S. if 70. / \ \ X g •-o © 3 3 1§C fcH THE NATUEALIST; ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, AND MINERAL KINGDOMS. WITH HIGHLY-FINISHED COLOURED ENGRAVINGS AND WOOD CUTS- CONDUCTED BY B. MAUND, F.L.S., and W. HOLL, FG.S. > VOL. I. LONDON: R. GROOMBRIDGE, PATERNOSTER ROW. M.DCCC.XXXVII. THE NATURALIST. CURSORIUS ISABELLINUS. ORDER. — ECHASSIERS. FAMILY. PRESSIROSTRES. THE SWIFTFOOT. By Shirley Palmer, M. D. With the view rather of eliciting and collecting, than of communicating, information on divers obscure parts of Zoology, I propose to give occasionally, in The Naturalist, a sketch of one of the rarer or more curiously constructed animals. My delineations will be taken from the best living or the most per- fectly preserved specimens to which I can obtain access. I shall describe, as •minutely and correctly as possible, the external characters of the subject of the sketch ; and any peculiarities of internal structure, or of economy, which it may be known to exhibit : and most especially shall I feel obliged by the communication of any authentic facts respecting the anatomy, physiology, or habits of such animal, which the experienced observer may be enabled, and have the kindness, to supply. Facts, — not opinions or hypotheses, however novel or specious, — are the only contributions which I crave, or covet, on these subjects. The description of the specific characters and habits of the animal will be followed up, if not preceded, by a sketch of the characters of that genus to which, in my opinion, it has been most correctly referred ; by an enumeration of its synonyms in the leading languages of Europe ; and a reference to the most accu- rate delineations, iconographical or literary, of the animal in question, which I have hitherto seen. For the subject of my First Sketch, I have selected, the Cream-coloured Swiftfoot, Cursorius Isabellinus, — a bird belonging to the Order, Echassiers, Family, Pressirostres, of Cuvier ; and to the Grallatores, Charadriadce, of modern British Ornithologists. VOL. I. b This elegant bird, — le Coure-vite Isabelle, of Temminck, — and Corrione biondo, of Italian writers, was arranged, by Gmelin, in the Plover genus, under the title of Charadrius Gallicus ; and is briefly noticed, but not figured, by Bewick, in his last edition of the History of British Birds, as the Cream- coloured Plover. It was first separated from that genus by Latham, and taken as the type of a new genus, Cursorius ; of which the following are the distinguish- ing characters : Bill shorter than the head ; depressed at the base ; slightly arched and curved, and pointed, at the tip. Nostrils, oval, basal, lateral, and surmounted by a slightly protuberant membrane. Legs long, slender, and naked to some dis- tance above the tarso-tibial joint. Toes three, short; all directed forwards, and united by membrane at their base : interior toe much shorter than the middle toe. Nails small ; that of the middle toe broad, and pectinated on its inner margin. Naked portion of the tibia, front of the tarsus, and upper surface of the toes scutellated. Wings of mean length : first quill-feather almost as long as the second, which is longest. The following is a correct description of a finely-preserved specimen of the adult Cream-coloured Swiftfoot, in the Birmingham Museum of Natural History : Bill black, nearly four-fifths of an inch long. Forehead and crown of the head, pale buff-orange ; changing, on the hind head, into ash- or smoke-grey. (The irides, according to Selby, are pale yellowish-grey). A white streak extend- ing from above the middle of the eye, pointed anteriorly and growing broader as it runs backward, to unite with its fellow at the occiput. Beneath, and in contact with this, a black streak of nearly uniform width, commencing at the posterior part of the eye, and extending to meet its fellow, by an attenuated line on the posterior margin of the white band on the occiput. The occipital angle of the white streak filled up, and bordered to a short distance, by an irregularly- but somewhat cres- cent-shaped patch of black. Nape of the neck bright buff-orange. Whole upper parts of the body sienna-yellow, with an irregularly distributed tinge of ash-grey. Chin, throat, neck, and inferior parts, pale yellowish-white. Quill-feathers deep- brown, bordered at the extremity with buff, and reaching to the end of the tail. Tail slightly rounded, buff-orange : tail-feathers exhibiting, near the tip, a dark-brown patch much more distinctly visible on the inferior than the superior surface. Tail- coverts, above and below, light-grey. Tibiae invested, half way down, with grey feathers. Tarsi pale buff-orange. Toes more dusky. Claws brown. Temminck describes " the young of the year," as exhibiting, on the superior parts, a much clearer yellow colour (isabelle beaucoup plus clair) than the adult bird ; varied, on the scapulars and wing-coverts, by numerous zigzag marks of a deeper tint. The double black streak, — or rather, as I have more correctly de- scribed it, the ordinarily black streak and crescent, — is but faintly marked in bright-brown. Such, at least, are the characters of a young Swiftfoot preserved in the cabinet of Natural History, at Darmstadt. The Cream-coloured Swiftfoot is a native of Africa, especially Abyssinia ; and an occasional visitant only of the southern provinces of Europe. Three instances of its capture in our own island have only yet been recorded. The first specimen was shot in Kent, and sent to Dr. Latham : the second, killed in Wales, found its way into the collection of the late Professor Sibthorpe, of Oxford : the third and last, discovered at Charnwood Forest, Leicestershire, is in the possession of the Rev. Thomas Gisborne, of Yoxall Lodge ; a man equally distinguished by his eloquence as a Christian minister, and by his talents as a naturalist and a poet. Of the food, habits, or nidification of the Swiftfoot, little is, at present, known. The individual, shot in Kent, was observed to run with incredible swiftness, and occasionally pick up something from the earth. It suffered itself to be twice shot at ; and could with difficulty be made to take wing. Its note was unlike that of any known bird. For figures and descriptions of the Cream-coloured Courser, see Temminck, Manuel oV Ornithologie, vol. ii., p. 513 ; Weber, Atlas des Oiseaux <T Europe, Liv. 26, pi. 4 ; Selby, Illustrations of British Ornithology, Part ii., pi. 33, and vol. ii., p. 217 ; and Jenyns, Manual of British Vertebrate Animals, p. 176. Two other species of Cursorius are, " to complete the monography of this little genus," enumerated, and briefly described, by Temminck. The first, C. Asiaticus, — Courte-vite de Coromandel, — inhabits Africa and India ; and is distin- guished by the following specific characters : Vertex ruddy ; neck and breast chest- nut-red ; nucha, wings, and tail, brown : higher parts of the abdomen black ; lower parts, rump, wing-coverts, and extremities of the tail-feathers, white. Beak black ; legs yellowish. Length eight inches. The last, C. bicinctus, — Courte-vite a double collier, — found in the interior of Africa, by Le Vaillant, is characterized by the existence, as the specific designation indicates, of a double black collar around the neck. It is ten inches long ; inhabits sterile lands at a distance from water ; and runs with amazing swiftness. From the structure of the beak and foot, and the fleetness in running, exhibited by the three known species of Swiftfoot, and probably also from the sandy and sterile districts selected for their habitation, Temminck was led to regard them as nearly allied to the smaller exotic species of the Bustard genus. In accordance with these views, the Cursorius is made immediately to follow the Otis genus, in Temminck's valuable work, and in the first edition of Selby's Illustrations. On deliberate examination, however, the Swiftfoots have been found more closely to resemble, in their external characters, the Plovers than the Bustards : and Cursorius has consequently been arranged, by later ornithologists, and by Selby, in his second edition, as a genus belonging to the Charadriadce, or Plover family. In general form and character at least, the subject of my present sketch exhibits a more striking resemblance to the Himantopus melanopterus, or Black-winged Stilt, than to any other bird with which I am acquainted. b2 STUDY OF NATURE. No. I. Reciprocal influence of the Natural Sciences. By Robert Mudie. Though, in the professional part of Natural History, it is necessary, for the ad- vancement of the science, that there should be a division of labour, something ana- logous to that which exists among the professors of the arts, whether inventive or handicraft; and though in the one, the other, and every department of each, this division of labour, whether more of the head or of the hand, is the only means by which truth in principle, and dexterity in practice, can be arrived at ; yet, in that study and knowledge of the productions of Nature, which forms so essential and so valuable a part of general education, the mode of procedure should be very dif- ferent. In this, the great danger, and it is great in proportion to the talent and zeal of the party, is, that some single department shall entice the mind away from that gene- ral attention to the whole, which is requisite not only to the pleasure and profit of a well-cultivated mind, in the business and enjoyment of life, and the furtherance of the general weal of society, but also to the proper understanding and successful pursuit of the one branch, although that branch is ultimately to be studied profes- sionally. Thus, even he who is ultimately to be an artist in the investigation of Nature, must at first be a general student, in the same manner as he who wants to be successful in any pursuit of life must first be a general scholar, or re- ceive a good education, in order to enable him to grapple with any difficulty that may arise. It is true that there stand upon the record, among those who have shone the brightest in most departments of human knowledge, and in every branch of human pursuit, many who appear to have stormed the citadel of knowledge and the tem- ple of art, without apparent previous education, and with the strength of their own minds alone. But granting — which not one of themselves would have granted — that such individuals possessed this innate or instinctive method of arriving at the high places of the intellectual world, others must not deceive themselves by such examples. This original genius, even were it as real as it is imaginary, is but as the one great prize in a lottery of ten thousand blanks ; and thus, though many might expect it, only one could get it, and all the rest would be losers. But in truth there is no such original genius. Every step that any human being can take in knowledge, must be a step in reasoning ; and if the foot is but once let fall any- where else than on the firm ground of well-sifted and thoroughly-established expe- rience, down he goes in the quagmire of error and absurdity ; and the labour which it costs him to regain his footing — if, indeed, he shall ever regain it at all — would, with proper heed to his steps, have carried him far onward upon his jour- ney. Besides, those " stars" of genius follow the law of all other stars, by being con- spicuous only in the dark, and more conspicuous the more profound the obscurity is, and the more vacant the space athwart which they are seen. In the mighty dark- ness of those ages, during which the combined mischief of reckless war, and sense- less superstition, had well-nigh banished science from the earth, a single scintilla- tion, and that too of some false light — of some ignis fatuus of the polluted air — was sufficient to constitute a star of the first magnitude, after which the benighted children of men wondered and worshipped ; and this they were prone to endow with " airs from heaven" or " blasts from hell," upon as slender grounds as those which called forth their wonder and their worship. But as the dawn of true knowledge broke, and the sun of science neared the horizon, the stars in that part waxed dim and disappeared ; and when this glorious morning to the human mind had so far advanced as to shew, as it were, to the great body of the people upon the earth the objects immediately around them, in their true colours, so that each man might observe with his own senses, and judge with his own understanding, those stars of the darkness of intellectual night vanished away, as is the case with their namesakes of the natural sky. We do not say that the full light of the sun of knowledge has yet broken upon even the most lofty pinnacles of human nature ; but we do say that the morning dawn is both broad and glorious ; so that any one who has eyes to see, and will use them, may fully understand everything which comes within the range of his observation, and within the legitimate pale of human philosophy. And it is pre- cisely because such is the case — because the light of science is general, and sets off the qualities and the nature of things by their coincidencies and their contrasts, it has become so necessary thoroughly to understand the general nature of this light, before we proceed to the details of those subjects which it reveals to us. The illustrations which we may draw from this analogy of the light of Nature, and of the light of Science, especially of the science of Nature, are very numerous, and they are equally apt and striking. It is the light itself which reveals to us the forms of things, and which paints them with all their varied colours. In the blackness of darkness, the most lovely flower, or the richest parterre, is a mere blank ; and if we