March 1, 1S67.] 



HAEDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



71 



Blood Beetle. — In your interesting periodical 

 for this month appears a short paper signed " Hy 

 Ullyett," on the natural history of the " Blood 

 Beetle." Erom his description I imagine it to be 

 that kiud known more generally as the " Oil 

 Beetle," numbers of which may be found in most 

 hedgerows in the early months of spring. The 

 figure he gives appears to be a male insect, the 

 broad tarsi of which are not, as he supposes, for 

 merely holding on to vegetation, but chiefly for the 

 fulfilment of higher duties belonging to its sex. 

 The female has the tarsi slender and narrow : an ex- 

 ample is given in a woodcut, indifferently executed, 

 in "Wood's Common Objects of the Country," 

 Plate J., fig. 11. It is a matter of regret to me, and 

 perhaps to others, that in Bye's "British Beetles " 

 many of the most familiar, and by no means least 

 interesting, varieties are not figured. — /. Hawkes, 

 M.D. 



Left no Address. — In your last number, E. A. 

 inquires the address of W. Winter, late of Mulbar- 

 ton. Like E. A., I was induced to subscribe for 

 entomological specimens, and not having heard from 

 Winter, I wrote to a gentleman in Suffolk named 

 by him as a reference. From this gentleman, I 

 learn that Winter left his home last spring, ostensi- 

 bly to go to London, since which time he has not 

 been heard of. He left behind him his books and 

 instruments, a very few debts, and a wife and 

 family, who have since been obliged by distress to 

 have recourse to parish relief. 1 am informed that 

 Winter, who was a parochial schoolmaster, and 

 always bore a high character for honesty and in- 

 tegrity, had up to this time always fulfilled his 

 engagements. If his friend H. Bales be likewise 

 " non est inventus," I fear the case looks suspicious ; 

 but any how, the wife and children are the greatest, 

 sufferers. I have sent them a trifling help, and if 

 any charitably disposed reader will give them a few 

 stamps, I shall have pleasure in forwarding the con- 

 tribution. — H. W. Livett, M.D., Wells, Somerset, 



We are sorry to add to the above that, from 

 letters which we have received, we are in a position 

 to state that Winter's engagements for 1S63-4 are 

 some of them still unfulfilled, as well as those of 

 last year. — Ed. 



Bulbul op the East.— In reply to S. M. P., 

 there are several Asiatic birds known by the name 

 of " Bulbul." Pycnonotus pygceus is the Bulbul of 

 Hamilton, and Pycnonotus hamorrhous is the Bulbul 

 of Jerdon. Another species is called the Hill bush 

 Bulbul, and another the yellow Bulbul. Phyllornis 

 Jerdoni is the common green Bulbul, and a species 

 of thrush (Merula Boulboul) is sometimes called 

 Bulbul. The name probably belongs more strictly 

 to one of the first two species above named. 



Orchil Weed. — The dyer's lichen was first ex- 

 ported from the islands of the Archipelago to Venice, 

 Genoa, France, and England, for the use of the dyers. 

 Towards the commencement of the last century it 

 was discovered in the Canary Islands, and was soon 

 placed among the regalia of the Spanish Crown. 

 This excited the attention of the Portuguese, who 

 collected it without restriction in the Cape de Verd 

 Islands, Madeira, Porto Santo, and the Azores. In 

 the year 1730 the Jesuits asked of King John V. 

 the privilege of collecting the Hervinha secca ; but 

 the Crown took advantage into its own hands, and 

 farmed the right of collecting it. At a later period 

 the lichen was ceded to the mercantile company of 



Gram Para, and Maranhao ; and lastly, in the year 

 1790, the government again took this branch of 

 commerce under its own care, because it had 

 declined considerably under the bad management of 

 the company. — Spix and Martins Travels. 



Napoleon's Willow.— Having been frequently 

 asked the history and age of the tree called Napo- 

 leon's Willow, which grows in the Royal Botanic 

 Garden at Kew, I send you the following account 

 of it. Soon after the death of Napoleon I, in 1S21, 

 Thomas Fraser, then a young gardener at Kew, was 

 engaged to proceed to St. Helena, for the purpose 

 of growing vegetables to supply the East India 

 Company's homeward-bound ships that touched at 

 that island. He returned in 1S25, bringing with 

 him Tree Ferns and other interesting plants of the 

 island, and amongst them a twig of the willow- 

 tree which grew over the tomb of Napoleon. This 

 twig on arrival was found to have become decayed 

 at the lower part, but the upper portion, which was 

 only a few inches in length, being green and fresh, 

 I placed it under a bell-glass as a cutting, where it 

 soon rooted and became an established plant. A 

 paragraph having appeared in the newspapers 

 announcing the fact that a plant had been received 

 at Kew from Napoleon's tomb, and the far-famed 

 names Bonaparte and Waterloo being still fresh in 

 the public mind, many visitors came to see it, 

 " especially on Sundays ;" and on one Sunday, before 

 the hour for opening the Gardens, the crowd was 

 so great, that by its pressure the bolts of the gate 

 gave way, and those who were foremost fell, others 

 falling over them, so great was the eagerness 

 evinced to get a sight of this willow. In 1827 the 

 tree was planted where it now stands, near the 

 walk, which was a continuation from the then 

 public entrance, the willow in question being the 

 first conspicuous object seen on entering the garden. 

 For the first twenty years of its growth it had the 

 advantage of being sheltered by a high trellis fence 

 and shrubbery, which passed near it. It is now 

 forty years old, and although it grows in dry, light 

 soil, it has attained the height of 40 feet, the spread 

 of its branches being 44 feet, the circumference of 

 the trunk near the ground S| feet, and its height 5 

 feet, at which point it divides into three main stems. 

 Coming from St. Helena, it was at first thought to 

 be a distinct species, but it soon became evident 

 that it was the common Salix babylonica. — /. Smith, 

 Gard, Chron., Feb. 2, 18G7. 



West-Indian Ticks.— Mr. Sells has stated that 

 in Jamaica dogs as well as cattle and horses are very 

 subject to the attacks of ticks of large size, and 

 which are occasionally so injurious to the latter as 

 to cause their ears to drop down without the horses 

 having the power of raising them again ; indeed it 

 is a regular custom once a week, whilst the horses 

 are out at grass, for them to be driven home to be 

 "licked," the parts infested being rubbed over 

 with lamp oil, no other remedy having been 

 discovered. — Joum. of Proc. Ent. Soc., vol. i., 

 p. lxviii. 



Bedeguar. — H. W. K. desires to be informed of 

 the origin and meaning of Bedeguar, as applied to 

 the mossy galls of the wild rose. 



Male Cockroach. — Can any of your corres- 

 pondents tell me the use of wings to the male cock- 

 roach ? — for I have never seen or heard of it flying. 

 —E. F. B. 



