had two hives of bees, stand included, knocked down to her for six shillings. Some of our oldfashioned auctioneers demand a shilling per head for all live stock, as a sort of deposit, and no sooner did the hammer fall, than the auctioneer, a merry old fellow, and almost as fat as Daniel Lambert, demanded from the old woman a shilling a piece for every bee in the hives. But he got his answer instantly, "Then yo' mun count 'em."

The pretty rye brome-grass (Bromus secalinus) and the Darnel (Lolium temulentum) are both very common in some parts of Cheshire. The former is known by the name of "Drook." A labourer once told me that Drook was degenerated oats, and as a convincing proof said that it was only found growing amongst that grain, and that Darnel was degenerated wheat, and was never found amongst oats, but I do not know whether this belief is very general in Cheshire. I could not persuade him that he was mistaken, but a very little observation would at least have shown him that drook is quite common amongst wheat, and darnel amongst oats. Our labourers, although they have nature's works constantly spread out before their eyes, only distinguish plants (unless it may be medicinal ones) by very superficial characters; but they may be pardoned for thinking that a drooping panicle of brome-grass is somewhat akin to oats, and the stiff spike of grain-bearing darnel is related to wheat.

IN

ROBERT HOLLAND.

STICKLEBACK IN SALT WATER.

N answer to your correspondent F. S., I have myself tried similar experiments last year on both the three and ten-spined Sticklebacks, and found both species alike would live and thrive in salt as well as fresh water. I was induced to try these experiments from having obtained several full-grown specimens of the three-spined out of the sea in shrimp-nets (vide Couch), which in two cases were full of well-matured roe, but never met with a ten-spined one under those circumstances. There are several small streams which contain these fish, running into the sea, and probably they were thus carried down.

But the last part of your correspondent's letter deserves much attention and close investigation as of much interest to ichthyologists. I shall not pretend or presume to offer any opinion on the subject, but will submit for consideration the following remarks:-Let it be taken for granted that all true fish breathe through gills, that is, life is supported by the blood being renovated by coming in contact with the oxygen contained in the water, by means of innumerable lamina on the surface of the gills. Such being granted,

I. Why do most fresh-water fish die in salt water, and vice versa?

II. Why can a few of each sort live equally well in either?

1. In the case of fresh-water fish. Submitted:Cannot the component parts of salt water, or particles of the different salts, so affect the gills that they get incrusted (if I may use the word) therewith, and thus prevent the required amount of oxygen coming in contact with the blood? Or, is it not possible that the blood itself may become impregnated with saline particles, which prove fatal to life? or, if impossible for such salts to enter thus into the system, may not these particles on coming in contact with the gills, decompose and unite with the oxygen, and thus cause death ?-Next, as to salt-water fish dying in fresh water. May not the very absence or want of these salts in the system destroy life? or, the action of these soluble particles on the lamina may cause a muscular irritability indispensable for the exhaustion of oxygen, and if deprived of which the active principle ceases, and death ensues?

2. Where fish live in either fresh or salt water, such as the salmon, stickleback, eel, mullet, &c., is it not possible that with these and a few others, they may have the power of disengaging or throwing off those salts from the gills when exposed to their action? or, if admitted into the system, absorb them without functional derangement? Or else, will the salt-water fish, when deprived of these salts, be able to exert more muscular power and increased respiration, and thus obtain the necessary supply of oxygen ?

I am aware that objections may be raised to placing the above-named fish under the same category, as the salmon and eel are essentially nugatory and require both conditions for their well-being, whereas the mullet is a salt and the stickleback a fresh-water fish. But I have done so advisedly, to bring under notice the difficulties (at least to me) of fixing a theory where different conditions have to be brought under the question-"How do these Ifish live in either water without visible inconvenience?" Might not the microscope reveal that the gills of different species of fish vary; and, if so, even in an infinitesimal degree, taking into consideration the immense area exposed to the action of the water, that variation might produce entire change in the natural economy of the fish?

*

ZOOLOGY.

BLACK SPIDER OF JAMAICA.-There is a spider in Jamaica the bite of which is venomous, being speedily followed by inflammation, with pain and swelling of the wounded part; the natives are consequently much afraid of it. It is of small size, the body not being larger than a small pea, with short legs. It is entirely black, except a spot of bright scarlet upon the head, rendering it so conspicuous, and at the same time so repulsive, that a person unacquainted with its venomous properties would instinctively shrink from it; a peculiar and interesting provision of nature, observed in many obnoxious animals, whereby, as St. Pierre and others have remarked, mankind are put on their guard against their attacks, from some peculiarity of form, colour, sound, or other disgusting quality.-W. Sells, in Journ. Ent. Soc., I. p. xlviii.