examine objects by means of a decomposed light, or through a tainted or coloured medium, the false colour of the light, or the taint of the me- dium, disguises all that we see ; just as looking through a red glass makes the whole landscape red ; or as the murky air, by turning aside all the more refrangi- ble colours of the solar beam, makes the cloud, and even the sun itself, seem murky. Those matters were not understood until men knew how to divide the white light of the sun into its component shades. But when once this was 6 accomplished, the mine of knowledge therein contained was so far from being ex- hausted, that it was merely opened ; and when chemical analysis came to be united with this optical, or mechanical, resolution of the sun-beam into its colours, it was soon found that there were principles there of which the colours, considered merely as such, had given no indication. The heat, found most intense without the red extremity of the spectrum, and fading away as the other extremity is ap- proached, was one wonderful step in discovery ; because it shewed that, besides the infinite variety of colouring influence in the solar beam, there is an infinite variety of another influence, following a different law, and not cognizable by our organs of sight. A further step was the power of oxidation at one extremity of the spec- trum, and the power of deoxidation at the other, which are not discernible to the eye like the colours, neither are they palpable to the feeling, or to the thermo- meter, like the variations of heat. This is not the ultimate boundary to which judicious analysis, proceeding cautious- ly by steps of experience, has already arrived on this most beautiful and truly wonder- ful subject ; for there is a sort of glimmering forecast or belief that all those singular effects of the different extremities of the spectrum which are gradual from the one extremity to the other, are modifications of two antagonist powers, as it were, upon which every action of Nature depends, or rather in which every action of Nature consists. That there is a close connection, and, indeed, an absolute identity, with the action of heat, we need not say, for it is felt. On such subjects it requires great labour, and still greater care and skill, to arrive at any thing like even mental de- monstration ; but the probability is that there is a similar identity with those ac- tions which we call electricity, and galvanism, and magnetism, which seem, in truth, to be nothing else than modifications of one general species of action ; for when brought to a certain degree of intensity, which has been determined by ex- periment, their effects are the same ; and identity of effect is the only means that we have of believing in identity of cause. Nor is this all ; forAwhat we call the principle of growth in vegetables, and the principle of life in animals, both of which are merely actions, not substances, and actions differently modified under different circumstances, we can still trace a striking similarity. Nay, we may almost venture upon one step farther, which would join the heavens and the earth together in one mighty problem, and furnish us with an instrument of universal knowledge, in so far as the material creation and its phenomena are concerned. Between those more stubborn energies of the solar beam, which resist most power- fully the refractive influence of the prism, and that gravitating influence which retains the planets in their orbits, there is a most singular, though, in the present state of knowledge, a most mysterious, resemblance, — they are both stubborn to the line which joins body and body. On the other hand, there is a corresponding resemblance between the more yielding or refractive energies, and that orbital force which balances the central one, and sustains the planet in its orbit. It is true that we must speak with great caution of matters so refined as these are, and so little within the limits of our common observation ; but still so many of them are clearly established, and they point so naturally to the establishment of the others, that it is desirable to keep the spirit of inquiry awake, and ready to avail itself of every means of additional knowledge. Some may ask, what all this has to do with the study of the Natural Sciences ? but such a question can be put only by those who have confined themselves to one department, and are, by necessary consequence, ignorant of the general bearings even of that department in its relations to, and its influence upon, the rest of nature- Let any one cast a glance of knowledge over the globe which we inhabit, and mark the various productions of its different hemispheres, its different latitudes, its different elevations, its different surfaces and soils, and its different alternations of land and of water ; and he will not fail to see that some principle which will meet all those differences is absolutely necessary, if his contemplation is to do any- thing else than to torment him with the sting of his own ignorance. Why grows the pine in such countless millions in the higher latitudes of the northern hemis- phere ; while in those of the south there are no corresponding trees, except a few clusters of araucarias ? Why does the fern stand, in certain southern forests, as a tall and perennial ornament, while our plants of the same natural family die down to the earth every season ? Why does the palm rear its majestic stem and expand its graceful crown of leaves in every tropical country round the earth's girdle, and constitute there the most valuable tree, both for food and for shelter, to man ; while so high as the middle latitudes of the quadrants, not a single speci- men, planted by Nature, is to be found ? Such are one or two, out of countless thousands of questions, which stand at the very portal of the temple of Nature, loudly demanding each its answer before the student can profitably enter. We might extend them to every department of both kingdoms of active nature ; and as the members of these are composed of the same matter as that which we call the inactive kingdom, it also must be in- cluded. All this, too, is confined to the present moment ; but when once a man is imbued with a love of Nature, he cannot resist looking back at the record. Nor will he fail to ask himself such questions as the following : why are our tree fern, our elephant, our hippopotamus, and countless others, to be found only buried in the earth ; while other regions in the world have theirs still growing or alive on its surface ? We shall return to the subject. OBSERVATIONS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY, WITH A TRANSLATION OF BLUMENBACH's CHAPTER ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE BONES. Human Anatomy and Physiology constitute the great foundation of all medi- cal science. A correct acquaintance with the structure and functions of the lower animals is not less essential to the physiologist and the student of Zoology than to the medical philosopher. No one can acquire a profound insight into the func- tions of the human organs, unless he have borrowed from Comparative Anatomy the clear and powerful light which that interesting science can alone supply. Structure, again, is the broad and solid basis upon which all consistent and phi- losophical arrangements of the animal kingdom must ultimately repose. Had the late Dr. Haighton, of London, wisely condescended to examine, previously to the promulgation of his views, the relative situation of the spleen in some of the infe- rior animals, we should never have been favoured with his specious but ephemeral theory of the physiology of that organ in the human body. If the great Linnaeus had been as sound a comparative anatomist, as he has shewn himself an accurate observer of the exterior forms of natural objects, the lobster could never have preposterously figured, in his System, among apterous insects. Nor by any zoolo- gist, even slightly cognizant of the anatomy and physiological peculiarities of the Cetacea, or Whale tribe, could these singularly constructed animals have been placed, or retained, as by the superficial Pennant, in the class of Fishes. The study of the animal kingdom, although not so obviously and directly useful, is almost as interesting to the man of business, and the student of the dif- ferent sciences, as to the medical practitioner. To all, it offers an occupation for the hour of leisure or retirement, not less salutary than delightful. The individual, upon whose habits of order, precision of thought, and accuracy of discrimination, success or failure in the paths of commerce or agriculture must mainly depend, will be gratefully surprized at the increased facilities and power which he cannot fail to acquire, in the performance of these intellectual operations, from the habit of observing, and arranging in his mind, the varied facts and phenomena which the field of animated nature is incessantly presenting to his view. And the agri- culturist, by an acquaintance with the principles of Comparative Anatomy and Physiology, will be best enabled to comprehend the nature and treatment of the diseases of those domestic animals in the well-being of which he is so deeply interested ; as, by an insight into the economy and transformations of the insect tribes, he can alone be prepared to effectually remedy, or avert, their frequently ruinous depredations on the produce of his fields. To the man of loftier intellect or aspirations, who has fortunately learned to gaze upon creation with the eye of the naturalist and philosopher, rather than of the poet, an examination of the structure and economy of the animal kingdom will disclose elevating and comprehensive views, and supply facts and illustrations ; which, whatever be the path of science or literature he is destined to tread, may incessantly be turned to admirable account in his peculiar calling : and, as Cuvier has beautifully observed, the peaceful pursuits of Zoology will serve to tranquillize and sustain the agitated and the weary spirit amidst all the anxieties and disap- pointments, the petty jealousies and detractions, with which those paths are so sadly and so painfully infested. The application of the study of Zoology, as of Natural History in general, to the science of Medicine, is not less evident in other respects, than in its more immediate connections with the Anatomy and Physiology of the human body. From the animal and vegetable, the mineral and gaseous kingdoms, the physician and surgeon derive all the boasted resources of their beneficent art : and ought not the workman to cultivate a familiarity the most intimate with the structure and composition, the properties and arrangement, of those instruments which he is incessantly called upon to employ ? In the character and tendency of studies like these, as in the intellectual discipline which they necessarily impose, there are, also, an especial fitness, and an influence, calculated most powerfully to re- commend them to the notice of medical men. For he, whose organs of observa- tion have been sedulously trained to the accurate discrimination of the minuter differences whereby the various species of animal, plant, or mineral, are respec- tively characterized, will, doubtless, in general, more readily and distinctly appre- ciate, than the man of untutored eye, the slighter diversities, the more delicate and evanescent forms and phenomena, exhibited by disease. It may even be questioned whether science and humanity have not been principally indebted to the habits of close and patient observation acquired by Dr. Jenner, in his pur- suits as a naturalist, for the splendid discovery which has immortalized his own name, and thrown an additional and enduring lustre around the scientific reputa- tion of his country. The mind of the medical practitioner, moreover, if, in the hour of retirement from the active duties of his profession, it be not occupied by these elevating and congenial subjects, will too frequently contract habits, or fly for recreation to amusements deeply injurious or destructive to that calm, contemplative, and philo- sophic spirit, which he will best consult his interests and reputation by cultivating or acquiring ; and utterly inconsistent with the comprehensive attainments and intelligence, the purity and decorum, the lofty elevation of character and of feeling, by which the votary of medical science should invariably be distinguished. Deeply impressed with a conviction of the utility of these studies, and the be- neficent influence which they are calculated to exert upon the public mind, we have vol. i. c 10 lost no opportunity which presented itself, of inciting those around us, and more especially the younger members of the medical profession, to the prosecution of a path of inquiry from which we have, ourselves, derived such pure and delightful recreation, — so many and such solid advantages. In this spirit, we, nine years ago, contemplated a translation, from the German, of the last edition of Blumenbach's celebrated Manual of Comparative Anatomy. Subsequently to 1807, when Mr. Lawrence's masterly translation of that work was first published, Zootomy had made a rapid stride in this country, and, more particularly, on the continent ; and one or two other editions of Blumenbach's Manual had seen the light. On re- ceiving information, however, from Mr. Coulson, that he was actually engaged upon the work, we, without hesitation, abandoned the project. His translation, or rather revised edition of Mr. Lawrence's translation, soon afterwards appeared ; but we candidly avow that the work, in its style of execution, falls very far short of the expectations which, from our knowledge of the talents, industry, and