EARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



119 



in passing " up " the " High Street " of Deal, a street 

 -everal feet lower than any of the rest, and perfectly 

 level, I observed an Italian with a truck-load of 

 crawling tortoises, which he was offering for sale. 

 It was a sight calculated, and perhaps intended, to 

 excite compassion. At all events, it did mine, with 

 the result that I sported a shilling, in order that one, 

 at all events, should taste the sweets of liberty. Being 

 placed upon my lawn, it soon found itself "in clover," 

 such a rare variety of food as, I presume, seldom falls 

 to the lot of an alien tortoise. There were docks and 

 plantains, milfoil and mallows, daisies, duckweed, 

 and dove's-foot, trefoil, groundsel, and dandelion. 

 Many of these, with an occasional snap at the young 

 grasses and clover, were quickly utilised ; but the 

 prime favourite, and the only food I can ever persuade 

 it to take from my hand is the dandelion, especially 

 the flower. In fact, it is to the dandelion I attribute 

 the creature's preservation. It is now buried beneath 

 one of the fuchsias, from which I hope to see it 

 emerge. — J. IVallis, Deal. 



A Musical Mouse. — E. P. Turner writes referring 

 to a recent occasion on which a singing sound, heard 

 in the house of a friend, was said to proceed from a 

 mouse in the wall. Some little time after, a guinea 

 pig which had been injured by a cat was obliged to 

 lie drowned. It had kept up almost unceasingly, 

 except when moved, a singing sound. "This sound 

 struck me as being very similar to the singing of the 

 mouse. I held a post-mortem examination on the 

 body and detected two small holes in the skin on the 

 left side, where the cat's teeth had entered and pene- 

 trated as far as the lung, round which there was a 

 quantity of gore indicating the rupture of one or two 

 blood vessels. Its left fore-leg was also broken int\vo 

 places. From the lung being damaged I drew the con- 

 clusion that this was the cause of the singing sound." 



Bird's nesting-habits. — I believe it is generally 

 taken for granted that our song-birds and migrants 

 are in the habit of seeking mates every season, and 

 not keeping to the same mate year after year. I do 

 not know that any author, standard or otherwise, 

 actually states this, but the fact of the raven remain- 

 ing paired for life is mentioned, as if it were an 

 extraordinary and exceptional fact. Now, in the face of 

 this general understanding, and the very noticeable 

 frequency with which exactly the same nest-sites are 

 used year after year by the same species of bird, it 

 would seem as if a wide field is opened for practical 

 observation during the present spring. I think the 

 conclusion arrived at will be that, almost, if not quite 

 all birds are fairly constant in their attachment. If 

 this is not so, we must conclude that the regularly 

 recurring use of a nesting-site is due either to its very 

 apparent suitability for the purpose, or to the return of 

 one bird of the last year's pair. In the latter case it 

 would be interesting to know whether the old site is 

 in bird-law considered the property of the cock or 

 the hen. Possibly it is inherited by one of the 

 youngsters. — H. Snowden ]Vard. 



The Star of Bethlehem. — Mr. Swinton 

 appeared to have a difficulty in accepting the 

 explanation of the " Star of the Magi " which I had 

 adopted from St. Chrysostom, viz. that it was a 

 miraculous appearance in the form of a star, because 

 the sacred narrative does not expressly state this. 

 But surely it is the manner of the Scriptures to speak 

 of celestial phenomena according to their appearances. 

 No one supposes that during the battle of Beth-horon 

 the sun actually stood upon Gibeon, or the moon in 

 the valley of Ajalon ; but they appeared to remain in 

 the parts of the heavens over those places longer than 



usual, and the immediate cause which produced this 

 appearance is not recorded. But let me refer Mr. 

 Swinton to a place in the New Testament where the 

 very word star is certainly used for something made 

 to represent the appearance of one. In Acts vii. 43, 

 St. Stephen (quoting from the prophet Amos) says 

 that the Israelites, when wandering in the wildernes 5 

 carried with them, amongst other idolatrous images, 

 the star of the god Remphan (in the revised version 

 Rephan), which is thought to be a name of the planet 

 Saturn. Most certainly they did not carry the star, 

 but something intended to be an image, representation, 

 or likeness of it. — IV. T. Lynn, Blackheath. 



