42 



HAEDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Feb. 1, 1S69. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Duration of Animal Life. — I was reading 

 some short time since in a periodical, observations 

 almost assertions, relative to the above subject, 

 wherein the writer gave the maximum length of 

 life to birds as ten years. This, from actual expe- 

 rience, I know to be a great mistake. I had a 

 pigeon for twelve years, and he was two years old 

 when I bought him, and thus he was fourteen years 

 old at the time I lost him, and then he was appa- 

 rently as active as ever he was. A relative of mine 

 has a canary, stuffed, that died at nearly eighteen 

 years of age. An acquaintance of mine had a 

 parrot that when I last saw it was ninety-five years 

 old. It was an heirloom from one branch to another, 

 and may be alive now, for aught I know. Poll, 

 like the canary, gave strong evidences of age in her 

 ragged attire. — G. Bullard. 



Gold Crest.— This morning, while sitting at 

 breakfast, I was surprised to see two of those 

 pretty birds, the Golden-crested Wren (Regulus 

 cristatus) come and pitch on a small fir-tree in front 

 of my window, and I watched them with much 

 pleasure, whilst they busily searched the shrubs for 

 their insect food. Is it not a rare occurrence for 

 this bird to approach so near to the haunts of man ? 

 It may interest some of your readers to hear that 

 on the 7th of last month I saw a flock of Fieldfares 

 (Tardus pilaris), or Redwings {Tardus iliacus), pass 

 over this locality; they flew too high for me to 

 distinguish with certainty whether they were birds 

 of the first or second named species.—/. R. E., 

 Downshire Hill, Hempstead. 



New Entomostraca in a Coal-mine. — Mr. 

 Thomas Atthey has discovered a new and interesting 

 species of Entomostraca on the roof of the Low 

 Main, "West Cramlington Colliery, near Newcastle. 

 Under the name of Canthocamptus cryptorum it is 

 described by G. S. Brady in the Quarterly Journal 

 of Microscopical Science for January. 



New British Moth.— At the meeting of the 

 Entomological Society of London (December 7th), 

 Mr. Edward Saunders exhibited a new British 

 Moth (Crambus myellus), allied to C. pinetellus, 

 captured near Aberdeen by Mr. D. E. Brown.— 

 Gardeners' Chronicle. 



Orange Fly (Ceratiles citriperda) has been found 

 at Peckham in Marie-Louise Pears; and no wonder 

 that it has settled in England, seeing how many 

 "maggoty" oranges have come over of late. Lovers 

 of good pears will not be glad to hear that in the 

 absence of oranges this fly accommodates itself with 

 pears. It may in the course of a few years prove to 

 be a real pest. — See Newman's "Entomologist" for 

 January, with figure of the fly. 



On Physalia. — With regard to the remarks of 

 Mr. Gosse, F.R.S;, on my note in Science-Gossip 

 for December, on the Physalia, I would observe 

 that I did not imagine that Mr. Gosse doubted the 

 discharge of a fluid, but that he doubted that the 

 stinging sensation was caused by the fluid alone. I 

 was inclined to think that he was uncertain as to 

 this point from his remarks quoted in my note ; and 

 I felt that my face had borne testimony to very 

 " sensible observation " when smarting from the 

 effects of contact, 7iot with the Physalia, but with 

 my hand, which had been applied to its disc, and 

 had received therefrom the poisonous secretion 

 which it communicated to my face. I can, there- 

 fore, have no doubt, after this, that the symptoms 

 of poisoning are due to an irritant juice emitted, 

 and that it does not require the penetration of any 

 barbs to make its influence felt. Mr. Gosse would 

 appear to imagine that I brought up my experience 

 to prove that contact with the Physalia produces 

 severe irritation of the skin. Such a well-known 

 fact required no further testimony. What I wished 

 to show was, that there is an acrid juice emitted, 

 and that this juice causes the irritation without 

 actual contact with the Physalia ; and therefore I 

 hold that my experience is an additional proof of 

 the pain being caused " by means of an acrid juice 

 discharged " from the animal, which latter quotation 

 from Mr. Bennett was the original cause of the 

 argument. I regret that my former note at p. 279, 

 vol. iii., was not sufficiently clear to prevent a mis- 

 understanding. I had no intention of attempting 

 to prove Mr. Gosse's doubts, but to add an " iota " 

 of evidence towards the support of Mr. Bennett's 

 statement, which latter I think I have done, not- 

 withstanding that Mr. Gosse is of a different opinion. 

 Unhappily, I do not possess Mr. Gosse's valuable 

 work on " Sea-Anemones," so I may be ignorant of 

 a similar circumstance having occurred under that 

 gentleman's own observation. — IF. Wykeham Perry, 

 II. M.S. " Caledonia," Malta, Dec. 22, 1SGS. 



Trichina spiralis.— Dr. Virchow's treatise on 

 the life of Trichina, translated by Dr. 11. K. Browne, 

 is appearing in consecutive numbers of the American 

 " Dental Register." 



Queen of Spain Fritillary (Argynnis la- 

 thonia). — A beautiful specimen of this rare insect 

 was caught by myself in a field at Milton next 

 Gravescnd, the latter part of September last. — 

 II. J. M. Todd, Gravescnd. 



Protection of Sea-birds, &c. — A meeting has 

 recently been held at the Zoological Society of Lon- 

 don, in which the llev. H. B. Tristram, Professor 

 Newton, and others, took part, to carry out the 

 views propounded at the British Association meeting, 

 and to place themselves in correspondence with the 

 Yorkshire Society (see p. 10). 



