HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-G OSS IF. 



191 



Sturgeon at Maidstone. — I saw a splendid 

 royal sturgeon shot to-day while endeavouring to pass 

 over the locks here. I suppose it came up during 

 the floods we have had lately. The fish was shot by 

 Messrs. Whiteman and Russell, and measured 7 ft. 

 9 in. in length, weighing 148 lb. It is a very unusual 

 occurrence here.— R. F. Osborne. 



Birds and Fruit. — Mr. G.J. Lowe, of the High- 

 field House Observatory, says : " No birds or birds' 

 nests have been destroyed here for many years, and 

 yet we have fruit. No doubt the birds help them- 

 selves (as wages), but without their labours there 

 would be no fruit for anyone. Several times birds 

 have saved me a crop of apples. On one occasion an 

 examination of hundreds of bunches of blooms dis- 

 closed caterpillars feeding in every bunch ; next day 

 the birds had found them, and in a few hours there 

 was not a caterpillar to be seen. A grass field here 

 was so infested with the grub of the cockchafer, that 



the 



could be rolled up ; soon the birds began 



their work, and the grubs vanished. Some years ago 

 the farmers killed all the rooks in a particular district, 

 and the crops in consequence were destroyed by 

 grubs, and it was only on the reintroduction of these 

 birds (at a great cost to the farmers) that good crops 

 were again obtained. Thirty-five years ago a nursery- 

 man left here for Australia, taking with him all our 

 popular hardy fruits and vegetables, but the produce 

 was yearly destroyed until the English sparrow was 

 introduced, after which there was plenty of fruit." 



Waterton calculated that a single pair of sparrows 

 Jestroyed as many grubs in one day as would have 

 eaten up half an acre of corn in a week, and that 

 instead of giving a reward of sixpence a dozen for 

 dead sparrows, more would have been gained by 

 paying many times as much to preserve them from 

 injury. 



Pike taking Tench. — I am afraid that Mr. John 

 H. Keene's assertion that the pike, be he ever so hungry, 

 never takes a tench is, as he says, "too pretty to be 

 true." On June 4th, fishing in a canal reservoir in 

 Shropshire, I caught a jack of ten pounds' weight 

 with a small tench as a bait. The exact spot where 

 this fish was taken had the same day been trolled over 

 by a friend and myself, using respectively a gudgeon, 

 and a perch. We may therefore reasonably presume 

 that " Esox " prefers a tench as a dainty morsel to 

 either of these fishes. Moreover, my friend, than 

 whom a more successful angler for pike does not 

 ;xist, tells me that he prefers a tench as a bait for 

 Dike to almost any other kind of fish. — IV. B. N., 

 Asefield. 



Insect-Blights.— Will you allow me to make 

 inquiry through your columns as to the title of any 

 book or books which will give some general informa- 

 :ion on the very interesting subject of insect-blights, 

 iphides, or plant-lice? I have the "Letters of 

 Rusticus," which little volume, so far as it goes, is 

 ldmirable : but what Mr. Newman has done for the 

 jooseberry-grub, the hop-fly, and the turnip-fly, I do 

 rot doubt has been done by some author (if I only 

 vxiew his name) for the innumerable species of fly or 

 tphis, which in some form or other, infests (I believe) 

 ilmost every plant. I think that some such inquiry 

 is this was made a year or two back in the pages of 

 Science-Gossip, by some other correspondent, but 

 elicited no reply. I trust, however, that I may be 

 more fortunate, and shall be truly grateful if any of 

 ^our Entomological readers will help to enlighten my 

 gnorance on this interesting subject, by guiding me 

 the right channel for information. — Alfred Charles 

 Smith, Yatesbury Rectory, Cal/ie. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS AND EXCHANGERS. — As we DOW 



publish Science-Gossip a week earlier than heretofore, we 

 cannot possibly insert in the following number any communi- 

 cations which reach us later than the 9th of the previous 

 month. 



To Anonymous Querists. — We receive so many queries 

 which do not bear the writers' names that we are forced to 

 adhere to our rule of not noticing them. 



To Dealers and others. — We are always glad to treat 

 dealers in natural history objects on the same fair and general 

 ground as amateurs, in so far as the " exchanges " offered are fair 

 exchanges. But it is evident that, when their offers are simply 

 disguised advertisements, for the purpose of evading the cost of 

 advertising, an advantage is taken of our gratuitous insertion of 

 "exchanges" which cannot be tolerated. 



