NA TURE 



[August 28, 1884 



like animals of a higher order, become a cannibal under these 

 circumstances. W. Clement Ley 



Lutterworth, August 22 



I HAVE twice within the last few days noticed the same thing 

 that your correspondent writes about, viz. wasps devouring 

 flies. In the first instance the fly was found held fast by the 

 feet of a wasp which I had killed ; the fly was dead, but I think 

 intact. In the second instance the body of the fly was reduced 

 to a shapeless mass, and about half had been devoured, no doubt 

 by the wasp. I had previously observed a wasp apparently 

 attacking a butterfly (small white), possibly for the same pur- 

 pose ; it was, however, unsuccessful. I do not know whether it 

 is unusual for wasps to do this, but I have certainly never observed 

 it before. H. N. Dixon 



Northampton 



The question of your correspondent " F. N." in your last 

 number (p. 385), inquiring whether the incident observed by 

 him is an unusual occurrence or not, is one that has been so 

 frequently asked that it is somewhat curious that the fact has 

 not become recognised generally as constituting a regular habit 

 of the insect. Four years ago several letters upon this subject 

 were communicated to Nature {vide vol. xxi. pp. 417, 494, 

 S3S, 5 6 3> a«d vol. xxii. p. 31), and many other notices of the 

 practice might be quoted. Darwin related having observed a wasp 

 seize and carry off a fly too large for convenient transport, which 

 returned to the ground to cut oft" the wings to lighten its weight, 

 and then flew away with it. During the hot months, butchers' 

 shops, as I have frequently noticed, are much resorted to by 

 wasps as a hunting-ground, and although they are also fond of 

 the juice of dead meat, they are encouraged rather than de- 

 stroyed, in consequence of the benefit they confer by their habit 

 of preying upon "blow-flies," as I have more than once been 

 told by the shopkeepers themselves. William White 



Highbury Hill, N., August 23 



With reference to the account of the wasp and fly in Nature 

 by "F. N.", though not exactly an answer to the query put, still 

 the following may be of some interest to him and others of your 

 readers : — 



I was sitting one day in an arbour in the grounds of Duff 

 House, when a wasp and a bluebottle-fly fell at my feet. Here 

 a scuffle (it could scarcely be called a fight) ensued, which lasted 

 a few seconds. I think the wasp used its sting as well as its 

 mandibles. The fly dead, the wasp then tried to lift it. This 

 was frequently repeated, but without avail. The wasp then went 

 round and round and over the fly several times. Then another 

 trial. But no ; it seemed to me that the fly was too heavy or 

 too bulky. The wasp now began to nibble at the body of 

 its prostrate victim, and at last severed it in two. It then seized 

 one portion, and after making the attempt twice, succeeded, 

 rose, and disappeared. In a little while, however, I was rather 

 surprised to see the wasp return ; at least one similar came, and 

 having whizzed round about my head, looked at me, went and 

 hovered for an instant or so above the spot where the other half 

 of the fly lay, then alighted, and bore it oft" in triumph. I do not 

 think that the wasp intended to eat the fly, but rather meant it 

 as food for the larvae at home. Thomas Edward 



Banff, Scotland 



Seeing the communication of "F. N." on a "Carnivorous 

 Wasp " in last week's Nature brings to my recollection a 

 similar observation of my own about a fortnight ago. My atten- 

 tion was drawn to an immense number of wasps and flies feeding 

 together, apparently in perfect amity, at the bottom of a recently 

 emptied sugar hogshead that was lying on its side in the sun. 

 The amity, I may say, was not altogether perfect, as when a 

 wasp approached a fly the latter speedily gave way. Suddenly 

 a wasp, which was flying about in the interior of the tub, darted 

 on an unsuspecting fly which was peacefully regaling itself with 

 sweets, and carried it off. I managed to trace its flight to a 

 neighbouring wall, where I saw the wasp apparently busily en- 

 gaged in devouring the fly. On approaching more closely, in 

 order to find out if I could what these unamiable proceedings 

 were, I disturbed the wasp, which flew away with the fly still in 

 its grasp, and this time I was unable to follow it. My impres- 



sion at the time was, I remember, that the wasp wished to 



rob the fly of its sugar. This was the only case I noticed. 