A Choked Perch. — Curiously enough, last 

 summer, 1884, a large perch {Percafluviatilis, Yarrell). 

 ten inches long, was found in a pond, choked by a 

 small perch. A suitable punishment for cannibalism, 

 and which happens, no doubt, more frequently than is 

 usually thought to be the case. — E. A., Hertfordshire, 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now 

 publish Science-Gossip earlier than formerly, we cannot un- 

 dertake to insert in the following number any communications 

 which reach us later than the 8th of the previous month. 



To Anonymous Querists. — We receive so many queries 

 which do not bear the writers' names that we are forced to 

 adhere to our rule of not noticing them. 



To Dealers and others. — We are always glad to treat 

 dealers in natural history objects on the same fair and general 

 ground as amateurs, in so far as the "exchanges " offered are fan- 

 exchanges. But it is evident that, when their offers are simply 

 disguised advertisements, for the purpose of evading the cost of 

 advertising, an advantage is taken of our gratuitous insertion of 

 "exchanges" which cannot be tolerated. 



We request that all exchanges may be signed with name (or 

 initials) and full address at the end. 



C. C. D.— See Dr. M. C. Cooke's "Ponds and Ditches," 

 published at is. 6d. by the Society for Promoting Christian 

 Knowledge. There is no cheap book on Algae. A most elabo- 

 rate work by Dr. Cooke is now appearing in 2s. 6d. parts, 

 coloured plates. An older book is Dr. Hassall's, of which a 

 secondhand copy is sometimes obtainable. Works on Diatoms 

 are rare and costly, Smith's " Diatomaceae " fetching several 

 times its original value. Leucojum Carpathicum is not a British 

 plant ; L. eestivum is the English form. 



A. A. and W. C. C —The exchange columns are intended 

 for exchanges, not sales. 



E. H. R. — (1) See our last number. (2) Write to the secretary 

 of the Botanical Record Club, Mr. C. Bailey, F.L.S., Ashfield, 

 College Road, Whalley Range, Manchester. (3) Probably 

 Mr. Bailey will be able to help you in this. (4) Apply to Dr. 

 Carrington, Eccles, near Manchester, who is the authority on 

 the Hepaticae. 



H. Lamb. — Dried specimens look like (1) Carex glauca; 

 (2) Luzula pilosa ; (3) Luzula Forstcri (?) ;. (4) a Lepidium (?). 



W. (Dorsetshire). — (1) The scientific name of cup moss is 

 Cenomyce (Scyphophorus) pyxidata. (2) For Dr. Braithwaite's 

 " Moss Flora," apply direct to the author, 303 Clapham Road, 

 London. The price varies. 



R. A. H. — Perhaps " The Fresh and Salt Water Aquarium," 

 by J. G. Wood (Routledge), will answer your purpose. For 

 the other, get " Ponds and Ditches," by Dr. M. C. Cooke 

 (Sor. Prom. Christian Knowledge). 



In Science-Gossip for 1879-81, the names and addresses 

 are given of assisting naturalists who are willing to help 

 others in their respective subjects. Will correspondents take 

 note of these ? Also see the notice in this number of the 

 Botanical Exchange Club. The subscription is is. 6d. per 

 annum. 



Will Mr. J. E. Ady be so good as to furnish his correct 

 address for publication in this column? 



J. G. — We are not aware that Mr. Stevenson's work on 

 British fungi is actually published yet. Perhaps Mr. Steven- 

 son himself will supply us with the publisher's name. 



D. B. — Doubtful. Your specimens were too far gone to be 

 satisfactory. 



W. S. — Thanks for yours. 



Blossoming of the Artichoke. — On this and on the origin 

 of the name Jerusalem as applied to it, see vol. i. of Science- 

 Gossip. 



Initials Lost. — It appears that neither Le Maout and 

 Decaisne nor Sachs mention the nectaries of ferns. 



For Zwite, p. 54, read Twite. 



