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HARD WICKE ' S S CIE NCE- G O SSIP. 



Poisonous Properties of the Yew. — Apropos 

 of Mr. Modlen's article on the poisonous properties of 

 the yew, the following extract, taken from the "Oxford 

 Times," may interest your readers : " Mr. Brown, of 

 the Bridge Inn, Richmond, has had a couple of horses 

 poisoned by eating yew, and in one case it has proved 

 fatal. The gentleman in question is the occupier of 

 Captain Smurthwaite's Temple Grounds, and on 

 Friday, it would appear that the animals had been 

 eating some yew from the trees on the Dark Walks. 

 One of the animals died very quickly, and the other 

 was suffering very much. A few years ago, several 

 bullocks belonging to Mr. R. Middleton were 

 poisoned in a similar way. " It must, one would think, 

 possess extremely poisonous qualities to act fatally on 

 such robust animals as horses, cattle, and bullocks. — 

 R. A. R. Bennett, Watton Manor Lodge, Oxford. 



Solanum Dulcamara. — Referring to the notes 

 in your last issue as to whether the fruit of this plant 

 is poisonous, from experiments conducted by myself I 

 can safely say it is. I have succeeded in obtaining 

 an alkaloid similar to that obtained from Belladonna, 

 namely atropine. It has the power of dilating the pupil 

 of the eyes, and appears to hold a position chemically 

 between atropine and physostigmatine. I hope before 

 long to give a thorough analysis of this interesting 

 alkaloid. I may add a larger percentage is obtainable 

 from the ripe berries than from the unripe. — 

 Fredrick Davis, Croydon. 



Tenacity of Life in Moths. — Mr. Finch's 

 remarks are very true, but he does not give the reason 

 of this tenacity of life. If we examine the anatomy of 

 the moths in question, we find that its nervous structure 

 is rather peculiar. The chief mass of ganglia is 

 situated between the second and third leg, about the 

 centre of the body. If this mass of ganglia be pierced 

 in such a manner as to separate it, we shall find that 

 real life is immediately extinct, although muscular 

 effort takes place for some time after, which is sup- 

 ported by the smaller masses of ganglia ; these, how- 

 ever, quickly become worn out, owing to their separa- 

 tion from the principal nerve-centre. — Frederick Davis, 

 Croydon. 



Bird Sounds. — The grasshopper warbler (Sali- 

 caria locustelld) is, I believe, the bird referred to by 

 C. C. S. Its sibilant note — like that of the night-jar 

 on a small scale — is heard mostly in the evening. It 

 is sometimes called the cricket bird, from the peculiar 

 chirp or rattle of its song. It is by no means a common 

 visitor. I have only heard two this summer. Your 

 correspondent " Mark Antony " is clearly in error, in 

 confusing the willow wren and the chiff-chaff. The 

 birds are totally distinct, and the songs of no two 

 birds could be more dissimilar. The former has a 

 plaintive song nearly two octaves in length, while the 

 latter has but two solitary notes, which it repeats in a 

 cheerful and lusty strain. — G. }V. Hall. 



Query as to Moss. — I should be glad if any of 

 the readers of Science-Gossip could tell me whether 

 the species of moss described below is already known 1 

 It is not mentioned in any work which I have access 

 to. Stem erect, unbranched ; leaves long, slightly 

 twisted and distantly toothed ; seta short, capsule 

 minute, rounded with mouth covered by a membrane, 

 as in hair-moss, no visible peristome ; the operculum 

 and calyptra unfortunately failed. Seta springing 

 from the midrib of the leaf, sometimes as many as 

 fourteen capsules on one spray. — G. C. Goody. 



Astynomus <edilis. — Of this longhorned beetle 

 I have three specimens, two of which, a male and a 



female, were taken at Elswick, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 

 on Sept. 2nd, 1S70, and Aug. 30th, 1871, respec- 

 tively. The third, a female, was taken at the 

 railway station, Cardiff, Wales, on Sept. 8th, 1871, 

 and forwarded to me living by a brother. One of the 

 females is seven lines long, exclusive of the ovipositor, 

 which projects fully a line beyond that — the extremity 

 of the elytra ; the other, which is larger and stouter 

 every way, has a length of nearly eight lines, the 

 ovipositor being projected one and a half line beyond 

 the elytra. The male, which is the smallest, is only 

 six lines long, but has much the longer antennae. 

 — Charles Robson, Elsivick, Nezvcastle-on-Tyne. 



Channel Islands. — Will some one inform me 

 what is known of the introduction of the Mesem- 

 bryanthemum into Jersey ? I have met with it in 

 two places — a sandy bank in the middle of St. 

 Aubyn's Bay, and the battery at La Moye Point, 

 growing freely in great abundance, and I have little 

 doubt it can also be found elsewhere. It was in 

 bloom (August) at the latter place, and the large 

 yellow flowers were very handsome. I do not find 

 it noticed as an introduced species in any of my 

 English botanical works. Another well-established 

 plant that I wish for information about is what is 

 locally called wild rhubarb, to be found abundantly 

 in the moist glen leading down to Moulin Huet Bay, 

 Guernsey. This plant has the general character of 

 giant rhubarb, with leaves as high as six feet, but 

 rough, and the flower or fruit resembles clusters of 

 prickly fingers, pinkish-green in colour. I have not 

 found any record of this either, and should like to 

 know its history. — FT. Fpps, Upper Tulse Hill. 



Triple Trees. — A curious combination is to be 

 seen in Asbridge Park, three trees having grown 

 together. The larger one is a beech, the other two 

 an oak and a thorn. Roughly speaking, I should 

 judge the diameter of the beech to be about eighteen 

 inches, and the oak and thorn about five inches each. 

 The junction is so close that they look as if all sprung 

 from the same root. — C. 



Toads in Rocks. — That toads have actually been 

 found alive after the lapse of many years in the heart 

 of solid rocks and internal cavities of trees is a fact, 

 the evidence of which is abundant and irrefutable. 

 Some' naturalists have thought that these imprisoned 

 toads must have been supplied with air through 

 some imperceptible hole, and also must have been 

 nourished by insects, which had managed to enter 

 through some fissure in their prison-house ; but 

 then, .again, cases have occurred when all possible 

 secret and surreptitious entrances of provender or 

 air in any shape whatsoever have been completely 

 obviated. What, then, are we to think about the 

 matter ? How can we account for this most wonder- 

 ful and interesting physiological phenomenon ? Dear 

 old Gilbert White firmly believed in the prolonged 

 abstemiousness of these toads; so did the French 

 Academy of Sciences ; so did Mr. Jessie. Frank 

 Buckland and the late Canon Kingsley, on the other 

 hand, did not believe in it, no more than many 

 people believed in the late Dr. Tanner, the American 

 gentleman who did something "big," in the way of 

 fasting for forty days. We find, however, that other 

 animals are quite capable of a similar abstemious- 

 ness. Thus, the house-bug can fast for three months 

 or more, etc. The fact is, that toads thoroughly 

 cleanse their food before they swallow it, and they 

 scratch their stomachs and twitch their toes so 

 violently after a full meal, as if they had had a 

 surfeit of it. All this combined with their well- 

 known Celtic nervous springiness, liveliness, and 



