166 



HAKDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



"Take two sheep, Taffy!" The affrighted Taffy 

 instantly let go his hold of the sheep, and dashed 

 from the spot with lightning speed, miagnnng that 

 a certain unmentionable personage was eyemg him. 

 It turned out, however, to be a wood-pigeon, 

 ■which uttered tlie cries on being disturbed by the 

 marauder. — G. 0. Howell. 



Cuts fob Microscopic Objects.— Allow me 

 to suggest, for the benefit of those of your readers 

 who may be unable to obtain convenient clips for 

 preparing microscopic objects, that the clips used 

 in making ucck-ties are exactly the thing wanted. 

 They are very convenient, and occupy very little 

 space. I constantly use them myself, and should 

 any of your readers be unable to obtain some 

 themselves, I will forward any 1 number on receipt 

 of value. They are Is. a dozen— Horace E. Bmcne. 



EiELD Clubs.— Could you, or any of your cor- 

 respondents, tell me of a field or microscopical 

 club near Clapton or Dalston ? I have written to 

 three mentioned in your columns, but they are 

 closed. Might I suggest that when clubs are thus 

 brought before the public their secretaries should 

 take the same [means of notifying their closings ? It 

 ■would save much time.—/. B. Davies. 



Age of Eerks.— 1 do not remember having 

 seen mention made of the age of ferns. ^Fila- Mas 

 seems to live long, for I have many specimens that 

 were planted twenty-one years ago, when they had 

 already attained a respectable size. They were 

 planted in deep peat, but have had to contend with 

 those adverse influences which render gardening 

 difficult in a garden at the back of one of the houses 

 in Grosvenor Street ; and, nevertheless, they have 

 again brought forth their ten or twelve vigorous 

 fronds, and seem inclined to do so for many years 

 to come.— ^. /. T. 



The Cuckoo.— a wish is expressed by the writer 

 of the article on the Cuckoo in the May number 

 that any one would assist him by communicating 

 their observations on the Cuckoo's habits ; and as 

 it so happened that a few years ago a cuckoo 

 deposited its egg in a hedgesparrow's nest in 

 some ivy against my garden-wall, I had the pleasure 

 of daily wal ching the growth and peculiar habits of 

 the young bird, and I was especially struck by the 

 fact, that the whole time it was under the fostering 

 care of the hedgesparrows, an_ old cuckoo fre- 

 quented tlie trees in the immediate locality of the 

 nest, apparently signifying by its call its own know- 

 ledge of the young one's whereabouts, and a natural 

 interest in its welfare. I discovered the young bird 

 shortly after it was hatched, and, before it could fly, I 

 frequently took it out of its nest, and showed it to niy 

 friends. When it became too big for the nest, but still 

 unable to fly, it got out of the nest, and roosted in 

 the currant or gooseberry bushes in the garden. 

 This continued for, 1 suppose, nearly tiiree weeks 

 or more ; and, even after it could fly tolerably well, 

 it would allow me to catch it ; and it was especially 

 amusing to sec the little hedgesparrow feeding the 

 cuckoo, so much larger than itself. During the 

 ■whole of this time, I have no doubt it was the 

 parent bird which frequented the spot, for shortly 

 after the young one became fully fledged and well 

 able to fly, both it and the others disappeared 

 together ; thus confirming your correspondent's 

 and my own ideas that the Cuckoo is not so un- 

 natural a parent as is generally supposed. — C. J. 

 Rowley. 



Passiflora c.erulea.— It is a mistake to say 

 that this plant was not introduced till 1099. It is 

 figured and described as a well-known plant culti- 

 vated in England, both by suckers and seeds, in 

 Parkinson's Paradisus in Sole, 1629. He likewise 

 gives a figure of it as falsely depicted by the Jesuits, 

 showing plainly the instruments of the Crucifixion, 

 and has some very amusing observations on their 



j misrepresentations, which he compares with a cor- 

 rect figure of the plant. It is also figured and 

 described in Johnson's addition to Gerarde (1636). 

 I am aware that Loudon gives the date 1699 as 

 that of its introduction, but it is certainly an error. 



' — Eden Wanoick. 



I ^ How to Destroy Clothes Moths.— In reply 

 ! to " VV.M. M.," it may be stated that the eradication 

 \ of these insects is confessedly a matter of diffieulty. 

 The moths, as " W. M. M." is probably aware, are 

 not the real offenders, that is to say, they do not 

 ! actually cause the damage, though injurious, as 

 ! they are the parents of the destructive larvae 

 1 and to kill them, or prevent them from depositing 

 their eggs, is important. Camphor and benzole 

 are of service; also sulphur ; but these things must 

 be used in a confined space, since their odours, if 

 diluted with air, will only stupefy, and the moths 

 revive again. The larvae defy any applications of 

 this sort, though it is possible the fumes of strong 

 tobacco, being dense, might kill, if brought into 

 close contact with them. Baking the garments, 

 could that be done, would prove destructive to the 

 insects in all their stages. — /. B. S. C. 



What's the Use of Saffron to Cage Birds ? 

 —Mrs. Watuey's article upon this plant of many 

 memories suggests to me to put into print a ques- 

 tion which has often occurred to me. There is a 

 very general belief amongst bird-fanciers, as well as 

 that numerous portion of the public who keep a 

 solitary caged bird, that saffron infused in the water 

 given to the bird at the time of moulting (or even 

 at other times when a bird is "out of sorts"), is of 

 particular benefit. I have followed the popular 

 idea, and often thus administered it, but very much 

 incline to the opinion that it is inefficacious. If it 

 acts at all, the effect must certainly be produced on 

 the homoeopathic principle, since the saffron itself 

 will not be touched by the bird, and the amount of 

 soluble matter imparted to the water by the few- 

 blades of saffron added to the water must be small 

 indeed. The action, if any, must be stimulating, as 

 it is thus noticed to influence the human subject; 

 but then it needs to be given in considerable 

 quantity. A good deal of the saflVon sold, however, 

 is partially exhausted, both of its colouring and 

 active principle, ere it gets into the market. — 



J. B. s. a 



A Nest in a Garbage.— A few days ago I saw, 

 in a neighbour's garden, a hedgesparrow's nest 

 built amongst the flowering branches of a large 

 " curled green." The nest was placed on the end 

 of the stalk, where the top had been cut off, so that 

 there was very little or no shelter above ; and a 

 heavy thunder-shower had drowned the young 

 birds. I do not tiiink I ever saw a bird's nest in a 

 cabbage hci^ore.—Boljert Holland. 



Stickleback. — When passing by a stream last 

 month, a small fish attracted my attention. On 

 taking it up, I found it to be a stickleback 

 {Gasierosleus aculeal us, lihrn.), but round the lower 

 half of its body were a quantity of small fine hairs 



