May 1, 1869.] 



HABDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



113 



ZOOLOGY. 



Artemia salina in America.— In a paper 

 entitled "Animal from Salt Lake," in your last 

 number, I see that your correspondent S. A. Biggs 

 states he knows of no authority who has noticed the 

 presence of Artemia salina in American waters. I 

 beg, however, to refer him to a paper of my father's 

 published in the Philosophical Magazine, November 

 and December, 1S6S, * in which he notices the 

 presence of large numbers of crustaceaus,* which he 

 believed to be A. salina, in Owen's Lake, California. 

 The waters of this lake at the time of his visit, 

 January, 18GC, had a specific gravity of 1'076, and 

 on analysis afforded the following results in an 

 imperial gallon : — 



Chloride of sodium 2,942'05 grains. 



Sulphuric acid 5S9']2 „ 



Carbonic „ 1,206-80 „ 



Silicic „ 55'34 „ 



Phosphoric „ 1 543 „ 



Potash 175-49 „ 



Soda 2,127-07 „ 



Organic matter 16'94 „ 



7,l2S-24 

 This water was so strongly alkaline that speci- 

 mens of the crustaceans preserved in a bottle of 

 it entirely disappeared a short time after death ; 

 thus showing that, as soon as vitality had ceased, a 

 chemical action set in, by which their bodies were 

 rapidly dissolved. — A. G. Phillips, Cressington Park, 

 Aigburth, Liverpool. 



Early Birds.— Though not much of an orni- 

 thologist myself, I know that the dates of arrival on 

 our coasts of migratory birds are interesting 

 to such as are. I live close to the sea-beach 

 at Worthing, the road and narrow Esplanade 

 only dividing my house therefrom, and on getting 

 up this morning (April 7) and taking my customary 

 " look out " at the weather, I saw flitting about on 

 the beach and Esplanade many birds which turned 

 out to be wheat-ears in beautiful plumage. They 

 had evidently only just or very lately arrived, many 

 of them being heavy iu their flight, and apparently 

 dazed ; otherwise they would not have been seen on a 

 public esplanade, and even iu the road just close to 

 the houses. 



April 8th. — I saw two swallows coursing along 

 the shore to-day. — W. Hambrough, Worthing. 



Bat Dying of Bright.— A rat had done con- 

 siderable damage for weeks, and could not be 

 caught— he was too cunning for that. It had a hole, 



* " Notes on the Chemical Geology of California," by 

 J. Arthur Phillips. 



into which it ran the moment the door was opened 

 at the other side of the office, and on one occasion 

 my brother-in-law happened to get in comparatively 

 unobserved by the gentleman. lie clapped his foot 

 over the hole : the rat made a dash at his foot ; 

 found the exit closed; reared on his hind legs; 

 uttered a piercing shriek — fell back, and died. — 

 G. II. B. 



The Bittern. — The Bev. Bd. Lubbock, in his 

 "Fauna of Norfolk," published in 1845, says, "I 

 believe that a few pairs [of Bitterns] still regularly 

 breed around our larger broads." That it has done 

 so of late years is very doubtful, but from its re- 

 tiring habits an occasional nest may have escaped 

 notice. However, on the 28th of March, 1868, two 

 eggs were actually taken from a nest at Upton, and 

 on the 25th May of the same year a young bird was 

 taken alive in the same locality. This came into the 

 possession of a Mr. Bell, of Norwich, who has been 

 good enough to allow me to see it several times, 

 and upon inquiring a few days since, I was informed 

 it was still alive and well. Although the Bittern is 

 not included in the list of birds to which the " Sea- 

 bird Protection " Act will extend, still I hope this 

 much-needed enactment will, by discouraging the 

 use of the gun during the breeding season, to some 

 extent afford its shelter to many others than those 

 enumerated in its preamble. There is ample shelter 

 for the Bittern ; all that is required is that it should 

 be allowed to remain unmolested. How readily 

 birds will return to an old breeding-place, should 

 circumstances permit, even after it has been ren- 

 dered unsuitable for their purposes for many years, 

 is remarkably shown in the case of the return of 

 the Black Terns to their old quarters after the 

 inundation of the winter of 1852-3, when four 

 pairs remained to breed in Southny Pen. One 

 pair, I regret to 'say, was shot, and the eggs of 

 the other three pairs were taken.— T. Southwell, 

 Norwich. 



Helix nemoralis. — This species is abundant on 

 the sand-hills, Deal ; but although I have examined 

 a large number, I never saw the violet-brown variety 

 there, the latter being common enough iu the ad- 

 joining hedges ; in fact, about ninety per cent, are 

 yellow, the rest being pink, and the prevailing 

 variety is the single-banded yellow one; the five- 

 banded yellow sort, the type of the species, being 

 uncommon. The specimens from the sand-hills are 

 also notably larger than those from the neighbouring 

 hedges. I have two specimens, one from the sand- 

 hills, about if of an inch in diameter ; and the other 

 from a hedge, *s ln diameter ; but, of course, this is 

 an extreme case : they seem to thrive well close to 

 high-water mark, but lose a good deal of their 

 colours in such situations.— H. C. Leslie, 3, Sundown, 

 Deal. 



