HARD WICKE >S S CIENCE - G O SSI P. 



199 



The nut-bushes seemed loaded with the young nuts, 

 and the banks covered with a profusion of ferns ; 

 moreover the woods and meadows adjoining Leith 

 Hill seemed to present an unusually fresh appearance 

 for the time of year. In the evening we tried 

 sugaring in the Glory, a wood almost in Dorking, 

 leading on to the Holmwood ; it was, however, 

 no good, but on our way back, flying over the 

 corn, we could have taken as many as we 

 wanted of Palleus, besides the following insects by 

 dusking, Hectits, Ocellata, Sambncata, Thymiaria, 

 Albicillata, and Adustata, and flying round an old wall 

 we discovered Perla in plenty. 



The next day we again went to Ranmer, on our 

 way turning out swarms of Bipunctata from every 

 bank. We went down our old glade until we came 

 to a spot where the wood had only latterly been 

 cleared, and which abounded in thistles, teasles, 

 nettles, &c. We sat down for a minute or two to 

 rest, and found that we had discovered a regular 

 stronghold for Paphia. They came sailing over our 

 heads and settled on the tallest thistles, and then 

 off again to exercise their wings. This sort of 

 amusement we very much enjoyed ; we also took 

 several specimens of G. rhamni, and I had the good 

 fortune to take a battered specimen of Sibylla. We 

 then went through a gate into a sort of plantation, 

 with waste ground on the right ; every fresh step we took 

 turning out a lot of wild rabbits, which were on the 

 path enjoying themselves in the sunshine. On this 

 waste land was a great deal of ragwort, and on 

 inspecting the same we found several larva; of yacoba, 

 in fact on going a little further the ragwort heads 

 were quite tinted with their orange-coloured bodies. 

 Here we also saw a specimen of Aglaia, but we were 

 not able to get near him, a few T. querciis only 

 rewarding us. During the week we came several 

 times to the common, and always found some new 

 employment in walking along the glades, sometimes 

 under the shade of the oaks, sometimes penetrating 

 into the thick, and getting ourselves nicely pricked 

 with the brambles, listening to the song of the thrush 

 or blackbird, sometimes hearing the melancholy Coo ! 

 Coo ! of the ringdoves, or pausing to catch the distant 

 sound of Cuckoo ! Cuckoo ! All these delights are 

 only to be realized, they cannot be recorded. 



Our next visit was to Leith Hill, five miles distant 

 from Dorking, which was particularly enjoyable. 

 We walked to Cold Harbour through wooded lanes, 

 in which the trees sometimes met, forming a beau- 

 tifully-shaded walk, and being exceedingly pic- 

 turesque and romantic. Here we had some lunch, 

 and then commenced to ascend the hill. The path 

 is very rough, especially for a pony, which we saw 

 pluckily struggling up. The sides of the hill are 

 covered with a growth of bracken and furze, with an 

 occasional plantation of young fir-trees. On arriving 

 at the top and going up into the tower, a magnificent 

 view presents itself ; and it is said that on a clear 



day twelve counties are visible. We could distinctly 

 see without the aid of a glass the clump of trees at 

 Chanctonbury Ring, near Worthing. A few children 

 were scattered here and there gathering the whortle- 

 berries which grow on the hill, and from which they 

 say a very delicious jelly is made. Leith Hill is 

 993 ft. above the sea-level, and is the highest eleva- 

 tion in this part of the country. Like everything 

 else, this sort of thing was not to last for ever, as the 

 time was quickly passing on, and rapidly bringing 

 our holiday to a close ; so we resolved to have a 

 good turn at collecting for the two or three remaining 

 days. During this time Colias Edusa had been 

 coming out in plenty, and we captured as many as 

 we wanted, flying over the lucerne fields near the 

 railway-station, and amongst them were fortunate 

 enough to come across two Helice. I also took one 

 Ochroleicca settled on a thistle-head. We obtained 

 moreover Cardui and Rhamni in fair abundance, 

 besides turning out Semele on the dry hill-sides. If 

 we had only had good sugaring we should have had 

 a very successful holiday in an entomological point of 

 view, for novices like ourselves ; but we were far 

 from discontented, as the lovely weather and variety 

 of the country would require a very peculiar indi- 

 vidual not to appreciate. Our only regret was 

 that we had got through the time allotted to us ; 

 and it was with somewhat of chagrin that we said 

 adieu to the shady woods and open meadows, and 

 returned once more to our usual vocation, a great 

 deal the better both in mind and body for our fort- 

 night's holiday. A. J. R. 



LIVE TOADS IN LIMESTONE ROCKS. 



I HAVE lately been working geologically among 

 the culm-measure limestones of North Devon, and 

 there I heard the oft-repeated story of a live toad 

 having been disinterred from the solid rock. Un- 

 fortunately it was an event of the past, and I did not 

 see either the toad or the rock from which he came. 

 But I can testify to the good faith and general in- 

 telligence of my informant, who assures me that he 

 saw the toad, which had just been wantonly crushed 

 by the quarrymen, and that he also saw the mass 

 of rock which had been cleft, and the cavity in which 

 the toad had been. He further assures me that the 

 rock was perfectly solid, without flaw, joint, or per- 

 foration of any kind leading to the cavity. He has 

 no reason to think that the quarrymen intended to 

 deceive him, and he himself evidently intends faith- 

 fully to describe what occurred. 



At about the same time that this information was 

 given me, a similar case was reported to me from the 

 limestone near Totnes, in South Devon. In this 

 instance the quarryman who saw the toad taken from 

 the rock has been well-known to me for years as a 

 steady honest man of superior intelligence. But here 

 again I was not an eye-witness, and can only repeat 



