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HARD WICKE'S S CIENCE- G 0SS1P. 



which measures four inches and more across the 

 wings which are of a deep fulvous colour ; the veins 

 being more or less broadly black both above and 

 beneath. The tips of the forewings are black irregularly 

 spotted with fulvous, or, in the typical Erippus, 

 white. This however is S. American, while A rchipptis 

 is a very common N. American butterfly, and in 1877 

 three specimens were taken in England. There are 

 spots on the thorax, but the body is deep fulvous, 

 with the segments black rather than entirely black. 

 The rest of the description seems correct. — H. D. S., 

 Beckenham. 



Peregrine Falcon— The "Sheffield Daily Tele- 

 graph " notes the death, near Retford, of a Peregrine 

 Falcon which measured thirty-eight inches across the 

 wings (from tip to tip). 



A Query for Mr. Mattieu Williams. — 

 Would your able contributor, Mr.|W. M. Williams, 

 kindly explain the following phenomena ? 



Sun. Rises. Sets. 



Dec. 21 . . 8.7 a.m. . . 3.51 P.M. 

 Jan. 21 . . 7.56 „ . . 4.27 „ 



or II minutes earlier, 36 minutes later. 

 June 21 . . 3.44 A.M. . . 8.18 P.M. 

 July 21 . . 4.9 ,, . . 8.3 „ 



or 25 minutes later, 15 minutes earlier. 



I should esteem it a great favour to be enlightened 

 on the point : why in January the days lengthen out 

 on the p.m. and why in July they shorten more on 

 the a.m. side. — W. J. 



Monkeys AND their Tails. — Can any one kindly 

 tell me what measures may be taken to prevent a 

 tame monkey biting off the end of its tail ? — Miss C. 

 Leigh, 37 Portman Square, W. 



Stones in Wood. — Three days ago one of our 

 wood-turners, while cutting up some full-grown beech 

 timber with a circular saw, came across something 

 which jarred the saw terribly, and trying to approach 

 the obstruction from another angle, struck upon it 

 again, damaging the saw considerably. Upon riving 

 the block to learn the cause, we found a large, 

 smooth, waterworn, fine gritty sandstone pebble, 

 measuring through its shortest diameter two inches 

 and a half, firmly embedded in what appears, judging 

 from the segments of the rings of growth, very 

 nearly the centre of the tree. I have had the two 

 riven halves cut into convenient sized blocks, the 

 one showing the pebble still, with one half firmly 

 fixed model-wise, and the other showing the mould 

 of the exposed portion of the pebble. The sur- 

 rounding timber is sound and good, and very little 

 altered, beyond being slightly gnarled and contorted 

 in figure, while the mould has a smooth black surface 

 appearing as though charred by heat. — Samuel 

 Stowarth. 



Exploding Gunpowder. — Your correspondent 

 appears to wish to explode gunpowder without the 

 rays of the sun, i.e. by cutting off all the rays. How 

 can he expect to obtain any heat from the sun if he 

 places an opaque substance between it and the gun- 

 powder? If I understand right, your correspondent 

 really wishes to know if the coloured, i.e. prismatic 

 rays of the sun will have the effect of igniting the 

 powder. I have not made any experiments in this 

 direction myself, but should imagine that this result 

 can only be obtained by the use of a prism, and 

 passing the rays thus separated through a condensing 

 glass. At the same time I do not see of what real 



use or advantage this will be when accomplished. 

 Jatnes Searle. 



Wild Birds Protection Act of 1880. — Will 

 any readers of Science-Gossip inform me if they 

 know of cases where boys or ornithologists have been 

 summoned before the magistrates for collecting wild 

 birds' eggs or nests ? And if so, were convictions 

 obtained or not. I have before me a copy of the 

 above Act, and there is no mention of eggs in it, or 

 any sentence or word which could reasonably be 

 construed to refer to eggs. I should also like to 

 know why the lapwing, peewit and plover, are 

 reckoned as being different birds, and similarly sea 

 parrot, coulterneb and puffin, gannet and solan 

 goose, bonxie and skua, tern and sea swallow, 

 guillemot, tarrock, scout, willock, and murre and 

 several others. I should also feel pleasure in knowing 

 from others, what effect the protection afforded by the 

 Act has had on the increase of the species mentioned 

 therein. The Act may be had from Messrs. Eyre and 

 Spottiswoode, London, price twopence. — Sheffield. 



Size of Mollusca. — Gwyn Jeffreys (vol. i., 

 Introduction, p. xxxii.) says "Northern Mollusca are 

 generally larger than those of the same species from 

 the south." Macgillivray (" Molluscous Animals of 

 Scotland," p. 18) says " Mollusca are more abundant 

 in warm than in cold climates, and larger and more 

 brightly coloured." Would conchologists give opinions 

 as to which of these two eminent authorities is right ? 

 — Geo. Roberts. 



Another Use for Bees' Stings. — In your 

 impression for March, Mr. T. Winder has taken a 

 great deal of trouble to prove that my correction of 

 his previous letter was as much an error as that I 

 sought to set right. The fact is that, upon reading 

 Mr. W.'s comment in the December number (where 

 he describes the bee's sting as superior to the finest 

 cambric needle, while that of the wasp is so formid- 

 ably barbed), I fell into the error of supposing that 

 he had mixed up the two in his mind, as I well knew 

 of the barbs in the bee's sting, but was not acquainted 

 with the sting of the wasp as a micro object, so my 

 allusion to the needle was a quotation from his letter. 

 Being an apiarian of some years' experience, I could 

 only be amused at his remark that I was under the 

 impression that the sting of the bee is left in the 

 wound in every instance ; yet, after pointing out the 

 supposed ignorance of mine, Mr. W. goes on to quote 

 from J. G. Wood, that the wasp's sting is always left 

 in the wound. If Mr. W. will enquire of those who 

 have any practical experience in the matter, they will, 

 I think, tell him, as Mr. F. W. Elliot has already done 

 in the February number, that bees leave their sting in 

 the human flesh much oftener than wasps do. During 

 the season I handle thousands of bees almost daily, 

 never using gloves or veil, and of course get a sting 

 or two sometimes, and invariably have to pull them 

 out, while I never remember a wasp leaving its sting, 

 although I have been stung a considerable number of 

 times by them while destroying their nests. Mr. W. 

 has omitted a very important part in his explanation, 

 viz. the use of the barbs. May I add that they are 

 attached to veiy powerful muscles which, as soon as 

 the point of the sting enters the flesh, commence 

 contracting alternately, this alternate pulling at the 

 barbs drives forward the sting, and so it gets further 

 down into the flesh than the thrust of the insect could 

 drive it. As I value personal experience infinitely 

 more than quotations from books, I may add that I 

 have proved this to be the case, and Mr. W. may easily 

 verify it in the following manner. Take a bee care- 



