HA RD JVICKE' S S CIENCE- G SSIP. 



191 



The Origin of Metal Veins. — Some very- 

 remarkable observations have been made by Dr. von 

 Steeruwitz, chief of the western division of the Texas 

 Geological Survey, on the genesis of ore deposits. 

 Miniature veins of gold, silver, copper, lead, and other 

 metals, with beautifully-formed agates, are the result of 

 his experiments, which seem to go far to proving that 

 the agency concerned in filling the fissures known as 

 mineral veins was seldom fire, but hot solutions, 

 from which, by the help of galvanic currents under 

 enormous pressure, the contents of the veins were 

 deposited. The refiltration of mineral matter into 

 the neighbouring rocks was in most eases due, he 

 thinks, to a process of " leaching." In the Arizona 

 School of Mines similar experiments are being made 

 by Mr. Comstock, with results which may not only 

 modify many of our old notions, but actually lead to 

 the artificial production of the metals. 



Found, growing plentifully and in full flower, 

 Cynoglossum officinale on June 24, on the sea-shore 

 at Shoreham, near Brighton. Plants very strong and 

 over two feet in height. 



Sparrows attacking Goldfinches.— Colonel 

 Ward, Copdock, Ipswich, writes that, " until recently 

 he had a nest of young goldfinches in ah ilex-tree. 

 One afternoon, hearing a great commotion, he looked 

 up, and saw a cock and hen sparrow ' murdering the 

 innocents.' They pulled one young goldfinch out of 

 the nest, and threw it down, and probably killed the 

 others, as the hen sparrow was observed pecking 

 viciously at them. The parent goldfinches were 

 in great distress, but did not attempt to drive the 

 marauders away, and next morning neither sparrows 

 nor goldfinches were there." 



Feathered Creatures. — Feathered things seem 

 far more devoted to their young than furred ones. 

 The wiles of many birds to lure the marauder from 

 the nest are familiar to every one. What an agony 

 they are in ! Some of the smaller kinds will all but 

 allow themselves to be caught, and the larger ones 

 will face tremendous odds, and win by sheer desperate 

 fury. The old hen is the best example — a wonderful 

 mother though a terrible fool. She will beat off 

 anything smaller than a pig or a fox. But it is not 

 fair to give her ducks to rear, especially wild ducks. 

 Gamekeepers have a senseless trick of taking the 

 eggs from a wild duck's nest and setting them under 

 a hen, with the object of attaching the birds to the 

 place. How is a hen to look after young wild ducks ? 

 I remember a nest of ten being handed over in this 

 way to a foster-mother. She hatched them splen- 

 didly, and fussed over them as if they were her own ; 

 but she could not protect them. One day six dis- 

 appeared, and a few nights afterwards the rest. We 

 could not make out what had become of them, until 

 one day we saw a litter of stoats running down the 

 lawn. The wretches swim splendidly, and nothing 

 would be easier than to get the ducklings on the pond, 

 while the old hen clucked helplessly on the bank. — 

 Manchester City News. 



Notes on the Cuckoo. — The cuckoo is generally 

 heard here about the 20th of April ; this year he has 

 favoured us more than usual with his two-syllable 

 song ; he can be heard nearly all day from early 

 morn till late at night, and he so reminds me of my 

 first experience with the young cuckoo. Many years 

 ago, I, in company with two other boys found a 

 young cuckoo in a hedge-sparrow's nasi. Being the 

 first that I had seen I had a great dtsire to see if I 

 could bring it up in a cage ; but I found the same 



feeling was shared by each of us. The cuckoo was too 

 young to take then : the next question to decide was, 

 who should have it when it was ready ? I found I 

 was the less likely to have it by fair means, so I 

 began to consider how I could get it by other 

 means. The next day I might have been seen by the 

 cuckoo nest, planning some scheme to make sure of 

 having it when it was ready. The nest with the 

 cuckoo in was in a hedge about four feet from the 

 ground ; I thought, if I take the bird and nest a few 

 yards further along the hedge, and place it in the 

 grass at the bottom of the hedge the sparrow will be 

 sure to find it, and I shall make sure of my cuckoo. 

 I began at once to put my plan into practice, thrust 

 my hand into the hedge to take out the nest and 

 bird ; but, lo ! I managed to get the bird all right, but 

 the nest was left in pieces, scattered in the hedge. 

 What is to be done now ? was the next thought ; can I 

 make a cuckoo's nest? surely they are not very 

 particular as they cannot make a nest themselves. I 

 took some of the coarse grass from the bottom of the 

 hedge, and bound it up with a piece of string, made 

 a depression in it and the cuckoo nest was made. 

 Since then I have heard of a man who betted a wager 

 that he could make a magpie nest ; but he lost the 

 wager, it was decided against him that after all it was 

 not a magpie nest. However, I put the cuckoo in 

 the new nest, placed it in the grass at the bottom of 

 the hedge, and it was brought up by the sparrow as 

 though nothing had happened. That was my first 

 experience with the cuckoo, but not the last. Since 

 that time I have found three young cuckoos in a 

 single day, and in all sorts of odd places. I have 

 found one in a grape-vine trained to a wall, on the 

 cornice over a window-head, on a porch over a door- 

 way, in a hole in a bank, in heaps of stones ; and I 

 once found one in a stack of bricks, which left no 

 doubt as to how the egg was placed there but by the 

 cuckoo's beak, neither could the young cuckoo 

 escape till the bricks were moved. This year I have 

 been fortunate enough to see two clutches of hedge- 

 sparrow's eggs, with a cuckoo's egg among them. 

 The only nests that I have found them in are nests of 

 the hedge-sparrow, pied wagtail, and robin. — H. 

 Blaby, Brackley, North Hants. 



Floral Monstrosities. — The flower of fuchsia 

 frequently exhibits a peculiar departure from the nor- 

 mal form. Two of the petals are missing, but the two 

 stamens — next to the place where the petals should 

 have been — have miniature coloured petals at their 

 apices, and at the same time appear to retain their 

 anthers, still covered with pollen. — Francis Brent, 

 Tothitt Avenue, Plymouth. 



A Nest of White Blackbirds.— Ornithologists 

 will be interested in the fact that Mr. Charles Wood, 

 chemist, Harleston, Suffolk, has in his possession a 

 nest of white blackbirds (two cocks and one hen 

 bird), which he purchased from a labourer for five 

 pounds. The nest was in a lane not half a mile from 

 Mr. Wood's premises. The trio have now been out 

 of the nest three weeks, and are healthy and lively ; 

 they are perfectly white, with pink eyes and yellow 

 beaks. 



NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To Correspondents and Exchangers.— As we now 

 publish Science-Gossip earlier than formerly, we cannot un- 

 dertake to insert in the following number any communications 

 which reach us later than the 8th of the previous month. 



