6 4 



HARDWICKE' S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



H. C. Richter. The photograph contains no fewer 

 than thirty-five different objects, and as there is a 

 key accompanying the photograph which gives their 

 names, the illustrations have great value to the 

 student. For exquisiteness of finish and natural 

 history accuracy, we have never before seen anything 

 to equal this photograph, and our surprise is none 

 the less great that it should be mounted and sold 

 for 3j. 6d. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Climbing Powers of the Common Toad. — 

 The late Mr. Coldwells, gardener, of Sandford Lane, 

 Stoke Newington, several times assured me that he 

 had seen toads climb the dwarf brick walls that inclose 

 many of the gardens in the newer districts of the 

 parish. He once took me into a garden and pointed 

 out a toad he had seen enter by way of the wall, and 

 he added, " I was always puzzled when I found a 

 toad in one of these gardens until at last the mystery 

 was explained by my observation of their capacity 

 for climbing." I have never seen a toad climb a 

 perpendicular surface, but I have seen them get up 

 slippery sloping surfaces. — Shirley Hibbcrd, Stoke 

 Newington, 



Ovarium of Freshwater Sponge. — Since the 

 publication of my paper with sketches "On the 

 Freshwater Sponge " in Science-Gossip, my atten- 

 tion has been drawn to an excellent drawing of 

 the egg of the sponge in " Science for All," vol. i., 

 page 6l, fig. 8 a, named there, " the winter bud or 

 gemmule of Spongilla, in its natural condition." At b, 

 is represented one as the same prepared with nitric 

 acid to show its spicular coat. This is incorrect, the 

 fig. at a is an ovarium of Spongilla fluviatilis, but at b 

 is a skeleton of an ovarium of S. Inci/stris, prepared 

 with nitric acid, showing the spicula. In my next 

 paper on the Spongilla to Science-Gossip I shall 

 send some sketches of the spicula peculiar to the 

 ovaria of Spongilla jliiviatilis. — J. Fitllagar. 



The Bustard {Otis tarda) was shot at Salisbury 

 last January ; it was a female, and weighed about nine 

 lbs. — F. S. Lyddon. 



The Introduced Birds and Mammals of New 

 Zealand. — A paper on the above subject was read 

 by Mr. H. M. Brewer, before the Linnean Society, 

 who referred to Dr. Butler's "Avifauna of New 

 Zealand," as not written too soon, for the rapid 

 disappearance of many highly interesting forms is to 

 be deplored. Finches and other small birds intro- 

 duced are preyed on by the New Zealand owl, but 

 nevertheless quite a long list of British songsters, 

 game birds, and others have been successfully esta- 

 blished. Pheasants in some districts abound, and it is 

 observed that when the tremor of an earthquake 



occurs, the cock pheasants set up a continuous crow, 

 either of defiance or fear. Partridges thrive best on 

 the south island. Red deer are now seen in herds on 

 the hills near Nelson. Hares have increased too 

 rapidly, and the female in New Zealand has become 

 more prolific, giving birth to six or seven young at a 

 time. Kangaroos, and various other mammals, have 

 likewise been imported ; but, unfortunately, facts 

 mentioned point out that the acclimatisation of some 

 of them is not altogether an unmitigated blessing to 

 the farmer colonist. 



A New British Fish. — A paper was read on this 

 subject at a recent meeting of the Zoological Society, 

 by Dr. A. Giinther, F.R.S., who exhibited and made 

 remarks on a drawing of a West Indian fish {Hola- 

 canthns tricolor), obtained on the coast of the Island 

 of Lewis, and believed to have been found for the first 

 time in British seas. 



Effect of Frost on some Freshwater 

 Molluscs. — On January 19, the Ouse, at York, was 

 considerably lowered by opening Naburn Lock, and 

 a very large number of freshwater shells were con- 

 sequently left exposed on the banks. A hard frost 

 set in the same night (my thermometer registered 

 eight degrees of frost), and continued till the lock was 

 closed. The mud banks became perfectly hard to 

 the water's edge, and it was very interesting to observe 

 the behaviour of the various species of molluscs under 

 their novel situation. L. pcregra burrowed itself a 

 hole in the mud, apparently by a rotatory movement 

 of the shell, and lay there, warm and damp. I 

 opened several of these holes, mistaking them for 

 burrows of Sphaerium. I don't think a specimen of it 

 died. Sphmrium ovale, which lives in deep burrows, 

 and when the water is lowered in the summer, sinks 

 into them to maintain its moisture, behaved in a very 

 singular manner. It left its hole and lay dead on 

 the surface in numbers — very convenient for my 

 collection, but I fear the species will become almost 

 extinct, as it is confined to a very limited locality. 

 Anodonta and Unio had evidently made a struggle to 

 follow the water as it retreated, but failed. A hard 

 frozen track, a few inches long, marked their efforts. 

 They were all, I believe, dead. Palndina vivipara 

 (which occurs in great abundance), was unable to 

 resist the frost in spite of its operculum and thick 

 mud coat. All the specimens I examined were dead. 

 Some had made a futile effort to bury themselves, 

 but as they live in a stony part of the river, they had 

 not a fair chance. As no Sphcerium rivicola appeared, 

 and it is generally abundant, I infer it remained in its 

 burrow. How far the following inferences may be 

 justified, I leave to your readers to judge. 1. That 

 L. pcrcgra has learnt, by a kind of hereditary instinct, 

 how to behave under frost. How determined nature 

 is to preserve and multiply this species! 2. That 

 S. ovale is used to exposure in hot weather from 

 drought, but is not used to the unnatural circumstances 



