Dec. 1, 1865.] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



287 



SwAEMs OF Aphides. — Inreply toM. Beniardin, 

 will you allow me to stal e that during the tirst and 

 second weeks in September this locality in Lincoln- 

 shire was infested with immense swarms of Aphides, 

 or, as Gilbert White very aptly and appropriately 

 terms them, " smother flies." Itwas impossible to 

 go out M^ithout being covered with them, and the 

 eyes, noso, &c., could not escape unprotected. They 

 settled on the pavement aud hedges in myriads, and 

 the Garden-spider {Epeira diadema) _ caught any 

 quantity in his meshes. At the same M\\\\^i\\Q Apliis 

 rapa or Vustator made tremendous havoc with the 

 cauhilowers and other greens in the garden, except 

 the curled broccoli— the Aphis rosfS not being so 

 numerous as usual. Contemporaneously hundreds 

 of acres of turnips in this district were either 

 destroyed or I heir growth arrested by the ravages of 

 the Turnip ilea {Haltica nemorum) ; and for some 

 time after, at sunset, the stench was most horribly 

 offensive. — Another correspondent, J. B. L., will, _T 

 think, find it difBcalt to remove the v/orras from his 

 fern-pot without disturbing the roots ; in one of my 

 eases, noticing numerous small casts, and finding the 

 ferns anything but healthy, I discovered several 

 small worms, but so intertwined amongst the rootlets 

 that 1 was obliged to take each plant out. They are 

 now for the most part putting out afresh. — Henry 

 W. J. mUs, Crowle. 



Habits of Eeptiles.— In the last number of 

 Science Gossip, C. A. remarks, that if two toads 

 perceive an insect at the same time, "the one who 

 is successful in getting it receives a smartish smack 

 on the side of the head from the tongue of the 

 other." This is, undoubtedly, often the case; hut 

 I think C. A. will find, on further observation, that 

 this summary salute has no reference to the success 

 of the other reptile, but simply to its movement in 

 taking, or attempting to take, the insect. I have long 

 kept reptiles, and have no^v toads that have been 

 many months in my possession, as well as several 

 natterjacks. These animals, like_ most or all other 

 reptiles, confine themselves to living prey, and only 

 take that when it is in motion ; their vision appears to 

 be so defective that they will strike at almost any 

 object that attracts their attention by moving, while 

 suitable food will lie unnoticed close to them, as long 

 as it remains quiescent. One or_ two fresh-water 

 tortoises used to share captivity wilh the toads, and 

 when one of the former protruded its head within 

 reach of a toad, the latter would gaze at it wilh 

 fixed attention for a moment, and then smack would 

 go its tongue on the cranium of the tortoise, which 

 would be hastily drawn back into its shell in alarm 

 at the unexpected assault. They will constantly 

 make similar attacks on each other; and nothing is 

 more common than when a toad or natterjack moves, 

 to take prey or othervvdse, to see a companion strike 

 at its head or foot, evidently mistaking it for some 

 creature suitable for food. They are just as ready 

 to go at an inanimate object, if it is but put in 

 motion ; and I have often amused visitors by moving 

 about a pencil or other object just outside the glass 

 when it is almost certain to attract their attention, 

 and they will strike at it again and again, seeming 

 quite incapable of learning wisdom by failure. The 

 other day, a natterjack observed a green lizard 

 moving at some distance, crawled across to it, and, 

 after due consideration, administered one of its 

 tongue-strokes, to the surprise and discomfiture of 

 thelizard. The green-tree frog, though equally alert 

 for prey, I have never seeen commit mistakes of this 

 nature. — G, Guyon, Ventnor, Isle of Wight. 



"Waudian Cases. — The arrangement of soil best 

 suited for a Wardian case of ferns, is as follows : 

 Pirst put a layer of coarse gravel, or broken pottery, 

 &c. ; upon this a thin layer of turfy loam, filhng up the 

 box with a good depth of well-moistened loamy soil. 

 The case need not be quite air-tight ; its only object 

 is to exclude dust, smoke, &c. If the steamy ap- 

 pearance of the glass renders tlie contents _ of the 

 case invisible, it is easily dissipated by opening the 

 door for a few minutes. — H. J. H. B. 



CaiST any of your readers' or correspondents give 

 any information respectmg the pre])aratiou on 

 mounting of the proboscis of the blow-fly? I have 

 not seen the process described in any book. — T. S. 



Corals and ]VIadkepop.,es. — ^In reply to B. T. S., 

 the best illustrations aud specific distinctions of 

 British Corals and Madrepores will be found in 

 Nos. 4, 0, 7, 8, and 9 of the Monographs (to members 

 and subscribers only) nov,- issuing from the Pal^eon- 

 tological Society, information as to access to those 

 splendid productions might be obtained on a polite 

 application to the llev. T. Wiltshire, Bread-street 

 Hill, 'Vi.G.-FJdmund Wheeler. 



Bees Attacking Phuit. — I can fully corroborate 

 n. E. A.'s statements. Both in the west of Sussex 

 and also in Hampshire bees seem to have completely 

 taken the place which the wasps held last autumn. 

 The "reason why," I leave to your m.ore scientific 

 correspondents to explain. Another curious fact 

 bearing upon the same point is that moths seem to 

 have entirely deserted the ivy-blossom (which at all 

 events has looked tempting enough this year), 

 although the swarms of them on "sugar" about 

 June raised the entomologist's expectations of _a 

 great " ^■'^"-season. During the day, however, it 

 has been very full of all kinds of insects, including 

 bees, although, perhaps, not so full as in former 

 years. Could the early summer have " impoverished 

 the pollen" of such a late-blossoming thing as ivy? 

 —F. G. J). D. 



Ekesh-watee, Sponges. — As I have several times 

 tried to keep specimens of our fresh-v/ater sponges 

 alive, without any successful results, I cannot do 

 better than make an appeal to you, or some of your 

 readers, for a few hints. It may be that the sponges 

 are particularly susceptible of change of water, but 

 whether it has been young animals growing on 

 Aiiacheris and water-moss, or larger specimens,^ either 

 from submerged posts and walls, or on sprigs of trees, 

 all seem to decompose a few weeks after being 

 located in their new homes, though I Ijave tried 

 keeping them in a moderately-sized aquarium, with 

 a single gold-fish and a natural vegetable growth, as 

 well as separately in smaller vessels. Tliree sorts, 

 judging by the outward form only, seem very com- 

 mon, and of one of these I have found a colony on 

 the riiuddy bed of a somewhat shallow stream. Is 

 not this very unusual, as they seem generally to prefer 

 a more substantial basis? The disappearance of 

 some large specimens of a green-branched species 

 1 attributed to a visit from a brood of swans,_ but 

 am not aware wheth.er they are in the habit of feed- 

 ing; on sponges. Bowcrbank's "Monograph of 

 British Spongiads," published by_ the Ray Society, 

 is almost too advanced for a novice ; but I would 

 suggest that a paper from you on some of the com- 

 moner fresh-water species might not be uniuteresting 

 to many of your readers who have opportunities for 

 collecting.- F, E, M., Chelmsford. 



