liARDWlCKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



23 



A Strange Eepttle. — You may incline to notice 

 a curious creature lately found in a garden in this 

 town. It is a specimen of the Crowned Tapayaxiu 

 {Phnjnosoma Blaimnllii), common in America, and 

 often made a pet of in California. Itis betwcena 

 lizard and an iguana, and is, including the tail, 

 about five inches in length. It is covered all over 

 ^Tith triangular spines, and has two long horns at 

 the back of the head. The 1ail, which is not a long 

 one, is bordered on both sides with spines, and the 

 entire animal is plated with armour, like the Arma- 

 dillo. The feet are very delicate and beautiful, ter- 

 minated with long, sharp, and elegantly curved 

 claws. When in its native state it canrun with 

 considerable rapidity, but in confinement it remains 

 almost stationary, even when touched. It feeds on 

 insects, and is said to be very partial to red ants. 

 How it came into this locality is at present a 

 mystery, and how long it has been there is also un- 

 known. — Irwin Sharp, }resfoii-siiper-3Iare. 



GrrSY-MOTH. — In the Septeinber number of 

 SciEXCE-Gossip, pase 215. Mr. J. R. S. CliHord 

 mentions a Gipsy {Liparis dispar') which was taken 

 near Odiham in 1870. He may be interested to 

 know that I have lately seen a tine male of species, 

 taken flying, last summer, iu the same locality. It 

 is much darker, and slightly larger than those speci- 

 mens which we obtain by breeding. It was captured 

 by a Mr. Holland, of Reading, and I have no doubt 

 of its authenticity. This moth is easily reared from 

 the e^g, and I was much pleased with the brood I 

 reared daring the past season. Tiie larva are strik- 

 ingly handsome ; but I was not successful in ob- 

 taining a female equal in size to the figure in 

 Newman's "British JNioths." Have other entomo- 

 logists remarked this ? — John Henderson. 



TErratum, under "White Varieties,*' on p 281, 

 vol. vii. for Burgllfield read Burghjield. — /. //.] 



Reuieby wanted.— In reply to "A. E. ]\I.,"'I 

 forward the under-mentioned receipt, which has 

 been found efScacions in removing from the ceiling 

 of a church dark stains whicli were supposed to have 

 been caused by the admixture of sea sand in the 

 mortar or cement. Wash to be laid on with a com- 

 mon whitewash brush : 4 gallons of clean soft water, 

 1 pint of oil of vitriol. For colouring after ; 1 bushel 

 of Huddleston lime slaked iu warm water, 4 lb. of 

 Ptussia tallow melted in hot water, 1 lb. of green 

 copperas dissolved in warm water, 1 lb- of Englisb 

 umber, all mixed together, reduced to a proper 

 thickness for layin? on the work v>'ith strong beer- 

 grounds laid on with a brush. — J. C. T. 



Cleaning Skeletons.— I have had the following 

 receipt given me for cleaning skeleton?, and it has 

 answered perfectly to the present time. After 

 skinning and disembowelling the animal, cover it 

 with unslaked lime, adding a little water. Look 

 at it occasionally, and remove the flesh, which will 

 come off easily. This method bleaches the bones, 

 preserves the ligaments, so that the skeleton must 

 always be in its proper position, and does not smell 

 at all. All kinds of animals — birds, lizards, fee- 

 can be done this way. — Alfred C. Haddon. 



The Natd Worm. — I have had for some days, 

 in the live-box of my microscope, one of the tribe 

 of annelids. I have frequently examined him with 

 a Ross's 1-incli object-glass. It is the Nais, about 

 half an inch in length, and has hanging about the 

 body (most of them being near to his tail) a goodly 



number of Vortlcella microstoma ; some budding, 

 some dividing, some sessile, some stalked, but all 

 fringed with cilia ; some have become detached 

 whilst the Nais has been swimming in the live-box. 

 It is the only specimen of the Nais I have found 

 so adorned. Is it often found ? The Naid worm is 

 a beautiful subject for microscopic observalion. The 

 specimen I have been examining shows considerable 

 power of elongation and contraction. Its move- 

 ments in the box have now been incessant for six 

 days. The cephalic portion elongates the most. 

 The bristles, which arc seated upon tubercles, are 

 very flue, beautifully transparent. The movements 

 of the animal are very rapid, but he docs not seem 

 to use the bristles for progression, but seems to 

 advance like a snake or eel, wdiilst the tail termi- 

 nates by a disc like a leech. The elongation of the 

 animal takes place in each segment between the 

 bristles. Whilst at comparative rest (I have never 

 found it still) the encephalic segments are shorter 

 than those which carry the vascular trunk ; and 

 when the head is protruded it looks like the snout 

 of a pike. I have not made out the mouth suffi- 

 ciently to describe it with precision. The parasites 

 upon him do not interfere with his freedom of 

 movement. — Alfred Carpenter, Croydon. 



Double Lemon. — A friend has sent me a re- 

 markable example of a lemon, which, on being cut 

 across, was found to have a smaller lemon growing 

 inside it. The inclosed fruit was about the size of 

 a nutmeg, completely covered with yellow rind, 

 which had the texture and the aroma of the ordi- 

 nary external skia. It was a little irregular in 

 shape, showing the marks of union of the carpels of 

 which it is formed, but the sutures are completely 

 united. A section of the inner fruit shows a small 

 quantity of pulp and juice in each carpel, but no 

 attempt at pips. The lemon itself was squeezed 

 before the inner fruit was discovered, so it is im- 

 possible to say whether it contained any pips ; but 

 it is believed that it did not. The smaller fruit was 

 attached to the base of the larger one without any 

 iaterveuing stalk. The genus Citrus is very prone 

 to form supernumerary carpels iu its flowers, and 

 these occasionally protrude through the apex of the 

 ripe fruit ; hut it is unusual to find them completely 

 inclosed. In this case I am inclined to think that 

 the ovules have taken the form of carpels rather 

 than that there was a second whorl of pistils in the 

 flower. — Robert Holland. 



PicKis BuooMUAPE. — In Science-Gossip for 

 1871 (p. 119) there is a paragraph by "J. B., Brad- 

 ford Abbas," referring to this plant as being 

 " abundant in the hedge-rows and clover-fields of 

 Dorset." There is, I have no doubt, a mistake 

 here as to the name of the plant intended to lie re- 

 ferred to. The true Picris Broomrape {Orhanche 

 Picridis, P. Schultz) is by no means a conunou 

 plant, and has only been recorded from Cambridge, 

 Pembroke, Kent, and Isle of Wight. Although 

 from its ascertained range it is very possible the 

 plant may be found in Dorset, it is not likely to be 

 abundant, as represented by " J. B." The plant he 

 refers to is probably Orhanche -minor, which is very 

 common, in the South of England at least, on 

 clover; it occurs, but much less frequently, _ on 

 other plants, and I have seen it on a Gazania iu a 

 garden. 0. Picridis is held by many botanists to 

 be merely a variety of this species, from which it 

 differs very slightly. I do not think it has been 

 found on any plant but the Picris.— F. I. Warner, 

 Winchester. 



