HARD IVICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



161 



stellatus, Mr. J. D. Hardy; a curious spiny spider 

 (Gasterocantha cancrifirmis) from Trinidad, Messrs. 

 Watson and Son, who also exhibited some specimens 

 of fertilized seeds of the sugar cane, only recently 

 discovered, the canes having been always propagated 

 by cuttings ; Bacilli of influenza, Mr. Beck ; a 

 plumed mite (Glyciphagiis plumigcr), Mr. Oakden ; 

 circulation in Valisneria under T Uh objective, Mr. 

 Powell. There was, as usual, a large show of pond- 

 life by Messrs. Andrew, Byrne, Dadswell, Hind, 

 Rousselet, White and others. Foraminifera were 

 shown by Mr. Earland, and Diatomaceae by Mr. 

 Wynne E. Baxter, Mr. Rohr, Mr. Soar, and others. 

 Mr. C. Lees Curties projected a large number of 

 microscopic slides on the screen at intervals, with the 

 lantern microscope. A good selection of music was 

 given by Drs. Guthrie, Leonard, and Dundas Grant, 

 Mrs. Grant, Messrs. Fenigstein, G. and W. Goss, and 

 other friends of the members, during the ivery pleasant 

 evening which was spent. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Curiosities of Worm-Life— One of the most 

 peculiar abnormalities which I have ever seen has 

 just come to hand from Perth, in the shape of a worm 

 with two heads. As I showed in my article on page 

 10S, double tails are by no means rare. I have, 

 however, never yet heard of a worm such as I have 

 figured here. It is, as usual, a specimen of the long 

 worm (A. longa, Ude), and when in motion the second 

 head had all the appearance of a snail's feeler, or 

 antenna. I received the specimen, with a collection 

 of Scottish worms, from Mr. Ellison, the genial 



Wexford, on the 1st of May, and has been placed in 

 the Zoological Gardens, Dublin, by its captor, Mr. 

 Arthur Ruttledge. The marten is an animal now 

 very little known in Ireland, and this occurrence is 

 of great interest, inasmuch as it was previously an 

 open question whether the species survived or not in 

 Co. Wexford. A year ago I had indeed strong 

 suspicions that such an animal was committing 

 depredations among the lambs and poultry at Bally- 

 hyland, about four miles from Coolbawn ; and there 

 can be little doubt that a specimen was trapped at 

 Ballyhyland nine or ten years ago, and released by 

 some of the labourers, who mistook it for a young 

 fox. But Mr. Arthur Ruttledge's specimen is, so 

 far as I know, the first authenticated marten taken 

 in this country for a long time ; and from the fact 

 of the capture having been, as Mr. Ruttledge tells 

 me, quite accidental (the trap having been set only 

 for rabbits, and the marten having committed no 

 damage to lead to suspicion of its presence), it seems 

 highly probable that other martens remain in the 

 vicinity. I may add that Wexford is not one of the 

 counties mentioned by Thompson in his enumeration 

 of those in which the marten was known to exist. 

 In saying this, however, it is proper to recall the fact 

 that Thompson's notes on the mammalia were very 

 incomplete at the time of his death, and are only 

 known through the medium of a posthumous publi- 

 cation. — C. B. Moffat, Ballyhyland, Co. Wexford. 



A Plague of Caterpillars in Epping Forest. 

 — At present the oak-trees on that side of Epping 

 Forest which extends from Chingford Station towards 

 Sewardstone, as well as in the neighbouring lanes 



Fig. 104. — Allobophora longa, tide. Nat. size. 



curator of the Perth Natural History Museum. The 

 embryology of this species has never yet been studied, 

 but the constant recurrence of such peculiarities 

 suggests some interesting lines of thought, with 

 which I hope to deal more fully when I have cleared 

 some of my field-studies away. I take this oppor- 

 tunity of thanking my numerous correspondents for 

 their encouragement and help, and shall be glad if 

 others will favour me with consignments addressed 

 4, The Grove, Idle, Bradford. — Hilderic Friend. 



The Pine Marten.— A specimen of this rare 

 animal was taken in a rabbit-trap at Coolbawn, Co. 



Fig. 105. — Twin head of A. longa, enlarged. - 

 pr. prostomium ; peris., peristomiun 



. gullet, 



and hedge-rows, are being devastated by an army of 

 small caterpillars (mostly Geometry) which dangle in 

 strings from the twigs of the trees. Meantime the 

 sparrows, which abound in the gardens of the neigh- 

 bouring farms and cottages, keep aloof from the 

 scene of mischief, finding elsewhere food which they 

 prefer. To-day (May 23rd), whilst traversing nearly 

 two miles of the trees infested, I may safely say that 

 I did not see a single sparrow. The blue-tits are 

 doing their best against the enemy, but their numbers 

 are quite insufficient. This is one of the many cases 

 which the advocates of the sparrow would do well to 

 take into fair consideration. — J. W. Slater. 



