May 1, 1S70.] 



HAllDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



110 



The Ekog.— Perhaps the following may be an 

 answer to the inquiry made in the March number of 

 Science-Gossip (p. 71). The place from which I date 

 is in lat. 55° 36' N., long. 4° 30' W., and within, as 

 the crow flies, six or seven miles of the sea. So far 

 as my observations go, the appearance of. Erogs and 

 the deposition of their spawn depends on the cle- 

 mency or inclemeny of the season. The usual time 

 to get frog-spawn here is in the beginning of March. 

 Many years ago, my attention was drawn to frogs 

 spawning early in spring, by seeing_ on the 1st of 

 March, a cake of spawn in a pool which was covered 

 with ice at least half an inch in thickness : the 

 weather at the time was unusually fine. Since that 

 time I have watched for the earliest spawn, and 

 found, as a rule, that it was to be got on the first or 

 second week of March, but earlier if the season were 

 exceptionally mild. In Science-Gossip for June, 

 1868 (p. 141), it will be seen that spawn was got 

 in the last week of Eeb., 1866 ; on the 23rd of Eeb., 

 1867 ; on the 27th of Eeb., 3868 ; and I think 

 about the same time in 1S69, but I have not the date. 

 This spring the first I got was on the 15th of March, 

 and it had the appearance of being very recently 

 emitted. The weather then, till within a day or 

 two of the 15th, was severely cold, dry, and frosty. 

 We have often a few days of mild spring-like weather 

 about the middle or towards the end of Eebruary, 

 when the frogs emerge from their winter quarters. 

 If such mild weather do not happen, they are de- 

 tained, and thus, I believe, the advance or retardation 

 of spawning is according to the temperature of the 

 season. I have no register for this place ; but on 

 referring to that kept at the observatory of the 

 University of Glasgow, which is about 20 miles 

 N.E. of this, the mean temperature of the months of 

 Jan. and Eeb. for the last nine years is as follows -.— 



Jan. Eeb. 



1862 382 39-9 



1863 37'1 41 



1S64 36 32-9 



1865 35-4 33-1 



1866 40 36-9 



1867 31-9 4P4 



1868 38T 42-8 



1869 415 43-5 



1870 36-2 35-6 



The average for March is not yet published. I have 

 no doubt, when published, it will show it to be low 

 (unless what is to come of the month be exception- 

 ally mild), and prove that frogs, in their family ar- 

 rangements, are entirely under the influence of the 

 temperature of .the season. To-day, March 24, on 

 examining the spawn got on the 15th, and which has 

 been kept out of doors, under a verandah looking 

 S.E., I find it has made very little progress in its de- 

 velopment, the yolks of the ova retaining their 

 sphericity, while in a few eggs from the same mass of 

 spawn, which were put into a small beaker and 

 kept in a room in which there is a fire during the 

 day, the embryo is lengthened out considerably and 

 the budding of the branchiae, &c, distinctly seen; 

 thus proving that the rapidity of growth in ovo is 

 hastened or hindered by heat or cold. — /. JIT. A. 



Velvekd. — A friend at Calne, in Wiltshire, with 

 whom I have communicated, informs me that the 

 above is a local name for the Eieldfare. It is per- 

 haps better known as the Velt, a rustic pronuncia- 

 tion of felt or Pigeon-felt, the name by which it is 

 known in this county and Berks. The Woodpecker 

 is the Heckle or Wood-heckle in this locality. — 

 II. S., Henley-on-Thames. 



Dabchick.— In Macgillivray's " Manual of 

 British Birds," genus 138, I find the following pas- 

 sage : "The Dabchick floats, swims, dives, and, as I 

 have ascertained from observation,. flies under water 

 with astonishing ease and activity." As I never 

 before heard of a birdjh/inff under water, I should 

 very much like to know if such really is the case, or 

 if it is merely a movement of the wings when 

 diving, mistaken for flying. Perhaps some of your 

 correspondents have had both time and opportu- 

 nity for watching the movements of this most 

 j interesting bird, and if it does/// under water they 

 I doubtless will have noted it. — S. W., Fork. 



Yoppingal. — In the number of Science-Gossip 

 for April, Mr. P. H. Nisbett Browne inquires what 

 bird it is that is known in Wiltshire as the " Vel- 

 verd." It is the Fieldfare {Tardus pilaris), and I 

 believe is scarcely known by any other name. The 

 other local name is slightly misspelt; it should have 

 been Yoppingal, by which name the Woodpecker is 

 well known, and is so called on account of the loud 

 calling sound it makes as it flies ; yopping being a 

 provincialism for shouting or loud noisy talking. 

 This word (yopping) is not confined to Wilts, but is 

 occasionally used in Hunts and parts about Peter- 

 borough. — /. B. Bodman, Castes, Peterborough. 



A Cannibal. — A few years ago I had in my 

 breeding-cage some larva? of Ghelonia caja, which 

 had been for several hours without food. On looking 

 into my cage I caught one of them in the act of 

 devouring a chrysalis of one of his brethren, which 

 was lying with some others in one of the trays. I 

 am aware that these larva? are exceedingly voracious, 

 but I never before knew that they were cannibals. — 

 R. Laddiman, St. Augustine's, Norwich. 



Bees. — I should be much obliged if any contri- 

 butor will tell me the cause of the following, for 

 though an old man I am but a young apiarian. I 

 have four hives under a covering ; the two centre are 

 old stock. Now this month (April) I find one of 

 these old hives deserted, and a quantity of what 

 appears to me white wax. It tastes bitter and 

 sweet. I perceive that there has been great 

 destruction of life at the mouth of this hive and 

 the next, last year's swarm. This now empty hive 

 was all life and animation a few weeks back, but 

 now it is a deserted mansion. I ought to mention 

 that all my hives are the old-fashioned straw hives, 

 aud that I did not feed any of them through the 

 winter. The others are very busy bringing home 

 pollen.— J. L. B. 



Embryo Oysters.— Can any of your correspon- 

 dents furnish me with a formula for cleaning embryo 

 oyster-shells ? In spite of any directions I have 

 seen, I am unable to entirely get rid of a small 

 quantity of flocculent matter which clings to them 

 most persistently, and is just sufficient to destroy 

 the beauty of the mounted slide.— IF. J. B. 



Spiral Yessels. — In Quekett's "Histology," 

 vol. i. p. 14, article Eibre, alluding to the immense 

 number of spiral vessels obtainable from the lily 

 tribe, and also from one species of Mediterranean 

 squill, he remarks : " These fibres are obtained in 

 such abundance from some plants that they are col- 

 lected, bound into bundles, and usedasakiud of 

 slow match for lighting pipes and cigars." Not 

 having seen anything answering to this description, 

 shall be glad of any information on the point.— 

 W. J. B. 



