



189 



resembling vulgaris it did not occur to me that it 

 could really be that species, as its facies differed a 

 little from that of the English form, and vulgaris has 

 never been recorded from this region. Recently, 

 however, I sent a specimen to Dr. Coulter, and he 

 informs me that he cannot make it out to be anything 

 but vulgaris, adding that it must have been intro- 

 duced in some way. The plants had every appear- 

 ance of being native, but in any case the species is an 

 interesting addition to our local flora. Another 

 recent find here, which is certainly an introduction, 

 is Capsdla lursa-pastoris, growing by the roadside in 

 West Cliff. Potodilla anscriiia is truly native here, 

 and very abundant ; the leaves of the form we get 

 often have as many as twenty-four well-formed 

 leaflets giving the plant rather a different appearance 

 from the type. A "tiger-lily" {Liliuvi Philadel- 

 phicum) is quite common in Custer County, and an 

 interesting variety, va.x. pnlchruni (Aldrich, MS.), was 

 shown to me the other day. It was found by Mrs. 

 Aldrich, near West Cliff, and has the flower pale 

 orange, without any of the dark spots of the type. — 

 T. D. A. Cockerel/, J Vest Cliff, Colorado. 



Monstrosity of Plantago lanceolata. — 

 Among the monstrosities of the Plantaginea, I believe 

 the specimen of Plantago lanceolata that I found near 

 here on the 6th of June to be of an unusual form. 

 Each spike was made compound by the development 

 of the individual flowers into spikes, so as to present 

 the appearance of a densely-packed mass of small 

 spikes. — A. G. Turner, Favershani. 



Botanical Notes from the Swiss Highlands. 

 — Erratum, p. 152, second column, last lines : after 

 nigrescens, insert " (Lam.) " ; and instead o^varia read 

 " and." Erase the comma. 



Vinca minor. — I notice that your correspondent, 

 Archibald T. Clarke, considers Vinca minor as rare 

 in the neighbourhood of Tunbridge Wells. May I 

 >ay that it grows plentifully in at least four localities 

 in the (civil) parish of Brenchly, which borders on 

 that of Pembury, growing on the Weald clay, or the 

 Hastings sand. It grows also near Tovil, I think, on 

 4he Kentish Rag. I should call it a local, but not an 

 uncommon plant. Where it grows in any quantity 

 it seems to take possession of the ground. It is pro- 

 bably indigenous in four of the places I mention. — 

 J/. E. Pope. 



^fOTES AND QUERIES. 



Clutches of Eggs. — Your correspondent, J. A. 

 Wheldon, says, " In passing, I may say I have no 

 belief in this theory of some relation between the colour 

 ;and fertility of eggs." With all due respect for his un- 

 belief, I rather think, if he saw the 270 perfect clutches 

 or 1 170 eggs of the common spai-row now before me, 

 which have been collected during the past four 

 breeding seasons, and which have been carefully 

 arranged and their fertility noted, he would no 



longer talk of " this theory," but this fact. I have 

 no wish to enter into a controversy on this subject, 

 but it would be exceedingly interesting to know the 

 opinions of those who have taken the trouble to 

 investigate, leaving the opinion of those who have 

 " No belief" for what it is -woxih.— Joseph P. 

 Nunn, Pays ton. 



Blackbirds' Eggs.— This morning I took from a 

 blackbird's nest which contained one young bird 

 about a week old, two eggs which I supposed were 

 addled, one of them being so much larger than the 

 other that I thought it cjuite possible it might contain 

 either two yolks or two young birds. Carefully 

 opening the large shell, my supposition proved to be 

 correct, for I removed from it two almost fully de- 

 veloped chicks which were dead ; the other egg was 

 a typical rotten one. These eggs measured i " 35 X "92 ; 

 I •20X "90, and weighed 125 gram, and loi gram. I 

 have but once previously met with a "double egg" 

 amongst the eggs of wild birds, and that the egg of a 

 robin which contained two yolks. I have preserved 

 these shells, and also placed the two chicks in spirits. 

 — Joseph P. Nunn, Roystoti. 



Anodonta cygnea. — I se6 there has been a 

 discussion on this mollusc in your magazine. I 

 should feel obliged if some one would tell me why it 

 is called AnoJonta '■^ cygnea ^^ (the "swan " mussel). 

 What has the bird to do with the shell? The 

 dealers speak of the smaller specimens as "duck" 

 mussels. Perhaps there is some superstition about it 

 similar to that connected with the barnacle (Lepas 

 anatifera) and the goose. — F. P. Perks. 



A CURIOUS Animalcule. — The rotifer of which 

 a rough description and outline-sketch is sent by Mr. 

 W. S. Smith, of Antrim (page 154, SciENCE-GossiP, 

 "A curious Animalcule"), is most probably, as 

 well as can be judged from the particulars given, a 

 Furcularia, either F. cequalis (if the toes are of 

 equal length), or F. longiseta (if of unequal length). 

 The curious postures assumed by the animal upon its 

 long stilt-like toes seem very characteristic, and are 

 referred to by Mr. Slack, in his " Marvels of Pond 

 Life," page 78, though the name of the creature was 

 not known to him.—/". Thompson. 



Squirrels and their Nests. — A sportsman- 

 naturalist, who has for several years enjoyed 

 exceptional opportunities for observation in the 

 extensive woods of " The Dukeries," tells me that 

 squirrels never leave the nest during the summer in 

 which they are born. Old men, who have spent 

 their lives employed in the woods, also say they have 

 never seen a young squirrel except in the nest. Can 

 any reader give information on this point? — W. A. 

 Gain, 7'ux/ord, A''ewark. 



The Zaarahs of Darkness. — I once heard that 

 a gentleman desirous of visiting Palestine was 

 strongly advised by a friend to omit to do so ; and if 

 any prcHicient in prophecy should seek to discover 

 what the ancients knew concerning cycles of time, 

 let him forbear, lest peradventure he associate with 

 Colenso and not with Gumming. Imprimis, he will 

 glean that the people of Egypt, having no leap year, 

 were considerably out in their calculations, and that 

 instead of anticipating the longest and shortest days, 

 as is usual in country parts, they endeavoured to 

 ascertain that happy period when the seasons would 

 come right again : which long-expected event they 

 were pleased to call the return of the Bait or Phoenix, 

 the bird, the moth, or very black beetle. Secondly, 

 eiohteen years is not the exact time when the eclipses 



