Nov. 1, 1870.] 



H A IU> WICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



26a 



insects whose glittering wings rival the hues of the 

 rainbow." — Toicnshend, "Ten Thousand Miles of 

 Travel" 



Prairie Fires. — " Towards evening we were 

 gratified by seeing, for the first time, that splendid 

 spectacle, a prairie on fire. The grass, parched 

 with the burning sun, is purposely fired by the 

 natives to promote the growth of the new crop, 

 which last, owing to the heavy dews, starts long 

 before the rainy season sets in. The conflagration 

 extended for more than three miles, the strong even- 

 ing breeze driving it onwards in curling fiery billows. 

 "Volumes of smoke, loaded with burning particles of 

 grass, ascended in clouds, increasing the grandeur 

 and beauty of the scene by their various tints of red, 

 pink, and purple diffused throughout the atmo- 

 sphere." — Don Ramon Taez, "Life in the Llanos of 

 Venezuela. " 



White Ants. — The Cupim nests or termitaria 

 are lumpy pillars and pyramids of clay, yellow or 

 drab-coloured, as may be the subsoil, and sometimes 

 five or six feet high. They are scattered like tomb- 

 stones, occasionally in pairs or trios. Nowhere, 

 however, in the Brazils, do they constitute so con- 

 spicuous a feature or cumber the land as in the 

 Somali country. Opened, the mounds suggest a 

 mammoth hotel, as Asmodeus would see it, and a 

 few stiff blows with a pick upon the hard crust of 

 those which seem to be in ruins bring from their 

 burrows a frantic swarm, as the said hotel would 

 show at the cry of fire. — Burton, Highlands of the 

 Brazil. 



Swarm of Beetles. — It is somewhat remark- 

 able that a swarm of beetles resembling that 

 mentioned by your Leicester correspondent, visited 

 this neighbourhood, Beaumaris, on and after the 

 10th of September last. They did not become 

 such a plague as those described in his letter, 

 for their numbers were not so great, but, when 

 walking or driving, the annoyance was consider- 

 able. They were also observed at Llandudno, 

 a fortnight later, by the writer. A naturalist, to 

 whom one was sent, named the creature Aphodius 

 contaminatus, and suggested that the presence of 

 large numbers of these unattractive visitors ought 

 to offer serious considerations to those who have 

 sanitary arrangements under control. — E. E. S., 

 Beaumaris. 



" The Brown Tail Moth (Porthesia auriflua). — 

 They begin by forming with their own hair a soft 

 bed upon the surface of a branch or leaf, upon which 

 they deposit several layers of eggs, which they then 

 surround with a fresh layer of fur. When all are 

 laid, they cover them also with fur, the filaments of 

 which, however, are differently disposed. The hairs 

 which form the inside of the nest are arranged with- 

 out much order ; but, on the contrary, those which 

 form its external covering are artfully arranged, 

 Hke the slates of a house, in such a manner that the 

 rain which falls on them must glide off. The females, 

 which thus provide for the protection of their 

 young, have the extremity of their bodies furnished 

 with a great quantity of fur, destined for this use. 

 Degeer observed a proceeding similar to that de- 

 scribed above with certain species of aphides, which 

 cover their eggs with a cotton-like down, stripped 

 from their own bodies by means of their hind feet ; 

 but in this case the eggs were not enclosed in a 

 common bed, but each in a separate covering. — 

 Lardner, Museum of Science and Art, vol. viii. 



Swifts in September. — On my return from a 

 walk, between 5 and 6 o'clock, on the 15th of Sep- 

 tember, I was surprised at hearing the cry of the 

 Swift (Ci/pseius apus), and on calling the attention 

 of a friend to the circumstance, we counted eight 

 of those birds hawking above and around the old 

 castle. The only reason I could account for their 

 appearance so late in the year was, by the suppo- 

 sition that they were the offspring of a second 

 brood, and had not previously felt themselves strong 

 enough to undertake their long migratory journey. 

 The Rev. G. White mentions a similar occurrence, 

 but, I think, at an earlier date. — E. A., Norwich. 



Crithmtjm maritimum (Isle of Wight).— 

 Under the title Sampire is given, in Coles's "Adam 

 in Eden," p. 378, the following, which I copy just 

 as it stands in the 1G57 edition : " So great plenty " 

 (in the I. of W) " that it is gathered (yet not without 

 danger), for some have ventured so far upon the 

 craggy precipices that they have fallen down and 

 broken their nets, so that it might he said they paid. 

 For their Sawce ; and afterwards being pickled up, 

 is sent to London and other places." The same 

 author gives Miltwast as a synonyme for the 

 " scale-ferne," orCeteract. What is the meaning of 

 the term?— R.T., M.A. 



Insects on Snow. — In Canada I have found, in 

 the depth of winter, living and active insects on 

 the surface of the snow, which are seen nowhere 

 else and at no other season. Little hopping atoms 

 of singular structure, adapted to a mode of progres- 

 sion peculiarly their own, dance about on the un- 

 sullied bosom of the new-fallen snow. They belong 

 to the genus Podura, and are distinguished by 

 haying at the extremity of their body two long stiff 

 bristles, ordinarily bent up under the belly, but 

 which, at the pleasure of the insect, fly out straight 

 with great force, and thus jerk it into the air, on 

 the principle o( a child's toy frog. — P. H. Gosse, 

 Romance of Natural History. 



Facts for Speculators.— Here is a curious 

 fact for those who speculate on the possible origin 

 of species. We take it second-hand from the 

 " Popular Science Review " : " The Mole is blind. 

 Not so the foetal mole .... which at the time of 

 birth is endowed with organs of vision of consi- 

 derable perfection, while in mature age it is deprived 

 of the means of sight, in consequence of certain 

 changes which take place in the base of the skull, 

 terminating in the destruction of the most im- 

 portant structures on which the enjoyment of the 

 sense of sight depends." Coupling this with the state- 

 ments of the German anatomist alluded to by Prof. 

 Rolleston (p. 1377), that in the embryonic condition 

 the ascidian polyps have an axis skeleton corre- 

 sponding to that of the vertebrate animals, we have 

 facts more startling even than the hypothetical case 

 of the bear and the whale. 



Death to Ants. — Get a honeycomb sponge, the 

 larger the holes in it the better, and cut up into 

 pieces the size of a large apple; dip these pieces into 

 a mixture of treacle and water, and lay them about 

 where the enemy most abounds ; in a short time the 

 cavities will be full of ants. Pick them up quickly, 

 and have a can of boiling water at hand; throw thi 

 sponge into it, and the result can be readily ima- 

 gined. Continue this for a time, and the enemies 

 will be greatly reduced, if not entirely eradicated, 

 — " C," in Gardener's Chronicle. 



