April 1, 1S67.] 



HAllDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



SI 



the Mosquito plies its newly-acquired organs, rises 

 like a fairy into the genial air, and bids adieu for 

 ever to the tiny barque it owes so much to, left 

 to drift away— an empty, useless wreck. 



"We may not follow Madam's or Monseigneur's 

 proceedings any further, you know them both, I 

 am sure, by the introduction I have given you : more 

 especially Madam : her unwearying solicitations, her 

 ill-manners, and ill-temper, her greed and thirst 

 after blood, her peevish, crying requests— you are 

 familiar with them all, and methinks I hear you say 

 as you lay down Science Gossip, "En avant, 

 Monseigneur Maringouin ! " 



John Keast Loud, E.Z.S. 



Culex pinguis, N. S. 



Fam. — Cervinus, robustus; rostro apicem versus nigro ; 

 abdominis pube subaurata, pedibus robustis pallidioribus ; 

 alis cinereis, venis fulvis subpilosis. 



Sp. Ch. — Fawn colour, stout : proboscis, much longer than 

 the head, and the throat black towards the tip; abdomen 

 with slightly gilded down; legs stout, paler than the body : 

 tarsi darker ; wings cinereous ; veins tawny, slightly pilose . 

 radial and subapical veins with long forks. Length of the 

 body 3$ lines; of the wings, ^ lines. Habitat, British 

 Columbia. 



Yorticella and Cyclofs.— This morning, wish- 

 ing to mount a few specimens of Cyclops quadri- 

 comis, I captured some examples with the dipping 

 tube, and transferred them to a small cell about 

 half an inch diameter and a tenth of an inch deep. 

 While they were swimming in about four or five 

 drops of water, I introduced a single drop of pure 

 alcohol, which caused wild commotion for a moment, 

 and in a few seconds— certainly less than half a 

 minute— the Entomostraca lay dead. After three or 

 four minutes, the cell was filled up by the addition 

 of one or two drops of water, a thin cover put on, 

 and all made secure with asphalte. After two hours 

 the slide was placed under the microscope, wheu I 

 found that several of the dead Entomostraca bore 

 colonies of Vorticella, or some allied genus, all alive. 

 Every now and then an individual jerked back with 

 the movement generally thought indicative of the 

 seizure of prey, though no living prey were visible, 

 nor would one imagine they existed in this dilute 

 spirit. The Vorticellse, however, not only existed in 

 the alcoholic bath, but vibrated their cilia and seemed 

 to pursue their ordinary avocations. After five 

 hours some were still living, but many had detached 

 themselves from their stalks and lay motionless at 

 the bottom of the cell. When seven hours had 

 elapsed, one or two showed feeble signs of life, but 

 after eight hours, the last of the infusoria had de- 

 parted their lives and foot-stalks. They not only 

 survived the treatment that proved almost instantly 

 fatal to the Cyclops, but maintained life for many 

 hours in the more dilute solution. — George Guyon, 

 Ventnor, I.W. 



COCCONEIS. 



IF the figures which we give in illustration of 

 this group are consulted, it will be observed 

 that the valves are elliptical, with a central longi- 

 tudinal line, and to this character is generally added 

 " and having a central nodule." It is not always 

 that the central nodule can be clearly made out. 

 This is a large genus, containing, at the least, 

 twenty-five British examples. These are grouped 

 for convenience in two sections : in the smaller of 

 these, the disc is either smooth or striated longi- 

 tudinally ; and in the other, and larger section, the 



Fig. 5Q. Cocconeis major. 



disc has radiating or transverse markings. Both 

 our illustrations are from the latter section. Coc- 

 coneis major was discovered [ by Dr. Gregory in 

 dredgings from Lamlash Bay, and though remark- 

 able, is rare (fig. 59); and Cocconeis nitida was also 

 first found by the same observer in dredgings from 

 the same locality, and also from Loch Eine (fig. 60). 



^ 



Fig. 60. Cocconeis nitida. 



More than half the number of British species 

 were discovered by Dr. Gregory, either in the Glen- 

 shira Sand or the Erith of Clyde and Loch Fine. 

 It is only our wish in the present instance to indicate 

 the characters by which the members of the genus 

 Cocconeis may be known, and not to give a list 

 of the names of species which may be found in 

 Mr. Carruthers' catalogue, included in Dr. Gray's 

 handy "Handbook of British Water-weeds or 

 Algse." 



