HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



'■37 



T. Vipers swallowing their Young. — My friend, 

 the late William Hutchinson, M.C.S., witnessed the 

 young escaping from the mother's mouth, on a spot 

 close to the gate of Sandling Park, near Hythe, in 

 Kent. He killed both viper and young, and preserved 

 them ; the young being placed as he had observed 

 them in the park. This group I often saw while 

 living in Kent, and I heard their history from him- 

 self. I know not what became of the specimens upon 

 his removal to London. — G. Smith. 



Entomological Captures. — Perhaps a few 

 recent entomological captures may interest some of 

 your readers. On July 27 I took several high brown 

 fritillaries {Argynnis Adippe), a good many silver- 

 washed fritillaries, {Argynnis Paphta), one dark- 

 green fritillary [Argynnis Aglaia). I saw two 

 purple emperors, both in superb condition. On the 3rd 

 of August I took two black varieties of the silver- 

 washed fritillary. These are rarely taken out of the 

 New Forest. The white admiral [Limenitis Sibylla), 

 and purple hairstreak [Quercus Thccla) usually abound, 

 but this season I have not taken a single hairstreak, 

 and only one white admiral. I have seen a good 

 many purple emperors ; in 1S76, 77, and 78 I took a 

 good many. This is perhaps one of the best localities 

 in Hants for them. In September, 1877, I took 

 almost a dozen varieties of the clouded yellow, the 

 variety known as C. Helice ; in the same month I took 

 a Camberwell beauty ( Vanessa Antiopa). Black 

 hah-streaks {Thccla Priini) were seen here in June, 

 1877, sporting about in the oak-trees ; in September, 



1875, I took a brown hairstreak [Thccla Betake). In 

 the latter end of May, and first two weeks of June, 



1876, 77, and 78, I took clingy skippers [Thanaos 

 Tages), Duke of Burgundy fritillaries [iVemeobins 

 htcina), green hairstreaks [Thccla Rnbi), and the pearl 

 and small pearl-bordered fritillaries. All the vanessas 

 occur here, the Comma B. included. I have taken 

 the wood white [Lencophasia Sinapis) ; and the marble 

 white [Arge Galathea) abounds every year. The 

 Bath white [Pieris Daplidice) has been taken, besides 

 many other rare butterflies, in the neighbourhood of 

 Hungerford, about eleven miles from here. Numbers 

 of rare moths can be taken in a large oak wood here 

 called Doles, which covers a space of nearly twelve 

 hundred acres. — G. Dewar, Andover. 



The Cormorant. — I see in Waterton's Essay on 

 the cormorant, that he is " positive " only one species 

 of that bird inhabits England : has this careful ob- 

 server of nature been proved wrong on this point, or 

 are more modern naturalists under a delusion with 

 regard to so common and interesting a bird ? — J. K. 



Raven and Rook. — In your August number a 

 correspondent asks to be furnished with the distin- 

 guishing characteristics of the raven and the rook. The 

 difference in the mature birds is very marked. The 

 raven is nearly two feet in length, bill black, strong 

 and thick, 2§ inches long, nostrils covered with 

 bristles which reach more than half-way down the 

 bill. The rook is only eighteen or nineteen inches 

 long ; the bill is tapering and more slender towards 

 the point, formed more for a digging than a lacerating 

 instrument ; the nostrils are not covered with in- 

 cumbent feathers or bristles, and the base of the bill 

 chin and face, as far as the eyes, are bare, covered 

 only by a white and naked scaly skin. This last 

 peculiarity does not appear until after the first moult, 

 but the one found by your correspondent in February 

 would certainly have completed this. — Oliver V. 

 Aplin. 



Cimbex Europ.ea. — A pair of these insects were 

 captured in June last, by the Rev. Canon Grainger, 

 D.D., Broughshane, co. Antrim, flying over a beech 

 hedge. In 1S45, at Cultra, near Holywood, co. 

 Down, he secured another pair. Would they not be 

 considered rare in the north of Ireland ? — S. B. 



Fireflies.— In answer to C. Willmot, I beg to 

 say fireflies are frequently sent to England alive from 

 Corfu and Therapia, and have been kept under glass 

 at Plymouth for several days. As I have a few dead 

 specimens for exchange from both those places, am 

 open for one or two offers. — Harry Moore. 



Wasp preying on Larva. — I lately saw a wasp 

 sting a large caterpillar to death, of the cabbage 

 butterfly, which had fallen on the gravel walk, and 

 then commence eating it. Is this an uncommon 

 occurrence ? — S. B. 



DRAGON-FLY. — I should be much obliged if any 

 of your readers could give me the name of a dragon- 

 fly which I caught on August 4th. The upper 

 part of the body is red, and there is a red spot at the 

 edge of each of the four wings. — A. J. Wheldon. 



The Manx Cat. — A friend has informed me that 

 a tailless form of the cat is not uncommon in Zulu- 

 land. Can any of your readers certify the fact from 

 their own experience, or, say whether it is identical in 

 form with the Manx cat or otherwise ? Can a 

 specimen be procured, alive or dead ? I would 

 willingly make an exchange or give value for it. 

 -P. K. 



Another Suggestion. — At page 186 of August 

 number of the Science-Gossip, there is a very good 

 suggestion by Mr. Horace Pearce, F.L.S., to publish 

 " A National Manual of British Botany," compiled 

 under the joint authorship of several of our recognised 

 leading botanists. Now were such a work passed 

 through the press and issued to the world as one 

 volume at once, it necessarily would be expensive, 

 for there is no doubt it would be a first-class work 

 and one that the nation would be proud of. I would 

 then first suggest that it should be issued in numbers 

 at fixed periods, say every three months, at $s. a 

 number ; many persons would thus be enabled to 

 take it in thus issued, who perhaps could not afford 

 to purchase it if brought out in a complete form, 

 whether in one two or three volumes. Hooker's 

 " Flora of British India," published under the 

 authority of the Secretary of State for India, is thus 

 being published in parts at 10s. 6d. a part, but each 

 part contains about 250 pages. Sir J. D. Hooker is 

 assisted by various eminent botanists. — y. Hobson, 

 Colonel. 



Hawthorn-blossom. — It may interest your cor- 

 respondent R. W. to learn that I noticed a great 

 scarcity, although not entire absence of the hawthorn- 

 blossom in the neighbourhood of Harrogate, Yorks. — 

 G. C. Goody. 



Blue Pimpernel. — In answer to A. M. P. in 

 the August number of Science-Gossip, I have this 

 season found the blue pimpernel growing abundantly 

 in cornfields near the Vicarage, West Hatch, Somer- 

 setshire. — D. S. 



t Clay and Coal. — In Science-Gossip for August 

 there are some observations by Mr. Woodward in his 

 "Geology of Swansea," on which I should be very 

 much obliged for further information, as an important 

 part of the history of coal depends upon the points 



