HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



277 



season. I, however, obtained a fine series of Semi- 

 argus and of Lycaon, and a few Ilippothoe — these in 

 a meadow at Chaumont, about 2,400 feet above 

 Neuchatel — a few A polios, two or three Athalias 

 and Cinxias, and a Carthemi or two. I saw numbers 

 of Machaon and of Galatea, Hyale, and Cratcegi, as 

 well as many other common species. 



The woods above the town were full of the finest 

 spikes of the orchis H. bifolia I ever had the good 

 fortune to see, and I found nine plants of C. ffrandi- 

 flora in the same woods, the average number of flowers 

 on a spike being, in this case, six ^vide SciENCE- 

 GossiP 1890, p. 92). 



I must not omit to mention that when at Neu- 

 chatel, I made an excursion by steamer to the 

 picturesque town of Morat, and that when the boat 

 was passing through the river which unites the two 

 lakes, a beautiful example of the Squacco heron, 

 E. ralloides, flew up out of some reeds in a marshy 

 meadow close by, and as it flew in a sort of half- 

 circle round the boat at a distance of about seventy 

 or eighty yards, it afforded me a fine opportunity of 

 making a leisurely inspection of its beauty. 



On the whole I had been unfortunate up to this 

 time, as I had not obtained at any of the places named 

 what I had gone there for. Better luck, however, 

 awaited me at Zermatt and Berisal, but I must post- 

 pone the particulars of my captures at those places to 

 another occasion, if you, Mr. Editor, will give me 

 space in a future number of your paper for some 

 further notes. 



R. B. P. 



Eastbourne. 



THE RECORD IN ZONITES. 



IT was indeed a lovely hot afternoon last summer 

 in that little Kentish village where I had drifted 

 during a conchological walking-tour. Giving myself 

 and the snails a rest, I strolled into the cool old flint 

 church, with twelve other people. I wandered into 

 an old square pew, shut the door and settled down in 

 one corner. In its appointed place the sermon began. 

 I am sorry I cannot say what the subject of the dis- 

 course was, for a very large hornet would inspect me 

 all over, humming so loud that I heard not the words 

 of the preacher, and finally it settled on my knee. 

 Quickly I was reaching for a large bible in the 

 corner, wherewith to slay it, when a voice at my 

 elbow said in an undertone, "Do you want any very 

 large Zonites ? " 



Somehow I was not surprised at the presence of 

 a stranger in the closed pew, or his knowing that I 

 certainly did covet very large Zonites. 



" How large ? " I inquired mechanically. 



" Oh, I will show you some as big as any silver 

 coin you have, provided, of course, I keep the coin. 



I quietly produced a shilling. 



" Pooooh ! " He seemed to swell with contempt. 



I hastily produced a florin. 



" That's better," replied he, with apparently 

 diminishing bulk ; " that will do for Cellarius, but if 

 it comes to Glaber, I ask gold ! " 



My eagerness and rashness expanded. I whispered 

 loudly, " I will give you a new £i) piece, if you will 

 cover it with a Glaber of equal size." 



Now this was wrong of me, I know, for I had not 

 got such a thing, but somehow it seemed all right 

 then. He quietly rose, and we guiltily glided down 

 the aisle, out of the door (my hand clutching his arm), 

 till he paused under the old yew-tree. 



" Under this stone," said he ; and I at once knelt 

 down and began to struggle with an old mossy head- 

 stone which had apparently lain a century un^ 

 disturbed. 



But before I could effect my purpose, he put his 

 foot on it, as if by accident, saying : 



"You will, doubtless, be interested to hear that I 

 have just published a list of names for the band 

 varieties of H. pisana.^^ 



"Indeed!" said I, "that seems a great many. 

 Why, the various combinations of seventeen bands 

 and their omissions and coalitions must amount to 

 several millions ! " 



He (impatiently), "Yes, of course it does," 



I (astonished and fumbling at the stone), " Where 

 did you get the names from ? " 



He (airily), "Oh, I named them after my con- 

 chological friends and correspondents. There's 

 Jonesii and Brownii and — " 



"I am almost afraid," interrupted I, "that we 

 shall hardly get to the end of the list of your rather 

 numerous friends before they come out of church." 



" And," continued he complacently, " I am about 

 to publish a new list of the six hundred true species 

 of British Pisidia with their numerous varieties." 



" But," protested I, "Jeffreys says — " 



He (loftily), " I never heard of him." 



I (pityingly), "Well, it is time you did. He 

 wrote — " 



He (more loftily still), " I never read what people 

 write." 



I (angrily), " Go and read Jeffreys before you 

 presume — " 



He (angrily, and showing signs of inflation), 

 " Jeff"reys be— " 



I (wrathfully), " Sir ! I'll thank you to speak 

 respectfully of the learned Dr. ! " 



He (with rapidly increasing bulk), "I say Jeffreys 

 be—" 



He never finished the sentence, with a mighty tug 

 I wrenched up the ponderous stone and smote him 

 with it Eugene- Aram fashion. He fell beneath it, 

 collapsing like a catcall bladder and giving out much 

 the same sound as that instrument. I had killed him. 

 "Never mind the windbag," thought I, "have I 

 broken any of the Zonites ? •_ 



