NOTES AND QUERIES. 



183 



or more than six months, and during all that time the fish ate regularly, 

 and were free from any appearance of sickness. It is possible that, as 

 carp bury themselves in the mud during the winter, when they are free in 

 the ponds, this behaviour in the aquarium was simply their usual winter 

 sleep, modified by disturbances and their altered mode of life. — Scientific 

 American. 



[On this subject an interesting report of some original observations by 

 Mr. W. R. Hughes will be found in ' The Zoologist ' for 1874, p. 8895.— 

 Ed.] 



annelides. 



Earthworms in New Zealand.— The following interesting observa- 

 tions form part of a communication, from Mr. A. T. Urquhart, to the editor 

 of the ' New Zealand Journal of Science,' and appear in a late number 

 of that periodical :— " In October, 1875, I dug a trench on some newly- 

 cleared land — a raised beach at Mauukau Harbour. The section then 

 showed about 4i inches of black mould and a horizontal layer, 1 inch thick, 

 of burnt clay, wood-ashes, small stones, and pumice, lying on a brownish 

 green arenaceous clay. The vegetation cleared was the growth of some 

 ' thirty years. A portiou of the land was left undisturbed. Measurements 

 again taken a few days ago gave an average depth of l£ inch of turf, 5f 

 inches of black mould, and there was no perceptible difference in the layer 

 of ash. An angular block of trachyte— about twenty-five pounds in weight 

 — placed in May, 1875, had sunk 1 inch, allowing for the turf." As the 

 results of some accurate calculations as to the number of worms per acre, Mr. 

 Urquhart gives results so considerably higher than Henson's, that he would 

 have hesitated to publish them were he not in a position to prove them. 

 Hensou, it will be remembered by the readers of Darwin on ' Vegetable 

 Mould,' calculates that there are 53,767 worms per acre in garden mould, 

 and above half that number in corn-fields. Mr. Urquhart 's estimates, 

 founded upon digging about a quarter of an acre, as well as by a large 

 number of tests on various parts of the fields, some that were under pasture 

 for over sixteen years, gave from four to twenty-six Earthworms per each 

 square foot. The alluvial flats, slopes, and richer portions of the upper 

 lands would average eight to the square foot, or say 348,480 per acre. In 

 the uncultivated fern-lands worms are scarce. In New Zealand worms 

 not only leave their burrows, but climb up trees in search of food, this 

 chiefly in the night time, though often until a late hour on damp warm 

 mornings. 



ARCHEOLOGY. 



Origin of the name " Daker-hen."— What is the derivation of the 

 provincial name " Daker-hen," bestowed on the Landrail or Corncrake, 

 and is it still iu use anywhere? It may be found mentioned in the works 



