HARD WICKE ' ^ ^ CIE NCE-GO SSI P. 



189 



This habit is that of turning themselves round and 

 round several times, preparatory to lying down, and 

 they will often do this even on the smoothest carpet ; 

 and yet this action is derived from that of the wild 

 dog, which in order to prepare himself a bed in the 

 tangled growth of the plain or prairie, turns himself 

 several times to bend down the dried grass till it is 

 comfortable to lie upon. These actions seem more 

 referable to instinct than reason, for if they were 

 impelled by the latter, surely cats and dogs would 

 not consider it necessary to perform the same action 

 on a carpet that their antecedents did in the wilds. — 

 E. Lovctt, Holly Aloiint, Croydon. 



Ranunculus acris, alias buttercup, may be 

 known by its slender cylindrical flower-stalk and 

 spreading calyx. Bulbous crowfoot, Ranunculus 

 bulbosns, is known by its furrowed flower-stalk, 

 bulbous root and reflexed calyx, whilst the creeping 

 crowfoot, Ranunculus repots, is distinguished by its 

 creeping scions, spreading calyx and furrowed flower- 

 stalk.—//. E. IF. 



Milkwort in Bloom on the i8th of April must 

 have been unusually early, for it generally flowers 

 much later. It was formerly called Crosse Floure 

 and Gang Floure because it came into bloom about 

 the time of Rogation week, and according to Gerard, 

 the maidens who walked in the "procession" were 

 wont to make garlands and nosegays of it. — If. E. 

 IVatney. 



Helix pomatia. — Can any one tell me the best 

 food for the great Roman snail? I took a pair at 

 Box Hill the other day, and wish to keep them alive. 

 —J. O. B. 



Hair Bell, or Hare Bell. — May not hare be 

 only a corruption of haere, haer, haiie, all of which 

 means hair? Hooker and Arnott in their "British 

 Flora " have hairbell, as has also Babington. In 

 Withering's "British Plants," 18S0, he gives the 

 names Heath Bell, Hare Bell, Witches' Thimble. In 

 the 1 841 edition, corrected and condensed by William 

 Macgillivray, the harebell is referred to Hyacinthns 

 non-scriptus. Mr. Lynn if he had turned to " Crys- 

 toffel Plantains Kruydtboeck," 15S1, would have 

 found a plant called Hares Balloches in addi- 

 tion to the other flowers associated with the Hare. 

 —F. K. 



" Freezing of boiled and unboiled Water." 

 — This query in the April number, by T. Winder, 

 has, I believe, not been answered. Pure water 

 freezes at 32° Fahr., but if any compounds be dis- 

 solved in the water, these prevent it freezing at that 

 point, and lower its freezing-point. Also water 

 containing dissolved air or other gases does not 

 freeze, till these are first expelled. By boiling the 

 water certain salts such as the carbonate of lime are 

 precipitated, and the gases expelled, thus leaving 

 the water to freeze at a higher temperature than 

 before, and at a quicker rate. The ice produced 

 is harder, because it is free from air bubbles. These 

 are produced in the rapid freezing of unboiled water 

 thus : — ^The upper surface of the water being frozen, 

 the lower surface commences then to freeze, but 

 before doing so it begins to part with its contained 

 air. This air is prevented from rising to the surface 

 by the film of ice already formed, hence it remains 

 below in small bubbles and ice forms round it. Such 

 ice is of course more brittle than that which is free 

 from these bubbles of air. — Alf. W. Stokes. 



Cow suckling Lambs. — At Horden Hall, near 

 Castle Eden, there may be seen the curious 

 spectacle of a heifer, deprived of her calf, suckling 

 four lambs. The lambs are the progeny of four 

 ewes, each of which has had triplets, the remaining 

 two of each family being suckled by the mother 

 sheep. — R. M. M., jun. 



Caja. — In the June part of Science-Gossip a 

 correspondent refers to "Caja" being occasionally 

 double-brooded, and "A Beginner" requires an 

 insect "incubator." I may state that a friend of 

 mine reared five broods of the great tiger from one 

 spring to the next, his only "incubator " being pretty 

 close proximity to the kitchen fire, and plenty of good 

 fresh food. The object of the foregoing was to try 

 the effect of various plants in producing dark varieties 

 — the broad-leaved dock being the most successful 

 —G. T. 



Parasites on Flies. — Whilst sitting at work 

 to-day, two house-flies alighted on my desk ; by the 

 accompanying vibration of their wings, there was 

 scattered around for a space at least eighteen inches, 

 what I at first took to be a light brown dust ; but, 

 judge of my astonishment, when I discovered the 

 said brown dust to be myriads of parasites ! Yes, sir, 

 absolutely myriads. Of course I immediately annihi- 

 lated the whole ; for an idea struck me that they 

 might prove a troublesome pest to man (said man, of 

 course, being myself). I should like to know if such 

 would be the case, and also if the incident above 

 related has ever been before noticed ; likewise if you 

 would kindly let me know the name of the parasite ; 

 lastly if it is figured in Science-Gossip. — Henry 

 R. W. Lewin. 



Incubation by a Capon.— Having never heard 

 of or met anything like the following, and fancying 

 that such an occurrence must be very rare, if it is not 

 absolutely unique in the annals of science, I am 

 induced to reproduce it in substance below, and ask 

 if any of your readers can supply me with a parallel or 

 other adequate explanation of the fact or phenomenon 

 it implies. As an aid to any or such search as the 

 curious reader may undertake I will add a few 

 references to other cases of castration, and then 

 inquire how far emasculation and hybridity interlace or 

 counterbalance one another in the lower animals. That 

 this process, when carried out in early life, modifies 

 the appearance, as well as the other outward attri- 

 butes of the human male has been known since the 

 days of Juvenal, but its effects on the "inward man" 

 are not so clear, and I know of no book that e-xhausts 

 the subject. Hence my inquiry, and I shall be glad to 

 hear that the subject is not considered irrelevant in 

 or unsuited to these pages. Describing the great 

 scarcity that was caused in Gibraltar by the blockade 

 to which that fortress was subjected, by a combined 

 French and Spanish fleet, &c. in 1 779-1 783, Drink- 

 water says, " History," page 41, and I summarize the 

 narrative as much as possible to economise space : 

 "A singular mode of hatching was about this time 

 successfully practised . . . The eggs were placed 

 with some cotton wool or other warm substance in a 

 tin case of such construction as to be heated either by 

 a lamp or hot water . . . and (in this way) the eggs 

 were commonly hatched. A capon, however strange 

 it may appear was then taught to rear them. To 

 reconcile him to this trust the feathers were plucked 

 from his breast and belly. He was then gently 

 scourged with a bunch of nettles, and placed upon 

 the young hatch, whose downy warmth afforded 

 such comfort to the bared and smarting parts that 

 he from that period reared them up with the care 



