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HARD WI CKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



it. Could you or any of your numerous readers tell 

 me where I could get it ? — J. E. Lord, Rawtenstall. 



A Seal in a Trap. — A seal has recently been 

 engaged in exploring the interior of Suffolk. It 

 ventured up a dyke near Leistbn, in Suffolk, and was 

 shot whilst lying there. As one might have expected, 

 it was a young animal, weighing just thirty pounds, 

 and measuring forty-one inches in absolute length. 



Living Beetles as Female Ornaments. — 

 We hope the attempts to introduce living exotic beetles 

 as female ornaments will fail, if only in the interest of 

 the animals themselves. We read in a fashionable 

 newspaper of one which has been adorning a lady's 

 shoulders for six weeks, and subsisting for that period 

 without food ! The lady did not know (and probably 

 did not care) how long it had been without food 

 before she had it ; and as it came from central America, 

 it may have been some time. Are we so hard up for 

 ornaments that we must resort to these aboriginal 

 customs ? They are understandable in the case of 

 those African beauties who are obliged to dispense 

 with any other dress, but we have not quite retro- 

 graded to that condition. 



" Science Made Easy." — Under this title Mr. 

 Thomas Twining has issued a series of six familiar lec- 

 tures on all kinds of scientific subjects, but chiefly those 

 bearing on economic industries. They are issued 

 in shilling parts by Hardwicke & Bogue, 192, Picca- 

 dilly. The type is large, and pleasant to the reader's 

 eyes ; the illustrations of the very best and most 

 effective kind. Science teachers and others interested 

 in the spread of scientific education will find these 

 "Lectures " invaluable. We should like to see them 

 used in every Board School in the kingdom, and we 

 would strongly advise such of our readers as are con- 

 nected with those institutions, either as managers or 

 committee, at once to obtain copies of these lectures, 

 and endeavour by their means to lay that foundation 

 of scientific instruction which to England, more than 

 any other country, is absolutely indispensable. 



Popular Science. — The Popular Science Revieio 

 for October contains articles on "The Sand and 

 Brittle Stars," by Professor Martin Duncan ; " Coal 

 and Colliery Accidents," by Mr. C. De Ranee, 

 F. G. S. ; " The Radiolaria as an order of Protozoans," 

 by Dr. Wallich ; "The Eucalyptus globulus," by 

 M. Betham Edwards ; and on "The Extinct British 

 Wolf," by J. E. Harting, F.Z.S. 



Rare Birds. — From various paragraphs in last 

 month's Zoologist we gather that the Hoopoe has been 

 unusually abundant this year on the south and south- 

 western coasts. Observers mention it as being seen 

 at Chichester, in the Isle of Wight, and near the 

 Land's End. It has also been seen near Gloucester. 

 As one might expect, in most places the beautiful 

 stranger was shot! Perhaps in time natural selection 

 will endow rare birds with more sense than to approach 

 the English coasts. 



Provincial Natural History. — We have re- 

 ceived a copy of Part 4, vol. ii., of the " Transactions 

 of the Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society," 

 containing a most able address by the President, Mr. 

 F. W. Harmer, F.G. S., which deals chiefly with the 

 difficulties of the Darwinian theory, and is a capital 

 defence of it against some recent attacks. It also 

 contains papers on the Norwich crag, by Mr. Harmer ; 

 a list of plants found near Cromer, by Professor 

 Babington ; letters relating to the Natural History of 

 Norfolk, by Mrs. R. Lubbock and Professor A. 

 Newton ; on William Arderon, an old Norwich 

 Naturalist, by F. Kitton ; notes on Norfolk Mam- 

 malia, by F. Norgate ; Meteorological Notes, by 

 John Quinton, jun. ; Ornithological Notes, by H. 

 Stevenson ; and Heteroptera and Homoptera of 

 Norfolk, by J. Edwards. The "Report of Proceed- 

 ings" of the Norwich " Science Gossip Club " has 

 also been forwarded to us, containing an abstract of 

 all the papers read last winter, embracing a variety 

 of scientific subjects, all ably and intelligently 

 treated, together with the Address of the President, 

 Mr. S. C. Sothern. This is a very popular society; 

 and one which those young naturalists would do well 

 to correspond with who wish to found an unpretending 

 science club. Part 10 of vol. i. of the " Transactions 

 of the Watford Natural History Society " is also to 

 hand, containing index, list of members, Sec. 



The Kingfisher in London. — On Monday, 

 30th September, when crossing Westminster Bridge, 

 I was surprised to see a kingfisher fly across the 

 Thames from the Houses of Parliament towards St. 

 Thomas's Hospital, and then cross the bridge and 

 fly down the river. It seemed at a loss to know 

 where to settle. I see by the Standard it has been 

 noticed lately in the Serpentine. — J. L. Hawkins. 



The Bottle-head Whale. — On the 31st August 

 I wrote a letter to the editor of Chambers's Journal 

 respecting the capture of a cetacean. It happened 

 on the 22nd ult. near Nice. He advised me to for- 

 ward to you the drawing and description of the 

 same. As to external appearance, this cetacean had 

 a great likeness to the Bottle-head, of which a de- 

 scription is given in Chambers's " Encyclopcedia," 

 except that the surface of the body was all over 

 covered with narrow irregular white stripes ; but 

 when I went on the spot (three days after the capture) 

 they had almost disappeared. A more remarkable 

 difference between the two specimens lies in the skull,. 

 as you can judge from the adjoining drawing. Would 

 not this induce us to establish a new species ot Hyper- 

 obdon, contrary to the general opinion that there 

 exists one species only ? The total length of this 

 cetacean was 570 metres. It was driven ashore 

 alive, and was condemned to total destruction had I 

 not interfered. The skeleton has been so preserved 

 and brought to Nice. A similar, but not quite 

 identical specimen, was caught many years ago on 



