July 1, 1S63.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



1G7 



eighteen male moths in the three nights. I took 

 them all away but one, as on former occasions ; so I 

 put the female on the garden with the male that 

 was left. The following morning both were gone, 

 and I have not seen any since. Where could these 

 moths have come from ? I cannot conceive, never 

 before having caught but one in the garden. How 

 could they know the female was there ? The cage 

 stood up in a corner ; it has thick canvas sides, so it 

 is comparatively dark inside (this I should say hap- 

 pened in a densely crowded part of Islington). There 

 is no perceptible aroma from the Ermine, as in 

 the Liparis auriflua, &c. — T. E. F. 



Spiders. — I see several correspondents speak of 

 the "supposed" poisoning powers of the spider. 

 Could not one who is expert in anatomizing them 

 get a little of the poison on the point of a needle, 

 and try its effect? I see Mr. Ponton speaks of the 

 bite of a spider proving fatal as an unreliable story. 

 All I can say is that at the Cape there is a large 

 spider, which they usually call the Tarantula, of 

 which the natives are somewhat afraid; but I never 

 heard of its doing much damage. I had a boy who 

 was bitten by one so as to make his finger bleed, but 

 no further effect followed, so that in this case the 

 poison was not very strong, and I don't remember 

 hearing of any one being much the worse.— E. T. S. 



A pleasant incident in the proceedings of the 

 last meeting of the Royal Microscopical Society, on 

 the 10th ult., was the admission as a Eellow of the 

 society of Arthur E. Durham, Esq., president of the 

 Quekett Microscopical Club, during his period of 

 office. The president, Mr. Glaisher, departing from 

 the usual formula, expressed on behalf of the Royal 

 Microscopical Society the sincere pleasure he felt in 

 admitting as a Eellow the president of a society 

 established for the promotion of the same objects 

 and for the study of the same department of science. 

 He regarded Mr. Durham's presentation of himself 

 for election as an indication of good feeling on the 

 part of the Club over which he presided, and as a 

 graceful act which would have the effect of drawing 

 closer together two societies which should be mu- 

 tually useful to each other. The hearty and pro- 

 longed applause and shouts of " Bravo ! " which 

 followed, showed how truly the president had ex- 

 plained the feeling of the Eellows present. Mr. 

 Durham warmly reciprocated the compliment paid 

 him, amidst repeated cheers. It is with the greatest 

 gratification that we chronicle this rapprochement of 

 the two societies. "We trust that the little estrange- 

 ment from each other which has existed is now at 

 an end, and that the hand-shaking of their two pre- 

 sidents may be taken as a harbinger of their future 

 unity and friendly intercourse.— Land and Water. 



The Cuckoo.— Can any reader say, from actual 

 observation, in what way the cuckoo deposits her 

 egg in the nest of the small bird she may select ? 

 I have looked into Yarrell, Mudie, Jeiiyns, and 

 other writers on Ornithology, and all are silent on 

 the subject. In the "Edinburgh Encyclopaedia" 

 (article" Ornithology"), I find that " Levaillant men- 

 tions that he has seen the female of an African species 

 swallow the egg and retain it in the oesophagus till 

 she dropped it into the nest, and that the same has 

 been observed of the common species." Now it is 

 physically impossible that a bird the size of the 

 cuckoo can accommodate her body to the nest of 

 the hedge-sparrow, wagtail, &c, for the ordinary 

 process of laying. In some instances the nest 

 selected is placed in a situation that the bird could 



not enter. A relative informs me that last vear he 

 saw in the gardens of Seizerrcote House, Gloucester- 

 shire, a wagtail's nest, in which was a young cuckoo, 

 built under a stone shell that formed the basin of a 

 fountain, the shell resting on the gravel path. I 

 think, therefore, that it is probable she carries the 

 egg in the beak or throat until she finds a suitable 

 nest— perhaps directed to it by the call of the foster 

 bird. In the "Edinburgh Encyclopaedia" (article 

 " Ornithology"), it is recorded that there have been a 

 few well-authenticated instances of the cuckoo build- 

 in? a nest and breeding in the ordinary manner." 

 " The Hon. Davies Barrington quotes three 

 instances— one occurring in Derbyshire, another 

 within a few miles of London, and the last in 

 Merionethshire." Are there anv known recent 

 instances of the kind ? The habits of this inte- 

 resting bird, and the " reason why " she adopts so 

 strange a mode of breeding, require further investi- 

 gation.- W. W. 



Reptiles and_ Eisn Remains.— Mr. Barkas 

 directs our attention to his paper at p. 104, and 

 the remarks thereon at p. 142; and from evidence 

 supplied, we are at once led to exonerate him from 

 any intentional desire to suppress Mr. A. Hancock's 

 name. The circular of December 9, 1S67, issued by 

 the Tyneside Club, announces one of the papers 

 " by Thomas Atthey." The circular of the same 

 club for April 10, 1SGS, appears to be the first 

 which announces a conjoint paper by Messrs. 

 Hancock ,and Atthey, whereas we received Air. 

 Barkas's communication before the last circular was 

 issued. The Annals of Natural History for February 

 last contains one paper entitled " Notes on various 

 species of Ctenodus obtained from the shales of the 

 Northumberland Coalfield, by Thomas Atthey." 

 In the April number appears the paper entitled 

 " Notes on the Remains of some Reptiles and Eishes 

 from the Shales of the Northumberland Coalfield. 

 by Albany Hancock, E.L.S., and Thomas Atthey," 

 which, we presume, was read some time in Alarch, 

 but do not find any record, or that we received a 

 circular. It must therefore have preceded the 

 paper announced on the 10th April. Air. Barkas 

 disclaims any intention of suppressing Air. Han- 

 cock's name, and we are bound to accept his dis- 

 claimer. 



Discovery oe a Bed op Eossil Oystees. — Air. 

 Whittle, of Chorley, is sinking a new shaft down to 

 the Arley seam of coal, at a spot near to the rail- 

 way, half way between the Adlington and Horwicli 

 stations, on the Lancashire and Yorkshire line, 

 about a couple of miles from the foot of Rivington 

 Pike. Two seams of coal have been passed, and at a 

 depth of 130 yards, the sinkers have cutthroush a 

 bed of fossil oysters, 2 ft. 4 in. in thickness. How 

 far the bed extends, it is impossible to say. The 

 oysters are petrified into one solid mass as hard as 

 flint. We have seen two blocks of them which 

 have been brought to Preston as great natural 

 curiosities, by Mr. Dewhurst, coal merchant, who 

 went down the shaft on Thursday, accompanied by 

 Air. Brindle, flag merchant. The oysters are all 

 perfect in form, and small in size — rather less, per- 

 haps than the London " natives." — Preston Herald, 

 May 23, 1SGS. 



Stoiot Glass, p. 113, for 272 Drachms read Grains. 

 The original error (p. 117) is obvious, and should 

 have been corrected by the person who made it. 

 —T. H. 