attain- ments of Mr. Coulson, we had been led to indulge. Several inaccuracies which had escaped the vigilant eye of Mr. Lawrence, have been suffered to pass without correction. Various errors, of which that distinguished writer never could have been guilty, disfigure the interpolations of Mr. Coulson ; and divers passages, in- troduced by the German Professor into the last edition, have been doomed to inex- plicable neglect. Still worse, the notes of Blumenbach and Lawrence have been frequently incorporated, by the sub-translator, with the original text : and the bulk of the volume has been needlessly swelled by the introduction of matter frequently uninteresting, and sometimes destitute of any very obvious connection with the subject. Under these circumstances, we may, perchance, render an acceptable service to the readers of The Naturalist, by presenting a close and nearly literal translation, without regard to elegancies of style, of certain portions of the pure text of the last edition of Blumenbach's Manual; and concisely adding, in notes, such new facts and illustrations as our own reading and observation may enable us to supply. For the benefit of the student of German, we shall add, in paren- theses, the German synonyms of such of the various scientific and especially anatomical terms, as cannot be found in the ordinal y dictionaries of the language. The French and Latin synonyms, when new or peculiar, will also be introduced. The Manual of Blumenbach, it will be seen, is destined merely to communicate elementary knowledge : and, on this account, we have selected it as far better adapted for the purpose of conveying popular instruction, than the more elaborate, profound, and comprehensive productions of the later German and the French zootomists. A very correct general acquaintance with the anatomy of animals may, however, be acquired from an attentive and re-iterated perusal of Blumen- bach's work ; especially if the student be careful to impress upon his memory the leading facts of the German writer, and to verify his descriptions by frequent examination of, and their comparison with, such specimens of the animal structure 11 as may fall within his reach. They, who thirst for knowledge from a deeper source of zootomical science than the Manual of Blumenbach supplies, will find, in the writings of Cuvier, Blainville, and Geoflroy-St.-Hilaire, among the French — , of Meckel and Carus, among the German — , and Macartney, Lawrence, Grant, and Todd,* among British zoologists, ample stores wherewith to gratify their longing. In this number, we shall merely present, as a specimen of our proposed labour, a transcript of the first short chapter of Blumenbach's work. The continuation, or abandonment, of the project will entirely depend upon its reception by the public. If deemed useful and instructive, it will be steadily prosecuted to the end. Yet an adverse opinion, however it may cause a slight deviation, will not ultimately deter us from our fixed purpose ; which is that of exhibiting, in a series of contri- butions to The Naturalist, an outline, traced with all the clearness and precision which we can employ, of the anatomy, physiology, and principles of arrangement, of the Animal Kingdom. MANUAL OF COMPARATIVE ANATOMY. First Chapter. Of the Structure of the Bones of Animals, in General. § 1. None but red-blooded animals (die rothbliitigen Thiere) possess a true skeleton ;f in which their bones are, with few exceptions,^: united ; and on which the general figure, and the degree of flexibility, of their body principally depend. § 2. The ordinary white colour^ of the bones exhibits several shades or gra- * We particularly recommend to the notice of the student the excellent Cyclopedia of Anatomy and Physiology, now in progress of publication, by Mr. Todd. -f- Only in a few insects and worms (Crustacea and Zoophytes), are parts of a really os- seous structure developed : as the bones in the stomach of the lobster, and other species of the Cancer (or AstacusJ genus ; and the bony apparatus in the mouth of the Sea-urchin, Echinus (See-Igel). These parts, at least, more closely resemble, in structure, true bone than the peculiar substance, Os Sepia, obtained from the Cuttle-fish, Sepia officinalis. X These exceptions principally are the os hyoides, or bone of the tongue (zungenbein), the patella, and sesamoid bones, in many of the Mammifera, as in man ; the bone of the membrum virile, in divers other of the same class, as the dog; the clavicular bones (ossa cla- vicularia) of certain Mammalia, as many of the Ferae, and some GHres, in which these bones exist, merely connected with the muscles ; and the whole thoracic extremity in those ani- mals which, as the Solidungula, possess no clavicle ; the bony ring in the sclerotica of the bird's eye ; and the intermuscular bones (Fleischgraten, — ossicula musculorum) of fishes ; and their ventral fins, which correspond to the pelvic extremities of the higher animals. % It is remarkable that the well-known experiment of imparting a red colour to the bones of an animal, by the admixture of madder with its food, succeeds very imperfectly in cold-blooded animals (kaltbliitige Thiere). c2 12 dations, sometimes even in the same piece ; as, for instance, in the grinding-teeth (backenzahnen) of the Elephant : and in some few genera, or races, of animals, they are invariably of another colour. Thus, the bones of the Gar-pike (der Hornfisch, — Esox belone, — Belone vulgaris, of modern ichthyologists, — la Be- lone, Fr.) are green ; and the bones of many varieties of the common fowl are of a blackish colour. § 3. Still more variable is their texture and grain, as well in different bones of the same skeleton, as in those of particular classes and orders of animals. Thus, the fragile constitution of the air-bones (Luftknochen) of birds ; their fibrous structure in many of the larger Amphibia (Amphibien) and fishes ; and their peculiar toughness and density in some parts of many cartilaginous fishes, (Knorpelfische) conspicuously distinguish them from other bones. § 4. The crown, or exposed portion, of the teeth excepted, the bones are uni- versally invested, on the exterior, with periosteum (Beinhaut) ; and, for the most part, are provided internally with marrow ;* which, differing greatly in consistence, is, in the Cetacea (Cetaceen), a fluid oil (ein flussiger thran). § 5. The teeth again, for the most part, excepted, the bones are formed by the ossification of original cartilages. This process of ossification appears, ceteris paribus, to commence earlier, and go on more rapidly, in viviparous (lebendig gebahrende) than in oviparous animals (Eyerlegende Thiere). This fact, at least, results from comparison of the incubated chick with the foetus of Mammi- fera (ungebohrne Saugethiere). Among the latter, again, many points of ossifi- cation are sooner completed in quadrupeds than in man. P. NOTES ON BRITISH INSECTS. By James Charles Dale, M.A., F.L.S., &c, &c. Coleoptera. — Cicindela sylvatica is found in great plenty on Parley Heath, in the New Forest, &c, in hot, dry, sandy paths or heaths, as early as May 9th, and appears in constant succession till October 9th, according to my journal. Cicindela maritima I have never taken, but have seen alive at Bourne Mouth, Hants, on hot, sandy places, near the sea, from the middle (?) of May ; and ac- cording to the MSS. of the late Captain Blomer, he found it in profusion near the mouth of the river Ogmore, in South Wales, in June, 1832, and sent me several, • Principal exceptions : The horns of the Stag, the long bones of the Seal, the Cetacea, attd the Turtle, which exhibit no medullary cavity ; and the air-hones of birds. 13 amongst which one appeared very nearly allied to, if not identical with, C. hybri- da. Cicindela Germanica I have found at Black-Gang-Chine, in the Isle of Wight, and in great profusion near Charmouth, and Seaton, where I also found the larva. It appears from the middle of June to the middle of September, and differs from the other Cicindelce in seldom taking wing, and delighting in wet places, among reeds, amidst which it runs very fast. It appears to be mostly con- fined to the coast, but has been found sparingly near Reading and Dartford. Ca- rabus purpurascens has been discovered near Weymouth, by Mr. Saunders, about 1833. Carabus intricatus: one of these fine insects was caught in Mamhead Park, near Dawlish, a few years ago, and two specimens were taken amongst alders, at Shobroke, near Exeter, and are in the cabinet of a person at Taunton. Cistela curvipes was found on Lodmoor, near Weymouth, by Mr. Saunders. Platypus cylindricus, I took a few of, in the New Forest, on the 3rd of August last. Cryptocephalus bilineatus, in plenty near Langport and Carisbroke Castle. Anisoplia ruricola has been found abundant in the Devil's Ditch, and Triplow Heath ? and Gog Magog Hills, where I took one, June 26, 1833. It seems nearly confined to that part of the kingdom, one only having been found near Reading till, I believe, last July 6th, when I was surprized by taking one near Lul- worth, when I was in company with Frederick F. Morris, Esq. Lepidoptera. — In the British Museum is a curious larva, black, with white belts, and a spine on the tail, found on the pine, in Scotland, by Dr. Leach. The year 1834 seems to have been very favourable for the appearance of the sphin- gidce. Three specimens of Deilephila Livornica were taken near Peterborough, July 5, 1834, one of which (all p 's) laid eggs which were hatched and nearly full fed ; besides a larva taken by a boy near that place and killed, another was taken, about tb^e same time, near Worcester. One was found, April the 19th, 1829, at Wakering, Essex ; and other captures, within a few years, refute the idea of its not being British. A very perfect specimen (though faded, from having been hung up many years in a glass case, on a wall) is in the cabinet of the Rev. F. O. Morris. — Celerio : I have a very fine one, found at Brighton ; others have been found at Newcastle, Ramsgate, Worcester, Peterborough, near London, &c. — Achemon, of Drury : Mr. Stothard had one which, he said, he took in his garden, in Newman-street, Oxford-street, many years ago. — Euphorbia : there are two unset in the Linnean Cabinet, with a ticket — " Devon, Dr. Wavell, 1818." — Galii has been found at Bridgewater, Langport, Charmouth, Yarmouth, &c, all within these last two or three years : August and September seem to be the sea- son for it. — Atropos : August 15, 1825, Captain Blomer found a larva, very dark, and similar (?) to Fuesly's figure, near Bideford ; but the moth did not vary when bred. — Populi : I took a large pale variety of, July 30, 1808, and Captain Blomer bred another similar one, July 30, 1825. Those found in June are smaller, and darker in colour. 14 Noctua. — Haworthi, Curtis. There is a specimen in the Linnean Cabinet, marked " Angl., D. Jones, unknown." — Prcecox, in Linnean Cabinet, marked "Portland Island, Allen." — Citrina ? in Linnean Cabinet, marked "Noctua mucronea, B. Clark: Suff., Kirby, 1797; rariss." — Siona dealbata, near Lang-port, June, 1835 ; Mr. Quekett. — Arcturus : Mr. Westwood says that Mr. Curtis's genus Arcturus must be rejected, having been previously used by Latreille, to distinguish a genus of Crustacea. (Perhaps Latreille's genus Arc- turus may fall also, being used in Astronomy ; and Stephens's Janus has been used by Kirby and Spence). But what will be gained by its being changed ? Can a Moth ever be confounded with a Crab f The name Colias, a genus of Butter/lies, was previously used for a genus of Fishes, I believe, and yet it is con- tinued by all ; and perhaps neither may stand eventually, by the perpetual chang- ing of systems. Agabus is used for a genus of Water Beetles, but its proper sig- nification is a Locust ! ! Again ; Mr. Curtis is said to have placed Acentria at col. 137 of his Guide, at the end of Trichoptera. Mr. Curtis not being sure that Acentropus was iden- tical, of course gave another name, similar however, and, in the Guide, places it just before Lepidoptera, one of which Mr. Westwood considers it. Mr. Curtis's arguments have more weight with me that it is Trichopterous ; and they both agree that Stephens is wrong in putting it in the Neuroptera. Moses Harris, in his Vade Mecum, mentions his having seen an JEgeria on a flower, in Norwood. JEgeria ichneumoniformis I found an hermaphrodite specimen of, near Lulworth, on the 6th of July last ; August 5th and 1 1th, I found several at Carisbroke Castle, varying much in size. The small variety is figured by Mr. Wood as a new species, and named Muscceformis. Mr. Rudd took a very large and magnificent specimen on the 1 1th, which shews it was not too late, although several were much faded ; I also took one near Niton, on the 8th. The late Captain Blomer observed that they vary in size, and he found them in plenty near Teignmouth, settled on rocks from June 29 to the end of July. Some I observed were fond of the Ononis : they seemed partial to the neighbourhood of the sea. JEgeria vespiformis, (Curtis), I took in plenty, the end of May and beginning of June, in Clapham Park Woods, Bedfordshire : the first I saw was on a leaf of burdock ; but I afterwards found the larvae and pupae under the bark of the stumps of oaks, and found them in every stage at the same time. Mr. Rudd took one in the New Forest the end of May, 1834 ; and I saw one the beginning of August, 1835, hovering over an oak stump there, but lost it ; a cloud passing over the sun at the same time. Hypogymna dispar, found on the Turf Moor, near Shapwick, Somerset. In the Linnean Cabinet I observed a Moth allied to the genus Spilosoma, or Arctia. Whitish, or speckled slightly with