208 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Sept. 1, 18G5. 



coast, at Caistor, near Yarmouth, in the year 1825. 

 It is figured in Yarrell's British Fishes, p. 223, 

 Part 49.— G'. P. 0. Richardsoti, IJfracombe. 



[N.B.— One was taken at Newlyn, in Cornwall, in 

 1834, and one at Tenby, in Wales, so that the pre- 

 sent is the fourth recorded capture of this fish in the 

 British Seas.— Ed. Sc. G.] 



Glekgakiff eor Ichthyology. — The Eev. J. 

 Kingston thus commends this spot to our readers : — 

 "Numerous as are the charms that Gleugariff 

 possesses for all, it offers special attractions to the ich- 

 thyologist. His days can be spent most delightfully. 

 He has only to get on board one of the trawling boats 

 that abound on this coast. After a day's sailing 

 about a harbour tliat will furnish the lover of grand 

 scenery with intense and pure delight, he will, 

 when the trawling net is drawn up, indeed find that 

 it has been worth his while to journey hither. Eish 

 of every kind (mixed up with splendid specimens of 

 AlgBe) of which he has read, but which, perhaps, he 

 has never seen, are spread on the deck for his in- 

 spection. Sure I am that every one who visits this 

 highly-favoured spot will return to his home with 

 renewed vigour of mind and body, and an increased 

 love for the pleasant study of ichthyology." 



The Basse. — The basse, called also the " sea 

 perch," " sea-dace," " dace," and " salmon-dace," is 

 a large salt-water fish, of very curious habits, and 

 having externally many of the peculiarities and at- 

 tributes of the salmon, perhaps more closely resem- 

 bles the river-barbel in its ways than it does any 

 other fish. Like the barbel it is fond of running 

 outlets, and as the barbel delights in old wooden 

 piles, or mill-boards (or anywhere, in fact, where 

 there is wood-work), so does the basse frequent sea- 

 piers and jetties, constructed rather of wood than 

 of stone or granite. In such places, when the water 

 is clear and the bottom rough and shingly, large 

 basse may be seen poking their noses in the ground 

 precisely after the fasliion of the barbel ; indeed a 

 pig itself could not well be a more consistent groper 

 than is the basse. — Once a TFecIc. 



ENTOMOLOGY. 



HuMMiNG-BiKD Hawk-motu. — This insect is 

 everywhere common this season, even venturing 

 into the heart of London, and sporting in Temple 

 Gardens and the courtyard of the British Museum. 



Increase oe bulk in Laka^jE. — According to 

 Redi, the larva of a meat-fly {Musca carnarici) be- 

 comes, in the short space of twenty-four hours, from a 

 hundred and forty to two hundred times heavier than 

 it was before. Lyonnet has shown, by direct obser- 

 vation, and by calculation, that the caterpillar of the 

 goat moth {Cossus lixjnipcrdii) is scvciiiy-two thousand 

 times heavier in the chrysalis condition than when it 

 emerged from the egg.— Q^r^/y^/c/^ei'' Mdcuiwrplioses. 



Larva and Imago.— If you open a caterpillar's 

 skin two or three days before it is converted into a 

 chrysalis, you will perceive the wings, antenni3e, and 

 proboscis of the butterfly ; and if you cut off one 

 of this caterpillar's scaly feet, the butterfly will be 

 lame. — Swammerdam . 



Death's-head Moth {Acherontia atropos). — 

 Erom numerous communications on the subject, we 

 infer that this insect is more than usually common 

 this year. 



Death's-head Moth {^Acherontia atropos^. — 

 Last week, in a garden in this neighbourhood, several 

 specimens of the larvaj of the Death's-head Moth, 

 altogether nine in numbei", were found feeding on 

 the leaves of some potatoes. Amongst these was 

 one individual of the rare and extraordinary variety 

 mentioned by Stainton in his Manual, the ground 

 colour of which, instead of being lemon-yellow, 

 with the anterior segments green, and the lateral 

 stripes violet, is of a brownish-olive, the fore 

 part whitish, and the lateral stripes darker, with 

 a peculiar form of the anal horn. This seems to 

 prove that such varieties are produced from the 

 same moth, and at the same time, as the common 

 forms; and are therefore merely acceidental or 

 depending on causes which the naturahst has yet to 

 seek. The present unusuUy warm summer seems to 

 have been productive in some localities of various 

 insects not formerly there'observed. I have noticed 

 several specimens of the Painted Lady {Cynthia 

 cardiii), a butterfly I have never before seen here ; 

 and some Eoresters {Procris statices) have also been 

 noticed. As to the common whites, they are swarm- 

 ing. A friend who has paid a visit to the Isle of 

 Man compares them, in some of the fields there, to 

 a snow shower. The cultivation of any of the cab- 

 bage tribe for winter use, it seems, will be a vain 

 attempt. — W. Roljert, Wigton. 



Wasp {Vespa sijlvestris). — This wasp has made its 

 appearance in unusually large numbers, in the 

 neighbourhood during the present season. I lately 

 found two extremely beautiful specimens of their 

 nest, in a small plantation of spruce fir. In both 

 cases they were suspended from the lower portion of 

 a spruce bough, not far from the extremity, and at 

 the height of about four feet from the ground. One 

 of these nests was as large as a man's head, the 

 other twice the size of a cricket-ball. The twigs of 

 the branches from which these nests were suspended 

 had been curiously built in and interwoven with the 

 substance of the nest, the dense close boughs of the 

 young spruce completely shielding the fabric from 

 wind and rain. The entrance was on the south side, 

 and nearly underneath. V. sylvcstris is not a com- 

 mon species in the neighbourhood, and it is very 

 seldom that I have had an opportunity of inspecting 

 their nest. — /. C, Great Colne, UlceJy, Lincolnshire. 



