SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



235 



Helix hortensis, mons. sinistrorsum. — I found 

 a fine specimen of Helix hortensis, mons. sinistrorsum, 

 near York, on May 17th of this year. It is a 

 full-grown specimen, not of the ordinary banded 

 form, but a beautiful yellow, rather differently 

 formed about the mouth by being turned a little 

 downward and the aperture rather oblong. — /. 

 Hawkins, 17, Windsor Street, York ; Nov. 12th, 1894. 



Dendritic Crystals. — We have received from 

 Mr. E. E. Slosson, of the University of Wyoming, 

 Laramie, Wyo., a specimen of glazed blue MS. 

 paper, containing three groups of dendritic crystals. 

 It will be remembered that Mr. A. F. Tait, in his 

 article on these crystals in books, mentioned their 

 absence from paper manufactured out of Britain. 

 Mr. Slosson says that the paper sent is probably 

 of American manufacture, as it was recently pur- 

 chased from the Central School Supply House, 

 Chicago. 



Dendritic Crystals. — Mr. Leonard F. Christian, 

 Harlington, Dunstable, writes : "I have found some 

 dendritic crystals in a penny paper-covered book of 

 sixteen pages, published as recently as the end of 

 last month. There are four large crystals and 

 numerous smaller ones. I should think that the 

 most likely explanation is that the book has been 

 printed on paper which has been made out of old 

 paper rich in these crystals, the more so as one or 

 two of the largest seem to have been pressed 

 together into a lump, with the exception of a few 

 of the branches. So it seems that we may look for 

 these crystals in modern books quite as much as in 

 those published between the years 1835-82." 



Albino Sparrows. — During the last two or three 

 years I have frequently seen semi-albino sparrows 

 within a few hundred yards of the offices of 

 Science-Gossip. They are mostly white, with 

 patches of the normal colour on the top of the head 

 and base of the wings, but, as the size and position 

 of the brown patches varies, there are certainly 

 more than one individual. I have always seen 

 them, however, close to the same spot, viz., opposite 

 the Treasury Office in Whitehall ; my inference is 

 that they are the offspring of one pair of birds 

 nesting in the neighbourhood, which have a 

 permanent tendency to transmit this peculiarity to 

 their young. I was very much surprised to notice 

 how little attention was attracted by these abnormal 

 birds in a crowded thoroughfare, for although 

 scores of people passed within a few yards of them 

 every minute as they hopped about the road, hardly 

 anyone but myself has ever appeared to notice 

 them. — Gilbert A. Arrow, 53, Union Grove, Clapham, 

 S.W.; Nov. 13th, 1894. 



Scarcity of Butterflies. — Several corres- 

 pondents comment on the scarcity of butterflies. 

 Although not so plentiful as in the summer of 1S93, 

 and taking into consideration the small amount of 

 sunshine, I think that in Cumberland we have had 

 no cause for complaint. I noticed a number of 

 hibernating species in Ennerdale in the spring, 

 and the three common white species (Pieris) were 



plentiful in this neighbourhood. The orange-tip 

 (Ettchloe cardamines) is always rare in my immediate 

 vicinity, but in the northern part of the county it 

 is common enough. In July I found the silver- 

 washed fritillary (Argynnis papilia), the small 

 tortoise-shell [Vanessa urticcc), the red admiral 

 (V. atalanta), and several other species, quite 

 common in Barrowdale, and I think I never saw so 

 many small heaths [Cccnonympha pamphilus) as I did 

 one day this summer at Frizington. In August, 

 small tortoise-shells and meadow-browns (Epinephele 

 ianira) swarmed in the lanes round Carlisle. Tho 

 blues were not so common this year as last, but in 

 sheltered nooks along the coast they were common 

 enough. The small copper (Polyommatus phlceas), 

 too, was quite common. Last year (1893) a 

 specimen of Colias edusa was taken at St. Bees. 

 One absentee, however, I did notice, and that was 

 the grayling (Satyrus semele). — Jas. Murray, White- 

 haven; November 1st, 1894. 



Scarcity of Butterflies. — The various notes 

 contributed to Science-Gossip, from widely 

 different districts, upon the scarcity of butterflies 

 during the past summer appear to indicate that 

 the scarcity has been by no means local, but very 

 general. In this district, which is generally so well 

 favoured with butterfly life, the small number of 

 some of the commonest species has been most 

 noticeable. I have especially marked the absence 

 of Vanessa urticce this year, which has been all the 

 more apparent after the great abundance of the 

 larvae in the summer of 1893. In the early part of 

 that season it was almost impossible to visit a 

 clump of stinging nettles without finding a colonv 

 of larvae on them, and one naturally expected to 

 see swarms of the perfect insect later in the season, 

 and again this year ; but it was not so, for during 

 the autumn of last year they were not more 

 abundant than usual, and this year they have been 

 conspicuous only by their absence. What has been 

 the cause of this unusual scarcity in this particular 

 branch of insect life ? I venture to think that 

 either of the two following causes may be account- 

 able for it. The whole of the summer of 1893 was, 

 as we all know, an extremely dry and hot one, the 

 drought being- beyond all record, causing a 

 very large amount of vegetation to die off owing 

 to the lack of moisture, and it seems probable 

 that the same cause may have had a similar 

 effect upon various larvae, for the} - , failing to 

 procure the necessary amount of nourishment 

 in their food would either have perished before 

 reaching the pupal stage, or, even if they did sur- 

 vive to get so far as that, may not have possessed 

 the requisite strength to enable them to emerge in 

 the perfect state. Birds also may have been an 

 important factor in the matter ; it is well known 

 that they act a large part towards keeping in check 

 the increase of insects. The entire period of last 

 year's breeding season was so warm and genial it 

 was most favourable for the multiplication of birds, 

 and the parents as a matter of course demanded a 

 larger supply of insectivorous food for their 

 nestlings. The fine summer being followed by a 

 mild, open winter, man)- birds, which would 

 probably have perished had the winter been a 

 severe one, survived. As a consequence of the two 

 causes, our hedgerows, meadows and woods appear 

 this year to have been much fuller of their feathered 

 denizens than is often the case, and no doubt many 

 insects have been diminished in number in propor- 

 tion to the increase of birds. — ■/. Herbert Allchin, 

 Maidstone; November yth, 1894. 



