Nov. 1, 1SGS.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



257 



bug legs, delighted apparently with the spitting, 

 spluttering music thereby produced. Having suc- 

 ceeded in reducing the length of his pedal extremities, 

 he endeavoured to waltz, but, finding it was incon- 

 venient, scrambled up again, and made away with 

 his wings, after which he yielded up the ghost. 



The next performer came bang at the wick, fried 

 his wings, stuck his head in the light, and kindly 

 moved away to make room for the next comer, who, 

 as he could not announce himself with a flourish of 

 trumpets, dashed to the stage, fixed his head firmly 

 in the soft wax, and gracefully threw a summersault 

 into the flame, literally bursting with the warmth of 

 his joy. At times six or seven might be seen wheel- 

 ing round and round the light, and then dashing 

 full tilt into the more than tropical climate. Whether 

 it was a feast of dedication to Ignis, or whether, 

 having been converted to the theory of descent with 

 modification, they were endeavouring to transform 

 themselves into salamanders, I cannot say. I only 

 know that they kept the game up for several days, 

 and now (October 1st) hardly one is to be seen. So 

 ends my tale. S. B. J. S. 



A PLEA FOR THE SEA-BIRDS. 



By the Rev. Richard Wiltox*. 



Stay now thine hand ! 

 Proclaim not man's dominion 

 Over God's works by strewing rocks and sand 

 With sea-birds' blood-stained plumes and broken 



pinion. 



Oh, stay thine hand ! 

 Spend not thy days of leisure 

 In scattering death along the peaceful strand 

 For very wantonness, or pride, or pleasure. 



Eor bird's sake spare ! 

 Leave it in happy motion 

 To wheel its easy circles through the air, 

 Or rest and rock upon the shining ocean. 



Eor man's sake spare ! 

 Leave him this "thing of beauty" 

 To glance and glide before him everywhere, 

 And throw a gleam on after-days of duty. 



Eor God's sake spare ! 

 He notes each sea-bird falling, 

 And in Creation's groans marks its sad share, 

 Its dying cry — for retribution calling. 



Oh, stay thine hand ! 

 Cease from this useless slaughter ; 

 Eor though kind Nature from the rocks and sand 

 Washes the stains each day with briny water, 



Yet on thine hand, 

 Raised against God's fair creature, 

 Beware lest there be found a crimson brand 

 Indelible by any force of Nature. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Puss-Moth Caterpillar Spitting. — Having 

 often noticed the caterpillar of the puss moth 

 (Centra vinula), when disturbed, to eject a fluid 

 with considerable force, I was curious to see how 

 it could do it, and where it came from ; but I had to 

 pay for my curiosity. One fine hot day in August I 

 found a large caterpillar, and held it up to examine 

 it, when it suddenly spat a fluid right at my eye. I 

 have not yet forgotten the pain it caused ; but, on 

 getting it well bathed with cold water, the inflamma- 

 tion abated. Nevertheless, I saw what I wanted : 

 the fluid is not ejected from the mouth of the cater- 

 pillar, but from a transverse slit below the mouth, 

 in the first segment. After it has jerked out its 

 fluid once, it cannot do so again for a considerable 

 time — in fact, not till it has brewed again. — A. M. 



Lepidoptera in Lucerne-eields. — Many have 

 doubtless observed the partiality of insects of all kinds 

 for fields of clover (Trifolium pratense and incarna- 

 tion). It is in such localities that the clouded yellows 

 (C. ednsa and C. hyale), and many rare day-flying 

 Koctiue, such as the genus Holiothis, are to be looked 

 for. But as regards the attraction it possesses for 

 butterflies and moths, a lucerne-field throws one 

 of clover entirely into the shade ; and I, for my 

 part, have little or no doubt that if this plant, the 

 Medicago sativa of Linnaeus, was more generally 

 cultivated in this country, several species of butter- 

 flies and moths now considered extremely rare 

 would be found either flitting about the purple 

 blossoms or quietly settled on them. I have been 

 enabled, during a lengthy stay in the neighbourhood 

 of Coblenz, in Germany, this summer (where this 

 plant is very extensively cultivated), to observe for 

 myself how attractive its flowers are to nearly every 

 butterfly found in England. Three in particular 

 (two of them extremely rare in Britain, and one not 

 common) are among the most abundant— viz., 

 Colias hyale, the pale clouded yellow, which 

 nearly, if not quite, outnumbered the Pierida ; 

 Pieris daplidice, the Bath white ; and Argynnis 

 luthonia, which was extremely common. I have 

 caught as many as four in my net at once. All 

 the British species of Papilis, Gonepteryx, Satyrus, 

 , Colias, Argynnis, and nearly all the Vanerridse I 

 found on this medick (C. ednsa the only one I 

 found not abundant, although 1 have heard since, 

 from my brother, that it had been more frequently 

 seen lately), together with several European species, 

 such as P. podalirius, S. Hermione, S. mcera, and 

 others. These fields were likewise very attractive 

 to moths, both day and night-flying. I will only 

 mention one of the many I observed, Agrophila 

 sidphuralis (the spotted sulphur), hitherto only 

 observed near Brandon, in Suffolk, in England,which 

 should be looked for in the few localities in this 



