March 1, 1SGS.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



71 



Hybernation of the Toad (Bnfo vulgaris). — 

 Can auy of the readers of Science-Gossip give 

 satisfactory evidence respecting the hybernation of 

 this reptile. I have been an observer of nature for 

 many years, but I have not satisfied my mind 

 respecting the whereabouts of the Toad during the 

 winter months. I am aware some persons say it 

 secretes itself under stones, others in cellars, and 

 some suppose they descend to the mud of ponds, 

 when they hybernate. Now I have inquired of 

 persons whose occupation during the winter seasons 

 is to clean out the mud from such places, but have 

 not succeeded in any one instance in proving that 

 they lie torpid in the mud at the bottom of lakes, 

 ditches, &c, nor has a single toad been seen. I 

 have occasionally found one under stones ; but 

 where do the great number go during the winter ? 

 Strange tales have been told concerning this reptile 

 and its hybernating. I should be glad to find any 

 of your readers able to enlighten my darkness on 

 this point. — F. F., Needham Market. 



Ciuckets. — Take a little oatmeal and sprinkle it 

 upon some pieces of paper for two nights, then 

 remove it for one night, and before putting it down 

 again, mix a small quantity of arsenic well with it ; 

 the crickets will eat of this mixture freely, and soon 

 disappear. — James Banner, in " Gardener's Chron." 



Plants Grown in Carmine.— In Beale's "How 

 to Work with the Microscope," he says, page 108, 

 " Lord Osborne stained tissues of plants in a car- 

 mine solution, by allowing them to grow in the 

 same." Is the solution only made with water and 

 carmine, and what proportion of carmine to colour 

 it ? Perhaps some of your readers may be able to 

 assist me. — /. E. T. 



Animalcule. — During the spring-time of the last 

 two or three years I have occasionally and sparingly 

 met with a little ciliated animalcule (I have taken it 

 from ditches), whose name I am desirous of know- 

 ing. "When magnified about two hundred diameters, 

 it appears about the size and shape of an almond ; 

 but its colour is a beautiful pink, the cilia also are 

 very distinct. It is altogether the most beautiful 

 (in my opinion) of the ciliated animalcules I have 

 yet seen. I think it must belong to the Stentor 

 family. A few months back I had access to the 

 Micrographic Dictionary and Pritchard's " Infu- 

 soria," and looked carefully through the plates 

 therein, but failed to identify it — F. G. P. 



Wasp's Nest and Glowworms. — I enclose a por- 

 tion of nest of the common wasp which was recently 

 dug out of a bank of earth in this neighbourhood 

 (Hollington). I was [present at the time, and was 

 somewhat surprised to find nearly the whole of the 

 comb destroyed. On examining the bottom of the 

 nest, I found a great number of the female glow- 

 worm, alive and very active. I at once secured some, 

 and placed them under a glass, with portions of 

 comb ; but by accident they were knocked over 

 and lost. While in durance they were not at all sby, 

 for they not only devoured the delicate sides of 

 cells, but commenced the thick base as well. I 

 watched the insects myself several times, with others 

 with me. — Is this habit of the female glowworm 

 generally known ? 1 am thoroughly convinced that 

 her ladyship can at any time during the winter 

 months be found feeding upon the wood snail, and 

 one thing I have particularly noticed is that never 

 more than one individual is found in a shell. — 

 H. Morgan, Beauport. 



Vegetable Autographs.— Under this title, Sir 

 John Herschel has communicated to the People's 

 Magazine an account of a somewhat singular process 

 for obtaining correct impressions of the caps and 

 gills of the larger fungi — organisms which, as every 

 botanist knows, are exceedingly difficult to preserve in 

 a satisfactory manner. The essential features of the 

 plan are as follows : — The fungi are to be gathered 

 when first about to shed their spores ; the stem is to 

 be detached cleanly with a sharp penknife, and the 

 cap then laid, gills downwards, on a square of clean 

 window glass, previously cut to a suitable size ; a 

 tumbler or basin is then inverted over the specimen, 

 which is allowed to remain undisturbed for about 

 twenty-four hours. "In this interval, the fungus 

 being ripe, the spores will be shed; and, falling 

 vertically, each will take its place on, and being 

 somewhat glutinous, will adhere to the glass." The 

 fungus can then be removed, without touching with 

 the fingers, by the help of a couple of pins, " leaving 

 an exact and most beautifully delicate picture of 

 the underside of the plant." To protect this natural 

 drawing traced by the spores, apply another square 

 of glass of equal size to the original square, and 

 unite them by a little melted sealing-wax inserted 

 between them at the four corners. A little gum- 

 water along the unsealed portions of the edges will 

 effectually secure the specimen from dust. Will 

 some of _ the fungological readers of Science- 

 Gossip give their opinions of the above process ? — 

 W. H. 67. 



[We have for many years followed a similar plan 

 of throwing down the spores of Agarics upon black 

 paper. Except for the colour of the spores, and, 

 perhaps, the distance apart of the gills, the method 

 is of no scientific use. The slightest movement or 

 pressure of one glass upon the other, would destroy 

 the sharpness of the figure, unless sufficient time 

 elapses for the spores to become quite dry before it 

 is applied. — Ed.] 



Smell of Oak Egger Moth. — I have also 

 observed that the recently evolved insect has a 

 strong and peculiar smell, but should like to know 

 if this is an equal degree in both sexes. One year 

 I had many virgin females, some of which laid 

 fertile eggs— C. 0. G. Napier, F.G.S. 



Canadian Cotton. — Science-Gossip (p. 29) 

 gives an extract of a Canadian newspaper referring 

 to Canadian cotton. Might this not be the Asclepias 

 comuta ? Samples of this down were seen in the 

 Canadian Court at the last Paris Exhibition, but 

 they are, I believe, too short of staple to be employed 

 for weaving. American papers spoke also, some 

 time ago, of the Okra plant, which was said to yield 

 a very good and abundant material for paper making; 

 I do not know which special plant they allude to, 

 but I can say many plants of the mallow order have 

 okra, ochro, ochroe, in their vernacular names ; 

 ochro, in British Guyana, West Indies, &c, is the 

 Hibiscus esculentus ; a wild ochro of the Antillas is 

 Malachra capitata ; another, Tumby ochro, a species 

 of Urena ; Bun-okra of Burmah is Urena lobata and 

 multifida, &c. All those plants afford fibres appli- 

 cable, I believe, to paper manufacturing. — B.Melle. 



Gum Tabanuco. — Having lately received from 

 Porto Pico a small sample of this gum, which is 

 employed there when coal fails for making gas, I 

 found it to be the same as the "Besine de Gommier," 

 or gum of Bursera gummifera of Dominica. — 

 B. Melle. 



