HA R D WICKE ' S S CIENCE- G SSI P. 



191 



very busy with his pea sticks. After driving them 

 away he found that the wasps were peehng off the 

 thin outer bark in long narrow strips. One piece 

 was left behind and was covered with a viscous sub- 

 stance, and rolled up like a bandage ready for a sur- 

 geon's use. It was reported that the insects were 

 hornets, but after examining the nest and watching 

 them by the aid of an opera-glass I am satisfied they 

 are not hornets {I'espa crabro), but are of the rarer 

 species of vespidse occasionally seen in this country. 

 Certainly it is not Vespa vulgarm. — Ihos. S. King, 

 Sheffield. 



Tenacity of Life. — I beg to express my thanks 

 to Mr. J. Eardley Hall for his criticism on my 

 remarks on the above subject ; but I wish to point 

 out for his satisfaction, that in none of the instances 

 recorded, can intended cruelty be shown, or the 

 wilful "prolongation of agony." It has always been 

 my practice to destroy the life of every specimen I 

 collected if I chanced to wound anything ; unless 

 the probability of recovery was fair, in order to 

 preserve a living example ; and it was in these cases, 

 that I observed the remarkable tenacity in the in- 

 stances I recorded. I beg to apologise for making 

 use of so much space, but to "prevent unjust pre- 

 judice against the fair name of naturalists, and of 

 this popular journal," I trust my explanation may not 

 be out of place. — F. L., Ballangoda, Ceylon, 



AcH^us Cranchii. — Dredging at the Isle of Alan 

 a week or two ago, I captured a fine female specimen 

 of Achivtis Cranchii with eggs. The depth of water 

 was twenty-one fathoms, the bottom was weedy. 

 A single specimen of this crab has been recorded as 

 taken at the Isle of Man before, but it seems a very 

 rare species. The curvature of the last joints of the 

 legs, and the tubercules on the eye-stalks render it 

 unmistakeable. I should be glad to know whether 

 this species has become more common since the 

 publication of Adam White's useful little work. — 

 L. Adams, Manchester. 



Lapwings. — On Thursday, the 30th of June, whilst 

 crossing some moors between Calestock and Perran- 

 zabuloe, my attention was attracted by the cry of a 

 single lapwing plover ( Vanellus cristatus), which I 

 soon after observed. At first I thought it must be 

 one that had been wounded during the winter, and 

 had remained in the locality and recovered. Seeing, 

 however, the bird did not leave the neighbourhood 

 of the moors, I planted myself under a bush and 

 narrowly watched it. After a time it settled in the 

 moor some few hundred yards from me when I 

 made in the direction and flushed it, although at 

 some distance from me. On repairing to the spot it 

 appeared to rise from, the bird seemed very disturbed 

 and flew past and around me, uttering cries of distress. 

 It was shortly after joined by three other plovers, 

 two of which appeared this year's birds. Although 

 I did not find a nest, I am convinced the birds had 

 bred in the moor, and most probably had a nest 

 there then. They continued their cries until I left 

 the moor, and then returned to the neighbomhood 

 of the spot from which I rose the first one. I have 

 walked across country in West Cornwall, thousands 

 of miles, and taken out a shooting licence for several 

 years past, but I never knew or heard of the lapwing 

 plover breeding in this part of Cornwall, nor in the 

 county even. I have asked one or two veteraa sports- 

 men, and they never observed a similar case. May 

 not this be another instance of a new introduction in 

 the county of Cornwall, as in the case of the starling 

 and woodpecker, or could it be accounted for from 

 the fact of the exceptionally severe winter we have 



just experienced? — Clement C. Carlyon, Truro, 

 Cornzuall. 



Danel's Den. —The den is formed in my dining- 

 room window, looking east, so it is cool, with the 

 exception of the morning sun. It may interest some 

 readers, so I will briefly give an explanation of its 

 construction. The sides are formed of wood, at the 

 outer edge of which the sash works up or down in a 

 groove ; the boards are covered with rough virgin cork, 

 fastened with zinc nails. The box containing the 

 earth, &c., is of zinc, four inches in depth, with a pipe 

 going through the woodwork of the window out- 

 wards, to carry off the surplus water. The earth is 

 mixed with sand and stones, the surface covered with 

 moss. Being in its winter garb, it is not so attractive 

 as it may be a couple of months hence. Polypodiiim 

 vulgare, P. angulare, Scolopendrium, and one of the 

 Lastrea family are survivors of the winter. I have 

 had Athyrium, Asplenium Ruta-mnraria, viride, 

 Trichomanes and A. nigritin, C. officinariim, B. Spi- 

 cant, Cystopte7-is regia, P. Robertiamim, P. Dryopteris 

 and Osmunda flourishing during the warmer months, 

 some doing belter than others, owing to thesoil, 

 situation, drainage and a colony of worms for the use 

 of the occupant, Danel, a frog just completing his 

 ninth year. He is sociable, musical," and particularly 

 thoughtful. His pond is a stoneware basin about ten 

 inches in diameter ; a stump made of cork, the edges 

 brought together and fastened with copper wire, and 

 filled with mould. There are some holes in the sides 

 through which /'. vnlgare and A. Trichomanes thrust 

 their fronds. Some fantastic rockwork completes the 

 den. It is open at the top to facilitate watering ; the 

 sash can be raised to perform any other duties ; the 

 inside measurement, four feet in length, eleven inches 

 wide, and about two feet six inches high. — Johji J. 

 Morgan, Tredegar. 



White Polemonium. — Last week a white variety 

 of Polemonium cteruleiim was sent to me ; gathered 

 from the river-side, near Derby. I could find no 

 mention made of any white variety of this plant, 

 except in an old edition of Withering, in which he 

 speaks of the blossom being sometimes white. 

 Greek Valerian (Jacob's Ladder) is to be found at 

 Malham Cove, Yorkshire ; at the Lover's Leap, 

 Buxton ; near Bakewell, Gordale, Yorkshire ; near 

 also to the plantations under the Ochre Pits at 

 Shotover Hill, Oxfordshire. — F.. Fd-juards. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers. — As we now 

 publish Science-Gossip earlier than heretofore, we cannot 

 possibly insert in the following number any communications 

 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 o{ our ^^ratnitous insertion or 

 "exchanges" which cannot be tolerated. 



B. B. W.— Buckton's " History of British'Aphidcs," of which 

 two volumes have already appeared, published by the Ray 

 Society, would answer your purpose. Every species is there 

 figured on coloured plates. \ou had better offer to exchange 

 specimens in our excliange column. We insert these exchanges 

 gratuitously if they do not exceed three lines of print. 



