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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Mildness of Season.— A specimen of the small 

 white {Pieris Rapee) was captured in a garden near 

 Nottingham on January 6. — IT. Allen. 



The Cricket. — With much interest I have read 

 the paper on the production of sound by crickets, 

 written in the last number of Science-Gossip by 

 H. T. Bacon. But is that gentleman quite right in 

 stating that the French name of this insect is " cri- 

 cri " ? During the many years I lived in France I 

 never heard it called anything but lc grillon ; under 

 which name it is apostrophised by Beranger, in the 

 well-known song, beginning : 



"Au coin de l'atre oil je tisonne, 

 En revant a je ne sais quoi, 

 Petit Grillon, chante avec moi 

 Qui, deja vieux, toujours chansonne. 

 Petit Grillon, n'ayons ici, 

 N'ayons du monde aucun souci." 



La Fontaine and Florian have also made le grillon 

 the subject of several of their fables. — IV. T. Greene. 



Mud Inhabitants.— It appears to me, that the 

 green mud mentioned by R. M. W. in last Science- 

 Gossip as a species of the unicellular chlorophyllous 

 alga, Palmella, is possibly the form uriformis, and 

 the " creature " described and inquired about, a Rotifer 

 vulgaris. They are very common, and usually found 

 in such habitats as "spouts of a building." Dr. 

 Lankester's "Half-hours with the Microscope " figures 

 and speaks of both Palmella and Rotifer. — H. W. 

 Lett, M.A. 



Mud Inhabitants. — The little creature, en- 

 quired after by R. M. W. in the December number 

 of Science-Gossip, is the larva of a gnat, which I 

 have often watched under a " half inch." It forms a 

 mud house; and to see it building the same is amusing. 

 It seems to hold by the tail when so occupied. I 

 have taken a quantity of them with the mud and 

 water out of the spout, put all in a basin, covered 

 with muslin; after a while the sides will be ornamented 

 with their mud retreats ; then gnats will be the result. 

 In the same spout I have found Rotifer vulgaris, also 

 " rolling balls," which may be Langenclla eitehlora, 

 for they have the " red eye " as figured in Pritchard's 

 *' Infusoria," 1852, plate 1, figs. 27, 28. — F. S. 



Sea Birds near Cambridge. — I have more than 

 once seen gulls flying over the low-lying meadows 

 even close to the town [of Cambridge]. I was greatly 

 surprised, I remember, when I first saw them some 

 winters ago, and could scarcely believe they were, 

 what they proved to be, viz. sea-birds. This winter 

 several guillemots, shearwaters, and common gulls 

 have been captured in the county, especially in Bur- 

 well and Toleham fens and near Newmarket. — Albert 

 II. Waters, B.A., Cambridge. 



Large Viper. — What can have possessed Mr 

 R. T. Green to so stoutly dispute my statement of the 

 fact that I had killed an unusually large specimen of 

 the female viper ? Permit me to assure him that it is 

 he that has made a mistake, not I, for the reptile 

 killed by me was a veritable viper (Peliits verus), 

 and not a common snake (Tropidonotus natrix), nor 

 was it a small crowned smooth snake [Coronella Icevis, 

 which latter, judging from descriptions I have read, 

 and coloured figures I have seen, much more nearly 

 resembles the common viper than does the former, 

 and probably few experienced naturalists would mis- 

 take either one for the other. The colour, markings, 

 general appearance, and attitude when attacked, 

 serve, at once, to distinguish the viper from its 

 harmless congeners. Your correspondent seems to 

 be ignorant of the fact that the common English 



viper, like other members of the family Viperidne ; 

 is ovo-viviparous — that is to say, brings forth its young 

 alive from eggs hatched internally. The concurrent 

 testimony of the ablest naturalists is too well estab- 

 lished to be shaken by a single ex parte statement — a 

 statement which, if not contradicted, might possibly 

 mislead some few young naturalists into believing 

 that vipers were viviparous, instead of ovo-viviparous. 

 But for this, I should consider it quite unnecessary to 

 trouble you to insert this reply. I may add that 

 usually young vipers are born with fragments of their 

 egg cases adherent to them.- — Edward H. Robertson. 



The Dormouse. — In answer to your correspondent 

 " Meta," I am pleased to answer questions about the 

 dormouse, of which I have had plenty of experience. 

 It should be kept in a nice roomy cage, with a divided 

 off sleeping-place, which should be filled with soft 

 hay. It should have daily a slice of apple, or a 

 little bread and milk, and three or four nuts, which 

 must be taken from their shells for it. A little hemp 

 is good now and then as a change, in cold weather. 

 It should be kept in a warm room, or it will sleep all 

 the winter ; even then it will occasionally sleep for a 

 day or two, and when found so, should not be 

 suddenly awakened, or this will in course of time 

 damage its constitution. It should certainly not have 

 one of those atrocious ' ' wheel cages " which generally 

 result in severed tails, and, where two are kept, 

 frequently in dislocated necks. Many years ago, I 

 kept two squirrels in a wheel cage ; one got its back 

 injured, another got its tail cut off. I have often 

 seen mice tailless through being kept in these tread- 

 mills. I do not approve of teaching dormice tricks, 

 white and common mice are the best for that. The 

 dormouse is naturally delicate and sleepy, and prefers 

 trotting up and down its owner's arm, to running 

 along a tight rope with a flag in its mouth. To give 

 it exercise, fix some forked twigs in its cage, and 

 then you will afford it a beneficial means of amuse- 

 ment. I think, also, that owing to its sleepy nature, 

 it would be rather hard to teach it tricks. If " Meta " 

 desires any more information, I shall be happy to 

 give it, on receipt of a letter addressed — H. C. Brooke, 

 Grammar School, Staplehurst. 



The Dormouse. — "Meta" should feed her pet 

 with nuts, beech mast, bread and milk, and a little 

 corn ; but it will require little, if any, food in winter, 

 unless the weather be very mild, or the temperature 

 of the room in which it is kept be warm enough to 

 rouse it into activity. No mice in a natural state 

 hibernate, and spend the cold weather in a state of 

 torpidity, but warmth rouses them easily. I had one 

 dear little dormouse, so gentle and tame, it was a 

 great favourite, and it had gone to sleep in its warm 

 nest of cotton-wool and hay, in a tiny wooden box 

 up in my bed-room, when one night I ordered a fire 

 to be lighted, and next morming found my pet dead 

 in the bath. The poor little thing had been roused 

 by the warmth of the room, came out of its box, and 

 climbed up the bath in search probably of water ; 

 for I have noticed that they are very thirsty when 

 first they awaken in spring. I never attempted to 

 teach mine any tricks, but I found them very easy to 

 tame and gentle when handled. I much prefer 

 dormice to squirrels ; some of the latter bite severely, 

 as I know to my cost. — Helen E. Watncy. 



Observations on two Spiders. — On entering my 

 office this morning, I observed two spiders in close 

 companionship upon one of the window panes, and 

 on drawing near too rashly, surmised that one of 

 them was in the act of draining the vital fluids from 



