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SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



plant — provided, of course, that it escapes the 

 clutches of the more highly-organised inhabitants 

 of the ocean. — Thomas S. Bea/rdsmore. 



I wish I could be as successful in preserving the 

 colour of my sea-weeds as Mr. Neeve has been. 

 He has a great advantage in living near the sea, 

 and thus being able to mount his specimens in 

 fresh condition, whereas mine have always been 

 kept some time before mounting. I cannot rind 

 Harveyilla mirdbilisva. Harvey's " Phycologia," and 

 should like to know to which class it belongs. I 

 suppose it has been added to the list of marine 

 flora since that book was published. I would 

 suggest that these beautiful slides deserve a better 

 finish, and I trust Mr. Neeve will forgive me for 

 making the following suggestions : i.e. the first coat 

 of the ring should be of brown varnish or thick 

 gold size, to secure the cover-glass, and the white 

 zinc cement used is too thin. The mounting 

 medium appears to be glycerine jelly. — T. A. Shelton. 



The forms of fructification of marine algae are 

 well exhibited in these slides, and are worthy of 

 careful examination. I hope Mr. Neeve may con- 

 tribute a further series upon this subject. Miss 

 Phillips is to be congratulated upon her very suc- 

 cessful illustrations. To draw microscopical pre- 

 parations is excellent practice, as it helps, more 

 than any other method, to fix in one's mind the 

 characters and minute differences which exist 

 between allied species. I have added a small 



Fig. 7. Delesseria iu winter. 



drawing (fig. 7) from a well-known illustration 

 of the naked-eye appearance of Delesseria in 

 the winter. It may be of service to members 

 not having such an illustration in helping them 

 to understand from whence the leafy sporophylls 

 which are shown in the slides are obtained. The 

 branches are the midribs of fronds from which the 

 membranous part has decayed or fallen away. 

 These midribs are clothed with tufts of the sporo- 

 phylls or leafy lobes containing the tetraspores. 

 I should have liked to have added some illustra- 

 tions of Callitlwmnion, but feared to detain the 

 slides. This slide is a very pretty one, and shows 

 well the branched feathery fronds composed of a 

 single row of tubular cells. Tetraspores arranged 

 in berry-like receptacles and having lateral attach- 

 ments to the branches (ramuli) may be well made 

 out with a f-inch or i-inch objective. Antheridia 

 may also be observed. — J. R. L. Dixon, M.R. C.S., 

 L.R.C.P. 



There are beautiful figures of sections of Poly- 

 siphonia polymorph a. in Sowerby's "English Botany," 

 showing the "siphons" alluded to. — F. C. 3Iajor. 



[We do not think the foregoing notes call for 

 any particular editorial comment. Figs. 1 to 6 are 

 by Miss Florence Phillips ; fig. 7 is iby Dr. J. E. L. 

 Dixon. — Ed. Microscopy, S.-G.] 



Larva of Pieris Kapae in January. — On 

 the 21st of January last I found a half-grown larva 

 of this species at rest in our garden. Mr. Barrett 

 mentions in his " British Lepidoptera" that "the 

 larva has been found feeding even into December, 

 but always passes the latter part of the winter in 

 the pupa state." I do not recollect any record of 

 a partly-fed larva so late in the winter as this. — 

 1. H. Mead-Briggs, Rock House, Lyn mouth. 



Woodpecker Feeding on Ground. — Whilst 

 watching on December 16th last the movements of 

 a pair of woodpeckers (Gecimts viridis Lin.) on 

 Wimbledon Common, near London, a friend and I 

 were surprised to see one of the birds settle on 

 the ground. There it searched for worms and 

 insects, and we observed it consuming some of 

 each. Presumably the bark of the trees did not 

 yield sufficient food, so the bird was forced to thus 

 deviate from its usual arboreal habits. — John E. S. 

 Dallas, 19 Ulverscroft Road, East Dulwieh, S.E. 



Sparrows in Frost. — On a shady piece of 

 gravel walk hard with frost I noticed half a dozen 

 sparrows, both males and females, apparently try- 

 ing hard to get a dust bath. They opened their 

 wings, pressed their bodies close to the ground, 

 and shuffled along like creeping mice for about 

 six or eight inches at a time ; then, getting up, 

 shook themselves, frequently repeating the process. 

 I thought for a moment that it might be a sort of 

 love-dance, but the cocks and hens were equally 

 engaged, and I saw nothing to indicate that it was 

 more than an attempt at a bath ; but as there was 

 certainly no dust, one would think it must have 

 been an unsatisfactory performance — F. T. Mott, 

 Birstal Hill, Leicester, Feb. 1901. 



Nature Pictures of Lepidoptera.— Kef er- 

 ring to the last June number of Science-Gossip 

 (p. 32), in which Mr. Verity asked about impres- 

 sions of butterflies' wings, I recently came across 

 the following extract from " The Home Naturalist " : 

 " Spread a thick solution of gum arabic over a 

 sheet of line paper, so that it readily adheres to 

 the finger. Take off the wings of a dead butterfly 

 and lay them carefully on the gummed paper, 

 spread out as in the act of flying. Place another 

 sheet of paper over the wings, and rub them gently 

 with the finger, or the smooth handle of a knife. 

 The wings " ( 1 impressions) " will then be left on 

 the paper. Afterwards draw the form of the body, 

 with the head and antennae in the space between 

 the wings." Another way I have seen is to gum 

 some tissue paper all over, and also gum the page 

 of the book, or sheet of paper, whichever one may 

 use, placing the wings on the latter and putting 

 the former over them. This has the disadvantage, 

 however, of making the book bulky, as the wings 

 are left in ; and also of not being able to see the 

 colours as brightly as one could wish, because, 

 however fine the tissue and clear the gum, there is 

 always a deadening effect on the colours. — J. H. 

 Wright. 18 Chorley Old Road, Bolton. 



