:i4 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



tioned by W. Mower, Science-Gossip, page 152. It 

 seems to have flowered early this year, and to be 

 very fine. I believe this is not an unusual occurrence. 

 We have had sent us this week, Monday, June 27th, 

 specimens of the wild pink {Dianthus plumariiis), 

 gathered from the top of Ludlow Castle. We 

 venture the following remarks in reference to the 

 questions asked by A. J. Wheldon, Science-Gossip 

 page 167, in reference to Raiuiucuhts acris var. toiiio- 

 phylliis, and the three forms of brassica. Bentham 

 only mentions in reference to R. acris, that in moun- 

 tain pastures the above species is often small, 

 with only one, or very few flowers, but Bentham 

 gives it no distinct specific name. As regards the 

 three forms of brassica given in the seventh edition 

 under Brassica napa, we are not an fait on this 

 point. Bentham classifies {B. Rapa) the rape seed, 

 or Colza, under the head of Brassica campestris, 

 and considers B. Rapa one of the cultivated varie- 

 ties of B. campestris, which also includes the turnip 

 {B. Kapus). B. Rapa is probably also ai^plied to the 

 Swedish turnip. — E. Ethvards. 



Scarcity of Wasps.— Up till the present time 

 there has been with us a marked scarcity of wasps. 

 Has this been generally noticed ? Last year at this 

 season we were remarking upon their great abun- 

 dance, as many as sixty nests occurring in one park. 

 One would imagine that this season, being so hot and 

 dry, would have been favourable for them. — John L. 

 Hawkins, Reading. 



Adders Hissing. — Your correspondent G. Dewar 

 in his note on Blackbirds and Adders in Science- 

 Gossip for August, says " They [adders] rarely hiss 

 except after a slight sun-shower of rain . . . their hissing 

 arises, I beheve, simply out of their enjoyment of life 

 as the song of birds," &c. These statements are not 

 quite correct. I have observed adders under many 

 conditions, and cannot say that their hissing seemed 

 to be affected by any atmospheric change. So far 

 from hissing being an indication of their enjoyment of 

 life, at no time will an adder hiss more vehemently 

 than when menaced by an enemy, which is not an 

 enjoyable position with any animal, and which would 

 at once silence any song-bird or grasshopper. — J. J}/. 

 Campbell. 



Edible Snails.— J. O. B, will find his PTclix 

 fomatia feed well on cooked meat, though snails in 

 general live mostly on vegetable food; but the 

 Romans, who kept this species in Cochlearia enclo- 

 sures or parks, fed them on flour boiled to a paste in 

 wine and on dressed meat. — Helen E. IVatney. 



Helix pomatia.— Science-Gossip, No. 200, 

 page 189. Helix pomatia.— ]. O. B.— I obtained one 

 of these molluscs in October, 1880, which immediately 

 hibernated, cementing a piece of brown paper to its 

 epiphragm. It rested comfortably in a chess box till 

 March last, when it resumed its former activity. Since 

 then I have kept it in a bell-glass and its food has 

 been living nettles and a fresh cabbage once a week 

 and it is in fine condition. It is now turning ashy- 

 grey through loss of epidermis, which seems to prove 

 the suggestions of Mr. Rimmer respecting var. 

 albida in his excellent work. I have no doubt if 

 one lived near its habitat it would prefer a selection 

 of such plants common to the neighbourhood. J. O. B. 

 should put a little lime, say pieces of chalk, 

 amongst the mould in the floor of its home. Cabbage 

 seems to do for the whole family of land shells, and 

 watei-cress for the freshwater if other water-weeds 

 are not procurable. — Chas. D. Sherborn. 



Helix pomatia. — This noble snail is like other 

 snails, somewhat omnivorous. I had a large colony 

 of them once upon a time, and found the best diet for 

 them to be tender lettuces and vine leaves. — Shirley 

 Hibberd. 



An unusual Site for a Swallow's Nest. — 

 The other day my attention was called to a swallow's 

 nest in the middle of a pear-tree, in which the old 

 birds were busily feeding their young. The nest 

 looks very like a goblet of mud placed upon the 

 upper surface of a small branch not more than three 

 inches in circumference. It is a nest of this year, and I 

 should think very likely the dry season has helped to 

 mislead the birds into taking the tree, which is very 

 thickly covered with leaves outside and very spacious 

 inside, for a shed. As I can find no one who has 

 met with a swallow's nest similarly placed, I think it 

 may be interesting to some of your readers to hear 

 of it. — C. JV. Sessions Barrett, Wallingford. 



Habenaria albida on the North Downs. — 

 A small form of Gymnadenia conopsca with white 

 flowers may be met with occasionally and be easily 

 mistaken at first sight for H albida. I once gathered 

 three or four specimens of this white-flowered variety 

 on a bank adjoining Farthing Downs, near Coulsdon, 

 Surrey. — E. de C. 



Incubation by a Capon. — In reference to Mr. W. 

 Curran's discursive note, mentioning among other 

 points, the capon's feat of hatching chickens, as re- 

 lated in Drinkwater's "History," &c., it may not 

 be out of place to extract the following lines from a 

 poem entitled, "The Capon's Tale to a Lady, who 

 feathered her Lampoons upon her Acquaintances,' 

 by Dean Swift, published 1747, wherein he says : 



" Yet tender was this hen so fair. 

 And hatched more chicks than she could rear. 

 Our prudent dame bethought her then 

 Of some dry-nurse to save her hen ; 

 She made a capon drunk, in fine 

 He ate the sopps, she sipped the wine ; 

 His rump well pluck'd with nettle sting?. 

 And claps the brood beneath his wings. 

 The feather'd dupe awakes content, 

 O'erjoyed to see what God has sent. 

 Thinks he's the hen, clacks, keeps a pother, 

 A foolish foster — father — mother." 



-J. A. K. C. 



Poison Glands in Frogs.— In the " Semaine 

 Frangaise" for July 30, it states that in frogs there is 

 a poison in the neck which produces ophthalmia if 

 it touches the eyes, and also is strong enough to kill 

 a small bird instantly if injected into it. It is of 

 course a well-known fact that toads have poison 

 glands, but I shall be much obliged if you will tell 

 me whether this poison is peculiar to French frogs, 

 or if it is also found in the common English variety. 

 — //. R. T. 



Polecat. — Perhaps it may interest some of your 

 readers to hear that a short time ago, I captured a 

 young living polecat {Mnsfela piitoriiis') in Kent. I 

 was walking along in a small wood, accompanied by 

 a dog, when it rushed down a tree and scampered off 

 in front of me. The dog gave chase, and caught it, 

 at the expense of a bite in the lip, holding it across 

 the loins. In a day or two it was perfectly familiar, 

 it took food from my hand, and played with my hand, 

 rolling on its back like a puppy. But the evil odour 

 which it caused in the yard where its cage was, in- 

 duced me to take it to the Zoological Gardens, where 

 it is now, unless it has died since. — H. C. Brooke. 



