42 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



LEeb. 1, 1865. 



Wasps in Captivity. — Last year I procured a 

 wasps' nest by placing equal parts of gunpowder 

 and sulphur into the hole, covering the top with a 

 sod, applying a match, and thus rendering the in- 

 mates harmless for a time. I then dug out the nest 

 whole and placed it with its insensible inmates on a 

 board, covering the nest over with a bell-glass sufii- 

 ciently raised by four thin wedges of wood to admit 

 air, and to enable me with a wire to clean away any 

 refuse dead wasps, &c., but not high enough to allow 

 any of the wasps to escape. I then fed them every 

 morning with sugar, and thus kept them till the first 

 week in November, when, I regret to say, I cleared 

 them away. During the last few days only nine of 

 tliem appeared, and these only in the middle 

 of the day ; in the morning and night they either 

 disappeared into the nest, or clung to the outside 

 and appeared quite dormant. It would be very in- 

 teresting to watch them through the winter and on 

 the return of spring. I shall endeavour to do so 

 this year. Perhaps some of your readers will do the 

 same. By the waj% can you tell me how it is that 

 there are no wasps in London ?— J. E. 



Crickets and Cockiioaches.— My present resi- 

 dence, an old country house, was neither infested 

 with cockroaches nor crickets until very lately. 

 The cockroaches made their appearance about four 

 years ago, and increased so rapidly and to such an 

 extent that every night the kitchen-floor was black 

 with them when the candle had been out about an 

 hour. They made their way into every place, and 

 although we tried every means to kill them they 

 seemed to increase the faster, as if in mockery of 

 our efforts. During last winter the chirp of the 

 cricket was heard by the fire-side, and they in- 

 creased from the solitary one to a full and noisy 

 chorus, and as they increased the cockroaches 

 decreased, and now (August) there is not a cock- 

 roach to be fouud. It has long been one of the 

 articles of "folk-lore" that the two will not live 

 together, and here is a proof. A neighbour of mine, 

 a large farmer, has lost the crickets and is pestered 

 with the cockroaches, which live and increase in 

 spite of shoe-heel, traps, poppy-leaves, elder- 

 leaves, or beetle-poison.— 17. Ranson, York. 



FISH TATTLE. 



The New Eish, — Eourteen young specimens of a 

 new edible fish {Silurns glams) have been recently 

 imported from Wallachia, for the purpose of intro- 

 ducing them into the waters of this country. 



Sauion Breeding in the Tay.— The report 

 recently published states that the late spawning 

 season is the best that has been known in tlie Stor- 

 montfield ponds since their establishment ten years 

 ago. Up to the 22nd of December last, upwards 

 of 300,000 salmon eggs had been deposited in the 

 breeding-boxes, and the ponds were swarming with 

 young salmon hatched in March and April last. The 

 average length of time required at Stormontfield for 

 suliiion eggs to ripen into fish is 120 days. It has 

 also been ascertained beyond doubt that a smolt of 

 a year old going down to the sea may return in a 

 few months as a grilse of four pounds' weight, while 

 its brother and sister fish which have not visited the 

 sea remain tiny pairs of about half-an-ounee weight. 

 The various stages of development at Stormontfield 



appear to take place at the following dates. An egg 

 deposited in the ponds about Christmas comes to 

 life in April, remains a parr until about April the 

 following year, when, being seized with its migratory 

 instinct, it departs for the sea. _ If recaptured in 

 July it has become a grilse, weighing about four 

 pounds, and if again set free and recaptured at a 

 later period it will be a salmon weighing ten or twelve 

 pounds. Upwards of a million of pond-bred fish 

 have now been set at liberty in the Tay, and the re- 

 sult has been a satisfactory rise in the salmon rental 

 of that fine river. The most curious speciality in 

 connexion with the piscicultural operations at Stor- 

 montfield is the circumstance that only one-half of a 

 brood of young salmon go down to the sea at the 

 expiration of about a year from their birth, the 

 others remain in the ponds a year longer, and do not 

 become smolts until they are turned two years old. 

 The operations at Stormontfield have been so suc- 

 cessful that it is intended to increase the number of 

 breeding-boxes. — Atlienamm. 



Salmon in Australia. -^At the third annual 

 meeting of the Acclimatisation Society of A^ictoria, 

 held at'llel bourne on the llth Nov. last. Dr. E.Black 

 reported that the salmon at Badger's Creek were 

 going on as prosperously as could be wished. Dr. 

 Officer, a visitor from Tasmania, gave a long account 

 of the salmon and trout in Tasmania, hatched from 

 ova sent there by the Acclimatisation Society, which 

 were going on exceedingly well. There were about 

 4,000 salmon and 300 trout ; and the former were 

 expected to be on their return trip from the ocean 

 in a twelvemonth. So far the experiment has been 

 perfectly successful. Arrangements have been made 

 to obtain a fresh supply of salmon ova from England. 



Gobies in an_ Aquarium.— I kept some gobies 

 for a length of time in a salt-water aquarium, and 

 used to feed them with bread-crumbs, which I drop- 

 ped into the water a few at a time. In a short time 

 the gobies quite recognized us wdien we came near 

 the. aquarium, and would all swim at once to the 

 side, and they v/ere so tame that they would take 

 the bread from my fingers, and even jump out of the 

 water to get it. After I had had them some little 

 time they began to breed, and attached their eggs 

 to the side of the aquarium in the same kind of way 

 in which a caterpillar affixes its tgg to a leaf. Then 

 the male goby at once set-to to guard, and it was 

 vei-y amusing to watch how fiercely he -would attack 

 any creature coming near, puffing his cheeks out in 

 a curious manner. He constantly attached himself 

 by his pectoral fins close to the eggs, or kept swim- 

 ming near them. Unfortunately none were hatched, 

 as the crabs and periwiukles were too much for 

 them, and devoured them, though there were several 

 batches of eggs laid. I am sorry to say, that having 

 to leave home, the aquarium was neglected and 

 spoilt, since which time I have not renewed it. I 

 see some gobies are said to build nests; but they 

 must be of a different species. — H. J. S. 



"\ have seen 

 A curious child, who dwelt upon a tract 

 Of inland ground, applying to his ear 

 The convolutions of a smooth-lipped shell ; 

 To which, in silence hushed, his very so'ul 

 Listened intensely, and his countenance soon 

 Brightened with joy ; for from within were heard 

 Murmurings, whereby the monitor expressed 

 Mysterious union with its native sea." 



TFordsworfh, 



