SErT. 1, 1867.J 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE -GOSS IP. 



215 



Beeches.— Eor several years past there has been 

 considerable mortality among beech-trees in some 

 plantations of thirty or forty years' grow) h having 

 been quite emptied of those trees. The first symp- 

 tom of disease which I have noticed is that portions 

 of the bark arc covered with a substance resembling 

 mould, but which seems to consist of the eggs of 

 some kind of insect. The following year, these 

 having disappeared, the bark begins to separate 

 from the tree aud to decay, and in about two years 

 the tree dies. Can you tell me whether the insect 

 is the real cause of this ? I have enclosed a little 

 of the substauce containing the eggs. — R. 0. 0. 



Birds Preening. — I think the paragraph from 

 "Waterton's Essays," in Science-Gossip for Au- 

 gust, " What's the bird doing ? " is not altogether 

 correct in the remark about the preening to clear 

 themselves of insects. Now, 1 don't think it fair 

 to accuse " our feathered friends," when at their 

 toilet, of being infested with vermin. Birds that 

 become so infested do not preen their feathers, but 

 sit moping ; and when they do move, it is by sharp, 

 hurried movements and frequent lifting of the feet, 

 evidently being annoyed, as though something was 

 pricking their feet. Canaries, when so infested, 

 often stand quite still, looking suspiciously at their 

 feet or shoulders. Birds which often bathe and 

 preen their feathers are free from, or seldom have, 

 any insects about the body or feathers. On the 

 other hand, birds that are more careless of them- 

 selves, and do not preen much, are very much in- 

 fested. Eor instance, the Woodlarks will sing aud 

 be in good condition, but do not preen themselves, 

 and are mostly infested. I have a young Blackbird 

 in my aviary. So assiduous is he, that he bathes 

 once or twice a day, and much of his time is spent 

 in preening his feathers ; and I think I could safely 

 say he has not any insects about him. Indeed, I 

 have seen young birds, without feather or stubble, 

 and scarcely any down on them, go through the 

 routine of cleaning their feathers. And the gland 

 over the tail certainly does contain an oily matter, 

 which is used by birds to put a gloss on their 

 feathers, also to make them, to a certain extent, 

 resist wet. If a bird is closely watched while 

 cleaning himself, one may observe him take the 

 gland in his bill, squeeze the oil to the top of the 

 gland, pass the side of his head over the gland, and 

 touch himself lightly about the body. This simple 

 fact may be seen by taking notice of water-fowl 

 when preening themselves. — Chas. Rudd. 



YOLCANOES IN THE CaMEROONS MOUNTAIN. — It 



may interest you to hear that the Cameroons 

 Mountain, whose volcanic fires have long lain 

 dormant, is again in a state of active eruption. On 

 the night of the 15th inst., the lava seemed to rush 

 with tremendous force out of the east side, a few 

 hundred feet from the top, then pour over in a 

 grand cataract of fire, and flow off E.S.E. iu a 

 crooked fiery stream down the mountain-side. The 

 molten lava poured out, from sunset, when it was 

 first seen, till after midnight, increasing in volume. 

 Clouds obscured the mountain next morning, but it 

 has been seen burning thrice since. It is apparently 

 quiet now. There was no thunder for several days 

 preceding, but we had a gale of wind from the 

 E.N.E. — an unusual direction — coming an hour 

 before sunset on the 14th inst. : a tornado, in fact, 

 without thunder or rain, except a few drops. — 

 Extract of a Letter from C. Livingstone, Esq., H.B.M. 

 Consul, Fernundo Po, to Dr. Hooker, F.R.S. 



Canary Antipathies.— A friend of mine reading 

 iu the Science-Gossip a paragraph on canaries dis- 

 liking blue, told me of a canary of hers that had the 

 same antipathy to black, and if, when dressed in that 

 colour, she approached the bird, it would nearly kill 

 itself, by violently beating its head against the bars 

 of the cage. All other colours had not the same 

 effect.— B. L. W. 



Foraminifera.— I should feel obliged if any of 

 your correspondents would inform me whether the 

 Eoraminifera portrayed in No. 26 of your journal 

 are obtained from oue washing, or from how much 

 chalk. I have washed a considerable quantity, 

 aud though I find beautiful pieces of quartz and 

 shapeless masses of transparent and opaque material, 

 yet I find no fossil deposit whatever, unless the 

 pencils I see are such. Do I wash too much, and 

 throw away the shells, &c. ? — /. H. Gramslutw, M.D. 



An Invading Army of Snails.— On the 11th of 

 May of the present year, I was witness, with seven 

 other members of my family, to an extraordinary 

 concourse of snails. I took notes of the occurrence 

 at the time, and send them at the risk of their being a 

 little out of date, having omitted to do so at the time. 

 A light accidentally held down to some hencoops in a 

 yard adjoining the house, about ten o'clock on 

 Saturday, the 11th of May, revealed a most extra- 

 ordinary and disgusting sight. Snails, with and 

 without shells — chiefly the long black snail — were 

 climbing up the bars of the coops, filling the food- 

 pans and blackening the ground. The whole family 

 was called out to witness it, and it was soon found 

 that an army of these slimy creatures was advancing 

 from the kitchen garden, the entrance to which was 

 about ten yards distant from the coops. A further 

 search showed that some other hen-coops at the top 

 of the flower-garden were similarly but not quite so 

 abundantly infested. The day had been showery, 

 and it followed one of frequent thunderstorms and 

 great rain aud hail. These storms followed, as your 

 readers may remember, on some excessively hot 

 weather quite unusual at that time of year. I cannot 

 well give an idea of the number of slugs and snails ; 

 some of those who saw them said there must have 

 been thousands. Salt was profusely applied, aud the 

 dead bodies were shovelled up next morning. Were 

 these creatures attracted by the barley-meal ? What 

 sense led them to the coops ? Why did they leave 

 the gardens ? Had electricity anything to do with 

 their appearance ? — L. 



The Maelstrom. — What is the nature aud 

 causation of what is called the Maelstrom on the 

 coast of Norway ? What are its phenomena ? Does 

 such a thing really exist ? as many tell me it is all 

 a myth. Is it in any way connected with our 

 volcanic phenomena? or what gave rise to it? — 

 C. T. Richardson. 



Volvox Query. — I have recently taken Volvox 

 Globator in considerable quantities (the first I have 

 ever found), but I cannot succeed in keeping these 

 more than a day or two. Are they all devoured by 

 the other inhabitants of the water? I have no 

 microscopic friend to enlighten me, or I would not 

 trouble you. — F. G. Paine. 



The Harvest Moon. — What constitutes the 

 difference of what is called the Harvest Moon ? 

 There are not any two volumes giving similiar ideas 

 upon the subject, and all are scanty and unsatis- 

 factory in their information. — C. T. Richardson, j 



