HARDVVICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



G9 



The GirsY-MOTii {Liparis dispar), p. 23. — 

 Having Lad considerable experience in the rearing 

 of tiiis interesting species, I beg to offer a few re- 

 marks on that insect to your correspondent, Mr. 

 John Henderson. ;My experience with regard to 

 size coincides with that of Mr. Henderson, and 1 

 have never reared a specimen approaching that 

 figured in Mr. Newman's work. _ 1 find they vary 

 considerably in size, more especially the mules : I 

 have one or two in my collection not larger than a 

 fair-sized specimen of R. crat/rpata. On turning 

 back to a previous volume of Science-Gossip, I 

 find a note by Mr. Clifford on the above species : he 

 writes, "As 'far as 1 know, all those reared by us 

 produce what is called the northern, or dwarf 

 type, which has been bred ' in and in ' for some 

 years past by collectors : nor could the diminutive 

 form be brought up to' the full size again by any 

 mode of treatment." I know of no entomologist 

 who has obtained larger specimens than myself or 

 Mr. Hederson. Eurther on jNIr. Clifford writes : 

 "On one occasion I liberated, by way of experi- 

 ment, a largish number of these caterpillars near 

 London, placing them on sallow, which seems most 

 congenial to their taste ; however, subsequently, I 

 was unable discover either cocoons or moths." Any 

 information with regard to the above subject in 

 these pages would be very acceptable to me as well 

 as to Mr.Henderson. — R. Laddiman. 



Cleaning Sand Eoraminifera. — I have ob- 

 tained some sea-sand which contains Foraminifera, 

 and have tried several plans for washing out this 

 lime which they contained, but have not yet suc- 

 ceeded. I have tried the following plans; — 1. 

 Washing them with a drop of muriatic acid in a 

 watch-glass half filled with distilled water; buti 

 found that evaporated them altogether ; so 1 put in 

 more water, and then it had no effect at all. 2. I 

 liave fully adopted that plan described in Science- 

 Gossip for September, 18/0, by Mr. " J. H." by 

 boiling them a quarter of an hour in liquor potassse, 

 and afterwards a quarter of an hour in water ; but 

 when I mount in Canada balsam, I find perhaps one 

 half of a shell clean, and the rest all full of dirt. I 

 have also tried them by boiling in soda and water, 

 but cannot succeed. If any_ reader will kindly 

 inform me where my error is, and of any other 

 plan, I shall feel obliged.— Z. H. 



The " Liver." — In last month's number of 

 Science-Gossip there are two notices from cor- 

 respondents, about Liverpool, and the origin of its 

 name. We all know that there never was such a 

 bird as the " Liver," but very few seem to have any 

 idea as to what the name really means, or whence 

 it is derived. It appears to me that we must seek 

 it in the old language of the country. We know 

 that in ancient times the " old British " was spoken 

 in the district, which in these days is represented 

 by the Gaelic and the Welsh. _ Now we find in the 

 Gaelic a M'ord which is sometimes spelled "Leth- 

 thir," or "Lcthir," or "Leithtir," which means the 

 " side of a country," or " near to the sea ; " and in 

 the Welsh " pwl " means a " pool." Putting the 

 two words together we have "Leththirpwl," or 

 "Lethirpwl," or "Liverpool," a "pool near the 

 sea." The above explanation of the meaning and 

 origin of the name is to some extent confirmed by 

 the ifact that the old inhabitants of the country in 

 the neighbourhood call the place " Litherpul," or 

 " Lirpul," to this day. We have the name, or 

 rather the first part of it, yet spelled near to the 



original in the name of a district to the north of 

 the town, which is called " LitheAwciA ; " and the 

 names of several places in the neighbourhood are 

 doubtless derived from the same source; as, " Orms- 

 kirk," "Runcorn," "Wallasea," " Orrell," &c. ; 

 as also the names of the two rivers, the " Mersey " 

 and the " Dee."— /o//« Joynson. 



White Ants.— In reply to P. "W. Rogers, 

 respecting ants, he will find the following remedy 

 effectual : — Burn some sulphur in a saucer over- 

 night, and place it in their haunts, repeating it for 

 three successive nights ; then whitewash the cup- 

 boards all over, mixing a teaspoonful of creosote 

 to every pint of whitewash. — W. H. 6., Somerto)i, 

 Taunton. 



The Vitrina pellucida. — Having taken a 

 large number of these interesting mollusks this 

 season, lam in a position to afiirm _ that they can 

 completely withdraw themselves within their shells, 

 if by the term "within" we understand that no 

 part of the animal would be cut off supposing a 

 flat surface were drawn across the mouth, similar 

 to the epiphragm of other hybernating andajstivat- 

 ing snails. They are neither very shy nor irritable, 

 and therefore do not retreat on the slightest touch, 

 like some others ; but that they can withdraw them- 

 selves, I am completely satisfied. The immature 

 animals certainly cannot entirely ensconce them- 

 selves, the hinder part of the foot being always 

 "left out in the cold," and also a part of the mantle 

 in front, which is turned back over the shell. There 

 is, however, a vast deal of difference between the 

 contractile power of this species and that of other 

 univalves. I have never been able to see any inside 

 margin of the shell in an adult living specimen, 

 nor iiave I ever taken one with an epiphragm, which 

 induces me to think they do not hybernate as the 

 Helices and others. But I have found them firmly 

 adhering to pieces of decaying wood in a damp 

 place under wet leaves : this seems, however, to be 

 only a kind of torpor after a heavy glut, for the 

 Vitrine is a great gourmet, esiiecially when it can 

 command a poor earthworm for its repast. I am 

 decidedly of opinion that they area very short- 

 lived race, that their lives seldom indeed exceed 

 nine or ten months ; for during the latter part of 

 1871 I was able to find any number of large or full- 

 sized specimens ; now, in the same places, 1 can only 

 find empty and tenantless shells, and a large number 

 of small or immature animals ; and if this be the 

 correct view, there can be no need of hybernation 

 in their case. J. G. Jeffreys, in his "British Con- 

 chology," offers no suggestion with regard to the 

 aestivation of the inhabitants of these pretty shells ; 

 and, generally speaking, the habits of these animals 

 have not been very closely watched by any British 

 conchologist, most of them contenting themselves 

 with merely copying or echoing the views of M. 

 Moquin-Tandon. Woidd it not be an interesting 

 occupation for two ar three persons in different 

 parts of the country to take them especially under 

 attention, with a view to comparing notes at the 

 end of the year, and publishing the result of their 

 observations in Science-Gossip, on the conclusion 

 of their labours ? Should the idea be thought worth 

 entertaining, I would like to join one or two persons 

 who would "be willing to assist in the undertaking. 

 Autumn seems to be the best time for taking full- 

 sized specimens for collections, but the present 

 season is a good one for taking them in order to 

 watch their habits in confinement, since all are 

 now young animals ; and I presume that very 



