HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



119 



fore, according to these seers, it will appear in August 

 18S7, accompanied by solar and lunar eclipses, to- 

 gether with the baleful influence that follows the 

 position that Mars and Saturn will occupy — will cause 

 a universal war, and portentous floods and fearful 

 shipwrecks. North America will be involved in 

 civil strife, and a reign of terror will prevail in the 

 Atlantic States unless a Napoleon arises to quell it. 

 There will be a war of classes — the rich will^ array 

 themselves against the poor, and vice versd every- 

 where. I am not aware there are any records to show 

 that this star appeared in 312 or 627 or 942 or 1257, 

 or any traditions to that effect ; otherwise astronomers 

 might account for its periodic flashes into brightness 

 on the theory illustrated in the case of the star Mira, 

 or that of T. coronae, to which attention was called 

 in 1866. Well, four years will soon pass over ; and 

 should it make its appearance at the end of that time, 

 there will be some reason for believing that it is the 

 star that suddenly flashed into such wonderful bril- 

 liancy at the birth of Christ. — Dipton Burn. 



Disease of Larv.e. — Last season I reared about 

 a dozen larvae of the puss moth {D. vinula) from 

 the egg. All went well until they were full fed and 

 about to pupate, when they were attacked with a 

 very curious disease : they became mottled with 

 brown all over the body, refused food, and after 

 violent purging died. Out of a dozen larvae only 

 one survived. I should very much like to know 

 what this disease was, and if these larvae are subject 

 to it. It has never occurred before, with larvae I 

 have bred. Also, is there any remedy for it ? Per- 

 haps I should mention that they were reared in a 

 cage in which larvae of the gold tail (Z. aurijlna) 

 had been bred, and it is well known that the hairs 

 of these larvae are very irritating to the human 

 skin. The question here is, was this the cause of 

 disease in the [puss larvae? It is just possible. I 

 shall be very glad of any information on the subject. 

 — IV. Finch, jnn., Nottingham. 



Puss Larvae, &c. — Although' I have reared 

 many of these interesting larvae, I have never noticed 

 as yet the peculiarity mentioned by T. A. Dymes, 

 that the last pellet ,'of excrement of these larvae is 

 partially red. I confess I have not made much note 

 of the excrement of any larvae I have reared (some 

 hundreds), as I did not consider it a very interesting 

 matter. But I shall be pleased to hear the experi- 

 ences of other naturalists, as regards this subject. 

 As to paper for lining drawers of cabinets, it may be 

 obtained from any stationer ; it is sold by weight at 

 fivepence or sixpence per pound, there being on an 

 average about thirty sheets to the pound. — IV. Finch, 

 jun., Nottingliam. 



Climbing Power in Mice. — In woodland ram- 

 bles the common dormouse may be watched in its 

 full activity, nimbly leaping through the intertangled 

 brushwood, and climbing the hazel-bushes in search 

 of its favourite food, the hazel-nut. It is very 

 evident that the climbing power of these sprightly 

 creatures is not absent, and it is very interesting to 

 watch them — for they are generally in twos and 

 threes — in their quick gliding movements along the 

 hedgerows ; now leaping with sportive activity 

 over protruding roots, now sitting erect, and then, 

 with a bound characteristic of its allies, it ascends 

 the smooth stem of a hazel-bush. The hybernating 

 habits of the dormouse are too well known to allow 

 of any comment here ; but perhaps it may not be out 

 of place to remark that their frequency in die old 

 nests of hedge-sparrows may add a point to pr-ve 

 the climbing powers of these animals. It is univer- 



sally admitted that the common mouse (A/us tnus- 

 culus) is an expert climber, and has been known to 

 obtain its food from the most unlikely places. A 

 case which is worth recording came under my notice 

 some years ago in one of the Northumbrian coal 

 mines, which are infested with these pests. On 

 occasions when the work has been suspended for a 

 few days they turn out quite ravenous. This behoves 

 the workmen to be careful how and where they 

 lay the little bag containing the viands for the 

 day, in order that it may escape mousie. One 

 of the workmen had fixed his "bait" in a rent in 

 the roof, where to all appearances it was quite safe. 

