HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



71 



bit of it ! His indifference positively nettled me, ] 

 and, after watching him for a minute or two, I took 

 aim with a thick walking-stick I was carrying, and 

 hurled it at the brute, the stick fixing itself upright 

 in the earth just behind him. This was too much 

 for the gentleman; turning angrily, up went his 

 back just like a cat's, and such a loud spitting and 

 swearing began as I should not have thought the 

 beast capable of producing. Nor was this all ; for 

 after examining the stick, and then giving me a 

 look plainly expressing " You will, will you ? " the 

 beast came straight at me, revenge in his coun- 

 tenance. Now my stick was behind the advancing 

 enemy, and, alas! not a stone was near. Would 

 the beast attack my shins, or (unpleasant thought) 

 climb up my clothes, and seize me by the throat 

 or back of neck? All I knew about Polecats 

 was that they bit horribly when they had the 

 chance, and, not caring to verify this fact per- 

 sonally, I . Well! I ran down the slope 



and out of his way. Imagine my feelings when 

 on looking back I saw my enemy surmounting 

 the ridge, and following me, nose to ground ! 

 Some (alas! very small) stones provided me with 

 ammunition, and I opened fire ; so did the Polecat, 

 spitting ferociously. At last one stone nearly took 

 effect, and the enemy turned aside to investigate it 

 angrily ; then entered a thick furze-bush, and dis- 

 appeared. Was he coming up under cover to the 

 very furze-bush at my feet, thence to make a sally 

 and attack my shins ? I knew not, and retired. So 

 apparently did the foe, for I saw no more of him, 

 though, armed now with a goodly flint stone and my 

 recovered stick, I sought him carefully. I confess 

 I felt very small at my defeat, the more so when I 

 considered that the slope down which I so igno- 

 miniously retreated was in reality part of a Roman 

 vallum, upon which, no doubt, high deeds of valour 

 had been performed in days of yore.— W. Hambrough. 



Christmas-day, 1875.— I am sitting in a room 

 without a fire ; the sun's rays are too powerful to 

 bear for long together ; in the garden, strawberries, 

 which bore fruit in October, are in flower for the 

 third time in the year ; and the lark and the thrush 

 are singing.—/. H., Watford. 



Enormous Puff-ball.— Prank J. Allen's large 

 puff-ball described in your December number, is 

 evidently Lycoperdon bovista, Badham {Lycoperdon 

 giganteum, Cooke). This is entirely distinct from 

 the common puff-ball, which never attains to so 

 great a size. Badham says, " Its shape is different, 

 being that of an inverted cone ; never globular ; 

 the flesh also is more compact, while the membrane 

 which holds what is first the pulp and after- 

 wards the seed, is very thin and tender ; the seed, 

 moreover, has no caudal appendage; and, finally, a 

 a considerable portion of the base is sterile, in all 

 which particulars it is unlike Lycoperdon plum- 

 heum (the common puff-ball). It is not of very 

 unusual occurrence in the South of England, and I 

 have met with it growing in its conspicuous snowy 

 beauty several times; more often, however, it 

 is found barbarously scattered in a hundred frag- 

 ments on the sward by some one ignorant of 

 its culinary excellence. When young, i.e. before 

 it begins to show the first signs of ripening, and 

 when it can be cut without showing any yellow.stains, 

 it makes a delicious dish. Cut it in slices and fry 

 in a little butter with egg and breadcrumbs, or 

 sweet herbs, finely pounded or chopped, pepper and 

 salt, and you will thank me for the hint." I have 

 tried it and can recommend Frank J. Allen to have 



the next specimen he finds cooked, if he likes a 

 really toothsome dish. Only, remember, if it can- 

 not be dressed very soon after gathering, it is of no 

 use for the table, and may even do harm if eaten. — 

 Martin Gardner, Leyton. 



Hairworms from Beetle. — 'Some time back, 

 when walking in the neighbourhood of Petersfield, 

 seeing a beetle smartly running across the road, 

 I quickly caught and conveyed it into a small 

 bottle, in which were some bruised laurel-tops. 

