91 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[April 1, 1867. 



apply the sharp point of the file (previously wetted 

 with turpentine) to the glass to be perforated, with 

 firm pressure, keeping the point of the file in the 

 same spot, and giving the upper part a motion from 

 side to side, and also circular. The moment the 

 surface of the glass is abraded the action will go on 

 rapidly, keeping the point still wet with spirit of 

 turpentine. When half way through it is best to 

 hegin on the other side of the glass. When the 

 aperture is made sufficiently large, it may be in- 

 creased by using a small "rat-tailed" file, kept wet 

 with the turpentine. — /. B. Spencer. 



Sensitive Plants. — There are said to be three 

 plants of the British Elora that give manifestations 

 of sensitive properties, of which the Berberry is one. 

 Pray oblige by supplying the names , of the two 

 others. — /. L. B. 



An Egg within an Egg. — I saw to-day a rather 

 large hen's egg ; the interior had been eaten at 

 breakfast; at the pointed end inside was found a 

 smaller egg, about the size of a ringdove's, and 

 joined on one side to the shell of the outside one. 

 This, I believe, differs from previous communica- 

 tions. — C. A. J. 



A Confiding Chaffinch. — I constantly see 

 anecdotes of birds in Science Gossip, so the 

 following instance of tameness on the part of a 

 chaffinch may not be uninteresting, and as it was 

 related to me by an eye-witness, the gentleman to 

 whom the house and garden belonged, I can vouch 

 for its being a fact. Sir R. and Lady N. were 

 staying in Hertfordshire last spring, and they noticed 

 a chaffinch's nest in a low alcove in the garden. The 

 hen bird was sitting when they first observed her, 

 but iu a few days the young birds were hatched, 

 and Lady N. amused herself by feeding them. The 

 mamma chaffinch did not approve of this at all ; at 

 first, she perched on an adjoining tree out of reach, 

 evidently in much alarm, but became in a short 

 time so bold that she positively would remain on 

 the side of the nest, and, after her young family 

 had been fed, open her own beak for a dainty 

 morsel. The male bird was always within sight, 

 and used to sing while the meal was going on, but 

 uever conquered his shyness so far as to come and 

 partake of Lady N.'s hospitality. — Helen Watney. 



Destruction of Small Birds. — Mr. C. Roach 

 Smith, F.S.A., offers a plea for small birds in the 

 Gentleman's Magazine. He concludes thus : — " 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. At Hartlip, some years 

 ago, in the face of truth and facts, the sparrows 

 were exterminated entirely as being injurious ! The 

 orchards were immediately covered with the webs 

 and nests of innumerable caterpillars and other 

 insects ; and in two years it was calculated that 

 over £1,000 was lost in consequence of this insane 

 slaughtering. But far more startling instances 

 could be adduced ; and yet we see no steps taken to 

 stay the evil ! 1, sir, look more to youth than to 

 the hardened man, who has steeled himself into 

 erroneous convictions, and will never part with them 

 but with life. It is not so with boys — they are to 



be reasoned with ; and if the country gentry and 

 clergy would make friends of them, ana explain the 

 nature and use of birds, and their importance in the 

 great scheme of Providence, I am assured they 

 would soon be induced to be protectors, instead of 

 destroyers, of the birds ; and they would thus find 

 doing good much more grateful and profitable than 

 working evil." 



Bedeguar (p. 71). — Johann Leunis, in his 

 " Synopsis der Naturgeschichte des Thierreichs," 

 says that the name is " Aus dem Hebraischen 

 Bedeguach, Rosenapfel, gebildet (formed from the 

 Hebrew Bedeguach, or Rose Apple)." I am not 

 aware whether the Rose Apple {Jambosa vulgaris, 

 Dec.) was known to the Hebrews. If it was, there 

 is perhaps sufficient similarity between its feathery 

 stamens and the filamentous coating of the Bede- 

 guar to have led them to transfer the name from 

 the flower to the gall— W. W. S. 



Santonin.— Can any correspondent tell me how 

 to procure good slides of this salt ? I have tried 

 fusion on the slide itself, and solution in boiling 

 spirit, with indifferent success. Is Canada Balsam 

 the best medium for mounting ? — E. 31. 



The Blood Beetle (p. 71). — The simple fact 

 that the Beetle described by Mr. Ullyett at p. 26 

 exuded a "sanguineous fluid" would in itself be 

 sufficient to shield him from the suspicion of having 

 mistaken the Oil Beetle for it. As far as my 

 experience goes, the Blood Beetle is very much 

 commoner than the Oil Beetle. The English name 

 of each species ably indicates its distinctive pecu- 

 liarity. — B. 



The remarks of Mr. Hawkes in your last number 

 caused me to look very carefully over the descrip- 

 tion of the Blood Beetle which I had given, for 

 they made me wonder what egregious mistake I 

 had made. I must confess, however, that I can see 

 none, and that I am utterly at a loss to conceive 

 how any one that had ever seen the beetle could 

 confound it with the Oil Beetle (Ifeloe majalis), 

 which belongs to a totally different family. This 

 latter is the one represented (and very well, too) in 

 AVood's " Common Objects." The male and female 

 of both majalis and laevigata differ in little else but 

 size. I am quite willing to acknowledge that the 

 broad tarsi serve more particularly for the purpose 

 he mentions, but must request him to catch and 

 examine the female of the latter, as he will find the 

 tarsi are not " slender and narrow," but almost as 

 broad as those of the male. It certainly does 

 appear necessary to have our very commonest 

 beetles figured as well as described. — Hy. Ullyett. 



Early Wasp. — On the 3rd of March I found on 

 one of the windows in my dining-room, a wasp 

 {Vespa vulgaris), of course a female, in a semi- 

 torpid condition, but which, on being placed under 

 a glass-shade in a warm situation, speedily revived, 

 and soon began to feast on some sugar placed near 

 it. ,The weather for the three previous days had 

 been cold, with light easterly winds, sharp frosty 

 nights, but a brilliant sun, and to this last circum- 

 stance may, probably, be attributed the fact of the 

 insect having emerged from its retreat, at a period 

 considerably earlier than has been recorded by 

 White, Markwich, or any other observer, except 

 Jenyns, who gives somewhere about the same date 

 for its first appearance. — Henry W. T. Ellis. 



