HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



119 



spondents, the same name occurs in the writing of 

 the Rev. Gillett, late of Runham. He was also a 

 correspondent of Wright's, and, we may assume, 

 that he is the authority for the name. He was a 

 good botanist aud philologist ; so the authority is 

 unimpeachable. Has any one ever met with this 

 name in use, or can any one explain it? In Guern- 

 sey and, I suppose, in the Channel Isles generally, 

 the Galium Apocrine is called Lakoo ; the a as in 

 pack, and the oo as in food. The children have a 

 particular day for gathering the plant and sticking 

 it on the dresses of their elders. My informant, 

 how ever, could not tell me what was the day. In 

 the Isle of Wight it is called Chivers. Can any 

 one explain Lakoo, or adduce any name resembling 

 it P— W. G. Piper. 



Brown Toad. — One day, on Tooting Common, 1 

 observed a fine light-brown (with a shade of light 

 liver-colour) toad, of about 3i inches in length. 

 Could any one give me evidence as to its being 

 common to find toads of r this colour I should be 

 much obliged.—/. E. B. Brooke. 



Spiders : Do They utter Sounds ?— On going 

 into a lumber-room in the eveuiug and lighting the 

 gas I hear a curious sound emitted at short intervals, 

 which I can only represent by Tchiuk. It is not 

 like mice, crickets, or beetles, and appears to pro- 

 ceed from some dusty shelves on which are some 

 dirty webs with the large hairy house-spider ; the 

 noise, in fact, appears to proceed from them. Is this 

 likely to be the case ? — H. F., Junr. 



Eresh-water Tortoise. — In August last I was 

 told a small tortoise had been seen basking on a 

 large stone standing in a pond in the garden ; a day 

 or so after I saw it there myself; it was about three 

 inches over, and very handsome, with bright golden 

 spots on its neck. I watched it off aud on all that 

 day ; it dropped into the water when any one came in 

 sight, but was up again on the stone in about twenty 

 minutes. As the stone was very steep and the sea- 

 son dry, the pond getting'lower every day, I thought 

 it would soon be unable to scramble up: so next day 

 1 got a large flat stone and laid it slanting next the 

 old stone, aud made a shingle beach so that it might 

 come out at all times in comfort ; but this inter- 

 ference seems to have disgusted it, as it has never 

 been seen since. In trying to account for its comiug 

 there I recollected that some years ago (I forget 

 how many) I bought two small (I think they called 

 them scarce) tortoises, one about the size of a crown- 

 piece, the other a little larger, and put them into a 

 pool in a greenhouse fernery about 130 ft. from this 

 pond : one soon died and the other disappeared ; so 

 I presume it must be the present visitor. I should 

 like to know if any reader of Science-Gossip has 

 had experience of tortoises living out of doors 

 in this climate. This one must have done so for 

 some years, and it shows how strange things may 

 frequent places under your very nose without being 

 observed. The pond is swarming with sticklebacks 

 and water-snails, so there is plenty of food for him. 

 — H. F., Jtmr. 



W The Juniper. — In that popular little work en- 

 titled "Our Woodlands, Heath, and Hedges," by 

 W. S, Coleman, it is stated " the juniper {Juuipenis 

 communis) in its wild state is a low shrub seldom 

 more than three feet high, but when planted in a 

 very favourable soil it will often rise to the dimen- 

 sions of a tree. At Wardour Castle, in Wiltshire, 

 is one (the largest in England) thirty feet in height." 



Is this tree now living? Perhaps some of the readers 

 of Science-Gossip can tell — F. S. 



Cochineal. — A number of dark spots may often 

 be found on the young bark of the ash-tree about 

 the size of a pin's head. If these be carefully re- 

 moved, a number of eggs of a scarlet colour will be 

 found iu them. They belong to a small species of 

 cochineal insect, but very much smaller than the 

 insect of commerce. Is it known by name ? — 

 E. T. Scott. 



Crocus. — As I was the first to refer to the change 

 of colour of the crocus to yellow from blue or purple, 

 I perhaps may be again excused if I say, with re- 

 ference to Dr. Morton's article, that mine were not 

 mixed in planting, and that one year is not a suffi- 

 cient time for the seeds to grow and blossom. One 

 year they were blue, the next all yellow, with hardly 

 an exception. They are in the ground just as they 

 were, and 1 shall soon see if any further alteration 

 takes place. I am glad Mr. Thirkel could corro- 

 borate me— £ T. Scott. 



Silkworms. — Would any reader kindly iuform 

 me how to manage silkworms ? I have a quantity of 

 eggs, and am anxious to know what treatment they 

 require. — Inquirer. 



Leucojum iESTivuM. — That rare plant the 

 Leucojum eestivum is said to grow on the Kentish 

 shore, somewhere near Greenwich. I have sought 

 it carefully, more than one season, without success. 

 If any of your numerous correspondents would tell 

 me the exact locality, I should feel truly obliged. 

 If I were communicated with privately, I would 

 engage not to abuse the confidence, either in taking 

 much or making the locality known. — II. E. Wil- 

 kinson, A tier ley, S. E. 



Boat-flies. — I should be glad if any of your 

 readers have remarked and can explain the peculiar 

 sound made by boat-flies {Notonecta) at this season 

 of the year. I have several in a fresh-water aqua- 

 rium, and notice that by a peculiar movement of the 

 anterior feet,— I have thought by rasping them on a 

 series of plates at the point of the proboscis, — they 

 emit a sound like crik-kick-kick, continuing for 

 about twenty seconds. This stridulation can be 

 heard several feet from the aquarium, and is only 

 made, as far as I have observed, while the fly is at 

 rest. — Tom Workman. 



Juniper Bushes. — "T. G," who has seen a 

 number of juniper bushes on the downs near 

 Steyning,'asks whether they exist in a wild state 

 elsewhere in Sussex. It is a curious fact that this 

 shrub is exceedingly rare eastward of Brighton ; but 

 it is abundant on some parts of the downs in West 

 Sussex— at West Stokes, for instance, on the downs 

 above Kingley Vale ; it is associated with yew, 

 holly, and stunted oak. I know only of a few 

 solitary bushes eastward of Brighton. — W. B. 

 Hemsley, Richmond. 



Voracity of Eish. — Some fish are notoriously 

 voracious. Is the haddock generally included in the 

 list ? Dpon one being opened the other day, pre- 

 paratory to cooking, much surprise was occasioned 

 by its being found to contain a nearly full-grown 

 herring. I thought subsequently to obtain some 

 further particulars, but the two fish having been 

 meanwhile placed outside the house, I only came in 

 time to see a cat licking its jaws and one fish gone. 

 I dare say the other soon followed suit.— W. J. 

 Horn. 



