HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



239 



and contempt, by those who should try to promote 

 investigation instead of checking it. I beg to state 

 that I feel in no way subdued by the odium heaped 

 upon me for collecting eggs in clutch, and also for 

 stating that there is most probably some relation 

 between the colour and fertility in the eggs of wild 

 birds, and I hope shortly to have more to say on 

 these subjects, backed up by facts or very strong 

 evidence. — yoseph P. Nunn. 



Query Concerning Caterpillars. — The 

 writer is desirous of having the opinion of readers 

 of Science-Gossip as to whether the caterpillars, 

 which for first few weeks in the spring of the last two 

 or three years, have destroyed the leaves and, in 

 some cases, the blossoms of the apple, plum, rose, 

 hawthorn, oak, &c., can be connected with the 

 wholesale way in which our small birds are killed 

 and their eggs taken. — W. J. IVeston, Becklcy, Sussex. 



Eggs of the Common Snake, — A man brought 

 me a few days ago a batch of eggs which he had 

 found in a manure-heap. I counted over one 

 hundred and fifty in the batch, which he said was 

 compact and all in one place. I was surprised at the 

 number. Do several snakes ever lay in one spot ? 

 Country people say they do not ; but this large number 

 could never have come from one female. There is 

 considerable uncertainty and error in Natural 

 History books about the number. In Tate's 

 British Reptiles it states that it is from sixteen to 

 twenty ; and the Rev. J. G. Wood gives fifteen to 

 twenty, further stating that they are laid "in 

 strings," which is not the case. But one I had in 

 captivity last year laid thirty-one all at one time. I 

 should be glad if any of your readers could throw 

 any further light on the subject. — Henry Ullyett. 



Red Spider. — On preparing some specimens of 

 Rulms co}yli/oliiis a few days days ago for pressure, I 

 had occasion to unroll several leaflets which con- 

 tained spiders and their nests. The creatures were 

 not very small ; colour, red with a line of white 

 chevrons down the centre ; the bag, in which the 

 eggs were enclosed, was of a dull green colour. As I 

 have never met with it before, 1 should be glad to 

 know if the species is a rare one. — E. de C. 



Helix aculeata. — Whilst staying at Truro I 

 found five H. aculeata in a lane under some dead 

 leaves. The locality was about half-way between 

 Truro and Rosedale, and was distant about a mile 

 from either place. This is, I believe, the first re- 

 corded find in Cornwall. — Frederic H. Harvey, 

 41 Hugh Street, S. W. 



Now, my little Boy, can you tell me where 

 the Malstrom is ? — Avast, my teacher, can you in 

 person answer this question ? It used to lie betwixt 

 the islets of Vaero and Lofotodden, and now we hear 

 of its being off the shore at Svolvaer, and aboune the 

 Salten Fjord ; and the latter are reputed to be the 

 greater and more terrible whirlpools. Some there 

 are who plainly tell us that the malstrom is all a 

 myth, and certainly the capsizing and boat-sucking 

 occurs during winter storms, when waves run rough. 

 It has been suggested that some of our steamboat 

 proprietors should ship a scientific man with a 

 stomach for the matter and visit these eddies, at the 

 full of the moon, to test their strength and gyration, 

 and tell us truly, for what the skipper doubts the 

 cabin-boy will still believe. If not all a myth, the 

 malstrom they say may yet prove phenomenal on 

 the pages of history, or it may continue as a rich 

 repast for the fancy. — A. H, Swinton. 



" AnimalcuL/E." — In his short but interesting 

 article on Leprosy, why does " Medica " use the 

 above barbarism ? There is, or ought to be, no such 

 word. It implies a plural to animalcula, which 

 itself is the plural of aniinalcubcm, English anirnal- 

 cu/e, plural animalcules. — W. P. H. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now 

 publish Science-Gossip earlier than formerly, we cannot un- 

 dertake to insert in the following number any communications 

 which reach us later than the 8th of the previous month. 



To Anonymous Querists. — We must adhere to our rule of 

 not noticing queries which do not bear the writers' names. 



