Aug. 1, 1865.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



191 



Mounting Insects "Whole.— In reply to J. H. W. 

 (p. 163), respecting the method of mounting large 

 insects whole for the microscope, though I am not 

 aware what process is practised in iv.ounting for the 

 trade, I may describe the mode of proceeding which 

 has been in my own hands ■very fairly successful. 

 The great object, as many of the insects are of con- 

 siderable thickness, is to prepare them to endure the 

 requisite flattening without injury. Eor this pur- 

 pose I soak them for a longer or shorter time in 

 liquor potassse, and it is in this part of the process 

 that the chief danger lies. If the insect has not 

 been immersed for a sufficient time, and is of 

 hard texture, it is probable that the more_ convex 

 portions, as the head and thorax, will split when 

 pressed down by the thin glass cover. On the other 

 hand, should the soaking period be extended too 

 long, the object will be rendered so tender, that 

 some of the limbs will very likely tear away during 

 the necessary manipulation. As the time of immer- 

 sion differs according to the firmness of the insect's 

 covering, no precise time can be given. A hard 

 beetle will require as many weeks' soaking as a soft 

 spider would need days. Another evil attending too 

 long a period in the solution of potass, is that the 

 colour of the insect will be entirely discharged, and 

 if mounted successfully, the result will be only a 

 filmy effigy of the creature. I have an earwig so 

 treated, which looks just like the ghost of an earwig 

 according to the popular notion of ghosts' appear- 

 ance (how difficult it is, by the way, to imagine the 

 ghost of a fat punchy man). If the right period is 

 hit, the insect will be sufficiently softened to stand 

 flattening (with care), without being rendered un- 

 pleasantly coloui'less. It should be pressed gradually 

 between two glass slides in water, till the contents 

 of the body are washed away and it is flat enough 

 for mounting. It should then be arranged in proper 

 position on one of the slides, and suffered to dry for 

 three or foiu- days ; of course protected from dust. 

 When quite dry, it may be immersed in turpentine, 

 or floated over with the same under a glass cover, 

 being careful that no water remains lodged in anjr_ of 

 the limbs, &c. It should be kept covered with 

 turpentine till all air-bubbles have disappeared, which 

 will usually take place in three or four days, when 

 the object may be mounted in Canada balsam in the 

 usual manner. Bubbles will often disappear some 

 time after the insect has been mounted, if the 

 balsam is not too hard, and the object is kept in a 

 warm place ; and I believe many a slide has been 

 hastily discarded from the presence of bubbles, 

 when time and warmth would have made all right. 

 A good-sized spider which I had mounted was so 

 disfigured with air-bubbles that it was very near 

 being thrown away; it was put on a warm mantel- 

 shelf, and as it was observed after a few days that 

 some of the bubbles had disappeared, it was suffered 

 to remain there till every bubble was gone, vi'hich 

 was not until nearly a month had elapsed. I fancy 

 that the oscillating temperature of night and day, 

 where a fire is regularly lighted each morning, is 

 favourable to the removal of air-bubbles by alter- 

 nately expanding and contracting them. I may 

 , perhaps add that I described this method of mount- 

 ing insects whole in the third volume of " Ptecreative 

 Science." — George Owjon, Ventnor, Isle of Wight. 



Insects eeemng on Wheat.— I_have seen it 

 stated that there have been collected in Europe no 

 less than 27,000 species of insects preying upon 

 wheat. Is there good reason for supposing that 

 such an assertion is approximately correct ? — 

 A. 0. F. 



Sex oe a_ Yiper. — The gamekeeper on Wisley 

 Heath, who is constantly seeing vipers, tells me that 

 those with, a light ground-colour are males, and 

 those with a dark one females. — W. R. Tate. 



The Hebjmit Cuab.— The Hermit Crab does not 

 always choose tlie empty shell of a univalve mollnsk 

 for its house, for on one occasion I saw a small 

 hermit {Pagurus Bernhardus) v/hich had fitted its 

 jii]ider part into the empty hand belonging to the 

 first right leg of another and larger hermit, the 

 latter having previously exuviated. Soon after- 

 wards I saw another and still smaller hermit, which 

 had converted a fragment of the tube of Serpula 

 contortnplicata into a home. In both instances there 

 were no empty univalve shells present, and therefore 

 necessity became the mother of invention. These 

 things took |>lace in the Hamburg aquarium. — W. 

 Alfred Lloyd. 



Gossamer Spiders.— Although it is not very 

 probable that many readers of Science Gossip can 

 tell Dr. Lord a very great deal about Gossamer 

 Spiders he does not already know, he may perhaps 

 kindly reply to a few questions, and thus enlighten 

 other folks. What are the tiny creatures doing in 

 the air ? Are they, like swallows, floating about in 

 search of insects ? I have seen the little voyagers in 

 the_ spring, as well as in the autumn, darting out 

 their gossamer filaments, and sailing up aloft like so 

 many fairies. Since we are upon the subject of 

 spiders, there is another question I want to ask Dr. 

 Lord. Is it true that spiders (house spiders) are 

 musical? Did the author of A'erses to a Spider, 

 which are to be found in the Anthologia Borealis cf 

 A'listralis, write from fact when he said the insect 

 came down from the ceiling every day to hear him 

 play, I wonder? I wish some young lady, who is 

 not afraid of a spider (if there _ be so courageous a 

 feminine), would try the experiment of playing her 

 sweetest melody to one of Arachne's descendants, 

 and give us the result. I am no musician, or I 

 would solve the point myself. — H. TF. 



Light oe the Lantern Ely (Fuigora lanier- 

 i/aria). — At a recent meeting of the Entomological 

 Society, Mr. Evans read a letter from Belize on the 

 subject of the luminosity of this insect, to the 

 following effect : — " I have succeeded in my ento- 

 mological researches about the lantern-fly. I had 

 one given me, caught here, alive, and I saw it 

 myself givmg light. I kept it in a tumbler for 

 about a day, and it sometimes did not give it, but at 

 others it did." — Athenmiim. 



Eire-ply Light. — In reference to the discussion 

 whether the flre-flies flash out their light simulta- 

 neously, Mr. Clark read the following extract from 

 a letter at the last meeting of the Entomological 

 Society : — " I can confirm your observation that the 

 fire-flies, of the genus Aspisoma, flit at night in great 

 numbers over low-lying, damp fields, chiefly near 

 water, emitting light by short flashes, at intervals of 

 three or four seconds, the majority keeping time 

 with each other, as if in obedience to the baton of 

 a leader. I think it is only the fire-flies of that 

 genus who practise it. The numerous fire -flies 

 common in Mexico and North America belong 

 chiefly to the genera Mlichn.ia and Photiiris, whose 

 habits are dificrent, so far as I have had opportunity 

 to observe tiieir congeners in Brazil." 



