HARDWICKE'S SCIBNCE-GOSSIP. 



191 



economy is an object, rags saturated with turpen- 

 tine, alone or mixed with benzole, may be placed iu 

 a corner of the box. It need hardly be stated that 

 a liglit should not be brought near the box when 

 first opened, as the vapour of benzole is highly 

 inflammable, but soon passes off. — //. J. B. 



Cleaning Featheus.— Can you, or any of your 

 readers or correspondents, inform me of any means 

 for cleaning the feathers of stuffed birds from dust, 

 accumulated by too long exposure in an unglazed 

 case ? The bird I more particularly refer to is the 

 Duck (long-tailed).— r. E. 



Worms in Fish.— The following curious pheno- 

 menon came under my notice a day or two since :— 

 A large well-favoured looking, and perfectly_ fresh 

 grey gurnet was served up at our table for dinner ; 

 and on the first flake being taken from the back and 

 put on a plate, there appeared _ a long tapering red 

 creature, which soon showed itself to be a worm. 

 As this circumstance rather shocked those who 

 were at the table, of course the fish was removed, 

 and we concluded that the worm had proceeded 

 from the parsley, with which, de more, the fish was 

 garnished. On further examination below-stairSj 

 however, it appeared that the whole of the vertebra 

 of the spine wa:s thick with these wretched little, 

 long, hairy worms. The fishmonger says he has 

 never seen a parallel case. The circumstance seems 

 so remarkable, that I am induced to trouble you 

 with this letter. The presence of these worms ap- 

 pears clearly to indicate disease, though, as far as I 

 know, not Trichinse, as they are, I believe, infinitely 

 more minute reptiles. If the fish had been dead long 

 enough to breed "worms, — first, it would have smelt 

 very strongly; and secondly, _ the maggots would 

 not resemble one I send, which is one of the re- 

 markable little reptiles found. If any of your 

 readers could throw a little light upon the subject, 

 it would much interest and greatly oblige. — H. Bent. 



Plants applied to Ornament. — Being at pre- 

 sent engaged on a work on ornamental art, I am 

 desirous of referring to as many examples as pos- 

 sible of the use of our wild plants iu old stone 

 carving, illumination, &c. Some of my own entries 

 will perhaps better illustrate what I mean than any 

 more lengthened description. "Oak, leaves and 

 acorns, small but good, a capital at Ely " ; " Hazel 

 leaves and nuts, naturalistic in treatment, hollow 

 moulding, Winchester"; "Borage, naturalistic, 10th 

 century MS., British Museum " ; " Bindweed, 

 leaves at end of stalls, Wells Cathedral"; "Peri- 

 winkle, 16th century MS. in British Museum " ; 

 " Columbine, on a brass,' Exeter Cathedral." If any 

 of your numerous readers will kindly help me, I 

 shall gladly avail myself of their assistance. I shall 

 be glad to know the source from whence the ex- 

 ample is derived ; as stone or wood carving, stained 

 glass, &c, ; whether naturalistic or conventional in 

 treatment, and, in fact, any information respecting 

 the example referred to, that my correspondents 

 may feel at all interesting. As I can scarcely hope 

 that this would be a matter of general interest, 

 those who are able and willing to assist me will 

 perhaps kindly address to me direct, rather than 

 through the pages of Science-Gossip. — F. E, Uulme, 

 F.L.S., F.S.A., Marlborough. 



The Cuckoo. — Iu Science-Gossip for July, 

 Mr. C. A. Rowley gives some notes on the Cuckoo. 

 His observations, however, are quite different from 

 any I have heard before, as I never heard of or saw 



an old cuckoo frequenting the locality where its 

 young one was hatched. Cuckoos are very common 

 in the whole of Munster and Connaught, especially 

 in the hill countries, and numbers of the young 

 ones may be seen in July and early August ; yet at 

 that time the old birds seem totally to have disap- 

 peared. I have seen hundreds of young ones, but 

 never remember to have remarked an old one iu 

 their season. The advent of the Cuckoo is most 

 marked : for miles along a coast-line he will be 

 heard on the same day, and during the next week 

 or fortnight these will scatter over the adjoining in- 

 land; but where do they go? The hills in this 

 neighbourhood were alive with them a month ago, 

 but I have only seen one during the last week ; and 

 although I have watched and watched, I never could 

 find out what becomes of the young ones. The 

 latter may be seen in August with their foster- 

 mothers, while the corn is being cut, but after that 

 they mysteriously disappear. A young cuckoo has 

 a most peculiar tongue, like a table on an in- 

 geniously constructed level. It does not feed, like 

 other young birds, by opening its mouth to let the 

 food be dropped in, but it shoots out the table for 

 the food to be placed on it. They are very easily 

 reared, and make good pets ; but unfortunately it is 

 hard to keep them through the winter. All mine 

 suddenly died without apparently any cause. Any 

 one interested in the Cuckoo will find a great num- 

 ber of facts about it published in Land and Water 

 about two or three years ago. — G. II. K., Kylemore. 



Plants and Gaslight. — It is a most mistaken 

 notion to suppose that gas kills plants simply and 

 solely because its light disturbs their natural rest, 

 and prevents them from going to sleep ; a view I* 

 see enunciated in this month's Gossip. I very 

 much doubt whether gaslight has any such effect, 

 as its chemical action is very different to that of 

 sunlight, which we all know has such important 

 influeuce on the life of plants and the elaboration of 

 their food. Be that as it may, I think we must ascribe 

 > the destruction worked on growing plants by gas 

 neither to the light nor to the increased heat, but to 

 the deleterious products of its combustion, which, 

 in the absence of thorough ventilation, vitiate the 

 air of dwelling-rooms and render it absolutely poi- 

 sonous. This effect would not result to the same 

 extent if the gas we use were pure carbides of 

 hydrogen, which iu burning consume oxygen, the 

 product being only carbonic acid gas and watery 

 vapour. Oue has only to turn to Mr. Leicester's 

 Paper on Waste Products (p. 131), to find men- 

 tioned a few of the contaminations of coal gas : 

 these are by no means entirely got rid of in its puri- 

 fication; so that when at last it issues from our 

 burners, there are let loose, to spread destruction 

 and death amongst our books, pictures, and flower- 

 pots, to say nothing of our lungs, compounds of 

 sulphur, sulphuric acid, ammonia (with it may be a 

 little cyanide or prussic acid), and goodness knows 

 what besides. Moral. — All ye who cultivate win- 

 dow-gardening in handsomely furnished apartments, 

 be content with good moderator lamps, and let gas 

 have the landings, staircases, and servants' ofiices. 

 —Jas. W. White. 



t Seals. — On* June 1st a seal, measuring six feet, 

 came into the river at Cushendun, and was fired at 

 by the coast-guard. It is twenty years since a seal 

 was seen in this locality. It was killed the same 

 evening at Cushendull, four miles further south, by 

 a coast-guard, whilst it was basking on the strand. 

 — S. A. Brenan, Clk., Cnshendimi co, Antrim, 



