HAUDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



23 



an old work on natural history : — " Sometimes are 

 found in herds of considerable numbers, frequenting 

 moist and marshy situations, and preferring the 

 coarse vegetation of the forest and swampy regions 

 to that of open plains. They swim well, and cross 

 the broadest rivers without hesitation." There is 

 certainly great difficulty in providing the advantages 

 of nature for animals in confinement, but it should 

 be done as near as possible. — E. Lovett. 



The Greenfinch.— Can any one inform me of the 

 use of the small ball-like elevation in the upper 

 mandible of the Greenfinch (Coccothranstes chloris) ? 

 — T. Jackson. 



Charlton Sand-pit.— In answer to the query of 

 *' W. H. G." respecting the present condition of 

 Charlton Sand-pit, I may say that I have been there 

 several times geologizing, and have never met with 

 any objectionable treatment, but, on the contrary, 

 with the greatest civility, the workmen being always 

 ready and anxious to sell specimens.— J 7 . B.Linley. 



Swallows in November. — I think it is not 

 a very common occurrence to find swallows in 

 November. They had left here (Bath) about the 

 middle of September, and some were seen during 

 October, the thermometer ranging, on the north 

 side, in the open air, from 40° to 42° at eight a.m.^ 

 and 46° to 50° in the middle of the day, the whole of 

 that time with northerly or easterly winds mostly. 

 On the 3rd of November, however, the wind came 

 from south-west to south, thermometer 52° to 54°, at 

 eight a.m. and 60° to 65° middle of day ; sky cloudy, 

 but clearing at two o'clock, the air feeling warm, and 

 even close. At four o'clock, to my astonishment, I 

 noticed twenty to twenty-five swallows (the small 

 species) performing gyrations just as in summer. I 

 had no time to watch them ; but half an hour after 

 I found they were gone, and the sun was behind the 

 hills. Now the question is, where did they come 

 from ? Had they returned with the warm wind, or 

 only remained behind in some warmer part of the 

 country ? — C. H. Macco. 



■ Fishes and Barnacles. — In the stomach of a 

 Smooth Blenny (Blennius pholis), about three inches 

 in length, 1 found four specimens of the shell of the 

 common Acorn Barnacle {Balanus balanoides). 

 Could any one inform me as to how a small fish could 

 obtain a creature usually so firmly fixed to the rocks 

 as to require a hammer or stone to remove it ? 

 These crustaceans may frequently be found on the 

 shells of the mollusca, or on the carapace of crabs, 

 &c. Is it probable that the fish swallowed them in 

 conjunction with, perchance, a small crab, the com- 

 paratively thin shell of which was dissolved by the 

 acid of the stomach before I opened it ; or is it more 

 likely that the barnacles might have been torn off 

 the rocks by some other agency, and then swal- 

 lowed ; but if this were so, they must have been 

 eaten very quickly after the disengagement, or they 

 would have been dead, and would, 1 suppose, not 

 have been so palatable. — /. S. A. 



Gilbert White's " Selborne."— I am surprised 

 to see that your correspondent " Vagans " proposes 

 that Mr. Buckland should tamper with his forth- 

 coming edition of White's " Selborne." What is the 

 book worth if it is not left as White wrote it ? As 

 far as I can see, any one who tampers with the book 

 tampers with White's name as a naturalist. What 

 is there in it that a naturalist of the present day, 

 writing on the same subject, would not mention? 

 "Vagans" must learn that books on natural history 



are natural histories, and not books for the drawing- 

 room table. We shall be very glad to see White's 

 lately-discovered letters in the new edition ; but as 

 to expunging matter, the act would be criminal. — 

 Adrian Peacock, Amcott's Rectory, Doncaster. 



Irish Antiquities.— Mr. G. H. Kinahan's fig. 

 154, in the ninth of his admirable sketches of Irish 

 Antiquities, reminds one of the sepulchral mound 

 or cairn at Newgrange, some four or five miles from 

 Drogheda. The stone basin at Newgrange is some- 

 what oval, and about 4 ft. in diameter, much resem- 

 bling that depicted by Mr. Kinahan in Science- 

 Gossip, and with a variety of sculpture on the 

 adjoining stones, some of which is of a form like 

 the circular figures on the stones of the chamber at 

 Slieve-na-caillighe. But this Mr. Kinahan describes 

 as post-Christian, whereas the mound or cairn at 

 Newgrange is commonly supposed to _ be ante- 

 Christian, and, indeed, of unknown antiquity. How- 

 ever this may be, the whole structure at Newgrange 

 is one of the most wonderful in the United King- 

 dom, far more so than any structure of the kind 

 ever found in England or Scotland. _ Probably Mr. 

 Kinahan will favour your readers with an accurate 

 description of Newgrange. — 0. G. 



" Veronica " (Speedwell). — " Veronica " is 

 believed to have originated in the legend of the 

 Roman Catholic Church respecting the " Veronica," 

 who was the same as " Berenice." The word is from 

 the Greek, and means a "Sacred Picture," the 

 blossom having been fancied to bear a representation 

 of the countenance of our Saviour. A handker- 

 chief, superstitiously believed to have belonged to 

 this St. Veronica, was preserved at St. Peter's, in 

 Rome, and is said to have been used by our Lord 

 on His way to the crucifixion, and to have the im- 

 press of the sacred lineaments. — E. E. 



Late Martins. — On the 16th of November I 

 noticed four martins flying under the shelter of 

 some beech woods, near High Wycombe. Don't 

 you think it late for them, and do these late birds 

 leave England or lay up during the winter in some 

 hollow tree or hole in a bank ? — /. L. H. 



Cats and Progs. — We had a cat which was very 

 fond of playing with frogs. She would hunt about 

 the garden until she unearthed one, and pat it on 

 the back until it leaped away with a loud squeak. 

 I have often observed her doing this, but on no 

 occasion did she attempt to eat the frog, and I never 

 could discover that she injured it in the least. — 

 /. P. Blackett, jun. 



1 BOOKS, &c, RECEIVED. 



"Climbing Plants." By C. Darwin, F.R.S. London : John 

 Murray. 



"The History of Creation," 2 vols. By Prof. Haeckel, 

 edited by Prof. Ray Lankester. London : H. S.King & Co. 



" Elementary Botany." By W. J. Browne, M. A. Belfast: 

 W. Mullan. 



"Time and Time Keepers." By J. W. Benson. London: 

 Hardwicke. 



'•Our Place among the Infinities." By R. A. Proctor. 

 London : H. S. King & Co. 



" The Universe." By F. A. Pouchet. London : Blackie & 

 Son. 



"The Canary Book." By R. L. Wallace. London: 

 " Country " Office. 



"The Origin of the Stars." By Prof. Ennis. London: 

 Triibner & Co. 



" Monthly Microscopical Journal." December. 



" American Naturalist." . 



" Land and Water.'' 



"Ben Brierley's Journal." 



" Journal of Applied Science." 



" Les Mondes." 



