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HARD WICKE 'S SCIENCE - G OS SIP. 



northern colonizers of France and England ? Were 

 the old English and French so familiar with the 

 plant from their childhood up that they never wanted 

 to coin a name for it, but always had one ready to 

 hand. And, on the other hand, was the plant only 

 known to the more observant of the Welsh and Ger- 

 mans, so that there would be difficulty in talking 

 about it ? I think that the facts support this idea. 

 Until direct observations are brought forward, I 

 think that the idea of the method of propagation, so 

 prevalent in the older writers, and which is expressed 

 in the Latin adage quoted in my paper, has, at least, 

 as much probability as Mr. Lees' suggestion : obser- 

 vation in this case is, it is true, almost impossible. 

 We know that the Mistletoe can be propagated by 

 rubbing its seeds on the bark of trees ; whether it is 

 also propagated by the excrements of birds, we can- 

 not say. That the nutmeg is thus propagated by the 

 nutmeg-pigeon is, I believe, proved by Mr. Wallace, 

 in his "Malay Archipelago." Mr. Macco, in his 

 interesting list of German names for the Mistletoe 

 says that Geinster is applied not only to the Mistletoe 

 but also "to a plant the flower of which is use, 

 for dyeing purposes. " May I suggest to him and other 

 writers in Science-Gossip, that this kind of reference 

 is most tantalizing ? It seems almost dog-in-the- 

 mangerish. It seems to tell us that the writer knows 

 something that he had rather keep to himself, or that 

 he thinks we cannot appreciate. It would be much 

 pleasanter to me, and I doubt not to other readers 

 of Science-Gossip, to have the full facts, even if 

 they were not quite relevant. Speaking now of 

 botanical facts alone : supposing this dye-plant is 

 an English one, the mere mention of its name and 

 use would be interesting. If, again, it is not British, 

 the genus and natural order, or the most nearly allied 

 natural order, would enable us all to place the fact in 

 its proper place in our already collected store. A 

 similar plan would apply to all branches of know- 

 ledge. I hope Mr. Macco will take the hint and tell 

 us to what plant he refers. " H. M. M." says that a 

 friend once showed him a series of photographs of 

 the various mistletoe oaks. Can he tell us where 

 copies of them may be obtained? I am sure that 

 many would be glad to get such a series. One other 

 name for this plant has occurred to me since writing 

 my paper. In Norfolk, according to Wright's " Tro- 

 vincial Dictionary," the plant is called Mislin-bush ; 

 Mastlin, or Meslin, is a name still given to mixed 

 corn and barley, or peas and beans; so that this name 

 supplies a needless confirmation of Mr. Lees's deriva- 

 tion of the name Mistletoe.— IV. G. Piper. 



The Mistletoe (" W. T. E.," p. 43)-— In most 

 mythological systems the Ash, Hazel, Mistletoe, and 

 Whitethorn were symbolical of fire, the light and 

 life-giving force of Nature. Hence the fire-gods were 

 patrons of love and marriage, and their symbols were 

 endowed with special virtues. The wedding-torches 

 of old were made of whitethorn ; hazel-nuts are a 

 common medium of divination respecting a lover ; 

 and it is in virtue of this symbolism also that the 

 Mistletoe confers its privilege (Comp. Fiske, "Myths 

 and Myth-makers").— Z'. W. Britton. 



The Mistletoe. — Some very interesting commu- 

 nications formerly appeared in your valuable pe- 

 riodical on Jllisiletot'. One is led to believe it is a 

 plant, always found on trees in the country, and not 

 in any populous district. I should be glad to know 

 if that is the case, and therefore, perhaps, the fol- 

 lowing fact may be interesting : — Some years ago I 

 lived about half a mile nearer the Crystal Palace than 

 I do at present, and consequently I was surrounded 

 by houses. One day I observed a curious protube- 



rance on one of the branches of an apple-tree in my 

 garden. I was led to watch it, and very soon a leaf 

 burst forth, shortly followed by others ; and presently 

 a good-sized plant of Mistletoe appeared. If the in- 

 crease of this plant be chiefly due to birds dropping 

 the seeds, when wiping their beaks after eating the 

 berries, how does it happen that it is found so rarely 

 on the Oak or the Elm, or any shrub, which are so 

 common everywhere ? — H. E. Wilkinson. 



Destroying Mites. —Can any of the readers of 

 Science-Gossip give a recipe for destroying mites 

 in a collection of lepidoptera. I have tried " kyaniz- 

 ing" the specimens with bichloride of mercury and 

 spirits of wine, as recommended by Dr. Knaggs, but 

 without success. — A. F. 



Escape of a Cat. — Nearly every one knows 

 what a remarkable tenacity of life there is in the cat ; 

 and most people probably are familiar with the saying 

 it has given rise to — viz., " as many lives as a cat." 

 A better example, perhaps, has never been met with 

 of what a cat can go through than the following. A 

 few weeks since two relatives called at a friend's 

 house in Bath ; the owner proved to be out, and they, 

 having come from Bristol, resolved to wait until his 

 return, which the servant assured them would be 

 shortly, and were accordingly shown into the dining- 

 room, the window of which happened to overlook the 

 street. They had waited about a quarter of an hour 

 when suddenly they heard a dull thud on the pave- 

 ment outside, shortly followed by the remarks of a 

 sympathetic crowd which had collected : — " Poor 

 thing!" " Better kill it," " It is dead," and several 

 others, which I have not room to chronicle. On 

 rushing out of the house they foimd the servants of 

 the establishment and the aforementioned crowd 

 looking at a sorry object. Poor Grimalkin, the pet of 

 the house generally, and the property of a little girl par- 

 ticularly — who luckily was spending the afternoon from 

 home, — was lying on the flagstones, to all appearance 

 lifeless, except three small streams of blood, which 

 slowly trickled from its mouth and ears. By some 

 means or other it had fallen from a third-story window, 

 a distance of considerably over forty feet. When 

 lifted up it hung quite limp, as if its back were 

 broken. The general verdict of the bystanders, on 

 seeing it give a slight shudder, was, " Kill it and put 

 it out of its sufferings," but this the servants objected 

 to, until its mistress— the little girl— returned : so it 

 was taken into the kitchen and put into a basket. Just 

 as my relatives were starting for home, about three 

 hours after the accident — during which time the cat 

 had not been mentioned,— they were astounded by 

 seeing puss feebly crawl into the room, curl up on the 

 rug and go to sleep. On making inquiries, I find 

 that it caught a mouse the next morning, and is, at the 

 time I write, livelier than ever. I am quite certain 

 that if any other animal — cats excepted— had fallen 

 the same height, and on as hard a substance as a 

 paving-stone, it would have been killed in an instant. 

 —E. B. L. Braylcy, Bristol. 



CoLiAS Edusa and its Varieties.— Quite an 

 excitement has been caused amongst Lepidopterists 

 by the appearance in extraordinary profusion of this, 

 perhaps, the most beautiful of our PapUionida. It 

 has been reported from most parts of the kingdom, 

 from places indeed where till this season it had never 

 previously been observed. The earliest recorded date 

 amongst the communications to the Entomologist 

 is that of May 30th. The question arises, whether 

 the specimens seen were hibernated ones ? and I am 

 inclined to believe that this was the case with by far 

 the greater portion, though the perfect condition of 



