HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



23 



*' You bad boy ! " and positively spit at the intruder. 

 At dinner-time lie would call incessantly for " Pota- 

 to ! " and never rest until he was supplied ; but he 

 never made use of the word at any other time. If he 

 was scolded, he immediately replied, "You bad 

 boy ! " and sometimes, " Shut up ! " One morning 

 one of my canaries got out, and as I was in a hurry, 

 I did not stay to catch it, but left the door of its cage 

 open for it to return, thinking it would probably 

 do so when hungry. On coming in again, however, 

 in a couple of hours' time, I could not find the bird 

 anywhere, and thought some one had let it fly away, 

 but on looking about, I noticed some feathers on the 

 table, and on further examination discovered the 

 mangled remains of the poor bird at the bottom of 

 the cockatoo's cage. "Paul" himself was sitting 

 with ruffled feathers on his perch, and instead of 

 greeting me with "How are you?" spoken in a 

 friendly manner, as he usually did, kept on muttering 

 to himself, " Oh you bad Polly ! Oh you bad bird !" 

 as if conscious of the enormity he had committed. 

 The poor canary must have passed through the bars 

 of his cage to look for food, been caught by the 

 cockatoo and killed ; and the murderer seemed per- 

 fectly aware that he had done what he had no busi- 

 ness to do. I could give many more instances of this 

 bird's intelligence, but must not take up too much 

 valuable space. " Paul " was thirteen years old 

 when I presented him last year to the Zoological 

 Gardens, where he is now one of the inmates of the 

 Parrot House, and apparently in the best of health. — 

 W. T. Greene, M.D., Peckham Rye. 



Tenacity of Life in Freshwater Molluscs. 

 — It has long been a matter of wonder to me that 

 freshwater molluscs should continue to exist in ponds 

 and ditches which are repeatedly dried up during the 

 summer months. An accident to some young speci- 

 mens of Limnaa stagnalis, which I was rearing from 

 the egg, has however thrown some light upon this 

 subject, and which I think may be interesting to some 

 of your readers. One of the earthenware pans in 

 which they were kept was so placed upon a shelf 

 that they were overlooked, and as no fresh water was 

 supplied to them, the small quantity in the vessel 

 was soon evaporated. How long the water had dis- 

 appeared, I am not prepared to say, but it is perhaps 

 two months since they were discovered in this dried- 

 up state. They have been left during this time, still 

 dry, in a cold greenhouse, until a week ago, when it 

 occurred to me that there might still be some life 

 in the apparently dead and dried up little shells. I 

 accordingly filled the pan with water, and allowed 

 it to stand for a few days, and now find that a great 

 number (not all by any means) have swelled out 

 and are, to all appearances, as well as before, but, 

 as unfortunately I did not retain those which were 

 kept in their normal condition, I cannot compare 

 them and] say how m.uch they have been retarded in 

 their growth. I may add that the majority of those 

 which have been revived are the smallest and less 

 developed, while those which were older and larger 

 show no signs at present of returning life and activity. 

 — yohn L. Hawkins, Reading. 



Yellow Archangel {Latninm Galcobdolon). — 

 May I beg to inform Mr. Le Tall that the above 

 plant grows on the banks of the Eden, a few miles 

 from here, thus extending the northern limit assigned 

 by him. — IV. Dtukworth, Stanwix. 



Errata. — Page 277, " Porbeagle," for Blainnon 

 read Blairmorc. The second one caught was a female 

 also, and was sent to the Hunterian Museum. — 

 y. M. Campbell, Kelvingrove, Glasgoiv. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



AND Exchangers. — As we now 

 a week earlier than heretofore, we 



To Correspondents 

 publish Science-Gossip 



cannot possibly insert in the following number any communica 

 tions which reach us later than the 8th of the previous month. 



To Anonymous Querists.— We receive so many queries 

 which do not bear the writers' names that we are forced to 

 adhere to our rule of not noticing them. 



To Dealers and others. — We are always glad to treat 

 dealers in natural history objects on the same fair and general 

 ground as amateurs, in so far as the " exchanges " offered are fair 

 exchanges. But it is evident that, when their offers are simply 

 disguised advertisements, for the purpose of evading the cost of 

 advertising, an advantage is taken oi our gratuitous insertion of 

 "exchanges" which cannot be tolerated. 



