HARD WJCKE ' S S CIENCE- G SSI P. 



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scientific serials, English, French, German, and Ameri- 

 can, in so far as they relate to microscopical matters ; 

 as this division occupies eight closely-printed pages, 

 our readers well understand that it contains no ordinary 

 amount of information. The editorship has been 

 undertaken (as an honorary office) by one of the 

 secretaries, Frank Crisp, LL.B., B.A. &c. 



ZOOLOGY. 



The Weather and the Birds.— Under the 

 above heading, a paragraph appeared in Science- 

 Gossip for February (p. 40), in which it is stated that 

 a golden eagle was shot at Fritton, and another seen 

 at the same time which escaped. The bird in question 

 was wounded and taken alive, and is now in the 

 Yarmouth aquarium, where I saw it a short time since. 

 It certainly is not a golden, but an immature white- 

 tailed eagle. Individuals in the same stage of plumage 

 occur along the east coast almost every autumn or 

 early winter, and are as invariably recorded as golden 

 eagles. The only authentic instance of the occurrence 

 of the latter species is that recorded by Mr. Stevenson 

 in the "Zoologist" for 1869, but the white-tailed 

 eagle, as before stated, although in the mature 

 plumage excessively rare, is in the immature dress by 

 no means a rarity. In order to distinguish between 

 the two species in any stage of plumage, it is only 

 necessary to remember that the tarsi in the golden 

 eagle are feathered to the toes, and the first joint 

 only of each toe is covered with broad scales, whereas 

 in the white-tailed eagle the whole length of each 

 toe is covered with broad scales and the tarsi are bare. 

 — T. Southwell, Norivich. 



Killing and Preserving Reptiles.— In reply 

 to Mr. Alfred Wheldon's inquiry, I beg to say that 

 the best way to kill a small reptilian or batrachian is 

 to put the animal into a phial which is of just suffi- 

 cient size, together with a piece of folded blotting- 

 paper, saturated with chloroform, and then place the 

 bottle for a few minutes out of the sight of ladies 

 and children. Death will speedily result from 

 asphyxia. The specimen should then be preserved 

 in methylated spirit, which may be diluted to the 

 extent of, say, 25 per cent, with water. The addition 

 of the water will very likely make the liquid thick 

 with air-bubbles, but these will disappear in a few 

 hours. The most convenient and inexpensive bottles 

 are "boxwood-topped kali bottles," or, for rather 

 larger specimens, "one pound wide-mouthed stoppered 

 rounds." Both may be obtained of Messrs. S. Maw, 

 Son, & Thompson, 10, II, and 12 Aldersgate Street, 

 E.C., or through any obliging chemist. It is not 

 usually necessary to secure the specimen with a 

 thread. Lizards and newts should be preserved head 

 downwards. — R. Morton Middkton, Jim. 



The Nightingale in Yorkshire, — As Mr. 

 Ingleby has indicated the nidification of the nightin- 



gale, Philomela Luscinia having taken place in 

 Yorkshire, the following facts may prove interesting 

 both to him and other readers of Science-Gossip. 

 In the summer of 1877, a pair of nightingales built 

 their nest in the shrubbery of a gentleman residing 

 near Beverley. Of course the occurrence attracted 

 considerable attention, and it was freely discussed in 

 the local papers. I am glad to say, however, that, 

 notwithstanding the general publicity thus given to 

 this remarkable fact, the young were hatched and 

 reared without any further disturbance than that 

 occasioned by the pardonable curiosity of onlookers. 

 In this they seem to have been more fortunate than 

 the pair described by Mr. Ingleby. I may add that 

 no further instance of this kind has occurred since in 

 the neighbourhood, and indeed had not done so for 

 some time previously. — Major Lawson. 



Glyciphagus plumiger. — When I announced, 

 the capture of this acarus in the July number, I had 

 only found one specimen ; subsequent search, how- 

 ever, enabled me to find many more of both sexes. 

 I scarcely thought this worth mentioning, but as 

 my silence may have misled Mr. Lambert, it is ■ 

 perhaps as well to do so. For the purposes of obser- 

 vation, I endeavoured to breed them in confinement, 

 and have been fairly successful. I have several 

 thriving families at this moment. I may take this 

 opportunity of stating that although, when I first 

 announced the capture in England of the kindred 

 species, Glyciphagus palmifer, I doubted its being 

 truly indigenous, I believe now that it is, as I have 

 since found it where its introduction on any foreign 

 material would be highly improbable. — A. D. Michael. 



Division of the Pteropoda. — At a recent 

 meeting of the San Francisco Microscopical Society, 

 Dr. G. Eisen stated that the class of Pteropoda had 

 hitherto been divided in two orders, viz., Thecosomata 

 and Gymnosomata, the animals belonging to the 

 former being covered by a hard shell, those of the 

 latter being perfectly naked. He thought a better 

 characteristic would be the presence or absence of a 

 silicate radula in the palate. The two genera ex- 

 hibited were very likely new, but seemingly related 

 to Tiedemannia and Pneumodermon. The wings of 

 the former genus were drawn more minutely, and 

 especially their anterior margin was seen in a highly 

 magnified scale. The author had here found some 

 new organs of sense, consisting of an agglomeration 

 of larger cells situated on a pear-shaped body of 

 minute granulated cells. In the middle of the larger 

 cells was to be seen a small opaque, pearl-shaped body 

 immediately connected with a nerve ganglion. Such 

 peculiar organs were distributed over only a small 

 surface of the hyaline wing. The masticatory organs 

 of this genus were situated in the stomach, and con- 

 sisted chiefly of four pyramidal chitinous teeth. The 

 same organ of Pneumodermon was seen to consist of 

 a radula full of silicate teeth. On both sides of this 



