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HARDWICKKS SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



it a pin was found in the yolk. The yolk and 

 white were in places of a blue-black colour. I should 

 feel obliged if any reader would inform me whether 

 they have ever heard of anything being found before 

 inside an egg, and how it got there. — F. J. B, 



Snails as a Cure for Consumption.— Your 

 correspondent, Mr. J. W. Williams, may. be interested 

 in learning that the snail cure for consumption has been 

 continued in this locality (Truro) in one instance, 

 at least, almost up to the present day. I well 

 remember, some twelve years since, an individual 

 living in an adjoining parish being pointed out to 

 me as a " snail or slug eater," I forget which. He 

 was a delicate-looking man, and said to be suffering 

 from consumption. Last summer I saw this man, 

 and asked him whether the statement that he was a 

 "snail-eater" was true: he answered, "Yes, that 

 he was ordered small white slugs — not snails — when 

 he was young, for ' decline,' and that up till recently 

 he had daily consumed a dozen or more every 

 morning, and he believed they had done him good. 

 There is also another use to which the country 

 people here put snails, and that is as an eye applica- 

 tion. I met with an instance a few weeks since, and 

 much good seemed to have followed the use. — 

 Edmuttd Rundle, F.H.C.S.I.^ Royal Cornwall 

 Infirmary, Trtiro. 



How I saved my Hive of Bees. — Bee-keepers 

 will long remember the disastrous year of i8S8. I 

 have kept bees for thirty years, but have never met 

 with its parallel. Colonies were numerous, and 

 strong enough, but so little honey was gathered, that 

 by May 28th in the following year nearly all were 

 dead, whole apiaries having succumbed, and even 

 where feeding had been aitempted few survived. 

 Out of my stock of bees, numbering about twenty- 

 five, three only remained alive, and one was con- 

 sidered to be very weak ; under such circumstances 

 one naturally thought more of again increasing one's 

 stock, than of obtaining honey. My neighbours were 

 equally or even more unfortunate than myself, in 

 more than one instance not saving a single hive. I 

 hoped that all three of my hives would swarm 

 naturally, but as is usually the case, the bees would 

 not do as you desired them ; two out of the three did 

 not swarm, and I was not disposed to make them do 

 so artificially. The one that did swarm had survived 

 some unusual troubles, having been blown over by 

 the heavy gales on two occasions ; the first time on 

 February 4th, when all the hives in the kitchen 

 garden shared the same fate ; the second time on 

 March 21st, when it was found topsy-turvey. It was 

 a frame-hive, and swarmed naturally on June 2 1st. 

 After the swarm had been shaken into the hive, the 

 queen left the bees, and attempted to return home, 

 but on her way I observed her, and caught her, and 

 put her into the hive wherein the swarm had been 

 taken, and all became quiet. This swarm, though 

 rather late, did remarkably well, became very 

 numerous in bees, and gave me a nice lot of super 

 honey, still leaving it very heavy, the bees having 

 had the advantage of ready-made combs. Now I 

 looked on this hive as my best, and great things 

 were expected from it the following season. On 

 April I2th, 1890, I noticed that no loaded bee 

 entered this swarm, although pollen was carried in 

 pretty freely by the bees of the other hives. The hive 

 was heavy and contained plenty of sealed honey : 

 this excited my suspicions about the state of the 

 queen, and made me fear that what I looked on as 

 my best hive would come to grief. On the 2rst, 



having satisfied myself that the hive was queenless, 

 and that it contained a fair quantity of bees and 

 abundance of sealed honey, I gave it a comb 

 containing eggs and brood from another hive, taking 

 away from it a comb of honey, which I gave to the 

 hive from which I had taken the brood. On the 

 25th I observed the bees carry into the hive a little 

 pollen. On the 2Sth, I examined the hive, and 

 found two queen-cells, nearly perfect, but not yet 

 sealed over. On the 3rd of May I again examined 

 the hive, and found both queen-cells sealed over. 

 On May loth, about 3 p.m., as I was standing 

 near the hive, I saw a queen come out of it, and 

 take flight ; I waited until she returned, and saw 

 her re-enter the hive ; she did not appear to have 

 met with a drone during her outing ; I was, however, 

 satisfied that the hive had succeeded in obtaining a 

 queen, and so might recover. On the 12th of May, 

 I again saw a queen return to this hive ; and on the 

 i6th I saw the same thing happen, making it appear 

 that there was some difficulty in finding a mate. On 

 the 2 1 St I examined the hive, but could find neither 

 queen nor eggs ; still a few bees continued to carry in 

 pollen. On the 26th I left home for three days ; and 

 on June 4th I made an examination, and although 

 I did not see the queen, I found brood, some of 

 which was sealed over ; so that the presence of a 

 queen was assured. On the 19th of June, I again 

 examined, and saw her majesty. The hive went on 

 very well, and though it gave me no super, it gathered 

 sufficient honey to carry it through the winter 

 without feeding. I think this little bit of experience 

 is sufficient to show how greatly superior frame hives 

 are to the old straw ones : and what a great deal of 

 pleasure and instruction may be had by keeping a 

 hive or two of bees. The hive has weathered safely 

 the past unusually severe and prolonged winter, and 

 is now hard at work. June ist, 1891. — C. F. George, 

 Kirt07i in Lindsey. 



White Varieties. — I don't know whether you 

 you care for further notice of the white varieties of 

 harebell and heather. Near Settle in Yorkshire I 

 have several times found the harebell perfectly white, 

 but never more than two or three stalks in one place. 

 The flowers were very much smaller than the common 

 blue one. In a wood, three miles from the same 

 place, I found a patch of white heather about two 

 yards square, some three or four years ago ; but to 

 my great disgust two years ago, I found some game- 

 keeper had rooted all up, save about as much as 

 would cover a soup-plate, I suppose because it was 

 interfering with several young trees. I have, how- 

 ever, marked down about twelve other roots in a 

 thirty-acre moorland field. — W. S. Sykes. 



A Suescalarid Monstrosity of Helix 

 rufescens. — On looking through my note-book I 

 find mention of a subscalariform monstrosity of Hdix 

 rufescens, which Mr. A. Mayfield sent me from Eaton, 

 Norwich. As I do not believe that I have yet 

 published a description of this shell, I now do so here. 

 Transcribed from my notes, it runs thus : — Large, 

 brownish with white band at periphery ; spire elevated 

 with the whorls subcarinated and flattened ; body- 

 whorl smaller than in type, depressed, subcarinated ; 

 sutures, deep, canaliculate ; umbilicus wide, revealing 

 the whorls of the spire ; inner lip distinct, and 

 reflected on to the body-whorl so as to form a well- 

 marked "parietal wall" ; the whole shell subscalariform. 

 Diam. 11 -5 mill. ; alt. 8 mill. I£ this monstrosity 

 has not been named before, it might be called monst 

 subscalare. — J. IV. IVillia/ns. 