William Hilton. — There was no trace of an insect in your 

 pasteboard box, which had got severely crushed in the transit. 



E. C. Ames. — If you will look over our "List of Assisting 

 Naturalists " for the past year you will find the names and 

 addresses of several gentlemen who have offered to name dia- 

 toms, &c., if sent to them. 



J. L. (Ceylon).— Send us your notes on birds; also the 

 vignettes of the same you spoke of in your letter. 



C. H. Wood. — See chapter in "Notes on Collecting and 

 Preserving Natural History Objects," on " Bones," for the 

 information you require. 



W. G. WooLLCOMBE. — Perhaps the following list of books 

 may be of use: Biology — Dr. Nicholson's "Introduction," 

 published by Blackwoorf, ss., is a capital introductory book; 

 " Zoology," I2J., by the same author, is one of the best advanced 

 text-books in the English language. Vegetable Anatomy and 

 Physiology — Thome's " Structural Botany," 6s., translated from 

 the German by Bennett, and published by Longmans ; also 

 Prantl and Vine's "Text-book of Botany," published by 

 Sonnenschein & Allen. Lepidoptera — Nothing can compare 

 with Newman's " Butterflies and Moths." Colcoptera — 'Rye's 

 " British Beetles," los. dd., published by L. Reeve, coloured 

 plates. Arac/inida — Staveley's "British Spiders," lo^. 6d. 

 Laud and Fresh-water Shells — Rimmer's, published by David 

 Bogue, loJ. kd., is all that can be desired for an amateur. 

 Microscopical Work — " How to Work with the Microscope," 

 by Dr. Lionel Beale, lis., Churchill; Davis "On Mounting," 

 published by Bogue, 2J. 6d. ; " A Thousand Objects for the 

 Microscope," xs., by Dr. M. C. Cooke, published by Warne, 

 are all excellent.— W. Barrett Roue', M.B., M.S., Bristol. 



Edwin E. Turner.— Your fungus is the "candle snuff 

 fungus," so called because of its general resemblance to the 

 blown out or snuffed wick of a tallow candle. Its botanical 

 name is Xylaria liypoxylon. 



W. H. SvMONDS. — Get Nicholson's "Elementary Zoology," 

 3rd edit., published by Blackwood. For Entomology you can- 

 not do better than procure Staveley's " Insects," or Wood's 

 "Insects at Home"; afterwards get Newman's "Butterflies 

 and Moths." 



J. A., JUN., and Others. — We are commencing the new 

 year by publishing Science-Gossip on the 22nd of the month, 

 and hope to do so throughout the year. Hence much of the 

 correspondence received this month necessarily stands over. 

 Exchanges should be received at our office not later than the 

 8th to secure insertion. 



J. T. A. — The substance you enclosed is a portion of one of 

 the round nodules of iron pyrites very abundant in some parts 

 in the Kentish chalk. From their radiated appearance when 

 broken they are sometimes mistaken for aerolites. 



W. H. Shrubsole. — Your specimens are as follows: — 

 I. Caprella linearis (a not uncommon crustacean at the mouths 

 of estuaries). 2. A species of Squilla. 3. Unciota irrorata. 

 4. Fallene pyginaa. 



R. Wood. — The honeycombed specimens you sent us are the 

 egg-cases of a species of water-mite, probably of Hydrachna 

 globulus. 



J. A. C. (Rugby). — ^Your shells were not well packed, and 

 they reached us in quite a smashed up and unrecognisable 

 state. 



J. F. R. AND A. A. — Your communications reached us too late 

 for notice in the present number. 



L. S. G. — ^Your specimens are as follows : — r. Cellularia. 

 reptans. 2. Farcimia sallcornia. 3. Valkcria hnbricata. 

 Londsborough's book would be a capital guide for you. 



R. T. R. inquires whether Java sparrows ever breed in this 

 country under ordinary conditions, and whether in winter, or, 

 like our native birds, in spring and summer. Perhaps some of 

 our bird-fanciers will answer. 