black, and rather transparent, from Mr. Hudson ; but it is not noticed as British in any book I have seen : the antennae are too much pectinated for it to belong to 15 Spilosoma. Mr. Bentley bought the specimen of denudatus* of The Entomologi- cal Transactions, at the sale of the late Mr. Haworth. Penthrophera nigricans, I had found previously two larva? enclosed in cases, which I suspected to belong to this species, and I found one, August, 1835, on Parley Heath, which, not having bred the spring following, I cut open, and found it had changed to a pupa, but had died ; which I attribute to the shaking it got on my returning home, on horseback, a distance of nearly thirty miles. I hope to ascertain more, against another time, about this curious insect. Lobophera polycommata, one taken near Sparkford Inn, Somerset, end of February, 1832. In the Linnean Cabinet there is a very large specimen of Papilio Podalirius,\ I believe, from North America. Dr. Abbot mentions, in his MSS., having taken Pontia Raphani near Bedford, August 6, 1799. I bought his collection, but I cannot make out which specimen he means by it, as there is a variety of Napi and one of Callidice with the name of glacialis on it. In the Linnean Cabinet I observed a Hipparchia, with a ticket, on which is " Angl., Hudson, rariss :" mixed with three or four more under the name Arca- nius ; but the one with the ticket has certainly nothing to do with Arcanius, and is either a variety of Davus or Polydama, and probably from the neighbourhood of Bala Lake, or Pemble Meer. The ? of Lyccena argiolus taken in the spring, have a narrow black tip to the superior wings ; that in the autumn, very broad. Hesperia comma, taken as early as July 22nd, 1835, on the Blandford race course. Diptera. — Cecidomya pictipennis I have found as early as February 10th, in 1832, on moss, and roots, &c, of Whitethorn. Anisomera ? nigra, a spe- cies with very long antennae (especially the $ ) found at Kenfig Pool, South Wales, by the late Captain Blomer, 1832. Leptomorphus Walheri, found dead in a window, at Blandford. Messala Saundersii I took at Glanville Wootton, this spring. Oxycera Leonina : the Rev. F. O. Morris gave me a J , and July 9th last I took a <? at Charmouth. Oxycera Morrisii, I took one of, at Backs- bite, near Cambridge, June, 1833 ; which is the only locality I know of, besides the neighbourhood of Charmouth. Medeterus conspersus, on a boggy part of Lewel Heath, near Dorchester, 1835. CEstrus pictus : on the 31st of last July, in passing through some high fern near Rufus's stone, in the New Forest, two insects settled before me on the fern, which I missed taking, owing to the stems of the fern meeting the net. I thought, at the time, they were the CEstrus pictus. The next day, however, one came and settled before me on some dry leaves, near Lynd- hurst, which I captured. It varies a little from Mr. Curtis's figure, having the centre of the thorax tawny. Mr. Samouelle's specimen (figured by Curtis) was taken in June. * Mr. Raddon has a foreign specimen of denudatus. f Mr. Curtis has figured Podalirius on plate 578 of his British Entomology. 16 Hymenoptera. — Cephus satyrus, pusillus, and tabidus, abundant at Glan- ville Wootton, in 1835. Evania rninuta in plenty at Black-Gang-Chine, Isle of Wight ; also, Parley Heath, and near Mount Misery, 1835. E. fulvipes, one near Christchurch Head, August, 1835. Eumenes atricornis, I have seen small round earthen pods on the heath, but never knew what they were till this year, when I bred this species, on July 6th. I have taken it as early as May 26th, and as late as the end of August, on Parley Heath, New Forest, and Ramsdown ; and Captain Blomer found one or two in Wales. Nomada : I see by Captain Blomer's journal that he bred one I Sparazion frontale was found rather plentifully by Mr. Rudd and myself at Black-Gang-Chine and Parley Heath, last August, but not in the New Forest, I believe. Scelio rugolosus is in profu- sion at Lulworth. I have taken it at Glanville's Wootton, and other places, not uncommonly. Hemiptera. — Pentatoma pusilla : I took four specimens in an inclosure in the New Forest, June 27, 1832. Cydnus dubius taken on the Gog Magog Hills, in April, at Portland ferry, by Mr. Streatfield ; and I took a pair on Hodd Hill, August 19th, 1835. There has been some difference of opinion as to whether Lyccena Agestis, Salmacis, and Artaxerxes, form three, two, or only one species ; I am in fa- vour of the last, and consider the difference to arise merely from the influence of locality, or geographical distribution. The Artaxerxes, I believe, is not found south of the Tweed, excepting only one found in Devon, according to Dr. Leach's MSS. But I have observed a few having a slight black pupil to the ocelli, on the reverse side ; and one I took at Duddingston Loch has it more distinct than some of those taken at Newcastle, where it assumes the name of Salmacis ; some resembling the former, and some differing but little from our southern species (Agestis) or variety, and which has been supposed by some persons to be hybrids. From those who contend for three species, I would request opinions as to a specimen lately taken, near Langport, by Edward Paul, Esq., being evidently Agestis (a remarkably fine p ) with a more complete white spot, with a black pupil, than any I have seen from Newcastle ; and I have a specimen or two shew- ing a little white cincture to the black spot. Surely it would be going too far to make a. fourth species ; and yet it is better than Salmacis. I think this proves, beyond doubt, that they are but one species ; and I think this Langport variety an interesting capture. Mr. Bentley has a beautiful variety of Agestis, totally desti- tute of black ocelli on reverse. The larvae of Butterflies are not very often met with, and I should have thought the time to seek for them would be in the sun- shine ; but by the MSS. of the late Captain Blomer, I find he collected several by the use of a lanthorn, such as Hipparchia Galathea, Janira, &c. : and I find, also, he bred from larva a specimen of Lycozna Alsus, our smallest British But- terfly ; and from his journal I should imagine him to have been a most indefati- gable collector. NOTES OF A BOTANIST. To the Editors of " The Naturalist." The perusal of your prospectus has imparted to me, and I doubt not to many, a pleasurable satisfaction. That individual must, surely, be wilfully blind to what passes around him, who cannot recognize in very much of the boasted science of our times, an unhappy admixture of the leaven of scepticism ; and senti- ments are unblushingly promulgated, which, if extended to their extreme limits, would plunge us headlong into the vortex of unredeeming atheism. With some, indeed, it seems a matter of course to introduce into their communications, how- ever irrelevant, a sneer at revelation, by way of episode. Such cowardly and un- courteous conduct, so far from recommending science and increasing the number of her votaries, makes her features repulsive, and her lineaments unamiable. It is a flagrant breach of the rights and privileges of the commonweal, to convert science into a subtile medium for sapping the foundation of all religion, whether natural or revealed ; because the opinions thus infused happen to be the private senti- ments of the individual whose name they bear, but who may be a stranger to the multifarious arguments by which opposite conclusions may be supported and con- firmed. Far be it from me to fetter or to curb the reins of thought : nay, rather let thought expatiate boundlessly and range fearlessly among her magic creations. I would only stay her flight to forbidden regions, and confine her excursions to their legitimate province. The spontaneous origination of matter, innate vitality of atoms, convertibility of plants into animals, and its reverse, with all their numerous offsets and ramifi- cations, are among the hideous scars which mar the beauty of Natural History, in many of the writings of modern times. Vague and unmeaning hypotheses, remarkable only for their reckless folly, cradled among the atheistical notions of continental philosophy, form a chaos of absurdity in which not a few, I fear, of our pseudo-philosophers are now floundering purblind ; and unmitigated by a soli- tary ray of genuine truth, inculcate sentiments and opinions as hostile to induc- tive science, as they are to common sense and sober reason. The only maxims that will guide us surely and lead us safely, are those that own a Bacon for their counsellor, and a Newton for their engineer. Under their guidance and direction, the progress of knowledge will be solid and sterling, and her triumphs lasting and brilliant. The path of wisdom will then, indeed, be illuminated by a light from heaven. These are the tests and touchstone of genuine truth, and the only standard of legitimate appeal ; and, while one says, " I am of Lamarck," and another, " I of Latreille or St. Hillaire," be it mine, D 18 with Bacon, to admit nothing that bears not the stamp of trial and the signet of inductive scrutiny ; be it mine to accept no theory as valid, that is not the off- spring of accumulated facts, collected from the roll and register of multiplied and diversified experiments ; be it mine never to torture or to twist, lengthen or shorten, with the inquisition of a Procrustes, however ingenious may be the device and cunning, facts and experiments to suit preconceived whims and fancies ; be it mine, also, with Newton, to trace the phenomena of the universe of being, up to their divine origin and sublime and awful source. I cannot, therefore, but rejoice, that, in your prospectus, you have avowed yourselves as determined never to forget the dependence of the whole on the one Divine Originator. I am sure numbers will join with me, in wishing every suc- cess to a periodical that comes to us so highly recommended ; and I am quite cer- tain there can be no sound philosophy that does not recognize an intelligent first cause, and a prospective and legislative Providence. By way of apology for these preliminaries, I beg to communicate, ad inte- rim, a few miscellanea, as an earnest of something more elaborate for an early number. I. — Natural Ventilation of Seeds. This occurs to me as one among many questions of curious interest in the physiology of plants ; though I believe it has been entirely overlooked. The seed-vessel of the Heart's-ease is pendent and reversed ; the seeds are ultimately naked and exposed till the period for their dispersion arrives, when the seed-vessel becomes erect, and adjusts its open valves to imbibe the direct rays of the sun- beam. In the former case, it is evident that rain could not injure the immature seeds, nor moisture lodge within the cavities. In some plants we find the reverse of all this, the exception being provided for their peculiar contingencies. The Butter-nut, is supplied with an open slit, or natural vent, for the specific purpose of ventilation ; and there is, also, for the same reason, a circular orifice at the apex of the shell that encloses the triangular Brazilian Nuts — a shell possessed of adamantine hardness. By this opening atmospheric air, as in the former case, gains admission. In the capsules of the Poppy, the ventilating orifices are beneath the canopy which crowns them. On both sides of the Hura crepitans, or Monkey's Dinner-bell, there are narrow meshes, or windows, by which the air circulates, matures the seeds, and promptly dries up whatever mois- ture may find an occasional lodgement within the shell ; it would, otherwise, explode long before the period of maturity supervenes. In the Hernandia sonora, or Whistling Jack-in-a-Box, the air winds among the avenues of the seeds, there being a round aperture on the summit of the capsule, and the seeds occupying only a limited portion of the inner chamber : the tree thus becomes 19 vocal ; and the tropical traveller, often surprized by these unearthly sounds of the forest, starts affrighted. The Wild Carrot contracts and inflects its umbels during rain, and unfurls them in dry weather : the air then sifts and filters through the interstices, thus ventilating the seeds that might otherwise decay from excess of moisture. The spiral valves of the Didyrnacarpus rexii are sensi- ble hygroscopes ; they untwist in dry weather, and expose the seeds attached to the axis, to the genial and ripening influence of the atmosphere. In moist wea- ther, the valves will be found screwed closely together, completely impervious to air and moisture. Similar phenomena are very numerous, and examples might be indefinitely multiplied ; but these are sufficient to illustrate my position. II. — Dietetics and Therapeutics, as applied to Vegetation. That roots are selecting, discriminating, and appropriating organs, there can be no reasonable doubt ; nor can it be expected that all plants should subsist on the same kind of food. As plants are infinitely diversified in their appearance, condition, and the local circumstances under which they are found, with the phe- nomena presented in their secretions and excretions, it follows that a diversity of diet is necessary. Various earths, and diversified materials from animal and vegetable sources, afford the nutriment we commonly apply ; but oftentimes no rule of discrimination is adopted, for the same unvarying routine is incessantly repeated. Some peculiar kinds of plants are so much out of the ordinary way, in their port and manner, that they must, prima facie, enforce the importance of discrimination being necessary. The Drosera rotundifolia, and even the Pin- guicula — the Dioncea muscipula and Sarracenias — are all clearly more indebted to animal matter for their supplies than other