HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



233 



from the hand of "a seventh son of a seventh son." 

 Many a poor mother have I met in Denbigshire, 

 who had rralked weary miles up a hillside with a 

 poor wretched child in her arms, whom she was 

 carrying to "Ellis Davis" for cure, the said Ellis 

 being renowned as the seventh son — "seventh son 

 and never a wench" (as they would explain the 

 necessary unbroken succession of so?is) "and his 

 father a seventh son before him." There was, and 

 always is, perhaps a little mystery necessary to be 

 observed to render suck remedies efficacious ; so in 

 these cases the said Ellis Davis was on no account 

 to have it whispered to liim that he would be 

 applied to, nor to see the child approaching ; and 

 therefore the poor little patient was mercifully 

 wrapped, and carefully hidden in his mother's arms 

 until the gifted healer was reached. Indeed, I am 

 inclined to think that, in the cure of some diseases, 

 the mystery stands for the most important element. 

 I was gravely told -a few days ago, by a fairly 

 iutelligcnt maidservant that she had frequently 

 worked the cure of warts on her hands by rubbing 

 them with a ripe sloe, if she had been able to use it 

 without the knowledge of any other person ; and, 

 further, had succeeded in hiirying the sloe privately. 

 Not being able to procure a ripe sloe in July, she 

 had tried another cure, viz., the inside of the pod 

 of a broad bean : this she had used and buried in 

 due form, when, unluckily, working in my garden, I 

 dug up the bean pod, and thus broke the charm, 

 and thwarted the cure of the unsightly excrescences. 

 Can you explain the origin of the terni "hollerin" 

 as a desiornation of a shivering iit, or a Ct of ague ? 

 — il/. B. Morris. 



Har.vest-]5UGS. — That irritating little insect the 

 Harvest-bug {Leptus aidumnulis) has this year made 

 itself felt m greater numbers, and earlier than 

 usual in this neighbourhood. I shall be glad to 

 know if any of the correspondsnts of Science- 

 Gossip have noticed these facts in other places. 

 I find in Kirby and Speuce's Entomology, a similar 

 insect is found in Brazil, abounding in the rainy 

 season, particularly during the gleams of sunshine, 

 or on fine days intervening. May not the showery 

 weather we have had this summer have assisted 

 their early development with us ? — Thomas Cape. 



Section-cutting (Screw versus Wedge).— A 

 good screw, as suggested by " C. T. N.," would 

 (doubtless take up much less space, and be neater 

 than the wedges of my machine ; but his surmise 

 that it would be found to answer a great deal better 

 is not borne out by experience. Those who try 

 both will not be slow_ in finding that the screw, 

 however good it be, will bear no comparison with 

 the wedge. The motion of the former being ex- 

 tremely slow, the substance to be cut, if it be at all 

 flexible, or tightly packed, will uot always "answer," 

 but will resist or " gather " more or less, which, to 

 a beginner (for whom my paper was written), is a 

 most tantalizing obstacle. Now, on the other hand, 

 the shock imparted to the wedge by a smart tap, 

 projects the contents of the cylinder instantaneously 

 and with a " truthfulness" that is well nigli perfec- 

 tion. I have cut a good many sections with both 

 kinds of machines, and speak uot without expe- 

 rience.— JF. W. 



Are Beecii-tuees exehpt from Ixjury by 

 Lightning?— In the Standard a correspondent 

 recently drew attention to the apparent exemption 

 of the beech from injury by lightning. The following 

 extract from his letter may interest the readers of 



Science-Gossip, and, I hope, will also elicit infor- 

 mation on the subject : — "Many years ago, I heard, 

 or read, that beech-trees were never known to be 

 struck by lightninjr; and certainly from that time to 

 this I have never known an instance in my neigh- 

 bourhood, nor do I remember reading of one in the 

 daily papers, i have lived nearly all my life on the 

 borders of a large forest, and I have known several 

 oaks partially or entirely destroyed by the electric 

 fluid; also a smaller number of fir, elm, and ash 

 trees; but not a single instance of a beech-tree being 

 so injured. We have many fine beeches in our forest, 

 some of them almost isolated and towering far 

 above their neighbours the oaks, so that there is 

 nothing in their situation or height to protect 

 them from the thunderstorm."— J. Hopkinson. 



