HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



2I 5 



years have built in it. For the purpose of making 

 some stabling, a piece having about twenty-five 

 yards frontage was cut back eight or ten yards, so as 

 to leave a rectangular opening. The soil was first 

 removed as far back as required ; and next morning, 

 when the men came to work, they found the birds 

 busily engaged in excavating fresh holes in it, which 

 they continued to do, and utilise for nests, all the 

 while the men were removing the hard sandstone, 

 which required the use of wedges and pickaxes to 

 loosen it. — L. Lee, Nottingham. 



Great Grey Shrike; Little Auk. — The 

 occurrence of both these birds is mentioned in the 

 " Naturalist " for August. The former (Lanius 

 excubitor), which is said not to have been hitherto 

 recorded as occurring in Britain during the breeding 

 season, was seen by Mr. Thomas Raine last June near 

 Leeds. The dead body of a little auk {Mergulus 

 alle) was found by Mr. J. Chaloner in July near 

 Tadcaster. 



Swarms of Flies. — Have any readers taken note 

 of the swarms of green flies which occurred during 

 the summer ? They were noticed in Ipswich on and 

 near the 15th of July, and it was suggested that their 

 presence was due to the comparative absence of 

 swallows. They are reported in the " Entomologist" 

 for August by Mr. G. E. Sims, jun., from Oxford, but 

 the date is not given. 



Silkworms. — I have for two or three years kept 

 silkworms, but do not remember before noticing the 

 following fact. In two cases a cocoon when opened 

 has been found to contain two chrysalises. It has 

 been impossible to unwind the silk from them, and it 

 seems likely that the former silkworms had broken 

 each other's threads in the process of spinning. The 

 cocoons were certainly larger and flatter than usual. 

 May I ask some one to inform me if this fact has often 

 been noticed ? — Laurence G. J. Epps. 



Toynbee Hall. — "An Amateur Microscopist " 

 writes as follows : I dare say some of the readers of 

 Science-Gossip may have heard of the Toynbee Hall 

 Institution in Whitechapel, and are aware that its 

 object is the lessening of the wide gulf dividing 

 the rich and the poor by social intercourse between 

 the two classes, as represented by the workers of the 

 Institution, who are connected with the leading Uni- 

 versities, on the one hand, and the poor inhabitants of 

 the East End on the other. This is not the highest nor 

 the most worthy of the objects of the Institution, but 

 it is the one I propose dealing with in this letter. 

 Subscriptions are now being received for the purpose 

 of providing the Institution with a microscope, and, of 

 course, objects will be required for examination and 

 study. Now what I intend doing myself to assist 

 this work and what I beg to suggest for the con- 

 sideration of your readers, is as follows : when I am 

 doing any mounting, I will, if possessed of sufficient 

 material, mount an extra slide for the Toynbee Hall. 

 This will give very little trouble, as it is as easy to 

 mount two or three slides as one when the material is 

 at hand. Hoping that I may have your approval and 

 co-operation and that of your readers in this matter, — 

 I remain, &c. 



Toynbee Hall. — As I learn that "An Amateur 

 Microscopist " is writing to you on the subject of the 

 Toynbee Hall microscope, may I add a few words of 

 explanation about the undertaking ? The idea of a 

 microscope for Toynbee Hall was suggested by a 



friend much Interested in that Institution, and the 

 suggestion that some of us might send duplicate slides 

 for exhibition was also in our favour. Thanks partly to 

 the kindness of friends and partly to the lady students 

 of Newnham College (who established a fund for 

 this purpose) we have already collected about three 

 guineas. We do not doubt that if a few of the 

 readers of Science-Gossip would contribute a shilling 

 or such small sum towards the fund, we should soon 

 be in a position to send a really good microscope to 

 the Institution, and perhaps to procure also a slide 

 cabinet, which would be indispensable if donations of 

 slides are to be of any value. — G. H. Bryan, Thomlea, 

 Trumpington Road, Cambridge. 



White Bugle. — In answer to Miss M. Jackson's 

 query, I may state that I have preserved in my her- 

 barium a white bugle (Ajuga reptans). It was found 

 by J. Edmund Clark, B.A., B.Sc, in Helmsley, 

 North Yorkshire, on June 4th, 1872. — B. B. Le Tall. 



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 must adhere to our rule of 

 not noticing queries which do not bear the writers' names. 



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 fair 

 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. 



T. H. Marriott.— Direct to editor under cover to publishers. 

 Kill the insect first with benzole or chloroform. 



W. C. — Articles not as a rule received on the condition you 

 refer to. Write if you have anything to send otherwise. 



Exchange Item. — It is possible to look at this in a slightly 

 different light. Neither of the terms of the exchange were 

 closely particularised. 



F. Marshall. — Yours is not an exchange. 



J. M.— The remains of shells broken as you describe are said 

 to be frequently seen. 



Miss G. — The scale moss has apparently no fructification. 

 The rush may be J. acutiflorus or iamprocarpus. Naming 

 dried _ up specimens, especially when only part of the plant is 

 sent, is apt to be unsatisfactory. 



M. E. T. — Your caterpillar has become a chrysalis. 



J. G.— One of the following might suit. " Popular British 

 Fungi," by James Britten, F.L.S. (London: "Bazaar" Officel, 

 uncoloured figures; "A Plain and Easy Account of British 

 Fungi, esp. esculent_ and economic," by Dr. M. C. Cooke. 

 (London : late Hardwicke and Bogue), coloured plates ; " Rust, 

 Smut, Mildew and Mould — Microscopic Fungi,'' same author.' 

 ; London : late Hardwicke), coloured plates. Prices unknown. 



F. Challis. — Dissolve shellac in naphtha, till it is as thick 

 as cream. If the specimens are rough interpose cotton-wool. 



M. E. T.— The dark-winged dragon fly appears to be the 

 female of Libellula splendeus. Both are somewhat injured. 



John Hill.— Your vetch was too dried when received to be 

 of much good. Flowers packed in cardboard boxes are apt to 

 be dried up in two or three days, and moisture may do harm. 



J. Taylor. — The present number is the ninth of the volume. 

 A volume contains twelve monthly numbers, beginning in 

 January. For skeleton of bird or small animal, boil, but not 

 too much, and remove the flesh. If small do not disunite the 

 hjnes, but leave them attached by gristle. Details cannot be 

 given here. Papers on plant-preserving have appeared in 

 Science-Gossip, one of which is republished in "Notes on 

 Collecting and Preserving Natural History Objects." As to 

 your last query, write to the address given and ask. 



R. H. Wellington. — One of the minute fungi which are 

 parasitic on cereals. Popular names for different kinds are 

 "smut" and " bunt." 



