2IO 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



mouth. The mouth has four appendages on the 

 upper lip, with one at each side ; there are also two 

 protuberances on the head. The general shape is 

 graceful, and the head rather slender. The loach 

 appears to feed on small Crustacea among the weeds. 



In a bit of swampy ground, hardly to be called a 

 pond, a number of fresh-water shrimps have taken 

 up their abode. The creature lies on the mud, but 

 rises to the surface of the water every few minutes as 

 if to breathe the air, or possibly for food particles. 

 As it swims the segments of the body are visible, 

 with the numerous pairs of legs in full movement. 



During the last few days of July a weeping poplar 

 had a dozen or more larvre diligently feeding on the 

 young leaves, as if the creatures were providing food 

 enough for the pupa stage of existence. The fat 

 green caterpillar, with faint yellow stripes and rough 

 spots, was, I suppose, the larva of the lime hawk 

 moth. Another, and on this tree the common species, 

 must have been the poplar hawk. Smaller in size 

 than the lime or privet hawk larvae, a third species 

 had two horn-like processes at the tail ; from each of 

 these, tubular pink filaments could be protruded at 

 will ; they were highly sensitive, and contracted with 

 a touch. The caterpillar was green, with dark brown 

 markings on the back in regular pattern, and a little 

 pink round the face.* Notwithstanding the various 

 sizes of this caterpillar, the morning after I had 

 taken them every one had assumed the pupa form, or 

 had at least spun a cocoon. 



One night a bat flew into my bedroom, affording a 

 dog and myself some violent exercise in the capture 

 thereof. It proved to be the long-eared species 

 {Pkiotus conimiinis)^ a pretty little beast with the 

 most knowing expression. I had never before ad- 

 mired the folds of the long ears ; and the curious 

 inner ear, or " tragus," was very prominent. I 

 popped it into a bird-cage for the night, with a little 

 milk and a morsel of raw meat for food, placing the 

 whole concern in the dining-room. In the morning, 

 when the cook drew up the blinds, a little black 

 devil dropped down on to her head. It squeaked 

 and she screamed, but no lives were lost. The bat 

 had escaped through the cage wires ; as it would not 

 eat, we let the creature go free. For several days 

 afterwards the dog sniffed at the cage each morning ; 

 he wanted that queer flying rat for his own purposes. 



I have got two species of ants waging active war- 

 fare in a glass bottle. One colony is formed of the 

 small red or yellow ant, so common in the fields. 

 Having dug into the very heart of an ant-hill, I 

 collected a trowel full of earth, together with a few 

 winged specimens, large and small, a number of the 

 working ants, and some of the pupce. Having 

 allowed these to settle in the bottle, I turned in a 

 small regiment of the shiny l)lack ant {F.fulighiosd), 



* From the contractile filaments, this may be the Cerura 

 genus (puss moth). 



which dwells in a decayed stump ; and many a fierce 

 encounter took place. In a few days the battles 

 apparently ceased, and a truce was agreed upon ; each 

 colony kept to its own side. The wings soon dropped 

 oft" the red species. 



In a bog where the round-leaved sundew, the bog 

 pimpernel, the golden asphodel, the ivy-leaved cam- 

 panula, marsh St. John's-wort, cross-leaved heath, 

 lesser skull-cap, marsh veronica, and other plants 

 flourished, I nearly trod on a jack snipe before it 

 would rise. A young peewit pretended to be dead, 

 but clung to the coarse herbage as I took it in my 

 hand. The heart was throbbing with fear, so it was 

 carefully replaced, while the parent bird flew over- 

 head in circles, uttering the most plaintive cries. 



In a tidal estuary I saw a cormorant swimming with 

 a fish — likely enough a young salmon— in its mouth. 

 It was in a tearing passion because the fish got 

 crossways in the mandibles. It dived several times, 

 and at last threw the fish up in the air, catching it 

 lengthways as it fell ; presently the whole morsel was 

 swallowed. A number of small black -headed gulls 

 were busily employed on the mud banks. 



In a certain disused copper where rain-water had 

 accumulated, I lately discovered the peculiar boat- 

 shaped clusters of eggs belonging to a species of culex 

 floating on the surface of the water ; scores of larvae 

 were vigorously swimming to and fro, whilst several 

 fully-developed gnats rose from the vessel. In a 

 small dish the larvae rapidly split the case, passing 

 through another stage into the winged imago. The 

 larva had several prolonged external tracheae which 

 disappeared in the transitional stage. The whole 

 series formed a most beautiful slide, mounted in 

 Canada balsam. 



The scarlet acarus or harvest mite has been very 

 troublesome this year, attacking both man and beast. 

 I say this advisedly. My dandy-dinmont (before 

 named) has had hundreds of these pests eating head- 

 foremost into his skin, and they swarm on the kidney- 

 beans, in the cornfields, and on dry banks. Micro- 

 scopic in size, the insect burrows in the flesh, causing 

 red swellings and an irritation usually attributed to 

 "heat-spots." Washing with Jeyes' fluid effectually 

 kills them on dogs. For myself I endure the dis- 

 comfort ; the acarus dies and the spots disappear. 

 The dog is a better host ; on him they multiply 

 exceedingly. 



C. P. 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



A NEW work by Mr. J. E. Gore, F.R.A.S., 

 entitled "The Scenery of the Heavens; a popular- 

 Account of astronomical Wonders," is in the press, 

 and will shortly be published by Messrs. Roper and 

 Drowley of Ludgate Hill. It will be illustrated with 

 photographs of star clusters and nebulce from the 



