HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



47 



this air and made a hole in one of these white spots 

 when there was a rush of " gas," then the water came 

 up, and the ice looked the same as the rest of the 

 pond. Another of the party said, " Let us put a 

 lighted match to it and see if it will burn." A large 

 spot was selected, a hole made and a lighted match 

 applied. At once there was a jet of bluish fiame about 

 three feet high, which burnt about two or three 

 minutes and which singed our friend's beard. It 

 was just getting dark. We all got to work with a box 

 of matches and a sharp pointed stick, or anything 

 that would make a hole in the ice, which was about 

 three inches thick, and in a short time there were a 

 dozen or more of these jets of gas in full blaze 

 coming from the ice ; the effect was most curious and 

 weird. What was this, gas? Was it sulphuretted 

 hydrogen, or petroleum fumes from the peat ? I 

 noticed when the pond was being made that many 

 of the puddles had an oily kind of stuff like paraffin 

 floating on them ; but I did not observe any smell 

 from the gas escaping from the ice. — W. C. P. 



The Effects of the late severe Weather 

 upon Mice. — On the evening of the 6th ult., while 

 walking on the main road between two neighbouring 

 towns, I was surprised to see five or six small 

 creatures start up from the fresh horse-droppings and 

 make for the adjacent hedgebanks — what could they 

 be ? not frogs, as they did not jump but ran nimbly 

 in a zigzag direction. But while walking and 

 wondering what they could be, the same thing 

 occurred again, and this time I was quick enough to 

 observe that they were mice, and during the passage 

 of the next two miles, some twenty or thirty were 

 sent scampering into cover at the sound of my 

 approach. For the next mile none appeared, and it 

 occurred to me, that, as there were three stacks near 

 the roadside in that distance, that the mice there, 

 were better provided for than their brethren. I tried 

 to catch one to discover its species, but was not 

 successful. Several people that have been asked if 

 they had seen the like in other directions, have 

 replied in the affirmative. — Edwin E. Turner, 

 Coggeshall, Essex. 



Explosion of Eggs. — Enclosed is a cutting from 

 the "New York Tribune "for November 21st, re- 

 specting the explosion of an ostrich egg. I have 

 known the eggs of a domestic fowl explode with a 

 report as loud as a toy cannon. — C. F. Cross. 



Frightful Explosion of an Ostrich Egg. — 

 Dr. George Blair, of Yale College, was knocked 

 insensible and nearly killed by the explosion of an 

 ostrich egg in Peabody Museum on November 20th. 

 Such an occurrence was never heard of before, accord- 

 ing to the scientists of the city. The egg came from 

 South Africa, and weighed 3J pounds. 



Aquarium Notes. — A correspondent in Science- 

 Gossip of December last, writes under this heading, 

 concerning the destruction of water-plants by 

 minnows. I have kept specimens of this fish for a 

 long time in an aquarium supplied with the common 

 anacharis (which if H. D. O. F. has not tried, I 

 should certainly reccommend him to do, as it is very 

 easily obtainable, and grows luxuriantly) and I have 

 never found them eat or destroy it. If care be taken 

 to feed them with a moderate quantity of animal and 

 vegetable food, their destructive habits will probably 

 disappear. With regard to the Dytisci, they should 

 on no account be placed in an aquarium with fish, as 

 I have often known them to kill fish some three or 

 four inches long ; but the great hydrophilus (one of 



the largest of our British aquatic Coleoptera) may 

 safely be kept with fish and other inhabitants of the 

 aquarium. — H. A. Crossfield, South Hackney. 



Roselle, of which the scientific name was asked 

 in our January number, is the Hibiscus sabdariffa, 

 Linn. It is grown in all the gardens of India, par- 

 ticularly in the Bombay provinces, and the calyces are 

 made into tarts or jelly, the latter not inferior to that 

 of the red currant. The " Cyclopaedia of India " says 

 there are five varieties cultivated, that its leaves are 

 used as greens, and that in the French West Indian 

 Islands a kind of cider is prepared from it. It is 

 often grown in flower beds. The stem, if cut when 

 in flower, and the bark scraped off, steeped im- 

 mediately, displays a mass of fibres of a fine silky 

 nature. 



Rozelle. — The plant so called and cultivated in 

 India is Hibiscus sabdariffa, DC. Prod. It is not 

 indigenous, but a native, to the best of my recollection, 

 of the West Indies. It makes a capital jelly — a 

 good substitute for that obtained from red currants 

 and very like it in appearance. 



Cuckoo with false Notes. — I have more than 

 once observed in Science-Gossip notices of 

 cuckoos uttering false notes. We had one here some 

 years ago, for several consecutive years, singing in 

 Torachilty, Ross-shire, which always sang cuck-coo- 

 coo, cuck-coo-coo, from the very first of its arrival 

 about the 1st May. I have not heard it now for 

 these last two seasons. I notice eagles (golden) are 

 getting more plentiful here. I saw no less than four 

 large ones a few days ago from my dining-room 

 window while at jj breakfast, soaring over the hill. 

 While on the subject of Ross-shire, let me recommend 

 to your readers a very interesting and instructive 

 book which has just come out : " Gairloch, in North- 

 West Ross-shire : Its Records, Traditions, Inhabi- 

 tants and Natural History," by John H. Dixon, 

 F.S.A. Scot. (Co-operative Printing Co. Ld., Edin- 

 burgh).—^. C.P. 



Are growing Leaves of the Yew-tree 

 poisonous? — I was conversing with a farmer on the 

 above subject a short time ago, and he assured me 

 that two of his cows had died from the bad effects 

 produced by eating the leaves of the yew-tree. 

 There cannot possibly be any truth in the assertion 

 that the leaves are poisonous only when dried. — 

 7. Lea. 



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



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

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