HARDWICKKS SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



27 



That which has taken thus long to describe, is in 

 practice very quickly accomplished : a few minutes 

 sufficing to put everything in readiness for work. 



To some microscopists it may seem unnecessary to 



be so exact in the details of illumination ; but if the 



reader will give a fair trial to the system I am 



endeavouring to describe, I have full confidence, 



founded on my own success, that he will find himself 



a great gainer every way ; obtaining better results, 



with more certainty, increased pleasure, relief to the 



eyesight, and great economy in the consumption of 



lamp-oil. 



(To be continued.) 



MY DRAWING-ROOM PETS. 



By Clara Kingsford. 



Part II. 



I HAVE read that the lizard has a most rapacious 

 appetite ; mine I considered rather small and 

 slow feeders, sometimes waiting quite half-an-hour 

 between each capture, if the insect or spider was 

 unusually large. They only fed quickly when very 

 small flies or gnats were provided, which were caught 

 at once in the mouth and swallowed instantaneously, 

 and in quick succession. 



It is popularly supposed that the lizard's bifid and 

 very extensile tongue is used in catching its prey. I 

 have never seen it so used ; but how far it is used to 

 assist in holding its prey when once caught I am not 

 prepared to say. However, this poor, little, harmless 

 tongue, source of so much fear to the uninitiated, and 

 simply because it is bifid, is very useful for the purpose 

 of drinking. Soon after noon my pet Tommy refused 

 food, even if he had previously been very hungry and 

 unsatisfied, for I was not always able to procure in 

 the morning that which he required. For the rest of 

 the'day he would lie coiled up on the highest part 

 of the grass, and always nearest the light, and watch 

 my movements. When the shades of evening were 

 closing o'er us, he would retire for the night. His 

 habits were so regular that he was a perfect chrono- 

 meter ; and his being very sensitive to cold (as all 

 lizards are), made him an exact indicator of the state 

 of the temperature ; even during the summer-time, if 

 the weather was cold or only dull, his motions were 

 slow and drowsy, and he would not eat — would remain 

 with his eyes closed, only opening them partially to 

 look at me when I spoke to him. But on a bright, 

 warm day he was all activity — his bright eye was on 

 the alert, his ear quickly turned at the slightest noise, 

 and his agile figure was constantly to be seen gliding 

 about, which at every turn fell into graceful curves ; 

 he would raise his head every now and then, and put 

 out his tongue, and by dumb motions make his wants 

 known, but he never uttered a sound, neither did 

 any of his confreres in captivity. But I have at this 



present time a French lizard (Lacerta Zurich's), which 

 does emit a sound, something like "chup " or " chip," 

 sharply and quickly pronounced. This lizard measures 

 eleven inches, and is of a beautiful metallic green- 

 and-black, and is a most docile and tractable indi- 

 vidual, loving to be nursed and petted, and most 

 patient under suffering. 



When I first received Chups, for that is its pet name, 

 its right eye was injured, which caused it much pain, 

 and myself much anxiety. Upon one occasion whilst 

 I was holding my newly-acquired pet in my hand, it 

 rubbed its injured eye on it. I took the hint, and 

 rubbed and bathed with hot water the injured organ, 

 but without any favourable result — the sealed lids 

 would not part. At last, by advice of my medical 

 man, I applied oil ; it was most touching to see the 

 poor creature when I took it up turn its eye round to 

 me in anticipation of having it dressed, and I could 

 tell by the quivering of its body, that I sometimes 

 pained it, yet it never attempted to bite or leave my 

 hand. In a short time the oil softened the lids, and 

 they came nearly off; and when my medical man 

 severed the piece of flesh by which they hung, our 

 patient gave a start, but never attempted to bite 

 either of us. Most cruelly maligned are these reptilei 

 when they are accused of stinging and biting. 



Our two true British lizards, Z. vivipara and Lacerta 

 agilis, hybernate, and when the autumn has far ad- 

 vanced, they betake themselves to their burrows, not 

 to reappear until the early spring. I believe it is not yet 

 ascertained whether their torpidity is very profound, 

 and one must not judge by the actions of a creature 

 kept in captivity, as my little pet was, in a warm 

 room, where I had not the convenience to give him 

 sufficient depth of sand to burrow in. However, like 

 a contented and clever little fellow as he was, he made 

 the best of his position by retiring early in October 

 under the grass or saucer of water, to reappear at 

 intervals of about three weeks' duration. About the 

 middle of February, he was again to be seen all life 

 and activity on bright, sunny days, and even at this 

 abnormally early date he would have taken food, 

 had I had any to offer him ; and when March had 

 fairly set in his appetite became very alarming, as 

 was fully demonstrated by his actions. On one 

 particularly hot day my poor pet was nearly wild, 

 and I believe that he tried his hardest to express his 

 wants verbally. I had not any insect food to offer 

 him : I was in despair ; when a kind young friend 

 came in, who hunted up a dead and dried-up fly, 

 which she threw to him ; he caught it in his mouth, 

 and swallowed it instantaneously. Nothing more 

 could be found ; we were at our wits' end ; when I 

 happily thought of offering him a small piece of raw 

 beef, which he ate greedily, and a second and a third 

 piece was accepted, and so on, until his appetite was 

 appeased. A r ecessitas non habet leges. 



Tommy would eat either raw beef, mutton, or 

 lamb ; small pieces of any one of these I presented 



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