HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE- G OS SIP. 



47 



Colias Edusa and its Varieties. — At the time 

 my few notes on this interesting butterfly were 

 written, which appeared in Science-Gossip, No. 

 156, p. 280, I considered myself fortunate in secur- 

 ing two of the white varieties, having collected 

 thirteen or fourteen years, and being obliged till this 

 year to put up with one tattered English and a foreign 

 representative. Since then, however, my brother 

 and I have captured forty-five Helice, forty of which 

 were taken in one field close to this town. The 

 specimens exhibit much variety in colour, some being 

 a rich cream and primrose, others a greenish white ; 

 in the size of the marginal spots there is also great 

 difference ; in some they are reduced to a minimum. 

 — Joseph Anderson, Junior, Chichester. 



Destroying Mites. — Your correspondent, 

 "A. F." will, I think, find no difficulty in ridding 

 his collection of mites, if he will adopt the following 

 plan, which I have never known to fail. It is simply 

 to dip a camel-hair brush into benzine, and let the 

 fluid fall upon the insect drop by drop until it is 

 completely saturated ; the little heaps of dust which 

 usually betokens the presence of mites underneath 

 the specimens can be wiped up with the brush. On 

 account of the extremely volatile nature of benzine, it 

 is not of much use as a preventive for this purpose ; 

 it is better to employ plenty of camphor, or cotton 

 wool soaked with a solution of carbolic acid. With 

 even ordinary care mites need never be permitted to 

 do any serious mischief, and no better piece of advice 

 for their prevention can be given than that by 

 Dr. Knaggs, to put into quarantine every insect we 

 receive. — Joseph Anderson, Junior, Chichester. 



Destroying Mites. — Many years since I left two 

 cabinets of lepidoptera in the country for some twelve 

 months, and on bringing them home found the bodies 

 ■of many of the specimens eaten, and the mites travel- 

 ling over the drawers in large numbers. I made a 

 saturated solution of camphor in rectified spirit of 

 wine, poured about a teaspoonful in one corner of 

 each drawer, and by tilting, caused the liquid to flow 

 round the angles ; I then closed the cabinets, and on 

 opening them a few days after found all life extinct. 

 If "A. F." has not a compartment in each drawer for 

 camphor, he should procure some muslin bags about two 

 inches by one inch and a quarter, put a lump of cam- 

 phor in each, and fix one in a corner of every drawer by 

 a pin at both ends, renewing the camphor as often as 

 it evaporates. By this means he may preserve his 

 collection from injury by mites for any period. — 

 D. S. 



The Sun and the Earth. — I have the following 

 figures before me of the distance between us and the 

 sun. Taking Guyot's mean diameter of the earth, 

 giving a radius of 3,938 miles — 

 Laplace gives a distance of miles = 92, 636,990 

 The Quarterly Review, July, 1875, 



note, p. 209 =91,000,000 



The Academy, 20th October, 1877, 



P- 389 =93,000,000 



The Mail, 19th December, 1877, 

 in a letter from Mr. Proctor 



{ Tupman =93,321,000 



( Newcomb =92,393,000 

 Mr. Proctor suggests that this measure is un- 

 trustworthy, as long as we get warmth and light, the 

 actual distance of the sun is of little consequence ; 

 but what are the precise sciences to do ? Newcomb 

 and Laplace are as near the mark as we can hope for ; 

 but how is it that the precise sciences reach their 

 conclusion as to the size of this world from the 

 Nebular hypothesis of Laplace, without adopting his 



measure of distance between the earth and the sun ? 

 I find the figures for Laplace in his translation by 

 J. Pond, p. 24, 1809. Will some one kindly tell us 

 which distance is right ? — //. P. M. 



Reasoning Power of Dogs. — Having witnessed 

 the following occurrence some years ago, I could not 

 help being struck with the great reasoning powers 



displayed by a dog. I lived in the town of N , 



and the back of our terrace had small gardens, sepa- 

 rated from each other by a short fence. One windy 

 morning the clothes were drying on the line, and the 

 dog (a fine retriever) was sporting itself on the grass, 

 when a sudden gust blew the "things" on the 

 ground ; the dog at once ran into the house, and by 

 sundry barks and pulls at her dress, induced the girl 

 to go into the garden, where she discovered the cause 

 of the dog's uneasiness. The next day being the 

 "week's wash" of our neighbour, the clothes were 

 airing in the garden, when our dog rushed into 

 the house, and presently brought out the servant, 

 who found that the prop had given way, and the 

 " wash " was all on the ground. — J. D. 



Superstitious Dislike to the Wren {Troglo- 

 dytes Europa-us). — This little bird, though generally 

 a favourite, is in some rural districts regarded by the 

 uneducated with the bitterest aversion, while its rela- 

 tive, the Redbreast, is considered sacred from all 

 molestation. So deeply seated is this hatred to the 

 Wren, that its nest is often ruthlessly torn away, 

 and both nest and its contents trampled under foot. 

 The only explanation which these good folks will 

 vouchsafe, is that the " wran" is the devil's bird, 

 and should therefore get no quarter. This strange 

 superstition has, I believe, had its origin in one of 

 the many myths which have been handed down from 

 generation to generation, and received as truth be- 

 yond question. The legendary account of how the 

 Robin got her red-breast is widely spread, both in 

 Ireland and England, and no one in this country will 

 molest the "poor robin," because his name is asso- 

 ciated with our Lord ; but the Wren has the mis- 

 fortune of being associated with the sacred history in 

 an unfavourable light : hence the odium which hangs 

 around him. In the south of Ireland it appears this 

 unkindly feeling does not exist, which is shown by a 

 curious practice which existed at no veiy distant date 

 in Cork. On St. Stephen's day a number of young 

 men, in holiday dress, paraded the city, carrying a 

 furze-bush, in which a wren was secured. As they 

 stopped before the house, one of their number recited 

 the following lines — 



" The wren, the wren, the king of all birds, 

 Was caught St. Stephen's day in the furze ; 

 Although he's little, his family's great, 

 Then pray, kind gentle folks, give him a trate." 



It is to be hoped that this cruel and unmeaning 

 dislike to a little bird of which poets have so sweetly 

 sung, and naturalists so interestingly written, may 



; ere long be swept away by advancing education. — 



' H. Allingham, Ballyshannon. 



Harebell ( Campanula rotundifolia). — The English 

 ^ name, we are told, was bestowed upon it because it 

 ' grows in the dry and hilly pastures frequented by the 

 hare, but we would suggest, at least, an alternative 

 derivation — or rather the plant itself suggests it — as 

 to whether it may not have originally been named 

 hair bell from the extremely light and delicate stems 

 from which the blossoms hang. Another plant, 

 equally light and delicate, is named the maiden-hair. 

 I have extracted the above from p. 78, part 10, of 

 " Familiar Wild Flowers," to which I refer Mr. Tate 

 for an interesting article on the plant. — T. 



