HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



2 79 



Chingford Station, This season it has been repeatedly 

 searched for in vain by some zealous lepidopterists. 

 The same insects have been almost, if not quite 

 extirpated at Bogncr, where they were formerly 

 rather common. At Epping Forest the disappearance 

 of thickets is due in part to the draining operations of 

 the conservators, and to the removal of the under- 

 growth, which admits the wind into nooks formerly 

 well sheltered and warm. But elsewhere we must trace 

 the mischief to the number of boy-collectors who have 

 been induced to try their hands at butterfly and moth 

 catching, and who get hold of a number of specimens, 

 so then after a season or two give up the pursuit. We 

 cannot have too many observant naturalists, but we 

 have already far too many mere collectors.— J. IV. 

 Slater. 



British Slugs.— I only saw the September 

 number of Science-Gossip a few days ago, and 

 wish now to fill in a slight gap in Mr. Williams's 

 paper (Science-Gossip, No. 261, p. 202) anent 

 Testacclla haliotidca, var. Campanyonii, Drup. T. 

 Campanyonii was described in Dupuy's " Hist. Nat. 

 France " (1847), p. 47 (t. i., f. 3), from a single shell 

 sent by Campanyo. Mr. Williams is, however, I 

 suspect, unaware of Dr. Campanyo's ".Hist. Nat. 

 des Pyrenees Orientales," published in 1S63, which 

 contains a full description of the animal from a 

 specimen (the fourth) taken at S. Martin-du-Canigou 

 in 1854. It is described as, "d'un vert jaspe de 

 points irreguliers noiratres qui deviennent plus 

 nombreux en s'eloignant du centre, finissant par se 

 reunir et former sur les cotes du corps des lignes 

 longitudinales noires interrompues ..." Foot, 

 bright yellow ; upper tentacles, greenish. Campanyo 

 rejects Moquin-Tandon's reference to T. haliotidca. 

 Certainly, in point of size, the variety must be 

 abnormal, the dimensions given for the shell being 

 17 mm. X 8 mm. ; the size of the animal is not 

 mentioned. I think the above is interesting as an 

 annexe to Mr. Williams's paper. — Brockton Tomlin, 

 Pembroke College, Cambridge. 



Another Use of Bees' Stings. — In connection 

 with Mr. Williams's interesting paragraph under the 

 above heading, in the October number of Science- 

 Gossip, it is interesting to compare the sting of bees 

 {apis) with those of wasps (vespa). The former 

 having to perform the double function of weapon and 

 inoculator of honey-cells, loses somewhat of its 

 usefulness for the former in its adaptation for the 

 latter purpose. In highly magnified representations 

 of a bee's sting, and the point of the finest cambric 

 needle, Dr. Dallinger recently showed that the 

 needle would not bear comparison with the sting 

 for exquisite smoothness, taper, and fineness. 

 Probably this extreme fineness is to enable the 

 sting to pass through the covering of the honey 

 cells without making a hole sufficiently large for the 

 passage of air to the honey. The sting of the wasp, 



on the contrary, being, so far as we know, only for 

 use as a weapon, does not require modification for 

 any secondary purpose, and its Designer is therefore 

 enabled to expend the utmost of His ingenuity on 

 its construction. When examined under the micro- 

 scope, it is seen that instead of the smooth, finely- 

 tapered sting of the bee, the wasp is armed with a 

 most fearful weapon, provided with alternate barbs, 

 affixed in such a manner that, although the sting can 

 be driven into a foe or victim without the barbs 

 offering any resistance to its entry, they come into 

 operation immediately the sting commences to be 

 withdrawn (somewhat in a similar manner to the 

 movable barb of a harpoon), whilst their alternate 

 situation provides that immediately the upper barb 

 ceases to act, a lower one comes into operation. 

 Such a design as this would tear the covering of a 

 cell all to pieces, although it renders the sting of the 

 wasp an infinitely superior weapon to that of the bee. 

 — Thomas Winder, Sheffield. 



BOTANY. 



Fertilisation of Maize. — Can any reader tell 

 me how the seed of the maize (Indian corn) is ferti- 

 lised ? The male flower at the top of the stalk is so 

 far removed from the cob which contains the seed, 

 and the latter is enveloped in a whorl of leaves, that 

 I cannot imagine how the pollen reaches its destina- 

 tion. Have the long thread-like hairs which project 

 from the end of the cob, any part in the business ? I 

 fancied that perhaps the pollen might fall upon these, 

 and ascend by a kind of capillary attraction to reach 

 the seed, or is the function assisted by insects ? Any 

 information will be gratefully received. — R. IT. Nisbct 

 Brown. 



Channel Islands. — The plant about which Mr. 

 Epps inquires on p. 262, known in Guernsey under 

 the name of wild rhubarb, is Gnmicra scabra, a sub- 

 tropical species belonging to the same natural order 

 as the common ivy. It is remarkable for the enor- 

 mous size of its leaves, which often attain a diameter 

 of seven or eight feet. It has become thoroughly 

 naturalised in various places in the island. I knew 

 it in the beautiful valley of Moulin Huet quite twenty 

 years ago, but how long before that it was planted I 

 cannot say. A number of other exotic plants may 

 here and there be found, growing apparently wild in 

 the Channel Islands, originally escapes from gardens 

 probably, or else purposely planted out in suitable 

 spots. The mild climate suits them, and they thrive. 

 The mesembryanthemum grows not only in the 

 Channel Islands, but also about the Land's End in a 

 semi-wild state, and blossoms freely. — E. D. Mar- 

 quand, Alphington, Exeter. 



