211 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Sept. 1, 1368. 



Fossil Reptiles and Fish from the Northum- 

 berland Coal-measures. — I have during the past 

 few months succeeded in making a very large col- 

 lection of fish and reptile remains from the North- 

 umberland coal-measures. Many of them 1 have 

 obtained by personal research, and many have been 

 received from hoys in the colliery villages, who have 

 collected them in competition for a series of prizes, 

 which I offered early in June for the best collections. 

 The fossils have been obtained from the shale 

 which overlies the Low Main seam of coal, which 

 is being worked in all the collieries in Northumber- 

 land where steam coal is being raised. The amount 

 of shale which overlies the coal differs very con- 

 siderably in different localities ; in some it is not 

 more than half an inch in thickness, in others it is 

 sometimes eight inches thick, and in others it is 

 absent altogether. Those collieries in the centre of 

 the steam-coal field have a larger supply of shale 

 over the coals, and those in the extreme north, such, 

 for example, as North Seaton, have not any fossil- 

 liferous shale in the workings. I have succeeded in 

 collecting a considerable number of complete and 

 incomplete jaws, with teeth of Palceoniscus, Rhizo- 

 dopsis, Megalichthys, &c, together with single teeth 

 or tubercles of those genera and of Rhizodus, Cteno- 

 pfychicits, Diplodus, Qyracantlvus, Holoptychius, Strep- 

 sodus, and others. I have also found several fine 

 specimens of the palate-plates or teeth of Ctenodus, 

 and jaws of the new species Acanthydopsis. Scales 

 of nearly all the above genera, either single or in 

 large patches, are also in my gatherings, together 

 with vertebrse of various kinds, ribs, spines, and 

 other fish remains. Various fragments of reptiles 

 have also been collected. I trust in the course of 

 a few months to have selections from the specimens 

 gathered classified and arranged, after which I may 

 trespass upon your space for more lengthened de- 

 scriptions of some of the more rare or novel speci 

 mens. In the mean time, and in consequence of the 

 quantitiesof material I have had forwarded to me 

 in competiton for prizes, I have in my possession 

 hundreds of duplicate specimens of teeth, vertebras, 

 scales, &c.,one specimen of any of which, unmounted, 

 I shall have pleasure in forwarding to any reader of 

 Science- Gossip who may send me a stamped and 

 addressed envelope for that purpose. I shall pro- 

 bably receive hundreds of applications for specimens 

 of fish remains; it is manifest, therefore, that I 

 cannot possibly reply to inquirers singly ; but should 

 any of the queries require an answer, I shall, with 

 your permission, give a general reply in my next 

 contribution to your pages. — T. P. Barkas, Newcas- 

 tle-on-Tyne. 



Insect Eggs. — In answer to the query of 

 " H. A. S.," in this month's Science - Gossip, I 

 have had the eggs of Pontia hrassica, Vanessa 

 atalanta, and others, for the last three years, 

 mounted as microscopic objects, and as yet there 

 is no appearance of the larva coming out. I 

 prepared them for mounting thus :— Dipped them 

 wjparaffin oil (the oil used for lamps) for four or 

 five hours, and then put them on blotting-paper to 

 dry, and, when dry, mounted them in the usual 

 way- 6'. B. Bostoc/c, M.R.C.V.S. 



Cuckoo's Egg.— With respect to the assimilation 

 between the cuckoo's egg and the foster? parent, I 

 also have noticed this but twice out of four times. 

 The egg was laid before the nest was completed, in 

 which case the bird could not have seen the other 

 eggs, and so could not have copied them.— W. E. 31. 



The Heron in France.— So keenly was he 

 hunted that already in the reign of Francis I. he 

 had grown rare. That monarch lodged him near 

 his own palace at Fontainebleau, and established 

 there some heronries. Two or three centuries 

 pass, and Buffon can still believe that there are no 

 provinces in France where heronries could not be 

 found. In our own days Toussenel knows of but 

 one in all the country — at least in its northern 

 districts, in Champagne ; a wood between Rheims 

 and Epernay conceals the last asylum where the 

 poor lonelv bird still dares to hide his loves. — 

 Michelefs" The Bird," 



Trees ! Trees ! — It has been suggested that 

 trees should he planted upon 'the new ' Thames 

 embankment. All lovers of nature and natural 

 objects, should support such a suggestion, and 

 upon all occasions recommend, persuade, and 

 zealously enforce the adoption of a plan so ex- 

 tensively and successfully adopted on the banks of 

 the Seine. 



Bug-skins.— I have no longer the shadow of a 

 doubt as to bugs casting their skins, as one to-day 

 cast his on my hand before my eyes; thus I could 

 not doubt it. I do not mean to assert that I have 

 no reason to doubt my own eye-perceptions as I am 

 continually being deceived, but in the present in- 

 stance I called in the aid of the microscope, and 

 thus felt thoroughly impressed in my conclusion. — 

 0. Bullard. 



Plumules.— I find the plumules plentifully on 

 the upper surface of the wings of the male of the 

 small Cabbage White Butterfly, but have failed in 

 finding a single specimen on the wings of the male 

 of the large Cabbage (P. brassiere). I have caught 

 specimens and examined them at once, before the 

 wings had any chance of being rubbed, and I have 

 examined cabinet specimens and failed alike in all. 

 Mr. Wonfor has figured the plumules, which are 

 different from those of P. rapce, and if he has 

 found them, why are they absent from any indi- 

 vidual male of the same species ? — /. A. S. 



Asleep or Awake. — In Dr. Chenevix Trench's 

 work on the Miracles of the New Testament, there 

 occurs (at the conclusion of his notes on the Miracle 

 of the Walking on the Sea,) a statement which has 

 always appeared to me extremely incredible. " In 

 regard to this very law of gravity, a feeble, and for 

 the most part unconsciously possessed, remnant of 

 his power survives toman in the well-attested fact 

 that his body is lighter when lie is awake than sleep- 

 ing ; from whence he concludes that the human 

 consciousness, as an inner centre, w r orks as an op- 

 posing force to the attraction of the earth and the 

 centripetal force of gravity, however unable now to 

 overbear it." The writer adds in a foot-note, " It 

 was noticed long ago by Pliny, H. N. 2, 7, c. IS. 

 Every nurse that has carried a child would bear 

 witness to the fact." I have sought, but never yet 

 found, an opportunity of verifying this, to me, ex- 

 traordinary statement. I have always attributed 

 the well-known apparent increase of weight in sleep 

 (or death) to the absence of the elasticity or 

 " spring " of life and consciousness. Have any of 

 your correspondents ever tested the matter by 

 weight and scale? Or can any authority, more 

 modern than Pliny, or more scientifically accurate 

 than a nurse, be adduced in evidence of what is 

 here affirmed to be a well-attested fact ? — Rev. 

 J. B. B. 