sources, and hence are duly sup- plied with bristles, pouches, and traps, to entangle and to catch insects ; the decomposed animal matter being necessary to their well-being. In the year 1818, I discovered that the bulbs of Hyacinths, the Narcissus, Persian Iris, &c, grown in root-glasses, excreted carbonic acid gas, &c, by their fibres. Macaire has since verified the fact ; though I remember that, when I communicated the circumstance to Mr. Edward Rudge, he expressed much scep- ticism regarding the fact. This has, however, lately attracted considerable notice, and is likely to command still greater attention. Gum anime is found in cakes, among the roots of the Hymencea courbaril ; and it is notorious that the Sal- sola kali impregnates the soil, where it grows, with alkaline matter. The roots of many plants are very tenacious of life, and intense temperatures do not destroy their vitality ; the roots of the Vitex Agnus castus will not be affected, though immersed in boiling water ; and boiling water may, in many instances, be applied to the roots of plants, without injury. Again, if a mass of roots be divided into two parcels, acetate of lead, in solution, being absorbed on one side, d2 20- may be evolved again, by tbe second parcel, on the other side. Certain plants may absorb some * poisons' by their roots, with impunity, which would be destruc- tive to others. Other phenomena illustrate and confirm these truths, and it would be altogether superfluous to detail them. But irrespective of the facts connected with the excretions of the roots which have been assumed as explanatory of the necessity of the rotation of crops, there is another interesting question involved in the curious inquiry, to which I am desirous to call attention, and which, as far as I know, has never been once sus- pected. It is this : how far particular plants may, or may not, prove injurious by their proximity to others, from exudations and exhalations of a more or less vola- tile kind, as well as gaseous products arising from stems, foliage, and flowers ; and therefore to what extent plants reciprocally affect each other. Certain plants grow freely side by side, or in juxta-position ; whilst the very reverse is the fact with others. Certain shrubs luxuriate beneath the shade of trees, and the copious showers that trickle from their branches ; while myriads would be destroyed under similar circumstances. Many plants perish near others, or disappear without any visible cause. Though the corrosive liquid that distils from the branches of the Manchineel is of too palpable a character to be questioned, there are others that seem more dubious. The blighting influence of the Barberry on certain crops, however, appears not to be apocryphal. The hardiest weed will not dare to shew itself beside that gigantic reed, the Bamboo ; and bees fall down dead suddenly, should they perchance alight on the branches of the Rhus vernix. J. MURRAY, F.L. & G.S. (To be continued.) AN ACCOUNT OF THE STRUCTURE OF THE HEART IN THE TESTUDO MYDAS, OR GREEN TURTLE. The heart, in the several families of the Tortoises and Turtles, presents curious peculiarities adapted to the mode of life of the animals in whom these ano- malies of anatomical disposition are met with. Each species varies a little in the anatomical structure of the central organ of the circulation ; but I shall, in this paper, take the Testudo mydas as the type of all animals of this order. The Testudo mydas, or Green Turtle, — the Tortue franche, of Cuvier, called by the Germans, die Griine Schildkrote, — is found on all, or most of, the coasts of the torrid zone, feeding upon the weed at the bottom of the ocean, approaching the Srt mouths of great rivers for the purposes of respiration, and landing on the sand,' daring the night, to deposit its ova. The individual from which the pre- sent description is taken, weighed about 1751bs., the heart, when removed from the body, and emptied of its blood, was about the size of a large lamb's heart, and pulsated for six hours after death ; the contractions of the heart, after they had apparently ceased, might easily be excited again by pricking it with the point of a needle. This excitability continued during three or four hours more. The heart of this order of reptiles is composed of four cavities, like those of the mammalia and birds ; two of the cavities receiving the blood from the body and lungs, the other two propelling it forward into the lungs, and to the system generally. Man and the higher orders of animals, as mammals and birds, have a perfect double circulation, the heart consisting of four distinct and separate cavi- ties ; two, the receiving parts, termed auricles, the propelling ones, called ventri- cles. The reptilia (of which the Turtles and Tortoises form the first order) have a circulation performed by an organ of a different anatomical construction : in these animals the cavities are still four-fold, but the cavities of the ventri- cles are not distinct from each other ; they have communications through which the blood returning from the body generally, and that received from the lungs, are intermixed, and consequently an imperfectly decarbonized fluid is sent to the eco- nomy at large. The heart of the Testudo mydas, of which a general view is given in Fig. 1, is composed of two auricles and two ventricles, a b and c d, like Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 1 — A front view of the heart, with the cavities of the right and left ventricles laid open. a. The right auricle, b. The left auricle, c. The right ventricle. <L The left ventricle, e. The pulmonary arteries. /. The aortse, three in number ; one destined to supply the head, neck, and fore limbs, the remaining two uniting to sup- ply the posterior half of the body. Fig. 2 — A back view of the heart, with the fissures, which mark the opening of the veins, returning the blood from the body and the lungs, a. The opening of the veins of the lungs into the left auricle. 6. The opening of the venae cavse returning the blood from the body to the right auricle. 22 that of the mammalia and birds ; the blood returning from the body, having cir- culated through it, i9 received first by the right auricle (a), and propelled from it into the right ventricle (c) ; but instead of being thrown from this cavity into the lungs completely, as it is in the circulation of all warm-blooded animals, we find that a portion only is distributed to these organs. The chief peculiarity in the heart is met with in this cavity, for from it all the blood-vessels of both lungs and body arise. From the extreme right of the cavity is sent off the aorta, or rather the aortae, for the vessel immediately divides into three, the centre one of which is distributed to the upper or fore limbs, head, and neck, whilst the two outer ones unite into one to supply the lower, or posterior, half of the body with blood. The blood sent to the lungs is received back into the left ventricle (d), and thence passed, through an opening between these two cavities, into the right ventricle. The course of the circulation is explained by the diagram, Fig. 4. Fig. 3. Fig. 4. Fig. 3 A diagram, representing the course of the blood when the animal is under water. The blood entering through the veins into the right auricle at b, passes di- rectly into the corresponding ventricle, and is propelled through the aorta ( d) ; thus following a single course, returning from the body, and immediately re-sent to it without passing through the lungs. Fig. 4. — A diagram, representing the double or mixed circulation, when the animal re- spires atmospheric air. The blood returning from the lungs, through the pulmonary veins (a), into the left auricle, passes through its corresponding ventricle, and thence into the right ventricle, through the opening in the septum, which divides them (e). The two currents of blood are here mixed, and re-propelled in this form , part to the lungs, through the pulmonary artery (cj, and the remainder through the aortae (d.) The blood returned to the left ventricle, from the lungs, is passed through, or thrown from, the left ventricle into the right, and hence, at once, by a dou- ble passage through the pulmonary artery (e) and the aortae (f), to the lungs and system generally. In the Crocodiles, and some species of Lizards, there is but one ventricle ; and here the blood returning from the body and lungs is mixed in the same way. In the various species of Frogs and Serpents, the heart is re- duced to two cavities, a single auricle and ventricle ; and hence the blood which has been fitted for circulation by the action of the air upon it in its passage 23 through the lungs, is still more completely mingled with that which has not been submitted to this action, and which is just returned from the body to the heart. The mode of life of the reptilia, most of whom are amphibious, renders this peculiarity in the structure of the heart necessary. The corporeal, or greater, circulation is, in these animals, in some measure independent of the lesser or pul- monary one ; for, in warm-blooded animals, no blood can pass into the left ventricle, and thence to the body, which has not previously passed through the lungs ; the aorta, a vessel which propels the blood to the body, arising, in all warm-blooded animals, from the left ventricle, and not from the right as in the reptilia. The blood cannot pass through the lungs except the animal breathes ; consequently, no circulation could go on as long as the animal was under water : but from the peculiarity of the structure of the heart, we find that the blood passes directly from the right auricle to the right ventricle, whence the aorta arises, and the blood is sent straight on to the body again, without passing through the lungs, as in warm-blooded animals. This circulation, however, cannot go on ad infinitum, with this decarbonized blood, and the reptile is obliged to seek the atmosphere at certain intervals, to take in supplies of air. I do not agree with Blumenbach entirely, when he supposes that the general or corporeal circulation alone goes on when the reptile is under water ; since the peculiarity of the lungs of the amphibia enables them to take in a supply of air which will last for a con- siderable time, and hence some degree, if not a perfect one, of arterialization of blood goes on when the animal is under water, as well as when he breathes atmos- pheric air. We may suppose, however, that a less quantity of blood passes through the lungs during the time the animal is under water, than when breathing air, and consequently the blood must be more imperfectly decarbonised at this time than at others, though under all circumstances the blood of the reptilia is of a lower temperature and of less stimulating character than in the animals of the classes of the aves and mammalia. L. P. ANIMAL PROGNOSTICS. Every observer of Nature must have often remarked with what certainty many animals give signs of a change in the weather. Those signs are, with us, most conspicuous in the summer ; and it is of rain, and not of fair weather, that they are given. Swifts and Swallows, though not one has been seen on the wing during weeks of drought, fly with ceaseless rapidity; and the former shrink from the top of the sky whenever the clouds above them are elaborating rain, and especially if that rain is accompanied with thunder. It is true that these birds do 24 not fly with so much assiduity, and indeed do not make their appearance during the day, until the cloud is formed, and the sky overcast. But then, it is not the darkness alone which brings them abroad ; for the mere cloud of day may darken the sky fully more than the incipient rain-cloud, and yet not a Swift shall be tempted to take wing. There is no doubt that these birds come forth to feed ; and consequently their insect prey must have the same feeling of the coming rain as they themselves have : but why insects should rise so high into the air, at these times, as the elevation at which the Swifts are found hawking, is a matter which we cannot easily determine. Almost all birds which have been silenced by the drought renew their songs upon the approach of rain. Domestic poultry, also, make more noise than on other occasions ; and the cackling of Geese, the gabbling of Turkies, the wailing of Guinea Fowl, and the screaming of Peacocks, are blended together in full chorus. It is somewhat remarkable that Chanticleer does not sound his silver bugle upon these occasions, but reserves it to welcome the day-spring from the east. Indeed, when the others are all in bustle and activity, as if rejoicing at the coming rain, he and his companions betake themselves to the roost, or at all events look out for shelter. There is something worthy of notice in this. Geese and Turkies are the most joyous inhabitants of the farm-yard upon these occa- sions. Geese are everywhere natives of humid places ; for though they are, per- haps, the least aquatic of all web-footed birds, they do not thrive if they have not access to water. Turkies, too, are natives of the forests , of North America, in which humidity is the prevailing character of the atmosphere ; and it is by no means improbable that the rapid decrease of wild Turkies in the settled parts of the United States, is as much owing to the dry air which has been produced by destroying the woods, as to the vigilance of Jonathan with his rifle. The com- mon domestic Fowl, on the other hand, is a, native of the jungles of India, where drought is the prevailing character of the climate ; and their plumage suffers more from rain than that of any other bird with which we are acquainted. The Guinea Fowl comes from a country of a somewhat intermediate character ; its native