March ], 1SG9.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



GO 



stillness, with heads bent a little on one side to 

 catch the melody ; and from time to time gave 

 utterance to their delight in a gentle grunt of 

 satisfaction. The melody that charmed their 

 breasts was one which rose and fell in gentle and 

 continual waves of sound : not very attractive 

 perhaps to educated ears ; but certainly riveting 

 the attention of these untaught creatures, whose 

 desires are commonly supposed to be confined to 

 the quantity and quality of their food, rather than 

 to the enjoyment of the purer delights of sweet 

 sounds. — /. S. Tate. 



Eujiart (Jumart). — Your correspondent, TV". 

 Gain, will find in Buit'on's Natural History (vol. 22, 

 p. 448, of Sonnini's Erench edition) a full descrip- 

 tion of the character and uses of three different 

 varieties of the Jumart (doubtless the animal 

 referred to by Mr. Gain as the Eumart) sprung from 

 the ass and cow, the bull and mare, and the bull and 

 she ass, respectively. Button expresses his disbelief 

 in the existence of all three, deduced partly from 

 actual experiment, and partly from anatomical con- 

 siderations ; and it may, I think, be assumed that 

 such an animal has no real existence. — II. 



Rats and Sugar. — A few weeks ago the 

 employes of an eminent publishing firm in the 

 metropolis missed half a pound of loaf sugar and 

 could not account for its disappearance ; shortly 

 afterwards another half pound was missed, and one 

 day last week, a pound was put in a drawer about 

 I p.m., and by 5 o'clock there was nothing left but 

 the bag with a large hole gnawed in it. Next day a 

 rat was seen running backwards and forwards 

 across the passage, and on being disturbed one lump 

 of sugar was discovered, which he was evidently 

 removing to a safe place from his temporary hiding 

 of the night before. Is it a known fact that rats are 

 so fond of sugar ? A month or two since a rat was 

 caught in the same establishment, and during the 

 night she littered with ten young ones.— A. B. 

 Chelsea, S.JI'. 



Alas poor Hedgehog !— In the July number 

 of Science-Gossip for the year 1SG6, " C. K." 

 states that he observed a hedgehog running about 

 with several bluebottles on it, which were " laying 

 a great number of eggs." Perhaps the following 

 brief notes may interest " C. K." and other corre- 

 spondents who read his query. In August last I 

 caught a hedgehog on the Epsom downs, and 

 brought him home in the hope of a long enjoyment 

 of his company and friendship ; but before he had 

 been in my possession many days my attention was 

 drawn to the fact that flies were in the habit of 

 settling on my pet's nose and about his eyes. 

 Remembering the paragraph above quoted, I kept 

 a close watch upon the hedgehog, but, alas.! it was 

 of no avail, for one day, about two months after the 

 partiality of the flies for our pet had been noticed, 

 he was seized with what appeared to be the cramp, 

 and would eat nothing. The following day he 

 seemed to be much worse ; upon examination a 

 gentle was found crawling out of a small hole close 

 to the eye, and upon further search a considerable 

 number were found among the spines. The poor 

 animal was placed in warm water, by which means 

 several hundred gentles were captured; however, all 

 my work was in vain, for two days after, it was 

 found that he was dreadfully eaten behind the ears, 

 and that his back was in such a state from their 

 ravages that it could be compared to nothing but a 

 sponge. By this time he was too weak to roll him- 



self up when touched, or to raise himself up when 

 placed upon his side ; his breathing, also, was pain- 

 fully laboured. The poor creature was killed, as his 

 case was hopeless, and it did not seem justifiable to 

 allow him to sutler longer, however interesting the 

 experience gained by so doing might have been. 

 On dissection several gentles were discovered 

 among his entrails, which were very much collapsed, 

 and in one lung three of these terrible " parasites " 

 were found. It would accordingly appear that not. 

 only can the larva eat its way through the skin of 

 the living hedgehog, but penetrate far into the 

 body.—//. 11. Mott, Union Grove, Clapham. 



Bare British Animaxs.— I am anxious to 

 ascertain, as correctly as possible, the present 

 distribution of the Badger, the Otter, and the 

 Blackrat (Mm rattui), in the United Kingdom. 1 

 fear all three are being rapidly exterminated. 

 Will any of your correspondents who can testify to 

 the recent occurrence of any of these animals in 

 their own, or any other neighbourhood, kindly 

 oblige by doing so ? Communications on the 

 subject might be sent either to your valuable 

 periodical, or to my own address. I shall be happy 

 to send you a digest of the whole evidence in the 

 course of a few months. — Robert Morton Middleion, 

 J mi., Bunk, West Hartlepool. 



The American Entomologist for January contains 

 interesting articles on the following subjects : — The 

 Apple Root Plant Louse ; The Parasites of the 

 Human Animal ; A Measly Wild Duck ; Strawberry 

 Worms ; The Strawberry Ealse Worm ; Fungoid 

 Growths; Plums for the Million; The Colorado 

 Grassnopper-; The Nine Pronged Wheel Bug ; 

 Grasshoppers in the State of New York ; Universal 

 Remedies, &c. 



Uses of Cockchafers. — Through the columns 

 of the Moniteur Scieniifique one learns that nothing- 

 can be better to grease machines with, and prepare 

 salad than cockchafer oil. In Prussia the people 

 have reached the advanced stage of making cock- 

 chafer flour, which at present is only employed for 

 the purpose of making cakes for young pheasants, 

 partridges, and quails. In this country (Prance) an 

 attempt has been made to introduce the white worm 

 or larva of the cockchafer into the kitchen as a sub- 

 stitute for the snail, but gentlemen who are 

 voracious where Helix pomatia is concerned, turn 

 up their noses at the grub of Meloloutlia vulgaris. 

 A servant of the name of Jonglet proposes to 

 extract from the cockchafer colouring matter which, 

 it is said, will make rapid strides in industry and 

 create a small revolution in the commercial world. 

 He states that he can get yellow out of the 

 obnoxious insect of a colour between chromium and 

 gold, and that each cockchafer yields a few centi- 

 grammes. Several specimens of silk dyed with this 

 new colour have been exhibited and much admired. 

 Taken all in all the cockchafer, what with the 

 amount of manure he furnishes when slain in proper 

 quantities, and the uses above mentioned, stands a 

 fair chance of being classed as a valuable insect, and 

 some day we may hear philanthropic persons calling 

 out against their wanton destruction. — Land ami 

 Water, Jan. 23rd. 



Luminous Centipede (pp. 46 and 47). — The 

 centipede noticed by your correspondent was 

 probably Artl/rouomalus longicornis, which is figured 

 and described in Wood's " Illustrated Natural 

 History." — James Britten. 



