Nov. 1, 1S65.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



263 



"Wasps and Bees. — As your serial is devoted to 

 the discussion of all subjects connected witli natural 

 history, all local notices connected therewith must 

 interest your readers, and lead to comparisons with 

 their own areas of observation, and so elucidate the 

 various W'Orkins's of Nature, and her many diversified 

 arcana. Now I have been much struck, all the latter 

 part of the summer especially, with the fact that in 

 West Sussex we have scarcely any Wasps this year, 

 despite the abundance of plums and fruit generally, 

 whilst our wall-fruit in August, and our pears noio, 

 are infested with myriads of Bees, which make it 

 dangerous even for children to approach the fallen 

 fruit, and these Bees, strange to say, never go near 

 the numerous flowers abounding in our parterres ! 

 I inquired yesterday of the Earl of Egmont's lodge 

 keeper, at Cowdray, who keeps many hives always, 

 "why Bees thus deserted the flowers and rich clover 

 blossoms for fruit this year? Her answer was : — 

 "The heat of the early sunnner evaporated the pollen 

 of the flowers so much that the pollen was im- 

 poverished, and the Bees were so icealdy generally 

 this summer, that in place of having thirty or forty 

 pounds of honey in each hive, as customary, I have 

 not had this year more than twelve pounds at the 

 utmost in a comb." She added that the stronger 

 Bees attacked the weaker ones and killed them all, 

 robbing their nives of all the stored honey, even in 

 twenty-four hours' time ! Can your Bee-keeping 

 correspondents elsewhere certify to the above facts. 

 —H. E. A. 



EucHsiA AND Bees. — It is well known that 

 ■when the blossom of any plant is too narrow at its 

 mouth to admit of the entrance of a bee into it, the 

 bee will with its proboscis perforate the tube from 

 without, and so suck the sweets from the nectary. 

 I have, in my garden at Torquay, two large plants 

 of the Fuchsia elegans, the blossoms of which are 

 of this narrow construction. The trees are from 

 five to six feet high, and of proportional circumfer- 

 ence, and always blossom very abundantly. 1 care- 

 fully watched these plants in the summer of 1864, 

 from the middle of July to November, vainly seek- 

 ing one blossom that was not thus perforated. I 

 was ill, and, therefore, not able to observe them be- 

 fore the afternoon, but during the whole season I 

 never found one bell on which the little yellow mark 

 of perforation was wanting. This year I have with 

 equal care, watched from June to this ISth October 

 on which I write, and have not been able to find a 

 single blossom that had been perforated. There is 

 not now, nor has there, so far as I have seen, been 

 one with the yellow mark. Can any of the cori'e- 

 spondents of Science Gossip explam the cause of 

 this circumstance ? — M. I). P. 



Unicorn Hawk-moth. — Can any of your cor- 

 respondents inform me if the use or purpose of the 

 double proboscis in the Unicorn Hawk-moth {Sjihiiix 

 Convohuli) is known to naturalists ; and also whether 

 it IS the only moth which possesses this peculiarity ? 

 A fine specimen of the above (which is rather a rave 

 insect) has just been captured here (Sidmouth, 

 South Devonj.— ^. M. 



Saeeron, an Oriental Condiaient.— Dr. Riddell 

 says that the Persians resident in India universally 

 employ saffron as a colouring ingredient with their 

 rice ; but that in native cookery where saffron is 

 named, turmeric is always intended. 



Small Tortoise-shell Bhtterely.— On the 4th 

 of August last, while in a lodging at Southerndown, 

 on the Glamorganshire coast, I fomid no less than 

 twenty-tu'o specimens of this butterfly, in a torpid 

 state, pitched on the ceiling of a narrow up-stairs 

 passage, in groups of five or six together. On 

 bringingthemintothe light, they revived in the course 

 of a few minutes, and, with two or three exceptions, 

 were able to fly with ease. Can you explain the 

 presence of such a number of the insects in that 

 situation ? I was much sui'prised at it myself. — 

 Horace Waddingtoti. 



Cilia of Volvox.— In reply to Thomas Arm- 

 strong, allow me to observe that the question of 

 Volvox Globator possessing cilia, never to me ap- 

 peared to ofl'er a doubt, and I am only surprised that 

 he should have failed in observing them. Unpre- 

 tending microscopist as I am I have seen them many 

 times without anything beyond ordinaiy manipula- 

 tion ; I use the parabolic condenser and the one-inch 

 lens, and a beautiful sight it is to see the plant in a 

 living state, revolving on its axis, with its edge sur- 

 rounded by a blueish halo produced by the cilia in 

 excessively quick action ; to seethe cilia individually 

 a quarter-inch lens must be used, when two will be 

 seen springing from each green point on the sur- 

 face of the Volvox, precisely as depicted in the 

 " Micrographic Dictionary," and Dr. Carpenter's 

 book. With regard to the cause of the revolution 

 of the young plant in the interior of the parent 

 (which is frequently to be observed) 1 am not quite 

 so clear, yet, still I put it down to the same 

 prime mover, though I have been unable to detect 

 cilia in this instance. I may mention that I am not 

 likely to have been deceived by a faulty instrument, 

 as the one I have is Boss's 1 A., with every requisite 

 for correct observation ; and, moreover, I have ex- 

 amined hundreds of the plants referred to, and iu 

 every instance have seen the appearances described. 

 — John G. Bradeii. 



Ichneumons and Vanessa. — I beg to confirm the 

 statement of E. W., in your paper respecting Ich- 

 neumons and Vanessa, as out of twenty caterpillars 

 I got off one bunch of nettles this season, eight were 

 infected and never came to maturity. — /. Aspdin. 



Eggs op Thrush. — In reply to your correspondent 

 J. B. Hay, Athens, I have found the eggs of the 

 common thrush as small as those of the chaffinch. 

 Two seasons ago I found a nest of four eggs ; three 

 were the usual size, but the other was hardly one- 

 third the size, and the spots on it were considerably 

 lighter. — Jam.es Aspdin. 



Winged Ants. — Respecting Mr. Tate's inquiiy, 

 relative to winged ants. I also noticed numbers in 

 the neighbourhood of Brixton, Clapham, and Vaux- 

 hall. Page 308, in the popular edition of Kirby and 

 Spence, may afford an explanation. What is there 

 said refers to white ants, but probably the haoit 

 referred to is common to most species of ants : the 

 males and females having arrived at their imago 

 state, adorned with two pairs of wings, rise in the 

 air to seek their fortune, and effect their marriages. 

 Afterwards the males die, and the females,deliberately 

 cutting off" their wings, turn their attention to the 

 foundation of new colonies. Very few of them, 

 however, effect their obje~'.t, surrounded as they are 

 by manv enemies, and sut "jcted to many casualties. 

 S. J. 'M. 