zone being that between the northern and southern trade-winds, where the atmosphere is not under the control of either of the general currents ; and thus it is easily disturbed by the production of heavy showers, by local causes. Many other instances of prediction of the summer rain-storm, in animals freely exposed to the atmosphere, will occur to the reader ; and it will always be found that animals which are pleasurably excited on such occasions, are originally natives of moist climates, or of humid places; while those which are painfully excited inhabit the dry country, and suffer from exposure to rain. We have a re- markable instance of this in the domestic Cat, whose face-washing and general trimming of her fur, has been the cottage barometer time out of mind ; and the observation has been too repeatedly made to be doubtful. This operation of the Cat is performed equally whether the animal is snugly housed beside the cottage fire, or out of doors, exposed to the air. It happens, too, sooner before the actual fall of rain, than the prognostics of most other animals. In this last circumstance there is a philosophical truth, which it is desirable that some intelligent reader of The Naturalist would work out and give to the world, through its pages. The domestic Cat is, of all animals with which we are very familiar, by far the most electric ; that is, the most susceptible to electric action. Clear and dry air is well known to be a non-conductor of electric action ; and the more dry and clear the air is, the more agreeable to Pussey. It is, indeed, highly probable that the love of dry air, as much as the love of heat, brings the Cat to bask by the fire when the air is damp and raw : but the subject has not been studied with the attention which it deserves, for, strange though it may seem to some, the Cat may be of more real service to the philosopher, in the study of meteorology, than it was to Whittington in acquiring that wealth which enabled him to purchase the triple mayoralty, or to Katerfelto in assisting him to impose upon the credulity of the multitude, as a conjurer, "At his own wonders, wond'ring for his bread." For the investigation of so delicate a fluid as the atmosphere, in the variations of its electric state, as resulting from the quantity of humidity in it, and from its motions, we want instruments of the most delicate kind ; and no one will deny that the body of an animal must, under any circumstances, be a far more delicate instrument than any which can be made with hands. The finest of these must' still be made of matter ; and, consequently, the atmospheric change must be great enough for acting upon matter, before such an instrument can possibly point it out. The feeling of the animal, on the other hand, is not matter, but a result of the organization of matter ; and, therefore, it must be sensible down to almost the extreme of smallness in atmospheric change, or in any other agent by which it is affected. Those effects of minute or incipient changes upon delicate animals, require a great deal of caution on the part of the observer ; hasty conclusions, ought not, therefore, to be attempted to be drawn from them. They always precede our own observation ; and though they are, in themselves, unerring, we must use the same precaution with regard to them as we would do in all other matters of reasoning : and it is this which brings us to one of the essential points of the case — why should the lower animals be more weather-wise than we are ? This is a very important question, not only as it concerns those animals, but as it bears on the highest — the immortal — interests of man. Simple as it, at first sight, appears, it really involves the whole distinction between animals, which have no powers beyond those that result from the organization of material substance, and man, whose noblest powers are those which are exercised by an immaterial VOL. I. E 26 and indivisible, and therefore immortal, spirit. There is no question that, in as far as man is animal, his organization is more perfect, in all its parts, than that of any of the irrational animals ; some of these exceed him in one particular appli- cation of their powers, and some in another. He has not, for instance, the scent of the Blood-hound, the swiftness of the Antelope, or the wing of the Eagle. But when we take it into consideration that the human body is only the instrument fitted for the use of a superior principle, while the body of the animal is both the principle and the instrument, we cannot fail to perceive that the universality of adaptation of which the human body is capable, is far better fitted for being obe- dient to all the purposes of an intellectual principle, than if the principal exertion of which it is capable had been concentrated upon some one particular kind of action, as is the case with those animals to which we have alluded, and, indeed, with every animal, except man. From this general perfection of organization in the human body, we must conclude that if man had been entirely dependent upon animal instincts, as the rest of the living creation are — that is, if there had been nothing intervening be- tween the impression on the bodily sense, general or local — man would have re- quired, and would, according to the universal law which runs through the whole creation, have possessed more perfect instincts, and instincts more sentient to every change of external circumstances, than any other animal whatsoever. But in man there comes in a middle operation between the impression, or the sensal body, and the action ; and it depends upon this middle part whether there shall be an action, or even a feeling, of the system, consequent of the impression upon the sense. This is a beautiful part of the physiology of man, and a part which gives him great advantages in a mental point of view. If man had been compelled by instinct to obey, or even to feel, every little variation or casualty from without, he could never by possibility have had repose and quietude enough for carrying on any elaborate process of thought. The temperature, the pressure, the motion, the humidity, and the electric state of the atmosphere by which our bodies are surrounded, at all times and at every point, are in a state of perpetual change ; and if man had been sensitive to every slight shade of those changes, his life would have been both unprofitable and miserable. The gentle breeze would have shaken him as with an ague ; the summer sun would have scorched him into agony ; and the winter frost would have chilled him to an icicle. We have approximate proofs of this in those whose bodies have an extreme degree of sensibility, or who are, as it is popularly denominated, of a nervous temperament ; and all of us — except such as have the general structure of their bodies knit and sinewed by habitual exposure to the variable atmosphere, or are placed in an atmosphere so artificial as that the natural changes which are going on without have no effect upon them — at times feel, in our own systems, the pain of this kind of sensibility. This pain, though we often cannot give it a name, or assign it a local seat in any one part of the system, is torment to us beyond the 27 suffering of ordinary physical disease. We are ill we know not of what ; and yet the sensibility of the system is so unimpaired by our indescribable illness, that acute bodily pain would be deliverance from such suffering. A future opportunity may occur for inquiring into the peculiar tone of the sentient system in man which is most accordant with efficient mental operation ; but we may, in the mean time, remark that this is a medium state, and that the bodily sensibility may be either too dull or too acute for the exercise of vigorous thought, or the performance of useful action. If it is too obtuse, the mind does not receive the impression, and, of course, neither thought nor action can follow ; and if, on the other hand, it is too acute, the anguish of the bodily feeling makes so strong an impression, that the mind is incapable of applying its common mode of judgment, by analogy, to the cause of the impression, and its effect external of the body. It is the mental operation which is injured both by too much obtuse- ness and too much acuteness of the sense : and in each case the conduct of the human being approximates that of a mindless animal ; and in the extreme cases the approximation may be so close that no observation can draw the line of dis- tinction between them. It is these extreme cases of insensibility and sensibility of the body, to which the names of idiocy and mania are given. In common language, we call both of them mental derangements ; but no word can be worse applied. The mind, in order to be immortal, must be perfectly simple, and incapable of any division of parts, even in imagination ; because, if the existence of separate parts were ima- ginable, the separation of those parts would also be imaginable ; and this separa- tion would be the death of the mind, and man would be brought down to the level of the beasts that perish. But, if composition be inconsistent with our original idea of mind, mental derangement must be equally so ; for it is not possible to derange one single existence, be that existence what it may. To return from this digression, which, however, is far from being an useless one : we can see how wise and how good it is that the sentient part of the human frame is so tempered that it does not habitually break in upon the operations of mind ; and, because we are worse barometers than the animals which we have mentioned, and, indeed, than all mindless animals, we are thinkers and philosophers, and they are not. The animal which has the action instantly consequent upon the sensation, without any intermediate mental judgment by comparison with former experience, is, of course, wholly at the mercy of external circumstances, and compelled as necessarily and as instantly to obey every change of these to the full amount of its influence, as a fragment which the lightning shivers from the precipice is ne- cessitated to descend by the force of gravitation. It is this perfect obedience of the system of mindless animals to the circumstances of Nature external of them, which renders the study of them so very valuable for meteorological purposes ; and this study deserves far more attention than it has hitherto received. e 2 R. M. OBSERVATIONS ON THE ARGULUS FOLIACEUS, (Jurine), AS INJURIOUS TO GOLD AND SILVER FISHES. By Miss Dobson. — (Communicated by Mr. George Samouelle). Genus 85. Argulus, Miill., Jurine, Leach, Desmarest, Samouelle ; Binoculus, Geoffroy, Latreille. Shell oval, somewhat membranaceous, semi-transparent, anteriorly rounded, deeply notched behind : two hemispheric eyes inserted at the anterior and lateral parts of the clypeus : antenna; very small, inserted above the eyes : rostellum sterniform : twelve legs, unequal in size and form ; first pair shorter, very mem- branaceous, capable of changing their form, broader at their tips, and constructed for adhering to objects ; second pair prehensile, curved, much thicker towards their base, the thighs furnished with three spinules beneath ; tarsi of the second pair three-jointed, the last joint with two claws and a pulvillus ; four hinder pairs inserted at the sides of the abdomen, somewhat cylindric, formed for swimming, with their points bifid : abdomen cylindric ; tail bilobate. Sp. 1. Arg. foliaceus, Jurine. Argulus delphinus, Miill., Enton., 123. Monoculus Argulus, Fabr., Ent. Syst., 489. Argulus foliaceus, Leach, Suppl. to Encycl. Brit., p. 405. ; Desmarest, Considerations des Crust., p. 329, pi. 50, fig. 1, a. e. 29 This species, which is the only one of the genus that has hitherto been noticed, inhabits ponds and rivulets, adhering to the larvae of frogs and to fishes, particularly the pike. The larva has been described, by Miiller, as a distinct species, under the name of Argulus charon : in this state, it differs from the full-grown animal in size, and in having four cylindric, equal, biarticulated, pen- ciliated oars, two of which are attached to the animal above the eyes, and are fur- nished at their tips with four setae ; the other two, below the eyes, being termi- nated with three setae : the two anterior legs are incrassated, elongated, and ter- minated by a strong bent claw. The full-grown animal lays from one to four hundred eggs, which are yellow, ovate, and smooth, being generally deposited on stones, in two contiguous, longi- tudinal series. These eggs are hatched in about thirty days. The perfect animal is a most beautiful and highly interesting transparent object for the microscope.* The following are the observations of Miss Dobson, on this singular parasite. " I took a gold fish out of a pond, that had been in a very sickly state for two or three months. Thinking it nearly dead, as it was lying on its side on the surface of the pond, I put it into a pan of water ; and in an instant I saw a diminutive insect swimming about very actively. I immediately examined a portion of the same water, supposing the insect might have bred in it, and that I should find more of them : I was, however, mistaken, the water being perfectly clear. I re- turned to the gold fish, and found the number of insects increased ; which led me to imagine they must have come from the fish. I therefore examined it, and per- ceived that the fins were perfectly covered with them, and several on different parts of the body. Finding I could not brush them off, I took the animal in my hand, and was obliged to scrape them off with my nail, they adhered so tightly. The fins were very much injured, being divided into threads ; and one quarter of the tail was quite eaten away. The fish was greatly swollen ; the scales stood erect ; and the flesh between the scales had the appearance of jelly. It breathed with such difficulty, that I expected, in a short time, to find it dead : I was, there- fore, much surprized on the following morning, to perceive the fish still alive, and a little improved ; but the water smelt quite putrid, from the diseased state of the fish. By changing the water every day, the fish improved so wonderfully that the scales began to assume their proper condition, the swelling gradually de- creased, and it became very lively ; catching at some worms thrown into the water, and shaking them as a cat does a mouse. Having heard that fishes were very fond of graves in clay, I put a small ball into the dish. On the fol- lowing morning, to my great regret and disappointment, I found the fish dead. Had it not been for this injudicious treatment, I feel persuaded it would have recovered. • Samouelle's Entomologist'' & Compendium, second edit., p. 126. 