SELB 0 RN 1 ANA. 131 
ficial degree, will act upon Mr. Kirby’s suggestion, and endeavour to entice harm- 
less insects to breed in their gardens. 
In the Selborne Magazine, for March, 1889 , 1 advocated the growing of nettles 
and rearing of butterflies in the town gardens, and should be glad to hear of any 
member who has succeeded. For my part, 1 must admit that I find the insects 
easier to rear than the nettles, which do not flourish in the confined “gardens” 
of this semi-suburban district, as do the various lilies, purple clematis, &c., 
which, if permitted, would soon crowd them out. 
This year I have been trying as garden ornaments another order of insects, 
viz., dragon flies, a much neglected family, and yet one of the most beautiful 
and interesting. Having prepared three or four small pools, I placed the larvce 
in them, giving them occasionally minute worms, maggots, & c. , the larger species 
finding sufficient food in the small earth worms that fall into the water, or on 
some tadpoles already hatched there. 
A newly emerged dragon fly, clinging to a blade of grass or watercress, is a 
lovely sight on a sunny morning, much prettier than the blooms of “ geraniums,” 
of which we have far too many in our gardens. 
Upper Clapton. R. Makshman Wattson. 
Another London Oasis Disappearing.— Can nothing be done to pre- 
vent the destruction of a little-known but very interesting spot in the South- 
west of London? At present it possesses not only some delightful old architecture 
but a plot of greenery which is invaluable in the closely-packed neighbourhood of 
Victoria, opposite the Soldiers’ Home, lately opened in a narrow street. Near 
Buckingham Gate stand Lady Daire’s Alms Houses ; old red brick buildings 
round three sides of a quadrangle, which on the fourth is enclosed by fine iron- 
work gates. This space is now open to the public, but it is doomed in the near 
future. The Charity Commissioners have said it must go, and the site will be 
used for building, and so another lung will be lost to London and another his- 
toric memento swept away. I have heard that the Lord Mayor has some influence 
in this matter ; if so, possibly some of your readers may prevail on him to use it, 
and to save a little more breathing room for our crowded city. 
Margaret Bell. 
Papyrophagous Slugs. — Is it a common occurrence for slugs to eat 
paper? I have never heard of it before, but yesterday I went into my room, 
and on the table where a few books and plants were, I saw, on taking up last 
month’s Nature Notes, that the leaves were eaten into along the top edge ; on 
looking more carefully at the book, I found it covered with slime, so concluded 
that it must have been the work of a snail or a slug. I then searched for some 
time hoping to find the perpetrator, but my search was in vain. 
Agnes M. Parmenter. 
A Bellicose Duck. — Mr. Arthur T. King, of High Barnet, sends us a 
note of the following amusing incident : — “ We have on the long water at the 
end of the recreation ground, a brood of eight little ducklings, which are periodi- 
cally paraded by an admiring mother cluck, conscious of the attractions of her 
little charges, especially in the evening, when they are out as little flycatchers, 
and are very quick and clever in their movements. The mother duck on these 
occasions generally parades on dry land to guard the little ones against intruders, 
and very bold she is against any who would dare to interfere with her progeny. 
On Thursday evening she more than once deliberately attacked a fox terrier 
prowling around on mischief bent. Fortunately the dog was muzzled, or I am 
not prepared to say the manoeuvre of the old lady would have been exactly dis- 
creet. As it was, the dog swooped down upon her several times, arid it was 
most laughable to see how on each occasion she ‘ went for ’ the dog in the boldest 
fashion, ejaculating sundry and divers ‘ quacks,’ which, if translated, might 
mean something of a ptean of victory, or perchance bad language at the unseemly 
interruption ! ” 
Memorial to Richard Jefferies.— Miss Agnes Martelli, hon. secretary 
of the Northern Heights Branch of the Selborne Society, calls our attention to 
the following extract from a letter of Mr. Arthur Kinglake “ July 21st, 1S90. 
A wish has been expressed of late by many, that some memorial of Richard. 
