HARD WICKE ' S S CIENCE- G SSI P. 



i5 



" Obstinate little fellow ! " I mentally exclaim, as, 

 taking from its stand my walking stick, I approach 

 it close to his small person. "All right, I'm not 

 a bit afraid — you won't hurt me, I know," one could 

 well imagine was his soliloquy, as he cocked his 

 head jauntily on one side, to catch a better view of 

 the stick point. "No, thanks," one could further 

 imagine his saying, "I'm right enough, and don't 

 require a walking stick." Fearless bird ! he allowed 

 me to touch his wings with my stick — then to smooth 

 his ruffled feathers — simply closing his bright little 

 eyes, and remaining motionless, as if the operation 

 were grateful to him. I presently summoned my 

 wife and son from the garden, to witness the trust of 

 my small feathered friend, and, in their presence, I 

 again and again, repeated the operation, each time 

 with the same result. Suddenly he darted into the 

 garden, where from a shrub hard by the door, he 

 poured forth his cheerful song, as if to thank his 

 friends for kindness oft received, and then set forth 

 in search of new adventure. 



Edward II. Robertson. 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



At a recent meeting of the Philadelphia Academy 

 of Sciences, Dr. Benjamin Sharp reported that he had 

 discovered, that in poisonous snakes the pupils of 

 the eyes are elliptical, whilst in the harmless species 

 they are circular. 



The beautiful little fresh-water crustacean, Lepto- 

 dora hyalina, has been found in Chatangua Lake, 

 and also in a lake near Chicago, America. 



The annual exhibition of the South London Nat. 

 Hist. Society was held on the 25th November, at 

 the Bridge House Hotel, London Bridge. The 

 exhibits consisted of entomological, ornithological 

 and botanical specimens. The exhibition was the 

 most successful ever held by this^society, and, during 

 the two hours in which it was open, it was visited by 

 twelve hundred visitors. 



The Howietoun Fishery records the successful 

 exportation of two hundred thousand salmon ova to 

 New Zealand in the ss. "Ionic," and one hundred 

 thousand Loch Leven trout ova to Newfoundland in 

 the ss. "• Siberian," during the last season. 



A CORRESPONDENT (B. B.) writes : — In illustration 

 of the allusion to the transference of print to plain 

 paper, at p. 272 of the December Science-Gossip, I 

 may mention that I possess a water-colour copy of an 

 Italian picture which hangs behind a green silk 

 curtain. Some little time after it was given me I had 

 occasion to take the picture out of the frame, when 

 I found on the glass which covered it the apparent 

 semblance of a faint photographic negative. This 

 was readily wiped off. 



I should like just to correct a statement with regard 

 to Dr. Johnson, on p. 271, last vol. It was the foot- 

 man at Madame Du Bocage's who took the sugar in 

 his fingers and threw it into Dr. Johnson's coffee. He 

 adds, " I was going to put it aside ; but hearing it 

 was made on purpose for me, I e'en tasted Tom's 

 fingers." It is an instance of the consideration for 

 others which lay under a rugged exterior in that great 

 and good man. See Croker's " Boswell," vol. vi. p. 22, 

 ed. 1S35. 



We note the death, at Settle,of Mr. Joseph Jackson, 

 the original discoverer of the famous Victoria Cave 

 near that town. 



During December, Dr. J. E. Taylor, F.G.S., 

 lectured on "A Lump of Coal," before the Sutton 

 Coldfield Institute; on "The Great Ice Age," at 

 Beccles ; " Earthquakes and Volcanoes," at Man- 

 ningtree; "Fruits," at Hadleigh ; "Australia," at 

 Harleston ; and gave five lectures on "Mountain 

 Scenery and Mountain Sculpture," in connection 

 with the Ipswich Museum. 



MICROSCOPY. 



Cole's " Studies in Microscopical Science." 

 — Sections I, 2, 3, and 4, of No. 4 vol. are to hand, 

 dealing with the following subjects: — "Vegetable 

 Physiology," as illustrated by a fragment of one 

 of the submerged leaves of Salvinia ; "Animal 

 Histologyj" (the generative organs) ; " Pathological 

 Histology" (the normal kidney); and "Popular 

 Studies" (illustrated by a marine alga). The plate 

 of the latter is simply charming. Each "study" is 

 accompanied by one of Mr. Cole's excellent slides, 

 showing the object treated upon. 



Astigmatism in Microscopical Observers. — 

 At one of the meetings of the Richmond Microscopical 

 Society, Virginia, Mr. Christian exhibited an interest- 

 ing slide (his own preparation), ingeniously mounted, 

 with a view to discover any astigmatism of the eye. 

 If the observer can see simultaneously all the lines 

 of objects in the field well-defined and resolved, 

 then his eye is practically without astigmatic defect. 

 The object of the important test-slide is very 

 obvious, as incomplete perceptions are often erro- 

 neously attributed to the inferiority of the objective 

 used, when in fact they are the result of an astigmatic 

 defect in the observer's eye. Results of observations 

 among microscopists often differ because the operators 

 of instruments are frequently not aware of the astig- 

 matic condition of their eyes. 



New Slides. — We have received an admirably 

 mounted and most interesting slide from Mr. Ernest 

 Hinton, 12, Vorley Road, Upper Holloway, of a. 