ROSE-CHAFERS.-A very pretty species of the Cetoniada, the Agestrata luconica, is of a fine brilliant metallic green, and found in the Philippine Islands. These the ladies of Manilla keep as pets in small bamboo cages, and carry them about with them whithersoever they may go.-Baird's Cyc. Nat. Sci.

LITTLE BUSTARD (Otis tetrax). A female specimen of this rare bird was shot by Mr. Araham, of South Clifton, Notts, December 21st, 1866. The bird was purchased by Mr. Adrian, naturalist, of Monson Street, Lincoln, by whom it is being preserved.-H. T.

THE REDSTART (Phoenicura ruticilla).—The sill of my study window being very much decayed, a pair of redstarts chose it to rear their young ones in. During the time that the young ones required their parents' attention, I frequently timed the parent bird, and found that she came to the nest twice in five minutes. Before she flew into the nest, she always rested on an espalier, and flew from it direct to the nest, so that I could always have a fair view of what she brought, which was chiefly caterpillars. As far as singing went, the male did his duty, for he sat for an hour together, in the cherry-tree, pouring out his song; but he did little in way of feeding the young. From early dawn to dusk did the hen labour for her brood, and she could not bring less than 350 caterpillars to the nest in a day'; and thus she did good to that extent; and living, as they do, exclusively on insects, I think they deserve to be classed among our benefactors, and protected accordingly. The cock is a very beautiful bird, in my opinion the most handsome bird we have in England. The hen is a much plainer bird than the cock, and when she flics, she shows the hazel-red feathers on her rump,

and is from that peculiarity called here the "brandtail" and "jenny red-tail."-John Ranson, Lintonon-Ouse, York.

GLAUCOUS GULL (Larus glaucus).-A fine Glaucous Gull was shot near Dunbar on January 2nd, 1867, by a fisherman of that place. It was a young bird of the first year, and measured six feet across the extended wings. Its total length was twentyseven inches. A Green-shank (Totanus glottis) was also shot near Dunbar with some difficulty, owing to its being very shy, on December 4th, 1866. -F. M. Balfour, Whittinghame, Prestonkirk.

THE SHIPWORM (Teredo navalis).-Destructive as it may be, the Shipworm will ever be an object of interest to Englishmen, inasmuch as its shell-lined burrow gave to Sir I. Brunel the idea which was afterwards so efficiently carried out in the Thames Tunnel. And, though from the alteration of surrounding circumstances, that wonderful monument of engineering skill has not been so practically useful as was anticipated, it has proved of incalculable value as pioneer to the numerous railway tunnels of this and other countries.-Rev. J. G. Wood's "Homes without Hands."

VALUE OF THE STARLING TO THE FARMER.-A pair of starlings having built their nest in our roof, I frequently timed the parents, and found that they returned to the nest, on an average, once in five minutes, and that their labours extended over seventeen hours a day, i.e. from three in the morning until eight in the evening. This would make the number of visits to the nest 204 in a day: thus, a single pair of birds in the breeding season would destroy 204 slugs, worms, or noxious insects a day, and 5,712 during the month of attendance on their young. In addition, it is to be remembered that they live the whole year through on the same food. Yet there are farmers who destroy them because they build in the pigeon-cot; but we are glad to find them very much on the increase, and the old prejudices giving way to sounder and more truthful opinions; for nothing could be more absurd than the half-exploded idea, that because they built in the pigeon-cot, they were injurious to the doves. During the last five years, they have increased fiftyfold in this village, and nearly every cottage has its pair. This is in part owing to natural history having some attention paid to it in the village school. The starling is locally known as the " shepoter."-J. Ranson, Linton-on-Ouse, York.

"CARDINALS."-These spiders, although undoubtedly first introduced at Hampton Court Palace, probably in some piece of furniture from abroad, have spread thence for several miles round. They are frequently taken in old houses and cottages at Cobham, seven miles from Hampton Court in a straight line.-W. R. Tate.