30 " Immediately after I had relieved the fish from the insects, I placed one under my microscope ; and no longer wondered at the difficulty I experienced in remov- ing them from the fish. On each side of the throat is fixed a large hollow tube, capable of expansion and contraction to a considerable degree, imparting a won- derful power of adhesion, which enables the insect, notwithstanding its diminu- tive size and delicate formation, to hold so firmly to any substance as to require some force to remove it. The mouths of these tubes are very beautifully formed, being fringed all round with hair, folding over the edge or lip. Independent of these extraordinary tubes, they are provided with eighteen strongly-formed hooks, no doubt wonderfully provided to resist the violent agitation of the water. On the top of what I consider to be the antennae, is placed a very long, sharp, pointed hook, apparently of a horny substance, very suddenly bent downwards. The horn seems to be placed in a socket or band, which the insect has the power of turning round at pleasure. In the middle of the horn, and on the band or socket, are likewise placed two more short, strong hooks ; two between the horns, two much lower on the breast, below which are two more. Extending from each side the body (independent of four forked legs, or paddles, which are thickly fringed with strong hairs) is an arm, or fore-leg, with three socket joints, very thick set towards the body ; on the elbow of which are placed three of the same powerful hooks as above stated. The legs, or paddles, are kept in constant movement ; the body terminates in an elegantly form- ^v^s' ed tail, partially divided. The eyes are large, promi- nent, and very beautiful, situated on each side the horns, arranged in rows, with a distinct division between each row, apparently as though they were a number of brilliant globes, or precious stones, floating in jelly, and en- [<? oo°J closed in a transparent skin : they have likewise two pairs of palpi, or \o 0o1°oJ feelers, one behind, the other below, the horns, which I should not have discovered, from their being so extremely delicate and transparent, had I not had such frequent opportunities of observing the insect in a living state, under va- rious different powers. The mouth is a long tube, extending from the centre of the forehead almost down to the breast, capable of expanding and contracting to a considerable length, in the form of a proboscis. The back of the insect has the appearance, in form, of the Cassida, or Tortoise Beetle, only of a soft flexible tex- ture, without any division, or wings : on the under side of which it is wonderfully provided with numerous clusters (particularly round the head, tubes, &c.) of strong, but small, hooks, perfectly formed, which might, at first, be mistaken for hairs, until submitted to a strong magnifying power. " After taking the insects from the fish, I left them in the same water till the following morning, by which time it had become quite offensive ; before changing it I attentively, and for some length of time, observed their different actions ; and 31 perceiving one of them more agitated than the rest, I watched it particularly, and fancied, what proved in reality to be the case, that it was casting its skin. Had I not witnessed this operation, I should have been deprived of much information and gratification. Notwithstanding the skin is so delicate, and when in the water so purely the same colour, a close observation afforded me the opportunity of collecting as many skins, during the time I was able to retain the insects alive, as, I think, were thrown off. The next object that struck my attention, was the appearance of a cluster of minute eggs, floating on the surface of the water, encir- cled by something that had the appearance of oil ; specimens of which I placed on two glasses. " On placing the cast skin under the microscope, I observed that each hair with which the legs or paddles are provided, was thickly set on each side with a row of fine hairs. I could not discover in the cast skins any portion of skin that could cover the eyes ; the thin transparent membrane, therefore, that covers them in the perfect insect, has no appearance of net- work, as in most other insects. " The insects became gradually weaker, and in four or five days they all died. I took a sketch of one before it was quite dead, which I think will convey a tolera- ble idea of the animal in its living state ; as those prepared as specimens on glass, although very beautiful, do not, in consequence of their dried state, convey to the observer a correct idea of the insect without such aid ; the cast skin assists, like- wise, in its developement. " The circulation of the blood, with a high magnifying power, was particularly interesting." Mr. Samouelle has subjoined the following additional observations : — " On Sun- day, May 20, 1836, I caught two insects, male and female, the latter full of ova, which, in the course of the same night, were deposited on the sides of the glass, in a cluster, to the number of seventy-nine. In order to give the insects food, I tried the experiment of their feeding for a time on the dead gold-fish, which they did for two days ; when, on their appearing rather weakly, I removed them from the fish, and the water becoming impure, I restored them to the glass where the eggs were deposited ; they became evidently refreshed, and the female hovered over and about the spot where the previous eggs were laid, and in the course of the same night she laid twenty-four more, and, after a short time died. By way of experiment, and as a resource for food, I had some minnows caught for the other, to see if it would feed upon them. It remained in the vessel for two days, when it disappeared, and I suppose it was eaten by the minnows. The eggs still remain unhatched, June 13th." The engraving at the commencement of the article represents the Argulus fo- liaceus magnified, and of the natural size. ^ OBSERVATIONS ON THE SCARCE SWALLOW TAIL, (PAPILIO PODALIRIUS.) By J. E. As the Lepidoptera are more attractive than the generality of our native insects, and as the butterfly has " found favour even in ladies' eyes," the announce- ment of the capture of one of the rarest and most elegant, the scarce Swallow Tail, Papilio podalirius, will be hailed, we doubt not, with joy, and still more happy will he be who can obtain a specimen of it. In a late number of Mr. Curtis's .British Entomology, a specimen of this Papilio has been figured, which was taken near Windsor, by W. H. Rudston Read, Esq. and others have lately been purchased, as British, by G. Robertson, of Limehouse, and Dr. Bromfield, of Hastings. The principal object of calling attention to this subject is the hope that when this butterfly is generally known, others will come forward and furnish additional proof of British specimens having been taken ; for although, like many others, it only apppears occasionally, yet when seasons are congenial to its habits, it will appear probably for many successive years. It is now known to be found at Hamburgh, which is as far to the north as York ; therefore, the erroneous idea that its northern range renders its appearance here impossible, is no longer tenable. There is one thing, however, that collectors ought to be warned of, P. podalirius, and many other insects rare in Britain, are common enough on the Continent, and are easily obtained from thence, even in the larva state, and we are sorry to have reason to believe there are individuals who see no objection to selling such as British, in order to enhance their value. THE ALYSSUM CALYCINUM. The Alyssum calycinum has been lately discovered in Charnwood Forest, about half way between Gracedieu and Whitwick, in a botanizing excursion, by the Messrs. Churchill and Arthur Babingtons, and the Rev. Andrew Bloxam. It was found growing sparingly in a small field adjoining some rocks, amongst Medicago lupulina. Specimens have been sent to Mr. Watson, Professor Hen- slow, and other eminent botanists. This is the first time that the plant has been noted as growing in England. It was, however, discovered in two places in Scot- land last year, at Dirleton Common, Haddingtonshire, and on the coast of Forfar, and a notice of it communicated to the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, by Professor Graham ; it is also introduced into Mr. Watson's remarks on the distribution of British plants. 3^ ON THE FEN REEDLING, (Salicaria Arundinacea, Selby), Reed-Wren, or Reed-Warbler, of other Ornithologists. By Edward Blyth. Having some reason to suspect that this lively little songster is more gene- rally diffused over the country than is commonly supposed, and apprehending that few distinguish its chant from that of the Sedge Reedling ( S. phragmitis), lam induced to offer a few observations to the attention of naturalists residing in dis- tricts where it has been hitherto undiscovered, in the expectation that they will lead to its detection in many localities where its presence has, as yet, been quite un- suspected. Of course it is unnecessary here to describe the plumage and technical cha- racter of the species, as these will be found in most works on British ornithology. Bewick, however, omits to figure the bird, but annexes its name to a represen- tation pf the Sedge Reedling, obviously confounding the two together. The Sedge Reedling abounds in watery situations all over the country, even to the northernmost districts of Scotland ; and no person of the least observation can be otherwise than familiar with its abrupt and chattering, but certainly not un- pleasing, song, with which it incessantly enlivens every ditch, continuing to do so until about the middle or latter end of June ; after that time it is seldom heard. It is a strange medley of a song, though, at the same time, it is altogether original ; combining a characteristic chiddy, chiddy, chit, chit, chit, with a very sparrow- like chou, chou, and an occasional and emphatic peet-weet, reminding one forcibly of the Chimney Swallow. Then comes, perchance, a series of harsh, jarring tones, followed, perhaps, by a seeming imitation of something else ; and not unfre- quently the bird mounts, singing, a little way into the air, or chirrups as it flits from bush to bush, or from willow to willow. I am sure that there are very few who will not immediately recognize it from this description ; more particularly if they have been accustomed to perambulate marshy and sedge-tufted places, during the spring and summer. The extremely passerine character of many of this little bird's chirpings, have gained for it, in various places, the vulgar appellation, " Reed Sparrow ;" just as the homely garb and familiar manners of the common Hedge Dunnock, another bird of slender bill, have occasioned the equally erroneous but popular name, " Hedge Sparrow," to be its ordinary cognomen. Now, I certainly am not one of those who are willing to accept any kind of name, merely because it chance to be popularly applied. Undoubtedly there should be some rules for nomenclature, some system to regulate caprice. If any VOL. I. f 34 meaning is to attach to the word " sparrow," if it is to signify a particular form among the feathered race, surely those species ought alone to be called sparroiv which exhibit the characters briefly denoted under that name. To apply it to birds of other form occasions only unnecessary confusion. If a new species were to be denominated sparrow, we should, of course, expect it to pertain to the genus Passer ; and why, therefore, do some naturalists persist in using erro- neous appellations, merely because, in some districts, they happen to be popular ? I say some districts only, because there are really very few names which are in general use throughout the country ; consequently a classical and systematic nomen- clature is doubly needed. In the south of England, for instance, what terms appear to be more universally accepted than Goldfinch, Tomtit, and Kingfisher ? Yet the first applies, in Yorkshire, to the Yellow Bunting, the second, in the same county, to the common Wren, and the third, in Sutherlandshire, invariably denotes the Dipper. Not long ago, I heard a ludicrous dispute between a Yorkshireman and a native of Surrey, respecting which bird was the " Tomtit," the former insisting that the southron's Tomtit meant the Blue-cap ! What we in Surrey term the Goldfinch, is, in Yorkshire, better known as the Thistle- finch ; in Suffolk and Norfolk it is as popularly designated King Harry, and in Scotland it is the Gooldie, or Gould-speuk, of our northern neighbours. But while I advocate a well-digested and temperate reformation of the vernacular names to objects of Natural