314 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Argynxis Adippe var. chlorodippe. — The 

 insects which I mentioned having taken in the 

 New Forest last summer, under the impression 

 that they were Argynnis niobe [ante p. 138), have 

 since been proved to be the variety chlorodippe of 

 Argynnis adippe. Both were taken on August ist, 

 iSg5, between Lyndhurst and Brocklehurst. — 

 Catherine A. Winckuvrth. 



Early Nesting of Thrush. — A thrush com- 

 menced building its nest in a yew-tree in my 

 garden on February 27th. The nest was verj- 

 soon completed, and the first egg was laid on 

 March 7th. This is earlier than these birds 

 generally commence nesting with us, but the 

 weather has been mild since the beginning of 

 February. — Ediiard Ransom, Sudbury, Sufolk ; March, 

 J897. 



A Swallow in February. — On February 13th, a 

 swallow was seen in this \-illage, but has since dis- 

 appeared. It was first noticed settled on the roof 

 of a stable, and gave its observer the opportunity 

 of watching it for some time. As it could scarcely 

 be an immigrant at so early a date, it was probably 

 a late-hatched specimen which had failed to 

 migrate. The specimen has been observed several 

 times since. — C. A. Briggs, Rock House, Lynmouth, 

 North Devon; March, 1897. 



The Value of Specimens. — The Reginald 

 Cholmondeley collection of shells was sold by 

 auction on March 15th. It contained many fine 

 specimens of Miirex, Valuta, Conus, Pecten, and 

 Spondylus. A choice Murex monodon fetched £i ; 

 a very good specimen of Cypraa aurantia, £2 15s. ; 

 a Conus crocatus, £1 is. ; a Conus omaiciis, £2. 5s. ; 

 a Conus rhododendron, £1 is. A Pecten reevei sold 

 for £z IS. Among the genus Voluta, V. aulica 

 fetched £6 6s.; V. lyrceformis, £^; V. junonia, 

 £-L 5s. ; V. piilchra, £1 los. Cyclostoma formosum 

 and C. deburghi^s together sold for £2. 2s. 



.\ge of Yew-trees. — It is seldom that we have 

 the opportunity of fixing the age of j-ew-trees, and, 

 therefore, it is interesting to note that at Hurst- 

 bourne Tarrant, near Andover, are two in the 

 church\"ard, which are quite in their prime, the 

 time of whose planting is recorded in the parish 

 register. Writing to '■ Notes and Queries " some 

 time ago, Mr. W. P. W. Phillimore, of London, 

 saj-s, "The older of the two is on the western 

 side of the churchyard, and is S feet 4 inches in 

 circumference at the base, but diminishes to 6 feet 

 S inches at the height of five feet. The one is aged 

 a little over two hundred years, as shown by the 

 following entry : ' The entree next to ye \-icar's 

 garden, planted by Sam. Heskins (vicar) in ye year 

 1693.' The other, situated on the south side of the 

 churchyard, measures in circumference 7 feet 2 inches 

 both at the base and five feet higher up. This is a 

 century and a-half old, as appears from the 

 register: 'Memorandum, October the loth, 1741. 

 There was an yew-tree planted in the churchyard 

 pretty near the outward rails, by the order and at 

 the expense of the parish.' " — Bcnj.Winsione, Epping. 



Marine Zoology of Cromer. — As I am thinking 

 of visiting Cromer this spring, v.-ill anj-one kindly 

 inform me. through the columns of Science-Gossip, 

 if that district is a good collecting-ground for 

 marine objects, such as Crustaceans, Echinoderms, 

 etc. ? I take a great interest in marine fauna, and 

 v,-ish, if possible, to go to a place where I can add 

 to my collection, but shall not be able to go farther 

 afield than Cromer. Would it be any use dredging 

 with a small naturalist's dredge off the coast, or is 

 it too sandy ? I should also be obliged if referred 

 to any book on the marine zoology of Cromer 

 district.— i?. IF. Parritt, S, Whitehall Park. Archn'ay 

 Road, London, N. 



Tinted Shadows. — I always thought shadows 

 were all much of a colour, indeed, shades of the 

 same colour according to the power of the light 

 producing them. The other night, when reading, 

 two incandescent burners being alight, I noticed on 

 my book a double shadow of my hand and cigar- 

 holder, one being pale pink and the other pale 

 green. The lights were shaded, one with a globe 

 of scarcely perceptible pink tint, the other with a 

 similajT globe, but with a ruby chimney. On 

 turning out either of these, the shadow from the 

 other v.-as of the ordinary colour, but upon turning 

 it up again, the tv.o shadows reappeared, one pink, 

 the other green, as before. Can this be explained ? 

 — E. M . Stone, Ciimnor, Sydenham ; gth January, 

 1897. 



Larva of Common Eel. — The embr3-o condition 

 of the common eel has long puzzled embryologists. 

 Some time ago we drew attention in these pages 

 to its discovery by the Italian naturalists, Grassi 

 and Calandruccio. They found the larval con- 

 dition of eels to be identical with a well-known 

 marine form, Leptocephatus. That was in 1892, 

 though it had already been suggested these animals 

 v,-ere probably a lar\-al form of some fish, by an 

 American, as early as 1864. In "Nature," for 

 March i8th last, Mr. J. T. Cunningham figured 

 these early stages, and contributes some valuable 

 notes upon their history. It is curious that the 

 sun-fish appear to feed largely on the young 

 eels. This fact seems to prove that both thej- and 

 the eels are species li\-ing at great depths, as 

 neither are often seen at the surface of the sea. 

 "When the eel-fry enter the rivers they are about 

 one year old. The ova are deposited by the 

 parent eels in the sea, and they migrate from the 

 fresh-water for this purpose. 



Derivation of "Cleat." — With regard to the 

 derivation of " Cleat " Hill {ante pp. 165 and 225), 

 it is not unlikely it may have got the name from the 

 smooth face or escarpment to the Oxford clay 

 there. In the North of England coalfields, the 

 large smooth vertical surfaces of the coal are 

 known by the names of the "face," the " slyne," 

 or the " cleat " {vide Jukes and Geikie, " ]\Ianual of 

 Geology," p. 179). At Cleat Hill, Bedford, the 

 Oxford clay is v.-orked for brick-making from the 

 edge of the flat up the hill slope until it meets the 

 cap of boulder clay above, so that the whole face 

 of the hill — the cleat hill — is laid bare. Of course — 

 at least I suppose that the word " cleat " was applied 

 to this hill anterior to the time of the brick-making 

 operations carried on there. On referring to the 

 six-inch Ordnance map I see the words " Cleat 

 Hill " are engraved close to, and parallel with, the 

 steepest bit of the road that runs up over the 

 escarpment. Although there is a place on the 

 top of the hill called Cleat Hill Farm, the map 



