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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



try and thus save some of their valuable slides, and 

 give us the results of their work. I have had long to 

 mourn over slides spoilt by fungus-growths ; I trust 

 I have now remedied this.- — A. C. Smith, Crowboro'. 



Mason's Projection Microscope.— I have had 

 occasion, during my last lecturing season, to use one 

 of Mr. R. G. Mason's instruments as above described, 

 for illustrative purposes. I have used ordinary micro- 

 scopic slides, suitable for a I -inch objective for a 

 projection upon the screen, although the i£ and 

 2-inch powers are better for projecting objects that 

 are not too opaque. Mr. Mason provides an alum 

 trough for barring out heat-rays, but I found that my 

 lantern slides, particularly with a 2-inch object-glass, 

 would stand two minutes well without injury. The 

 alum trough necessarily means lowering of illumina- 

 tive lantern power. There are few things which 

 impress audiences more powerfully than the fact, 

 that when they see a picture upon a lantern screen it 

 is the real image of the object lectured about, and 

 not a mere drawing. Having used Mr. Mason's 

 lantern microscope, I am prepared to recommend it, 

 and to thank him and other opticians for their highly 

 appreciated help in bringing out such perfected in- 

 struments for the aid of scientific lecturers. — J. E. 

 Taylor, Editor S.-G. 



ZOOLOGY. 



Preserving the Epidermis of Shells. — "A 

 solution of chloride of calcium has been employed by 

 Gen. Totten, U.S. Engineers, for preserving the 

 flexibility of the epidermis in various shells. The 

 solution of this deliquescent salt — which any one can 

 make by saturating hydrochloric acid with marble — 

 keeps the object which has been steeped in it perma- 

 nently moist, without injuring its colour or texture ; 

 while its antiseptic properties will aid in the preserva- 

 tion of matters liable to decay. (Professor J. W. 

 Bailey, in ' Gilliman's Journal,' July, 1854.)" Will 

 anyone kindly say whether the above — given in 

 "Woodward's Manual of the Mollusca " — is much 

 used, and would a solution made from chalk with 

 nitric acid answer the same purpose." — W. Jones, 

 fun. 



The Cinnabar Moth [Euchelia jacobea) and 

 its Varieties. — The Cinnabar Moth (Euchelia 

 jacob&t) is familiar to every one, and almost equally 

 well-known is the larva, with its alternate rings of 

 orange and black, and few scattered, bristly hairs, 

 to be found feeding plentifully on groundsel (Senecio 

 vulgaris) in the spring. Very beautiful is the moth. 

 The rich carmine streaks and spots, and rather 

 lighter under-wings of this colour, forming a charming 

 contrast with the soft ground-colour of the primaries. 

 The moth is interesting, too, from the fact that, 



contrary to what is usually the case with the lepidop- 

 tera, the males are larger than the females. Though 

 liable to be overlooked at first sight, the colours of 

 the two sexes are not identical. The females are 

 decidedly brighter, the carmine of both wings being 

 more intense and vivid, whilst perhaps that of the 

 males, particularly that of the secondaries, might 

 appropriately be designated crimson. Euchelia 

 jacobetz is not much given to variation. I once saw a 

 remarkable specimen in which all the wings were 

 well-nigh suffused with the dull, smoky ground- 

 colour, the carmine showing only as a faint, dingy 

 pink, "looking," as the captor expressed it, "as if 

 the moth had been passed up the chimney." 

 Xanthic forms, like Zygcenas, may occasionally be 

 bred, and found. I have had the pleasure of adding 

 one of these yellow, or more correctly orange 

 varieties, to my collection during ihe past season. It 

 was taken in the garden of our neighbour, Mr. 

 Alderman Purchase, by his son, and my esteemed 

 young friend Edgar — an ardent, and intelligent 

 observer of nature, to whom I am much indebted 

 for assistance in my collecting. The specimen is in 

 fine condition ; the state of the cilia suggesting recent 

 emergence. All the carmine of the wings is replaced 

 by yellow, or orange. I almost regret that I did not 

 try for eggs ; but in all probability I should not then 

 have had so lovely an insect gracing my cabinet. A 

 good instance of protective resemblance was afforded 

 by Euchelia Jacobetz. A specimen at rest on a dark 

 red brick wall assimilated in tints so wonderfully to 

 its surroundings as to be scarcely perceptible. The 

 largest male in my series measures exactly if inch, 

 my smallest female ii inch from tip to tip of wings 

 extended. — Joseph Anderson, Jun., Chichester. 



Fusus Turtoni. — A fine live specimen of this 

 rare shell, was found by me, during a trip on a steam 

 trawler, the other week, seventy miles east of 

 Aberdeen ; depth of water, 40 fathoms ; ground fine 

 sand. There is no mention of this Fusus, either in 

 McGillivary's nor Dawson's lists of mollusca for the 

 north-east of Scotland. — James Simpson. 



The " Vegetable Caterpillar." — We have re- 

 ceived from Messrs. Kelsey & Co., Auckland, a speci- 

 men of the above, with the following note. — Coi'dyceps 

 Robertsii, or the vegetable caterpillar, is a most 

 interesting curiosity, peculiar to the North Island of 

 New Zealand,'and called by the Maoris in one province 

 " Hotete," and by others " Awhete." At a certain 

 season the spores of a fungus, which are so very 

 infinitesimal as to be almost imperceptible to the 

 human eye, float in the atmosphere, and enter 

 through the breathing pores of its body and com- 

 mence to germinate. The grub then buries itself and 

 dies, being, in fact, killed by the growth of the 

 fungus inside it, and which ultimately sprouts from 

 one end of the caterpillar's body, growing to a height 



