Gordius aquaticus. 9A1 



included a very viscous yellowish matter. The egg is of an 

 elliptical figure, perhaps most pointed to one end, scarcely of 

 the eighth of an inch in length, and externally of the colour 

 of the soil. This last condition renders the egg not obvious, 

 without closely inspecting the soil ; and I have seen the most 

 of the eggs that I have seen, in the practice of the potting of 

 plants ; in which operation the soil has lain upon a bench at 

 some height from the ground, hence so much nearer to the 

 eye than if upon the ground and one stood erect looking 

 down upon it; and in which one has frequently to take por- 

 tions of it in the hand. — J. D. 



Gordius aquaticus. (L SOI. ; II. 103.211.; IX. 236.)-— At 

 the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement 

 of Science, held at Dublin, 1835, " the Rev. Dr. Drum- 

 mond informed the members that, from observations lately 

 made by him, the Gordius aquaticus seemed to be viviparous." 

 {Edinburgh New Phil. Journ., Oct. 1835, p. 400.) 



I. 301. Does not the Gordius derive its nourishing fluid 

 by pores from cutaneous absorption ? If a true mouth 

 exists, it must be exceedingly minute and retractile. — Lans- 

 down Guilding. St. Vincent, May 1. 1830. 



Instances of the Appearing of the Gordius aquaticus after 

 plentiful Rain has been produced. — On Tuesday, June 19., after 

 a very heavy storm, an extraordinary phenomenon was ob- 

 served at the Buckhold Wood, Lydart, Troy Park, and other 

 places in the neighbourhood of Monmouth. The ground and 

 trees were covered with myriads of live snake-like insects, 

 quantities of which were collected by different persons. They 

 are 6 in. or 7 in. in length, about the thickness of a horse- 

 hair, white, and quite transparent. (Literary Gazette ', June 23. 

 1832.) It maybe fit to take this account with abatement; and 

 then enough will remain, if one identifies the animal with the 

 Gordius aquaticus — and what else could it be? — to make it 

 one of a striking instance of the known fact, that the Gordius 

 is most seen in, or directly after, wet weather. 



The poet Cowper, in a letter of his, dated Weston, Feb. 

 23. 1793, addressed to Hurdis (that, like Cowper himself, 

 amiable and elegant naturalist), has noticed as follows: — "After 

 a very rainy day, I saw on one of the flower borders what 

 seemed a long hair ; but it had a waving, twining motion. 

 Considering more nearly, I found it alive, and endowed with 

 spontaneity, but could not discover at the ends of it either 

 head or tail, or any distinction of parts. I carried it into 

 the house, when the air of a warm room dried and killed it 

 presently." 



Vol. IX. — No. 61. t 



