Sept. 1, 1S70.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



215 



Hawken's King of the Herrings.— Mr. 

 "William Borlase, of Castle Horncck, near Penzance, 

 writes to the Cornish Telegraphy that on the walls 

 of a cottase in the neighbourhood, has been dis- 

 covered the drawing of a very remarkable fish, 

 captured in Mount's Bay at the close of the last 

 century. Under the picture is the following inscrip- 

 tion : — "Hawken's Gymnotrus ; (he Ceil Couin, or 

 King of the Herrings. This very remarkable fish 

 came on shore (alive) at Newlvn, on Saturday, 

 February 23rd, 1788. Its length, without the tail 

 (which it wanted), was eight feet and a half. Its 

 breadth ten inches and a half; thickness two inches 

 and three quarters ; and weight fourty pounds." 



Bees as Botanists (Science-Gossip, 1869, 

 p. 272; 1S70, p. 188)— Lam glad that Mr. Spicer 

 has again drawn attention to the subject of the dis- 

 crimination of plants by bees. My friend Mr. Hol- 

 land was, I believe, the first to observe that bees 

 while collecting confined themselves mainly, if not 

 entirely, to plants of the same genus, species, or 

 order; and Mr. John Duncan, late of Kew, made a 

 series of observations which tended to establish the 

 same fact. He informed me that it was more espe- 

 cially while collecting nectar that he had noticed 

 their careful selection of plants of the same species, 

 and mentioned, as an instance, that abee, after visiting 

 a foxglove at one end of the rockwork in Kew Gar- 

 dens, passed by all the other flowers, until it arrived 

 at one at the other end. When collecting pollen, 

 however, they are not so particular, so far as species 

 are concerned ; but even then, so far as my experi- 

 ence goes, they conQne themselves to allied plants. 

 Since Mr. Spicer's note was published I amused 

 myself by watching a bee in a greenhouse, who 

 devoted himself entirely to a species of Campanula, 

 of which there were two plants. He repeatedly 

 passed backwards and forwards between them, going 

 over several flowers in his way, at some of which he 

 paused for an instant as if in doubt, but then went 

 on. A series of notes on this subject from different 

 observers would be of considerable interest ; but it 

 must be noticed in each case, especially in those 

 which go against this theory, whether the insect 

 actually takes anything from the flower, or only 

 pauses for inspection. — James Britten, F.L.S. 



Asplenium Ruta - muraria 1 have found on 

 old walls near Hastings, but at Dovedale, which I 

 have just visited, it is very plentiful in the crevices 

 of the rocks. — D. J. S. 



Music Shells. — The popular name of "Music 

 Shell " is not confined to one species ; several of the 

 genus Conus are marked with black spots on a white 

 ground. In many cases these spots are pretty 

 evenly distributed over the whole surface of the 

 shell ; but in some species they are arranged in 

 bands round it ; thus appearing like a number of 

 chords in written music. From this appearance the 

 shell receives its name. I am acquainted with two 

 species thus marked, namely, the Conus eburneus of 

 Ceylon, a shell about an inch and a half in length, 

 and the C. musicus, a much smaller shell, which is, 

 I believe, a native of the West Indies. — A. J., 31. A. 



Conferva in Aquaria.— I have had Valisneria 

 growing in a glass jar, holding about two quarts, ' 

 for nearly two years, during which time the water 

 has never been changed, but filled up with New 

 River water, to allow for evaporation, and have never 

 been troubled with conferva?. I think the reason 

 is that I keep it out of the direct sunshine.— D. J. S. 



Traveller's Delight (p. 18S). — The Clematis 

 is doubtless the plant referred to, more usually 

 called "Traveller's Joy."— 67. H. H. 



Music Shell (p. 1S8). — Several shells are known 

 by this name, for instance, Voluta musica, and 

 several species of the genus Harpa. — 67. H. H. 



Query arout Bees. — Bees do not always con- 

 fine themselves to one species of plant when col- 

 lecting nectar and pollen. Yesterday I watched 

 four different bees on white clover and heather in 

 the same flight. I watched them off the heather on 

 to the white clover. I could have made no mistake, 

 for I marked them while on the heather with pow- 

 dered chalk, and did not lose sight of them ; and 

 to-day, 4th of August, I watched seven bees on 

 mignonette poppies and common marigold. I 

 marked the bees I expected to watch, while on the 

 poppies, with chalk, and while on the marigold, 

 with ochre. — John McTIine. 



Amherstia noeilis. — Your correspondent, 

 "H. G.," in the last number of Science-Gossip, 

 asks, what has become of the plant of Amherstia 

 nobilis that once existed in the Royal Gardens at 

 Kew ? This query I cannot answer. I am aware 

 it first flowered in this country, in the then cele- 

 brated collection of Mrs. Lawrence, Ealing Park. 

 A fine plant, I believe, exists at present in the 

 princely establishment at Chatsworth, and in 1867 

 or 1868 cut blooms were exhibited at the meeting 

 of the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensing- 

 ton. Mr. Taplin, who then had charge of the plant, 

 gave me a splendid cluster of its brilliant scarlet 

 and yellow flowers; and if memory fails not I under- 

 stood him to say that the roof of a plant stove was 

 covered with this lovely exotic. Visitors to the 

 Kew Museum of Economic Botany will notice a 

 faithful drawing, by W. H. Fitch, Esq., F.L.S., on 

 the staircase of No. 1. The plant belongs to the 

 Lesuminacese, or pea tribe, and is a native of India. 

 —F. IF. Burludge, The Knoll Gardens, Baildon, Leeds. 



Elm Trees. — At the inquest on the young man, 

 who was recently killed in Windsor Park by the 

 branch of an elm tree falling upon him, Mr. Men- 

 zies, the deputy-surveyor of Windsor forest, gave 

 some interesting evidence. He said that the branch 

 which had fallen was a living one, the tree being 

 apparently in perfect health, but that during seasons 

 of great heat and drought, branches of elm trees 

 were exceedingly liable to tall without the slightest 

 notice or warning, and green branches much more 

 so than dead ones, even in the calmest weather. 

 How is this explained ? — 67. H. H. 



Yaefel. — This word occurs in an extract from a 

 boot of poems reviewed in the Atlienawm, Aug. 13. 



" He knew 

 Where grew the sundew, or the flowering fern, 

 And marked the Ynffel laughing in the sun, 

 Because the rain was coming. ", 



To what plant is reference made ? — R. T., M. A. 



Helix nemoralis. — At the entrance to Bally- 

 shannon harbour there are very extensive sand- 

 banks ; on the summit of some of the highest may 

 sometimes be found myriads of shells of this species, 

 all of which have been forsaken by their tenants. I 

 shall be glad to learn how they come in such vast 

 numbers to these sand-hills. I should also mention 

 that the water never reaches the eminence on which 

 they occur, which is in many places sixty or seventy 

 feet above the water-level. I send a couple of spe- 

 cimens, so that you may be satisfied of their identity. 

 ■ — //. Allingharn. 



