HARD WI CKES S CIENCE - G O SSI P. 



m: 



minutes flew away, 

 cruelty to other birds. - 



Kindness to 

 -A Subscriber. 



it, was I fear, 



Early Appearance of the Swift. — I was 

 agreeably surprised this morning (May ist) by the 

 premature spectacle of a swift (Cypselus apus) hawk- 

 ing over this town. This is the more singular, from 

 the fact that the other summer migrants have been 

 unusually late in their arrival in this neighbourhood. 

 The swallows appeared first on April 19th. I heard 

 the cuckoo for the first time on April 26th, and the 

 nightingale on the 28th.' — IV. R. Tate, Blandford. 



What is the best Mixture for "Sugar- 

 ing " ?— I have generally used coarse sugar, beer, 

 and rum. Can any of your readers suggest anything 

 more attractive for moths ? Is it ever successful 

 except in autumn ? — Walter IV. Walter, The Gables, 

 Stoke- under- Ha in . 



How to Destroy Ants.— Can any of your 

 readers inform me of the most successful mode of 

 destroying ants, so great a nuisance to many house- 

 holders? — George Pearce. 



"Dittany," &c. — Will some botanical expert 

 assist me to the exact name of the species of ' ' Dit- 

 tany" or " Dittander," and " Dictamiuni '? The 

 words frequently occur in the Elizabethan writers ; 

 but as their learned modern editors hold all natural 

 history in contempt, they merely copy from the old 

 dictionaries one after the other. The synonyms are 

 all confused ; as Floris says dittany is garden rue, 

 while Cotgrave gives garden ginger, peppermint, 

 ■&c. ; then Halliwell says, the first is cayenne 

 pepper, and another authority that there is no such 

 thing; and Bentham (Handbook) adds that Dittany 

 is " the Fraxinella of Gardens," and not a British spe- 

 cies, while Dictamiuni is always got over as a bastard 

 sort of Dittany. Also, what species is the Man- 

 drake, so common of mention by our early poets ? 

 Bentham has merely, " Mandragora, an exotic " ; 

 and your notice of the " Rolls MS." says "White 

 Bryony," a name not found in Bentham or Sowerby's 

 " Wild-Flowers." The glossaries, of course, afford 

 no help as to species. The English Dialect Society 

 have long promised us a book of "Plant names," 

 under the most competent editorship, but the long 

 ■delay makes us despair of it in any reasonable 

 time. — Henry F. Bailey. 



Aquarium Matters. — Your correspondent Ed- 

 ward Step seems to have been lucky in hitting upon 

 a mode of keeping aquaria without difficulty, and I 

 am glad his system gives him satisfaction ; but I 

 think, if his washing-tub arrangement is correct, 

 most of the readers of his letter, with any knowledge 

 •of the subject, will think that he is deluding himself 

 with the idea that he is keeping aquaria, whereas he 

 is only keeping a small ditch ; for, that water can be 

 kept clear and inodorous for any length of time in 

 .a tub in which there are all sorts of aquatic plants, 

 .animals, insects, &c, I much question ; and that such 

 fish as dace, roach, perch, trout, &c. will live many 

 days in such water, my experience makes me deny. 

 The tub, mud, and water arrangement may do very 

 well for Edward Step if he only wants to keep objects 

 for the microscope, but to fill a vessel with mud and 

 water, and to place in it animals, fish, snails, insects, 

 and plants, irrespective of quantity or selection, and 

 let them fight and devour each other until they have 

 •established what he calls the balance of power, is 

 about the queerest way of keeping aquaria I know of. 

 It is r.cting upon such injudicious advice that has 

 made aquaria-keeping so rare in private houses. 



People have been told that they have only to get 

 a vase or glass tank, fill it with water, put 

 some mud or sand at the bottom, place water, plants, 

 snails, fish, caddis-worms, reptiles, beetles, or any- 

 thing they find in a river, ditch, or pond in it, and 

 they will at once have a thing of beauty and a joy 

 for ever : they do so, and, after weeks of patient 

 waiting, they find they are keeping a mass of slimy 

 decaying plants, dead fish, &c, in water which the 

 wife or housekeeper declares is not only very odorous 

 but very dangerous. If fresh- water aquaria are to 

 be kept to be of any use or pleasure, they must 

 be so upon a judicious selection of situation, plants, 

 and live stock, which live stock are most accustomed 

 to still waters, and if your correspondent had had 

 a little more field and river experience before setting 

 up his tub, he would, perhaps, have discovered that 

 there are plants of the river, pond, ditch, and stream; 

 and fish, mollusks, &c, of the same, each having its 

 own habitat in which it will flourish. — Ben Plant, 

 The Crescent, Leicester. 



V. Antiopa. — I always thought that the dif- 

 ference between a foreign and a British specimen of 

 the above-named insect was, that the former had a 

 <rra?,w-coloured margin, and the latter had a white 

 one ; but during the last few months I have been 

 often told that there is no difference. I should be 

 much obliged if some of your entomological readers 

 would give me an answer. — W. R. Morse, Norwich. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now 

 publish Science-Gossip a week earlier than heretofore, we 

 cannot possibly insert in the following number any communi- 

 cations which reach us later than the 9th of the previous 

 month. 



Science-Gossip Botanical Exchange Club. — We shall be 

 glad to receive the names of all intending members. The sub- 

 scription (5s.) is intended to cover expenses of carriage of speci- 

 mens to and from those botanists who are engaged in naming 

 them, postage, printing, &c. The scientific labour is in every 

 instance gratuitously given. It has been thought, however, 

 that even this sum might be too great for some members, and 

 it is therefore decided that in the cases of bona Jide working 

 men, who may desire to become members, the fee shall be 

 reduced to 2s. 6d. We feel certain that all members will at 

 least desire that the Club shall be self-supporting. 



W. H. L. (Bristol). — Your letter contained nothing but some 

 granular red powder. 



C. Gould. — The "Trumpet," or "cup-moss" as it is also 

 called, is not a moss but a lichen, called Cceuomyce pixidata. 



X. — The spider's threads used for astronomical purposes are 

 those of the Common Garden Spider. 



J. W. — The specimen is that of the Common Primrose. Your 

 other flower is that of the Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetoseila) ; 

 and your fern the Maiden-hair Spleenwort (Aspleuium tricho- 

 7nanes). Get Mrs. Lankester's " Familiar Wild-Flowers," 

 with coloured plates, published by Hardwicke & Bogue, 192, 

 Piccadilly. 



W. A. Pearce (London). — The enclosed water-plant is a 

 pond-weed [Potamogettti crispus). 



T. H. Buffham. — The better plan would be to sow the 

 seeds. You would then with ease determine the species ; it 

 will probably prove to be a Galium. 



A. B. (Kelso, N.B.).— Thanks for your kind suggestions ; in 

 a few days we hope to send out the Rules of our S.-G. Bot. 

 Ex. Club ; we beg to acknowledge Callitriche hamulata. 



R. F. Z. (Salisbury). — It is difficult to state why the leaf is 

 discoloured, however we find the cells in the parenchyma are 

 devoid of chlorophyll, excepting on one side, then only in very 

 small quantity ; you will be able to prepare a good microscopic 

 object from the white part. 



E. H. (Stepney). — Procure "The Flora of Faversham, Kent" ; 

 it is a most interesting and readable volume. 



D. McD. (Edinburgh). — We have a very old proverb, well 

 known in many parts of England, "When the gorse is out 

 of bloom, kissing is out of favour." The latter part is varied, 

 as " kissing is not in fashion." 