 Leicester, August 25 E. F. Bates 



[We have received numerous letters of the same purport as the 



above. The subject was discussed in Nature, vols. xxi. and 



xxii., as referred to by Mr. White above.— Ed.] 



Fireballs 



Whilst speaking of the electric discharge to the Rev. Canon 

 Thomas, of Meifod, a few days ago, he told me that he was 

 some years ago overtaken by a most violent storm of thunder 

 and lightning whilst crossing on horseback a Merionethshire 

 mountain. During this storm Mr. Thomas saw (what appeared 

 to him to be) three balls of fire successively hurled to the ground 

 near him from the clouds. 



About a fortnight ago a sudden and .violent thunderstorm 

 broke over North-East London, when at least one building was 

 struck. The window of my room was wide open at the top. 

 During one of the peals of thunder a zigzag line of lightning 

 was distinctly seen by me (and another person) to come into the 

 room by the open window and form an irregular line of fire 

 along the cornice of the room. In the middle of the zigzag 

 there seemed to be a momentary stoppage, with a star-like ex- 

 pansion of the line. There was no reflection or optical illusion, 

 and no damage was done. W. G. Smith 



A Cannibal Snake 



I send the following brief history of a snake's meal off 

 another about his equal in bulk. 



Some years since I was amused at the conduct of a small 

 triangular-headed snake about ten inches long that I encountered 

 in a road, who coiled himself and struck at me as if to dispute 

 my progress. He was a pretty little fellow, gray spotted, and I 

 picked him up, and carrying him home, deposited him in a small 

 fish globe with sand and stones in the bottom. Here he lived con- 

 tentedly for several months without eating anything, although 

 frequently tempted with various insects and other food. After 

 three months or so, my neighbour's children brought in a small 

 black snake, shorter, but rather larger in diameter than my pet, 

 and we decided to place the two together. Scarcely had the 

 new-comer touched the sand than my pet glided rapidly around 

 the sides of the globe, and struck him with his fangs just behind 

 the head. The black snake dropped apparently lifeless, the 

 other retained his hold with his jaws, and winding his tail closely 

 about midway up the body, stretched himself out and his prey at 

 the same time, till he seemed to dislocate his vertebra. We 

 could hear the black snake crack. An hour or so later I found 

 that lie had begun to swallow him, having already got the head 

 fairly inside his jaws. I called my family and neighbours, and 

 we watched the process for several hours. He coiled the lower 

 part of his body around his prey at the distance of an inch or two 

 from his jaws, so tightly that it seemed almost to cut it in two, 

 and then appeared to curl himself together and force the portion 

 between the coil and his jaw down his throat. When that por- 

 tion was ingested, he took a fresh hold lower down and repeated 

 the action. The black snake disappeared quite rapidly, until 

 the amount swallowed distended and stiffened the other, so that 

 be could not hold it with a coil. After this the process was slow 

 and tedious, apparently being mainly carried on by alternate 

 retractions of the jaws, and it took nearly half an hour to dispose 

 of the last inch, which was of course very small. Finally he 

 succeeded, and lay stretched out, a singular-looking specimen, 

 his outline distorted by the convolutions of the reptile he had 

 swallowed, which could plainly be traced through his distended 

 skin. He lay quiet for several days, and apparently digested 

 the greater portion of it. I never fed him again, and finally 

 turned him loose, his parting salute being a vicious attack upon 

 my boot. C. F. Crehore 



Newton, Massachusetts, August 12 



WATER BELLS 

 'THE accompanying design (from La Nature) repre- 

 -*■ sents a water bell, the invention of M. Bourdon, of 

 more transparent and complete effect than those hitherto 

 produced, which have all either made the water issue by 

 a very diminutive annular orifice, or shot the liquid jet 



