110 MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 



primaries of both wings, and her tail, which still possess their natural colour. I have had 

 frequent opportunities of seeing her during the periods mentioned above ; and I have remarked 

 with pleasure the gradual increase of whiteness. She appears rather smaller than natural, 

 particularly her head; but whether she is really so, or only in appearance, from want of the 

 usual blackness of |her head, I cannot say. She was hatched in the breeding-season of 1846; 

 consequently she is now in the sixth year of her age, having had a long lease of her life, 

 considering how much 'rarae aves' are sought after by naturalists, as well as taxidermists. 

 Wlien I first saw her in 1847, she was mated, and although she had a nest and eggs in that 

 year, she did not produce any young; but since then she has had two or more broods, all of 

 which have turned out true and veritable Magpies, both in their plumage and nature. If we 

 may judge from this case. Magpies must possess a remarkable amount of local attachment, as 

 she has been for nearly six years, and is still to be seen within a radius of half-a-mile of 

 my friend's house; indeed, I have seen her some dozen or more times within a quai'ter-of-a- 

 mile of the same spot. The fact of her confining herself to this locality cannot be doubted, 

 as her peculiar plumage renders her identity unmistakeable. 1 could almost wish she might 

 be allowed to die a natural death, to enable us to form some idea as to the longevity of 

 these birds in their wild state ; but as she appears to me to be quite unique, I have persuaded 

 my friend, under whose protection she has escaped all danger so far, to have her shot this 

 •winter, so that she may be preserved. If he succeeds, I will then send you a more minute 

 account of her plumage, if you think it of sufficient interest. — Stephen Clogg, East Looe, 

 Cornwall, December 13th., 1851. 



Occurrence of Doritis Apollo, near Falmouth. — Last year a specimen of the Apollo Buttoi-fly 

 was captured by the son of J. S. Enys, Esq., of Enys, in the parish of My lor, and sent to the 

 Exhibition of the "Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society" in the autumn of the same year. Miss 

 Warren informed my friend, Mr. Lovell Squire, that Sir Charles Lemon had taken one at his 

 residence, Carclew, four or five miles from this place. — "W. P. Cocks, Falmouth, March 20th., 1852. 



Contents of a Vallisneria Jar. — Vallisneria spiralis belongs to the natural order Hydrocharidce, 

 which are aquatic plants, chiefly found in Europe, Asia, and North America ; its natural habitat 

 is the still portion of rivers and lakes; and, for the beautiful contrivance displayed in the 

 mechanism for keeping the female flowers, which are on a long spiral peduncle, on the surface 

 of the water, till the male flowers, which grow on the surface of the mud, are sufficiently 

 developed to break away, come to the surface, and swim to the female, to allow the application 

 of the pollen, has been the theme of the poet's song. When growing, its appearance is not 

 at all in^iting, as it looks just like so much grass in the water; but to compensate for this 

 uninteresting appearance, the phenomenon of the rotation in its cells, as displayed by the 

 microscope, is, without doubt, "the grandest that has yet been seen in the whole vegetable 

 kingdom." The best way to see this phenomenon is to fold one of its leaves across the finger, 

 and insert a lancet or sharp penknife just under the cuticle, and so divide the h'af in two. 

 One of these layers, when placed under a power of two hundred diameters, will exhibit a number 

 of green granules, which, generally speaking, will be found in rapid circulation around the walls 

 of each cell. If the circulation is languid, a little heat will assist in making it distinctly 

 visible. The average velocity of the current, according to Mohl, is one-one hundred and eighty- 

 third of a line in a second. Professor Balfour says, "the cause of rotation has not been 

 satisfactorily explained." In addition to the above phenomenon, which of itself will repay the 

 trouble of procuring and keeping the plant, some of the leaves become covered with a brownish 

 matter, which, on examination, will be found to consist of multitudes of animalcules. The 

 following is a list of such as I have observed at various times :— Of the first family, Monadina, 

 there were three or four species, and among them was Microglena monadina. Of the fifth 

 family, Closterina, there was Glosterium acerosmi, which formed by far the greatest number 

 of microscopic forms observed. Of the tenth family, Bacillaria, there were Navicula Phmiieenteron, 

 Hunotia triodon, and Fragilaria grandis, which was very delicate, and very fragile; at the 

 time I observed it, I was not at all inclined to rank it as an animalcule, but was of the firm 

 belief that it was of vegetable origin. Of the thirteenth family, VorticelUna, there was Triehodina 

 fentaculata. Of the twenty-eighth family, Euchlanidota, there was Mastigocerca carinata. And 

 "last, though not least," of the twenty-mnth family, Fhilodincea, there yia& Rotifer vulgaris.— 

 Henry Watts, Bristol, December 7th., 1851. 



