HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE- G OSS IF. 



65 



Finishing Micro Slides, &c. — Apropos of the 

 many letters on this subject, I should like to ask if 

 any of your numerous readers have had any experi- 

 ence with " gold size " as an anti-running in cement ? 

 I myself have been in the habit of doing my own 

 mounting for the last thirteen years, and have had 

 a little experience, and lately have found that a light 

 ring of gold size run round on the top of the ring of 

 zinc white (of course the zinc white must be fully 

 set) and allowed to get tacky, and cover glass, care- 

 fully put on, will be found to answer well. — £. H. 

 Wagstaff, Birmingham. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Great Grey Shrike {Laniics excubitor) in North 

 Lancashire. — A fine specimen of this bird was shot 

 by Mr. Miles Berry, of Fishwick, early in the month 

 of November last. It had been noticed as frequenting 

 certain fields for some days before being shot, 

 associating with the flocks of starlings and fieldfares. 

 This species is a very rare visitor with us, and this is 

 the first instance of its capture that has come under 

 my notice. This specimen is to be added to the 

 collection of Mrs. Knovvles. Mr. Gillett, a well- 

 known Preston taxidermist, who has stuffed the bird, 

 tells me he has only known it to ojcur once during 

 his long experience, and that is thirty years ago. — 

 R. Standen, Goosnargh, Preston, Lanes, 



Mr. Alfred Russell W.vllace. — Naturalists 

 throughout Great Britain will be delighted to hear 

 that her Majesty has granted a pension of ,^200 per 

 annum to this distinguished naturalist and fascinating 

 writer. 



North Staffordshire Naturalists' Field 

 Club.— At a recent meeting of this well-known 

 society, papers were read as follows : by Dr. 

 M'Aldowie on "The Natural Sciences in Relation 

 to Beauty and Sublimity," and by Mr. F. M. Sexton, 

 F.C.S., on " The Food of Plants." 



Burnet Moth {Anthrocera minos). — Your corre- 

 spondent, Mr. W. Locock, speaks of this species 

 being transparent, and of its being captured by a 

 friend of his near the ruins of Tintagel Castle. 

 Allow ine to obsei-ve that the species A. minos is 

 not transparent when in good condition, and that 

 Stainton's giving no English locality is tolerable 

 evidence that it does not occur in England, its only 

 known locality in the British Isles being the West of 

 Ireland, and the probability is, that the moth your 

 correspondent has seen is not minos at all. I shall 

 be very much obliged if he will send me a specimen 

 of the insect captured, and I will endeavour to deter- 

 mine the species, and return it with an example of 

 the Irish insect. — Edwin Birchall, Douglas, Isle of 

 Man. 



Gnats with Two Kinds of Wives. —In 

 "Nature," we find an abstract of a paper by Fritz 

 Miiller on a gnat called Paltostoma iorrentitnn, found 

 at Hajah, under stones, &c., in streams. The male 

 is described, and then the females, of which there 

 are two kinds, one a honey-sucker and frequenter of 

 flowers, and the other a blood-sucker. The two 

 females are quite unlike each other. 



iNsrECTORSiiiP OF FISHERIES. — This post, wortli 

 ^700 a year, vacant by the death of Mr. Frank 

 Buckland, has been offered to, and accepted by. Pro- 

 fessor Huxley. Professor Huxley was engaged on 

 the Fisheries Commission several years ago. 



Eared Seals or Sea-Lions in the Brighton 

 Aquarium. — In reference to Mr. C. L. Jackson's 

 remarks in February number on the pair of sea- 

 lions in the Brighton Aquarium, I may observe 

 that the recent death of the male under circumstances 

 recorded by me in " Nature," January 13, will afford 

 naturalists the requisite opportunity of absolutely 

 determining by means of the skull and dentition the 

 vexed question of the exact species to which this fine 

 specimen belonged. As stated by Mr. Jackson, it 

 had been referred first to Otaria Stelleri and subse- 

 quently by Professor Flower to O. Gillespie. Further- 

 more, the question has been mooted whether the 

 female was of the same species as her mate on 

 account of the extreme difference in appearance 

 between them. Jack measured 8 feet 5 inches in 

 length, had a maximum girth of 5 feet 3 inches, and 

 was probably eleven or twelve years old at the time 

 of his sudden death after six years' existence in the 

 Aquarium. He was the parent of the first cub born 

 in captivity in Europe— young " Prince " — who is still 

 an inmate of the institution. Anent the article 

 " Bird Studies in Chalk," in the same number, I shall 

 be glad if you will allow me to take this opportunity 

 to correct an obvious clerical error therein, and 

 substitute ^{^looo instead of ;^8oo as the approximate 

 equivalent in value of 20,000 m?ecV.— Agnes Crane, 

 Bris^hton. 



BOTANY. 



Botanical Gardens. — Under the title of "What 

 to Observe in the Conservatories of the Sheffield 

 Botanical Gardens," Mr. Bernard Hobson, of Tapton 

 Elms, Sheffield, has published a well-written 

 botanical and general description of such exotic 

 plants as are usually to be found in botanical gardens 

 and green-houses. With characteristic generosity, 

 Mr. Hobson has offered to send a copy to any reader 

 of Science-Gossip who will forward an addressed 

 halfpenny newspaper wrapper to him for it. A 

 copious vocabulary and glossary of plant-name 

 derivations accompanies the text. 



