HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



21 



•consequently the honey is easily obtainable. In such 

 species as Chrysantha caruka, Sibirica and Olym- 

 pica, the sputs are longer and more difficult for the 

 bees to get at. To get over this difficulty, the bees 

 have torn open the spurs low down enough to extract 

 the honey, a process interesting to the lover of bees, 

 but rather annoying to a gardener. One species, 

 A. Califomica, having short thick red spurs, was left 

 untouched, due, I believe, to the thickness of the 

 spur.— J. W. Odell, Pinner. 



Query as to Plant. — There is a plant the name 

 of which I would like to know. Perhaps one of our 

 Gossips will help me. It is largely grown in some 

 Indian gardens for its red fleshy calyx, which is 

 .acidulous and much esteemed for puddings, jams, etc. 

 As near as I can recollect, the plant is an annual, and 

 grows about three feet in height ; flowers, malvaceous, 

 and, I think, yellow, with dark centre ; stems, red. 

 The popular name for it in India is " Rozelle." I 

 have thought that it may be a species of Hibiscus ; 

 and have been wondering whether, if cultivated 

 somewhat as the tomato is, it would be practicable 

 to introduce the plant into English gardens for 

 culinary purposes. No doubt, if the experiment 

 proved successful, the beautiful crimson fruit (peccavi, 

 O ye botanists !) would be a welcome addition to our 

 tables. — G. A. Newman, M.S.C. 



Sycamore. — If Mr. William Jeffrey will cut open 

 the seed of the morning glory {Ipomcea purpurea), he 

 will find a coincidence to what he has spoken of the 

 samarus of the sycamore in the September number. 

 — J. W. Williams, D.Sc. 



Abraxas grossulariata and its Food Plants. 

 — The original food of this insect appears to have 

 been the hazel (C. avellana), for it is found abun- 

 dantly in lanes feeding on this tree in the Highlands 

 as well as in other parts of England. The imagines 

 of the caterpillars which have fed on hazel are, on 

 the average, much smaller and darker than those 

 found in gardens which have fed on currant and 

 gooseberry. — I V. Harconrt Bath, Birmingham. 



Sirex gigas and S. juvencus. — I possess a 

 female of each of these species, taken at Elswick, 

 Newcastle-on-Tyne ; the former on July 27th, 1872, 

 and the latter on Sept. 4th, 1869. Both insects are 

 (or rather were) very fine and perfect specimens. 

 S. gigas was knocked down with a book by myself as 

 it flew heavily about in our backyard, in which were 

 a window-sill fernery, and another small detached 

 fernery, the greenery in which had possibly attracted 

 it. It measures from the forehead to the tip of the 

 ovipositor fully 19 lines, the ovipositor projecting 

 beyond the tip of the caudal appendage a little over 

 2 lines only. S. juvencus was caught in the Ordnance 

 Department of the Elswick Works, and was sent to 

 me by a gentleman who knew I was interested in 

 natural history. It measures 12 J lines to the tip of 

 the ovipositor, which projects beyond the tip of the 

 ■caudal appendage \\ line. — Charles Robson, Elswick, 

 Newcastle-on- Tyne. 



Scarcity of Wasps. — Very few wasps were 

 seen in this neighbourhood during the past season. 

 Can this be accounted for by the severity of the 

 weather in the early part of the season, which was so 

 destructive to the swallows? In the first week in 

 May, I killed fourteen queen wasps in three days. The 

 next week the weather was very cold, and perhaps it 

 may have destroyed the queen wasps, who had 

 ■ventured in such large numbers out of their winter 

 hiding places. — C. H. Waddell, Kendal. 



PoisoNors Nature of the Yew. — I must apolo- 

 gise for once more troubling you on this subject. 

 Can any of your readers tell me whether there is any 

 foundation for the belief, common to both upper and 

 lower classes in these parts, that the leaf of the yew 

 is poisonous only when cut from the tree arid 

 withered ? As an example of this, farmer." have no 

 fear of letting horses feed in yew-fenced parks, except 

 just after clipping them. — Gresham F. Gillett. 



A Swarm of Aphodii. — When a great swarm 

 of these insects appears, it is not always a sign of 

 nuisances or sanitary neglect. Passing some years 

 ago over Skircoat Moor, near Halifax, which was then 

 free frcm houses, sewers, manure-heaps, etc., I noticed 

 that the ground itself, the heather and the rocks were, 

 so to speak, all alive with Aphodius sphacelatius, so 

 that it was scarcely possible to step without crushing 

 some of them. There was certainly nowhere about 

 any excrementitious matter by which they could have 

 been attracted. — y. W. Slater, 36 Wray Crescent, 

 London. 



Norwegian Superstition concerning Eels. 

 — Certain rivers in Norway swarm with eels, to such 

 an extent, that the water-wheels of the saw-mills are 

 occasionally clogged up and brought to a stand. 

 The country people as a rule, however, neglect to 

 catch these fishes, either for home consumption, or 

 even for exportation. A superstitious notion still 

 prevails, that eels are too intimate with the Trolls, 

 and their fat is said to be employed by witches and 

 sorcerers in the preparation of magic salves. What 

 is the reason that in some parts of Scotland eels are 

 unpopular as food ? — y. IV. Slater. 



An Adder swallowing her Young. — A fine 

 specimen of the above reptile was seen to do so on 

 the morning of the 10th of September last, a little 

 way off the roadside between the village of St. 

 Arvans and Midcliff, near Chepstow. After the 

 act she was struck with a large stone, and when dead 

 was opened, and thirteen young ones was found 

 inside, nine of which were alive and four dead, but 

 the latter with the mother were so much mutilated as 

 to be useless for preservation ; the nine are preserved 

 in spirits, and in my possession. — y. H. M. 



Grey Wagtails. — Since the middle of October one 

 grey wagtail, sometimes with a companion, has made 

 it a practice to tap, tap, at a south landing window of 

 my house, taking short flights from the roof to the 

 window pane and back again. The tapping commences 

 with great regularity about 7 o'clock every morning, 

 and continues till 9 or 9.30 A.M., then the tapping 

 ceases, but occasionally may be again heard at 

 intervals during the day. Johns, in his " History of 

 British Birds," notices this peculiarity of the grey 

 wagtail, and suggests that it might be well called 

 " window-bird." Can any reader offer an explanation 

 of this curious behaviour ? There is no appearance of 

 insects, which by the transparency of the glass might 

 easily be detected as the object of search. During 

 many years this curious behaviour has not been noticed 

 till the present autumn and now. (Nov. 4.) The 

 little bird is still continuing to pay us his morning 

 visits. — Swarraton Rectory, Hants. 



Gossamer in Spring. — Gossamer is not an ex- 

 clusively autumnal phenomenon. One fine morning 

 in March, 1879, a large tract of country to the west 

 and north-west of Aylesbury, was covered with the 

 well-known threads, which garnished every fence, 

 bush and tuft and grass. There was a dead calm, 

 and the barometer was high. — J. W. Slater. 