Clifden Nonpariel.— I have in my possession 

 a specimen of this rare and beautiful insect {Cuto- 

 eala fraxmi) brought to me all alive and kicking, 

 taken by some young ladies on the 19th of Septem- 

 ber, in the neighbourhood of Slu-ewsbury. As this 

 insect is reputed rare, I shall feel grateful to some 

 reader of the Science-Gossip who may be in- 

 terested, if he can accouat for its appearance in 

 this country, or if any one else has taken it this 

 season. — T. Plck'm. 



Larva and Ichneumons.- Can any of your ' 

 correspondents tell mc whether they have known a 

 larva pierced by the microgaster surviving the 

 hatching of the maggot ? — M. Browning. 



Lajiv^ oe the S.MALL Eggar (7?. lanestris). — 

 Mr. John E. Robson, of Hartlepool, in your 

 August number*, is under a mistake in thinking . 

 these larvae always separate to spin their cocoons, 

 as I have a whole nest, just as I cut it from the 

 blackthorn, where the chief of them returned to 

 their nest before spinning, and they are: the only 

 larvaj whose hairs have had an irritating effect on 

 my fingers, and I have handled many hairy kinds. — 

 M. Broioiiing. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



" Canadian Entomologist." No. 9. 



"Land and AVatcr." 



" Valleys, Deltas, Bays, and Estuaries." By Dr. Rioketts, 

 F.G.S. 



" The General Glaciation of lar-Connauglit and its Ncig-h- 

 bourhood, in the Counties of Galvvay arkd Mayo." By 

 G. H. Kinahan and M. H. Close. Dublin : Hodges, Foster, 

 & Co. 



"Colour." By Professor Church, M. A. London : Cassell 

 &Co. 



" Ninth Annual Report of the Belfast Naturalists' Field 

 Club." 



" Les Mondes." 



" The Physical Geoloary and Geography of Great Britain." 

 Third Edition. By Professor Ramsay, F.R.S. London : E. 

 Stanford, Clearing Cross. 



CoM.MU.vicATio\'s RECEivKfi from J. M. C— J. H. 

 J. C. H.— E. P.— C. L. W.— P. S.— W. F.— T. A. H.— II. 

 J. B. B.— R. L.— H. P.-W. S., Jun.— R. P.— A. R. 

 B.G. C.-G. M.— A. P. S.— T. B— H E. F.— W. F. D.- 

 C. W. B.— M. E. W.— R. B.— J. K. J.— H. H.— J. A. 

 R. H. N. B.— C. R.— E. H. G.- J. W.— W. L. S.— W. C 

 H. G.— A. v.— E. J. W.— T. C— T. R.— A. G.— J. S. 

 J. A„ Jun.-P. S.— W. V^. H.- W. B.-M. J. G.— T. J. 

 S. J. B.— J. R. S.— W. L. N.— J. P.— E. p. J.— T. D. S.- 



— H. A. A.— A. C. K.— W. S. P.— S. S.-J. H.-H. E. 

 A. W.— A. H. S.— A. G —J. H. M — E. C. L.— E. B. K. 

 A. S.-A. I.-J. H.— E. L.-H. A. A — T. R — C. K.— G. 

 W. J. H.-A. C. R.-H. B.— y.S.-H.L. K.-J. H.S.— J. 



— F. K.— J. C. H.— W. W. S.— T. S., Jun.— F. S.— E, W 

 J. H. N.— H. M. J. U.-\V. B.— R. H. W.— F. G. P.— J. 

 R. B., Jun.— H. B. T.— W. N.-G. R.-Dr. A. L. A.-C 

 H. W. 



G.— 



G.— 



G.— 



Rev. 



G.- 

 . B.— 

 M.— 



B — 

 C. E. 

 W.— 

 \V.— 

 M.— 

 P. D. 



T.— 

 W.— 



L — 