SPAWNING OF THE FROG.-It may interest Mr. Dansey and others to know that the earliest date on which I noticed frogs spawning last year in the vicinity of London was March 17th-in 1865, April 4th. About the best place to which microscopists can repair for finding frogs in spring is the market-garden ground by the Thames, between Chelsea and Fulham. The gardens are intersected by numerous ditches cut from the river for the purpose of affording a ready supply of water for the ground, and in these ditches the frogs spawn. The walk through these gardens is a very pleasant one; as the orchards afford shelter for numerous yellowhammers, greenfinches, and other interesting birds. -W. R. Tate.

TESTACELLA MAUGEI is a snail not often found in England. It is said to be a native of the Canary Islands, and more than fifty years ago was transported into the nursery grounds of an eminent firm in business at Clifton, near Bristol, and is naturalized In several localities in the West of England, probably sent out from the said nursery in the earth with plants, in the same way in which it is supposed to have been imported. It differs very much in appearance, habits, and character, from our common garden snail (Helix aspersa), or, indeed, from any of the other varieties of land or water snails. It is a ground snail of strictly carnivorous habits, penetrating the soil to the depth of two or three feet or more, and preying voraciously upon earthworms; they are sometimes dug up in the act of devouring a worm of large size, and admirably adapted is their grinding apparatus (the palate) for this purpose. When once the teeth are fixed in the worm, there is no chance for its escape; the teeth are long and sharply pointed, and so numerous and strong, that its victim is certain to meet with its death. The palate differs from those of all other species, which, by the bye, are all beautiful as microscopic objects, but none are so peculiar, so extraordinary as this, except perhaps that of the Doris tuberculata. It polarizes very nicely when well mounted, which should not be done in balsam. Deane's gelatine is not an unfit medium in which to mount it, and Remington's (of Bradford) glycerine jelly answers well; sometimes it is mounted dry, but I prefer the jelly. They are sometimes found in Devizes, but not in large numbers, and only when the gardeners are preparing their ground for crops, or digging up their crops, the demand here for them, for the sake only of their palates is great, and the price high, comparatively. I have bought them at a penny each, but since the demand has increased, so has the price; I have paid lately sixpence each for them. Four or five years ago I turned a few into my walledin garden, with an expectation and hope that there they would colonize, but I have not since seen one; nor is this remarkable, as they are seldom seen

above ground, and they are so much the colour of the ground that gardeners would not be likely to notice them in digging unless they were looking especially for them. They have no house on their back as others have, but are provided with a small shell near the posterior extremity, about one-fourth of their length-a mere apology for a covering for its body. When gliding along, the Testacella looks more like a slug; but on close inspection it will be seen that it has an appendage as above described. Their interior structure appears to differ considerably from others; but I have not made a comparative examination of their anatomical structure generally, but of their palate only, which really is very remarkable, and very large. I have no objection to exchange one for a palate of either of the varieties of Testacella.-J. J. Fox, Devizes.

WINTER BUTTERFLIES.-The Brimstone Butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni) made its first appearance here on Wednesday, the 28th of February; when I saw it fly past my drawing-room windows. I hear, however, that it was seen at Uckfield, our post-town, four miles off, some days previously. On Saturday, the 2nd of March, one of my female servants caught a fine specimen of the peacock butterfly (Vanessa Io) behind some newspapers in a storeroom, where it had probably been hibernating. It was very lively when first captured, and flew about in the sun; but, as the day declined, it became very sluggish, and finally died in the afternoon. The mean thermometer on the day in question only reached 33·9°, while that on the grass descended to 24°.-W. N.

WATER BOATMAN.-As a microscopist, of course I possess an aquarium, need I say aquaria, if a 2 oz. bottle to a two-pailful glass tank are either of them worthy of the name. At present I will treat only of one in which I grow Vallisneria, Anacharis, &c., &c.; but independently of my vegetable life, I must bring under notice one of the most interesting little chaps in the animal line that I know of. I allude to the water boatman, Notonecta glauca. The one in my tank, however, does not appear to always swim on his back, but uses his paddles in the truly legitimate way; he seems to find plenty to live on, and the way in which he apparently rubs his nose and then cleans his back, finally patting his own stomach, would really do good to any of our city functionaries. Altogether, let me recommend Notonecta to possessors of aquaria.-John Bockett.

STAG BEETLE (Lucanus cervus). A popular belief in Germany is that the Stag Beetle carries burning coals into houses, by means of its jaws. and that it has thus occasioned many fearful fires.-The Mirror, xix., p. 180.

