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HARD Wl CKE'S SCIENCE - G OS SIP. 



who have stomachs like Ostriges, that can digest hard 

 yron."— W. H. 



Strange Friends. — In my parish, Lordington 

 (Sussex), dwells a pretty little chestnut pony, of ad- 

 vanced years, who has been turned out to end his days 

 exempt from toil; and in the same park is a white 

 goose who has gone round the world with the British 

 fleet. Between these dissimilar animals a friendship 

 has sprung up. When any stranger approaches the 

 goose, it waddles off cackling towards the pony, 

 apparently for protection. The goose was, doubtless, 

 a great pet with the sailors. Has any one observed 

 a like anserine attachment ?- F. IV. Arnold. 



Migrating Birds. — On dark nights from August 

 all through the autumn I often hear birds passing 

 over here. They make a constant whistling or piping 

 noise, and begin to come over as soon as it is dark. 

 They appear to fly in a westerly or south-westerly 

 direction. I have never seen any of them, because it 

 is only on dark nights that we hear these birds. Some- 

 times they seem quite close, just above the house-tops. 

 At the end of August in 1875, several letters appeared 

 in the Times about this migration. One correspondent 

 said, "Soon after eight o'clock on the evening of 

 Saturday, the 28th instant, my attention was drawn 

 to a strange noise over my house. It was raining in 

 torrents at the time, but I could distinctly hear, above 

 the .pelting of the storm, shrill cries, somewhat 

 resembling the note of the Sandpiper, and the flapping 

 of innumerable wings. This continued with scarcely 

 any intermission for hours, at any rate until after 

 twelve o'clock." This was eighteen or twenty miles 

 from Maidstone. Another correspondent said, "These 

 birds are frequently heard at Dover, and generally on 

 ' dirty nights.'" I heard them here, for the first time 

 this year, on Friday, the 2nd of August, and again 

 on the following Sunday night, about ten o'clock. 

 Are they Curlews and Sandpipers, and how far does 

 their migration extend ? Perhaps some of your 

 readers could inform me. — Henry Lamb, Maidstone. 



Colours of Dried Primroses. — A lady friend 

 has been very successful in preserving the colour of 

 the petals of Primula vulgaris by adopting the 

 following simple method. As soon as possible after 

 being gathered, the plant must be killed by washing 

 the roots for two or three minutes in boiling water, 

 then dried with a soft cloth, and immediately trans- 

 ferred to the drying papers, which should be well 

 warmed at the fire, and changed frequently, until 

 the plant is perfectly dry. The corollas of a number 

 of specimens she has treated in this way have preserved 

 all their original beauty of colour, and the leaves have 

 also retained their natural appearance. Some I my- 

 self dried, without first subjecting them to the hot 

 water treatment, lost their natural colour, and changed 

 to the bright green, which has annoyed so many 

 collectors. I have been very successful in drying 

 Orchids, by following the instructions given on page 

 88 of Science-Gossip for 1873, where it is recommen- 

 ded to clip the root and leaves in boiling water for a 

 few minutes previously to putting the specimens in the 

 press. — R. Standen, Goosnargh, Lancashire. 



Geology of North Devon. — If " W. Downes " 

 would kindly give a few particulars as to his " finds " 

 in this district, and a few hints as to localities, he 

 would greatly oblige a native, who is now an occasional 

 visitor, and would be glad to make the most of his 

 time at his next visit. — IV. G. 



Sea Anemones. — I should be obliged if "C. A. 

 Crimes" would kindly state in the next number of 



Science-Gossip how he feeds the baby sea anemones, 

 as I find it an utter impossibility to make them take 

 the food. After their birth does he leave them where 

 they are or move them ? I should also like to know 

 whether he has any peculiar treatment for his B anodes 

 gemmacea, as I have been most unfortunate with mine. 

 Within a few days of placing them in the tank they 

 have a decomposed appearance, the colour fades, and 

 they are covered with a sort of slime. Sagartia venusta 

 I have succeeded very well with, and also Sagartia 

 bellis, but the " gem " invariably dies directly. We 

 once kept a Tealia crassicornis for three years, but 

 this also seems a very difficult one to manage. 

 — C. E. R. 



Protection from Forest Flies. — Having 

 received personal benefit from the remarks in Science- 

 Gossip on the Harvest Bug, I send a perfectly trust- 

 worthy recipe for the protection of horses from the 

 Forest Fly. Smear the face and flanks well with 

 parafin oil. I have been here nearly three weeks with 

 my two young ponies ; they are not foresters, and one 

 cannot stand the fly at all without the oil. — Catherine 

 Middleton, Z yndh nrst. 



Birds' Eggs in Wrong Nests. — The communi- 

 cations of Messrs. C. H. Sharp and A. F. Griffith on 

 the above subject brings to my recollection an incident 

 which happened in the north of Aberdeenshire, in 

 1865. When walking along the banks of a stream 

 which ran through a wood, my cousin disturbed a wild 

 cluck sitting on, and attempting to cover, eleven wild, 

 ducks and thirteen pheasant's eggs, which were all 

 crowded together in the same nest. — A. M., M'c A., 

 Stoke-on-Trent. 



Wild and Tame Ducks. — A pair of wild ducks 

 located themselves on a moat surrounding the house 

 of a friend of mine last October. During the severe 

 weather they came to the feeding-place of the domes- 

 tic ones, but otherwise kept themselves separate. In 

 the spring, a tame duck hatched a brood of young 

 ones near the haunt of the wild ducks, which now it 

 is supposed were destroyed by them. Soon after- 

 wards, the tame duck, whose brood was lost, was 

 caught in the act of drowning the progeny of the 

 wild duck, and succeeded in killing five of them before 

 being discovered. She was at once sent off to another 

 farm. In the same moat, several moor hens have 

 reared their young for years, taking their departure 

 regularly every winter. — J. Wiggin. 



Barbots. — I enclose the following cutting from a 

 newspaper, and shall be glad if any of the readers of 

 Science-Gossip can tell me more of these insects (?). 

 The name is quite new to me. Are they only to be 

 found there ? Galignani states that a terrible accident 

 has just taken place at Biarritz. Miss Gordon, who 

 had passed the winter in Paris, was drowned while 

 out on an excursion. She attempted, without a guide, 

 to go along the cliffs far beyond the point marked by 

 the authorities as the limit for the public to go safely. 

 She reached a place known as the Falaise de la Mort, 

 and in stooping to pick a flower, her foot slipped, 

 and she was precipitated into a hole known as the 

 Barbots, a spot said to have this peculiarity, that at 

 the end of forty-eight hours nothing more than the 

 skeleton remains of any beings which fall into it. It 

 contains millions of small insects which devour the 

 body, and which are called by the inhabitants of the 

 district barbots, and are by them held in especial 

 horror. The Duke de Frias met his death under- 

 similar circumstances a few years ago. 



