HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



43 



— such is the character these Arachnids bear, though 

 I do not beheve they always deserve it. Upon the 

 window of an out-house, last summer, I noticed there 

 were spread the webs of several spiders, two being in 

 close contiguity. A fly bounced into one of these two 

 webs, and his size gave the occupant trouble. Hearing 

 the buzzing (or feeling the vibration of the threads, 

 for it has been conjectured by several naturalists that 

 spiders are deaf), the spider in the adjacent web 

 entered and gave his aid, and the two spiders sucked 

 the juices of the fly very amicably. I have seen, how- 

 ever, as I must confess, under other circumstances, 

 when one spider has approached another's prey, that 

 the owner has either fled or " rushed to the charge " 

 and fought, or frightened away the intruder. — 

 J. R. S. C. 



Early History of the Domestic Cat. — It 

 is certainly a singular circumstance that an animal 

 so noticeable where it occurs as is the domestic cat 

 is not named in the Bible, nor even indii'ectly referred 

 to. And yet the Jews, one would suppose, kept cats 

 at an early period of their separate existence as a 

 nation ; at their exodus from Egypt the people must 

 have known well an animal to which their oppressors 

 were partial, living and dead. Some have conjectured, 

 liowever, that their Egyptian memories of the cat led 

 the Jews to regard this quadruped with superstitious 

 dislike. A recent correspondent of the Academy 

 maintains that the ancient Greeks had cats, though 

 the contraiy has been formerly argued, and it would 

 appear by his references that the habits of the cat 

 Avere observed with some accuracy, if it be the 

 animal intended by the Greek word he quotes, as 

 the satirist compares women to cats. And if we asked 

 the old Greeks why they are like the feline race, the 

 uncomplimentary response would be, that the resem- 

 blance lies in the quality of caprice, and in a fondness 

 for wandering abroad. — J. R. S. C. 



VoLVOX globator. — As far as my experience 

 goes, I should say tliat the end of summer is 

 decidedly the best time for obtaining this beautiful 

 organism. I have frequently sought it in May and 

 June, both here and round Canterbuiy — the latter a 

 neighbourhood, I believe, singularly favoured by 

 many of the less common forms of pond life, but 

 always without success. The finest gathering I ever 

 had was obtained quite late in September, from a 

 veiy small pond in a gravel-pit near Brabourne, in 

 this county. The pond was only 6 or 7 feet across, 

 and was perfectly green with Volvox ; so that the 

 contents of an ordinary stage cell would show forty 

 or fifty specimens. This was in 1870, the September 

 of which year was remarkably fine and warm ; but 

 early in October cold autumnal rains set in, when 

 the Volvox suddenly and entirely disappeared. I 

 visited the same pond in August, 1871, but though 

 the weather was hot, and the conditions apparently 

 unchanged, could find none. Not having been in 

 the neighbourhood since, I cannot speak respecting 

 subsequent years ; but, like many other forms of 

 microscopic life, I have no doubt that its appearance 

 in any given locality is somewhat intermittent. — 

 Ediuard Horsiiailc, Dover. 



The Cuckoo, and why she does not Build a 

 Nest. — The Danish legend is that every village girl 

 when she first hears the cuckoo note in early spring 

 kisses her hand, and asks the following question, 

 "Cuckoo, dear cuckoo, when shall I marry?" 

 Whilst the old women ciy out, " Cuckoo, when 

 shall I be released from this world's cares?" The 



bird, in reply, cries " cuckoo" for every year that 

 is to elapse before their desires will be granted, and 

 in so doing all her time is occupied. The season for 

 building a nest goes by, and at last, in despair, she 

 lays her egg in another bird's nursery, generally in that 

 of the hedge-sparrow. — Helen E. Watncy. 



Cuckoo's Eggs (p. 23). — Whether the Cuckoo is 

 possessed of the remarkable instinct attributed to it 

 by some writers (as to the selection of a nest where 

 the eggs correspond in colour with its own) is more 

 than I can say ; but I know that two cuckoos' eggs 

 found by me in the nests of water-wagtails {M. Vur- 

 rdlii) almost exactly corresponded with those of the 

 rightful owner of the nest, and that an egg of the 

 same singalar and interesting bird taken from the 

 nest of the little Tree-pipit (.4. m-borcus) bore a 

 striking resemblance to those of that bird. The eggs 

 found in the wagtails' nests were thinly speckled, 

 while the one taken from the pipit's was very thickly 

 streaked. Each of these varieties agreed in the most 

 perfect manner with those previously deposited by 

 the real owner, the only difference noticeable being 

 the superior size of the intruded egg. The men who 

 work in stone-pits inform me that the Cuckoo may 

 be often seen flapping about the heaps of stones in 

 its search for the nests of the dishwashers (wagtails), 

 and from the position of these nests I know perfectly 

 well that the Cuckoo must use either its bill or its 

 claws in conveying its eggs into them. — W. H. 

 Warner, Standlake, Oxon. 



The Mistletoe. — Some short time ago several 

 letters appeared in Science-Gossip respecting the 

 trees on which the ]\Iistletoe has been found. One 

 of your correspondents mentioned the Pear. May I 

 ask, whether your correspondent actually saw this 

 instance, or whether the statement was made on the 

 authority of others ? I am induced to ask this ques- 

 tion because I have never heard the Pear men- 

 tioned, though it is one of the first trees, after the 

 Apple, on which we might expect to find it. And 

 some years ago a relation of mine was present at a 

 large rent-dinner in Herefordshire, in the midst of 

 the apple and pear-growing district, and he asked 

 the farmers whether any of them had ever seen the 

 Mistletoe on the Pear. Only one of them thought 

 he had once seen it, but he would not speak posi- 

 tively. A Herefordshire friend once showed me an 

 interesting collection of photographs of all the oak- 

 trees on which the Mistletoe was there known to be 

 growing. There were, I think, about nine or ten of 

 them, and I was told that another had been found 

 since those photographs were taken. I was told, by 

 a good authority, that a fair-sized plant of Mistletoe 

 was once found in that part of Herefordshire upon a 

 wild rose, but I did not see it. It is very curious to 

 see how long the young shoots of the mistletoe-seeds 

 will exist with no other nourishment than that of 

 their own juice. If a berry be made to stick against 

 a pane of glass in an ordinary window, it will soon 

 throw out two arm-like shoots, which will turn in- 

 wards towards the dark, and not towards the light. 

 They will last for several months, but will not in- 

 crease after a certain gi-owth. — H. M. M. 



The Mistletoe. — In reading the interesting ac- 

 count of the traditional uses and virtues of the 

 Mistletoe, by "W. G. P.," in a late Science-Gossip, 

 I see no mention made of the reason why we can take 

 the well-known liberty with the fair sex beneath its 

 shade ; can any of your correspondents explain this 

 curious suiDcrstition ? — IV. T. E. 



