HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE - G SSI P. 



167 



a quarter of an hour, and during that time no signs of 

 life whatever were exhibited. Feeling certain that 

 the moth was dead, I fixed it on the setting-board, 

 the insect being somewhat stiff. After being on the 

 board for a week, I looked to see how it was, and to 

 my surprise saw that one of the wings had come 

 from under the braces, and the insect had laid from 

 fifty to sixty eggs. The eggs are greenish-yellow. 

 Can any of your correspondents give any explanation 

 of this singular phenomenon ? — G. F. Harding. 



Remarkable Primrose. — On Tuesday, the 20th 

 of April, whilst plucking primroses at Howeistone, I 

 came across some singular blossoms on one or two 

 plants in a clump. The petals, instead of the broad 

 and indented end, had a narrower and pointed end. 

 Can any of your readers give examples of this, or 

 explain the cause? — Gresham F. Gillett. 



Larva in Sea-water. — Looking at some sea- 

 water in the microscope the other day, I was very 

 much surprised to see, crawling quietly among the 

 sediment, a creature exactly like a young bloodworm 

 (larva of Chirnomus). I lost sight of it afterwards, 

 but I had examined it closely, and am certain what 

 it was. Are any larvae of this family known to live 

 in the sea ? I have in my aquarium (marine) a young 

 three-spined stickleback, caught in the sea at low 

 water. I thought this species was confined to fresh 

 water. — Frederick Full, Folkestone. 



Dumbledores. — In response to Mr. Paulson, I 

 may state that I have watched the insects popularly 

 called " dumbledores " pierce the bases of the corollas 

 of the broad bean, apparently for the purpose of ex- 

 tracting the honey secreted therein. 1 have not yet 

 observed the same method pursued with regard to 

 Antirrhinum flowers, but, having a specimen well in 

 bloom just now, will keep an eye on it when at 

 leisure. I see "Mark Antony," alludes to having 

 noticed the same fact (p. 143). — G. A. Newman, 

 Medical Staff Corp. 



Spots on Sycamore Leaves. — I should be glad 

 if any of your readers could tell me the cause of the 

 black spots which appear on the leaves of the syca- 

 more in the summer. Do similar spots appear on 

 the leaves of any other trees ? — W. B. Drummond. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now 

 publish Science-Gossip earlier than formerly, we cannot un- 

 dertake to insert in the following number any communications 

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



To Anonymous Querists. — We must adhere to our rule of 

 not noticing queries which do not bear the writers' names. 



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

 dealers in natural history objects on the same fair and general 

 ground as amateurs, in so far as the " exchanges " offered are fair 

 exchanges. But it is evident that, when their offers are simply 

 disguised advertisements, for the purpose of evading the cost of 

 advertising, an advantage is taken of our gratuitous insertion of 

 " exchanges " which cannot be tolerated. 



We request that all exchanges may be signed with name (or 

 initials) and full address at the end. 



A. Downes.— Your supposed lichen, found growing on bark 

 of larch, is a fungus, one of the Myxogastes, perhaps Licea 

 fragiform\s. No. 2 (on sweet potato) is also a fungus, probably 

 Poly act is vulgaris; No. 1 (found on common anemones) is 

 Urocystispontpholygodes, not uncommon on the Ranunculaces. 



H. Muller. — The minute objects on paper are not a fungous 

 growth, but the dendritic crystallisation of the oxide of 

 manganese. 



F. C. — You are elected a Fellow of the Geological Society on 

 the personal recommendation (signed) of two Fellows, " from a 

 knowledge of your work and writings." The entrance fee is 

 £6 6s., and the annual subscription £2. No examination is 

 required. 



J. Wallis. — Your note in reference to Mr. Mattieu Williams's 

 "Gossip" is mat a propos. You will find a short description of 

 the supposed human footprints from Nevada in Science-Gossip 

 two years ago. 



Mr. Swainson. — You will find an excellent summary of the 

 relations of all the Amoeboid forms, animal and vegetable, in 

 the Introduction to the first vol. of Kraus's " Zoology " (trans- 

 lated by A. Sedgwick). See also same subject in Sachs's 

 "Botany," last edition. 



F. Weston (Folkestone). — We have written to Mr. Youlton 

 (who is an American gentleman) about his composite photo- 

 graphs, as you desired. We should be pleased to forward you 

 our own lithographed illustrations of the same (which came out 

 in a special number of " Science," and have lately been 

 repeated from our ethnological point of view). 



