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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Oct. 1, 1,867. 



they can scarcely fail, to act thereupon in accord- 

 ance with the dictates of their own consciences. 

 To the microscopists of our cities and large towns, 

 we present the example of the Quekett Club, and 

 beg of them to take courage and establish for them- 

 selves similar local associations which shall bind 

 hand and heart in a noble enterprise all good men 

 and true, who are fellow explorers in the new 

 world of little things, and who would discover more 

 of the hidden mysteries of life. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Varieties of Butterflies. — On a recent visit 

 to the Isle of Wight I captured a male specimen of 

 Colias edusa, the hind legs of which, on the upper 

 side, present in certain lights a most beautiful 

 display of colour, " shot " (as we may call it) in the 

 same way as the wings of Apatura iris, only in Edusa 

 the colour is rich plum. I should like to know 

 whether this play of colour has been observed 

 before. I may mention, for the information of 

 Lepidopterists, that on a visit to the New Eorest in 

 July, I took the variety of the female A. paphia 

 figured in plate xii., fig. 3, of Westwood and Hum- 

 phries' "Book of British Butterflies," and described 

 therein as being then " unique." I should much 

 like to know whether it has been taken since the 

 publication of that work. My specimen has rather 

 lighter patches on the upper portion of the wing 

 than in the figure, but is in ground colour and in 

 other respects identical. To those who have not 

 yet tried the American moth trap (procurable at 

 Cooke's, naturalist, New Oxford Street), I would 

 say try it. C. cytherea and Leucania pygmiua are 

 among my captures by its means. — Windsor Ham- 

 trough. 



Bees at Large.— On the 19th of August a 

 strange scene was witnessed in the shop of a well- 

 known fruiterer and dairyman of Bath. On the 

 previous Saturday evening two hives of honey were 

 conveyed to his premises, which were duly secured 

 after business hours, and remained unopened till the 

 following Monday morning, when to the amazement 

 and discomfort of the proprietor and his family, it 

 was found that the supposed suffocated bees had 

 become resuscitated, and were as busy as bees can 

 be, although confined within a fruiterer's window. 

 Tiie latter was a very unusual and attractive spec- 

 tacle to many of the public throughout the day ; 

 and although it is to be regretted that the worthy 

 inmates experienced a loss of trade, and had several 

 practical illustrations that bees possess stings, it is 

 satisfactory to know that, as evening approached, 

 the bees returned to their hives, and long ere this, 

 we fear, have met with a fate too cruel for insects 

 so industrious and provident as the English honey- 

 bees— R. H. M. 



The Kingfisher.— In the reedy, grassy banks of 

 the Brathay a pair of kingfishers had a nest, and it 

 was beautiful to see them dart like a flash of emerald 

 light into the stream, catch the fish they had marked, 

 dexterously kill their prey by knocking its head 

 against a stone, and then retreat with it into the 

 hole, which I supposed was a deserted rat-hole, of 

 which there were many in the bank. About a foot 

 within the hole was a layer of fish bones, no doubt 

 the skeletons of the eaten prey, and on these were 

 laid the eggs, seldom, I think, more than two in 

 number, of a very pale bluish colour. My son has 

 repeatedly noticed the same circumstances in his 

 fishing expeditions along the banks of the York- 

 shire Derwent. — P. S. B. 



The Mole Cricket. — In the reprint of Knight's 

 " English Cyclopaedia," in the article " Gryl- 

 lida?," it is stated, " As yet it is doubtful whether 

 these insects (Mole Crickets) prey upon worms 

 or other insects, or whether they feed upon roots." 

 I kept one in a box of earth some time ago, and 

 fed it entirely .upon worms, of which it ate on an 

 average about three a day. It used to take the 

 worms between its spades or diggers, and suck out 

 the flesh, leaving the skin entire. A large Indian 

 Centipede which I also possessed fed in a similar 

 manner, steadying the worm between its pincers. — 

 W . B. Tate, Grove House, Hackney. 



Chaffinch Nest.— In May, 1S65, I found a 

 nest of the chaffinch (Fringilla ccelebs) ; it was 

 placed in the cleft of a hawthorn bush, and con- 

 tained two eggs ; but was constructed of a novel 

 material. It was of the usual chaffinch, with its 

 neatly rounded edges, but instead of the lichens 

 with which they are generally adorned, it was 

 entirely covered with pieces of paper of a pearly 

 whiteness, procured, no doubt, from a heap of 

 refuse lying near it, and which, upon examination, 

 I found to be house paper, with the colour bleached 

 out of it. Altogether, it presented quite a unique 

 appearance, and suggested the idea of a shower of 

 snow having caught it. — Thos. H. Hedworth. 



A Mediaeval Anecdote of a Dog. — When 

 Duke Robert and Richard duke of Capua besieged 

 Palermo, which the ferocious Prince Gisolfe de- 

 fended, the sufferings of the inhabitants through 

 hunger and misery are described by the monk of 

 Monte Cassino, as resembling those experienced 

 during the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. The 

 interests of humanity required that an end should 

 be put to the horrible despotism of Gisolfe, by 

 winning the town, so that these sufferings were 

 unavoidable ; but the Norman Princes nevertheless 

 found occasion to evince mercy to vast numbers, 

 while persevering in their laudable enterprise. 

 Two young men on this occasion, followed by a dog, 

 contrived to escape from the city, and came to 



