ApkilI, 1S65.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



95 



The Sandpipee,. — In answer to the question, Does 

 the sandpiper dive when wounded ? I can say it 

 does. One evening, in January hist, I was outwild- 

 dnpk sliooting on some flooded meadows at Guy's 

 ClifFe, Warwick, and just at the edge of dusk I saw 

 a green sandpiper come flying past where I was 

 standing. I shot at it, and wounded it. It dropped 

 on the water, and lay for, perhaps, half a minute — 

 then recovered itself a little, and instantly dived out 

 of sight. But it was so fatally wounded that it came 

 to the top again and died on the water. I have had 

 the bii'd stuffed, as it is a very pretty one, and quite 

 rare in these parts. A few days before the sandpiper 

 was shot, the keeper at Guy's Ciiffe shot, in the 

 same flooded meadow, a pair of dun-birds, or po- 

 chards, as they are sometimes called. They are 

 something of the duck species, and very rare birds 

 in this part of the country .^^. Long, Guy's Ciiffe, 

 IFarwlck. 



PiiESEHYATiVE PowEROF Fekns.— In this article 

 the writer inquires. Is it due to an essential oil ? 

 Probably it is, at least as regards the male fern 

 {Lastrea filix mas). When an ethereal tincture of 

 male fern is submitted to distillation the distillate 

 smells of the fern, and there is left behind in the 

 retort an oleo-resinous extract, which also has a well- 

 marked odour of the fern. From this it seems that 

 the preserva,tive power is due to the volatile oil and 

 the resin, both which are inimical to insects. — 

 A. J. n. 



Eels (Migratory). — The eel is a fresh -water 

 fish in reality, but it will migrate in the autumn 

 towards the sea, if it can by any possibility get into 

 rivers communicating with it, and as it can live for a 

 time out of water, provided its gill apertures are 

 kept moist , "0.0." may continually meet with spe- 

 cimens of the Jylurcsnidfs tribe " ^n*iggiing through 

 the dewy grass to the nearest water-course." Eels 

 bury themselves in the mud during the winter, and 

 return in the spring up the rivers, together Vv'ith 

 their young fry. I believe some persons say that eels 

 go out by night on a sort of poaching expedition in 

 pursuit of frogs and slugs ; but I always fancied 

 that, when so met, they were on their travels from 

 "stagnant pond" to purer quarters. — H. Wattiey. 



Hedgehog among^ the Strawberries. — In 

 your March number the tortoise was mentioned as 

 being fond of strawberries. We had, in our garden 

 at it'orthing, a hedgehog who displayed the same 

 taste. Not, indeed, for eating the strawberries, so 

 far as we are aware, but for gathering them, both 

 green and ripe, and piling them in little p^'ramidal 

 heaps; thus causing more waste than the slugs, from 

 the depredations of which we expected him to de- 

 fend us. Are hedgehogs accustomed to feed upon 

 fruit as well as upon animal food ? — H. J. D. 



Adjustments. — Will yon give me a little infor- 

 mation respecting what is termed "adjustments" 

 to the object-glasses of the microscope, as, being 

 about to purchase a 1-inch and i-inch object-glasses, 

 I desire to know the advantage gained by the addi- 

 tional expense? — I'.i.— (The adjustment is a contri- 

 vance hj_ means of which the aberrations caused by 

 the varying^ thickness of the glass covers are over- 

 come, and is necessary for object-glasses of i-iuch, 

 or higher powers, only!)— F". M. B. 



Can any pf your readers inform me if they have 

 ever met 'ndth the Goiiium pectorale in water col- 

 lected from streams, ponds, or ditches, for micro- 

 scopic examination, and if so, under what conditions ? 

 — /. J. B. 



Dragon-Flies.— "A young entomologist " asks 

 what is the best method of preserving the colour of 

 dragon-flies ? — If taken as soon as they emerge, and 

 before having eaten anything, their colours will re- 

 main bright. If this cannot be insured, the body 

 must be slit longitudinally on the underside, and 

 the contents removed, a small roll of blotting-paper 

 inserted, and the skin closed over it. Finally, the 

 insects must be dried as speedily as possible: a liitls 

 artificial heat is desirable, but not too much, or they 

 will become siiriveUed. — F. M. 



Food op Salamander (see page 71). — Sala- 

 manders do not live in water, nor on water, but in 

 the neighbourhood of water. Keep the reptile in a 

 good large fern-case, so arranged that he can get 

 out of sight under the rocks ; he will appear every 

 now and then, during the summer, when he will 

 take a good piece of raw beef with a wide-mouthed 

 snap, handed to him on the point of a stick, and be 

 thankful for it._ In winter he will quietly sleep for 

 montlis, awaking in the genial spring, and, re- 

 appearing for his food, relish it with an appetite. — 

 Charles Strange. 



Host Feather Star.— I spent some weeks, last 

 summer (1864), at Dinard, a charming little water- 

 ing-place near S. Malo. In the month of July I 

 had the satisfaction of finding no less than five or 

 sis specimens of the young form of Comatula ro- 

 sacea long knovvn as Pentacrinus E/iropccus. They 

 were all attached to Corallina officinalis, and were 

 washed ashore, with the exception of one which was 

 growing on a rock at about low-water mark. It was 

 exceedingly interesting to watch them under the 

 microscope, waving their long arms slowly to and 

 fro, probably jast as their gigantic lelatives, the 

 encrinites, did thousands of years ago ! I saw two 

 of them detach themselves from the stem. The 

 animals made no effort to swim, but sank to the 

 bottom of the glass, where they made feeble but 

 vain efforts to move, as the smooth surface of the 

 glass aflbrded no hold to the extremity of their arms, 

 which exactly resembles a bird's-claAV. Will any 

 reader say where this form of comatula has been 

 found on the English coast ? Is it rare ? It was 

 first seen by Mr. J. Thompson in the Cave of Cork, 

 in the year 1833.— F". W. S. [In Forbes's "British 

 Star Fishes,'' it is said to be found oii many parts 

 of the British coast, Penzance, Milford Haven, 

 west coast of Scotland, and near Dublin, at Cork, 

 and on the shores of Antrim and Dovfu.— Ed. Sc. O. 



Wanted — A Diatom!— Could any of your cor- 

 respondents supply me with a little material con- 

 taining the diatom Eiipodiscus Argus ? In return I 

 shall be glad to give either Richmond or Nova Scotia 

 diatom aceous earth. Upper Peruvian guano, or 

 soundmgs from China seas. — W.J.B. 



What are the Fish about ?~Iu a fresh-water 

 aquariimi I possess, I have very frequently noticed the 

 fishes working with their mouths at the glass sides. 

 Is this owing to attractive microscopic matter col- 

 lected there, or because air-bells are generally so 

 plentifully on the sides, or are they only in search 

 of a way out ? I have observed this so very often 

 that I should much like an explanation of it. 

 —Z. Y. X. 



Bite op Viper.— Woidd you have the kindness 

 to inform me whether any danger would arise from 

 a wound by the fang of the viper {Pelias berus) 

 twenty -four hours after its death? — W. B. D. 



