U2 



SCIENGE-GOSSIP. 



[June 1, 1865, 



EOTES AND aUEEIES. 



Manx Cats.— In the Burmese empire this species 

 of cat is well known, and a military friend, who was 

 with the army in t!ie conquest of that country, 

 brought me a pair from Ava, from which I had 

 quite a little family at Madras, and made a niost 

 acceptable present of them to an oflicer on leaving 

 India. You are in error in stating that this species 

 of cat have 7iot tails, for there is a little screw-like 

 knot, which forms a singular little round tuft of hair, 

 bein? tiie only tail, if such it may be called. I know 

 tiie Manx cat very well, having seen them often at 

 Vv'ighton, in Galloway, where I was in early life, and 

 have since been upwards of thirty-six years in India, 

 of which I spent fii'teen in Calcutta. — David Boss. 



Insects of Nova Scotia. — In 1863, being 

 obliged to leave Bermuda on account of failing 

 health, during the summer months I took my pas- 

 sage in the Cunard steamer Atp/ia, and in four days 

 found myself in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The passage 

 was an exceedingly pleasant one, and made very 

 attractive to me by having to cross the Gulf Stream. 

 I'hat stream, as most of your readers may know, is 

 almost as clearly delined in the ocean as any river 

 can be inland. The temperature and colour of the 

 water, the natural productions,, and especially the 

 gulf-v/eed, all proclaim that you are in it, and at 

 certain seasons of the year you are unmistakably 

 warned of its neighbourhood by the violent storms, 

 generally accompanied with lightning and thunder, 

 that agitate its sin-face. On arriving in Halifax, after 

 a few days spent in town, I proceeded to the house 

 of my friend, J. M. Jones, Esq. (author of " The 

 Naturalist in Bermuda"), a most ardent naturalist, 

 and with whom I had spent previously many happy 

 and interesting hours in Bermuda. His house is 

 situated in the woods, or rather, I should say, in the 

 "forest primeval," for man lias never disturbed the 

 country in some directions for hundreds of miles. 

 There, roaming in the woods, I regained in great 

 measure the strength I sought for. Having been an 

 enthusiastic entomologist in earlier days, i was soon 

 attracted by the number and beauty of the insects, 

 especially the butterflies, flitting around me; so, 

 providing myself vdth a box, I set to work, and in a 

 few weeks filled it. Porms exceedingly rare in 

 England seenied quite conmaon. The clouded yellow 

 was more abundant than our cabbage butterllies. 

 Two of the Eritillary tribe were very common 

 {Cyhele and Aphrodite, I believe), and later in Scy- 

 letnber the scarce painted-lady and the only while 

 butterfly in that part of tlie American continent, 

 Fieris oleracea. I captured duplicate specimens of 

 those 1 have mentioned, and shall be glad to send 

 them to any of your readers who may care to possess 

 them, as I do not desire to keep a collection of in- 

 sects myself, but am much interested in shells. 

 Where it is possible, I shall be very glad to receive 

 any English or foreign land-shell or fresh-water 

 duplicates in exchange (I may just mention that I 

 could make up a series or two of those of Bermuda 

 for any person who wished, and could exchange 

 others). I ought to mention the " Camberwell 

 beauty," which is a common sight in the streets of 

 Halifax ; but of such I was too late to capture many 

 specimens. I enclose my card, and should any of 

 your i-eaders care to have the insects, my best plan 

 vifill be to forward the specimens to you.— j^'. B. F. 



The Hive-bee and its Sting.— After using its 

 sting, the bee will always carefully withdraw it, if 



possible. In this case, the bee does not die ; but 

 only when it loses its sting by being unable to with- 

 draw it. When two queen-bees fight, each takes all 

 possible care not to iafliet the death-wound till she 

 can do so without being stung in return. Her ad- 

 versary's body is soft enough to allow her to with- 

 draw her sting uninjured. " E. W.'s "query is one 

 which cannot always be answered. It is not an un- 

 common occurrence for bees to quit their hive 

 v/ithout any apparent cause. — M. A. L. 



Cleaning Objects.— Will any correspondent 

 kindly tell me how to clean the pedicellaria _oi 

 echini and starfishes ? By cleaning, I mean getting 

 rid of the membrane by which both the head 

 and the stern are enveloped, and which renders them 

 opaque, even in balsam. Waterisuseless, and liquor 

 potassse causes the three members of the head to 

 separate and fall apart. — IF. W. S. 



Incubating Eobin. — I cut the following para- 

 graph from a Beading paper the other day; can any 

 of your readers corroborate the alleged fact ? — " A 

 robin is now sitting on eggs in a garden near South- 

 ampton. The nest is in a hole in a brick wall, near 

 the ground where a cat prowls. Bedbreast, how 

 ever, is safe unless she should happen to be seenby 

 Grimalkin, for the hen bird cannot be scented during 

 incubation — a wise provision of nature. Even the 

 female fox, when with young, has no scent, and can- 

 not be hunted." I have said alleged fact, for I have 

 great doubts on the matter, my own experience 

 evidencing to the contrary. — W. I. S. 



Cape Hens. — The Cape hen belongs to the family 

 of the petrels, and is the Procellaria Atlantica of 

 Goukl, and is one of the most common oceanic 

 binis.-jr. /. S. 



Colour op Birds' Eggs.— A question is asked in 

 the Eebruary number of Science Gossip as to 

 whether the eggs earliest or latestXeadi are deepest in 

 colour, or most definitely marked. Many years' close 

 observation leads me unhesitatingly to say that the 

 earliest-\'A\dL eggs possess this distinction. I have 

 paid much attention to the subject, and on two 

 occasions have had singularly_ favourable opportu- 

 nities for verifying my assertion. These were re- 

 spectively the eggs of the Nuthatch {Sltta Europeca) 

 and the llobin. Both nests were in such a position 

 that I could examine tlieni daily, and I found a 

 gradual diminution in the intensity cf the ground- 

 colour and markings in the eggs of each species, the 

 j^yA-/-laid egg being far darker in colour, and possess- 

 ing more numerous markings. I thiuk this is a 

 result we might reasonably expect, for the glands 

 secreting the colouring matter would naturally 

 become more and more exhausted of their contents 

 as each esg passed through the oviduct. Before I 

 saw the query I never heard this fact questioned. — 

 TV. I. S. 



Hissing or Sxake and Vifeu. — There is a dif- 

 ference between the hissing of these two serpents 

 which I think is not generally known. The viper 

 after each hiss always makes an equal noise in 

 drawing his breath in again. The snake hisses much 

 louder, but does not draw in again. — IF. R. Tate. 



Jerusalem Artichoke. — On page 118 I observe 

 a query : " Does this plant ever flower in England ? " 

 In 1861 I saw several specimens in blossom in a 

 kitchen-garden in Brompton, Middlesex ; the owner 

 looked on them as great curiosities, having previously 



