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HARDWICKKS SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



dour. Then, right and left, far and near, the sea 

 looked like molten silver, tinged with amber, and 

 rich with gold. The far-off horizon was one long bar 

 of glorious light, and as the waves broke upon the 

 rocks, and the surge dashed upon the white pebbles 

 of beautiful Babbicombe Bay, showers of phosphores- 

 cent spray were hurled high into the air, producing a 

 spectacle grand in the extreme. The phosphorus 

 which produced this magnificent sight was caused by 

 the surface of the sea being covered with the spawn 

 of the common mussel. When the tide was out, 

 rocks, pebbles and sand were coated with a thin film 

 of transparent gelatine, which speedily vanished with 

 the light and heat of the noontide sun. What renders 

 the phenomena peculiar is that I could find no trace 

 of mussel-beds in the neighbourhood. The phos- 

 phorescent effects were greatest on the third night 

 after the spawn was seen upon the water. In another 

 forty-eight hours it had completely disappeared. — 

 Thos. S. King, F.G.S., F.R.M.S. 



Tardigrades. — Would any of your readers kindly 

 inform me of the size of the tardigrade in comparison 

 with the rotifers, cyclops, and such-like ordinary 

 microscopical objects, and if they are visible to the 

 naked eye ? Also in what seasons and locality may 

 they be looked ioxl—H. J. T. 



Optical Effect.— Can you give me the true 

 explanation of the following optical effect, which I 

 was shown the other day ? Hold a lighttd candle, in 

 an otherwise darkened room, three inches below the 

 eye, and two inches from the face, waving the light 

 gently backwards and forwards while fixing the eye 

 steaddy upon the darkest portion of the room. Soon 

 will be seen a black branched object which has been 

 popularly likened to the ramifications of the brain. — 

 //. J. T. 



Snail- Water. — Take garden snails cleansed and 

 bruised six gallons, earth-worms washed and bruised 

 three gallons, of common wormwood, ground ivy, 

 and carduus each one pound and a half, penniroyal, 

 juniper berries, fennel seeds, aniseed, each half a 

 pound, cloves and cubebs bruised each three ounces, 

 spirit of wine and spring water of each eight gallons ; 

 digest them together for the space of twenty-four 

 hours, and then draw it off in a common alembick. 

 This is admirably well contrived both for cheapness 

 and efficiency, and for persons whose circumstances 

 and manner of living have not habituated them to 

 any delicacy. It is as good a snail-water as can be 

 made, used for consumption. — From an old Dispen- 

 satory of St. Thomas's Hospital, 1746. 



White Heather. — In the July number Mr. 

 Irving informs a correspondent that he had seen this 

 variety at Wellington. In some of my rambles I 

 have met with it in England and the Highlands of 

 Scotland. While staying with a friend at Ilkley 

 (Yorks.), a few years ago, we walked over Rumbolds 

 Moor, which lies immediately to the south of Ilkley, 

 and we came upon two large specimens in full bloom. 

 I brought a sprig home, thinking it might be un- 

 common ; but the landlady, with whom my friends 

 were staying, assured us that there was plenty of it on 

 the north side of Wharfedale also. Two years ago I 

 came upon a very large bush in perfect bloom near 

 .Vberfoyle (Perthshire) — one solitary bush among a 

 dense mass of the purple variety. The flowers were 

 so profuse that, looking up the hill face, it looked 

 like a big white boulder at half-a-mde's distance. 

 Some years ago, in climbing a two-thousand-feet hill 

 at Moy, between Inverness and Fort William, I 

 found several plants of it in rather isolated positions 



— not growing beside the purple variety as I have 

 since found it. In the many " weed-gathering 

 wanderings " I have had in the south of Scotland, I 

 have never come upon one bush of white flowers. — 

 Geo. Murray, Edinburgh. 



Tree- Frogs in Winter. — M. A. Y. wishes to 

 know if any of the readers of SciENCE-GossiP could 

 tell her the best way of keeping green tree-frogs 

 during the winter, when they are asleep and do not 

 require food. Could any one also tell her how 

 croaking sound is produced ? 



Squirrels in Winter. — Some interesting re- 

 marks on squirrels are made by various writers in 

 " The Zoologist." It is often said that squirrels are 

 torpid during winter, but there is no really sound 

 evidence for this view. Mr. Masefield, writing 

 from Cheadle, Staffordshire, says ("Nature," March 

 I2th) : "I have seen squirrels abroad on fine days 

 in, I think I may say, every one of the winter 

 months ; and while pheasant shooting near here on 

 a sunny day (January 6th last), which was about the 

 middle of the most severe frost we have had for 

 many years, with several inches of snow on the 

 ground, I saw a squirrel jumping from tree to tree, 

 before the beaters, in the most lively condition." 

 Mr. Blagg, also writing from Cheadle, has "fre- 

 quently seen squirrels abroad in the middle of the 

 winter, when there has been deep snow on the 

 ground and a keen frost in the air. I remember," 

 he adds, "once seeing a squirrel abroad during a 

 severe storm of sleet and rain in winter time, and he 

 appeared to be not at all inconvenienced by the 

 rough weather." Mr. Blagg's idea is that the 

 squirrel probably does sleep a good deal more in 

 winter time than in summer, as do many other wild 

 animals, but that he has to be continually waking up 

 and taking nourishment. The period of reproduction 

 is unfavourable to the notion of an almost complete 

 state of torpidity. The editor of "The Zoologist" 

 records that he has notes of "finding newly-born 

 squirrels on March 21st (three young), April 9th 

 (three young), April 26th (four young), and April 

 29th (two young). Those found at the end of March 

 and beginning of April were naked and blind ; those 

 taken at the end of April were about three-parts 

 grown." According to the editor " the old squirrels, 

 in case of danger, remove the young from the nest, 

 or ' drey,' to some hole in a tree, whither they carry 

 them one by one in the mouth, just as a cat carries 

 her kitten. One of the prettiest sights in the world 

 is to see an old squirrel teaching a young one tO' 

 jump," 



Mr. H. Bettanv, of New Zealand, desires me to 

 inform those correspondents who sent him parcels of 

 shells in reply to his notice in these columns, that he 

 will send return parcels as soon as possible. — /■". IV. 

 Wotton, Cardiff. 



Arion ater. — For the last four years I have been 

 engaged in working out the life-history oi Arion ater, 

 with the view of learning whether or not it is self- 

 fertilizing. I have now proved conclusively that it 

 is. I purposely refrained from reading any works on 

 this species during my observations, therefore do not 

 know whether this fact has been placed on record 

 before. I shortly intend publishing the whole results 

 of my experiments and observations. — F. IF. Il'otton, 

 Cardiff. 



Snails as a Cure for Consumption. — I can 

 fully corroborate Mr. Rundle's testimony to snails 

 being used by consumptives. Not long since there 



