HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSJP. 



21 



Late Flowered Iris. — A few days since (Nov. 

 6th) a friend brought me a specimen of Iris Pseuda- 

 corus (yellow flag) in full flower. This plant seems 

 to have done flowering about here generally by the 

 end of June or July. — Alfred Waller, York. 



Colouring Skulls. — I lately placed the skull of 

 a rat in a solution of chlorine gas, in the hope that it 

 •would blanch it, for it had been imperfectly cleaned. 

 To my surprise it soon began to turn green, and 

 before long it became a brilliant green all over, 

 except some spots which were dyed blue. Now that 

 it is dry it still retains its colour. Only the enamel 

 of the teeth and a portion of one of the premaxillary 

 bones remains white. I should be very glad of any 

 explanation of this phenomenon. Is the green colour 

 of the bones of some fish connected with the presence 

 of chlorine (in the sodium chloride) in the sea ? — 

 R. S. Pattrick. 



A Young Gannet. — I beg to give you a note of 

 a young gannet which I got last spring, and kept for 

 some time. There was nothing very peculiar about 

 it, but it shows how easily these birds may be tamed. 

 I have also had a tame cormorant, which I so far 

 trained that it would come at feeding-time to a large 

 bath (fresh water) and dive for its food. It flew 

 away at last, having climbed from one point to another 

 till it got on to the top of the roof, from which 

 it could not get down without using its wings. I 

 do not think it intended to fly off, but once it was in 

 the air, and fairly using its wings, it — very wisely — did 

 not alight in the yard where I kept it, but made for 

 the harbour. I have had a good many bird pets at 

 different times, and have been much struck with the 

 fact that these wild water-birds seem to grow tame 

 much more easily and quickly than other birds. — 

 Philip Kermode. 



Nettle-Rash. — In the October number, Mr. F. 

 Warters appears to have had an attack of nettle-rash. 

 Many articles of food such as some kinds offish, mussels, 

 lobsters, cucumbers, &c, have a poisonous effect at 

 various times upon some persons. The last specimen 

 I saw presented a miserable appearance, for he was 

 covered from head to foot with wheals. On running 

 down the catalogue of possible causes, I found it to 

 be traceable to eating fried-fish. On one occasion, 

 having partaken of one of the above-mentioned sub- 

 stances, I experienced late at night an intolerable 

 irritation of the whole body, accompanied with fever, 

 and, on springing out of bed to a mirror, was seized 

 with such horror at the sight of my face, chest, &c, 

 that if every particular hair did not "stand on end 

 like quills of the fretful porcupine," it should have 

 done, for the skin was of a fiery red, tingling as 

 though stung by nettles, and covered with wheals, 

 which also sprung up wherever I was compelled to 

 rub — even all over the scalp. — Henry J. Paeon. 



A Devouring Foe becomes an Object of 

 Wonder and Admiration. — The cold breezes of a 

 frosty morning in 1877 suggested the idea of looking 

 into my wardrobe to ascertain what warm clothing 

 could be found available for the coming winter, 

 which was predicted to be a severe one. The first 

 thing turned out was a scarlet cloth chest protector, 

 on which I perceived a tiny something, which I 

 shook off ; next came a woollen railway wrapper, 

 which I must describe as dark grey, with check -of 

 blue and green, here I saw another tiny something, 

 which a litde shake sent to the ground also ; a sudden 

 thought, however, made me pick them up, with 

 much care, thinking they might be objects for the 

 microscope. The latter was soon placed upon the 



study table, and my little friends frolicking in a field 

 in which they had never been before. I found them 

 to be the larvae of the common clothes moth {Tinea 

 sarsi fella, Fabricius), within a covering or tube of 

 beautiful workmanship, resembling fine basket-work, 

 in which they had power to turn, putting out the 

 head and body, either end at will. The hero of the 

 cloth of scarlet, had woven itself a covering of this 

 colour ; the other, one of green and blue, the colours 

 it had fed upon. The inmates were most active 

 under the microscope, the heads and bodies much 

 resembling that of the goat moth caterpillar. Hav- 

 ing discovered life, I put them into a match wood 

 box, carpeted with red cloth, often looking at them 

 at my leisure. The circulation of the blood is clearly 

 discernible on the back, and one day I saw an active 

 little parasite on the covering. A year or more after- 

 wards, to my astonishment, I found, on opening the 

 box, four more little scarlet coats, but half the size, 

 and a wing of the true clothes moth, the rest having 

 been eaten by the larvae. This interesting family now 

 reduced to two still exist, they are very lively under 

 the microscope, and are often exhibited to admiring 

 friends, and " Lovers of Natural History" — M. P., 

 Tunbridge Wells. 



Parasitic Fungi. — It may interest some of your 

 readers to know, that in March last, I gathered lots 

 of sEcidium ranuneulacearum on Ranunculus gracilis 

 and repens ; and a month later I gathered lots of 

 .-Eciti/u/u urtica on the common nettle, or Urtica 

 dioica. I also gathered some leaves of Rhamnus 

 cathartiens, or common buckthorn, profusely covered 

 with its parasite, or sEcidium crassum. I noticed a 

 lot of Peridermapini, which grows on Pinus sylvestris. 

 It grows on the young shoots of very young trees in 

 the Home Park. I noticed that the beans at times 

 were covered with a minute dust on the leaves. I 

 brought some home, and when I examined them 

 under a microscope, it turned out to be T?-ichobasis 

 fabie. And the common spurge was covered with a 

 red rust, which turned out to be Lecythea euphorbia. 

 I might go on all night telling you all my adventures 

 with regard to microscopic fungi. They grow on the 

 white thorn, common groundsel, Dutch carrot, com- 

 mon dandelion, and so on, ad infinitum. I will write 

 further, later on. — Thomas Ogilvy. 



Preserving Butterflies and Moths. — The 

 " Field Naturalists' Hand-Book" by Wood, gives the 

 following method of using the insect preservative 

 solution of corrosive sublimate in spirits of wine. 

 " When your insects are quite dry dip them com- 

 pletely into the solution, and hold them there for a 

 second or two. Take them out, and drain all super- 

 fluous moisture back into the vessel. Then dry them 

 as fast as possible in a current of air, to prevent 

 delicate hairs and fibres from being melted together. 

 Waving them backwards andfonuards is perhaps the 

 best plan ; and if it be done in the sunshine, or in 

 front of a hot fire, the insects will be soon dry." I 

 have found this successful. Possibly Walter A. 

 Pearce did not attend to the portions I have italicised. 

 To be well done is to be quickly done. — H. W. Lett, 

 M.A. 



Preserving Butterflies and Moths. — I use 

 the same solution Mr. Pearce mentions, but, instead 

 of drying them before the fire, he should stick them 

 on the window-sill, raise the window an inch or so, 

 and leave them there until dry. When the feathers 

 on the thorax get matted, which can hardly be helped 

 in the large moths, he should touch them up with 

 the point of a pin which will put them all right. I 

 have lately tried dropping a spot of the solution on 



