HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



ZOOLOGY. 



The Popular Science Review commences the 

 new year well. Besides a capital summary of scien- 

 tific progress, and many well-written and very fair 

 reviews, there are articles as follow: — "On some 

 Armour-plated Fishes," by II. Woodward, F.R.S. ; 

 "The Old and the New Chemistry," by M. M. 

 Pattison Muir, F.R.S.E. ; "The Geological An- 

 tiquity of Flowers," by J. E. Taylor, F.G.S. ; 

 "Cloud Outlines," by Rev. S. Barber, F.M.S. ; 

 "The Extinct British Wolf," by J. E. Harting, 

 F.L.S., &c. 



New Australian Marsupial. — Professor Owen 

 has recently described a new marsupial animal from 

 Australia, under the name of Plcopus nudicaudatus. 

 It is a small creature, allied to the Kangaroo-rats, 

 but distinguished by having the type number of 

 mammalian toes (five) on each of the hind feet. 



The Furniture Beetle. — F. Hughes cannot 

 do better than rub the furniture affected by this pest 

 with carbolic acid, and let the latter soak into the 

 wood. He will see no more of the beetles after 

 this treatment. — A. Smith. 



Glyciphagus palmifer. — I was staying for a few 

 days at Christinas in a country house at Austrey, in 

 Warwickshire, and one wet morning it struck me that 

 I would brush the wall of the beer-cellar, and have a 

 microscopical examination of the result. I was 

 rewarded by finding a considerable number of the 

 extraordinary mite Glyciphagus palmifer. — At the 

 time of the publication of Mr. Murray's late work on 

 theAptera (where this insect is figured) this remarkable 

 species does not appear to have been known as an 

 inhabitant of this country, although Mr. Murray 

 anticipates that it may be one. Possibly, therefore, 

 this may be the first instance of its capture here. — 

 Albert D. Michael. 



The Beaked Whale. — In the last number of 

 the Zoologist there is a capital description by Mr. 

 Henry Lee, F.L.S., of the Beaked Whale, Hyperoodon 

 rostratus, killed last September in the Menai 

 Straits, and afterwards publicly exhibited at Bangor. 

 This species is one of the Ziphioid Whales, an inter- 

 mediate group between theCachelotsand the Porpoises 

 and Dolphins ; and it is characterised by having its 

 teeth reduced to a single rudimentary pair at the tip 

 of the lower jaw. 



Mimicry in Insects. — At a recent meeting of 

 the Entomological Society of London, Prof. 

 Westwood gave an account of a remarkable Mantis 

 (Gongylus gonegyloides) which mimics a flower, the 

 deception being supposed to attract the insects upon 

 which the Mantis feeds, to their destruction. 



Notes on rare Lf.pidoptera, &c. — Referring 

 to Mr. Molony's note in October Science-Gossip, 



on the occurrence of C. Celerio on Aug. 29, Mr. 

 Stainton, in the "Manual," gives October as the 

 month for the perfect insect to appear, and Mr. 

 Molony is, therefore, right in his statement of its 

 being early in its appearance. It is a curious fact 

 that though Colias Edusa has positively swarmed on 

 the S.E. coast this summer, very few rare Helice have 

 been taken, and its congener Hyale has not been seen 

 there, but has occurred quite inland. Mr. S. Machin 

 took (last August) a very fine specimen of C. Hyale'vsx a 

 wood near Henley, Oxfordshire. Last yearl find among 

 my specimens of Heterocera a fine one of Acronycta 

 tridens, taken in Hillgrove-road, Avenue-road, N.W. 

 The occurrence of this species near London, I believe, 

 is unusual. September 13th, two specimens of Edusa 

 seen in a street leading to the Hampstead-road (viz., 

 Frederick-street), and I last saw it in Regent's Park, 

 on September 15th. Since then it seems to have 

 disappeared. It will be interesting to note if it ap- 

 pears again this year on any fine, mild day. — R. T. 

 Gibbons. 



Plants for Reptile Vivaria. — Probably the 

 only plants which would succeed in a Reptile case 

 are succulents, such as Sedums and small Semper- 

 virjums. These, I know, will flourish ; but my slight 

 experience tells me that it is better to consider plants 

 as entirely secondary objects in a vivarium of any 

 kind, and in Reptile cases to do without them alto- 

 gether. I experience but little difficulty in the winter 

 with respect to food. Mealworms can be obtained 

 from the miller's, and kept in barley-meal as long as 

 one pleases ; common earth-worms are also useful ; 

 while, in order to secure flies during the winter 

 months, I place fly-blown meat in a tightly-closed 

 box, having bran at the bottom two or three inches 

 deep. I place the box in an outhouse, and supply 

 fresh meat twice a week, till the worms become 

 chrysalides or gentles. Then I remove the box to 

 the coldest part of the house, till flies are required, 

 which I can obtain by taking a few of the gentles to 

 a warm room for a day or two, so as to hasten the 

 hatching process. Sometimes, however, the flies will 

 hatch out, in spite of all precautions, in which case 

 I keep the flies in the same box, and feed them with 

 fruit and sugar and water. — IV. T. H. C. Trome. 



Badly-blown Eggs and Preserving Animals. 

 — I should recommend " G. T. B." to try a solution 

 of carbonate of soda for dissolving out the hardened 

 contents of his egg-shells. He must take care to 

 wash the inside of the egg well with clean water 

 after using the carbonate of soda, and to prevent its 

 coming in contact with the outside of the shell. 

 "W. G." will find a chapter by Mr. Waterton on 

 preserving insects for the cabinet, in the 1839 edition 

 of his "Essays on Natural History," p. 72. Mr. 

 Waterton also gives instructions for preserving birds' 

 eggs, p. 65, but I should not recommend their adop- 

 tion. In a chapter at the end of his celebrated 



