13 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Jan. 1, 1865. 



The house-fly is not the only insect which 

 is subject to the attacks of this moukl, the 

 common dun^-fiy being equally liable to it, 

 T!ie mould which attacks the silkworm [Bo- 

 trijtis hassiana), pi'oduciDg the well-known 

 disease, muscardine, has been the subject of 

 earnest investigation by those cultivators who 

 to their cost have suffered the visitation. 

 The fly-mould, however, belongs to a simpler 

 and lower organization than the Botrytis, and 

 bears the name o( Sjyorendonema muscce. The 

 first of these is the generic, or name of the 

 genus, to which the fly-mould belongs, and is 

 derived from a combination of three Greek 

 words : sporos, " seed," endon, " within," and 

 nema, a " thread," The structure of the 

 moiilds themselves suggested this compound 

 name, as the genus is characterized by pellucid 

 tubular threads, containing at first within 

 them the sporidia arranged in rows. This 

 particular species is called omiscce, from musca, 

 "a fly." The threads are simple, glued toge- 

 ther into somewhat lobed white tufts, which 

 assume a shape that we have already de- 

 scribed as resembling a cart-wheel. Some 

 observers have considered this fly-mould to 

 be the accompaniment of a disease, and only 

 developed after death ; but more recent in- 

 vestigations have undoubtedly established the 

 fact that the mould is the true predisposing 

 cause of death. Two other names have been 

 given to this mould by more recent authors, 

 consequent on referring it to other genera.* 



Such is a brief account of the troubles of 

 a fly, which, having partaken of our choicest 

 dainties uninvited, sipped our divine nectar, 

 stolen our sugar, and escaped the perils of the 

 milk jug, at last pays the penalty of nature, 

 by exchanging the gambols of a merry life for 

 the tetanic embraces of a mouldy death. 



W. M. B. 



FOUR YEA US' ACQUAINTANCE 

 WITH A TOAD. 



FOUR years last September, as I was wan- 

 dering through the meadows at Hastings, 

 near the spot called " Lover's Seat," I captured 

 ayoungfrog and also a young toad, and brought 

 them both, for the first time, on a visit to the 

 Great Metropolis. These creatures I placed in 

 a small conservatory, but poor Froggy soon 

 died. Toady, however, survived, and soon 

 appeared to have become acclimatized. I 



■» J^mpusa finiscfc — Cohn, in Iledwigia, 1S55. 

 lintomojiliihora w«6x'«— Ercseuius, in Botanische 

 Zeituug, 185G. 



occasionally saw him, but found that one 

 of his propensities was to get out of sight. 

 About November of the same year, I lost 

 him altogether, and for some time grieved 

 over the absence of my pet. Imagine my 

 astonishment, one fine morning, in the latter 

 part of March, whilst at breakfast, to observe 

 my old friend creeping over some moss, greatly 

 increased in size and ugliness during his four 

 months' absence. He would afterwards occa- 

 sionally absent himself for weeks, so that I 

 ceased to be alarmed for his welfare, even 

 though I might not have caught sight of him 

 for a month. In this manner we went on, 

 leaving Toady to take his holidays as he 

 pleased, until the sjjring of last year. During 

 one of his temporary vacations, I was watch- 

 ing the movements of some small insects, and 

 it appeared that my pet was watching them 

 also, for on their approaching within reach of 

 his tongue, that organ was instantaneously 

 thrust forward, and an insect disappeared. 

 Thus while losing sight of anew acquaintance 

 I became aware of the presence of an old 

 friend. I also derived fresh satisfaction in 

 observing his choice of food, and mode of 

 taking it. Thenceforward I became diligent 

 in snpi)lying him with the same kind of food, 

 so that he soon lost all appearance of shyness, 

 would come out of his hiding-place regularly, 

 day by day, until late in November, 1863, 

 v\fhen he again disappeared as the frost set in. 

 At tins time the v/eather was very severe for 

 so early a period : the aquarium was frozen, 

 the fish were killed, the glass was broken, 

 and all its contents became a solid mass, 

 jjlants, animals, and everything, embedded, as 

 it were, in a large ti'ansparent crystal. Again, 

 I was agreeably surprised, one beautiful spring 

 day in the early part of April, to observe my 

 old friend moving about, as if to inform us 

 that he had retui"ned again from his unknown 

 place of retreat. He had again grown fatter 

 and uglier than he was in the autumn, his 

 skin was blacker and coarser, and dark spots 

 covered the whole body. Yet his eye seemed 

 more brilliant and thoughtful. He came 

 direct to the same spot on which I had fed 

 him when last we met, more than four months 

 previously. He was sujii)lied with what we 

 term " garden-hogs," woodlice, worms, and 

 the lively little bhick ant. None of these 

 would he touch, if dead, or did not show un- 

 mistakable signs of active life. Then would 

 he fix his calculating eye, until the object 

 came within reach of his tongue ; this he 

 Avould dart at them, and in an instant the 

 object was gone. When satisfied, he would 

 return again to some quiet nook, out of sight. 



