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HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



mouth by dipping its feet in the bath. This is not 

 more remarkable, I think, than the fact that all frogs 

 and toads are in the habit of cleansing their food by 

 means of repeated rubbing or wiping with the fore- 

 feet. I have often watched them with a large and 

 very dirty worm, and they are always very careful not 

 to swallow any dirt. When, by some mischance, a 

 particle of soil has entered the mouth, I have seen 

 them disgorge the portion of the worm swallowed, 

 and cleanse the mouth before proceeding to feed 

 again. Has F. G. S. ever noticed how the toes 

 of a toad will frequently twitch violently after a very 

 full meal ? This is a curious thing, which I have 

 noticed repeatedly ; the toes twitch and jerk so 

 violently sometimes, as to spring the foot from the 

 ground, much to the toad's discomfiture. Give a toad 

 a very lively insect, too, and watch the poor fellow 

 scratch his stomach, after swallowing the same ; one 

 can scarcely witness a more ludicrous sight. — W. 

 Finch, jiui., Nottingham. 



Tenacity of Life in Moths. — The experience 

 recorded by G. F. Harding, in Science-Gossip for 

 July, is not at all remarkable ; to an entomologist it 

 is a common occurrence. Many female moths are 

 hard to kill. I have had them tear themselves in 

 half in their endeavours to get off from the setting- 

 board, living after this mutilation, and laying their 

 eggs. Once the eggs are laid, it seems to be an 

 easy matter to kill the insect ; indeed, it frequently 

 dies immediately on the consummation of this its 

 life's object. — W. Finch, juri., Nottingham. 



Cats and Rabbits. — This reputed crossing 

 between these animals seems a strange thing, and 

 despite the Rev. Brenan's remarks thereon, I cannot 

 think that such a crossing could possibly come about, 

 the animals being so opposite in every way. To my 

 mind it certainly could not have occurred between a 

 cat and wild rabbit, as inferred by a former note in 

 Science-Gossip. The only chance for such union 

 would be between animals brought up together from 

 infancy, and then I very much doubt if such union 

 would result in progeny. I think it more likely to be 

 a freak of nature in the first instance, and that the 

 curious formation of limbs has reproduced itself in 

 the descendants. — IV. Finch, Jan., Nottingham. 



Limnea Stagnalis. — This pond snail is undoubt- 

 edly omnivorous, and has no objection to anything of 

 animal nature, dead or alive, that may come in its 

 way. It used to attack successfully even the lively 

 stickleback in my aquarium, several of which suffered 

 death and destruction from it. It eagerly devoured 

 any dead fish it found. — Henry Ullyett, Folkestone. 



Solanum Dulcamara. — In reply to the query of 

 the Rev. R. S. Pattrick, I can assure him of the 

 poisonous nature of this nightshade. One of my 

 younger pupils some years ago ate of its bright berries, 

 and it was scarcely thought he would recover. He 

 had to be held down in bed, and the eyes were 

 dilated, just as in belladonna poisoning. In fact, the 

 physician treated him for that, and successfully, though 

 I knew the belladonna did not grow in the neighbour- 

 hood. The boy showed me the berries afterwards, 

 and where he had gathered them. — Henry Ullyett, 

 Folkestone. 



Migratory Birds and their Old Haunts. — I 

 think there is not much doubt that some, if not all, 

 of our migratory birds, do revisit their old haunts 

 year after year. During the time that I have been 

 here, this being the fourth summer, a pair of nightin- 

 gales have been regular visitants to my garden, 



building either in the garden, near to the house, or in 

 a small shrubbery close by. The female I cannot be 

 certain about, but the male has, I am sure, been the 

 same bird each year, for we recognise certain peculi- 

 arities of its song. I believe that if different birds of 

 passage could be marked in some way, most of them 

 would be found to return to the same spots each 

 succeeding season. The treble call of the cuckoo, 

 referred to by Mr. F. C. Taylor, is not an uncommon 

 note of the bird, for I often hear them utter that call, 

 and I think it is generally when the bird is on the 

 wing, very often being repeated four or five times in 

 rapid succession, as though the bird were startled. — 

 J. H. Allchin, Sutton Valence, Kent. 



Birds and Yew Berries. — A yew tree in a 

 garden adjoining mine is visited in the autumn and 

 early winter by swarms of thrushes, blackbirds, 

 finches of various kinds, and other birds, who feed 

 voraciously on its berries, without apparently suffering 

 any inconvenience therefrom. Speaking of berries 

 leads me to ask if any of your readers noticed the late 

 ripening of the ivy berries this year. As a rule, I 

 think they are generally ripe about the beginning of 

 April, in time for the advent of certain migratory 

 birds, such as the black-cap, who is ravenously fond 

 of them, and appears to make its first meals off them 

 on its arrival in this country. But this year I noticed 

 that the berries were not ripe until quite the middle 

 of May, when they were not only poor in quality, but 

 few in numbers, so that the thrushes, blackbirds, and 

 black-caps did not obtain such a feast from them as 

 usual. — J. H. Allchin, Sutton Valence, Kent. 



Rat's Teeth. — I had brought to me, a short 

 time ago, a rat with the upper incisors curved and 

 grown to the length of ij inch. — L. Lee, Naturalist , 

 Nottingham. 



Delhi Elastic Stone. — In our last issue, at 

 page 191, Mr. C. E. Paterson, asks information re- 

 garding this stone. The Cyclopaedia of India describes 

 it as a micaceous sandstone, so full of mica as to 

 render the sandstone flexible. It is known to the 

 people as the Sang-i-larzan, i.e., the shaking-stone, 

 and is obtained from the Kalyana, in the Nargana 

 Dadri, in Jheend, also in Ulwar, and at Jubbulpur. 

 It is of a reddish yellow colour, and is used for roofing 

 and for ornamental purposes. The small specimen in 

 his possession "about nine and a half inches by 

 two and a half inches in width, and half an inch 

 in thickness," are curio samples which the miners sell 

 to earn a little, and are to be seen in all the museums 

 in India. 



Ahrus Precatorius. — In our issue of the first of 

 August, Mr. Whitmore'. Wells mentions that " the root 

 of this plant is poisonous, and has often been used by 

 the convicts in Mauritius, both by rubbing it on their 

 eyes and chewing it to induce illness." In India the 

 root is officinal, and used in all the hospitals, Euro- 

 pean and native, as a substitute for the glycyrrhiza 

 liquorice plant. 



A Post-glacial Forest in Hull. — Writing to a 

 Hull paper on Tuesday a correspondent says : — I beg 

 to advise you of an interesting discovery in the new- 

 tertiary of the Hull Valley, connected with the former 

 wooded condition of England and with neolithic man. 

 On the western outskirts of Hull, about a mile from 

 the Humber and one and-a-half miles from the River 

 Hull, they are working a brickyard in the old marine 

 warp. The tides have not flown over this district in 

 historic times, the river banks being put down a> 

 Roman. On cutting through the clean warp clay, 12 



