NEWS. 



317 



Sir, I have two cherry-trees, which are 

 trees of note ; for age, fruitfulness, and the 

 richness of the fruit. In a morning, before 

 break of day, and every minute from that 

 time to dusk, are these feathered thieves at 

 work. They strip the fruit from the stone, 

 leaving it hung; or they fly away with 

 whole bunches to devour at leisure. In 

 this work of destruction they are aided by 

 the robin, most of our summer visitants, 

 and the jay. He that has a cherry-tree in 

 a country garden has got his work to keep 

 the birds off. Rasps are also a favourite 

 fruit of the blackbird, and ripe gooseberries 

 he cannot resist. The quantity of goose- 

 berries these pilferers destroy is very great. 

 I have seen trees, upon which every berry 

 had the contents taken out, and the skins 

 left hanging on the trees, and in a large berry 

 garden if not well watched, they destroy 

 pecks of fruit by pecking it and leaving it 

 thus disfigured and unfit for market. I 

 speak from experience, having suff'ered 

 great loss at times by them. — J. Eanson, 

 York. 



Within the last few days a very fine col- 

 lection of birds and insects has been re- 

 ceived from Mr. Edward Bartlett, now 

 engaged in exploring the river Amazon and 

 its tributaries. Among these there are 

 supposed to be several species new to 

 science. 



EschoUzia calif ornica. — This plant, in 

 some localities, is becoming quite wild. 

 Its gaudy flowers, however, are a drawback, 

 inasmuch as they attract the attention of 

 passers by, and tempt the ruthless hand of 

 childhood. — John Eanson, York, 



ErratiLm. — Allow me to point out to you 

 what is palpably an error in Mr. Bradby's 

 Naturalist's calendar, at p. 275 of the pre- 

 sent volume. Under date April 26th, we 

 read, ' ' Cow parsley, Melampyrum pratense 

 in flower." Thei'e can be little doubt that 

 Anthriscus sylvestris was the plant intended, 

 this being commonly known by the name 

 of Cow parsley. Melampyrilm praUnse 

 (Cow-wheat) does not begin to blossom 

 until June. — James Britten. 



A Living Animal Extracted from the 

 Human Eye. — A living hydatid, of the spe- 

 cies Cysticercus cetluloso, belonging to the 

 entozoa, a series of insects inhabiting the 

 internal parts of animals, was last v/eek ex- 

 tracted from the eye of a female by Mr. 

 Woolcott, the oculist, founder and late 

 surgeon of the Kent County Ophthalmic 

 Hospital, Maidstone. The animal had been 

 perceived for some time floating unattached 

 in the anterior chamber of the eye, and sight 

 was almost entirely lost by frequent attacks 

 of inflammation. The occurrence of the 

 entozoon in the human eye is very rare, and 

 this is the second case only which has come 

 under Mr. Woolcott's treatment during 

 twenty years' practice as an oculist The 

 first came under his notice at the Ophthal- 

 mic Hospital in 1849, soon after that in- 

 stitution was founded : and, upon examina- 

 tion with the microscope after extraction, 

 two of the progeny were found attached to 

 the tail vesicle of the Cysticercus. — Maid- 

 stone Journal. 



Scarcity of Loh&ters. — The following let- 

 ter has been addressed to the editor of Land 

 and Water : — " Sir, — It may be useful to 

 your readers, or Mr. F. Buckland, to know 

 that small lobsters are in demand to-day at 

 7s. 6d. each, and that in consequence I have 

 been obliged to substitute the insignificant 

 shrimp as sauce to a turbot. W.H.W." 

 Mr. Buckland appends a note as follows : — 

 " I am not surprised at the information our 

 correspondent is good enough to send. It 

 is only just what one may expect, for at the 

 breeding season tons of lobsters are annually 

 sold in London, and their ova (called ber- 

 ries) can be seen in clusters like grapes 

 under the tail, If we will persist in de- 

 manding the luxury of 'berried hens,' as 

 they are called by the fishmongers, to figure 

 on our tables as lobster salad or as sauce for 

 turbot, we cannot expect that many young 

 lobsters Avill be left to perpetuate the spe- 

 cies. This is a subject requiring the most 

 serious consideration and attention." — F. 

 Buckland, in *' I.Kand and Water." 



