HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



237 



Scorpions in Mexico.— From "Modern Society" 

 for August 27, 1887 : Apropos of this, a curious dish 

 was prepared the other day for a British traveller in 

 Mexico. The attendants served up an omelette, and 

 the servants partook very heartily of the dainty 

 morsel, but the traveller mistrusted the food, owing to 

 certain black particles mixed therein. Inquiring as 

 to the nature of the suspicious ingredients, he could 

 scarcely believe his ears when the reply was given, 

 " Oh, those are scorpions," and an investigation 

 proved this to be true ; the lower orders in Mexico 

 thus utilising the young scorpions, which are dugout, 

 hundreds in a nest, their sting being cut off before 

 cooking. 



Birds near Dublin. — I am afraid that your 

 correspondent in the April number of Science- 

 Gossip is mistaken when he speaks of the "brown 

 ivy owl," as amongst the avifauna of the Irish 

 metropolis. It would give me great pleasure to 

 believe otherwise ; but the brown or tawny owl does 

 not appear to be ever met with in this island, and 

 certainly does not figure in the " List of Irish Birds," 

 published in 1885, by Mr. A. G. More. Possibly 

 Mr. Nourse refers to the long-eared owl, which is a 

 common denizen of our woodlands, and goes here- 

 about by the name of the "cat owl," its monotonous 

 mewing call, constantly heard from amongst the 

 grove on moonlight nights or in the dusk of early 

 summer evenings, being of so feline a sound that I 

 have known it mistaken for the wail of a lost kitten. — 

 C. B. Moffat, Ballyhyland. 



Bees and Lime-Trees. — By parcel post I send 

 you some twigs of a lime-tree growing here which has 

 smaller leaves, and flowers more freely, than the 

 ordinary lime-trees of the neighbourhood ; but which 

 may only be a variety of Tilia Europcea. In the 

 corner of the parcel you will find a smaller box con- 

 taining several bees which I picked up under this 

 tree. They lie 'scattered under it in great numbers, 

 and many of them have had the thorax scooped out. 

 Can some reader tell me whether I am right in 

 supposing that something in the flower of the lime 

 poisons this particular bee, and that a spider (?) 

 eviscerates the bee after it falls upon the ground ? 

 I could find nothing in the act of attacking the bees. 

 I found very few hive bees among the blossoms, 

 and none upon the ground. — Arthur R. Graham, 

 Hohmvood, Weybridgc. 



Cuckoo's Notes. — I have frequently seen Notes 

 and Queries about the cuckoo in your columns, and 

 as I have for several years amused myself " calling " 

 cuckoos in the spring-time, in order to watch their 

 habits, I will give you briefly the results of my 

 observations. The "hoarse chuckling laugh" re- 

 ferred to by W. E. Windus is made by both sexes of 

 the cuckoo, and, I believe, is more often used than 

 any other note, but it can only be heard a short 

 distance off. When the cuckoo is " called " and is 

 flying to its apparent rival or mate, this " laughing" 

 sound is very often uttered alone, but, besides this, it 

 always follows immediately after its well-known notes. 

 The third note that is sometimes heard is, I believe, 

 invariably used under excitement. I have often 

 "called" cuckoos to within a few feet, and could 

 almost always induce them to utter three notes, and 

 occasionally four, five, and even six, when they would 

 take the following form, cuc-cuc-cuc-cuc-cucd<.oo, 

 the notes gradually getting to a higher key, until the 

 koo. Sometimes when excited, the cuckoo is unable 

 to utter any sound except two hisses, which take the 

 place of its ordinary notes. I have frequently heard 

 the cuckoo late at night, especially warm nights. — 

 Edward Goodwin, Wateringbury, Kent. 



Suggestions for Scientific Research. — It has 

 long seemed to me that there was much waste in time 

 which might advantageously be applied to scientific 

 research. People require some directing power to 

 guide them and point out for what they are to look ; 

 in what direction they must apply their attention ; 

 they require to know what things are yet unknown. 

 There are doubtless many people most willing to be 

 employed in scientific research, and it would be not 

 only a pleasure to themselves, but an advantage to the 

 world in general for them to be so employed ; retired 

 officers, barristers, men of education and without 

 professions, business-men, the poorest labourer, every- 

 one, in short, might have his or her attention directed 

 to some special point in his or her calling, and might 

 become poetes, or discoverers to some extent. An 

 intelligent workman' would not fail to be a contri- 

 butor, and some retired men, whose time at present 

 hangs somewhat heavily on their hands, could give 

 able assistance. If the professors of the different 

 sciences would only publish what is required, say 

 yearly in"*some scientific journal, it would at least be 

 of interest to all to know for what the scientific world 

 was seeking ; they might point out the different kinds 

 of trades likely to be of use in this research ; masters 

 might encourage their men in exercising their powers 

 of observation, a fresh interest would be given to the 

 work. Meteorology, zoology, physiology, every 

 branch of science would receive crumbs of assistance 

 from various sources, and it is every little makes a 

 mickle ! Real organisation is required on the subject 

 and Government to step in and offer rewards. I was 

 reminded again the other day of this lack of directing 

 power by reading Professor Stocke's able directions 

 (to the Arctic explorers) for "auroral research." 

 He points out what they are to observe, the motion 

 of the auroral streamers, sound, etc. etc. If this 

 directing method was more universally applied, it 

 would be of great utility. The outsiders of science 

 would be drawn into its vortex, and its progress con- 

 siderably accelerated. Science at present is still too 

 select. We ought to work more, all of us, as one 

 great co-operative whole. 



Munchausen Science. — I was glad to see the 

 remarks of G. E. D. and J. S., Jersey, in your last 

 number, on the paragraph under this heading in 

 Science-Gossip for August, but I think your readers 

 would be interested in the following extract from the 

 monograph on the British Annelids (Roy. Soc.) by 

 Professor W. C. Mcintosh, in his description of Linens 

 marinas which he gives as the synonym for Kingsley's 

 Nemertes Borlasii, wherein Professor Mcintosh says : 

 " This is unquestionably the giant of the race, and 

 even now I am not quite satisfied about the limit of 

 its growth, for after a severe storm in the spring of 

 1864, a specimen was thrown on shore at St. An- 

 drews, which half filled a dissecting jar eight inches 

 wide and five inches deep. Thirty yards were 

 measured without rupture, and yet the mass was not 

 half uncoiled." — T. Bolton, Birmingham. 



Cuckoo at Night. — In reply to your corre- 

 spondent, Mr. A. C. Ward, I beg to record that the 

 night-cuckooing is of frequent occurrence in the wood 

 hereabouts, and is familiar to the country people 

 around. — R. IV. M. Joh>isen, Bexhill-on-Sea. 



Lapidary Work. — I should feel much obliged 

 to any readers of Science-Gossip who could furnish 

 me with the names of any books or articles on this 

 subject, or give me any information on the cutting 

 and polishing of pebbles and fossils. Also where I 

 could obtain the requisite tools for this purpose. — ■ 

 F. Bayward Parrott, Walton House, Aylesbury. 



