166 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[July 1, 1865. 



NOTES AND aUESIES. 



Scales on White Cabbage Butterfly (pas;© 

 140). — I presume your correspondent, Mr. ¥/. H. 

 Ileynolds, alludes to the singular-formed and beau- 

 tiful scales of the White Cabbage Butterfly, with a 

 tuft or sort of root at the narrow end, as in the slide 

 enclosed; if so, he will readily find them among the 

 other scales, on upper side of wing : there is only a 

 small proportion — perhaps about 1 in 20— of the 

 tufted scales.— £". Greeiihowgk. 



The tufted scales of the White Cabbage Butterfly 

 (Pieris Brassic/s), as well as those of the Meadow- 

 brown {Hipparchia Janira), are to be found upon 

 the male insect only. I suspect that your correspon- 

 dent, W. H. Bej^nolds, has got hold of none but 

 females for his experiments, or he could not have 

 failed to have found what he was looking for. This 

 is the more likely, as the female insect is generally 

 more abundant than the male. The dotted or 

 "battledore" scales of the blue butterflies {Poly- 

 ommatus Argiolus, Alexis, &c.) are also, I believe, 

 never found except upon the male insect ;_ at least, 

 that has been the result of my own experience. I 

 may here also say that the slides sold at many of the 

 shops as " battledore scales from Fieris Brassic(e" 

 are not from Fieris Brassiere at all, but from the 

 small white cabbage butterfly, Pieris Rap/s. — Henry 

 F. Hailes. 



The tufted scales of this insect are only found on 

 the male butterfly : it may at once be distinguished 

 from the female by tlie absence of two black spots, 

 vi'hich the female has on the upper surface of the 

 anterior pair of wings. — B. C. Douglas. 



Bees' Bemains (page 14iS).— The interior of the 

 bodies of the five humble bees had doubtless been 

 eaten by some honey-loving insect, probably otlier 

 bees. When hive-bees are compelled, by scarcity 

 of food, to cast_ out their own larvsg, they always 

 suck out of their bodies the honey they contain. — 

 M. A. L. 



The Weevek Fisu. — One evening, during the 

 hauling in of the mackerel-nets to the beach, a 

 fisherman was thrown upon the struggling fish, 

 whicii, by the bye, have passed here in large and 

 visible shoals during the past week, when he uttered 

 a cry of pain, and on my asking him the cause, he 

 said he was stung by a weever (fish), which I found 

 to be a fish prettily striped, and about nine inches 

 long. But to return to the man ; his hand (it was the 

 thick part of the thumb) bled very freely, and in the 

 course of a quarter of an hour began to svi'ell. I am 

 told by fishermen that many instances are known of 

 persons losing the use of a hand by this sting. My 

 own opinion, from a slight examination of a living 

 fi_sh, the handling of which by myself caused no 

 liltle astonishment, leads me to believe that it is 

 only a stab from a spinous elongation of the dorsal 

 and pectoral ^ fins ; but whether the fish has the 

 power of emitting at the same time a poisonous 

 liquid I cannot say. For your better guidance 1 cut 

 oil' a dorsal fin, with spines, which I now enclose, 

 liaving dipped them in brandy. Can any of your 

 correspondents give me further information ? — 

 A. Horace Lloyd, BrigJdoii. 



[This is not a n>yth. See papers in Ann. mid Mag. 

 of Nat. Hist., vol. vi. p. 161, Nov. 1840; Proceed- 

 ings of Liverpool Lit. and Phil. Soc, vol. i. p. 156, 

 Ma,y, 1849; Intellectual Observer, No. 28, May, 

 1864. The "Weever" {TracMnus vipera) is also 

 called the "Sting Fish."— Ed. S. G.] 



What do Ceickets Eat? — "Our cherished 

 little minstrel enshrined in poetic fancies " is not 

 only a savage and a Dahomey, but is also a cannibal 

 and a Fan. A year or two back, being desirous of 

 getting two or three crickets for anatomical pur- 

 poses best known to microscopists, and not having 

 any in my own house, I asked ray next door neigh- 

 bour, who was rather superabundantly supplied 

 Vi^ith them, to capture two or three for me, "dead 

 or alive." A day or two after he handed me over 

 the garden wall three, two of which were dead, the 

 other, a fine large fellow, alive and vigorous. I 

 placed them under a tumbler in a place to which no 

 one had access but myself, and left them until the 

 following day. When I went to take them out for 

 execution, to my great surprise I found the living 

 one as vigorous as ever — perhaps a trifle more so ; 

 but of the dead, nothing remained but a few small 

 fragments sufficient to show what had become of 

 the rest. — Henry F. Hailes. 



Fox "WITH Young Scentless. — Allow me to 

 corroborate the interesting fact (noticed, with doubt, 

 at page 142, by your correspondent W. F. S.), of 

 the female fox liaving no scent. I have little doubt 

 tliat this merciful provision is well known to many 

 huntsmen; but on the authority of a gentleman,_a 

 member of the Fife Hunt, I have much pleasure in 

 testifying to its truth. Observing, one day, a fox 

 close in front of the hounds, he was surprised that 

 they neither gave tongue nor chase. He imme- 

 diately drew the attention of the huntsman to it, 

 who at once said, " The fox is vi^ith young, it has no 

 scent, and the hounds vidll not follow." The result 

 .iustified his statement ; for though the fox ran slowly 

 in front, the hounds never disturbed or noticed it. — 

 A.L. 



Incubating Bobin. _ " W. I. S." A7isioer. —li 

 would be next to impossible tojoro-y^that sitting-birds 

 have no scent ; but a case which tends to support that 

 assertion is now under my own immediate observa- 

 tion. A pair of hedge-sparrows have built in a bay- 

 bush within two yards of my window; the stem of 

 the shrub stands in an adjoining garden, separated 

 from mine only by aji open iron palisade, through 

 which cats ai-e passing constantly, close to the nest. 

 The owner of the garden also possesses three or four 

 cats, which are in the habit of climbing into the 

 various shrubs ; but the nest as yet remains undis- 

 covered by them. In this instance, however, the 

 perfume of the bay-leaves may be sufficient to over- 

 power that of the birds. On the other hand, it 

 would be somewhat anomalous that "nature " should 

 be more careful of the welfare of the embryo than of 

 the living young. As to the female fox being scent- 

 less when " with young " , (a doubtful expression, 

 but I suppose meaning in a pregnant state), I know 

 nothing ;, but every reader of the Sporting^ Magazine 

 must well know the interesting account of the chase 

 of a bitch fox, which ran an immense distance, car- 

 rying a very young cub in her mouth. This hap- 

 pened, I suppose, some forty years since, and was 

 a favourite subject in the print-shops, and on snuff- 

 boxes, long after. — M. K. 



Spakeows and Ckocus. — Early in the year 

 (March) the Sparroivs cause much annoyance in 

 gardens, by pulling up the Crocus flowers. Can any 

 of your correspondents say, from certain practical 

 knowledge, what is their object ? Are they in search 

 of insects, or is there a peculiar juice or moisture 

 that attracts their attention specially to the Crocus^ 

 —W. A. 