ORIGIN OF CRICKETS.-The Mormons say that crickets are the produce of a cross between the Spider and the Buffalo.-Remy and Brenchley.

BOTANY.

POISON AND ANTIDOTE.-For the first time I gathered the poison-oak (Rhus toxicodendron), a pretty plant, that climbs by rootlets like the ivy, and trails gracefully over both rocks and trees. Some persons are most seriously affected by it, especially such as are of fair complexion, if they only venture near where it grows. It produces swelling about the eyes, dizziness, and fever; the poisonous effects are most virulent when the plant is bursting into leaf. I picked, examined, and walked amidst the trees over which it twined thickly, but experienced not the slightest symptoms of inconvenience. Still I know others that suffer whenever they come near it. Where the poison-oak thrives, there, too, grows a tuber known to the settlers as Bouncing Bet, to the botanist as Saponaria officinalis, the common soap-wort. The tuber is filled with a mucilaginous juice, which, having the property of entangling air when whisked up, makes a lather like soap. This lather is said to be an unfailing specific against the effects of the poison-oak-the poison and its antidote growing side by side.-J. K. Lord's "Naturalist in Vancouver Island."

THE LARCH-TREE.-Amongst the timber which was brought to Rome for the purpose of building the bridge called Naumachiaria, about the 20th year A.D., was a Larch that measured two feet square in thickness throughout, from end to end, and was of the extraordinary length of 120 feet; the tree must, therefore, have been not less than from 130 to 150 feet in height. Tiberius Cæsar would not allow this wonderful trunk to be used in the erecting of the bridge then building, but commanded it to be placed where all persons might see it as a curiosity, and where it remained for about thirty years, until Nero employed it in building his vast amphitheatre. Dr. Pallas, in his survey of the Russian dominions in Asia, observed several tumuli in Kamtschatka, reared at a period so remote that none of the present inhabitants had any tradition respecting their origin. The platform was covered by larch-wood, over which the mound of earth was raised, and the wood was found to be incorrupted.-Sylva Florifera.

ANCIENT NAMES OF PLANTS.- Much information about them will be found in the "Cruydt boek, or Herbarium" of the Belgian botanist, R. Dodonæus, of which there are existing five Flemish, one French, two Latin, and five English editions; the latter, 1st ed. 1578, under the name of "A new Herball," translated by Henry Lyte, printed by Van Der Loe at Antwerp, and "to be sold at London in Powels Churchyarde, by Gerard Dewes," the second English edition (1586), and the 3rd (1595), only have plates; 1st, 4th (1600) and 5th (1619) have none. The edition of 1595 was "im

prented at London by Edmund Bollifant." In 1850, Dr. Alavoine, of Malines, and Prof. Charles Morren, of Liège, published a concordance of the names given by Dodonæus, with the Linnæan denominations.-B., Melle.

THE BIRCH.-Christopher the Third, King of Denmark, in 1450, received the unjust surname of Berka Kanung, which signifies King of Bark, because in his reign there was such a scarcity that the peasants were obliged to mix the bark of this tree with their flour.-Sylva Florifera.

PATTHUR-KE-PHUL.-Under this name two lichens found in Britain, Parmelia perlata and Parmelia perforata, are sold in the bazaars of India, and are employed medicinally by the Hakeems, or native doctors.

BABEER. In the February number there is a notice of the true papyrus having been discovered in the marshes of the Hûleh, by the Rev. H. B. Tristram. Dr. Thomson, in his "Land and the Book," speaking of the same locality, says,-" It is an impenetrable jungle of ordinary cane, mingled with that peculiar kind called 'babeer,' from whose stems the

Arabs make coarse mats for the walls and roofs of their huts. This cane is the prominent and distinctive production of these marshes, both at the north and south end of the lake. I have seen it also on the banks of brooks on the plain of Sharon, north of Jaffa. The stalk is not round, but triangular. It grows eight or ten feet high, and ends above in a wide-spreading tuft of stems like broom-corn, shooting out in every direction with surprising regularity and beauty. It imparts a singular appearance to the whole marsh, as if ten thousand thoua nd brooms were waving over it." Is this "babeer cane" another, or merely local, name for the true papyrus? If so, it would appear to be more widely distributed in Palestine. Du Chaillu, I believe, mentions the papyrus in Western Equatorial Africa, as also Speke, in one of the lakes near the source of the Nile.-E. D. C.

MICROSCOPY.

