HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



261 



South Downs, near Eastbourne, four or five daisies of 

 the ordinary form, except that each had a ring of 

 ligulate flowers about half-way from the centre to the 

 circumference. Two or three of these plants I brought 

 home and potted up, but this year they only bore 

 ordinary flowers. — Frank Sich, jun. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Humble-bees and Flowers. — I can quite corro- 

 borate Mr. R. Paulson's observations as to humble- 

 bees obtaining honey from Antirrhinum blossoms in a 

 surreptitious manner, as I have frequently noticed 

 them doing so myself; and on examining flower- 

 spikes of this plant I have found nearly every blossom 

 pierced at the base of the corolla. But I have also 

 noticed humble-bees obtaining honey in the legitimate 

 manner, and I should say far oftener in this way than 

 in the other. Midler is, I think, quite right, for "the 

 fast closure of the mouth is useful," as he mentions, 

 in a great number of cases. Opening the flower at 

 the bases would seem to be a foolish action on the 

 part of the bee, rather than a sign of increasing intel- 

 ligence, as it must enable other insects to obtain access 

 to the honey, which otherwise they would not be able 

 to reach. One day I was watching the humble-bees 

 at work, crossing the flowers in a long mixed border, 

 and found that they only visited the snapdragon, and 

 in the legitimate manner, as if they knew they were 

 more likely to find what they wanted in them than in 

 other flowers. It is very pretty to see them settle on 

 and cling to the lower lip of one, which immediately 

 falls with their weight, and enables them to thrust 

 their heads well into the flower. The older blossoms 

 open easier than the younger ones do. I found that on 

 an average a weight of twenty grains was required 

 to make the lower lip fall a quarter of an inch ; the 

 lip of one fell with only three grains, whilst the flower 

 which was most difficult to open required thirty-four 

 grains. The blossoms of the common broad bean are 

 also pierced at the base by humble-bees. — G. S. S., 

 Tunbridge Wells. 



Female Vipers. — I killed near Wickham, Hants, 

 on Friday, the 14th, a female viper. It was two feet 

 long, and very large. Thinking it had young, I opened 

 it, and was surprised to find no less than seventeen, all 

 about six inches long, and proportionately large. The 

 markings were distinctly shown, and even the swelling 

 in the upper jaw for the fangs, strongly shown. Is 

 not this a great number for the viper to bring forth, 

 and to contain in the stomach ? — J. J. Moore. 



Mock-Suns. — On Tuesday, July 27th, afternoon, [ 

 while out sketching near Cranbrook, in the weald of | 

 Kent, I and my wife saw a magnificent example of 

 mock suns and solar rainbow circles. From an early 

 part of the day the sky had been, I think, more 

 splendid in its arrangements of Cirro-cumulus and I 

 C. striatus clouds than I had ever seen in this or any 

 other country, though I have always been a delighted 

 student of these phenomena. From 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. 

 there was an incessant change and coolness in the 

 forms and positions of the clouds, and the remark- 

 able perspective effects thereby produced. But, 

 about four o'clock, one half of the heavens, from the 

 horizon to the zenith, in the westerly direction, 

 became nearly covered with a thin stratum of dark 

 clouds, resembling more than anything else innu- 

 merable long bundles of cotton fibre, placed in every 



possible direction. The other half of the sky was a 

 background of most delicate rich ultramarine, with the 

 fleecy mare's tail and flock of sheep cloudlets as the 

 subjects. On the dark strata of clouds the mock suns 

 made their appearance, the real sun shining through 

 the clouds with great intensity. This beautiful 

 phenomenon did not fade out till nearly six o'clock. 

 As I saw it also for some time reflected on a large 

 sheet of water, I had good opportunities of studying 

 it. The setting of the sun that night was a gorgeous 

 pageant, myriads of golden streams, in groups, 

 being sent up from purple and scarlet clouds, whilst 

 fantastic and suggestive groups of clouds slowly sailed 

 along the clear sky above. — Robert H. F. Rippon, 

 Jasper Road, Upper Norwood. 



Phenomenal Bugs. — Apropos of an incident 

 narrated in your last number of Science-Gossip, 

 where myriads of bugs made a sudden appearance on 

 board a vessel, off the coast of Algiers, I can 

 narrate a somewhat similar experience, but which has 

 an extra interest, as touching the vexed question, as 

 to whether under any circumstances Cimices — pre- 

 sumably Lcctularius, classed as " Hemiptera " — can 

 ever be provided with full-sized wings, and use them 

 for flight. In one of my journeys through Syria and 

 Palestine with a party, which included two ladies, 

 we had encamped not very far from Baalbec in Cele- 

 Syria ; it was after sunset, and we were all in our 

 respective tents preparing for dinner, when a servant 

 came in hot haste and entreated me to go at once to 

 the ladies' tent, for there was " something very dread- 

 ful." What I saw on my arrival, almost merited the 

 sensational description : the whole of the ladies' 

 paraphernalia, clothes, bed, toilet-table, inner wall of 

 tent, were covered with a dense mass of bugs, ap- 

 parently the common bed-bug, like in size, like in 

 odour, presumably from those destroyed in desperate 

 efforts to get rid of them, and, so far as could be 

 made out, like in conformation, except that it was 

 noticed at once, that these malodorous insects were 

 provided with wings ! Impossible to make a detailed 

 examination, for I had not even a pocket lens with 

 me ; it was night, the camp was in an uproar, and 

 the half-frantic ladies had to be quieted, and moved 

 into another tent, which last was soon done, for, oddly 

 enough, the ladies' tent was the only one out of near a 

 dozen, into which the strange visitors had penetrated. 

 When matters were quiet, I went to pay a visit to 

 the insects, to make out what I could as touching 

 their species. To see hemiptera fully winged was 

 rather startling, as well as to find myriads of the 

 creatures appearing suddenly, miles away from any 

 house or village. I even took a small tin case, to 

 enclose specimens of these phenomenal bugs — useless 

 precaution, for, on entering the ladies' tent, there was 

 not a bug to be seen, all had quitted as mysteriously 

 as they came, only, leaving an odour which, as the 

 ladies complained, clung around their belongings for 

 many a day. Now were these the bugs usually 

 figured, and pretty well known to the public as well 

 as to microscopists ? Westwood admits that narra- 

 tives of winged bugs have been presented from time 

 to time, but he naturally hesitates over the matter. 

 My notion, of course, was that these malodorous 

 visitants belonged to a species nearly allied to the 

 domestic pest. It was strange that the swarm came 

 so suddenly, that all disappeared within a couple of 

 hours, and that the ladies' tent alone should have 

 been selected for the visitation. All this took place 

 some years ago ; but it was an episode in travel not 

 likely to be forgotten, and I am glad to contribute 

 the curious fact to the peculiarly appropriate pages of 

 Science-Gossip. — John Anthony, M.D., F.R. C.P. 