Carex (Fishbourne). — There cannot be any doubt about its 

 being C. panicea (L.). The list for Exchange Club stands as 

 last year. We should imagine the three carices could still be 

 gathered ; two at least have been recorded recently in Ireland. 



G. C. (Highfield). — They are too young to decide with 

 certainty; we believe they are 1. Carex pa?iicea; ?.. C. stricta ; 



3. C. amfiullacca ; 4. C. inuricata ; 5. C. oralis; 6. C. ■vul- 

 pina. Could you let us see more advanced specimens '? 



C. E. S. (Jersey). — They are 1. Asplcnium lanceolaium f 

 2. The same (we think), but a small stunted frond. 



W. J. X. (Ely). — The examples of Batrachian ranunculi 

 are, Nos. 1 and 2 R. trichophyllus (Chaix) ; 3. R.heteropkyllus ; 



4. R. heterophyllus ; a variety approaching R. Jioribundus, 

 (Bab.). 



B. L. B. S. (Bolton). — We could not tell from a single leaf: 

 no doubt flowers will soon be seen, then let us see it. 

 5 ',0'Meara (St. Omer). — Thanks for your kind letter; the 

 specimen enclosed was a variety of beech, named in nursery 

 catalogues Fag-us sylvatica laciniata ; the upper part is pro- 

 bably growing out. You will find it explained in " Trees of Old 

 England," by Grindon. 



F. L. S. — The beetles are Ptinus fur, allied to the Death- 

 watch beetle, and very common in houses. 



G. P. Johnson. — The insect attacking the wine corks is not 

 a beetle but a small moth, CEnophila v-flava. The larvae are in 

 the corks in May and June. Thoroughly dipping in hot wax, 

 so that the coating reaches the glass, leaving no room for the 

 female moth to get at the substance of the cork to lay her eggs 

 in, would be effectual. 



S. J. L'Anson. — We duly received your very beautiful sketch 

 of Calla sEt/iiopica, showing double spathe. It is a phenomenon 

 of frequent occurrence among the Araceie. Dr. Masters has 

 shown that the presence of an increased number of spathes in 

 Calla palustris is associated with the development of a side 

 shoot from the axil of the last leaf, where no shoots usually 

 issue. Your specimen is remarkable for having both spathes on 

 the same level, and evidently of the same size. 



B. H. — The Devon and Cornish coasts, and the shores of the 

 Isle of Man, are the best places we know of for collecting 

 coloured sea-weeds. The neighbourhood of Douglas, Isle of 

 Man, is perhaps unequalled in the British Isles. 



T. Meare (Burnley). — Add some used tea-leaves to the soil 

 where your oak-leaved geranium is growing. We do not think 

 the buds will then wither away as you describe. 



Z. — As far as we can judge from your outline sketch, the 

 creature is the aquatic larva of a dipterous insect (allied to the 

 crane-flies, or "Daddy Longlegs") called Corethra plumicornis. 



E. Viles. — The alga found on the carriage drive is Lyngbya 

 muralis (Ag.), usually found on the ground in early spring, in 

 all damp situations. 



J. W. Harvey. — Please inform us of the locality and habitat 

 of the sponge you sent to be named last January. 



A. Schreiber. — We cannot undertake to name sponges from 

 such small portions as those you sent us. The last specimen 

 sent was evidently a species of Chalonia. 



C. Parkinson (Ventnor). — The "monstrosity " in the species 

 of Ranunculus sent us is due to " fasciation," one of the com- 

 monest of vegetable malformations. It is usually met with 

 when an unusual number of buds are formed in close apposition, 

 when they are liable to be compressed during their growth, so 

 that union takes place among the soft tissues. 



H. Heines. — The "monstrous" condition of the specimen 

 of the water-avens (Gcitm rivale) you kindly sent us, was due 

 to medial floral prolification. It is of most common occurrence 

 among pinks. See Masters' " Teratology," p. 119. Could you 

 send us a few more flowers and leaves of the sapindaceous plant 

 you enquired the name of? Many thanks for the interesting 

 malformed specimens of Arum macnlatuiu. 



R. J. Ward (Lincoln). — Your specimen of Calceolaria, show- 

 ing the three different kinds of malformation of flower, are very 

 interesting. 



Robert M. Christy.— i. The grub is the caterpillar of a 



