46 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Teucrium ChaMjEDRYS. — The following extract 

 from Green's "Universal Herbal," &c. &c. (1820), 

 may interest Science Gossip. After describing the 

 plant and its medicinal uses, the writer tells us that 

 it is a " native of many parts of Europe, the 

 islands of the Archipelago, and Palestine, near Jera- 

 salem. In England it is scarcely indigenous, being 

 chiefly found on the ruins of old buildings." — F.S. 



Parasites on Cyclops. — On some specimens of 

 the common Cyclops, I have often observed some 

 parasites consisting of a head with cilia like Vorti- 

 cella, but wanting the spiral stalk. Can any one tell 

 me what they are? — A. //. 



Water-vole. — R. speaks of the rat, the water- 

 ra/ and the water-vole. The water-rat zV the water- 

 vole. See Bell's "Quadrupeds," p. 316, 2nd edition. 

 — y. S. Wesley. 



The Plague of Flies. — We are much annoyed 

 each summer by flies, in two rooms of our house. 

 They swarm every warm sunny day on the windo\\'s 

 and ceiling ; killing and driving out of the windows 

 seem to have no effect, as they reappear the next day 

 as strong as ever. We think they must hide them- 

 selves in the woodwork, which is varnished, not 

 painted, as the rest of the house. Can you, or any 

 of your correspondents, tell us of any way of getting 

 rid of these plagues ? — E. CHI. 



Local Plant Names.— /;-w fxiidissima, called 

 by the country people " glading " root, corrupted 

 from " Gladwin " root, cure for dropsy and scarletina. 

 A curious little incident occurred in this neighbour- 

 hood regarding the local name of Hypericum caly- 

 cimtm. A lady driving through a demesne saw a 

 quantity of this plant growing, and asked the gate- 

 keeper what it was, and for answer was told that it 

 was called "The Rose of Sharon, or the Lily of the 

 Valley." The common "peony " is known in these 

 parts as the "piano rose." Scrophularia nodosa is 

 known by the name of " rose-noble, " which at first 

 strikes one as a very strange name for a plant with 

 such an insignificant flower. The name may have 

 originated in its being a cure for the rose, which the 

 country people call a rash, and the term noble may 

 have come from its being a cure for the "king's evil." 

 — Rez'. T. A. Brenan, Cloghban, co. Tyrone. 



Gold-fish. — ■ An olive carp has been in our 

 aquarium for three years and a-half. At the begin- 

 ning of that time it was about \\ inch in length, 

 and is now an inch longer. During the last six 

 months it has gradually changed to a bright golden 

 colour, with the exception of the fins, which retain 

 the original dark hue. Is this change usual ? — E. S., 

 Leeds. 



The Common Nettle. — I have seen in books 

 of travels that when the rook is met with in wild and 

 unpopulated districts it is a sign of a human habitation 

 being at hand. But only lately have I heard that the 

 nettle is also a sign of the late presence or actual 

 presence of man. A friend of mine was one day 

 driving on a coach through one of the Scotch deer- 

 forests. Several times during the drive the whip 

 pointed to a bed of nettles, and said there had been a 

 house there, though long before his time. On being 

 asked how he found out, he said that the nettles only 

 appeareil wliere the iiand of man has turned up the 

 ground, and in the greatest profusion about the house- 

 door. He also said that when a hut is made in a 

 place quite free from them, they appear in a few 

 months. This is another case of the sudden apjjear- 

 ance of plants which cannot be accounted for by 



Mr. Edwin Lees's hypothesis, the deer-forests having 

 no trees in them. — Daccarp Ackone. 



/Estinomus yEDiLis. — It may be interesting to 

 some of your correspondents to hear that I found 

 about ten days ago, in the town of St. Peter's Port, 

 Guernsey, a perfect specimen of the extraordinary 

 beetle, popularly known by the name of Timberman 

 {ALsti)W)nus tedilis). I believe it is not common to 

 find this insect so far south. — Adela M. Collinso7i. 



Local Names of Birds. — Mr. J. G. Henderson 

 is no doubt aware that the Northumbrians as a rule 

 cannot pronounce the "r," and hence yorlin with 

 them will sound very like yowlin, yowley, or yoalin. 

 It is merely a corruption of the same word. Hogg, 

 the Ettrick .Shepherd, who had a good knowledge of 

 the local names of the fauna and flora of Scotland, 

 introduces it in that beautiful lyric, "Kilmeny in the 

 Queen's Wake,"— 



"It was only to hear the Yorlin sing, 

 And pu' the cress-flower round the spring, 

 The scarlet hypp and the hindberrye, 

 And the nut that hang frae the hazel-tree." 



Dipton Burn. 



The Venomous Spider of New Zealand. — 

 Mr. J. M. Meek, of Waiwera, sends the following 

 narrative of the effects of the bite of the kapito, or 

 native spider : — " It was on the morning of the 24th 

 ult., at three o'clock, my son (a man of thirty-one 

 years of age) was awakened from his sleep by the bite 

 of one of those poisonous insects, and came into our 

 bedroom about an hour afterwards, and exclaimed to 

 his mother and myself, ' I am bitten by one of those 

 spiders that the natives have so often spoken to me 

 about, and am full of pain. See, here it is, in the 

 bottom of the candlestick.' I looked at the insect, 

 whose body was about the size of an ordinary pea, 

 and in colour nearly appiroaching to black. His 

 mother, on looking at his back, saw the puncture the 

 spider had made, and immediately commenced suck- 

 ing the wound. I proceeded to the hotel, and 

 obtained the services of Dr. Mohnbeer, when, on my 

 return with him to my house, my son was suffering 

 the most excruciating pain in the groin, the virus 

 apparently working its way in that direction. After 

 an application of ammonia by the doctor, the pain 

 shifted from the groin and worked its way up the 

 spine, affecting the arms and chest during the remain- 

 der of the day and lasting till the following morning, 

 my son moaning with pain the whole time. On 

 Tuesday the pain became intense, the virus working 

 its way into his legs, causing the veins to swell very 

 much. We applied turnip poifltice to the wound, 

 and when taken off a quantity of black fluid came from 

 the sore. During the afternoon the pain in the legs 

 and big toes still continued. Dr. Mohnbeer pre- 

 scribed a liniment, which after rubbing well into 

 the legs, caused a black, inky-coloured fluid to emit 

 itself through the pores of the skin in large drops, 

 from which time my son began to improve, and has 

 continued improving ever since, but suffers much from 

 weakness. From the time he was bitten on the Mon- 

 day till the Friday following he lost exactly 12 lb. 

 in flesli. I forgot to state that, when he was first 

 bitten, I gave him small doses of brandy at intervals 

 during the first two days, which seemed to have the 

 effect of greatly relieving the pain. I am informed by 

 Te Hemera, native chief here, and also by other 

 natives, that many fatal cases among their ranks have 

 taken place by the bite of the katipo ; tliey also 

 believe the sufferer is sure to die if they cannot find 

 the spider ; but, on the contrary, if they find it and 

 burn it in the fire, the patient gets well in three days. 

 If they cannot find the insect, they set fire to the house 