 The passage was about seven feet wide and six feet 

 high, with coal walls cut almost vertical. When the 

 workman came to his food, he found it riddled and 

 crumbled by the mice, which dropped to the floor 

 and decamped. There was no timber about the place 

 by which they could ascend, so it entailed the animals' 

 scaling the coal walls. But what is more perplexing 

 is the fact of their getting along the smooth roof to 

 where the miner's food was concealed ! Leaping was 

 impossible. — P. Dodds. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now 

 publish Science-Gossip earlier than heretofore, we cannot 

 possibly insert in the following number any communications 

 which reach us later than the 8th of the previous month. 



To Anonymous Querists. — We receive so many queries 

 which do not bear the writers' names that we are forced to 

 adhere to our rule of not noticing them. 



To Dealers and others. — We are always glad to treat 

 dealers in natural history objects on the same fair and general 

 ground as amateurs, in so far as the " exchanges " offered are fair 

 exchanges. But it is evident that, when their offers are simply 

 disguised advertisements, for the purpose of evading the cost of 

 advertising, an advantage is taken oi our gratuitous insertion of 

 "exchanges" which cannot be tolerated. 



H. C. Brook. — We have no doubt your sketch is that of the 

 Apollo butterfly. 



A. Beales (Maidstone). — Your shells were quite smashed 

 when they reached us. Delicate objects should never be 

 enclosed in an envelope, but in a box, with a directed label 

 attached. Send us some more, and we shall be glad to help 

 you. 



E. L. L. — Several excellent papers on collecting and pre- 

 serving botanical objects, and on how to make herbaria, have 

 already appeared in our pages. 



Firefly. — The autograph and book you mention do not 

 possess any special pecuniary value. 



F. H. A. — The red objects clustered on the back of the 

 oyster-shell you sent us are Ascidians, commonly called 

 " currant squirters" {Cynthia grossularia). 



T. J. Wells. — The 7s. 6d. microscope will be of little service 

 to you. You had much better get a cheaper pocket-lens with 

 several glasses. Cooke's " Manual of Botanical Terms " is pub- 

 lished^ W. H. Allen & Co. Davis's little book "On Mount- 

 ing " is cheap, and published by the same firm. 



H. R. Alexander. — You will be able to get the self-acting 

 air-cans mentioned in Taylor's " Aquarium " of J. A. R. Sclater, 

 Naturalist, Teignmouth, who is the inventor. Please address 

 your queries to him as to price, capacity, &c. You will find 

 " Half-hours at the Sea-side," and Gosse's "Year at the Shore," 

 would help you. Gosse's "Marine Zoology" is very cheap, 

 and covers all you require. 



R. Henslow. — You will find all the commoner objects 

 occurring during a walk figured and described in Taylor's 

 " Half-hours in the Green Lanes." 



E. E. Turner. — Berkeley's " Introduction to Cryptogamic 

 Botany" was published by Bailliere in 1857. Mr. Collins 

 advertises a secondhand copy in his last catalogue at 15^. 



E. Fewings. — You will find the theory of Geotrupism fully 

 discussed in Darwin's " Movements of Plants." Knight's 

 paper on the subject was published in the " Philosophical 

 Transactions " for 1806, pp. 99-108. See also Sachs' " Botany'" 

 for discussion of Geotrupism, page 758. You will find a good 

 account of Knight's experiments on this subject in Prantl's 

 "Text-book of Botany," (London: W. Swan Sonnenschein 

 and Allen). 



R. Brayshaw. — We know nothing about Loisette's System of 

 Memory, but our contemporary "Knowledge" appears to 

 think highly of it, and recommends it. 



