HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



60 



spherical bodies may be seen. In some places, 

 especially in the spaces between the minute curved 

 dissepiments and tabular hosts of globular spores, 

 with or without tubes emanating from them, may 

 be ' seen. In Calceola sandaliha corresponding 

 structures exist sometimes, and the method of entry 

 of the parasite can be examined. The author gave 

 two instances, one of which was seen in section. A 

 decided flask-shaped cavity existed in the wall of 

 the shell, opening outwards and rounded and closed 

 inwards. It was crowded with globular spores 

 (oospores), and these, where near the sides, had 

 penetrated the hard shell, and thus gave a rugged 

 and hairy appearance to the outline of the flask- 

 shaped cavity. After noticing minute structures in 

 a brachiopod included in a Silurian coral, and in a 

 Lower Silurian foraminifer, the author asserted, 

 from the results of his late researches upon the algpe 

 parasitic in corals out of his own aquarium, that the 

 fossil and recent forms are analogous in shape, size, 

 and distribution. He considers that the old para- 

 site resembles Saprolegnia ferox in its habit ; and as 

 he considers that Empiisina, Saprolegnia, and Achlya 

 — members of the Protista — are the same organ- 

 isms, living under different physical conditions, he 

 names the old form Palaachlya penetrans ; and he 

 believes that it entered the wall by the spores fixing 

 on to the organic matter, and growing by its assimi- 

 lation, and that carbonic anhydride was evolved. 

 He considers that this acid, assisted by the force of 

 growth and the movement of the cytioplasm, is 

 sufficient to account for the presence of the tubes. 

 Finally, the author draws attention to the probable 

 similarity of external conditions in the Silurian and 

 present times, and to the wonderful persistence of 

 form of this low member of the Protista. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Teeth of a Fly (?) — I shall be much obliged if 

 some of the readers of Science-Gossip can give 

 me a little information on the anatomy of a fly. I 

 have always thought the ordinary house-fly was a 

 suctorial ; and, as such, had no need of teeth ; but 

 to my surprise I saw in the case of a F.R.M.S. a 

 slide with the following printed label on it -.— " Teeth 

 of a fly— Smith, Beck, & Smith, Cornhill," &c. Of 

 course such a highly respectable and well-known 

 firm as that would not have made a mistake ; and, 

 wishing to correct my error in supposing flies did 

 not have teeth, I popped the slide under a microscope 

 and compared it with the tongue of a blow-fly. I 

 observed a most striking resemblance between the 

 " teeth " and the spiral tubes at the end of the 

 tongue ; indeed, it seemed as if a slice containing 

 these tubes had been taken from a fly's tongue, 

 mounted separately, and labelled " teeth " ; and this 

 opinion was shared by others who compared the two 

 slides. Now as Smith & Beck have had labels 

 priuted for this slide, it is probable that they sell a 

 good many of them ; and, as they are so well known, 

 they Gan hardly be guilty of defrauding their cus- 

 tomers by palming off for Is. 6d. a [slice of a fly's 



tongue and calling it a fly's teeth. The conclusion 

 I am obliged to come to therefore is, that flies have 

 teeth : perhaps some one can inform me in what part 

 they are to be found.— T. J. B. 



Devil's Coach-horse. — It may interest some 

 of your readers to hear of a curious old legend ex- 

 tant in Ireland regarding the "Devil's Coach-horse " 

 (Ocypus oleus) in Irish "Dhaw-dheel." It is, to 

 begin with, one of those things which, like " the. 

 weasel, the hare, and the red-headed girl," are con- 

 sidered extremely unlucky to encounter when setting 

 out on a journey, and the reason is contained in the 

 following legend. Whilst on earth our Lord was 

 one day seeking to escape from the Jews, and pass- 

 ing by a field where some men were sowing corn He 

 stopped to ask His way. The men gave him the 

 directions He needed, and He then passed on. But 

 no sooner had He done so than the corn they were 

 sowing sprang up green and fresh, and ripened so 

 quickly as to be fit for gathering the next day. 

 While they were reaping it, a party of Jews came 

 by, and asked if Jesus of Nazareth had passed that 

 way. "He did," was the reply, "while we were 

 sowing: this crop." Thinking as a matter of course 

 that this must have been months ago, the Jews 

 were preparing to turn back, when the Dhaw-dheel, 

 seated on the wall of the field, cocked up its tail, 

 and said, "Ne-agh! l\e-agh!" ("Yesterday! Yester- 

 day!" in Irish), so the Jews went on, and succeeded 

 in taking our Lord prisoner. Since then the Dhaw- 

 dheel has been regarded as accursed. A relation of 

 mine recollects that when, as a child, he was walking 

 through some pasture, accompanied by a peasant, 

 he suddenly spied a strange caterpillar (which he 

 afterwards recognized as the larva of Bicranura 

 vinula, the Puss-moth), and, though he knew nothing 

 of insects, wanted to carry it home, it looked so 

 curious; but before he could pick it up, his com- 

 panion sprang forward, and stamped on it, exclaim- 

 ing as he did so, " That's the baste that gave the 

 cattle the black-leg ! "—A.ff. 



Hawfinch. — Can any one inform me if it is not 

 considered an unusual and rare occurrence to find 

 the nest and eggs of the Hawfinch (Coccothraustes 

 vulgaris) so far west as Somersetshire, having myself 

 taken them in that county ?— Alfred Bindon. 



Wincopipe(S.-G.,p.15). — Insome of the rural dis- 

 tircts about here it is not unusual to hear the country 

 people use the word Wink-a-peeps (Eyes). A mother 

 will say to her child, "Shut those wink-a-peeps and go 

 to sleep," or when washing it, " Now close its wink-a- 

 peeps to keep the soap out." When out on our 

 Saturday afternoon Field Excursions I often hear 

 such remarks as the following, relative to Anagallis 

 arvensis : — " See, the dear little pimpernel is wide 

 awake: we shall have a fine day"; " See the pimpernel 

 is closing its eyes : we must push on" ; " Oh ! the 

 pimpernel has gone to sleep : we must not venture 

 far" ; " The pimpernel is peeping out to see if it will 

 be fine." I only remember having heard the pimpernel 

 directly called Wink-a-peep once. We were out 

 for a long ramble up the Bollin Valley : the day was 

 so glorious that no one ever thought of consulting 

 the " poor man's weather-glass." We had rambled a 

 long way up the valley, when, passing through a field 

 of oats, an elderly lady of the party rather startled 

 me by stopping suddenly, and pointing into the 

 standing oats, exclaiming, " Now, do you see that ?" 

 I looked, expecting to see a snake at least, but fail- 

 ing to discover anything to alarm her, I said, " Do I 

 see what ? " " See what, indeed ! Do you not see those 

 peevish little Wink-a-peeps have closed their petals, 



