May ], 1869.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



107 



Acineta had doubled in size and the Paramecium 

 become little better than a shadow. 



That the juices of the prey pass into the body of 

 the Acineta, there can be no doubt ; but in con- 

 sequence of the extreme fineness of the filaments in 

 A. tuberosa, it is impossible to distinguish any 

 current in them, or the passage of any solid par- 

 ticles. It is doubtful if anything but liquid matter 

 passes through them. 



Acineta, though so quiet-a-looking organism, is in 

 reality a voracious animal, and its filaments are 

 always ready to seize prey. When animalcules 

 abound in its neighbourhood, as many as five or six 

 may be seen at one time in its tenacious grasp. It 

 is among the smaller creatures chiefly that it finds 

 its food. Strong and lively Colpodas, Keronias, and 

 Stylonichas are generally too much for it. Their 

 muscular force enables them to escape from its 

 adhesive touch ; when they do feel it, however, they 

 evince a remarkably lively sense of their danger, and 

 Acineta is exposed to a good deal of shaking and 

 disturbance on the occasion. 



Various forms of Acineta exist : figures of many 

 of which are to be found in Pritcliard's " History of 

 Infusoria." Of the life-history of these curious 

 creatures very little is known. Attention has been 

 paid to them hy several distinguished naturalists : 

 Ehrenberg, Stein, Cienkowsky, Claparede, Lach- 

 mann, and others. Professor Stein considers them 

 to be a developmental phase of various species of 

 Yorticellina ; others regard them as distinct organ- 

 isms, having witnessed the reproduction of similar 

 creatures from germs produced by Acineta. There 

 is undoubtedly a field open here for further micro- 

 scopic investigation, which is likely to repay the 

 diligent observer. They are certainly found where 

 species of Vorticellina exist, and my own observation 

 leads me to the belief that there is a connection 

 between the two organisms ; but only prolonged 

 inquiry, extending over months, can probably settle 

 the point. C. J. M. 



Flycatchers' Pellets. — At a recent meeting 

 of the Zoological Society, Mr. A. D. Bartlett, the 

 well-known superintendent of the society's gardens 

 in the Regent's Park, mentioned that under the 

 nest of a pair of Flycatchers built in his house in 

 the gardens, he used to notice little pills upon the 

 ground, being, as he expresses it, " the most beau- 

 tiful blue pills he ever saw in his life." On exami- 

 nation he found that these little pills were pellets 

 thrown up by the Elycatchers, while the metallic- 

 blue appearance which they presented was caused 

 by the remains of the outside cases of the bodies 

 of blue-bottle flies on which the birds had been 

 feeding.— Quart. Mag. H. Wycombe N. H. Soc, April, 

 1869. 



THE PEEWIT, OP LAPWING 



(Vanellus cristatm). 



Tt/TOST people have tasted Plovers' eggs, or at 

 -L"-'- least have heard of them. They are now in 

 season, and may be obtained from any of the London 

 poulterers for four shillings the dozen. " Rather 

 dear," you will say, when you can get four times 

 the number of hen's eggs for the same money. 

 True, but Plovers do not lay in farmyards, nor in 

 London mews ; and if people will have such deli- 

 cacies, they must pay a price proportionate to the 

 difficulty of procuring them. After all, they do not 

 always get what they pay for, since, from not know- 

 ing a Plover's egg when they see it, they frequently 

 buy eggs of the Redshank, Reeve, Black-tailed 

 Godwit, and even of the Black-headed Gull, instead 

 of the genuine article. But what matter ? They 

 are all equally good, and " where ignorance is bliss," 

 we have some authority for saying " 'tis folly to be 

 otherwise " / It is the fashion to have Plovers' eggs 

 in the season, and when boiled hard with the shells 

 off, who is to say they are not Plovers' eggs ? 



We have often been amused with the observations 

 of 'our young lady friends who sometimes pay a 

 visit to our museum. On going to the egg cabinet 

 with a laudable desire to know something of oology, 

 one of the first remarks is "Have you got any Plovers' 

 eggs?" and on being shown a drawer full of 

 Golden Plover, Lapwing, Dotterel, &c, they are 

 fairly puzzled to say which are the eggs they had at 

 supper the other night. This difficulty overcome, 

 the next question is " Which is the Plover that lays 

 these eggs ?" We have only to point to the pretty 

 graceful Peewit, to elicit a chorus of praise in its 

 favour. The long crest-feathers, glossy green back, 

 black breast, and white underparts, relieved by the 

 chestnut tail-coverts, combined with a certain pert- 

 ness of expression, render it a very attractive 

 bird. 



What pleasant associations are recalled as we 

 gaze at it ! The rough meadow where we first 

 found the eggs, as a boy, and watched with delight 

 the wonderful evolutions of the parent birds, as 

 with plaintive cry they wheeled and tumbled in the 

 air before us. The oozy mud-flats, with the inter- 

 secting creeks/.down which we urged our punt in 

 May and August after Curlew, Godwit, and Grey 

 Plover ((the mud there was sometimes black with 

 Peewits). The brown and purple moor-side, where 

 we found the Peewit in the midst of Grouse, Curlew, 

 Golden Plover, and other north-country friends. 

 The quaking bog, where in winter we have shot 

 now a Peewit, now a Snipe, and the next minute 

 missed a Jack. The old pollard in the water 

 meadow, where we used to wait at night for ducks, 

 and on blank nights make up for a disappointment 

 by bagging Peewits. Such are the scenes which it 



