52 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Italian, filled an 8vo volume with a poem describing 

 their economy, which was first published, after his 

 death, at Venice, A.D. 1539;* this, like the last, 

 was evidently a popular work, for it went through 

 five other editions, and we find it said by a con- 

 temporary writer that the "Bees," an imitation of 

 the 4th Georgic of Virgil, was esteemed "a poem 

 of exquisite sweetness." Two years after this (a.d. 

 1 541) we find in volume i. of a book by Erasmus 

 Ebernerus, a description headed "The Praise of 

 Ants." f The next year, a German of the name 

 of Ruscheyt brought out a volume % describing the 

 " Grasshoppers seen in Silesia in 1542 " ; two years 

 later, we find a small work on "Fleas," by Mos- 

 chetti,§ and in the year 1546 one Ant. Thylesius 

 brought out a book on " Spiders and Glow-worms." |[ 

 (To be continued.) 



The very contrary, however, is the case, as the 

 expenditure of a few shillings, and a little ingenuity, 

 are all that are required in the way of outfit ; and the 

 hire of a boat during a few days' stay at the seaside 

 will give amply sufficient opportunity of collecting to 

 enable the naturalist to accumulate materials for 

 weeks — nay, months — of study. It is with the view of 

 showing this, as well as of publishing some improve- 

 ments in appliances for the purpose, that the present 

 paper is written. 



The form of tow-net hitherto used has been a 

 simple bag of bunting held open by a metal ring. 

 The word "tow" is rather a misnomer, as, if 

 towed at all, it must be at a very low rate of speed, 

 as anything above a knot or a knot and a-half an 

 hour would be sure to result in the destruction of the 

 necessarily flimsy material of which it is constructed. 



C: 



{■ 



Fig. 36.— Long Section of Tube. One-third real size. 



Fig. 37. — End of Net, with Tube fitted ready for use. 



ON MARINE COLLECTING WITH THE 

 SURFACE-NET. 



By G. W. M. Giles, M.B., 



Surgeon, Bengal Med. Service ; Naturalist, Indian 



Marine Survey. 



MOST of the readers of Science-Gossip are 

 well acquainted with the fact that the surface 

 of the sea, especially near the coast, swarms with an 

 immense variety of organisms, belonging mostly to 

 the animal side of animated nature. Not, however, 

 that vegetable forms are by any means wanting ; 

 for few hauls of the tow-net can be made which do 

 not include a more or less considerable proportion of 

 Diatomacere and other Algce ; but these do not pre- 

 sent the wonderful variety that characterises the sur- 

 face fauna. Few, however, I am convinced, of the ever- 

 increasing army of field naturalists are aware of the 

 simplicity of the appliances required for the work of 

 collecting in this really delightful field, being apt to 

 regard it as within the resources only of expeditions 

 of the " Challenger " sort. 



* Apes, in 8vo, Venezia, 1539. 



-)• Encomium Formicarum, Amphitheatr., Dornanii, t. 1, and 

 with " Melanchthon" in 4to, Argent., 1541- 



% Wahrhaftige Zeitung in Schlesien geschehen, 1542, von 

 unerhijrten Heuschrecken wie viel der gewessn, und was sie 

 gehaden gethan haben, in 4to, 1542. 



} De Pulice, in 8vo, 1544. 



|| De Araneola et Cicindela, 8vo, Lutet., 1546. 



On this account, by far the best way of employing it 

 is to fasten it to some fixed object, such as an 

 anchored ship or buoy, in a moderate tideway. But, 

 even used thus, a situation should be chosen where 

 the currents are not too strong, as, apart from the 

 risk of damaging the net, the organisms most com- 

 monly taken are so delicate that they become irre- 

 trievably spoiled if subjected for any length of time 

 to the action of a strong tide. 



About twelve months ago the writer was appointed 

 naturalist to the Indian Marine Survey. As ships 

 engaged in topographical work are necessarily em- 

 ployed, for the most part, in the shallow waters of 

 the littoral zone, opportunities for deep-sea dredging 

 occur only occasionally ; and accordingly more at- 

 tention was paid to the surface and littoral faunae. 



A very few days' trial of the ordinary bunting bag 

 sufficed to show that it is a most imperfect piece of 

 apparatus. The difficulty with it lies not so much in 

 "catching your hare," as in getting him out of the 

 trap for cooking. The method adopted is to invert 

 the bag, and wash it in a bell-glass or bucket of sea- 

 water. Not only, however, does a large portion of the 

 catch remain sticking to the bunting, but that which 

 is washed off is generally much mixed up with hairs 

 and "fluff" from the material, and is moreover 

 diffused through so large a volume of water that one 

 is only one step better off than when they were free 



