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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Natural History Notes from Ireland. — J 

 A hen was found in a loft, the flesh eaten and picked 

 off, leaving as perfect a skeleton as could be desired. 

 The feathers were lying about. Rats or mice would ! 

 have broken the bones. What animal could have 

 done it ? A young black rat was killed at Port- 

 more, Antrim, October, 1877. The gamekeeper j 



of Mr. Lowry, Pomeroy House, told me, within the 

 last two years he has caught, in traps set for rabbits, 

 two wild cats. I questioned him respecting them, 

 in case he might have mistaken them for the domestic 

 cat gone wild, but he stated they were perfectly dis- 

 tinct, having bushy tails like a fox, and dark grey in 

 colour. He could hardly be mistaken, as he is con- 

 stantly trapping the domestic cat. The water-vole 



is found near Pomeroy ; the squirrel is also to be 

 found in the neighbouring woods ; the water- 

 ousel frequents the streams. — Sam. Arthur Breiian, 

 clerk. 



Rare Birds. — It is with great regret that I read 

 of the slaughter of rare birds, recorded from time to 

 time in Science Gossip and other papers. I am 

 sure no real lover of birds, or true naturalist, would 

 so ruthlessly destroy birds, as they are destroyed, for 

 the sake of their skins, whenever they come to our 

 island. Hardly a season passes but that beautiful 

 bird the Hoopo appears in Berkshire, and I believe 

 it would breed, if it were not so eagerly sought after, 

 and shot.— J. L. H. 



The Cuckoo and Water- Wagtail. — Last 

 August, before 9 a.m., a young cuckoo was observed 

 perched on a croquet-hoop on the lawn, in front of 

 our house, full in view of spectators from the win- 

 dows. A water- wagtail was busily engaged in feeding 

 it, flying on the hoop each time it fed its strange 

 foster-child. The cuckoo remained for half an hour 

 on the hoop, then flew on to a small rockery near, 

 and from thence to an adjacent railing, the wagtail 

 following it to both places, and continuing to feed it. 

 Both birds afterwards disappeared from sight in a 

 large sycamore-tree. The feeding-time lasted nearly 

 an hour, the wagtail often going some distance in 

 search of food for the cuckoo. Our gardener told us 

 he had noticed before the same birds thus occupied 

 in the early morning, and had also seen a young 

 cuckoo being fed by robins in a similar manner. — ■ 

 C. M. Baynes. 



A Mysterious Gift. — I remember reading in an 

 old book (which also gave an account of the first 

 ascent of the Peter Bolte Mountain, near Port Louis) 

 an account of a French Creole in Mauritius, who 

 possessed the marvellous faculty of discerning objects 

 far out at sea long before they were visible to the ordi- 

 nary human eye. His powers were repeatedly tested, 

 and he was officially employed by the governor or mer- 

 chants there to announce coming ships. He foretold 

 the arrival of the British fleet, which came to take 

 possession of the island, several days before it hove 

 in sight. He stated that he saw these objects upside 

 down (refracted?) on the horizon, and professed to teach 

 his art ; but the attempt only proved that he was 

 possessed of some exceptional natural gift, perhaps 

 akin to what the Scotch call "second sight." I 

 was under the impression that the foregoing account 

 was to be found in one of the volumes of Charles 

 Knight's "Useful Knowledge Society's Series"; 

 but as I have failed to discover it there, perhaps some 

 of your older readers can help me. My present pur- 

 pose is to point out a striking confirmation of the 

 above narrative, which I have recently met with on 

 p. 185 of Boddain-Wheltham's "Pearl of the 

 Pacific." In narrating a visit to the Samoan Archi- 



pelago, or Navigators' Islands, he alludes to "a man 

 now living iu Tutuila, I believe," he says, " but who 

 formerly resided near Apia, who possessed the extra- 

 ordinary power of seeing in the clouds, or in the sky, 

 vessels that were bound for the island. Credible wit- 

 nesses told me," he continues, "that he had fre- 

 quently foretold the approach of ships days and days 

 before their arrival, and had accurately described 

 them, their rigging, their build, and the weather they 

 were having— sometimes storm and sometimes calm ; 

 reference to the ships' logs on their arrival in port 

 confirming the truth of his statements. He himself 

 attributed his remarkable visions to the state of the 

 atmosphere — a sort of mirage — at a certain point 

 where he took his observations, but I never heard of 

 'anybody else witnessing similar phenomena." I 

 thought the concurrence of these totally distinct and 

 independent accounts worthy of your attention, as 

 they may tend to establish the general fact of the 

 existence of a sort of "double sight " in certain gifted 

 individuals, and thus refer the mysterious power of 

 the ' ' seer " to a physical rather than a spiritual 

 source. — F. A. Allen. 



A Spider's Instinct. — Dr. J. Lawrence-Hamil- 

 ton writes from 34, Gloucester-terrace, Hyde-park : — 

 "The following incident, which I witnessed, may 

 possibly interest some of your readers : — A boy re- 

 moved a small spider to place it in the centre of a big 

 spider's web which was hung among foliage, and 

 distant some four feet from the ground. The larger 

 animal soon rushed from its hiding-place, under a 

 leaf, to attack the intruder, who ran up one of the 

 ascending lines by which the web was secured. The 

 big insect gained rapidly upon its desired prey, the 

 smaller creature (spiders are cannibals, notably the 

 larger females, who are given to devour their smaller 

 male lovers). When the little spider was barely an 

 inch in advance of its pursuer, the small spider cut 

 with one of its posterior legs the line behind itself, so 

 that the stronger insect fell to the ground, thus 

 affording time and opportunity for the diminutive 

 spider to escape along the ascending rope of the web. 

 This is not the only fact which seems to indicate that 

 a spider's instinct may almost equal reason." 



How to exterminate Mites. — In answer to 

 "M. R. D.," in the April number of Science- 

 Gossip, as to how to exterminate small mites, I 

 have myself found Keating's Insect Powder quite 

 successful, after having tried other remedies in vain. 

 ■ — Alfred Patersoii. 



Reasoning Power of Dogs. — I should like to 

 call attention to what I think to be a remarkable 

 instance of reasoning power in a dog (a setter, if I re- 

 member rightly). The yard in which this dog is kept 

 at large is separated from a very narrow lane by a 

 wall about five feet in height, from the top of which 

 our four-footed friend is wont to study humanity. On 

 an interesting occasion he loves to leap into the lane ; 

 but, when once down, he is unable to jump up again 

 without a long run, and this is apparently rendered 

 impossible by the narrowness of the roadway. The 

 dog, on wishing to re-ascend, begins to trot round 

 and round in the centre of the path, gradually increas- 

 ing his pace and the diameter of the circle in which 

 he moves, until he is galloping round at full speed, 

 taking a good "kick off" from the stone at each 

 revolution as soon as his orbit extends from wall to 

 wall. When he feels that he has acquired sufficient 

 momentum, he bounds on the top of the wall with 

 ease. I hold that the above performance involves a 

 process of reasoning. Instances of dogs pulling bell- 

 ropes and turning door-handles may result from mere 



