282 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Dec. 1, 1869. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



• 



St. Maey Redcliff, Bristol. — Doubtless many 

 of your readers have visited the church of St. Mary 

 Redcliff, Bristol, and seen a singular bone, appa- 

 rently a rib, which rests on the capital of a pillar at 

 the west end of the north aisle. Some perhaps may 

 have also heard the tradition which is somewhat 

 current, that it is the rib of a " dun cow which at 

 one time supplied the whole of Bristol with milk." 

 Rumour also adds there are several other ribs of 

 the same animal preserved in various parts of 

 England. Can any one give any satisfactory ac- 

 count of this relic— when and why it was placed 

 in the church, — and state what truth there is in the 

 vulgar tradition ? Is any other place known to con- 

 tain similar remains ?— H. N. 



Vanessa tjrticje. — Mr. E. J. D. Hinton asks, 

 in your last impression, whether the small tortoise- 

 shell butterfly {Vanessa vertical) has not been rather 

 scarce during the past summer. He says that he 

 only remembers to have seen it on one occasion. 

 Mr. W. Bevan Lewis has had quite a different ex- 

 perience, for he has found these insects particularly 

 abundant. My own experience is exactly similar. 

 During the greater part of the spring and summer 

 of this year I was staying in the vicinity of Berwick- 

 on-Tweed, and have been much surprised at the 

 abundance of these butterflies. Erom the beginning 

 of June until nearly the end of August I saw num- 

 bers on the wing almost every day._ Towards the 

 end of the former month, from a single clump of 

 nettles, about a yard square, I took, in a few 

 minutes' time, between fifty and sixty larvae, and I 

 am sure there were hundreds more. With the 

 exception of about half a dozen which died before 

 they entered the pupa state, all the caterpillars 

 successfully underwent their transformations. Some 

 of the excluded butterflies were very fine and large 

 specimens. Others were very small; I suppose 

 because the larvae were not sufficiently well fed. 

 Whether the vicinity of Berwick-on-Tweed is ordi- 

 narily a good locality for the small tortoise-shell, I 

 cannot tell, but this year they were exceedingly 

 numerous.—/. Landels, Regent's Pari. 



Cats.— In the August number of Science-Gossip 

 my friend Captain Noble related some instances of 

 the sagacity of his favourite cat Brownie. Since 

 then, while on a visit at his house, I witnessed a 

 curious habit of the same animal which was omitted 

 in his communication. If any one in her presence 

 commences whistling a plaintive air Brownie will 

 presently go to him, climb into his lap, and raising 

 herself on her hinder legs will put her mouth 

 close to that of the whistler. Captain Noble's 

 view of the motive is that the cat imagines the per- 

 former to be in pain, and thus endeavours to ex- 

 press her sympathy. One day, when sitting round 

 the table after dinner, we each for experiment at- 

 tracted the animal in turn, who on the above sup- 

 position must have thought we were suffering from 

 an epidemic, as each of us in succession exhibited 

 the same symptoms. It is necessary that the air 

 whistled should be of a plaintive character, as I 

 found by commencing a lively measure, which 1 had 

 to change. In my boyhood we had a cat which had 

 a habit very similar. If I laid myself down on the 

 sofa and made a moaning sound the cat would jump 

 up and hover about me, as if anxious to find out 

 what was the matter. Another curious and dog- 

 like habit of Brownie's is her growling at any beg- 



gars that approach the house. One day, to exhibit 

 this propensity, Mrs. Noble arrayed herself in 

 cloak and bonnet, and leaning on a stick with a 

 stooping gait slowly drew near the dining-room 

 window where the cat was stationed. At first the 

 animal appeared silent with astonishment, but on 

 the supposed mendicant going round to another win- 

 dow, Brownie growled her displeasure very audibly 

 — it was evident with due appreciation of her 

 master's position as a magistrate. It may be added 

 that the cat was then turned outside the house, and 

 after a minute or so she seemed by her inattention 

 to have detected the ruse. — George Guyon, Ventnor, 

 Isle of Wight. 



Here's a Radish !— Having just dug up a radish 

 of unusual size, I send you the measurement, think- 

 ing it rather remarkable. Length, about 12 inches ;' 

 girth at largest diameter, 13 inches ; and greatest 

 diameter, more than 4 inches. 1 have it now in my 

 possession, and fancy it is the largest radish of the 

 ordinary kind ever grown. — C. S. Bentley. 



Lina fopuli. — In reference to the note attached 

 to the article thus headed in the JNovember num- 

 ber, there never has been, or could be, the least 

 possible real confusion between Chrysomelida> and 

 Coccinellidee.. In the former, the tarsi are tetra- 

 merous, having four apparent joints. In the latter, 

 they are trimerous, with only three. All the genera 

 mentioned, Timarcha, &c, are absolutely sub-genera 

 of Chrysomela proper, and not only several genera 

 of Chrysomelidtf, but the families of Gallerucidce and 

 Halticidte intervene between L. populi and the 

 Coccinellidee. — R. 



"High Wycombe Journal." — The October num- 

 ber of this local journal contains an elaborate paper, 

 with a coloured plate, of the " Crested Kingfishers 

 of Africa." We cannot discover from the paper 

 itself, or any other source, what connection there 

 possibly can be between Madagascar and Bucks, or 

 the Kingfishers of Africa and High Wycombe. We 

 would suggest, as an equally pertinent subject for 

 a future number, " The Cassowary of Timbuctoo." 



"Everybody's Year-book" for lS70ispublished, 

 and contains a budget of useful and entertaining 

 information. It deserves to make its title good by 

 being in everybody's possession at the beginning of 

 the year. 



Insect Attractions.— Observing tbat " S. J.B." 

 wishes to know whether Lepidoptera have been 

 before observed to be attracted to the juice of a 

 wounded tree, I beg to inform him that 1 have seen 

 and caught not only V. utulanta, but also V. poly- 

 chloros and6r. C.-albumun&erthe same circumstances 

 as those he relates, but I do not call to mind ever 

 seeing members of other families of butterflies at- 

 tracted in a similar way. I have also taken (and 

 this is a useful hint) the two first-mentioned insects 

 on the stains of the sugar of the night before. Has 

 Mr. Williams tried spirits of salt to clean shells 

 with ?— W. H. 



Starfish. — I have always understood that star- 

 fish, if eaten, produced all the symptoms of irritant 

 poisoning, not only on cats, but on any animal that 

 should be unlucky enough to eat one ; and I was 

 considerably astonished , therefore, when I was 

 gravely informed that they were " good for pigs." 

 Some few years ago I was living at St. Leonard's- 

 on-Sea, and. starfish vere very abundant ; I cannot 

 say if it is generally the case there, but 1 remember 



