HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



165 



risk of being unintelligible to those unacquainted with 

 the dialect of Wessex, I venture to give them in his 

 own words : "I da mind, when I were up to the 

 Zological Gardins, I seed um put a passel of young 

 runnin' rabbits in along wi' they gurt sarpents. They 

 did 'tend to be asleep, till the rabbits coined handy 

 to um, and then they soon snopped um up. Did 

 nat'ral meak my heart yache to see um. I da call it 

 terrible barb'rous work to put young runnin' rabbits 

 in among such gurt nasty things a-curdled up like 

 they be." He added, from his own experience : 

 " Oonce, when we was a-mowin', we seed a gurt 

 sneak a-scufflin' along, and a hop-frog a-hoppin' afore 

 un : and massy ! how thick there hop-frog did holler 

 and squall ! And, another time, we seed a sneak wi' 

 a gurt knob in the neck o' un, and we cut open with 

 the scythe, and sure enow, there were a gurt twoad 

 he'd a-swallered. We tookt un out, and hooked un 

 about a bit in the dew, and he soon croped off." 

 Vouching for the genuineness of these revelations. — 

 C. JV. Bingham. 



Climbing Powers of the Toad. — I never knew, 

 until I read Mr. Shirley Hibberd's note in the March 

 number of Science-Gossip, that there was any 

 doubt as to the common toad's being able to climb 

 (for a short distance at any rate) perpendicular rough 

 surfaces, such as a low garden-wall, or a couple of 

 doorsteps, for I know of one old country-house which 

 a very venerable fat toad especially patronised. He 

 was constantly discovered in the hall close to the 

 dining-room mat, and as constantly ejected into the 

 front garden, for the owner of the place never allowed 

 a toad to be destroyed, he knew their value as 

 gardeners too well. Now this toad must always have 

 climbed up two steep steps in order to gain the broad 

 slab which was level with the door. I believe it is 

 the rough surface that enables them to mount, for 

 they certainly have not places under their toes as a 

 tree-frog has. — Helen Watney. 



Stock Doves.— These birds (Columba anas) are 

 a species, are they not ? — of the same family as the 

 ring doves or cush.aXs_{Colitmba fialumbus) which are 

 certainly found in the north, for Sir Walter Scott 

 alludes to them in his poems. See "Lady of the 

 Lake :" 



" The blackbird and the speckled thrush 

 Good morrow gave from brake and bush ; 

 In answer coo'd the cushat-dove 

 Her notes of peace and rest and love. " 



and I believe there are other passages in which this 

 bird is mentioned, only I cannot remember them 

 sufficiently well to quote at present. Stock doves are 

 migrants ; they are smaller than the wood queest, and 

 hence they are called in some places the "little 

 queest ;" they build in trees, but select the hollow 

 places in preference to the branches. — Helen E. 

 Watney. 



Dara Asiatica. — I have some seed of this plant, 

 sent from Australia, with the statement that it is used 

 in the same manner as the pea. The small size of 

 the seed miust render it a very troublesome vegetable 

 to prepare in this way ; perhaps the whole pod is 

 eaten. Any hints as to use or culture would oblige.— 

 IV. G. Tux. 



Frog in Stone. -In the "Birmingham Half- 

 Holiday Guide " I find in the description of the 

 museum the following: "may be seen, among the 

 other curious objects, the lump of rock in which a 

 live frog was found at a depth of many feet in the 

 ground, in the formation of the Beechwood tunnel, 

 near Coventry."— /F. G. Tux. 



Calamagrostis epigejos. — If any reader of 

 Science-Gossip will kindly tell me where, in the 

 London districts, I can certainly find the wood-small- 

 reed {Calamagrostis epigejos) I shall feel much obliged. 

 And still more so if he will communicate the desired 

 information by letter. — E. Cox, 172, Acre Lane 

 Brixton, S. IV. 



Preserving Birds' Eggs.— In reference to Mr. 

 Southwell's remarks in last month's number of Science- 

 Gossip regarding the mode I mentioned for preserving 

 birds' eggs, allow me to state that I lay no claim to 

 originality of method ; it is one that has long been 

 adopted both here and on the Continent. Were Mr. 

 Southwell aware of its universality he certainly would 

 not have made such a strong assertion as that "any 

 kind of varnish absolutely destroys the character of 

 the egg and renders it perfectly valueless," i.e., "if 

 under any kind of varnish " he included albumen as 

 used in this case. I never yet found placing an egg 

 near the fire injure the colour, and if he will only 

 practically test the effect, he will not again say "it is 

 very likely " to do so. Finally, if Mr. Southwell will 

 inspect eggs collected even so recently as last season, 

 especially song thrushes, startlings, and dunnocks — 

 he will find that, whether there be " reason" or not, 

 eggs will not " remain unchanged for an indefinite 

 period" if they be simply "protected from damp and 

 light ;" those conditions not being all necessary. — ■ 

 T. y. Lane. 



Viper swallowing its Young. — Having only 

 recently become a subscriber to Science-Gossip, I 

 was not aware this subject had been discussed in it 

 before. With regard to the viper, I mentioned in 

 April the young could easily have escaped from the 

 stomach, had they been there ; but, at the same time, I 

 think it possible for them to have escaped from the 

 oviduct, it was impossible to see from which they 

 really did. I cannot doubt for a moment that vipers 

 do swallow their young to afford them protection, when 

 I have it from eye-witnesses whose word is fully to 

 be depended upon. In all places where vipers abound 

 it is asserted — and has been during the last century— 

 amongst the agricultural community (of which I 

 have the honour of being a juvenile member) that 

 such is the case j it is highly improbable that so many 

 would hold the opinion if there were no grounds for 

 it, on the other hand it is to be wondered that no 

 scientist has even witnessed such an occurrence. I 

 live on a farm where vipers are by no means rare, and 

 shall certainly be on the watch during the summer 

 months. I hope all the readers of Science-Gossip 

 who have the opportunity will do the same. — J. J. 



Vipers swallowing their Young. — Having 

 seen a note in Science-Gossip from F. M. Campbell 

 expressing a doubt as to vipers being able to " house " 

 their young ones, I take this opportunity of sending 

 you a copy of a note taken by myself from a tenant 

 of my father's who lives on the coast, and whose 

 veracity is undoubted. Should you require his name 

 and address, I would give it with pleasure. Note 

 taken on September, 1878. " About two years ago I 

 was in one of my fields, and observed on the hedge a 

 large she-adder, a grey one, it appeared unusually 

 large. I had heard that a large one had been seen 

 there before. I kicked her off the hedge on to the 

 grass field, and whilst there I stepped on her tail, 

 when there immediately issued from her mouth nine 

 young ones about four or five inches long, and which 

 to all appearance must have been in and out of the 

 dam several times before — they being well grown 

 and apparently about five or six weeks old. They 

 issued from the mouth of the dam one by one, and 



