HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



said, believes in the immutability of the species 

 notwithstanding — a position which, we think, he 

 hardly makes sufficiently clear to produce con- 

 viction. J. E. Tai'lok. 



REMARKS ON POLYTHOA INVESTING 

 THE GLASS-ROPE SPONGE. 



By E. KiTTON. 



O INCE the publication of my paper on Hyalonema 

 '^ in the last number of Science-Gossip, I have 

 had an opportunity of making further examination 

 of the curious parasitic growth generally found upon 

 the anchoring spicula ["the Glass-rope "]. I stated 

 in my previous remarks that I had found, on the Rev. 

 J, Crompton's specimens, the Polythoa investing 



Fig. 39. Polythoa on Hyalonema. 



the ribbon-like fronds of some species of algse, and 

 also that I found it growing on a small piece of 

 some frondose alga that had become entangled on 

 the Glass-rope. On making a microscopic examina- 

 tion, this proves to be a portion of the ova-case of a 

 species of dog-fish. Pig. 39 represents the ova-case 

 with investing Polythoa of the natural size ; tig. 40, 

 one of the tubercles enlarged about six diameters. 



Fig. 40. Polytlina enlarged. 



The examination of the Polythoa, when found apart 

 from the sponge, has enabled me to ascertain the 

 spicules peculiar to it, and to correct some. of my 

 previous statements. Pigs. 24 and 25 appear to 

 be the only forms of spicula really belonging to 



the Polythoa. My previous observation had been 

 made on the forms obtained by boiling a portion of 

 the rope and Polythoa in nitric acid. This of course 

 not only separated the spicula imbedded in the 

 coriaceous substance of the Polythoa, but also the 

 various forms of spicula interwoven in the inter- 

 stices of the Glass-rope. 



The examination of the Polythoa after soaking 

 in water for some days, revealed the presence of 

 minute grains of sand, showing slight traces of 

 arrangement : this is most conspicuous on the 

 ridges of the tubercles. After the destruction of 

 the animal matter by nitric acid, the sUiceous re- 

 mains consist of sand and spicula in about equal 

 proportions. 



A careful examination of this parasite in a living 

 state, or a specimen preserved inspirit, is necessary 

 for a complete elucidation of this very remarkable 

 organism. 



BEES IN THE HIMALEH MOUNTAINS. 



T ITTLE is knoM'n relative to the domestication 

 -*-' of bees in these mountains, even by those long- 

 resident on the spot, and much interest has of late 

 been evinced in many quarters, notably by the late 

 Mr. Woodbury, of Exeter, in an attempt to import 

 and acclimatize the Apis dorsata, or wild bee, here- 

 inafter alluded to, on account of its greater range of 

 feeding and superior productiveness. I make, there- 

 fore, no apology for republishing the remarks of 

 that careful and eminent traveller Moorcroft, as 

 recorded in his " Ladakh, and Resources of the 

 Hills," vol. i. cap. ii. page 51 :— "The domestic bee 

 is known by the name of malira, mohri, and mari ; * 

 it is not much above half the size of that of Europe, 

 but is very industrious and mild-tempered. 



"The wild beef is termed hhaonra, a name by 

 which the people of the plains designate the hum- 

 ble bee ; but it is not half the bulk of that insect, 

 though larger than the domestic bee of Europe. It 

 is of a darker colour generally, and has larger and 

 broader wings. Its temper is irascible, and sting 

 venomous. It commonly builds its nest under pro- 

 jecting ledges of rock, overhanging steep mural 

 precipices, in a situation almost inaccessible to bears 

 and men. The hive [comb ?] contains a large quan- 

 tity of both wax and honey. The latter, if gathered 

 before the month oiBIiadra (about August), is fully 

 equal to that of the domestic bee ; but in that and 

 the following month it is said to produce intoxica- 

 tion followed by stupefaction. The effect is, with 

 some probability, ascribed to the bees feeding on 

 the flower of a species oi aconite, which is in bloom 

 in Bhadra and Asarh (September), and which, grow- 



* Apis iiigrucincta, or Indica. 

 t Apis dorsata. 



