HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



181 



Just above, upon the opposite side of the stem, was a 

 short raceme of perhaps half-a-dozen flowers, con- 

 siderably larger in size, of a greenish hue, and broad 

 flat sepals and petals, a short thick column and 

 a somewhat heart-shaped labellum. It appears 

 probable that in this case the large flower is the seed- 

 bearing form ; for the other, although it produces 

 pollinia, seems imperfect in the ovary, and thus the 

 different structures have some bearing upon the 

 phenomenon of fertilisation, an approximation to the 

 monoecious state. It is a curious fact that while 

 the three species C. ventricosiim, C. Loddigesii and 

 heterochilon have flowers similar to the large form 

 of C. Warscewiczii — C. pentadactyloii, C. aureum, 

 C. macidatum and C. Egertonianum, bear flowers 

 resembling the small form with a fringed stalked 

 labellum. 



Lewis Castle. 



A PECULIAR INFUSORIAN. 



1~*ROM the bottom of a glass in which gold fish 

 are kept, I have obtained a large number of 

 Infusoria of various forms, over twenty different 



and as I have seen many of them in the act of fission, 

 it would be easily mistaken for a forked neck, if the 

 process was not watched throughout. '% They also at 

 times increase by transverse fission dividing about 

 midway, the posterior part containing the vesicle 

 has the new head, neck, &c, formed, and the 

 anterior part has a new tail formed with vesicle, &c. 

 The act of fission by the latter mode is very rare, but 

 by the former is very frequent, and appears to be 

 the most usual manner of increase. I have seen the 

 Paramecium Aurelia divide both transversely and 

 longitudinally. 



James Fullagar. 



NOTES ON CORONELLA L^E VIS. 



AMONG the many readers of Science-Gossip 

 there are no doubt some to whom a few notes 

 on the habits of this rare snake will be of interest. 

 As I have lived for some years at Bournemouth, in 

 Hampshire, formerly its chief habitat, I have had 

 many opportunities of observing the Coronella. Of 

 its habit and manner of feeding, I am enabled to 

 speak with more confidence, as, a year or two back, 



-Fig ico. — Tt ackclocerca olor ; a, ciliated mouth ; b, contractile vesicle. 



creatures ; among them some of the Trachclocei-ca 

 olor. These beautiful creatures are thus described by 

 Fritchard : " Spindle-shaped, neck very long and 

 flexible, terminated by a dilated and ciliated mouth. 

 Its surface is beautifully reticulated, creeps at the 

 bottom of the vessel containing it, and twines itself 

 gracefully about Conferva or the roots of Lemna, but 

 swims awkwardly. It elongates and contracts its neck 

 at pleasure, and is altogether an interesting object for 

 the microscope, their greatest length 1-30"; it has 

 been found encysted." Among the number of T. olor 

 that I kept for some time in a cell, I have had 

 the pleasure of witnessing their increase by longitudi- 

 nal division. In the'sketch I have endeavoured to show 

 the process, which takes about thirty-five minutes to 

 complete from th^ commencement of the division ; 

 Fritchard also mentions and figures a T. olor with 

 a forked neck and two heads, and it is named Biceps,- 

 but he considers it to be not a distinct creature, but 

 that it is evidently nothing more than " an animalcule 

 in the act of longitudinal fission not far advanced," 



I had a live specimen in my possession for some time. 

 Twelve years ago Bournemouth was but a very small 

 village, surrounded by large expanses of moorland, 

 intersected with marshy valleys, and was a famous 

 hunting ground for either naturalists or entomologists. 

 At this time Coronella was extraordinarily abundant. 

 During the very hot summer of 1S68 the snakes were 

 to be seen literally by scores, and great numbers 

 were killed. Since then, however, their numbers 

 have gradually decreased, and most of the wild moor 

 having disappeared before the advance of civilisation, 

 they are not now met with in places where they 

 formerly abounded. 



The favourite haunt of Coronella is a dry, sandy, 

 hillside, overgrown with short heath, and gorse, 

 and coarse grass, and sloping down to a marshy 

 valley, where water is at all times obtainable. There, 

 on some bare patch of sand, the snake lies, loosely 

 coiled, and basks in the sun ; and there it can, when 

 thirsty, get water without any great expenditure of 

 energy. During the heat of the day it frequently 



