236 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



been found in the secondary, and 285 in the Tertiary, 

 a large number of the Tertiary species of insects are 

 the "flies in amber," of which the poet spake as 

 being " neither rich nor rare, the wonder's how the 

 devil they got there \ " 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Feeding Frogs and Toads. --Can any one tell 

 me how to feed frogs, toads, and newts in an 

 aquarium, the former having been hatched therein ? — 

 Worledge. 



Tameness of Gulls.— During the summer while 

 visiting Port Erin in the Isle of Man, a most 

 excellent and edifying spectacle was presented to my 

 notice. It was that of a band of herring gulls 

 reposing quietly on the pier, and being fed by a 

 fisherman. The birds of" course were wild, with 

 undipped wings, and their tameness and confidence 

 were very remarkable. The old man seemed to 

 know them well by individual appearance, as he had 

 familiar pet names for some of them. At Ramsay, 

 too, it was pleasant to see the gannets diving and 

 fishing within a short distance of the strand. These 

 worthy Manx people are evidently not so much 

 disposed to truculency as many of the mainlanders 

 are. The brutal ruffianliness involved in the dis- 

 position "to shoot every bird you see" has not as 

 yet been developed amid these good Celtic folk. 

 When birds are not much shot at, they become tame, 

 and help on human kindliness. In Bolton Woods 

 (Yorkshire), I let fall some crumbs, and the 

 chaffinches (evidently not much popped at there) 

 hopped and played and pecked thereat. How true 

 it is that the advance of physical force repels pari 

 passu generous sympathy and cordiality ! — P. Q. K. 



The Hollyhock.— In the description of the Holly- 

 hock (p. 172), Mr. Swan uses the word " pistils " to 

 indicate the female system of the flower. I have 

 always gathered from botanical authors that the 

 word "pistil" (singular) denoted the general female 

 organ, and that this is composed of one or more 

 carpels, each carpel again being composed of ovary, 

 style, and stigma. He says the "pistils surround 

 the carpels." By " carpels " I suppose the ovaries are 

 meant. Again, he says " the pistils appear separated 

 for only part of their length." Here the word 

 ' pistils ' is evidently used for ' styles.' In furnishing 

 scientific descriptions, and even in the study of 

 common plants, there is nothing like clear, strict, 

 and consistent accuracy in the use of terms. — 



p. q. a: 



Lengthy Fast of a Cat.— A singular instance 

 of the tenacity of life possessed by cats has just 

 occurred at Chatham Convict Prison. A cat, which 

 was a great favourite in the culinary department of 

 that prison, was missing for more than three weeks, 

 and was almost forgotten. The other day the 

 prisoners at work on a building in course of alteration 

 for workshops, heard a mewing noise. Between the 

 plastering and the floor above was a space of about 

 9 in. by 12 in. , which had been plastered up, and on 

 the plaster being broken down, one of the men look- 

 ing up saw the paw of a cat between the laths. The 

 cat was quickly released, and proved to be the missing 

 animal. The cat a full-grown one, only weighed 

 lib. on its release. It has since been able to walk 

 and eat, and is likely to survive, notwithstanding its 

 long imprisonment. 



Shelley's Halcyon. — If our poets do now and 

 then misrepresent the characters of our birds, there 

 is no reason, that I know of, why our naturalists 

 should make the matter worse by misinterpreting the 

 writings of our poets. I have not read Mr. " Phil 

 Robinson's " celebrated volume, but I sincerely hope 

 that he is a little fairer to his poets than some highly 

 distinguished persons who have followed in his wake. 

 Is it beyond your province to allow me space to 

 protest against a perfectly astounding imputation on 

 the poet Shelley, to which no less eminent an 

 authority than the Rev. J. G. Wood has lately given 

 utterance in the 'columns of a periodical devoted to 

 the instruction and amusement of young ladies ? In 

 one of a series of pleasant articles, entitled "The 

 Brook and its Banks," Mr. Wood, treating of the 

 kingfisher, writes as follows : — "Poets really seem to 

 vie with each other in depicting the bird in so absurd 

 a fashion that no one could recognise it. Perhaps we 

 need not be very much surprised when Cowper 

 (essentially the poet of the town) describes the king- 

 fisher as catching its prey on the ocean ; or when 

 Savage, another poet of the town, ranks the king- 

 fisher among the songsters ; but it is more than 

 startling when Shelley, of all poets, represents himself 

 as having seen two kingfishers clinging with their 

 backs downwards to a branch, and feeding upon its 

 berries.' 1 '' Now it is utterly incorrect to say that 

 Shelley " represents himself" as having seen anything 

 of the kind. The utmost that can be said of him is 

 that he represents himself as wishing he might see it. 

 The reference, of course, is to Prometheus Unbound, 

 Act 3, Sc. 4. But the words which Shelley there 

 puts into the mouth of the Spirit of the Earth are 

 supposed to be spoken in that ideal age which follows 

 the fall of Jupiter and the liberation of the elements 

 from his control. Describing the delightful meta- 

 morphosis which had suddenly come over the Uni- 

 verse, the Spirit announces that — ■ 



" All things have put their evil nature off; " 

 and adds this double illustration of the happy fact— 



" I cannot tell my joy, when o'er a lake 

 Upon a drooping bough with nightshade twined, 

 I saw two azure halcyons clinging downward, 

 And thinning one bright bunch ot amber berries." 



Is it not "more than startling" that Mr. Wood 

 should have so totally missed the point of the above 

 passage ? The kingfisher and nightshade have alike 

 cast off their "evil nature" as life-destroyers; the 

 kingfisher by turning vegetarian, and the nightshade 

 by becoming wholesome food. Need this artistic 

 little vignette for a volume on the "sagacity and 

 morality " of the plants and birds of the future startle 

 any one acquainted (as I suppose Mr. Wood is) with 

 Isaiah xi. 6-9? It seems incredible that Mr. " Phil 

 Robinson " can have written anything capable of 

 entrapping his readers into the mistake into which 

 Mr. Wood has fallen ; but that somebody owes an 

 apology to the shade of Shelley is tolerably patent. — 

 C. B. M. 



The Ivy.- — In response to the remarks of Mr. 

 Mattieu Williams about ivy, let me observe that if 

 what he states were correct, this same ivy should be 

 a terrible nuisance for the walls it climbs, in absorb- 

 ing not only moisture, but also mortar into leaves. 

 It is well known that cutting the ivy's main ground- 

 root kills the entire plant ; its rootlet is consequently 

 a mere fulcrum, not a nutritious organ. It kills bees 

 when it takes full possession of them, because it 

 stifles both respiration and development. — C. C. 



