HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



i ig 



local worker who will give any facts he may collect 

 in the future pages of Science-Gossip. Since 

 the above was penned, I have met with an abstract 

 of a paper by Professor A. C. Ramsay, entitled 

 "How Anglesea became an Island." (Geological 

 Society, January 19, 1876.) But as his views do not 

 seem wholly to exclude the possibility of river action 

 as well as glacial, I submit the above to your 

 readers with all deference to other opinions. — 

 //. IV. Kid J. 



Larva of Caja. — Is it not unusual for the larva 

 of Chclonia caja (garden tiger) to pupate without 

 hybernating ?— W. G. Rolfe. 



Query as to Falcon. — Will any ornithologist 

 or other naturalist kindly elucidate the following 

 passage in Wordsworth ? — 



" A pair of falcons wheeling on the wing 

 In clamorous agitation, round the crest 

 Of a tall rock, their airy citadel." 



What species of falcon is here alluded to ; and does 

 it still frequent the precipices of the Little Langdale 

 Valley in Westmoreland? Wordsworth, in several 

 passages alludes to the habits and character of the 

 stock-dove. I have been always under the impression 

 that this bird was confined exclusively to the south 

 of England. How then does it come to pass that 

 this poet, who lived almost entirely in the northern 

 districts, should muse so frequently on a creature so 

 far removed from his usual haunts and associations ? — 

 P. Q. Keegan. 



Moonlight and Stained Glass. — Can any of 

 the readers of Science-Gossip inform me why rays 

 of light from the moon passing through stained glass 

 are not influenced by the colour of the glass, but 

 preserve their original whiteness ? I have often 

 witnessed this, and shall be greatly obliged for any 

 information on the subject. — Jno, Langdoit, Plumstcad 

 Parva. 



Oak-Apples and Insects. — Have any of the 

 readers of Science-Gossip noticed the] fact that the 

 common oak-apple sometimes contains a number of 

 small insects not more than a third of the ordinary 

 size of the Cynips Kollari, but apparently resembling 

 it in all other respects ; also the occasional presence 

 in the same galls of a minute hymenopterous insect 

 of a bright metallic green, and with a pointed 

 abdomen? — G. C. Goody. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now 

 publish Science-Gossip a week earlier than heretofore, we 

 cannot possibly insert in the following number any communi- 

 cations which reach us later than the 9th 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 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. 



R. B. L. will find in Science-Gossip for 1878, page 136, in a 

 paper by Mr. J. W. Buck, how flowers can be dried without 

 losing their colour. — A. Paterson. 



E. Lovett. — Accept our thanks for the capital slide of ova of 

 Pagurus Bernhardt. Please send us your method of mounting. 



Robert Aitken. — From your description we have no doubt 

 that the globular, jelly-like mass, found on seaweed, was the 

 eggs of some mollusc, but what species we could not say with- 

 out examination. 



Thomas B ;> Bracken.— Bentham's "Handbook of the 

 British flora" has only woodcut illustrations, not coloured 

 plates. Anne Pratt"s book would, we think, answer your purpose. 



F. L. T.— A flame is a gas or vapour raised to a high tem- 

 perature by combustion. 



J. W. Cundall.— The specific name of Tcstacclla Mau°-ei 

 was given to this animal by De Ferussac in honour of a French 

 naturalist. 



_ A. B. P.— Rye's " British Beetles " is the best of its kind for 

 indigenous beetles. 



G. G.— See a capital article on "A Simple Method of Pre- 

 paring Skeleton Leave ., " on p. 30 of Science-Gossip for 1872. 



G. S. Wills. — We do not know anything of the advertisement 

 of the treatise on " The Microscope " beyond its publication in 

 our last number. You had better address a note to him under 

 cover to D. Bogue, 3 St. Martin's Place, Trafalgar Square, W.C. 



J. A. C. — No object on " enclosed weed" reached us. 



William Kirkby.— The "red lentil" is merely a well-marked 

 variety of Ervum lens, and is commonly known as the Eevntian 

 lentil. v 



T. McGann.— Write A. J. R. Sclater, Teignmouth, Devon, 

 who will, we have no doubt, give you full instructions and help 

 in stocking your pond with gold fish. 



A. D. H— Your specimen is the water-moss (Fontinalis 

 antipyretica). 



John Shaw, jun.— The structures in the very capitally 

 mounted slide of section of Hydrocharis are raphides, or crystals 

 of calcium oxalate. 



J. T. A. (London) —Dana's "Mineralogy" is the best 

 manual of its kind. Others and cheaper are the shilling manual 

 on the subject published by the Society for Promoting Christian 

 Knowledge, written by Mr. H. Windham ; and the " Elements 

 of Mineralogy," by F. Rutley, F.G.S., published at 2S. by Thos. 

 Murby, 32 Bouverie Street, Fleet Street. 



_ W. Johnson.— The last edition of the " Micrographic Dic- 

 tionary " was the third, published by Van Voorst. You had best 

 apply to Dr. Cooke, editor of " Grevillea," for information 

 respecting the present state of our knowledge of freshwater 

 Algae. 



Q. M. S.— A really good £ inch objective is all that is neces- 

 sary'for an ordinary student. To carry an original research and 

 investigation, an £th is necessary ; but we think that at present 

 you would find the latter of more trouble than use. The German 

 eighths have not so high a repute as the English. 



Dr. W. T. King.— The neighbourhood of Ipswich is one of 

 the best in England for microscopical material of all kinds. 



Philip McK. — The object you sent us is the limy, nodular 

 masses usually found at the base of Corallina ojficmalis, a 

 well-known lime-secreting seaweed ; and the soft (now dried up) 

 and bristly part is a young sponge. 



H. W. D.— Lappa major belongs to the Natural Order of 

 Compositae, and Erianthis to the Natural Order of Ranuncu- 

 laceae. 



J. P. Thompson, (Portland, Me., U. S. A.)— Only 2 parts of 

 Dr. Donkin's work on the Diatomaceae have appeared as yet. 

 The publisher is John Van Voorst, 1 Paternoster Row, London! 

 Neither Saville Kent's " Infusoria " nor Dr. Braithwaite's 

 " Sphagnaceaa " have yet been published, but we understand 

 they are well in hand. 



J. T. Brown.— The letters F.R.S. and others, denote 

 Fellows of various incorporated and chartered scientific societies, 

 and they are obtained by scientific men who are elected by 

 ballot on account of their researches, discoveries, or ability in 

 the various sciences. 



EXCHANGES. 



A small collection of butterflies (45 species) for Coleoptera. 

 — C. H. Goodman, Lesness Heath, Kent. 



For exchange, one Herbarium, 700 specimens, many rare, 

 Alpine, &c. Offers wanted. Catalogue will be sent. Address 

 A. Macindoe, Maryhill, N.B. 



Offered, Withering's " Botany " in four volumes, for 

 Hooker's "Flora."— H. P. Russell, Manor House, Plumstead. 



For exchange, about 50 species (90 specimens) of North 

 American Coleoptera, including the Colorado potato beetle 

 (Doryphora decemlineata) for works on Natural History, and 

 microscopic slides. — Joseph Anderson, jun., Alve Villa, 

 Chichester, Sussex. 



British shells. A collector will be obliged by the etymology 

 of Maugei [TestacelZa Maugei). 



First-class sporting rifle, long Snider, long stocked, London 



