Feb. ], 1869.] 



HARDWICKE'S SC 1EN CE-GOS SI P. 



41 



GUDGEON SCALE. 



"TX7E give a magnified figure of the scale of tbe 

 ™ * Gudgeon {Gohio fluviatilis) because it is one 

 of the " common objects " which is not so well 

 known to microscopists as it ought to be. There is 

 a great similarity in the structure of this scale and 

 that of the Perch, but the differences are quite 

 sufficient to make both of them equally desirable 

 for the cabinet. The scales are small and beauti- 



Fig. 38. Scale of Gudgeon x 12. 



fully transparent, so that they can scarcely be sur- 

 passed, even by the scale of the "Sole" as objects 

 for the polariscope. The magnifying power under 

 whicb the woodcut is drawn is slightly higher than 

 that of the scales figured at page 13. 



THE WINTER HOME OF THE 

 HUMBLE BEE. 



T T is a very pleasant thing for a lover of nature 

 -*• resident iii the country to have a friend with 

 tastes somewhat similar to his own, to join him in 

 his evening walks, and with him to explore favourite 

 haunts in search of some of the treasures of natural 

 history. 



One evening, late in the month of August, in 

 company with such a friend, I enjoyed the pleasure 

 of an agreeable search in a very pleasant and ex- 

 tensive demesne. My special object was to obtain 

 beetles, as I was then engaged in the examination 

 of the gastric teeth of some of the Coleoptera. 

 While searching in a sheltered grove that bordered 

 upon a meadow, we happened to turn up a large 

 stone that was slightly embedded in the earth, and, 

 from its position and appearance, had evidently lain 

 a long time without any disturbance of place. We 



found that the under-surface of the stone was quite 

 flat, and that it lay upon a smooth bed of clay, to 

 which it fitted very closely. Near the centre of 

 this bed, and about eight inches from its nearest 

 margin, there was a spot, nicely hollowed out, of 

 rather more than an inch in length ; the width and 

 depth were each about three-fourths of an inch. 

 In this hollow bed there was a humble bee. The 

 bee was lying on its side, and was alive, but not 

 very active (fig. 39). The flat bottom of the stone 

 had formed a close covering for the cell, and we 



Fig. 39. Humble Bee at home. 



could not discern any marks of the passage by which 

 the bee had found access to its place, nor could we 

 see any traces of the earth that had been removed 

 by the bee when forming the cell. The shelter and 

 protection of the spot were very complete. We 

 concluded that we had happened upon the winter 

 quarters of a female bee, where the period of her 

 comparative torpidity would have been passed until 

 the return of the warm days of the following 

 spring ; and from her position in her winter home, 

 we recognized an applicability in the specific name 

 of the bee as the Bombus terrestris. 

 Armagh. Lewis G. Mills, LL.B. 



Microscopic Objects — February. — Water- 

 fleas and the Green Hydra may be found in pools 

 and ditches. The pollen of Tussilago frugrans, very 

 pretty. That of Corylus avellana exhibit the pollen 

 tubes when treated with weak sulphuric acid. 

 Hairs of Senecio vulgaris. The stellate and com- 

 pound hairs of the ivy and the torulose hairs of 

 Lamitim album. — H. G. G. 



