278 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



The Nettle : its Uses. — The Kamschadales 

 use fishing-lines made from the stalks of the nettle ; 

 they also manufacture a kind of coarse cloth and 

 strong cordage from the same source ; and paper 

 has heen made from the rind of the stems. — Helen 

 E. Watney. 



Northern Holy-grass. — May I be excused, 

 with all respect for Professor Boulger, to remark 

 that in his interesting observations on the Hiero- 

 chlo'e borealis, page 162 of your magazine, he 

 has not correctly quoted the statement made 

 in my notes on the Holy - grass, Science- 

 Gossip, page 177, of last year. In reference to the 

 plant being hermaphrodite, my remarks are thus 

 worded: "Upper flowering glumes smaller than 

 the two lower ones and nearly glabrous, inclosing a 

 still smaller one-nerved palea, or 'glume,' two 

 stamens and the ' pistil,' which are hermaphrodite " ; 

 which means that both stamen and pistil are present 

 and perfect at the same time. I do not say "mature 

 simultaneously." Professor Boulger allows the 

 grass to be truly hermaphrodite. Now, the word 

 perfect, we presume, means finished, complete ; 

 mature means ripe. We infer that a plant may 

 have each of its various parts complete, present, 

 and perfect at the same time, without its fructifying 

 parts beiDg mature simultaneously. It has not 

 been our privilege to watch the development of the 

 Hierochloe borealis; but we know, that though 

 the stamens and pistil are both situated in one 

 flower, they are not mature at the same time 

 always. These plants are called dichogamous. Some- 

 times, as in the Arum, the pistil matures before 

 the anther, and these plants are called pro- 

 terogynous; but much more frequently the anther 

 matures before the pistil : and such plants are 

 called proterandrous. We are indebted, I believe 

 in the first instance, to Spreugel for the above 

 valuable discovery of the phytology of some plants. 

 — E. Edwards. 



The Clouded Yellow Butterfly was very 

 plentiful near Bath this year, but was almost, if not 

 entirely, confined to two or three fields where a crop 

 of clover had been grown among the stubble after 

 the harvest. This is, I believe the first crop of 

 clover ever grown in the field (as far as my expe- 

 rience goes), and Edusa has never, to my know- 

 ledge, been seen there before. How could this 

 butterfly have been introduced with the clover, and 

 would it have been so introduced in the caterpillar, 

 chrysalis, or egg state ? 1 took also a specimen of 

 the pale clouded yellow in the same field, a butter- 

 fly, I believe, new to the neighbourhood. It is a 

 curious fact that, though I caught (and released) 

 some dozens of specimens of Edusa in order to 

 obtain a female, I was unable to capture a single 

 specimen. — C. W. C. 



How do Crickets Feed?— A friend of mine 

 lately found the young cucumbers in his hot-frame 

 much gnawed, which he supposed was by mice, 

 until, after a careful search he found, in the act of 

 feeding, a cricket, about H inch long, and of a 

 bright green colour. 1 have had the cricket in my 

 possession about ten days, during which time it has 

 not eaten anything, but is reduced in size to about, 

 1 of an inch, and is now changing its skin. I should 

 be glad to know if it is usual for crickets to thrive 



in such situations, and if their colour depends on 

 the nature of their food.— T. E. W., IStk September, 

 1S76. 



Gold-fish Breeding. — For about twelve mouths 

 we have hadt wo gold-fish in an inverted propagating 

 glass, fourteen inches in diameter. They are male 

 and female, and on Sunday, August 27, the female 

 began to deposit its egss, the male pursuing it with 

 the greatest fury, rubbing against its sides, and at 

 times almost pushing it out of the water. The eggs 

 were laid singly, at times two or three holding 

 together, the male devouring them with the greatest 

 avidity ; so much so that we had to take them out 

 that we, might see whether they would hatch or 

 not. On the third day those that contained young 

 showed with a magnifier a black spot for the eyes, 

 and a dark band for the backbone, which was 

 moved every few minutes from the sides to the top, 

 and then back again; while the addle eggs were 

 opaque and covered with conferva. On the eighth 

 day we saw the first young one, about i inch long, 

 wriggling in the water like a tadpole, and after 

 swimming an inch or two, it rested on the sides of 

 the glass, tail downwards. Its form at this time 

 might be compared, when under the microscope, to 

 a codfish with the head cut off behind the gills, and 

 then two large eyes put on sufficient to cover the 

 front and bulge out on each side. With a good 

 inch-power we could see no internal organs, except 

 the intestinal canal, and no circulation. They are 

 now a week old, and about j inch long; their head 

 still seems to be all eyes, but their form and mode 

 of swimming are now very much like that of the old 

 fish. I have just put one under the microscope, 

 and find it much more developed ; the fins and tail 

 are like a bit of tissue-paper, the stomach is very 

 large, and each pump of the heart is plainly seen, 

 whilst the circulation is now a sight worth seeing. 

 1 have exhibited them under the microscope at a 

 meeting of the United Field Naturalists' Society 

 and to several of my friends, and none of them have 

 ever heard of their having bred in an aquarium 

 before ; and thinking that this would interest many 

 of your readers must be my excuse for troubling 

 you with these remarks.— John Waddington, Bury. 



Discoloration of Cooked Meat.— A joint of 

 lamb roasted on Monday was eaten of by three 

 persons, without any peculiarity being noticed in it. 

 After dinner on that day the joint was placed in a 

 cool and rather damp larder, with a wire-gauze dish- 

 cover over it. In this position it remained untouched 

 till Wednesday (two days), and then, on removing 

 the cover, the exposed parts, particularly the cut 

 surfaces, were found to be thickly-studded over 

 with spots and surfaces of a rich carmine colour. 

 Bone, muscle, and fat were all more or less affected, 

 but the fat and the upper surface were more affected 

 than other parts. There was no smell or other sign 

 of putrefaction at this time. It has been conjec- 

 tured that an alga allied to, if not identical with, 

 Protococcus nivalis, is the cause of this singular 

 appearance in the meat. Can any funsologist in- 

 form me if this is likely to be the case ?— B. 



The Cuckoo's Eggs.— I never saw or heard of 

 cuckoos' eggs that were not shades of the one 

 colour ; neither did I ever before hear that the old 

 bird "turns out those previously in the nest." I 

 have seen on many occasions one, and on two occa- 

 sions two, youngcuckoos in thenest with their foster- 

 brethren ; and as the strangers grow they shove out 

 the rightful owners. Their bodies are specially made 



