May 1, 18G9.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



117 



Littorina littorea. — An instance of the power 

 of this mollusk to live out of its native element 

 came before me lately, and may not be uninterest- 

 ing to readers of Science-Gossip. — On the 13th of 

 February I procured some specimens from Rothesay, 

 for the purpose of examining the odontophore; but 

 as other tilings demanded attention at the time, I 

 put them in a tin-box till their turn should come. 

 On going to look at them a fortnight after, I was 

 astonished to find them alive, and rolling out their 

 dry and thirsty tongues as if craving a drop of water. 

 Not having any sea-water at command. I placed 

 them in fresh water, and kept them there for a day ; 

 but they did not seem to take to it, retiring to the 

 remotest recesses of their domicile. They were agaiu 

 placed in their iron prison, and daily watched till 

 the 8th of March, up to which time they remained 

 active, pushing out their tentacles, and contracting 

 instantly when touched, though apparently with 

 diminishing strength. On looking at my prisoners 

 shortly afterwards, the vital spark had fled. A pur- 

 pura, their companion, died in a few days after its 

 removal from the shore. — Wm. Haddin, Glasgow. 



The Hag-fish, or Borer, (Myxine glutinosa). — 

 I hear that this creature is common on the east 

 coast of England. I am unable to procure a speci- 

 men hereabouts, and I am much in want of one, 

 being engaged in the study of the Cyclostomata. If 

 any one who has the opportunity of getting one fit 

 for dissection, will forward it to me, I shall be ex- 

 ceedingly obliged. — Major Holland, Bury Cross, 

 Gosport. 



VoRTiCELLyE.— H. Ashby says, in the April num- 

 ber of the Gossip, that the newly separated Vor- 

 ticella "swims off to hang on its own hook, or rather 

 its own thread." This statement is frequently made. 

 Have any of my fellow-readers and observers seen a 

 thoroughly satisfactory instance of the development 

 of the "stalk" from a newly-formed or divided Vor- 

 ticella?— a. S. K, Louthport. 



The Toljien. — A huge granite rock, extensively 

 known as "the Tolmen," in the parish of Constan- 

 tine, Cornwall, was destroyed during the past month. 

 The famous block was oval in shape and weighed 

 about 800 tons ; it was 33 feet long, 14 feet high, 

 and 19 feet in breadth. It rested on the point of 

 two detached rocks, and underneath it was a free 

 passage. One of the supporting rocks was blown 

 down, and the Tolmen fell into a quarry, a distance 

 of 40 feet— The Times. 



Having been informed some weeks ago by the 

 Rev. Mr. Winwood that the Tolmen was in danger, 

 I put myself in communication with the proprietor, 

 Mr. Haskin, intending to offer some compensation 

 for, or, if possible, to acquire it permanently for the 

 nation ; but I was assured that there was no reason 

 for any anxiety on the subject. The mischief done 

 is of course irreparable, but every right-minded man 

 must condemn the wanton barbarism of him who 

 has thus destroyed, for the mere sake of the granite 

 on which it stood, a monument which old Borlase 

 called the " most astonishing of its kind." — Sir John 

 Lubbock, in the Times. 



Cats before a Storm. — I have often seen our 

 cat scratching or clawing — a chair, for instance — 

 before a storm, and have not observed it at other 

 times. One fine evening, a friend, seeing her at it, 

 observed, "We shall have a storm to-night;" and 

 so we had. Query. — Are cats aware of an approach- 

 ing storm ?—J. H. 



The round-leaved Sundew.— In reply to Mr. 

 Spicer's query, I may say that I have twice seen 

 flies caught on the ciliated leaves of the Sundew, 

 Drosera rotundifolia and B. anglica, and many times 

 L have seen dead flies, gnats, and aphides in these 

 minute traps of Plora, as a lady now with mc has 

 also. Our observations were made on some bogs in 

 the neighbourhood of Poole, where the Sundews 

 were very common. 1 also proved the reputed corro- 

 sive character of the juice adhering to the irradiating 

 hairs of these plants, as described in my little book 

 of science for boys, "Tommy Try," p. 220 : — "I care- 

 fully collected with a pin about a grain of this viscid 

 secretion in a homoeopathic bottle, and used it for 

 some experiments. I found it vesicated the skin, 

 even when applied in the most minute proportion, 

 and when the eyes of insects were touched with it, 

 they were more affected than by the most corrosive 

 mineral poisons." — C. 0. Groom Napier. 



Sundew. — In reply to W. W. Spicer, 1 beg to 

 say that on two occasions I have found the leaf of 

 Brosera rotundifolia rolled over so as to enclose a 

 fly. On the last occasion a leaf had in it one living 

 fly, but so covered with the viscous fluid secreted 

 by the glandular hairs as to be without any chance 

 of escape ; and also the remains of another fly, ap- 

 parently of the same species, which had probably 

 dismembered itself in efforts to escape from its 

 " Slough of Despond." The hairs were interlaced 

 just as in Bioua>a, but of course not so closely. — 

 Robert Ansloio, Wellington, Salop. 



Sundew. — When in Hampshire two years ago, 

 I often found Brosera rotundifolia with small flies, 

 dead, enclosed by the hairs on the leaves, but I 

 never saw one in the act of being caught.— W. H. 

 Beeby. 



A _ Geological Puzzle (p. 95).— A change of 

 conditions similar to that shown by "W. B.'s" sec- 

 tion is by no means uncommon. Is not each seam 

 of coal underlaid by a bed of shale, its "underclay," 

 and overlaid by another bed of shale, its "roof"? 

 To explain such alterations of strata, we have only 

 to imagine a submerged tract of land, first raiseel 

 above the surface of the water, and then, after a 

 time, again submerged ; and this frequently occurs, 

 even in the present day.— John Hoplcinson. 



Tennyson as a Naturalist — Violets under 

 Ash-trees. — I think here our poet has used poetic 

 license, for I have almost invariably found the 

 vicinity of ash-trees detrimental to all other vegeta- 

 tion. _ An ash-tree in the neighbourhood of a field 

 is quite sufficient to make the grass scanty, I have 

 often seen it almost entirely eradicated by it ; and 

 even in a wood it exercises a baneful effect on the 

 growth of all surrounding trees. Some botanists 

 say that this is occasioned by the great amount 

 of nutriment which the Ash absorbs from the soil, 

 rendering it but a poor support for vegetation ; 

 others that the plant itself is poisonous. I incline 

 to the last hypothesis, for the leaves are known to 

 be detrimental to sheep and cows. Elder is another 

 tree which appears to do no good to its neigh- 

 bours, and few birds will build in it. — C. 0. Groom 

 Napier. 



Hagg-Worm.— A short time ago the pages of the 

 Gossip were enlivened with a discussion about the 

 term Hagg. Referring to which, I would state that 

 in this neighbourhood the common green snake is 

 called "hagg-worm." — Wm. Wheldon. 



