HARD Wl CKE 'S S CIENCE -GOSS IP. 



23 



Preserving Animals. — I have just seen an 

 article mentioning a method of preparing insects, 

 fish, &c, for the cabinet, said to have been practised 

 many years by Mr. Waterton, of Walton Hall. It is 

 stated that the specimens are perfectly life-like, and 

 not liable to damage by moth, mite, mould, or grease. 

 I should be much obliged to any reader of SciENCE- 

 Gossip who would give me a few details of the pro- 

 cess, or refer me to some work containing the neces- 

 sary information. — IV. G. 



Stormy Petrel. — Dr. Keegan, in his article in 

 the September number of Scence-Gossip, states 

 that this bird is only found in the wake of vessels 

 during stormy weather. He then goes on to give a 

 very ingenious theory to account for this, or rather to 

 account for their following ships at all. In the North 

 and South Atlantic, where the trade winds prevail 

 and storms seldom or never occur, Mother Cary's 

 chickens are constantly seen, and frequently near the 

 equator, where possibly there is not a ripple on the 

 water at the time. I think it is hardly necessary, 

 when accounting for these or other birds following 

 vessels, to bring forward a theory of their supposed 

 love of the beautiful. The fact is, they know by ex- 

 perience that substances— to them very great delica- 

 cies — are continually thrown overboard, and they will 

 as readily follow a hideous collier as a magnificent 

 full-rigged ship. On the Thames, the Herring Gulls 

 have the good sense to prefer fishing-boats, however 

 old and dirt)', to the smartest yacht on the river, well 

 aware that from the former they will obtain the larger 

 amount of food. — y. S. G. 



The Veteran Eel. — I think that this subject will 

 be one of interest, not only to " E. L.," but also to 

 many aquarium-keepers, particularly so when we read 

 of the death of an eel at the age of twenty-two years. 

 I for one should be glad to know from Mr. Plant its 

 size when he first had it, and at its death. Two years 

 ago I had an eel which has grown three quarters of 

 an inch in my keeping, and is now nearly four inches 

 long. If this be the proportional rate of growth, we 

 shall easily see to what length it will have attained in 

 twenty-two years. I find that the best material to 

 feed eels upon is the common blood-worm, which 

 ought to be well washed before being put into the 

 aquarium ; otherwise some of the mud in which they 

 live will be thrown into the tank. — J. J. Newton. 



Cement for Marine Aquaria. — I can fully 

 endorse the opinion of Mr. Worster as to the value 

 of pitch as an aquarium cement, especially when used 

 in the manner which I shall presently describe. A 

 year and a half ago I rendered perfectly water-tight 

 an eight-gallon tank which had been for years thrown 

 aside as useless, and it has not leaked a drop since. 

 This last spring I built another, holding about eighteen 

 gallons, with an inch slate bottom, to which are 

 screwed through holes drilled in the slate, the two 

 ends of Spanish mahogany, well clamped to prevent 

 warping, and lined with stout roofing slates cut to 

 exact size. Into the mahogany ends the front and 

 back of plate glass are grooved, and the whole 

 finished with a strong mahogany capping rail all 

 round, which also serves the purpose of tying die 

 two ends well together. The glass is of course set in 

 red-lead putty, and after giving the latter time to 

 harden, I coated all the joints, the inner faces of two 

 wooden rails into which the bottom of the plate glass 

 was set, and in fact, every part which was likely to 

 leak, with a mixture of pitch and gutta-percha 

 (about quarter part of the latter). This mixture was 

 laid on pretty thick with a putty-knife when just hot 

 enough to stick. I then cut strips of sheet glass of 



suitable widths, and from two to four inches long, 

 heated them over a small gas stove, and pressed them 

 while hot into the pitch : of course, a pair of hot pliers 

 must be used to handle the glass with, or it will fly. 

 This plan I have found to answer admirably ; it 

 prevents the pitch from chipping or flaking off, and 

 the best of it is, a tank so treated is ready for use im- 

 mediately, as there is no effluvia of red-lead to be 

 got rid of, eveiy particle of poisonous cement being 

 covered up with pitch and glass. This tank has now 

 been stocked about four months, and is in eveiy 

 respect satisfactory. I may mention that one or two 

 of my friends and myself have long been in the habit 

 of using for rock- work a calcareous tufa found in this 

 neighbourhood. It can be obtained in good-sized 

 pieces, forms a good nidus for conferva, and is easily 

 worked out into caves and hollows suitable for 

 aquarium animals to shelter in, whilst at same" time 

 hard enough for the purpose. It also has the advan- 

 tage from its porous nature, of holding a good deal 

 of water, so that the space it occupies is not all lost. 

 — Edward Horsnaill, Dover. 



Aquariums. — Why should sticklebacks fight so 

 in aquariums, as "S" says, unless they cannot get 

 food properly ; for they live in shoals : at least, we 

 find numbers together, though at times they seem 

 very jealous of one another, and do not like intruders 

 into their peculiar domain ? — Edward Thomas Scott. 



Slugs and Foxgloves. — With reference to 

 Mr. J. W. Slater's observations respecting slugs and 

 snails feasting heartily on the leaves of the Foxglove, 

 I can testify to my fowls doing the same thing with 

 impunity — without any bad result to those who sub- 

 sequently eat their eggs. — G. F. Cooke. 



Unusual Appearance of the Martin. — This 

 week (December 4) this bird is busily flying about 

 the summit of Overton Hill, Cheshire : it selects a 

 sheltered wooden shed every evening for its roosting- 

 place. It must have been a late-hatched bird, and 

 thus left behind when its friends migrated. My 

 little boy, who takes a deep interest in ornithology, 

 states he believes it has been injured, and, therefore, 

 not able to undertake the wearisome journey to a 

 warmer climate. Mr. G. White would probably 

 have made much of this fact in his day. — R. 



White Hairbells. — On October 31st, I gathered 

 several beautiful albino specimens of the common 

 hairbell ( Campanula rotundifolid), by the side of the 

 Upper Shaftesbury road, about a mile and a half 

 from this town. I gathered several on the same spot 

 in October last year. It is noticeable that although 

 not the slightest trace of colour was discernible in the 

 flowers, yet, upon being dried, they assumed a bluish 

 tinge. The ordinary pigment was therefore not quite 

 absent, but was only precipitated in the process of 

 pressing. Is not //a/rbell, as above, the correct name 

 for this graceful little flower, on account of its fine 

 hair-like stem, and not harebell, which is quite un- 

 meaning ? — W. R. Tate, Blandford. 



Bournemouth Insects. — With reference to 

 Mr. Groser's remarks (p. 256, November number) 

 upon the larvae of E.jacobea, I may mention that I 

 have seen them here regularly year after year on the 

 Ragwort, but have often observed that they occur in 

 patches ; i.e. one patch of ragwort will swarm with 

 them, while the next will have none. I infer that this. 

 is due to the sluggish flight of the insect. Bourne- 

 mouth possesses an excellent list of local lepidoptera : : 

 I may instance, N. viridata, E. cribrnm, H. 

 dipsaceas, B. trifolii, L. littoralis, and others. — 

 E. B. Kemp-Welch. 



