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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Papers on Flint. — Mr. G. Abbot will not find 

 anywhere a complete bibliography of papers on 

 " Flint " : he will have to seek them out by searching 

 in all likely periodicals and serials, amongst which 

 let him not forget the " Proceedings of the Geologist's 

 Association." Several papers on the subject appear 

 therein, but two will be specially helpful — Professor 

 T. Rupert Jones "On Quartz, Flint, etc.," in vol. 

 iv., p. 439 et seq,, and Professor Judd " On the Un- 

 making of Flints," in vol. x., p. 217 et seq. In both 

 these papers abundant reference to the writings of 

 others is made. Articles published between 1874 

 and 1S84 will, of course be found in the " Geological 

 Record." The list annually published by the Geo- 

 logical Society in their " Quarterly Journal " should 

 also be gone through. — B. B. Woodward, British 

 Museum, {Natural History.') 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Some Famous Collecting-grounds for 

 Dragon-flies. — Errata : page 18, first column, for 

 Lepletum quadrimaculata read Leptetrum quadrimacu- 

 lata ; for Anaso formosus read Anax formosus ; for 

 Enallagma cyastrigerium read Enallagma cyathi- 

 gerum ; for river Soar read river Stour. Second 

 column : for Ischnura pumilis read Ischnura pumilio. 



A Snake-stone. — Can any reader of Science- 

 Gossip inform me of the monetary value of a scorpion 

 or snake-stone one inch long, half an inch wide, and 

 about as thick as a bean, which it very much resembles ; 

 brought from India ; there used to absorb the poison 

 from snake-bites. — Enquirer. 



A Dog as Station-Master— The death is 

 announced of a popular member of the staff of the 

 Great Eastern Railway, namely, the black-and-tan 

 collie dog long familiar to passengers at the Lowes- 

 toft station. This well-known animal appears to 

 have originally appointed himself to fulfil the duty 

 of starting the trains, but time and habit seem to have 

 fully ratified the appointment. By a marvellous 

 instinct the collie, it is said, seemed to know the 

 exact time at which a train should begin its journey, 

 and a restless excitement characterised him as the 

 appointed moment drew near. As the bell uttered 

 its first sound, he would scamper down the platform, 

 and, planting himself close to the engine, bark 

 furiously until the wheels began to move. Satisfied 

 apparently in this respect, he would next make a 

 move for the guard's van, and hurry the guard to his 

 post. As the train passed out of the station he 

 retired, and no more was seen of him till a similar 

 operation had to be repeated on the departure of 

 another train. No other bell than that used for 

 starting purposes would bring the animal to view. 



Death of the American Aloe. — A Parsonstown 

 correspondent writes : — The close of the year has 

 seen the death of the celebrated specimen of the 

 American aloe, that completed its century of ex- 

 istence in the conservatory of Birr Castle last August. 

 On that occasion the beautiful plant threw out great 

 clusters of yellow flowers about the size of 'the large 

 double chrysanthemums that took the prize at the 

 recent Dublin show. On blooming — an event that 

 only occurs when the specimen reaches one hundred 



years of age — the plant gave a loud report like the 

 sourid of a rifle-shot, and an hour later the flowers so 

 rare were found on its stem. The pecularity of this 

 rarity was its abnormal height : it rose to an altitude 

 of 23 feet, a point never reached out of tropical 

 climes. The Earl of Rosse and his astronomer (Dr. 

 Boeddicker), both distinguished botanists, watched 

 the progress of the plant with great diligence and 

 made frequent observations of its development that 

 will be an invaluable record to botanists. There are 

 numerous specimens of the aloe in Ireland, but mostly 

 of dwarfed or stunted growth and no authentic in- 

 formation has been obtained as to their exact age. 

 In the case of this one, its history has been traced 

 back to the time it was planted in the Castle, and in 

 its three leading characteristics — blooming only once 

 in its life, living to its hundredth year and then dying 

 ■ — all the traditions of its species have been verified, 

 and can now be accepted as ascertained facts. Con- 

 current with its death was the growth of a group of 

 seedlings at its base, and these have been carefully 

 transplanted to perpetuate the memory of the interest- 

 ing centenarian plant from which they sprang. 



Intelligence of the Cat. — There are many 

 wonderful stories told of the doings of the cat, chiefly 

 regarding their progeny and other unusual associates. 

 The late Dr. Maxwell of Glasgow, when taking a 

 walk one morning in Glasgow Green, near Nelson's 

 Monument, saw a cat going towards the river Clyde. 

 When it came to the river it went up some distance, 

 then took to the water ; but before reaching the 

 opposite side the current had carried it a considerable 

 way down, and it landed at the only place near where 

 a landing could be made. The Doctor fully believed 

 that the cat had calculated on the distance that the 

 stream would carry it down, so that it could gain the 

 proper landing. — D. R. 



A Swan's Feat. — Mr. T. Midgley, the well- 

 known curator of the Bolton Museum, writes to the 

 " Manchester City News " as follows : — Among the 

 many interesting accounts which one finds recorded in 

 your Natural History Notes, perhaps a feat of one of 

 the swans belonging to the Bolton Corporation will 

 bear recording. On Monday morning, as I passed 

 along the side of the snow-covered greensward which 

 skirts the large lake, I noticed a group of three swans 

 standing about ten yards from the water. One of 

 them deliberately laid its body on the surface of the 

 snow, used its legs, after the fashion of boys when 

 tobogganing, to give its body a start, and away it slid 

 down the bank, gaining speed as it went ; and, the 

 water's edge being a little below the ground, 

 performed a half-somersault on to its back into the 

 water. Whether all three were enjoying themselves 

 in this playful manner or not my duties did not 

 permit me to stay to watch, but it struck me as one 

 more instance of the peculiar habits of these birds. 



Approaching Extinction of the Lapwing. — 

 Plovers' eggs are sought for more diligently every 

 season, the finders being well paid for them by 

 dealers, who sell them at a good profit. The bird 

 is becoming scarce in consequence, and farmers 

 complain that insect-life is becoming intolerable It 

 is believed that nothing but stringent legislation will 

 prevent the wholesale destruction of the eggs and the 

 eventual annihilation of the bird. The eggs are very 

 difficult to procure, the nests being scattered up and 

 down a wide extent of ground, the site being selected 

 where the colour of surrounding objects approaches 

 as closely as possible to that of the eggs. When 

 human intruders approach the nest, which is of the 