H. A. Crossfield. — Get Flower's " Osteology," published 

 by Macmillan, price 6s. Your newts are probably Triton 

 cristatus. 



A. W. Spanton.— Mr. G. H. Skuse's address is 9 Wellington 

 Road, Bow Road, London, E. 



M. Antony. — Frogs breathe through their skin when they 

 are immersed for a time in water. 



P. F. G. — The publisher of the excellent " Saturday Half- 

 Holiday Guides" is T. Fisher Unwin, 17 Holborn Viaduct, 

 London, E.C. Your specimens are: 1, Viola palustris; 2, 

 (specimen came too dried up and obscure to identify. Our 

 friends should wrap their plants in oiled silk, or else they come 

 so shrivelled that a botanist might as well try to find out the 

 plants in a haystack); 3, Carex precox; 4, a viola, speci- 

 men too incomplete to identify; 5, lamb's lettuce (Valeria- 

 nella olitoria, very common in the Eastern Counties. 6, too 

 much dried up, probably a species of medicago ; 7, ditto, a 

 species of viola. 



W. Rose. — The facts you narrate are all well known to 

 naturalists. You will find that Dr. Romanes refers to them in 

 his "Mental Evolution in Animals," also Mr. Frank Buckland 

 in his "Curiosities of Natural History." 



W. Hambrough. — Your specimens reached us in a very 

 dried-up condition, but the nettle seemed to be the Roman 

 nettle (Urtica pilulifera). We could not tell, however, with- 

 out the fruits. 



E. Halkyard. — Your geological specimens are Nummulites 

 lavigatus, from the nummulitic limestone. The name of the 

 lemon sole is Solea aurantiaca of Giinther. 



A. Pharoah. — Get Professor Oliver's "Indian Botany," 

 (Macmillan & Co.), price 4s. 6d. Hooker's " Himalayan 

 Journal" will give you a capital idea of the flora, etc., of the 

 mountains. 



A. Ogilvie. — Many thanks for specimens of micro fungi. 

 Alpha. — Your specimen certainly appears to be Lnzula. 

 sylvatica, but it is unusually long in the stem. 



H. L. C— Get Hastings' "Our Summer Migrants" (illus- 

 trated), price ioy. 6d., or Adams' "British Birds and their 

 Eggs" (coloured plates and illustrations), price about js. 6d. 

 Also H. G. and H. B. Adams' " Smaller British Birds," 12s. 6d.; 

 Atkinson's " British Birds, Eggs, and Nests," price t,s. 6d.; 

 Jardine's " Natural History of British Birds " (Naturalist's 

 Library series), with 120 coloured plates, 4 vols., price about 15X. 

 A. Blair. — The scientific names of plants are often derived 

 from Greek as well as Latin, so that Ainsworth's dictionary 

 would not be sufficient. You cannot do better than get 

 Rossiter's " Dictionary of Scientific Terms," an excellent work, 

 published by W. Collins and Sons, Glasgow, at about 4s. 



EXCHANGES. 



Wanted, Cooke's " Ponds and Ditches," and other micro 

 and natural history books, and land and freshwater shells. 

 Good micro slides and shells in exchange. — J. C. Blackshaw, 

 4 Ranelagh Road, Wolverhampton. 



Exchange, a collection of about 1500 fossils for disposal. 

 About 600 species. Also some duplicates and geological books. 

 — J. A. Floyd, 18 Whiting Street, Bury St. Edmunds. 



Section of potato, double stained, in balsam, starch grains 

 in situ. Also foreign stamps, Peru, Uruguay, Salvador, etc. 

 Wanted, Lepidoptera, insects rare in Scotland preferred, e.g. 

 Io, Antiopa, Album, &c. — W. B. Drummond, 10 Hartington 

 Gardens, Edinburgh. 



Melicerta ringtns, in exchange for other object of interest. 

 — W. E. Harper, Norfolk Road, Maidenhead. 



Wanted, a microscope. Will exchange a beautiful astro- 

 nomical telescope. The 3£-in. speculum is by Mr. With ; the 

 alt-azimuth, stand, "and mountings by Mr. Browning. It has 

 three eye-pieces, magnifying 50, 120, and 200 diameters ; also a 

 terrestrial eye-piece. Apply to Chas. F. George, 1 Ystrad 

 Road, Pentre, near Pontypridd, South Wales. 