HINTS TO OBJECT MOUNTERS.-The following few hints on mounting objects for the microscope may possibly be of service to the large number of amateurs who are engaged in the study of that instrument. These remarks refer to Canada balsam, the medium used for all, excepting certain classes of objects which require to be mounted dry or in some fluid. First, with reference to bottles used to contain the balsam and turpentine, I should recommend the wide-mouthed bottles with covers which fit outside the neck; this effectually prevents the recurrence of a constant source of annoyance to those who close their bottles with corks in the ordinary way, for in withdrawing a drop of balsam with the glass rod or wire while mounting an object, it frequently happens that the inside of the neck is smeared with it, the cork is presently inserted and when next it is used is stuck fast, and in removing it some small fragments are torn off and probably fall into the balsam, and perhaps sometime or other get into a good mounting and materially injure it; by adopting the above method this accident will be impossible. It will also be advisable to use the same sort of bottle for the turpentine, as it prevents dust and dirt accumulating round the neck, and getting into the preparations. These bottles may be obtained at any glass bottle warehouse; they are manufactured by the York Bottle Company, either with screw covers (which are preferable), or merely tightly fitting covers lined with cork, which answer the purpose perfectly. Turpentine is a most important article in mounting in balsam, and too much care cannot be used in obtaining it pure; the compound sold in the oilshops is generally a vile mixture, containing but a very small portion of pure turpentine, and quite unfitted for use in mounting; it may, however, be procured of good quality of any respectable chemist, at a cheap rate, and is known as "spirits of turpentine." The following is a method of proceeding which I adopt in mounting in Canada balsam objects of great delicacy, which will not bear drying on slides without great risk of damage in removing. The object, on being taken out of the potash or other solution, is thoroughly washed in clean, warm water, and when perfectly clean, immersed in spirits of wine (the ordinary methylated spirit answers perfectly). It should remain for some little time, say half an hour or so, and may then be removed, slightly dried on blotting paper, transferred to the turpentine, remaining there as long as necessary, and then mounted in balsam in the usual way. In this plan of proceeding it will be seen that the object is never once dried, and is therefore not so liable to get damaged as in the ordinary way of drying on a slide and then removing. I might here mention

that I do not think the plan of drying on slides and then immersing the whole in turpentine is altogether satisfactory; for however well, an object may be washed, it always leaves a trace of impurity on the slide on which it is dried, and without removing it of course this cannot be got rid of. The balsam I prefer is that usually sold at the shops, thinned when necessary with pure spirit of turpentine; the chloroform and balsam I have no liking for, and must say I have not found it as satisfactory as the unsophisticated article.-G. E. Cox, F.R.M.S., 9, Mincing Lane.

WHELK EGGS.-Are the readers of SCIENCEGOSSIP generally aware of the extreme beauty of the membrane enclosing the eggs of the common Whelk (Buccinum undatum), when placed under the polarizing apparatus? The softness of the colouring and the delicate blending of the tints are equalled by few, and surpassed by none, of the polarizing objects with which I am acquainted. The bunches of whelk's eggs are (as every seaside visitor knows) common object of the seashore." I have a few by me, and shall be happy to supply them, as far as they will go, to any one sending a stamped envelope to Rev. W. Spicer, Itchen Abbas, Alresford.

a

The membrane must, of course, be mounted in balsam.

GENERA AND SPECIES OF DIATOMS. At the meeting of the Quekett Microscopical Club, held February 22nd, an interesting communication was read from Mr. F. Kitton, of Norwich, on the construction of genera and species upon insufficient data. The illustrations and application of the remarks were chiefly confined to the Diatomaces; and the writer contended that it was very unwise to accept a single specimen, or a portion of a frustule, as a type, and constitute thereupon a new species or new genus. Instances were quoted in which this course had been adopted, to the great confusion of the student; and he further affirmed that it would be better to throw such unique or imperfect specimens into the fire, and not attempt to name a new form as a distinct species until a good gathering had been made. In further confirmation of his views, he adverted to the variation in contour of wellknown forms, derived from different localities, and the difference in the markings, or striæ, in the secondary layer of the silicious shields, which had on some occasions been accepted as distinct species. The tendency had been greatly to multiply both species and genera of Diatoms, without regard to the mutability of form, resulting from the influence of external conditions, and consequently, to create almost inextricable confusion by a formidable array of synonyms. The limits of species and genera have of late attracted so much attention, that the subject of the above paper acquired thereby additional interest.