13G 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[JUN£ ], 1865. 



The TiiRTJSir at Eo^ie. — The tlinisli has for cen- 

 turies been a very popular bird in all those countries 

 of which it is an inhabitant, and, as is well known 

 to all those of our readers who may be skilled in 

 classical loi'c, was highly prized by the Uoraans, not 

 merely for its song, but also for the delicacy of its 

 flesh. Thrushes were as common in the Roman 

 markets during the reigns of the twelve Csesars as 

 larks are at the present day in our own Leadenhall, 

 and on account of the estimation in which they 

 were held, fetched on occasions very respectable 

 prices, frequently being sold for as high a figure as 

 would be reckoned by six shillings of onr own money. 

 The fattening of thrushes for these markets was a 

 regular branch of trade with Roman bird-catchers, 

 and the chief iugredients nsed in making the birds 

 plump aud juicy for the table of epicures were ripe 

 fresh figs aud wheat meal. Horace himself, a 

 regular hon vivant, informs ns that "nothing is 

 better than a fat thrush," and he was certainly a 

 good judge of such matters. — Once a Week. 



IMewts. — On Eebruary 27th I obtained three 

 web-footed newts {Lissotriton. palmipcs). Two of 

 them, a male and female, died the following week ; 

 the other, a male, in which the filament in the tail 

 was j ust appearing, is living now. On March 15th he 

 changed his skin, and not succeeding in quite getting 

 the old skin off one of his fore feet, the limb inflamed 

 very nnich, and after a few days came off just above 

 the foot. As the poor creature did not appear to 

 suffer much, but seemed to be enjoying himself, I 

 liave since kept it in a glass alone. On visiting 

 the pond, in the end of April, from which I took 

 it, I found many newts in full dress, with fila- 

 ment and web, but the one in solitary confinement 

 has advanced no further, either in filament or web, 

 than he was on March 1st. The injured limb has be- 

 come apparently thoroughly healed now, and appears 

 to be growing longer. The newt never uses it in 

 swimming, but allows it to hang, or rather stand 

 out, quite motionless. Are there any authentic 

 instances of newts reproducing a limb that may be 

 lost ?— 72. Bl. 



Stutteeehs in the Erontieks. — In Great 

 Britain, I think, there is an excess over the average 

 amount of stutterers in the North, where our lan- 

 guage meets the Gaelic. Where a mixed language 

 is spoken, the majority are unable to speak the one 

 or the other perfectly, and the result is, that they 

 find difliculties in both ; whence arises a certain hesi- 

 tation, the forerunner of stuttering. If this be true, 

 we might, a priori, expect a large number of stut- 

 terers and stammerers at the frontiers of countries 

 in wliich the languages differ ; and I believe this to 

 be the case. — Hunt on Stammering. 



The European Swallows {Hir undines). — Al- 

 luding to the absence of Ilirundo rvfula from his 

 European list, Mr. Newman says; — '"This pretty 



swallow is a native of Africa, and particularly 

 abundant in the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good 

 Hope, from which circumstance it is called in 

 Gmelin's ' Systema Naturaj ' Hirundo capensis. It 

 occasionally comes more northward, and has been 

 seen inEgypt in flocks, and accidental stragglers have 

 been observed in Sicily ; several have been killed at 

 Palermo, and a few have killed themselves by flying 

 against the lighthouse at Messina. Temminek has 

 observed four or five females in the market of St. 

 Gilles ; and the Marquis of Durazzo possesses the 

 skins of a male and female killed in the neighbour- 

 hood of Genoa. Giving fidl credit to all these state- 

 ments, I still doubt whether I should mention this 

 South African bird were I again to enter on the task 

 of defining the purely European species of hirun- 

 dines. I may perhaps express my regret that 

 Temminek should have changed the name of this 

 bird from capensis to rufula; the first name is truth- 

 ful, aud ought to have been retained. Another 

 species, the Hirundo Boissonneauti of Temminek, 

 has been twice found in the south of Spain ; but I 

 cannot regard this as establisliing a claim for it as 

 a European species. I am, therefore, content to 

 abide by my list as already referred to." — Bdioard 

 Newman^ in The Field. 



Deying Staefish. — Starfishes may be dried so 

 as to retain their natural colours almost unimpaired 

 by immersing them in alcohol of moderate strength 

 for about a minute, or just long enougli to destroy 

 life and produce contraction of the tissues, and 

 afterwards drying them rapidly by artificial heat. 

 The drying is best effected by placing them upon an 

 open cloth stretched tightly upon a frame and sujj- 

 ported a few feet above a stove. Care should be 

 taken not to raise the heat too high, as the green 

 shades change to red at a temperature near that of 

 boiling water. By this process I have succeeded in 

 preserving the delicate shades of red, purple, and 

 orange of the species found on the coast of Nevv^ 

 England, specimens of which are in the ]\Iuscum of 

 Yale College. The same process is equally appli- 

 cable to Echini and Crustacea.—^. E. Verrill, in 

 Silliman's Journal. 



EossiL Teeth and Scales oe Fish are abun- 

 dant m the thin stratum of black shale which over- 

 lies the low main seam of coal at Dudley, Cramling- 

 ton, and West Cramlington collieries, Northumber- 

 land ; and jaws, with teeth, and spines in excellent 

 preservation, are far from scarce in the same lo- 

 calities. The average depth of the collieries or 

 pits is 100 fathoms. I shall be glad to exchange 

 the teeth aud scales for rare diatomacere.— 1'. P. B. 



The more we contemplate the symmetrical struc- 

 tures presented before us, the more do we find to 

 admire : the more we probe into their nature and 

 purpose, the greater our wonder.— /S"// JoJin Graham 

 BaUjell. ■ 