To Dealers and Others. — We are always glad to treat 

 dealers in natural history objects on the same fair and general 

 ground as amateurs, in so far as the "exchanges" offered are fair 

 exchanges. But it is evident that, when their offers are simply 

 Disguised Advertisements, for the purpose of evading the cost 

 of advertising, an advantage is taken oi o\xx gratuitous insertion 

 of " exchanges " which cannot be tolerated. 



Wb request that all exchanges may be signed with name (or 

 initials) and full address at the end. 



Special Note. — There is a tendency on the part of some 

 exchangers to send more than one per month. We only allow 

 this in the case of writers of papers. 



H. M. — In reply to query re manufacturer of rack boxes, I 

 beg to give the name of Mr. T. Middleton, 19 Shepherdess 

 Walk, City Road, N. He has always made boxes for me, and 

 always given satisfaction. The father is dead, and the son 

 (seventeen years) supports his mother and five brothers and 

 sisters. — F. E. 



J. W. King. — All exchanges are inserted gratis if they do 

 not exceed three or four lines. Some exchangers prefer 

 twenty ; but this is obviously unfair to those who loyally keep 

 to the rule, and might even be considered selfish. Verb. sap. 



G. E. S. (Oldham). — We are under the impression that the 

 "Naturalist's Note-Book" is not now being published, as we 

 have not seen a copy for some time back. 



R. W. — We could not insert your exchange, as it would have 

 run to thirty lines, and only three, or at most four, lines are 

 allowed, unless paid for as an advertisement. 



EXCHANGES. 



Wanted, " Knowledge," No. 4 of vol. i., and index ; also 

 index to vol. iii., first series. — C. Carus-Wilson, Althome, 

 West Bournemouth, Hants. 



Wanted, a good microtome in exchange for foreign micro- 

 scopic specimens, mounted. — M., Ferndale, Brondesbury Road, 

 London, N.W. 



Wanted, books on lichens in exchange for Wood's " Insects 

 atHpme," " Zoologie," by Milne-Edwards, " L' Anthropologic," 

 by Paul Topinard, " Text-Book of Botany," Prantl and Vine's 

 " Northern Microscopist " (4 vols.), Cassell's "Natural History " 

 (6 vols.). — Thos. Hebden, CuUingworth, Bradford, Yorks. 



Offered, 300 or 400 specimens of fossil shells from the Paris 

 basin, in exchange for British tertiary fossils, land, freshwater 

 and marine shells, or prehistoric implements. — Monsieur Louis 

 Giraux, 22 rue Saint Blaise, Paris. 



Offered, Sph. lacustre. Unto margaritifer, P. contecta, 

 P. glaber, P. dilatatus, P. corttortus, L. palustris, Suae. 

 Pfeifferi, Z. glaber, Z. pums, H. pygmcea, H. sericea, &.c. 

 Wanted, Pecten septemradiatus , Venus lincta, Doiiax poUtits, 

 Mya arenaria, Pholas dactylus, and many others. — F. C. 

 Long, 8 Cog Lane, Burnley, Lanes. 



Wanted, some portions of freshwater sponge, with gem- 

 mules, from the Exe, or from rivers or streams in Suffolk or 

 Norfolk, in spirits, put up fresh from water, in bottles 3 inches 

 by I inch. Writer will gladly pay postage for above, if any 

 reader of Science-Gossip will oblige by sending him during 

 October. — Joseph Clark, F.R.M.S., Hind Hayes Street, 

 Somerset. 



Wanted, a microscope by Swift, or other leading maker, in 

 exchange for scientific works of authority, copiously illustrated 

 with coloured plates and engravings, viz. : Houghton's " Fresh- 

 water Fishes," Couch's " British B'ishes," Pritchard's " Natural 

 History of Man," Harvey's " British Marine Algse," Schubert's 

 " Natural History of the Vegetable Kingdom;" also Balfour's 

 " Botany " (Treasury of Natural History), Rymer Jones' 

 "Animal Creation," and other works. — J. Asher, 8 East Grove, 

 New Basford, Nottingham. 



Offered, L. C, 8th ed. : — 99, 189, 620, 923, 939, 1060, 1081, 

 1669. Desiderata, 26, 86, 10&, 371, 374, 460, 652, 980, 1136, 



