262 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Nov. 1, 1865, 



NOTES AND aUEEIES.' 



VoLVOx Globatok. — If Mr. Armstrong and liis 

 fellow-observers would satisfy tlieinselves that cilia 

 are really present \ipon the surface of Volvox Glo- 

 hator, let them try the following method : — Place a 

 volvox upon a slide, cover it with a piece of thin 

 glass, and apply a drop of diluted sulphuric acid, and 

 shortly after a drop of solution of iodine. Tlien 

 submit the slide to an object-glass of -^-inch focus, 

 and. if the light be properly managed by means of 

 a AVebster's conductor, or otherwise, the cilia may 

 be seen arising in pairs from the points upon the 

 organism and passing beyond the surface, as they are 

 ordinarily represented. It is to be understood that 

 the observation is a matter of some difficulty and 

 delicacy. — /. H. 



Wanted a Key to the pronunciation and meaning 

 of such new scientific names as Micrasterias Malia- 

 buleeshwarensis. — A. W. 



Objects is Tumuli. — Very often small objects, 

 with holes pierced in them, are found in tumuli, &c., 

 with bones, flints, &c. Are these objects not beads 

 of collars or necklaces ? were they not afterwards a 

 medium of exchange — a primitive money? and is 

 tliere not here a new means of observing the relations 

 of primitive people ? The collars of the Egyptians, 

 Celts, &c., are well known; the North-American 

 Indians had Whampwns, which were at the same time 

 a necklace and a money ; tlie Phrenieiaus had pierced 

 coins ; the Chiuese have them yet. — Bernardin, Melle, 

 Belgium. 



.^BTiciiOKE IN Elo-wer. — Your correspondent 

 who inquired some months since respecting the 

 flowering of the Jerusalem Artichnke, might like to 

 know that it is flowering profusely tiiis year in fMs 

 locality. On a plant with a stem some twelve feet 

 liiah, in my own garden, I have just counted thirty 

 blossoms and buds. — Henry IF. Licett. 



[Several correspondents send us similar accounts, 

 and we have also seen it blooming freely.— Ed.] 



BtjTTekfly Parasites. — Allow me to state in 

 your pages, in reply to a note by G. W. in your last 

 number on the small Tortoise-shell Biilterfi„v, that I 

 by no means intended to assert that Vanessa Vrtlcm 

 was exempt from ichneumon enemies, but only that 

 it was comparatively free. There is little doubt tliat 

 every species of Butterfly or J\Iotii has some ichneu- 

 mon attached to it; though the Ikitterfly named— 

 and, I imagine, most others with spiny larvfe — 

 suffer less than otliers. During the past summer 

 1 have myself observed that both V. Vrticce and 

 V. Afalanta were infested with the larva of a large 

 Dipterira ; only one individual being usually produced 

 from each butterfly larva.— </ci/z« B. S. Clifford. 



Ants. — These insects are very partial to the 

 Iloncy Dew, whieh plant-lice collect in the form of 

 a sap from various trees, and afterwards eject in a 

 state of great purity. Ants will carry ofl' the eggs 

 of Aphides, and hatch them and keep them, as 

 "J. P." would his cows, with the greatest care, 

 milking them, as he describes in Science Gossip, 

 for the sake of t,he sweet honey dew they allbrd.— 

 Helen E. Watueij. 



IIo"W TO Grow Perns.— In reply to the query in 

 No. 10, I have found the following plan to answer 

 best for the culture of those beautiful plants. A 

 case of the octagonal shape is, I think, the best, for 

 you get so many " views ; " but of course they 

 grow quite as well in the ordinary cases. One of 

 about two feet long may be purchased for something 

 under a sovereign. Break up some light coke into 

 pieces about the size of a walnut, and lay it on the 

 bottom of your fern case ; this gi'eatly assists drain- 

 age. On this place a mixture of peaty soil and cocoa- 

 nut fibre ; the latter may be purchased of almost any 

 florist ; the proportion may be two parts of the mould 

 to one of the fibre. In this plant a few ferns, not too 

 thickly; you will soon find they grow fast, and 

 require thinning out. The choice of specimens I 

 leave, as almost all our English ferns will grow in a 

 case of this kind, and many foreign ones. Water 

 but seldom ; the door will nearly always be closed, 

 and consequently little evaporation will take place. — 

 W. O. 



Wasps and Plies. — Pound Melksham, about a 

 fortnight ago, we were visited by inmiense swarms 

 of flies, they being so thick for a day or two, that 

 ■whilst I was walkiirg with a friend, we were obliged 

 to tie our handkerchiefs like veils over our faces, in 

 order to prevent the flies — for they are very small — 

 frf)m getting into our eyes, noses, &c., whilst our 

 coats were literally covered with them. It has, at 

 the same lime, been noticed that there has been a 

 great paucity of wasps. Is it not, therefore, probable 

 that as the increased number of flies and the de- 

 creased number of wasps has been noticed all the 

 summer, that the one influences the other? — /. 

 Augustus Lloyd. 



. Gill Pans of Sabella.— On the 19lh of August, 

 one of tvi^o Sabellas that 1 had had in my aquarium 

 from the 4th of August droi)ped its Gill Pans ; but 

 the remainder of the annelid retained the power of 

 ascending from and descending into its tube. On 

 the 23rd, the other Sabella also cast its Gill Pans, 

 but seemed as indifferent to their loss as the other 

 had been, both annelids appearing above their tubes 

 from time to time. They seemed to have the power 

 of obtaining food, for in cleaning the sides of my 

 aquarium, I tried to disengage the tube containing 

 the Saliella from some sea-weed in the aquarium, 

 when I found a piece of weed was firmly held into 

 the opening of the tube. I could not get it away 

 without leaving a piece of weed in the mouth of the 

 tube. A few minutes after, the worm protruded 

 itself above the tube. I did not see any part of 

 the Sabella again until the 4th of October, when 

 one of the Sabellas appeared with a new set of Gill 

 Pans, smaller than those it had cast, but quite 

 perfect. I should be glad to know if it is a com- 

 mon occurrence for Sabellas to cast their Gfll Pans. 

 —T. L. B. 



Guide to Conservatory. — With regard to the 

 query of A. H., as to a book with instructions for 

 keeping a conservatory in the house filled with 

 flovvrers all the year, I beg to recomniendthe purchase 

 of Miss Maling's book on " Indoor Plants, and how 

 to grow them for the drawing-room, balcony, and 

 greenhouse ; containing clear instructions by which 

 ladies may obtain, at a small expense, a constant 

 supply of flowers." It is published by Smith, 

 Elder; & Co.-/. F. C. 



