HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Possibly the coca requires to be taken in a concen- 

 trated form, such as a tincture, or fluid-extract. True, 

 the alleged effects of the drug are said to be produced 

 by merely chewing the leaf, probably in its fresh 

 condition. It must be remembered, however, that 

 the green leaf of this plant is not to be readily obtained 

 in this country ; or, if obtained, the influences of this 

 climate may have such an effect upon the coca as to 

 deprive it, to a certain extent, of those properties 

 peculiar to it when used in a fresh and native state. 



The strength of the preparations used by the 

 different experimentalists may not have been uniform, 

 so that the weaker infusion or tincture, as the case 

 may be, would not be likely to produce the same 

 effects the stronger preparation would have upon the 

 system. Then a mistake may have arisen as to the 

 plant itself. Were the leaves from which the 

 preparations were made genuine leaves of the 

 Erythroxylon coca? It is very difficult to obtain 

 the pure article ; much that is spurious is to be 

 found in the market. At present the genuine plant 

 commands a very high price, and a low-priced article 

 may at all times be looked upon with suspicion. 

 However, it yet remains for the scientist to continue 

 his researches in the direction of ascertaining its 

 tnerapeutic properties. 



The coca grows to the height of between three and 

 four feet. It has white flowers and bright green 

 leaves. It belongs to the natural order Erythroxy- 

 laceae, and is one of the most important plants of that 

 order. It is found chiefly in Peru and Bolivia. 



NATURAL HISTORY JOTTINGS. 



A Lizard throws off its Tail; and 

 Earthworms feed. 



71 /TA Y^Qth. — This forenoon, I was agreeably sur- 

 1 VJ. prised to see a fine viviparous lizard [Zootoca 

 z'iz'ifara) quietly basking in a dry-stone dyke fully 

 exposed to the bright and very hot sunshine. To all 

 appearance it was a pregnant female, "and had probably 

 laid itself up thus to further the evolution of the 

 young. Wishful to secure the lizard, I cautiously 

 brought clown my walking-stick upon it, pinning it 

 to the spot upon which it basked ; and on laying 

 hold of the tail with my free hand, and bringing it 

 forward to enable me the better to secure my prize 

 without getting an unpleasant nip from its minute 

 but sharp teeth, I had most of that organ thrown off 

 and left twisting and writhing in my hand. Still 

 keeping the creature pinned down with the stick, I 

 dropped the portion of tail presented me, and was 

 treated to a sight of what I have often read as 

 obtaining in the slow-worm {Anguis fragilis), namely, 

 the severed tail writhing and jumping about in the 

 grass at my feet like a thing endowed with life. 

 These motions continued for perhaps a couple of 



minutes, during which period the severed tail would 

 pass over nearly a foot of ground. The portion of 

 the tail thus thrown off, or broken off, was three 

 inches long, and there yet remained attached to the 

 trunk fully one-half inch more : the total length of 

 the lizard, including all its tail, was 6jj inches. 

 A little blood flowed from the wound caused by the 

 severance of the tail. 



I dare say I would be somewhat rough in my 

 handling of the captive, but certainly not so rough as 

 to tear off the tail, which from accounts is not in- 

 frequently thrown off voluntarily by other species of 

 the lizard kind to confuse and mislead an enemy ; 

 and I see no reason to doubt that in this instance 

 the lizard voluntarily threw off its tail for that 

 purpose. 



As I wished to make some further observations on the 

 lizard, I boxed it (as well as its tail), and ultimately 

 placed it in a large glass vessel. I kept it a day or 

 two ; but — ah, well ! we are not all born naturalists, 

 and " What's bred in the bone is ill to drive out of the 

 flesh." I therefore again boxed my tailless captive 

 and gave it its liberty in a suitable locality where ^it 

 was shortly lost sight of ; and I have since speculated 

 on the possibility of this self-mutilation for protective 

 purposes becoming intensified in the subsequent 

 offspring of this individual. Had it been a placental 

 mammal instead of an ovo-viviparous reptile, I 

 should scarcely have doubted that the habit would 

 have been intensified in the immediate offspring. 



By the way, have we not in the above north- 

 country form of an old proverb full acknowledgment 

 and open confession of the law or principle of in- 

 heritance, of the transmission from parent to offspring 

 of characters and idiosyncrasy, long ago grasped by 

 the popular and perhaps more especially by the 

 agricultural mind ! Other proverbs there are of the 

 same import ; such as "A chip off the old block" ; 

 " Like parent, like child " ; "That which comes of 

 a cat will catch mice " ; *' That which is bred of a 

 hen will scrape." Moreover, in every-day con- 

 versation you find the principle of inheritance admitted 

 and enforced. 



June \bth. — At about 6.30 p.m., while rain fell 

 softly and the air was mild, I observed numbers of 

 very large earthworms searching for food in the 

 grass of a hedgeside, their tails remaining in their 

 burrows while their heads and bodies were projected 

 in search of food. The food which to appearances is 

 most acceptable to them is dead or dying hawthorn 

 leaves and blades of grass in the same condition. 

 Twice I saw a fallen, discoloured small hawthorn 

 leaf secured by, apparently, the invagination of a 

 portion of the pointed muzzle, after which the worm 

 withdrew into its burrow out of sight, for the purpose 

 undoubtedly of consuming it. Also, I saw a dis- 

 coloured blade of bent-grass that was still firmly at- 

 tached to the parent plant, taken hold of by the process 

 of invagination, and the secured portion detached by 



