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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



think I caught from my point of advantage seven of 

 the beggars ; which are a wonderful prize. I used 

 to spend hours up in this place, and got very artful 

 in nailing them. I must say I do delight in bug 

 hunting, and catching a good butterfly causes very 

 much the same sensation that shooting a ' cock ' used 

 to do in days gone by. So much for yarns on 

 ' bugs.' " 



Variety of Helix nemoralis. — Last spring, I 

 discovered some half-grown specimens of an unde- 

 scribed variety of H. nemoralis. The shells were 

 almost as transparent as glass, of a beautiful lilac 

 colour. I kept them in confinement, and fed them 

 on nettles and coltsfoot. When fully grown the 

 colour was lighter, slightly inclined to brown ; one 

 had a few light streaks in the line of growth. 

 Another had broader interruptions of a yellowish 

 tint. Mouth and rib pink with a tinge of lilac, 

 diameter 18 mm. On extracting the animals, I was 

 surprised to find them of a bright yellow colour, 

 except the heads and tips. Specimens of this variety 

 since found, which had come to maturity put of doors 

 were rather larger, duller in colour, and less trans- 

 parent, with the body of the animal the ordinary 

 colour. — JV. Gain, Tuxford. 



AMidsummer Rambleoverthe Surrey Downs, 

 &c. — In reading over the above article in Science- 

 Gossip by the author of " Insect Variety," I was 

 much surprised by the following curious incidents 

 your correspondent met with, viz., Argynnis Euphro- 

 syne, Venilia maculata, "out in gay profusion," and 

 a specimen of Apatura Iris '(purple emperor) on an 

 oak spray. Is he quite certain as to the latter being 

 that species ? as the two former insects are on the 

 wing in May and early part of June, and A. Iris 

 makes its first appearance in July, and to meet with 

 three different insects on the wing at the same time 

 is very unusual. Your correspondent also states, 

 " the glare of the sunlight, and perpetual churr of 

 the fern-owl becomes tedious." I have never heard 

 before of this bird churring in the day-time, in 

 sunshine, as this species is on the move only for two 

 hours out of the twenty-four, those being one hour 

 before sunrise, and one after sunset, when it may them 

 be heard churring throughout the twilight. No doubt 

 other readers besides myself would be obliged for 

 further information as to dates, and time of day, the 

 author of "Insect Variety" met with the circum- 

 stances mentioned above, which I am sure would be 

 worthy of record. — Fred. Frohavok. 



The Sundews. — I have read with much interest 

 your correspondent's letter in the August number of 

 Science-Gossip on Sundew, but I must beg to differ 

 from him on one point, namely that sundew cannot 

 be grown in confinement. About six weeks ago, in 

 the course of a ramble on Dartmoor, I gathered a 

 quantity of Drosera rotnndifolia, or rather, took it 

 up with its attendant moss. I brought it home and 

 put it in a china dish and kept it moist. It is now 

 flourishing, after nearly seven weeks' separation from 

 its favourite locality. It was in full flower when I 

 first found it, and since then a second crop has 

 blossomed, new leaves and flowers constantly forming. 

 I may mention further, that it has been in a sunny 

 balcony and exposed to every change of our variable 

 climate as when in a wild state. I think the failure 

 in rearing it in confinement is perhaps chiefly at- 

 tributable to its being thought necessary to force it 

 under glass, &c. I have watched it carefully, but 

 have never noticed any flies on it. One I placed on 

 a very sticky leaf from a spider's web, however, 

 caused the leaf to contract slightly, and in time 



became absorbed. I am quite of the opinion of your 

 correspondent, E. D. T., that it is not that drosera is 

 rare, but that it requires practice and sharp sight to 

 discover it. — J. P. Smythe, Devonshire. 



Gold-Fish. — If Mr. Easton keeps his fish in an 

 aquarium without weeds, &c, the cause of failure is 

 apparent. He should cover the bottom of his aqua- 

 rium with well-washed gravel and fine sand to the 

 depth of ii inch and plant in it plenty of water- 

 weeds, especially Anacharis alsinastrum. If this is 

 done, and the aquarium is placed in a light position, 

 but not a sunny one, the fishes may be kept a very 

 long time. I generally change the water in my 

 aquarium once a year, as the stones, &c, are apt to 

 get very dirty. The water does not generally need 

 changing even then. This is considerably less trouble 

 than changing the water twice a week ! Only a few 

 fish should be kept in a large volume of water. If 

 sticklebacks are kept with them they soon kill them. 

 R. A. R. Bennett, Oxford. 



Nature Printing. — Many years ago I obtained 

 a stem (?) of Masa rosacea ^a banana) from the weed- 

 ings of Liverpool Botanical Garden, and, being struck 

 with the beauty of the cellular structure, as exposed 

 by section, I endeavoured to take facsimile impres- 

 sions of it by block printing in body colour. I 

 succeeded perfectly, as my only remaining impression 

 still serves to show ; and my pictures, though much 

 admired, never suggested, to any one of my scientific 

 friends, the object from which they were taken ! 

 The general idea was, that they represented some 

 unknown fossil — a concamerate shell — a gigantic 

 nummulite — ct si qua sunt similia. I also took care 

 to secure a plaster cast which puzzled the savants, if 

 anything, still more provokingly, to our "artist's" 

 huge delight. I had long forgotten this exploit, 

 when the section of a typha awakened me, by its 

 striking resemblance to the above West Indian relic. 

 I repeated the process with equal success, and then 

 extended it to sparganium, iris, nymphea, and other 

 water plants. A surprising difference of structure is 

 thus exhibited, which generally serves to identify the 

 plant without other evidence, and, if it does no more 

 than this, it furnishes a fresh aid to the botanist, 

 besides an agreeable recreation for all classes. No 

 apparatus is needed but a very sharp thin knife to 

 make clean sections, and a printer's pad to supply 

 the "blocks" with ink or paint of any desired 

 colour, and consistence. Trouble is often saved by 

 taking up the plant by the root, instead of having a 

 section at each end of the block. Agarics, if left 

 long enough, deposit their spores on blotting paper, 

 which, if moistened on the back with weak gum, 

 retains its otherwise pale portraits like an engraving. 

 I long to see Mr. Honywood's method. — J. Price, 

 Chester. 



The Leafing of Ashes and Oaks.— Seeing a 

 note referring to the leafing of oaks and ashes, reminds 

 me that I have often heard the same rhyme as is there 

 quoted, but so changed as to have a directly opposite 

 signification. 



When the oak comes out before the ash, 

 You'll have a summer of wet and splash. 

 ■\Vhen the ash comes out before the oak, 

 You'll have a summer of dust and smoke. 



This tends to confirm Mr. Green's statement that 

 country people have noted the facts in question, but 

 it does not bear out his other remark, that " they 

 have very sensibly attributed it to its right cause, or 

 at any rate some have not done so." If I understand 

 it aright, the above verse is supposed to embody a 



