264 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[Nov. 1, 1865. 



NOTICES TO COaSESPOHBENTS. 



Alt. commnnicatinns for the Editor should be addressed to 

 No. 192, Piccadilly, W. To avoid disappointment, contribu- 

 tions should be received on or before the 1 5th of each 

 month. No notice can be taken of anonymous communi- 

 cations. All notes, queries, or articles for insertion, inust 

 be g-uaranteed by the name and address of the writer, which 

 may be withheld from publication if so desired. 



Queries. — Having: been inundated with questions, we are 

 compelled to announce that we cannot undertake to answer 

 those of which the querist might satisfy himself by an appeal 

 to any elementary book on the subject. We are always pre- 

 pared to accept queries of a critical nature, and to publish 

 the replies, provided some of our readers, beside the querist, 

 are likely to take an interest in them. 



We cannot undertake to return " rejected addresses." 



O. W. — The small cocoons from the Cabbage Caterpillar are 

 those of a parasitic species of Ichneumon. 



R. G. M. has two hundred named specimens of British 

 Mns es, together with a coloured copy of Wilson's " Bryolog-ia 

 Britannica," to dispose of. The price is that of the book. 

 Apply to Editor. 



J. F. P.— Your yellow fungus on rose-leaves is called 

 Lenytliea Rosa. 



C. A. — Your fungus on decayed wood is Didymium 

 nigripes. 



O. W.— The larvse .sent us, which caused such havoc 

 amongst your cherry and pear trees, is that of a saw-fly of 

 the genus Athalin. You should endeavour to rear the fly and 

 send us specimens if you wish to know the species. 



M. E. B. — We are not numismatists. 



T. C. H.— Ring Ousels are not uncommon in some parts of 

 Great Britain. We have seen them plentifully in North 

 Wales. 



W. P.— We have answered this query in a former number. 

 The viper, the common snake, and the smooth snake. 



Pectev, not Ferteii — see Geological query, p. 229, where 

 this error occurs. — A. G. R. 



C. A.— The species of Lemna alluded to at page 6 as not 

 having bf en found in Britain, is Lemna tirrhixa, described and 

 figured in Reichenbacli's Flor. Germ., VII. 14. 



M. A. B. — Your shells are of three species, Bulhnus 

 ohscurus, Clausilia nigricans, and Clausilia bidens. — R. T. 



H. A. A. — Mr. Hardwicke announces a Handbook for the 

 Aquarium, shortly to be published, which will give all the 

 inl'ormation you desire. 



E. W. — No one would venture to name your specimen of 

 seaweed from description only. 



H. L. —.The least reflection will enable you to answer such a 

 question for yourself. Replace the fly by a feather and watch 

 the result. 



W. L. C— It is not a fungus, but disease. A common case 

 of " shanking." 



W. P — A good and cheap work on British Lepidoptera is 

 " Staiuton's Manual." 



J. C. M.— Prepare a glass slide with hydrochloric acid, and 

 then breathe sufliciei'tly on it that you can condense the 

 moihture by heat of a lamp, or otherwise, before it has evapo- 

 rated.— H. L. A. 



W. L. S. — You enclosed three files to be named, but did not 

 attach any number or mark, so that were we to give the 

 names, you could not tell to which individual each name 

 belonged. 



D. G. — It is an ichneumon, known as Ophion luteus. 



Erratum. — At page 237. instead of "J-inch bulVs eye- 

 piece," read "^-incU and B eye-piece." 



F. C. J. S. — Probably a viviparous fly ; see p. 82. 



T. H. is thanked for his suggestion, but the illustrations 

 w ii'd cost too ranch for us to give a figure and description of 

 all the British Diatoms for fourpence. 



E. M.— (1) We cannot tell. (2J We must not tell. 



W. W. S.— Vegetable. Incomplete state of a fungus. 



A. J. — We cannot say, without seeing the specimen, what 

 your larva might be. 



T. H. M. — Can be had anywhere. 



R. T. C— The black spots on Sycamore leaves are cati ed 

 by a parasitic fungus which is very common, and cal fd 



Hhytisma acerinum. 



T. F. W.— What we require is popular names, with the 

 localities where they are employed, known by personal expe- 

 rience to the writers, and not derived from books. 



M. M. — The misfortune of which you complain is a common 

 one, for which we can recommend no radical cure. Keep 

 your insects dy, let them be quite dry when pinned, and 

 change your pins when verdegris appears. — F. M. 



Poor THI^'GS.— If any poor creatures ever were per-^ecnted 

 with pen and ink, then Wasp=, Humming-bird Hawk-moths, 

 and Death's-head Moths have this year good cau e to com- 

 plain. We have a pile of such c >mmunications, and must 

 immolate them to appease the poor insects ; for to insert them 

 is out of the question. 



W. H.— Flowers of the Jerusalem Artichoke were duly 

 received and forwarded to J. G. 



C. K.— It is unusual for Laburnum and Apple trees to blo"m 

 a second time, in the autumn ; but "times are out of joint " 

 this year, and freaks of nature common. 



A. S. — Really not sufficiently uncommon to merit notice. 



C. A. J.— We should scarce think it would be injurious. 



L. D. — (1) The most appreciable sexual differences are the 

 reative sizes, and distmctness of niarkuigs. (2) Any vege- 

 table. 



A. J. — One of the SpMngidcs, probably Acherontia. It is 

 unsatisfactory to name from description. — F. M. 



W. D.— See our remarks on Fish Moulds, pp. II9, 134. 



E. D. M. W.— The only work we know is Nichol's " Dic- 

 tionary of Scientific Terms," Reeve, 12s. 6d. 



A. G.— As to the age of the Fossil Human Skeleton in the 

 British Museum, consult Mantell's "Petrifactions," pp. 

 483-5, and Mautell's " Wonders of Geology," p. 86. — R. T. 



E. C. Y. — Forwarded as requested. 



Drving Starfish.— See p. 136. 



Communications Received.— O. W.— H. L.— S. J. McI. — 

 G. C. B.— J. H. C. K.— W. G.— J. A.— A. S.— J. R. S. C— 

 M. J. B.— J. L.— E. W.— H. A. A.— H. W.— R. G. McL.— 

 W. P.— T. H.— W. L. S.— J. B.-W. L. C— H A. A.— E. T. S. 

 —A. G. R.— T. L. D.— H. E. W.— T. R. J.— F. C. J. S.— 

 P. S. B— E. R.— A. G.— T. C. H.— J. A. L.— R. S.— A. G.— 

 M. E. B.— C. A.— J. H.— W. C. H.— H. W. L.— J. C. B.— T. P. 

 — E. M.— H. W.— C. R.— J. F. P.— M M.— L. G. M — R. T. C. 

 —J B.-A. S.— E. G. W.— T. H. M.— W. R. T.— C. A.— 

 T. F. W.— A. J.— J. F. «.— L. D.— I. G.— R. Bl.— S. S.— 

 M. D. P. -J. A.— S. W.— J. B. H.— H. B.— C. A. J.— W. H.— 



F. H. B.-G. W.- T. P. B.— C. K.— B. H.— J. W.-C. W. B.— 



G. R. R.— E. B.— F. E. T.— W. D.— E. D. M. W. 



CoRRESPOMnENTS will plcase to append their own names, or 

 initials, to their communications, which may be withheld 

 from publication if desired ; but no notice whatever can be 

 taken of anonymous contributions. 



BOOKS RECEIVED. 



" The Optical Defects of the Eye, and their Consequences.' 

 By John Zachariah Laurence, K.R.C.S., M.B., &c. 112 pp. 

 8vo. cloth. (London : Hardwicke.) 



