SCIENCE-GOSSIP 



E89 



The fly preying upon gnats in your July num- 

 ber, page nS, is most probably a species of 

 Hilara (family Empides, order Diptcra). If I 

 remember right the entomologist, John Curtis, 

 records a similar observation on Hilara in his 

 great work on British Insects. — C. R. 0. S. 



Nuts in the South. — This season seems to be 

 an especially good one for nuts, the copses of hazel 

 in the South of England appearing to bear an 

 unusually fine crop. It would be interesting to 

 know if this observation applies generally. David J. 

 Rise, 7, Jo/in Street, Bedford Row, London, W.C. 



Fauna and Flora of British Columbia. — -If 

 your correspondent who enquires about the fauna 

 and flora of British Columbia will apply to Alfred 

 R. C. Selwyn, LL.D., F.R.S., Ottawa, the Director 

 of the Geological and Natural History Survey of 

 Canada, he, doubtless, will get all the information 

 he requires. There is a very extensive catalogue 

 of Canadian plants by John Macoun, M.A., F.L.S., 

 published under the auspices of the above Survey. 

 — T. Rogers, 27, Oldham Road, Manchester. 



Marine Zoology. — In Science-Gossip for 

 September, 1894, page 153, Prof. Haddon gives 

 the following somewhat doubtful piece of advice : 

 — "The work of sorting and picking over one 

 haul of the dredge can be done while another 



haul is being made ; but some of 



the coarser material should be taken home, as 

 curious creatures lurk in crannies." It cannot be 

 too strongly impressed on beginners, that all 

 material which is not obviously barren should be 

 carefully .preserved and taken home. Very little 

 can be seen in the bottom of a rolling boat, and 

 to throw the material overboard, as Prof. Haddon 

 suggests, would be to part with, perhaps, the most 

 valuable portion. The material, on being brought 

 ashore, should be studied either " wet " or " dry," 

 either by sieving in a large washing-tub or by 

 drying on sacking thoroughly, and then sieving 

 through various-sized galvanized iron sieves so as 

 to sort the different sizes together. Personally I 

 pass all material through four sizes (occasionally 

 five), the largest sieve having a mesh of one inch, 

 while the smallest allows nothing but the finest 

 sand to pass. — E. R. Sykes, 13, Doughty Street, 

 London, W.C; August zgth, 1S94. 



By the courtesy of the Editors of Science-Gossip 

 I have had an opportunity of seeing the foregoing 

 letter. I am much obliged to Air. Sykes for 

 drawing attention to a sentence of mine which 

 might lead the beginner astray. I intended to 

 suggest that the work of rough sorting might be 

 done between the hauls of the dredge, as I am 

 naturally aware that thorough sorting is often 

 impossible under such conditions. It is better to 

 take home all the coarse material as Mr. Sykes 

 advises, except that which is obviously barren. — 

 Alfred C. Haddon, Cambridge. 



Foxey Stains. — Since my note appeared in your 

 last issue (page 163), I have given some time to the 

 examination of these stains, both with the micro- 

 scope and chemical re-agents, as well as to the 

 important question as to their removal, with some 

 satisfactory results. In " Xotes and Queries" for 

 1S50 and 1SS5 there are some hints on the 

 subject worthy of attention ; one writer remarking 

 on the acidity of the spots, and another describing 

 the attempts to remove them by means of strong 

 acids and chloride of lime, but condemning them 

 as worse than useless, and as destroying the 

 paper. In Science-Gossip too — 186S-1869, there 

 are interesting communications on these stains, 

 and on the dendritic crystals, and notably one 

 by the late Editor (1S69, page So), in which he 

 describes the fungoid origin of the former; but I 

 nowhere find any useful hint or suggestion as to 

 the remedy unless it be that of the print-seller 

 alluded to in my former note, which, I fear I 

 treated rather contemptuously. My own recent 

 experience confirms the statement of the writer in 

 "Notes and Queries" as to the acidity of the spots. 

 They are intensely acid, and besides this the 

 black dust, which I suppose consists of spores 

 (though the shape of the particles is very irregular) 

 is also acid ; it is often found in company with 

 the spots, and in such positions as it could 

 hardly have gained from the outside of the book. 

 On careful microscopic examination of the spots, 

 moistened with oil of cloves, I find both mycelium 

 and spores, particularly in those which show a 

 nucleus ; but in many of them nothing is to 

 be found, the vegetation having ceased, and the 

 stain only remaining, yet these too are acid. 

 With regard to their removal by chemicals, I 

 have found chloride of lime preferable to the 

 strong acids, and do not think it will injure the 

 paper if not used to excess, and promptly blotted 

 off when the stain has nearly disappeared. I say 

 nearly because if the mark is obstinate I content 

 myself with improvement of appearance without 

 attaining full success, and finishing off as described 

 hereafter. I speak with some confidence on the 

 matter because I have used chloride of lime for 

 many years instead of the- erasing knife in mv 

 MS. books, and after a good search can find only 

 two places in which I have slightly injured the 

 face of the paper, no doubt by over rubbing, or 

 insufficient blotting off. Still it acts very differ- 

 ently on different qualities of paper, and on some 

 by no means satisfactorily. For instance, on the 

 thick softish paper of the crayon portrait which I 

 mentioned in my last communication it acted 

 badly, and I had to use it so freely that I certainly 

 did mischief, though, of course, on a part of the 

 paper remote from the drawing. I was rather in 

 despair, when it occurred to me to try my friend 

 the print-seller's advice, and my success far ex- 

 ceeded my hopes, for with tinted crayons and a 

 "dump" I have effectually covered the deep 

 orange-coloured spots which disfigured the neck 

 and face, and restored my picture to something 

 like its original comeliness. The crayons are less 

 successful with books ; and I have rather failed 

 with a badly foxed engraving of Thorwaldsen's 

 beautiful statue of Schiller, forming the frontis- 

 piece to an edition of his works published in 

 Stuttgart, in 1840. I should have said that I use a 

 strong solution of the chloride, rubbing it into the 

 spots on both sides of the paper with a camel-hair 

 brush, and then dry it well with blotting-paper. — 

 as E. Amyot, Diss, Norfolk ; Sept 10th, 1894. 



