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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Dec. 1, 1863. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



All communications relative to advertisements, post-office 

 orders, and orders for the supply of this Journal, should be 

 addressed to the Publisher. All contributions, books, 

 and pamphlets for the Editor, should be sent to 192, 

 Piccadilly, London, W. To avoid disappointment, contri- 

 butions should not be received later than the 15th of each 

 month. No notice whatever can be taken of communica- 

 tions which do not contain the name and address of the 

 writer, not necessarily for publication, if desired to be with- 

 held. We do not undertake to answer any queries "not 

 specially connected with Natural History, in accordance 

 with our acceptance of that term : nor can we answer 

 queries which might be solved by the correspondent by an 

 appeal to any elementary book on the subject. We are 

 always prepared to accept queries of a critical nature, and 

 to publish the replies, provided some of our readers, besides 

 the querist, are likely to be interested in them. 



L. R. R. — Your beetles are " the Weevil," i.e., the Corn, 

 weevil (populatque ingentem farris acervum Curculio, Virg.). 

 Their scientific name is Sitophilus granarius, Linn. ; and, 

 with a closely allied species, S. oxyza>, Linn., which occurs in 

 rice, and is immediately recognisable by its four-spotted 

 elytra, they represent in this country the destructive family 

 Calandridce, of which the gigantic exotic Calandra palmarum, 

 the " Palm-weevil," may be considered the type. Both the 

 species of Sitophilus&bove mentioned have become thoroughly 

 domesticated in this country, having originally been intro- 

 duced from abroad. They are, in fact, almost cosmopolitan. 

 Independently of their usual habitat in granaries, bakeries, 

 houses, &c, they sometimes occur at large in dry haystack 

 refuse, and similar vegetable matter. — E. C. R. 



W. W. S. — Your beetles are males of the common Ptinus 

 fur, Linn., an insect allied to the " Death-watch " (Anouium), 

 and found in houses. The female is shorter, more rounded, 

 and with much shorter leg's and antennae, so that she might 

 easily be considered by a novice to belong to a different 

 species. When freshly disclosed from the pupal state, both 

 sexes have four rather conspicuous patches of white scales on 

 the wing-cases. This insect readily simulates death on being 

 disturbed.— E. C. R. 



What are Figs? — The swollen receptacles which enclose 

 the numerous fruits of a great number of minute incon- 

 spicuous little flowers. If "J. S. C." will cut through a 

 green fig just coming to maturity, he will discover by the aid 

 of a lens the numerous minute flowers in the centre, the only 

 access to which is by the small hole at the top of the fig. It 

 is a very peculiar form of inflorescence. In popular lan- 

 guage the fig is called a fruit, which is very much nearer the 

 truth than " J. S. C.'s " suggestion that it is an excrescence. 



E. C. B. (Maine). — Sphagnum fimhriatum. — 71. B. 

 T. S. — The diatoms are Odontidium mesodon and Fragilaria 

 capucina, common fresh-water species.— F. K. 



E. W. — We know of none. 



J. L. — We object to the course you suggest. Our adver- 

 tising columns are the legitimate medium. 



W. H. D. — The shells were Lacuna crassion. Pupa mar- 

 ginuta, Conovulus mysotis, and Cyliotina mumillata. — R. 



L. E. P.— Benzine. 



H. O. V. — Did you never hear of " putting salt on their 

 tails"? 



Deposits.— Two slides sent for exchange without name or 

 address. 



F. R. S.— Your MS. written on both sides of the paper and 

 all kinds of subjects mingled together is useless for our pur- 

 poses, as we do not employ an amanuensis. 



J. B. — We do not suppose that any one can tell, at any rate 

 we are unable. 



J. C. M. — Not decided at present, probably not. 



R. V. T.— No. 1. Cyathus striatus. 



J. A. should read C. Darwin's paper on twining plants in 

 the journal of the Linnsean Society. 



E. G. W. — A catalogue of British Coleoptera, by G. R. 

 Waterhouse, London, Taylor & Walton Other correspon- 

 dents have written of the unusual number of Albino varieties 

 of birds this year. 



W. L. H. — The most approved method is to arrange in card- 

 board boxes. You can get a list of British birds of E. New- 

 man, Devonshire-street, Bishopsgate. 



T. R.— A mass of prothallium with young plants, probablv 

 belonging to Discelium nudum. — R. B. 



J. C. D. — No. 1. Dicranella heteromalla ; No. 2. Trichosto- 

 it. am rigidulum. — R. B. 



EXCHANGES. 



Seeds of Lath/F.a Squamaria wanted in exchange for 

 seeds of Sturmia Loeselii. — W. W. Reeves, Royal Micro- 

 scopical Society, King's College, London. 



Induction Coil, No. 2, with Bottle Battery, Commutator, 

 and Discharge ; and six Geissler's Vacuum Tubes (all good), 

 to exchange for Micrascopic Slides.— E. G. Langholm Villas, 

 Mostyn Road, Brixton, S.W. 



