HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



71 



Dried Elotveks.— I would give " W. W. H." the 

 information asked for with great pleasure, if I knew 

 the process whereby tlie exquisite little card of 

 flowers wliicli I alluded to had been made to retain 

 their brilliant tints ; but very probably the corre- 

 spondent, or at any rate reader, of Science-Gossip 

 ■who so kindlv sent me the specimen card will 

 see " W. W. H.'s " note, and reply to it— Hele/i 

 E. fl'ahiei/. 



TiiE SwoKD-Fistr. — In the Leisure Hour for Jan- 

 uary is an article on the Sword-fish {XipJiiasgladim). 

 The dsscription appears to apply more properly to 

 the Saw-fisli {Prist is antiquorum). Will any corre- 

 spondent of SciENCE-Gossir say whether the fish 

 described is a new species, or whether the writer of 

 the article has fallen into an error in describing the 

 Saw-iish as the Sword-fish? The former, it is well 

 known, is furnished with a formidable weapon, which 

 is a prolongation of the upper jaw, and which is 

 armed on each side with sharp teeth, extending in a 

 line from base to point. Although the fisii has un- 

 doubtedly the power of inflicting terrible wounds 

 ■with the saw, it must be evident to any one that it 

 would be almost impossible for such an instrument to 

 pierce the thick timbers of a ship, more particularly 

 as the point of the saw is blunt and slightly turned 

 up; added1othis,theprojectingteeti, placed at right 

 angles to the body of the saw, would effectually 

 prevent its entrance into any hard body. The Sword- 

 fish (Xiphias fjladhis) is armed with a very different 

 weapon, — a long, hard, solid horn, a sword often 

 attaining to the length of several feet : with this 

 sword, which is destitute of tcetli. the Xiphias has 

 been known to penetrate the planks and beams of 

 ships, and, being unable to withdraw it, the weapon 

 has been snapped off and has remained in the 

 timber; or it is probable that the force of the blow 

 has broken off the bone. If my memory serves me, 

 a specimeu, fixed in a block of wood cut from a 

 ship's side, is to be seen in the British Museum. — 

 E. E.R.- 



The Ermixe in Nortii Wales.— A specimen 

 of the Mustela erminea has just been brought in to 

 me by my friend and neigliboiir Mr. Jo!m Jones, 

 of Cae Uorrin, one of our mountain farms. It is 

 supposed to be rare, as none of the gamekeepers 

 have ever seen the animal before in these parts. 

 The Stoat, Weasel, &c., are common enough, but 

 this beautiful creature is, so far as we can ascertain, 

 quite a rarity hereabouts. — W. P. 



EooD OF Hemipteea a-nd of Snakes. — A couple 

 of very young Englisli snakes, about six or seven 

 inches long, have been in my possession for some 

 weeks. As they had not been observed to take any 

 food, though insects and worms had been inclcssd 

 with them, and happening to remember some old 

 tale of a snake being fed by a child on bread and 

 milk, on the chance of their taking it I placed a 

 small portion of this simple diet in their vase. On 

 inspection a short time alter, 1 was surprised to see 

 a hemipterous insect {Coreiis scapha) busily engaged 

 with its rostrum deep in the mixture, evidently im- 

 bibing the liquid portion with considerable relish. 

 It struck me as a curious circumstance for an insect, 

 undoubtedly a vegetable-feeder, to take so readily to 

 this diet, and it seems probible that this large field- 

 bug would have little reluctance to suck blood if 

 the opportunity oifered. Perhaps some reader of 

 Science Gossip will try the experiment, which want 

 of time and other reasons prevent my doing. I 

 should be very glad also to be informed of the food 



on which such diminutive snakes exist, as they 

 cannot possibly swallow the s'liall mammals and 

 reptiles on which their elder brethren sub>ist, and 

 no book that I have consulted gives the dinner carte 

 of these interesting juveniles. It should be added 

 that they have not bsen observed to pay any atten- 

 tion to the bread and milk. — George Guy on, Ventuor. 



Mounting Objects. — Will any of your corre- 

 spondents who have tried mounting objects in gum 

 dammar give me their experience ? I dissolved the 

 gum in benzole. The solution was clear enough at 

 first, but after a bit it became slightly opalescent. 

 Is this opalescence a disadvantage, as I supposed it 

 to be, and how can it be got rid of ? Should the 

 solution of the gum be saturated ? — W. Z. Nash. 



The Shre'w-motise (p. 45).— The word " shrew " 

 is applied to Sorex araneus in the sense of " evil : " it 

 means the malign mouse, an animal supposed to 



' work evil by means of magic spells, as is the case with 

 the evil-eye, a superstition still lingering in some 

 remote parts of the country. Etymologieally, the 



' word "shrew" is allied to the German "schnige" 

 in the sense of awry ; the Anglo-Saxon form is 

 "screawa," connected with oldEnglish "schreward," 

 a rascal ; cf . " schre wd," as malicious, badly disposed ; 

 i.e., not simple, innocent and confiding, but wickedly 



I informed, wily, artful, too knowing. The Danish 

 word quoted from Bailey appears to be meant for 



I "skovmuus," the 2Iyoxus, i.e. the Wood-mouse; 



! cf. German " Feldratze." The shrew, in German, is 

 " die Spitzmaus," in allusion to its pointed snout. — 

 A.Hall. 



The Chameleon. — A friend of mine is anxious 

 to find out the secret, if there be one, of acclima- 

 tizing the Cliameleon. He has made one or two 

 attempts, but to his grief failed in both. My friend's 

 house is situated in a valley near the castle of Not- 

 tingham, well sheltered from the cold north and 

 east winds, altogether one of the prettiest, wannest, 

 ; aud sunniest parts of our good old town. Below 

 j the house, a little further down the valley, having 

 ; a full southern aspect, stands a greenhouse full of 

 choice exotic plants, and consequently very warno, 

 I where he kept a lovely specimen of the GhanKeleo 

 tribe, which had been presented to him. The charra- 

 ' ing little creature's habits of life were to ray friend 

 a curious aud interesting study. Slow and cautious 

 in its movements, yet ever on the qui vive for insect 

 prey, which it rapidly caught with its tongue. Its 

 briglit eyes gleamed with eager watchfuluess, no 

 action or movement seeming to escape its notice : 

 in fact, it was a most wonderful and novel pet. Its 

 great power of abstinence from food, and very ex- 

 traordinary manner of gulping in the air and puffing 

 out its body to twice its size, formed a most amusing 

 study. One day, however, death paid a visit to the 

 poor little chameleon's home. In time another 

 chameleon took its place, and it also perished. My 

 friend fancies the climate is too cold, and that it was 

 the change from their tropical homes which caused 

 the death of the two chameleons. They had a plen- 

 tiful supply of insects, and their deatii was not 

 caused by the old woman's fable, that "the chame- 

 leon lives on air," and as in a case which came under 

 my notice some years ago, when a poor animal was 

 starved to death simply through stupid ignorance. 

 We are aware that these reptiles are most success- 

 fully kept in the Zoological Gardens in London, and 

 I should be glad if any of the correspondents of 

 Science-Gossip could give my friend a little in- 

 formation on this point. — Barbara Wallace Fyfe, 

 Nottingham. 



