April 1,1865.1 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



93 



FISH TATTLE. 



Ekls and Eisii Gaubage. — Eels arc particularly 

 fond of the offal of either mackerel, herrings, or 

 pilchards, and, by the aid of the oil as a clue, will 

 follow up-stream for a considerable distance, even 

 to the very hand of the person cleaning the fish. I 

 recollect one instance iu particular, where the offal 

 Avas actually dragged from the hands of an individual 

 cleaning- mackerel one evening iu a Devonshire 

 brook ; and on another occasion, in Looe harbour, iu 

 Cornwall, I was much amused in watching the actions 

 of the eels, flounders, and crabs, contending for the 

 possession of pilchard heads, &c., I had thrown 

 overboard. The eels and flounders would dispute 

 for the prize, but the crabs had it nearly all their 

 own way, and it was evident that both eels and 

 flounders held their pincers in great respect, and 

 were quite aware that the crabs were fully clad in 

 their suits of armour, without which they do not 

 venture far from some secure hiding-place, for 

 flounders and eels in tide-rivers prefer them to all 

 otjier food when they have cast their shell. On the 

 occasion above-mentioned, by placing some pilchard 

 offal in a shrimp-net, I took an eel rather over a 

 pound weight. — /. C, in the "Field." 



Obsekyations on the Common Eel. — In the 

 river Avon, at Guy's Cliflc, near Warwick, there arc 

 two distinct sorts, so far as appearance goes : the 

 black-skinned with white belly, and the olive-green 

 Avith white belly. Both are about the same size, 

 varying from l:t to 4| lbs. The best bait to catch 

 them Avith, during the summer-months, is the large 

 red worm, known by the name of the maiden dew- 

 worm, which is plentiful on turf-land. They only 

 come out of the turf after dark of a summer-night, 

 when the dew is on it. Then, as to the question, 

 " Do eels come out on to the turf-land to feed on 

 the dew-worm ? " I should say— and so would many 

 other eel-fishers that I have spoken to on the sub- 

 ject — "Yes, I think so, though I have never seen 

 one out." But I can say for a certainty that, if an 

 eel is caught on a night-line and taken out of the 

 water at day -break, when the dew is on the grass, 

 and set at liberty, it is perfectly capable of getting 

 about the grass, quite as fast as a duck can walk, 

 and always makes towards the water. I have fre- 

 quently noticed that the best place to set an eel-line 

 at night, in siuumer-time, is in shallow water, and 

 about a yard from the bank-side, which shows that 

 the eel comes to the edge of the water to feed, if it 

 does not go out of it. During the winter-months, 

 the eel is supposed to bvuy itself in mud in deep 

 water. To catch them in winter, the deepest and 

 muddiest places are the best ; the bait a small live 

 roach, — Stephen Long. 



;S A2TD aUESIES. 

 Why did the Bees go ? — A lady, living near 

 here, who kept bees, found one day this month that 

 all the bees of one hive had flown away leaving the 

 honey of their winter store, and only two dead'bees 

 could be found. Can any of your readers tell me 

 the cause of this ? — E, W., Rughy. 



Mounting PoLYZOA.—Your correspondent may 

 insure success by adopting a very simple plan, viz., 

 dipping the specimens, during life, into fresh water. 

 Oi course care must be taken that the tentaeula are 

 exposed at tlie moment of immersion (this can be 

 easily ascertained under the microscope), and that 

 the immersion be quite sudden. I have specimens 

 mounted last July, iu which the teutaeula are in 

 every stage of expansion. They are mounted in 

 " Br unswdck_ black" cells, in a medium of distilled 

 water, in which a few drops of creosote have been 

 placed, and then filtered. T\othing can exceed the 

 beauty, of the expanded tentaeula, each separate 

 thread retaining its original form and position. 

 This is particularly interesting in the case of the 

 Ctenostomatous polyzoa, in which the "invertile" 

 nature of the crown, from which the tentaeula 

 spring, is well shown. _ The Avicularia are also 

 fixed by the fresh water in the position in which the 

 "beak" chances to be at the moment of death, 

 whether entirely or partially raised. The vibracula, 

 on the contrary, are, I think, always pressed close to 

 the stem of the polyzoon. I have never succeeded 

 well with the less highly developed polypi. Their 

 tentaeula appear to be of a more perishable nature, 

 and soon fall into an uudistinguishable mass. — 

 W. W. Spicer. 



Skylark's Song in January.— Several corre- 

 spondents write to inform us of the skylark singing 

 in January, so that it must be said of it that it sings 

 " all the year round." 



WooDLAUK Wanted. — An anatomist _ pursuing 

 his researches on the structure of British birds, 

 requires a specimen of the woodlark, dead, but 

 fresh enough to dissect. Any correspondent able 

 and willing to aid him should apply to us for the 

 address. He will be repaid any incidental ex- 

 penses. 



Ely Parasites. — In answer to J. L. E., I should 

 think it very probable that the baggy protuberances 

 he refers to were the parasite, so common to the 

 dung beetle, and also found on humble bees, as 

 some time ago I caught a fly covered with them. — 

 E. B. 



Infusorial Earths (Tripoli).— I have tried 

 several examples obtained at the chemists', but can 

 make nothing of it. I should be glad of a little 

 genuine, and also the modus operandi of preparing 

 for the microscope. — T. B. 



Death among Young Eerns. — I am interested 

 and practically engaged in the propagation of ferns 

 by spores, but have had the mortification of seeing 

 hundreds of my young plants die before the first 

 frond had budded out. The cause of death appears 

 to have been a fungus growth, which makes its 

 appearance iirst on the edges of the pots in small 

 round spots, and gradually becomes deposited also 

 on the ferns in verij minute spots resembling: the 

 mealy matter formed on the under surlace of the 

 gold and silver ferns. Can you, or any of your 

 correspondents, inform me the best mode of pre- 

 venting the appearaace of those, and of 1 rcating the 

 plants which have been attacked i'—Zr. Ormeivd. 



