94 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



(April 1, 1870. 



far afield that she supposes that any station m life 

 can °rve support to a most childish idea, that of 

 flowers suffering pain when cut. Much verbal im- 

 portance, however, seems to have been attached to 

 social position, and I therefore take the liberty ot 

 stating that the Emperor of China, the Grand Turk 

 of Constantinople, and other potentates, doubtless 

 think it no sin to act contrary to the views of the 

 noble personages mentioned by Mrs. Watney : yes, 

 and even the author of " Floral Findings" cannot 

 always keep from picking the " bright, beautiful 

 things," as the events which took place beneath the 

 elm, whose leaf and fruit were " perfection," will 

 testify.— James Britten. 



Velverd.— Can you tell me what bird it is to 

 which the Wiltshire folk give the name oiVelverd? 

 In the same locality they call a 'Woodpecker a 

 Tobbingale.—R. E. Nisbett Browne. 



Spiders and Larv.e — I should be greatly 

 obliged if any reader of Science-Gossip can inform 

 me if spiders prey on larvse of insects. I think I 

 have on one or two occasions seen caterpillars 

 entangled in their nets ; but I have never seen the 

 spiders actually feeding on them.— George Roberts. 



The Rib of the Dun Cow.— In the British 

 audits for 1497, is an item that seems to indicate 

 the origin of the assumed rib (in St. Mary lledcliif 

 Church) of the legendary animal. "1497. Item pd. 

 for settynge upp ye bone of ye bigge fyshe and 

 [illegible] hys worke brote over seas — vj. For two 

 ryngs of jren iiijd." John Sebastian Cabot, on his 

 return to Bristol in 1497, after his discovery of 

 Newfoundland, presented the corporation with a 

 bone of the whale as a trophy of his enterprise, 

 which, they not knowing what to do with, having no 

 "philosophical institution" wherein to place the 

 wonder, had it set up in lledcliif Church. Super- 

 ficial observation, haste, and carelessness, often pro- 

 mulgate errors, further disseminated by the press. 

 Here is one that, has the merit of being as veracious 

 as the legend of the "rib of the dun cow." Richard 

 Twiss, writer of "A Tour in Ireland, 1775," says : 

 "In Bristol I was entertained with the sight of a 

 rib of tlie famous dun cow, ' killed by Sir William 

 Penn.' The knight and his 'rib' are both deposited 

 iii the Church of St. Mary, Redcliff." Its re- 

 christening by the sexton would render it more 

 attractive and increase his fees.— 67. Tovey. 



Foxgloa'E (p. 6). — Parkinson, the herbalist, in 

 his *' Paradisi in Sole Paradisus terrestris; or, a 

 Garden of all sorts of pleasant Flowers which our 

 English Ayre will permit to be noursed up," &c, 

 says (p. 383), "We call them generally in English 

 Foxeglove ; but some (as thinking it. to be too 

 foolish a name) do call them Finger-flowers, be- 

 cause they are like unto the fingers of a glove, the 

 ends cut off" (edit ion 1656) ; and in his " Theatrum 

 Botanicum" (p. 053), "Digitalis, from the hollow 

 forme of the flowers, which are like flmrer-stalles " 

 (edition 1690). With reference to " W.W. S.'s" re- 

 marks (p. 69), Fairholt ("Costume in England," 

 p. 509) says, the earliest form of glove represents 

 that article without separate fingers. In the 11th 

 century they were commonly worn with long tops 

 and carried in the hand, or thrust beneath the 

 girdle. Planche" ("British Costume") merely says, 

 in time of Edward I. the mail-gloves of the hau- 

 berk were now divided into separate fingers. Is 

 not habergeon (see p. 69) the diminutive of hau- 

 berk ? —B. T., M.A. 



Hoddy-doddy (p. 70). — Additional passages 

 bearing upon this reduplicated form hive occurred 

 to me. Hod-dod, a snail (Northamptonshire); oddy- 

 doddy, a river-snail (Oxfordshire). These are given 

 in the "Dictionary of Reduplicated Words," by 

 H. B. Wheatlev, in an appendix to the Philolo- 

 gical Society's "Transactions," 1865. "H. B. W." 

 defines the term to mean, "a short, clumsy person, 

 either male or female— a foolish person," and gives 

 illustrative passages. — R. T., 31. A. 



Prickmadam: (p. 70). — When I asked what plant 

 was designated by this name, I thought possibly it 

 might have some connection with prickwort and 

 prickwood {Euonymns Europreits, L.), but a further 

 consultation of the old writers has shown me that, 

 though several plants— three or four— bore this 

 name, they were all Sedums. Bay's "Catalogus 

 Plantarum" gives (p. 280) the ordinary yellow 

 prickmadam, Seditm minus nematodes, Ger. (S. re- 

 flexurtifli., ride "Flora of Middlesex"), and the 

 white- flowered prickmadam, S. minus ojfidntmm, 

 Ger. (S. album,lt., ubi supra), edit. 1670. The former 

 is also called ordinary prickmadam by Parkinson, 

 "Theatrum Botanicum" (1690), p. 733. I am 

 not clear as to whether Parkinson's Vermicuiaris 

 jrutieosa altera (p. 732), or shrubby prickmadam, 

 is the same as Bay's second plant above given. 

 W. How, in his "Phytologia Britanuica" (p. Ill, 

 edition 1650), further mentions, "In tectis. S. 

 medium teretifolium, Lobel. Ger., small prickmadam ." 

 Th&c references will be sufficient for identification 

 of the plant intended on p. 70— R. T., 31. J. 



Arundo mragmites, L. (p. 19).— "R. W." is 

 not quite accurate in his reference to Ray's " Sy- 

 nopsis." He says that mention is made by Ray of 

 the monstrosity " Gramen arundinaceum. 30 pedes 

 longum " ; whereas Dr. Bronifield, " Flora Vec- 

 tensis" (p. 615), supplies the correct reference to 

 Ray, " Synopsis," ed. 3tia.— "Indiculus Plantarum 

 Dubiarum" (a work which appeared in 1724, after 

 Ray's death). This indiculus was appended to the 

 "Synopsis" by, 1 presume, the editor, J. J. Dil- 

 levins (see " Flora of Middlesex," p. 10). The 

 original publisher of the locality, so far as I can 

 ascertain, was Merrett, in his "Piuax " (p. 49), " on 

 the south of the Isle of Wight, by the sea-side, 

 towards the point."— R. T., 31. A. 



A Ghost Story.— One evening, a few months 

 ago, as two gentlemen were sitting conversing to- 

 gether, they were disturbed by a singular commotion 

 in another portion of the house. Presently the 

 butler made his appearance at the door of the room, 

 followed by the rest of the servants, and in great 

 dismay said that there was a ghost in the pantry. 

 As the gentlemen expressed their unwillingness to 

 believe this, the butler requested them to come out 

 of the room, and they would hear for themselves. 

 On going out, they certainly heard a series of loud 

 knockings, and sounds of most unearthly character, 

 proceeding from the direction of the pantry. _ To 

 satisfy themselves as to the cause of these noises, 

 having procured lights, they opened the door, and, 

 on the floor of the pantry, there was a poor cat, 

 with her head fixed firmly into an earthenware jar, 

 which she was vainly attempting to break, and in 

 this manner produced the mysterious knockiugs; 

 whilst every now and then her cries of agony, ut- 

 tered in a close jar, produced sounds of the wildest 

 and most dismal character. For a few minutes 

 they stood still, amused with the absurdity of the 

 whole scene. Then, remembering that what was 



