HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



43 



ZOOLOGY. 



The Littel Auk (Mergulus melanoleucos). — A 



specimen of this bird was picked up at Isleham, 

 on November 2Sth, 1882, driven inland by the severe 

 weather experienced at that time on the coast. — 

 Albert Waters, B.A., Cambridge. 



Portuguese Men-of-War off the Suffolk 

 Coasts. — It is not a foreign fleet of war vessels here 

 implied, but certain members of the Siphonophora 

 known by the above popular name, and distinguished 

 by zoologists as Pliysalia utriculus. They were 

 driven by the recent storms as far out of their 

 ordinary oceanic coasts as Aldeburgh, where several 

 specimens were secured by Dr. Hele, who kindly 

 forwarded me a couple.— J. E. Taylor. 



Extracting Minute Snails. — The best plan 

 which G. E. Bishop can adopt is to boil the shells 

 in solution of potassic hydrate [" caustic potash "] ; 

 this dissolves out the snail, and leaves the shell 

 beautifully clean. They must be well washed after- 

 wards in warm water. — R. A. R. Bennett, Oxford. 



The Butterflies of Europe. — Part XI. of this 

 work contains some of the mosc artistically coloured 

 sketches of butterflies of any yet published. The 

 species and varieties figured and described are those 

 of the genera Melitcea and Vanessa. 



The Mungoose. — A very interesting pamphlet 

 on the mungoose now being employed on the sugar 

 estates in the West Indies, has just been published by 

 Mr. D. Morris, director of the Public Gardens and 

 Plantations, Jamaica. The experience gained may be 

 of some use in those parts of Australia where the 

 common rabbit is a pest. The mungoose has now be- 

 come^ thoroughly naturalised in Jamaica and Barba- 

 does. It has been estimated that the loss in the sugar 

 estates of Jamaica from the depredations of rats 

 amounted to ,£100,000 per annum. Some of the best 

 estates had actually been thrown out of cultivation by 

 them, but since the introduction of the mungoose 

 from the East Indies these estates have gradually been 

 taken up again. Mr. Morris puts the annual saving 

 from these animals at 90 per cent, of the rat-catching 

 expenses, and at 75 to 80 per cent, of rat-eaten sugar 

 canes. This would represent a total saving to the 

 island of Jamaica alone of nearly £"45,000 per annum. 



Vitality of Insects in Gases. — Some interest- 

 ing experiments have just been published in the 

 " American Naturalist," to show the difference in tena- 

 city of life enjoyed by some insects over others when 

 exposed to certain noxious gases. The vessels used 

 were large glass bottles fitted with inlet and outlet tubes 

 for the gases. The following results were obtained : 

 Oxygen. — The exhilarating effects of this gas seemed 

 to pass off after a short time, flies living in it from 

 9 to 29 hours, the common yellow butterfly for 



12 hours, a moth (Noctua) for one and a half days. 

 Colorado beetles, although exposed for 3 days, 

 seemed quite uninjured. Hydrogen. — House-flies 

 became quiescent in 20 minutes, although one was 

 able to fly after 24 hours' confinement. Upon 

 Colorado beetles this gas seems to have as little effect 

 as oxygen. A noctua died in 20 minutes, and a black 

 wasp in 10 minutes. Carbonic acid anhydride. — Flies 

 died in 10 to 15 minutes. Colorado beetles recovered 

 after 3 hours' exposure. Bed-bugs also recovered after 

 2 hours' exposure. Carbonic oxide. — Ants died in half 

 a minute to a minute. Colorado beetles revived after 

 remaining in it for 45 minutes. Prussic-acid and 

 nitrous acid fumes acted fatally in every case. 

 Colorado beetles were the only insects which resisted 

 chlorine after one hour's exposure. Nitrous Oxide. — 

 Colorado beetles lived 2 hours, moths (Noctua) an 

 hour and a half, young grasshoppers were but little 

 affected. Variable mixtures of hydrogen, marsh gas, 

 carbonic oxide and hydrocarbons. — Colorado beetles 

 revived after an hour's exposure. Croton bugs (Eetobia 

 Germanica) after half an hour, young of grasshopper 

 after an hour. A cicada died in 10 minutes. The 

 writer concludes by showing that a new way of preserv- 

 ing insects is possible by having air-tight cases filled 

 with some gas noxious to certain of the smaller insects. 



" The Practical Naturalist." (Manchester : 

 John Heywood.) This is a new and well-placed 

 competitor in current scientific literature, edited by 

 Messrs. H. S. Ward and H. J. Riley, published at 

 one penny. It promises well in every respect. 



Provincial Societies. — One of the most grati- 

 fying signs of the times we live in is the multiplication 

 of societies in our provincial cities and towns devoted 

 to the study of natural science. The papers read are 

 often of a high-class character, and the " Reports " 

 and "Transactions" of such societies are therefore 

 increasing in their scientific value. The "Transactions 

 of the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopi- 

 cal Society" contained the following papers : — " On 

 a Nest-Building Fish," by Sylvanus Wilkins ; " On 

 Underground Fungi," by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley; 

 "On the Desmidieae of North Wales," by A. W. 

 Wells ; " Freshwater Aquaria," by R. M. Lloyd ; 

 " Notes on Papyrus," by W. R. Hughes ; " How to 

 Work the Archaean Rocks," by Dr. C. Callaway ; and 

 " On Commencing the Study of Fungi," by Dr. M. C. 

 Cooke. The "Transactions of the Hertfordshire 

 Natural History Society" (vol. ii. part 2) contains 

 papers on "Local Meteorological Observations," by 

 the Rev. C. W. Hervey and Mr. John Hopkinson ; 

 " Notes on Insects observed in Hertfordshire during 

 1881," by Miss E. A. Ormerod ; "Notes on Birds 

 observed in Hertfordshire " during the same year, by 

 John E. Littleboy ; " On Clilorodosmos hisfiida, a new 

 Flagellate Animalcule," by F. W. Phillips, &c. The 

 " Proceedings of the Belfast Naturalists' Field-Club," 

 1SS0-81, contains, besides archaeological papers and 



