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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



looking for to find it. After searching for three 

 days, I found a larva dead on the sand, evidently- 

 dropped by some bird. I tlien set to work with re- 

 doubled energy; I soon found two more, and I now 

 possess seventeen good lively specimens, and have 

 good hopes of obtaining more as my eye gets prac- 

 tised in finding them. — J. C. Herveij, Pokesdown, 

 Riiigwood. 



Canine Gyrations. — I have been much amused 

 when perusing the scientific disquisitions on my 

 habit of turning round, head foremost, several times 

 previous to my lying down to sleep. Be assured, 

 Mr. Editor, there is no need of any learned lucubra- 

 tions concerning my so-called "gyrations." If man 

 were covered with thick hair from bead to toe, he 

 too would make simdar turnings, in order that he 

 might lie down in comfort with his outer envelope 

 smoothly packed beneath him. As regards his hair- 

 protected head, man does act on a similar plan when 

 about to icst it on a pillow, or to place it in a 

 nightcap, though from length of habit, he is, periiaps, 

 unconscious of the practice; but, depend upon it, he 

 would find himself sadly discomforted were he to lie 

 down with his hair "against the grain; " and, with- 

 out assuming any great amount of science, I may 

 venture to claim from my illustrious biped friend 

 permission to continue an obvious and simple 

 means of comfort to myself as a hair-covered 

 quadruped. — Fido. 



Habits of Spidees. — In the earlier numbers of 

 Science-Gossip, it was, I consider, very clearly 

 proved that under certain conditions the geometric 

 f pider will devour its own web. I do not think, 

 liowever, that it has ever been observed that the 

 web of the house spider serves for its provision 

 during the winter months. I may preface my re- 

 marks by stating that for some time past I have 

 been in the habit of keeping spiders in confinement, 

 in order to watch their habits ; and among others, I 

 procured, at the latter end of last summer, a very 

 large and hairy-legged black spider {Tegenaria, sp.) 

 in an outhouse near London. I obtained also, at 

 the same time, a still larger spider, the finest I have 

 ever seen in this country, which lived in confine- 

 ment only about six weeks. Its first or front pair 

 of legs were much longer than the others, and 

 measured exactly dy'o in. from claw to claw. I 

 should be glad to learn ils name, and whether it is 

 not, as has occurred to me from their similarity in 

 many respects, the male or female of the still living 

 species of spider, which has a larger body and 

 "iihorter, but equally hairy, legs. 'J'hese spiders seem 

 to care only for the common little brown housefiy, 

 and \ull not, however hungry, touch a blue-bottle. 

 Tha number of files sucked dry by the surviving 

 spider previous to the end of last year was most 

 astonishing; and the more flics it consumed the 

 more web it spun, in layers one over the other, as 

 close in texture almost as tissue-paper. But the 

 winter came, the flies disappeared, and I expected 

 my spider w ould hybernate or become torpid ; no 

 such thing, howc ver, happened, and in midwinter it 

 seemed just as active as ever. I then noticed some 

 curious holes in the web, which looked as if it had 

 been cut away with some sharp instrument, and it 

 kept on going and going, until altogetiier about six 

 or seven supeiiicial inclies of this paper-like web 

 had been devoured. But the spider did not thrive 

 jii this food, and became very thin. Now 1 cau 

 again piocure him flies, and he is getting plump. 

 Contrary to the observations of some of your pre- 



vious correspondents, this spider is very readily 

 cheated, and has now become so tame that he runs 

 out to be fed, whenever I open the jar in which he 

 is confined, to give him a fly. He used formerly to 

 retire to the recesses of his cell on such occasions. 

 This spider is, as most of his tribe, nocturnal in his 

 habits, and feeds chiefly at night. I estimate the 

 extreme spread of his longest legs to be about three 

 inches. 1 should be glad to learn his specific name, 

 and to know whether he is usually a house spider; 

 he was originally dislodged from behind a gas-meter. 

 How many diiferent kinds of spiders are known as 

 house spiders ? I have certainly come across two, it" 

 not three. — Gilbert R. Redgrave. 



The Winter Food of Wood-Pigeons.— In 

 answer to your correspondent's query on this sub- 

 ject, I send a few observations of my own. Having 

 had a great deal of pigeon-shooting on a farm be- 

 tween Guildford and Woking, where during the 

 winter months there is generally a flock of several 

 thousands, which roost in the fir plantations near, 

 I find as a rule that they have been feeding on 

 acorns and clover, acorns especially as long as they 

 can get them ; but if not looked after well, they will 

 very soon destroy a field of young clover, which 

 they arc very fond of. During harvest they are 

 very destructive in the pea-field, but I have not 

 noticed their feeding on other kinds of corn. — 

 /. L. a 



Plantain-leaved Leopard's Bane (Dorouicitm 

 plantagineim). — This is, I believe, considered a rare 

 plant, found only in a few places in England. It 

 may not be uninteresting to some of the readers of 

 Science- Gossip to know that I have found it grow- 

 m" at Astley, near Stourport. The plant is now in 

 full hlomw.^ Thofdcis Wedley. 



Do Birds eat the Shells of their Eggs or 

 NOT ? — We have watched our canaries liatching 

 their eggs, and have never found any shells about 

 the cage. The same with hedge-sparrows, &c., in 

 the garden. Mrs. Howitt, in her paper "Birds and 

 their Nests," in the Family Friend, seems to think 

 that birds carry their eggs away to prevent the nest 

 being discovered. Can any of your readers solve 

 this question ?— i''. M. M. 



Starlings.— A lady contributor to Science- 

 Gossip, Miss Barbara Wallace Fyfe, in whom I am 

 pleased to recognize an old friend, and whose 

 talented father first introduced me to Science- 

 Gossip, must, I am sure, mean, when she says 

 that starlings are, like swallows, migratory birds, 

 that they partially migrate from one English county 

 to another, — not that they, like swallows, quit these 

 shores, i know from personal observation that 

 they winter in Hants, Dorset, and also in this part 

 (Anglcsea) of North Wales. They assendjie in 

 large fiocks, and invariably, if there are rooks in 

 the vicinity, accompany these birds. — 3Irs. Alfred 

 Wuiiicy. 



A SCIENTIFIC education is one of the needs of the 



time. Science is transforming the world and revo- 

 lutionizing opinion. The leaders of thougiit are 

 trained in the laboratories rather than educated in 

 the schools. As a means of mental discipline, 

 scientific study is fast cstablishijig itself on a level 

 with the '■ humanities " of olden time as a teacher 

 of patience ; of the humility that sits at Nature's 

 feet and learns her ways ; of the intellectual 

 tiiorougliness which gathers all the facts be'.ore it 



