Page:Hardwicke's Science-Gossip - Volume 1.pdf/182

Scales on White Cabbage Butterfly (page 140).—I presume your correspondent, Mr. W. H. Reynolds, alludes to the singular-formed and beautiful scales of the White Cabbage Butterfly, with a tuft or sort of root at the narrow end, as in the slide enclosed; if so, he will readily find them among the other scales, on upper side of wing: there is only a small proportion—perhaps about 1 in 20—of the tufted scales.—E. Greenhough.

The tufted scales of the White Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris Brassicæ), as well as those of the Meadow-brown (Hipparchia Janira), are to be found upon the male insect only. I suspect that your correspondent, W. H. Reynolds, has got hold of none but females for his experiments, or he could not have failed to have found what he was looking for. This is the more likely, as the female insect is generally more abundant than the male. The dotted or "battledore" scales of the blue butterflies (Polyommatus Argiolus, Alexis, &c.) are also, I believe, never found except upon the male insect; at least, that has been the result of my own experience. I may here also say that the slides sold at many of the shops as "battledore scales from Pieris Brassicæ," are not from Pieris Brassicæ at all, but from the small white cabbage butterfly, Pieris Rapæ.—Henry F. Hailes.

The tufted scales of this insect are only found on the male butterfly: it may at once be distinguished from the female by the absence of two black spots, which the female has on the upper surface of the anterior pair of wings.—R. C. Douglas.

Bees' Remains (page 143).—The interior of the bodies of the five humble bees had doubtless been eaten by some honey-loving insect, probably other bees. When hive-bees are compelled, by scarcity of food, to cast out their own larvæ, they always suck out of their bodies the honey they contain.—M. A. L.

The Weever Fish.—One evening, during the hauling in of the mackerel-nets to the beach, a fisherman was thrown upon the struggling fish, which, by the bye, have passed here in large and visible shoals during the past week, when he uttered a cry of pain, and on my asking him the cause, he said he was stung by a weever (fish), which I found to be a fish prettily striped, and about nine inches long. But to return to the man; his hand (it was the thick part of the thumb) bled very freely, and in the course of a quarter of an hour began to swell. I am told by fishermen that many instances are known of persons losing the use of a hand by this sting. My own opinion, from a slight examination of a living fish, the handling of which by myself caused no little astonishment, leads me to believe that it is only a stab from a spinous elongation of the dorsal and pectoral fins; but whether the fish has the power of emitting at the same time a poisonous liquid I cannot say. For your better guidance I cut off a dorsal fin, with spines, which I now enclose, having dipped them in brandy. Can any of your correspondents give me further information?—A. Horace Lloyd, Brighton.

[This is not a myth. See papers in Ann. and Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. vi. p. 161, Nov. 1840; Proceedings of Liverpool Lit. and Phil. Soc., vol. i. p. 156, May, 1849; Intellectual Observer, No. 28, May, 1864. The "Weever" (Trachinus vipera) is also called the "Sting Fish."—Ed. S. G.]

What do Crickets Eat?—"Our cherished little minstrel enshrined in poetic fancies" is not only a savage and a Dahomey, but is also a cannibal and a Fan. A year or two back, being desirous of getting two or three crickets for anatomical purposes best known to microscopists, and not having any in my own house, I asked my next door neighbour, who was rather superabundantly supplied with them, to capture two or three for me, "dead or alive." A day or two after he handed me over the garden wall three, two of which were dead, the other, a fine large fellow, alive and vigorous. I placed them under a tumbler in a place to which no one had access but myself, and left them until the following day. When I went to take them out for execution, to my great surprise I found the living one as vigorous as ever—perhaps a trifle more so: but of the dead, nothing remained but a few small fragments sufficient to show what had become of the rest.—Henry F. Hailes.

Fox with Young Scentless.—Allow me to corroborate the interesting fact (noticed, with doubt, at page 142, by your correspondent W. F. S.), of the female fox having no scent. I have little doubt that this merciful provision is well known to many huntsmen; but on the authority of a gentleman, a member of the Fife Hunt, I have much pleasure in testifying to its truth. Observing one day, a fox close in front of the hounds, he was surprised that they neither gave tongue nor chase. He immediately drew the attention of the huntsman to it, who at once said, "The fox is with young, it has no scent, and the hounds will not follow." The result justified his statement; for though the fox ran slowly in front, the hounds never disturbed or noticed it.—A. L.

Incubating Robin. "W. I. S." Answer.—It would be next to impossible to prove that sitting-birds have no scent; but a case which tends to support that assertion is now under my own immediate observation. A pair of hedge-sparrows have built in a bay-bush within two yards of my window; the stem of the shrub stands in an adjoining garden, separated from mine only by an open iron palisade, through which cats are passing constantly, close to the nest. The owner of the garden also possesses three or four cats, which are in the habit of climbing into the various shrubs; but the nest as yet remains undiscovered by them. In this instance, however, the perfume of the bay-leaves may be sufficient to overpower that of the birds. On the other hand, it would be somewhat anomalous that "nature" should be more careful of the welfare of the embryo than of the living young. As to the female fox being scentless when "with young" (a doubtful expression, but I suppose meaning in a pregnant state), I know nothing; but every reader of the Sporting Magazine must well know the interesting account of the chase of a bitch fox, which ran an immense distance, carrying a very young cub in her mouth. This happened, I suppose, some forty years since, and was a favourite subject in the print-shops, and on snuffboxes, long after.—R. K.

Sparrows and Crocus.—Early in the year (March) the Sparrows cause much annoyance in gardens, by pulling up the Crocus flowers. Can any of your correspondents say, from certain practical knowledge, what is their object? Are they in search of insects, or is there a peculiar juice or moisture that attracts their attention specially to the Crocus?—W. A.