190 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Aug. J, 1SG5. 



NOTES AMD aUERIES. 



Sea-Anemones Dividing. — I think "L. S." 

 must liave had another anemone in his aquarium 

 v>'ithout knowing it, as I have kept them for a length 

 of time, and have often wa;tched the young expelled 

 from the mother's mouth (which is a curious siglit) 

 in quite a stream, but never saw any appearance of 

 division take place. — E. T. Scott. 



The Swift {Gypselus ,apus). — This curious and 

 interesting summer visitor is much less frequent 

 in the part of North Lincolnshire where I reside 

 than it used to be. Twenty or thirty years ago they 

 used to build in many of the village cliurclies, where 

 none are to be seen now. They appear to be for- 

 saking tlie country for the towns, as many of their 

 wifeathered biped brethren are doing. Does the 

 experience of your readers tally with mine, and have 

 tliey any explanation of the fact to suggest ? My 

 own idea is, that the better care bestowed upon our 

 village cliurches is the cause of the change ; but I 

 sliould like to know what otliers have to say. — /. B. 

 H umber. 



Blighted Beech-leaves.— The leaves of a beech- 

 tree have been sent us froni Saxmundliam, which are 

 blackened and slirivelled, containing minute yellow 

 grubs inthe folds. The leaves affected are those 

 terminating all the branches, and consequently are 

 the young leaves. Tliey look at first sight as if 

 frost-bitten. Tlie grubs and leaves have been sub- 

 mitted to a competent authority with the following 

 result: — "Tlie small yellow grubs are the larvse of 

 some species of gall-midge {Cecidomyia)."—J. 0. TF. 



Stalked Eggs. — I enclose a vine-leaf, with a 

 number of minute insect-eggs attached thereto by 

 means of fine stalks or tubes. Can you inform me 

 what they are ? — B. B. 



The eggs sent are those of some species of Lace- 

 wing fly (Chrysopa) ; but in the absence of the insect 

 that deposited them I cannot state precisely which 

 species, there behig about twelve in this country. 

 The larvae are very serviceable to the horticulturist, 

 as they feed entirely upon aphides, of which they 

 devour great quantities. — B. McL. 



Sexes of Lepidopteea. — "A Beginner " desires 

 to know by what means to distinguish sex, apart 

 from size and colouring; also the title of a "Man- 

 ual " of Lepidoptera. He must obtain " Stainton's 

 JManual of Moths and Butterflies" (Van Voorst), 

 and seek the distinguishing features of sex in the 

 tarsi of diurnal and the antennae of nocturnal Lepi- 

 doptera.— i^. M. 



TussEii Silk of India. — "R. S." inquires, 

 what is the species of insect which yields the wild 

 silk known in India by the name of Tusseh ? 

 , The Tusseh silk-moth is AntJienm PapJiia, L., and 

 IS very common in Bengal, Assam, &c. "It is figured 

 in the " Technologist," vol. i., and an account will 

 be found at p. 353. 



Blight op Lauch.— E. G. sends us specimens of 

 a white cottony substance, which he found covering 

 hr-trees so as to have the appearance of a slight 

 snowstorm, and concerning which he seeks infor- 

 mation. The aphis on larch-trees, forming small 

 p itelics of wlutc downy matter, enclosing the females 

 and cgg's, is the Chermes Laricis. — /. 0. W. 



Pheasants'_ Eggs in a Paetuidge's Nest.— 

 I have seen tins season two eggs of a pheasant in a 

 partridge's nest containing six eggs. After this 

 number had been laid, the nest, for some cause or 

 other, was forsaken. I have read of similar in- 

 stances; for example, Morris, in liis "British Birds," 

 gives such. I should like to ask your readers 

 whether such occurrences are frequent. — /. B. 

 Htmber. 



Alexander's _ Bust. — A mycologist would be 

 glad if any botanical friend, who meets with " Alex- 

 anders" (Smyrnmm olusatrum) this summer and 

 autumn, would search the lower leaves, and if he 

 finds anj^ of them infested with a kind of rust, which 

 appears in little brown spots, would collect and for- 

 ward them to the Editor. 



VoLVOX Globatob,. — Can any "Gossiper" in- 

 form me what is considered to be the cause of the 

 constant motion and rotation of the Volvox ? — 

 T. Armstrong. 



The Stinkhorn. — As I was perambulating my 

 garden, my nose was assailed by a most disgusting 

 odour, resembling that of a " drain" in a bad state 

 of repair. At length I discovered the cause under a 

 bush, which at first looked like a bleached bone ; 

 but which proved to be a fungus. The stem was 

 creamy-white, hollow, and cellular, the upper and 

 lower portions appeared to be membranous expan- 

 sions containing a viscid fluid, which oozed out when 

 the membrane was ruptured. A more loathsome 

 visitor to a garden one could not wish for. Will 

 you favour me with its name ? — /. O. Braden. 



Your fungus is assuredly a common one, but pos- 

 sesses neither beauty of form nor pleasurable odour 

 to recommend it. The vernacular name is " the 

 Common SlJnkhorn," and the scientific PliaUus 

 impiidicus. — M. C. C. 



Maeine Phosphokescence. — At a recent meet- 

 ing of the Erench Academy of Sciences, M. Coren- 

 ■o'inder, in a paper on the gulf-weed {Sargassuni 

 bacciferim), sought indirectly to prove the existence 

 of phosphorus in the ocean by au analysis of sea- 

 weeds gathered far from the shore. His results 

 showed that this sea-weed contains 1'026 per cent, 

 of phosphoric acid, which, it was argued, could only 

 have been derived from the sea. 



Ppv-eseeving Hyacinth Bulbs.— As soon as the 

 flowers wither, take the bulb out of the earth or 

 water in which it has bloomed, wash it jnd the roots 

 clean, and lay it on the lid of a hamper, or on clean 

 straw, in an airy, shaded, but dry place. Turn the 

 bulb frequently, and when the roots and leaves, &c., 

 have dried up, trim them off, remove loose scales 

 and ripe offsets, and, when the bulb is perfectly dry, 

 lay it by in a drawrer, closet, or basket, until the fol- 

 lowing autumn. By this method the exhaustion of 

 the bulb after flowering is saved. Bulbs planted in 

 Septendicr yield better flowers, and bloom, if any- 

 thing, later in the spring. — Bev. Gerard Smith. 



Habt's-tongue Feen.— I lately asked a man in 

 the parish of Hatchford, near Cobham, Surrey, 

 whether the Hart's-tongue Eern grew anywhere In 

 the neighbourhood. He did not know it by that 

 name ; but, on my describing it, said, " Oh, you 

 menn the Semveed-fern.'" I think that a very appro- 

 priate name for it. — W. B. Tate. 



