March 1, 1867.] 



HARDWICKB'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



63 



an' ye'll find it in rivers an' burns, an' abune water- 

 falls, an' in mountain tarns, where no sautnon ever 

 yet was seen or could get, an' it's streekit an' bar- 

 red all the same as the young sauraon-parr ; and it's 

 just the confusion of ca'ing the twa by the ae name 

 that's raised a' the fash that's made about the 

 ' edentity,' as they ca' it, of the parr with the young 

 saumon." " Then yon believe that the parr is not 

 the young of the salmon ?" " If ye ca' the young 

 saumon the parr, the parr is the young saumon; 

 but there's anither parr that has a better right to 

 the name, an' it's a pity that twa fish should be 

 bund to hae but ae name betwixt them." — Auto- 

 biography of a Salmon. 



Dog in Trouble. — A singular mishap befel a 

 young Retriever of mine when he was about four 

 months old. Up to that time he exhibited all the 

 playfulness, and distinguished himself for mischief 

 as much, if not more, than the majority of pups, but 

 at the age of four months he suddenly became 

 serious; the change was so sudden I could not 

 account for it. If I attempted to draw him out 

 with a bit of his favourite carpet, which in his 

 younger days was his delight, he would only survey 

 it well with his head, first on one side and then the 

 other, and sometimes attempt to seize it, but he 

 would recollect himself and turn away, evidently 

 disgusted with it. At first his behaviour was a 

 source of amusement to me ; he appeared at times 

 half inclined to play, and at the same time as if he 

 had made up his mind not to do so ; in fact, he 

 became quite a droll dog. After he had been in this 

 state for about a week, I was patting and caressing 

 him one day when I chanced to touch him rather 

 roughly on his left side, which made him wince and 

 howl, which drew my attention more closely to the 

 spot, and on examination I found a slight swelling 

 just beyond the last rib. I concluded he had been 

 wounded, bathed the place with warm water, and 

 examined it carefully every day. I began to get 

 rather anxious about poor Rover, as he was evidently 

 in great pain, and the least touch on the swelling 

 made him whine piteously. He continued in this 

 state for about three weeks, and by this time the 

 swelling had increased considerably, when one 

 morning my attention was called to the dog, and 

 on going out to look at him I observed a slight 

 discharge from his side, and on examining it I 

 slightly bent his body, when to my astonishment 

 the point of a wood-skewer protruded from his side. 

 I immediately took hold of it and drew it forth. 

 I thought it would never end ; it came out at last, 

 a perfect unbroken skewer five-and-a-half inches 

 long. I could scarcely believe my own eyes ; but 

 there was the skewer in my hand, and poor Rover 

 was quite conscious of the relief, as he began 



with about as much power of sustaining hardships. Doubt- 

 less the young salmon is the parr, but the parr is not always 

 the young salmon. 



frisking about and licking my hands with great 

 delight. lie stood quite Christian-like while I 

 bathed him well with warm water. He soon resumed 

 his old tricks, and returned to the forsaken frag- 

 ments of carpet with increased vigour ; and I am 

 happy to say Rover is himself again. I can account 

 for the skewer finding its way there from the fact 

 that the dog was in the habit of having meat occa- 

 sionally from the "cat's meat man," which is sold 

 on skewers, and he must have had a lot thrown to 

 him before it was taken from the skewer. I have 

 since compared the skewers, and hud they are not 

 like the common butcher's skewer, but are made of 

 pine. — James Rowley. 



Hen with Cat and Kittens. — At Falking- 

 ham, Lincolnshire, in the early part of last October 

 (1S66), was daily seen the following curious instance 

 of maternal affection. A hen was sitting upon her 

 eggs for hatching ; she had them taken away from 

 her, but still she persevered in keeping on her nest. 

 One day, when away to feed, an old pussey took 

 possession, and kittened five kittens within it. On 

 the hen's return, instead of being disconcerted at the 

 intruders, she took to both cat and kittens, and with 

 the same assiduity as if her own chickens began 

 and continued to regularly brood them, always pull- 

 ing any stray kitten under her wings, and, if any 

 curious person, on viewing them, displaced one, 

 would make as great a disturbance as if one of her 

 own chickens had been taken from her. During 

 this singular attachment she would always make 

 room for the old cat to suckle them. She was 

 allowed to have them under her care for three weeks ; 

 then she was prevented going to them, and ap- 

 parently suffered a great loss by the privation. — 

 /. Ward. 



Spawning oe the Frog. — Perhaps the following 

 fact may be interesting to some of your readers. 

 It is, I believe, generally stated in works on Natural 

 History that the frog spawns about the middle of 

 March. Now, although such may be the case in other 

 parts of England, certainly here in the South of Devon- 

 shire the spawning takes place at a much earlier 

 period. Por the last fifteen years I have observed 

 that in the absence of frost the frogs in this im- 

 mediate neighbourhood spawn on the 14th or 15th 

 of January, and so punctual are they to the day, that 

 I have always succeeded in capturing some dozen 

 for observation on those dates. The spawning takes 

 place in the night, and the little creatures, being 

 subsequently weak and exhausted, remain for the 

 next twenty-four hours immediately under and 

 covered by the cake, or else slightly buried in the 

 mud in the immediate vicinity ; hence it is very 

 easy to catch them, as they generally select very 

 shallow water for the purpose ; but after recruiting 

 their strength for twenty-four hours, they move off 

 and are no longer to be found. This year the severe 



