23S 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Death's-head HA^VK-MOT'EiAchrontiaAtropos). 

 — Yesterday (September 1st), whilst in the country, | 

 I met with a fine caterpillar of the Death's-head -1 

 moth (A. Afropos), which was full-fed. It changed 

 to a chryssLlh—aljove the ground— \\i\% morning. I 

 shall feel grateful to any experienced reader of 

 Science-Gossip for a few hints relative to the 

 treatment of the pupa of this insect. — Robert 

 Laddiman. 



Green Field Ckicket [Gryllus viridlssimus).— 

 I had, the other week, a fine specimen of this 

 cricket brought to me, which is now alive and iu 

 good condition. I give it small flies, cateriullars, 

 &c., and a piece of; bread occasionallj', which it 

 readily devours. It is getting perfectly tame, and 

 •will take its food from my hand without exhibiting 

 the least fear. Not having a place of reception in 

 readiness for it when brought me, I placed it, pro 

 iem., in my breeding-cage with the other insects, 

 larvff, &c. ; but I was obliged to remove it, or it 

 ■would have made sad havoc amongst them, which 

 would, I doubt not, have ended in the annihilation 

 of tlie greater part of my larvse. The first thing 

 it did on entering was to seize a caterpillar of 

 V. nrtica (hanging by its tail, preparatory to 

 changing to the pupa state), which was soon com- 

 pletely devoured. Not approving of this sort of 

 conduct, I at once put him into a box by himself, 

 but I have heard very little singing from him ; I 

 hope to be able to keep him throughout the winter. 

 It is very interesting to watch the manoeuvres of 

 this insect. — Robert Laddiman. 



Mice entering Cages.— T, like "J. R. S.C." and 

 one or two other correspondents to your valuable 

 periodical, have been annoyed by mice entering the 

 cage, in this instance of a canary, which was sus- 

 pended by a chain about two feet in length from 

 the centre of the window cornice, so that the mouse 

 had to descend by it into the cage, and after eating 

 some bread and seed, it had to ascend iu the same 

 way. I found that there was a mouse-hole just 

 above the cornice, so I set a trap close to the hole 

 in order to catch the mice. I had it there for some 

 time ; but though it did not succeed in doing so, I 

 am glad to say I have not been annoyed by them 

 since. I suppose the trap frightened them. 1 fancy 

 the mice usually came in tiie night, although one 

 was once seen during the daytime ; but the lady who 

 saw it was too frightened to notice its mode of 

 escape. Mice were never seen in any other part of 

 the house. — /. T. 



Eggshell'of the Large Garden Snail {Helix 

 aspersa). — The eggshell of this snail, when properly 

 prepared, is a highly beautiful microscopic object, 

 viewed with a high power ; it is, however, some- 

 what difiicult to accomplish. A few years ago a 

 gentleman of high standing in microscopy excited 

 my curiosity by telling me the shell was composed 

 of two membranes, between which innumerable 

 crystals were inclosed that in process of time ad- 

 hered to each other, and thus constituted the solid 

 shell of the snail. Erom that time until about a 

 fortnight ago i have availed myself of every op- 

 portunity to witness this curious process, but with- 

 out success ; and a circumstance I witnessed, at the 

 time I have named, demonstrated that mortal eye 

 had never seen it, and never will. The circumstance 

 I refer to was seeing a young snail emerge from the 

 egg, within which he had built his house, shrouded, 

 meauwliile, from sight by the jewelled robe in which 

 he had been rearing the structure, and which he 



contemptuously threw aside for the use af ony one 

 who might value his old clothes. As the young 

 snail (about the size of a large pin's head) crawled, 

 the pulsations of his heart could be seen beating 

 time at the rate of seventy-six beats in a minute. 

 My friend was iu error also in regard to " two " 

 membranes •, there are several in one case. _ I 

 succeeded in separating seven layers. The in- 

 ner one is always as transparent as glass ; every one 

 of the others is strewed, more or less closely, with 

 beautiful crystals of carbonate of lime, and it is 

 when thus divided the crystals show to most ad- 

 vantage; and although all are cubical in structure, 

 they present a variety of forms, according to the 

 angle presented to the eye by the individual crystal. 

 I may add that I have found the separation of the 

 layers easiest when the e^g was newly deposited. 

 The crystals were too numerous for counting ; but 

 I estimate them at about 150,000 in each egg.— 

 A. Nicholson. 



Dock v. Nettle. — There is a wide-spread belief 

 among country children that the smart caused by 

 the sting of a nettle may be removed by beating 

 the injured part with a dock-leaf, the juice which 

 exudes from the bruised leaf being apparently the 

 soothing medium. Can any of your readers inform 

 me whether the relief afforded is real? I am rather 

 inclined to think it is, for I have often felt the sting 

 of a nettled hand for a day or two under ordinary 

 circumstances, especially when washing it ; but 

 rubbing the stung part with a bruised dock-leaf has 

 stopped the smarting in a few minutes. The chil- 

 dren when beating the stings, to complete_ what 

 they regard as a sort of charm, keep singing 

 " Nettle go out, and dock go in ! "—G. H. H. 



Bees.— I, like Mr. Graham, lost several of my 

 bees, and let the boxes (three in number) remain. 

 During the month of June I filled two of the boxes 

 with bees — the other still remained half filled with 

 empty comb. On July the 22nd a labourer living 

 more than half a mile from me had a stock swarm, 

 and put them in a hive. The following day they 

 left the hive, and were seen flying straight towards 

 my aviary, where they went into my box, and are 

 doing well. Strange they should go so far, as they 

 passed an aviary before coming to mine. It would 

 appear the bees send scouts to find a new home 

 before leaving the qld one. — Arthur Bmyth. 



Clothes Moths. — The following may, iu some 

 degree, be of advantage to those wliose wardrobes, 

 &c., are infested with those troublesome insects, 

 " moths." Take nicely matured horse-chestnuts, in 

 proportion to the dimensions of the place infested, 

 and scatter them on the bottom of the drawer or 

 amongst the articles to be preserved. This will be 

 found effectual, and is not recommended from mere 

 hearsay, but from many years' experience. The 

 "chestnuts" must be changed wlien they become 

 dry, wliich will be in six or nine months, according 

 to the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere. 

 The foregoing is simple, free from danger, is not so 

 disagreeable as turpentine, or so dangerous as ben- 

 zole.— P. S. Warrington. 



Hedgehogs and Chickens.— I recently had a 

 brood of eleven chickens of spangled Hamburgs, 

 and they did well for a fortnight ; but, a few days 

 ago, five of them were found dead, with only their 

 heads bruised and eaten. We supposed the de- 

 struction was caused by a cat, until, three or four 

 evenings since, my terriers kept up such a barking 



