183 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Aug. 1, ISCdS. 



PIXY PURSES. 



A LMOST the commonest objects of the sea- 

 -^^^ shore, all around our coast, are the curious 

 inflated "Pixy purses," or "Eairy purses," or 

 " Mermaid's purses," which often dra\y from young 

 folks the inquiry, " What is it ? " To save the 

 trouble of a long explanation from such as may not 

 feel disposed to enter upon the subject with their 

 young friends, we have given figures of the two 

 common forms. 



The figure with the long twisted tendrils at each 

 corner represents a pale horn-coloured bag or 



"pnrse," generally found empty and inflated, ar 

 partly filled with sand. It is almost transparent, 

 rigid, and shining when dry, and often with the 

 tendrils entwined around pieces of sea-weed. This 

 is the egg-case of the spotted dog-fish, or nurse- 

 hound {Sqiialus camcula), one of the Shark family 

 common on the coast. It is a very voracious fish, 

 and preys upon almost any kind of animal substance. 

 In length it is between three and four feet, and com- 

 paratively thin. The fishermen are not at all par- 

 tial to it, for besides devouring a large quantity of 

 small fish, it is very apt to tear large holes in their 

 nets. 



The other figure represents a still commoner 

 object, in which the tendrils are absent, but each 

 corner is prolonged info a kind of spur; these are 

 broader than the other kind of purses, and of a 



darker colour. They are most common during 

 winter and spring, but one may often be turned up 

 with the sand at other periods of the year. They 

 are also the egg-cases of a fish, but of a very different 

 kind to the other, and belong to one of ihe Ray 

 family, which are as broad in proportion to their 

 length as the dog-fish are narrow. The species in 

 this instance is the common skate (Baiis vulgaris), 

 which has a lozenge-shaped body ending in a slender 

 tail. It is one of the commonest fishes of the coast, 

 and, under the name of "maids," small specimens may 

 often be seen in our fish-markets, but it is not much 

 valued as food. It is recorded that a single fish of 

 this species, weighing two hundred pounds, was 

 once dressed by the cook of St. John's College, Cam- 

 bridge, and satisfied the appetites of one hundred 

 and twenty learned gentlemen. Eishermen usually 

 cut them up as bait for crabs and lobsters. 



PROLIFEROUS DAISY. 



THE "Hen and Chickens " Daisy of our gardens 

 is very well known, but the proliferous form 

 of the common daisy is rare. A correspondent 

 (J. S.) has sent us a specimen collected by him by 



the roadside at Bute, in which ten miniature 

 daisies, borne on short peduncles, sprang from the 

 involucre, and surrounded the parent daisy. The 

 stalk was fully sis inches in length, whilst two 

 other flowers of the normal form, and with stalks 

 scarcely half the length, proceeded from the same 

 root. 



_ Beauty in Nature.— The greater part of beau- 

 tiful forms in nature are to be found in the vegetable 

 kingdom, in the forms of flowers, of foliage, of 

 shrubs, and in those assumed by the young shoots 

 of iiees. —Jlison on Taste. 