British Marine Shells in exchange for British Land 

 and Freshwater, especially the various varieties of U?iiua 

 and Anotoutas. The localities of all to be undoubted. — Send 

 lists of desiderata and duplicate to W. White Walpole, 

 Holmwood, Kingston-on-Thames, Surrey. 



Loca:, Plants, chiefly from the South of England, are 

 offered in exchange for other Local Plants. — Address, James 

 Irvine, 28, Upper Manor Street, Chelsea, London, S.W. 



Elytron op Diamond Beetle {Grammatophora marina\ 

 and Scales of Lepisina saccharina (mounted), for other 

 objects of interest. — W. W. Jones, 80, Queen's Road, Bays- 

 water. 



Microscopic Objects (unmounted, in exchange for 

 Feathers of rare British Birds (named). — J. R. E., 19, Down- 

 shire Hill, Hampstead, N.W. 



Pup^e op C. Ei.penor, N. Ziczac, and JV. Dictma for other 

 Pupae, or British Lepidoptera. Send list. — Alfred Pickard, 

 Wolsingham, Darlington. 



Sections of Aristolochia Sipno.and Laburnum; Scales 

 of Eleagnus and Sheperdia (mounted), for other Mounted 

 Objects. — J. Carpenter, Waltham Cross, Herts. 



For Pollen of Yucca (mounted), send Two Stamps and 

 Address, J. Humphreys, Cheltenham Branch Dispensary. 



Wanted in exchange for a Collection of Moths in Cabinet, 

 a Slate Marine Aquarium, elegance no desideratum. — Address, 

 F. J., 139, Maida Vale. 



Nbmeophila Plantagines, Euthemonia Russula, Clos- 

 tera reclusa, or Lasiocampa Rubi, for other good British 

 Lepidoptera or Pupae. — Send list to A. Mitchell, Wolsingham, 

 near Darlinton. 



Hairs of Reindeer, Bat, Kangaroo, and other species 

 (mounted) for unmounted objects of interest. — T. D. R., 20, 

 Westbourne Park Villas, W. 



For Specimen of Coralline, or Pike and Roach Scales, 

 send stamped and directed envelope or any microscopic ob- 

 ject to F. S., Post-office, Rugeley, Staffordshire. 



Birds' Ecgs, and Land and Freshwater Shells, for Pupae of 

 Lepidoptera or other shells of the same. — Thomas H. Hed- 

 worth, Dunston, Gateshead. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



"Scientific Opinion." Vol. I. Nos. 1, 2, and 3, Nov. 4th, 

 llth, and 18th, 1868. London : Charles Wyman. 



'.' The Naturalist's Note-Book," No. 23, Nov. 1868. London: 

 196, Strand. 



"The Naturalist's Circular," No. 30, Nov. 1868. London : 

 Henry Hall. 



"One Thousand Objects for the Microscope," by M. C. 

 Cooke. With 500 Figures. London : F. Warne & Co. 



" On Natural History as an Occupation for the Spare Time 

 of Country Clergymen," by J. O. Westwood. Appendix from 

 W. Bellair's "Church and School." 



" The Dental Register," edited by J. Taft and G. Watt. 

 Vol. XXIII. No. 10. Cincinnati : Wrightson & Co. 



" Proceedings of the Essex Institute," Vol. V. No. 6, April 

 May, June, 186". Salem: April, 1868. 



" Observations on Polyzoa, sub-order Phylactolaemata." 

 With Nine Plates by Alpheus Hyatt. Salem : from the Pro- 

 ceedings of the Essex Institute. 



" Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, 1866. Washington: 186". 



" Proceedings of the Bristol Naturalist's Society for Sep- 

 tember and October, 1S68." 2nd edition. 



" Appendix to the Manual of Molluscaof S. P. W'oodward," 

 by Ralph Tate, A.L.S. London : Virtue & Co. 



Communications Received.— T.W.W.—W. G.— H. E. W. 

 — W. W. P.— P. H. G. — H. C. R— G. H. C— E. G.— H. O. V.— 

 E. W.— J. I.— R. Y. G— W. E. H— J. Y. H.— H. H.— W. W. W. 

 -J. L— H. T. R.— W. S— J. E.— H. C. L.— J. S. T.— W. J. D. 

 — T. T.— J. B. C— R. E— I. G.— J. C— F. I. B.— J. R. E.— K. J. 

 —A. M. -J. H.— B.— W. H.— J. IL— F. R. M — G. B.— W.W.J. 

 — L. R. R.— E. G. W.— S. S.-H. C. L.— J. C. M.-A. H. E — 

 M. A. Mc.L.— R. G— R. M. B.— J. B.— T. P. B.- P. R. S— J. F. 

 (thanks).— J. B. Cockan.— L.L.B.— J. S. C— A. P.— R. V. T.— 

 C. F.-W. M.— J. A.— E. G.W.— F. G. P.— C. W.— F.S.-W. M. 

 — T. D. R— W. L. H.— T. H. H.— S. J. Mel.— C. W.— W. M. 

 Dudley. 



