SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



43 



Albino Bat. — On September ist, 1889, between 

 I li ntley and Farnham, Hants, at about 8 p.m., I saw 

 an albino bat. It was a small species, and I was well 

 able to observe it as it was flying round trees by the 

 n ladside. — H. S. Fremlin, Mereworth, Kent. 



Otters. — These animals are said to be increasing 

 in numbers in Sussex, especially near Arundel. 

 We doubt their being so rare on many rivers in 

 England as is generally supposed. They are 

 fairly common on some of the tributaries of the 

 Thames. We believe they are not unrepresented in 

 any of our larger counties. 



Ferns Eaten by Sheep. — When at Llangollen 

 last summer I noticed that the tufts of lady-fern, 

 Athyrium filix-fcvmiiia were in almost all cases 

 nibbled — by sheep, I presume — while the male fern, 

 Nephrodium filix-mas was untouched. Why? Is the 

 latter poisonous or disagreeable ? — /. W. Walker, 

 Cefu Llys, Stanley Road, Watford; Feb. 1894. 



Science at the Free Libraries. — We have 

 received from the Borough of Nottingham Free 

 Library, the Class List No. 3 (Science) and two 

 Supplements. Various branches of natural science 

 are well represented in that library. We have also 

 received several letters asking advice as to the 

 choice of scientific books for public libraries. This 

 quite confirms Mr. Carrington's statement, made 

 last month, about the want of an authoritative 

 list of the best books in every branch of science. 



Pupa of Vanessa 10. — Mr. Barrett in Vol. I. 

 of " British Lepidoptera," now appearing, mentions 

 that he has not seen the pupa of Vanessa to in its 

 natural habitat, and has some doubt as to where it 

 is to be found. When at school, I used to spend 

 my summer holidays at Summerstown, co. Cork, 

 V . io was very common there, as common an 

 imago as V. urtica, and much commoner as larvae 

 and pupa. I have repeatedly watched the larvae 

 pupating, and bred the imago from pupae which I 

 have found, so that there can be no mistake. The 

 pupa of V . io is attached by the tail to the underside 

 of a nettle-leaf. A small silken web is spun 

 covering a portion of the underside, and from this 

 the pupa hangs head downwards. It is usually 

 suspended from the mid-rib, about one-third or 

 one-fourth of the distance from the base towards 

 the tip. When looked at from above, the leaf 

 hides it, and the attachment is so near the base, 

 that it is not bent downwards to any marked extent, 

 and so does not attract notice. The pupa is 

 easily visible, however, when the nettles are looked 

 at sideways or from beneath. — J. R. Holt, 6, 

 Harrington Street, Dublin; Feb. 1894. 



Sensitiveness of the Eyes of Frogs, &c. — 

 Everyone knows how it feels when any foreign 

 body is blown into, or in any other way gets access 

 to the delicate and sensitive membrane which 

 covers the human eye. This sensitiveness seems 

 to be a mark of a highly-organised animal, for 

 when we get lower down in the scale of life it 

 appears to be either present in a more limited 



degree, or absent altogether. Lizards have the 

 power of closing their eyes, while snakes have not, 

 and in this the latter group of reptiles resemble 

 the fishes, whose eyes are only capable of being 

 slightly shifted backwards and forwards in their 

 sockets. In the case of frogs and toads, 

 sensitiveness is seen in an intermediate decree, as I 

 have seen leeches gliding and twisting about over 

 the eyes of frogs sitting in the water of my vivarium 

 without their being at once pushed away or the 

 eyes of the amphibia depressed ; but one or the 

 other or both of these events takes place sooner or 

 later in all observed instances, showing that a 

 certain amount of irritation must be felt. Frogs 

 and toads always depress their eyes when those 

 organs are touched by pieces of grass, twigs, or 

 other stiff objects. When the eye is re-opened, 

 a transparent membrane is seen to roll down to 

 the basal part. It would be interesting to know 

 how it is that snakes and fishes, and, as we have 

 seen, frogs and toads also to some extent, are able 

 to dispense with that sensitiveness of the outer 

 part of the visual organs which is so characteristic 

 of the higher animals, doubtless serving as a 

 protection where it exists.— -F. P. Perks, ril, St. 

 Martin's Lane, London, W.C. 



British Reptiles in Winter. — Wishing to 

 observe the time of appearance of frogs and newts 

 this year, I frequently visited the ponds about 

 Acton and Neasden, in Middlesex, during the 

 winter. The first frogs appeared at Acton ; there 

 I saw a few sitting around the ponds at sunset on 

 January 19th, 20th and 21st, one of which I caught, 

 and found to be already somewhat big with spawn. 

 This was the first occasion on which I saw frogs in 

 any number, although during the mild weather in 

 December last a few appeared for a short time — on 

 December 18th, about mid-day, three or four frogs 

 dived away when I approached the bank of a pond, 

 and on December 27th I saw two in the same pond. 

 After January 22nd there were one or two very cold 

 days, and I saw no more frogs until February 3rd, 

 when I found one, fat with spawn, in a pond near 

 Neasden. On the same day, about 2 p.m., I 

 observed, to my great surprise, a newt swimming 

 over the bottom of a neighbouring pond in the 

 sunlight, and in a few minutes secured two female 

 warty newts, one of which was big with eggs, and 

 five common newts, of which four were males with 

 low crests. This discovery led me to watch care- 

 fully the Acton ponds, and on the Gth February-, 

 after sunset, I caught a male warty newt, with a 

 high crest, and a female small newt apparently 

 leaving the water. Since the 6th I have seer, newts 

 of both species every day, and on February 10th I 

 saw many in almost every pond between Twyford 

 Abbey and East Acton. "Although the night of the 

 12th was frosty, and the remains of the ice still 

 floated at 2 p.m. on the 13th, yet on stirring the 

 weeds of a pond at Acton three common newts 

 swam out in a very lively manner and escaped to 

 the depths. On the night of the 13th it froze, again, 

 and at 8 a.m. the following morning the ponds 

 were covered with thin ice, but on app g the 



edge of a pond several pairs of frogs swam away 

 under the ice, and at the other side of the pond I 

 found a frog sitting beneath the bank where tin- 

 ice had already melted. The tempera < then 

 33 ! The female frogs are now very kit, and 

 frequent the shallow parts of the ponds, which 

 shows they are beginning to think of laying their 

 spawn. — Hugh Bromley, 52, Elsham Road, Lond n,W. 

 Feb. 1 6th, 1894. 