 On the following day, on taking it from the bottle, 

 I observed protruding about an inch, from the 

 posterior end of the body what appeared at first 

 sight like pieces of wet hay. Taking my forceps, 

 I carefully drew them from the body, and which 

 I then found to be three hairworms, each about 

 four and a half inches in length. The worms I 

 put into spirit, and now enclose one, together with 

 the beetle from which they were taken. I believe 

 there is nothing new in the fact I state, but thought, 

 perhaps, it might interest some of your readers. 

 The body of the beetle only measures about -^ of 

 an inch in length by i in breadth. — R. E., Southsea. 



"Microscopy" and " Microscopist."— I was 

 much interested in the paper on " The Microscope, 

 and Microscopic Work," in the January number, 

 and I thank Mr. Kitton for the information it con- 

 tains ; but while agreeing with him in his strictures 

 on the misapplied labour sometimes lavished on 

 slides for the microscope — labour which must often 

 entail a ruinous expenditure of eyesight— I demur 

 to his denunciation of the terms " microscopy" and 

 " microscopist." The former term, as I take it, 

 comprehends the whole of microscopic work : the 

 preparation and study of objects, the manipulation 

 of the instrument and its accessories, and the inter- 

 pretation of appearances obtained through their 

 aid. The latter term is a convenient expression for 

 " microscopic worker " (using the words in their 

 fullest sense) — a phrase Mr. Kitton employs farther 

 on in the same paper to designate the student of the 

 minute forms of life, though I do not think " tele- 

 scopic worker," if applied to an astronomer, would 

 seem less absurd than " telescopist." Is there not 

 sufficient difference in the application of the two 

 instruments, microscope and telescope, to justify 

 the use of the words " microscopy " and " micro- 

 scopist," and to account for the non-employment 

 of the words " telescopy " and " telescopist " ? — 

 W. E. H. 



Juniper Bushes. — On Southborough Common, 

 midway between Tunbridge and Tunbridge Wells, 

 there are many juniper bushes 12 feet high, and I 

 have measured one over 16 feet. The part of the 

 common where they flourish slopes considerably 

 towards the west. As for the soil, the Tunbridge 

 Wells sand (Hastings sand) stretches beyond South- 

 borough.— W. F. 



Communications Rkceivkd up to 12th utr. from : — 

 q n. w.— Dr. T.— L. 8.— T. J. B.— M. F.— E. T. N.— R. M.— 

 H.' E. W.— W. C. U.S. L. M.— C. W. H.— E. E.-S. B. B.— 

 W F. F. — T. B. W. — A. F. — G. S. — T. W. D. — J. H. B.— 

 C P. H.— J. R. S. C— F. H. B.— H. G. G.— M. G.— H. L.— 

 E. L. — H. R. - W. L. — W. F. — G. S. — M. W. - J. W. B.— 

 C. F. W.- R. L. G.-H. J. W.— J. W. M.-C W.|W.— S. L. B.— 

 S. S.— C D — W. R. B.-W. H.-J. P.— E. T. S.-H. F., jun. 

 —J. C— W. F. W.— E. E.— T. W.-B. A. R. B.— J. H. B. B.— 

 W. J. D.-J. R.- J. G.— D. R.— W. H. G.— M. S.-J. R. J.- 

 R. P.— F. L.-F. H. A.-H. E.W.-G. R.V.- H. E. F.— S. M. P. 

 -W. L. S.-C. S.-W. H. P.-VV. F.-R.W.-S. A. S.- W.B.H. 

 -L. R.V.-R. S.T.-W. S.-W. K. M.-A. L. P. H.-T. B.W.— 

 H. P.-G. O. H.-F. A. A.-N. B. F.-G. C. D.-F. J. A.— 

 H. M. J. U.— B. W. P.-Dr. C. C. A.— W. W. R.— J. W. M.— 

 R. M. L.— M. G.— J. F. J., &c, &c. 



