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HAftDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Greensand ; but there is no one hereabouts who 

 possesses the books of reference in which the secre- 

 tary kindly hinted I might obtain my information.— 

 J. P. G. 



Glycerine Mounting. — Perhaps the slides 

 which " S. L. B." has found defective were secured 

 by merely removing all the superfluous glycerine 

 possible, and then applying gold-size. In that case, 

 I should not think the process would be reliable; but 

 if the gold-size be.kept from contact with the glyce- 

 rine by a coating of amber dissolved in chloroform, I 

 always find the gold-size to readily dry, and be quite 

 trustworthy. If, just before filling the cell, the top of 

 it be painted with amber varnish, and likewise the 

 edge of the cover, they adhere when brought into 

 contact, and the superfluous glycerine can be readily 

 removed by a wet cloth folded into an angular 

 shape. After being carefully dried, if the adhesion 

 is faulty at any point, a few touches of collodion 

 will effectually seal it up. Amber varnish should 

 not be applied a second time, for of course it would 

 soften the first coat. — /. R. T. 



Polarization of Living Tissues.— A few 

 evenings ago, whilst examining a living shrimp, I 

 was rather . surprised to find it affected by the 

 Polariscope. At first I imagined that it was the 

 thin carapace ; but when this was taken off and put 

 under the microscope it did not polarize. I then 

 tried a thin section of the flesh, which had been 

 previously boiled— this was again a failure ; next, I 

 tried a piece of the raw flesh, and was well rewarded 

 for so doing, as its colours were most beautiful. 

 Has any one else observed this ?—C. P. 0. 



ZOOLOGY. 



The American Manatee.— From the excellent 

 memoir " On the Sirenia," by Mr. Southwell, in 

 Science-Gossip, p. 56, 1 see that he has overlooked 

 the notes on the Manatus americanus contained in 

 my "Naturalist's Sojourn .in Jamaica," p. 341, et 

 seq., the results of the personal observation of 

 myself and my valued correspondent, Mr. Richard 

 Hill. He is also evidently unaware that the Society 

 for Promoting Christian Knowledge have published 

 a figure of the species in their " Large Series of 

 Natural History Engravings," the accuracy of 

 which I can vouch for, as it was made after my own 

 drawings, which were taken from the living 

 animal— P. //. Gosse, F.R.S. 



Nesting of Hawfinch.— In answer to Mr. 

 Alfred Bindon's question in the number of Science- 

 Gossip for March, as to the Hawfinch breeding in 

 Somerset, I can only say that it certainly does so 

 occasionally in various parts of the country, but by 

 no means frequently ; indeed, when I published 

 the "Birds of Somerset," I did not know of an 



instance. Since that, however, on the 26th of 

 June, 1872, I had a young hawfinch sent to me from 

 Eitzhead, near Wiveliscombe, in the western part 

 of the county, that had just been killed by a cat ; 

 it was in immature plumage, and could not have 

 left the nest more than a day or two, if so much. 

 There is also a young hawfinch in the small lGcal 

 museum at Bath in the same state of plumage 

 which I was told was killed near that town ; and if 

 so, it must have been hatched in the neighbourhood, 

 as, like the other, it could not have been many days 

 out of the nest. These are the only two instances 

 that have come under my notice of the Hawfinch 

 breeding in this county; indeed, it is not a very 

 common bird even in the winter. Mr. Bindon does 

 not say whether he has taken the eggs more than 

 once in Somerset.— Cecil Smith. 



Nilsson's Gobt.— Having found a specimen of 

 Nilsson's goby {Gobius Nilssonii) in the Moray 

 Eirth here in May, 1868, and as it is a new species 

 to Britain, this being the first known to have been 

 met with in our seas, I should feel greatly obliged 

 by your recording the circumstance in Science- 

 Gossip. When taken, I had ample opportunity for 

 examination, and had it alive for two days. I 

 could see that it differed considerably in habits 

 espeeially from the other British gobies, and con- 

 cluded on that account that it was a nondescript. 

 But it may be naturally asked, why so long in pub- 

 lishing the fact ? The answer is : When the little 

 creature died, I then put it into a bottle to send it 

 to Mr. Couch for his opinion. The bottle was very 

 carefully put aside until I should get a letter ready to 

 go along with it. This I wrote next day, but when 

 the bottle was required, it was gone no one knew 

 where. Although it was diligently and anxiously 

 looked for, it could not be found. About three 

 weeks ago I had the pleasure of again finding the 

 lost bottle and my little rarity, and as fresh as the 

 day it was put in, except the colours, which were 

 gone. 1 now submitted it to Professor Nicol, 

 Marisclial College, Aberdeen, who identified it, and 

 named the speeies for me. This species has only 

 hitherto, and previous to its discovery at Banff, 

 been met witli on the coast of Norway. And I do 

 not find it amongst those, twenty-five in nnmber, 

 mentioned in Dr. Turton's edition of Linne, pub- 

 lished in 1806.— Thomas Edwards, Banff. 



Sussex Heronries. — It is remarkable that 

 Yarrell, in his enumeration of the counties con- 

 taining heronries omits Sussex altogether, although 

 when he wrote, the fine heronry at Parham had 

 been for centuries established there. This has since 

 been excellently described by Knox, and within the 

 last three years a colony has been also established 

 at Bosham, where, on the Bayeux Tapestry, Harold 

 is represented with a falcon on his wrist. Can any 

 reader inform me whether, at the present time, 



