Feb. 1, 1SG9.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



47 



of sand arranged in a row, and all moving about 

 very quickly. We took it up and carried it to the 

 light, and found that it was an animal like a centi- 

 pede, only a good deal longer, more slender, and with 

 many more legs. It is very common in the kind of 

 places in which centipedes are found. On going to 

 the British Museum I saw an animal that I thought 

 was the same, called Geophilus carpophagus. The 

 luminosity did not seem to proceed from a wound, 

 as it was all over from head to tail. — A'. W. 



An Ejectment for Ants. — A lady for many 

 years has had the misfortune to have her best plums 

 and pears infested with ants, so that the inside of 

 the ripe fruits has been partially filled with these 

 little creatures. Boiling water, lime, salt, tobacco- 

 water, aloes, guano, were tried and failed ; indeed, 

 as one of your correspondents said, those articles 

 appeared to agree with them, and made them more 

 lively than ever. An old gentleman gave informa- 

 tion that train-oil would give ants a clear ejectment. 

 On going to purchase the oil, the druggist said it 

 would be a more certain mixture if one ounce of 

 the flowers of sulphur were mixed with two pints of 

 the train-oil. This mixture was applied with a 

 whitewash brush on the wall and on the trunks of 

 the trees for the height of two yards. The effect 

 has been that only one ant has been seen during the 

 last summer, and none of the fruit infested by 

 them.— John Higginbottom , F.B.S.J., Nottingham. 



Laurel-berries, &c— The question asked by Mr. 

 E. J. Battersby, in a recent number of Science- 

 Gossip, is one attended witli much interest, and 

 relates to a subject but little attended to by 

 botanists generally. It is a well-known fact that 

 the common Laurel (Cerastes Lauro-cerasus), which 

 must not be confounded with the true Laurel of 

 the ancients (Laurus nobilis), contains a virulent 

 secretion— prussic acid— in large quantities. It is 

 also well known that the fleshy portion of its dark 

 purple berries, as they are erroneously called, is 

 edible when perfectly ripe; in fact, I have eaten 

 them myself in large quantities without experiencing 

 anything unwholesome; still I have doubts as to 

 whether the kernels do not contain a poisonous 

 principle, as do those of the delicious peaches, 

 nectarines, &c, of our gardens. Instances are on 

 record of death having been occasioned by partaking 

 of them in quantity. I am of opinion that Laurel- 

 " berries" (drupes) are poisonous whilst in a young 

 state, their flavour at that period being similar to 

 that of the leaves. Why any particular plant (or 

 order) should absorb and secrete in itself prussic 

 acid, as the Laurel ; Solanine, as by the Solanums : 

 Atropine, as by the "Deadly Nightshade (Atropa 

 Belladonna); 1 'heiue, as by the Tea shrub (Thea), 

 &c, is a mystery difficult to explain. Why should 

 apples, pears, and other of our common fruits differ 

 in flavour ?_ Take apples, for example. There aie 

 in cultivation several thousand named varieties; 

 yet_ out of this immense collection scarcely two 

 varieties can be named as possessing exactly the 

 same flavour. In the case of varieties, as in the 

 example already named, it is highly probable that 

 all the natural secretions are present, such as malic 

 acid, sugar, &c. ; but that they exist in different 

 proportions in nearly every variety, and thus occa- 

 sion differences of flavour. It may be asked, What 

 causes the secretions to exist in different proportions 

 in separate varieties ? I have asked this question 

 many times ; 1 have put it to some of the leading 

 horticulturists with whom 1 have had the oppor- 

 tunity of conversing; and never yet received a 



decided answer. It is only by patient observation 

 that we can wrest many of Nature's secrets from 

 her grasp. Some of her problems are difficult to 

 solve, and can only be thoroughly mastered by con- 

 tinual observation and well-directed study.— F. W. 

 Burbidge, Somerby, Oakham. 



October Lilac. — "During the past autumn, I 

 have, on two separate occasions, observed the com- 

 mon Purple Lilac in bloom. In one instance, it is 

 but fair to state that the plant had been forced the 

 previous spring. In the other case, the plant com- 

 menced its growth very early in the spring, being 

 in a warm, sheltered situation, and the summer 

 being hot and dry, the wood became ripened early. 

 The autumnal rains _ started some of the most 

 prominent buds, and it produced several clusters of 

 beautiful and delicately-perfumed purple flowers, 

 which, according to rule, ought not to have ap- 

 peared' until the succeeding spring.— F. W. Bur- 

 bidge, Somerby, Oakham. 



Spiders suspending a Stone.— Might not the 

 stone referred to by " J. E. D.," p. 2S3, as sus- 

 pended from a spider's web, have been used by the 

 spider appertaining thereto as a means of keeping 

 its web distended, or to steady it from the effects 

 of the wind ?— F. W. Burbidge, Somerby, Oakham. 



Luminous Worm. — One evening in September 

 last I observed and captured a centipede, which 

 emitted a light so much similar to that of a glow- 

 worm, that at the time (it being nearly dark) I 

 mistook it for one. I was surprised, upon examin- 

 ing it in the light, to find it a centipede. After 

 having had it in my hands some minutes, I placed 

 it under a glass for future examination ; and upon 

 going into a dark room my hands shone as though 

 I had rubbed them with a piece of phosphorus. 

 This luminous appearance I found resulted from 

 a minute quantity of viscid matter which had 

 adhered to my fingers whilst I was examining 

 the polypodian luminary itself. The specimen 

 I observed was to all appearance perfect and 

 uninjured, and shone brightly at times as it moved 

 quickly along a gravel path. In reply to the re- 

 marks of Mr. G. J. Dew, I would say that I 

 believe the "insect" he refers to in the December 

 number of Science-Gossip does naturally emit a 

 light, although such light may shine much brighter 

 when the "insect" suffers from a fracture, as Mr. 

 Dew states was the case with the specimen he 

 observed. The luminous centipede observed by 

 myself, and which I have no doubt is identical with 

 the one seen by Mr. Dew, was nearly two inches 

 long, slender, very active, and of a pale yellow 

 colour. Probably some of the correspondents of this 

 periodical may have observed this luminous pheno- 

 menon, and be able to furnish us with its scientific 

 appellation. — F. W. Burbidge, Somerby, Oakham. 



What are the specific Differences between 

 Potent ill a tormentilla and Potentilla reptans? — 

 Potentilla reptans, the common creeping cinquefoil, 

 has a filiform creeping stem ; Potentilla tormentilla 

 (tormentil) an ascending dichotomous one. P. 

 reptans has quinate leaves and obovate leaflets ; the 

 P. tormentilla ternate leaves and elliptical lanceolate 

 leaflets. They are not quite so serrated (toothed) 

 as those of the P. reptans. These are, I believe, the 

 chief specific differences between the two plants, 

 for we often find a tormentilla with five petals and a 

 ten-parted calyx, and the different species of Poten- 

 tilla are sometimes found varying with four or five 

 petals. — Helen E. Wutuey. 



