64 



HAEDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[March 1, 1S67. 



weather has retarded their operations, but the night 

 before last the thaw set in, and yesterday the ice 

 had nearly disappeared. Supposing that froggy 

 might require twenty-four hours to recover from 

 his torpidity, I, this morning, sallied forth to my 

 accustomed hunting ground (for they always appear 

 to frequent the same place year after year), a road- 

 side gutter or small ditch not having more than three 

 or four inches of water in the deepest part, and 

 scarcely two feet broad. Here I found about a dozen 

 cakes of spawn which had evidently been deposited 

 during the night, and I immediately caught ten 

 frogs for my fernery in a distance of less than thirty 

 yards. Now as most persons having microscopes 

 are always glad to be provided with a few frogs for 

 observation, I think if they note the days on which 

 the frog begins to spawn in their neighbourhood, 

 they will, another season, be able to secure an ample 

 supply. — George Dansey, Levonport. 



Silk.— Heliogabalus was the first Roman who 

 wore a garment all silk, which must have been 

 about the year 220 a.d. The Emperor Aurelianus, 

 who died in 275, denied his empress a robe of silk 

 because it was too dear. In the year 555, some 

 monks, who had been in India, brought some eggs 

 of the silkworm to Constantinople, where, in time, 

 they produced raw silk, which was manufactured at 

 Athens, Thebes, Corinth, &c. Charlemagne sent 

 Offa, king of Mercia, a present of a belt and two 

 silken vests, in the year 780, which is the earliest 

 account we have of silk being seen in this country. 

 — Phillips's " Fruits of Great Britain." 



The Shrike {Enneoctonus collurio). — There is a 

 popular idea that this bird always has nine impaled 

 creatures at hand, and that when it eats one it 

 catches another, and with it replaces the one which 

 has been eaten. In consequence of this notion, 

 which prevails through several counties, the bird is 

 called nine-killer. The generic name, Enneoctonus, 

 is composed of two Greek words which have a 

 similar signification. So strongly is this idea held 

 by some persons, that I have seen a treatise upon 

 instinct, where the shrike was gravely produced as 

 an example of arithmetical powers possessed by 

 birds. These theories generally fail when confronted 

 by facts. I have seen numberless shrike's nests, 

 and though in some cases there may have been nine 

 impaled animals, in some there were more, and in 

 others less.— Rev. J. G. Wood's "Homes without 

 Hands." 



"Cardinals."— A large and hideous species of 

 spider, said to be found only in Hampton Court 

 Palace, is known by the name of " Cardinals." 

 This name has been given them from a superstitious 

 belief, that the spirits of Cardinal Wolsey and his 

 retinue still haunt the palace in their shape. — Holes 

 and Queries, vii., 431. 



Swallows in Algeria.— I saw lately a book 

 advertised with the title "A Winter with the 

 Swallows," and having procured a copy, I was 

 surprised to find that the locality of the swallows' 

 winter residence was Algiers. I had always ima- 

 gined that the supposed winter residence of swallows 

 was somewhere in the centre of Africa; and Bev. 

 H. B. Tristram, in his interesting work entitled 

 "the Great Sahara," states that in that region the 

 Arabs informed him that " for one Swallow in 

 winter they have twenty in summer. The natives 

 are perfectly familiar with the fact of the swallow's 

 emigration, as they say they go to visit Timbuctoo, 

 the El Dorado of Arab and Swallow" (p. 39S). I 

 myself have passed twenty-five successive winters 

 in Algeria, either at Algiers or Oran, and from 

 repeated observations I found that the swallow 

 arrived on the 6th March, but an occasional swallow 

 may be rarely observed flitting about in the month 

 of January, if the day be very fair and warm. 

 Swallows, and quails, and corncrakes arrive at 

 Algiers almost simultaneously, although the great 

 emigration of these birds may be put down at the 

 end of March. — G. Munby, Wood Green. 



Insect Pests. — Can we wonder at the increase 

 of the insects which destroy our fruits, and at the 

 great loss sustained by those who have extensive 

 orchards and gardens? The birds are the only 

 possible agents to counteract the deadly unseen 

 insects which are every hour being bred almost 

 everywhere. Nature has formed the bird's eye for 

 detecting insects where the eye of man is useless. 

 Wholly destroy the birds, and the fruit is wholly 

 destroyed. — The Gentleman's Magazine. 



Nesting of the Grey Wagtail (Motacilla 

 boaruld). — During the last season I found a nest of 

 this little bird in a hole on the banks of the Ouse, 

 a position, to me, quite new. Another was found 

 in a barn. This nest was of a curious construction. 

 The nest from top to bottom was six inches in 

 height, and much clay was woveu in among the 

 bents. That portion of the nest in which the eggs 

 were deposited was unusually neat. — John Ranson, 

 Lint on-on-0 use. 



Male Gall-Elies. — Startling as the announce- 

 ment really was in the first instance, it still appears 

 that we have a want of evidence to prove that a 

 male in the genus Cynips has any positive existence. 

 — F. Smith, in Ent. Mon. Mag. 



Diamond Beetle. — At Bio Janeiro the brilliant 

 Diamond Beetle, Eulimis nobilis, is in great request 

 for brooches for gentlemen, and ten piastres are often 

 paid for a single specimen.— Cowan's Curious Facts. 



Domestic Spiders. — Sir Hans Sloane says that 

 the housekeepers of Jamaica keep large spiders in 

 their houses to destroy the cockroaches, with which 

 they are infested. 



