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IJARDWICKE'S SC I E NO E- G O SS 1 P. 



[Nov. 1, 1S69. 



Thr Cuckoo. — A farmer in the north of England 

 caught two young cuckoos, and put them in the 

 same cage. They agreed quite well until the time 

 that it is said these birds migrate, when they fought 

 so violently that the farmer was glad to release them. 

 Will any reader of the Gossip kindly explain this ? 

 — /. Johnson, New Jerusalem Schools, Salford. 



Cement wanted. — Can any reader supply me 

 with a receipt for, or the name of, a cement which 

 could be used " without heat " to fasten sections of 

 teeth to slips of glass, in order to undergo the last 

 stage of grinding ? I have some injected teeth, and 

 have found that placing the sections in hot balsam 

 to make them firmly adhere to slips of glass, makes 

 the injection permeate the coats of the vessels, 

 leaving the whole an indistinct mass. If any one 

 could kindly recommend something, it would greatly 

 oblige — G. C. Gowan, 20, Beauchamp Square, Lea- 

 mington. 



Atmospheric Phenomenon. — I have frequently 

 observed a very interesting appearance in the sky 

 after sunset, of which I have never seen any account 

 in scientific books, and which I think is worthy of 

 the notice of the readers of Science-Gossip. About 

 three- quarters of an hour after sunset on a clear 

 evening, whilst the west is just losing the last glow 

 of the departing sun, there arises in the east, exactly 

 opposite to the place of the setting sun, an arch of 

 shadow thrown upon the sky. Though the edges 

 of the arch soften down gradually into the sky 

 above it, it is, nevertheless, very clearly defined. 

 The summit of the arch is about 20°, or a little more, 

 above the horizon. As the twilight fades away, the 

 shadow is gradually absorbed into the general dark- 

 ness of the night. It seems to me that this arch of 

 darkness is the shadow of the earth projected upon 

 its own atmosphere. It is most frequently to be 

 seen during the winter months, especially when a 

 clear frosty night is coming on. — /. S. Tute. 



Honour to "Whom Honour is Due.— In the 

 Annals of Natural History, for September, 1S57, 

 the following remarks occur, by John Denis Mac- 

 donald, Assistant-Surgeon H.M.S. Herald. The 

 article is entitled, "Observations on the Microscopic 

 Examination of Eoraminifera, obtained in deep-sea 

 bottoms at the Feejee Islands." "I could not help 

 remarking also that the foraminifera themselves 

 closely resembled some of the forms entombed in the 

 chalk-formation of England, and there can be little 

 doubt that these facts will prove of considerable 

 importance in a geological point of view." Hence 

 one important result of the late deep-sea dredgiugs 

 was foreshadowed by Dr. Macdonald twelve years 

 ago. 



Cranesbill Seed. — I think your correspondent 

 " W. T., Ipswich" will find that the carpels of the 

 Herb Robert {Geranium Robertianum) arc furnished 

 with long awns, which do, as I said in my note to 

 Science-Gossip, page 391, act like a screw in fixing 

 the seed into some chink or crevice where it may 

 happen to rest. I simply instanced it as one of the 

 very many proofs given us in Nature of the wise 

 provision made for the dispersion of different plants, 

 as I might have called attention to the way in which 

 the gorse-pod projects the seed, or the dandelion 

 pericarp, crowned with down, becomes wafted by 

 the wind far and wide. I fancy the mistake has 

 arisen from my use of the word " screw," as it gave 

 rise to the idea that I intended to say the awns of 

 the Cranesbill were spirally twisted, whereas, to be 

 quite correct as to terms, I suppose I should have 



written "the awn becomes recurved when it 

 separates from the central axis," and is not 

 "spirally twisted as in Erodium." I think I ought 

 to explain that my little note in the August number 

 of Science-Gossip was written apropos of a notice 

 of the Herb Robert by Mr. James Britten which ap- 

 peared in the June number, and was sent by me to 

 the office long before Mr. Britten's admirable paper 

 on Cranesbills appeared in the July number. Had I 

 seen his observations on the " peculiar method of 

 dispersing seed confined to the Geraniacese," I 

 should not have alluded to the subject at all. — Helen 

 E. Watney. 



Admiral or Admirable. — By which of these 

 names should we call Vanessa Atalanta ? Admiral 

 seems almost like an abbreviation of Admirable ; and 

 yet, so far as I know, the former is the earliest title. 

 Thus on the side of Admiral we have Ray, 1710, 

 and Petiver, 1717 ; while for Admirable may be 

 quoted Albin, 1720, Wilkes, 1773, Harrison, 1775, 

 Shaw, 1806, and Rennie, 1830. But now Admiral 

 seems the popular name. What can it mean? There 

 is some sense in Admirable, as implying excellency. 

 In Germany, I may add, Atalanta is also known as 

 the Admiral.— W. W. S. 



Blue-bottles again.— On page 231 of Science- 

 Gossip for 186S, I gave an account of what I con- 

 sidered a plague of blow-flies, and I have now to 

 describe a greater plague. Last year the surrounding 

 field was cut as hay, and I thought that might have 

 attracted them ; but this year the field has been 

 pastured — so that I am at a greater loss to account 

 for their numbers, or the attraction which has in- 

 duced their presence at the Vicarage, or in my 

 study, a S.-W. upstairs room. Up to the 20th of 

 August, I took no notice of them, except to allow 

 my young cat to climb the windows and catch them, 

 for which diversion she has both skill and relish; but 

 on that day their numbers alarmed me, and in my 

 study alone I caught 727, and 100 the next day; and 

 the numbers then varied from 191 to 96 in the day ; 

 so that on 15 days between Aug. 20 aud Sept. 6, I 

 caught no fewer than 3,919. Windy weather then set 

 in, and Sept. 7th and 8th, none ; 9th, 45 ; 10th, 35 ; 

 11th, 16 ; making in three weeks, 4,015. They then 

 pretty nearly disappeared, until Oct. 6th, when I 

 caught 100; and to-day, Oct. 9th, 100 more. On 

 one or two windy days, when no flies were in the 

 windows, I found numbers in the little crevices in 

 the brick-work of the walls outside. If any reader 

 of Science-Gossip can tell me the cause of their 

 numbers, the nature of the attraction, and the 

 means of preventing or getting rid of them, I shall 

 be much obliged. I may add that there has been 

 the same diversity in size that I noticed last year, 

 the flies varying from the size of the small humble 

 bee to that of a small house-fly ; the great majority 

 of the blue metallic hue, but on some days a large 

 number of the green hue ; and I noticed also the 

 same absence of the house-fly, there having seldom 

 been 1 or 5 in the windows at a time. The preference 

 for my study (except the sunshine) I cannot under- 

 stand, as it is upstairs, S.-W., and all the kitchen 

 offices are downstairs, N.-E.— H. O. S. 



The Badger, the Otter, and the Black Rat. 

 — I have received many interesting letters regarding 

 the present distribution of these animals, but am 

 still in want of accurate information from the Mid- 

 land Counties of England, and from Scotland.- — 

 Robert Morton Middleton, Jun., The Bank, West 

 Hartlepool. 