History, let me by no means be understood to adopt every ill-sounding name which some nomenclators, in their great enthusiasm, have proposed. At some future time I shall probably take the subject in hand myself, and hope that whatever new names I shall then have to offer, will not only possess the merit of propriety and exclusiveness of application, but will, also, not offend the more fastidious, by their want of euphony. It will, also, be my object to introduce as few new terms as possible, as I see no occasion for substituting " Goldwing" for Siskin, as the vernacular for Carduelis, " Treeling" for Petty- chaps, &c, as some have done. But to return to what in Surrey is called the Reed-^arrow. Our naturalists are mistaken in supposing that people in general (that is to say, unscientific ob- servers of discrimination) ordinarily confuse, as professed naturalists have done,* the Sedge Reedling with the Reed Bunting. I have generally found that both birds were well known, and their respective notes also. I believe they will be found everywhere to be distinguished by separate names, and in Surrey the Reed Bunting is called " Blackheaded Bunting ;" as good a name, without reference to its foreign congeners, as the more exclusive one now judiciously employed by all our naturalists. The Fen Reedling, however, about which the present paper is professed to be " Witness the various accounts of the Reed Bunting's song. 35 written, is very commonly confounded with its congener, by observers of all de- scriptions, when in its native haunts. In the hand, the two species are sufficiently dissimilar, and, for members of the same very natural genus, are by no means closely allied ; but, in the bush, a little attention is necessary to discrimate be- tween the two, and our naturalists are, I think, generally culpable, for not describ- ing, with more precision, how they are then to be known apart. Thus, Montagu simply informs us that " their notes are similar f forgetting that this very simili- tude rendered it doubly incumbent on him to point out whatever difference there may be between them, as most of his readers would, doubtless, be much better pleased to be enabled to distinguish the two in their native wilds, than as mere cabinet specimens, removed from their places in nature. It should be the con- stant aim of the ornithologist to pourtray his various subjects as they appear in their wild haunts, in order that his readers may at once recognize them in a state of freedom. In this respect, many of Mr. Mudie's eloquent descriptions may be cited as absolute models of perfection. The Fen Reedling's notes are, most undoubtedly, very similar to those of its congener ; but may be distinguished by a little attention to the following particu- lars. The song is even more hurriedly delivered, and is, also, more continuous ; there are no harsh discordant chirpings, no apparent imitations of the Sparrow or Chimney Swallow ; at the same time, the chant is certainly less varied, and, indeed, consists but of an incessant repetition of a number of detached chirrups, some of which are, however, by no means unmusical. This, also, is kept up night and day, though less habitually in the night season than that of the Sedge Reed- ling ; and it is never uttered with more emphasis than when any one is very near the nest, an incident which provokes many of what are commonly termed " the Warblers" to sing loud, particularly the Blackcap and other Fauvets, as most bird's-nesting persons must have often noticed. The Fen Reedling sometimes chirrups on the wing, as it passes from one bush to another, but I believe it never rises singing into the air, like its only ascertained British congener. It also con- tinues to chatter much later in the season than the Sedge Reedling, and may be heard till about the middle or third week of July ; wherefore those observers who may have fancied that they have heard the Sedge Reedling until this period, will do well to entertain at least a suspicion that it was S. arundinacea, that is to say, if they were not previously well acquainted with the notes of the latter species.* " I have since heard a Sedge Reedling pertinaciously chattering on the 20th of July, but during a refreshing thunder-shower, succeeding a long period of drought ; a juncture at which, of all others, the feathered race are particularly musical; (see Mudie's description of the Green Woodpecker). Although many Fen Reedlings were in the vicinity, they were all silent, and I heard only that one Sedge Reedling, where, a few weeks before, both species would have vied in garrulity. As a general rule, therefore, this does not affect what I have above stated. The same evening, the Fen Reedlings were singing in the f2 36 Some writers have made out the Fen Reedling too exclusively an inhabitant of reedy places, which, after all, are not its most favourite habitat. No doubt it is commonly found in such situations, and frequently suspends, or rather fastens, its nest to a few contiguous reed-stems, as I have seen repeatedly ; but I have more commonly observed it in tall bushes growing near the water, and sometimes placed against the trunk or large branch of a willow or poplar, interlacing one or two upright side shoots. When there are gardens adjoining its haunts, it very com- monly selects a lilac-bush, and in such localities the nest will be rarely found among the reeds. I have now a beautiful specimen before me, which is fastened to a single slender stem of elder, from which, within the centre of the fabric, issues a young green shoot, the extremity only of which is visible.* One, described by Mr. Rennie, was situate within a tuft of lucerne, and, consequently, very near the ground ; but I have seen them at a height of ten, twelve, and even fifteen feet from the surface, placed amid the perpendicular shoots of willow or lilac. This species is very partial to gardens in watery situations, and will usually admit of a much closer approach than its congener ; but still, the glances one is enabled to get at it are so momentary, and oftentimes against the light, that unless our suspicions are aroused, it is seldom that an unpractised eye can tell it readily from the Sedge Reedling. Its bill, however, is considerably larger, and the whole plumage of a much more uniform tint, without the pale streak over the eye, so conspicuous in the other species. The Sedge Reedling's nest is always placed near the ground, amid a thick tuft of herbage, or among the shoots from a low stool of willow : it is of somewhat massive construction, a great deal of material being worked up, and the cavity deep, containing often as many as seven eggs, of a pale ground colour, thickly besprinkled with small, confluent, greenish specks, which, at the large end, often form a zone ; sometimes a few larger ash-coloured spots are observable, and, not unfrequently, some blackish dashes at the large end, which may be easily washed off by simply wetting them : a mode that will obliterate many of the darker mark- ings upon the eggs of birds. The young of this species differ very little from their parents, but have a number of dusky spots upon the breast. Interior of the mouth bright orange. same place, with very great spirit ; which confirms an observation I have often made, that night-singing birds always continue their notes longer by night than in the day-time. • I have subsequently seen a nest about which was wound a long piece of fishing. tackle. ' This nest was situate about twelve feet from the ground, and was fastened to some slender twigs of Viburnum : in construction it more resembles those specimens which are built among the reeds, being otherwise chiefly composed of the seed-tops and softer leaves of reeds and sedges, without any moss or cottony substance interwoven. It is, how- ever, considerably less compact and neatly finished than that described in the text, and contains a less quantity of material. Those in the reeds are mostly of elegant formation. 3? The nest of the Fen Reedling also contains a good deal of material, but more compactly and beautifully interwoven. It is also very deep, whether it be placed among the reeds, where it is liable to be blown about by the winds, or amid the clustering, rigid stems of the poplar, when perfectly secure from such annoyance. The eggs are most usually five in number (more than which I have never known), of a pale, greenish white, blotched all over, and spotted with greenish brown, and sometimes a few spots of ash colour : there are likewise commonly some dark marks at the larger end, which, as in those of the other species, may be soon obliterated. The young are altogether more rufous than their parents, particu- larly on the throat and under parts, but have no trace of the breast-spots ob- servable in the other, and the interior of the mouth is yellow ; there are also two large black spots upon the tongue, which are very conspicuous when the young open their mouths for food. Both species leave the nest remarkably early, before their feathers have half attained their proper development. The notes of the young of both are harsh and dissonant. I do not conceive it necessary to enter further into the history of these little birds, as might be done at considerable length : should the Fen Reedling occur in the vicinity of any reader of this article, he surely will not now fail to detect it. I am very desirous of ascertaining, with accuracy, how the migratory land-birds are distributed over the country ; a fact which can only be satisfactorily elu- cidated by the co-operation of naturalists resident in different parts. At present there is a good deal to be learnt on this subject. I have termed this species " Fen Reedling," as I think, it is rather more ex- pressive of the precise nature of its haunts than Marsh Reedling, which has been proposed. The words are, undoubtedly, nearly synonymous, but the latter had better be reserved for S. palustris, an allied species, not hitherto found in Britain. In the fenny counties of England, and in Holland, the S. arundinacea is an ex- ceedingly abundant species, and, according to Mr. Neville Wood, it occurs, in this country, as far north as Derbyshire : how far beyond this I wish to deter- mine, and have penned the present article in the hope of ascertaining. ON THE PAPILIO MACHAON, By J. Curtis. Of all the various sources of gratification arising from the study of insects, none appears to me more interesting than the rearing of them, very especially the Lepidoptera, We are enabled at our leisure to investigate and study their won- derful economy, and at the same time to obtain the most perfect specimens for our cabinets ; thus enhancing the beauty of the collection, and securing perfect insects for future description. 38 It was my intention to have offered some general remarks on the pupa; or chrysalides of that favourite family the Papilionidae ; but I find that, in the present number, I must content myself with describing the process of the caterpillar of Papilio machaon, in changing to the pupa state. The caterpillar of this truly elegant and graceful insect (one of the two species of Papilio which we can alone lay claim to as British) having fixed upon a spot where he intends to take up his abode for the period of his imprisonment, turns his head on one side, and attaches a thread, which he carries over to the other, where he also fastens it, and returns again and again, backwards and forwards, until it has acquired a sufficient thick- ness to sustain his weight. The caterpillar now, having laid hold with his anal feet, is supported by these combined threads, which pass under the junction of the thorax and abdomen ; and, by a violent muscular action, the skin of the caterpillar bursts at the head, and it is pushed or thrown off like an elastic garment. Hav- ing seen this remarkable process accomplished, I was curious to know by what means he could fasten the apex of the abdomen to the box ; and, from the obser- vations which I was enabled to make, I feel satisfied that it is by ejecting a gluti- nous fluid through the pores of the tail, which is the analogue of the anal feet, for, the skin being cast off, he placed the apex of his body close to the box, to which it instantly adhered. I then detached it, and again it firmly united ; but a third trial had probably so exhausted its powers, that it afterwards remained suspended by the thoracic chord alone. MUSIC OF SNAILS. There is a poetical notion that Oysters, amongst other gentle qualities, love minstrelsy, and the fishermen, in some parts, " Sing, to charm the spirits of the deep," as they troll their dredging nets ; for " The Herring loves the merry moonlight ; The Mackarel loves the wind ; But the Oyster loves the dredging song ; — For he comes of gentle kind." These lines gave rise to a communication from a young lady, which I will send you. Perhaps some of your readers may confirm the supposition of the Snail's musical capabilities. She says : — " One evening I kneeled upon the win- dow seat, when it was nearly dusk, and heard a soft musical sound ; not a hum- ming or murmuring, but a truly musical tone. I saw a Snail, and, having a desire to annihilate those destroyers of fruit and flowers, took it from the window. I had silenced the music ! I recollected what I had heard, and felt a sort of pang." S. KENNAWAY. NOTICE OF THE REPORTED CAPTURE OF THE COMMON GAR-PIKE (Belone vulgaris) IN THE RIVER TAME. In the month of April last, I received from Mr. Richard Bird, Surgeon, of Tamworth, a fine specimen of the common Gar-pike, said, by the man from whom he obtained it, to have been just caught in the River Tame, about two miles below Tamworth. That a sea-fish not mentioned, by any Ichthyologist with whose writings I am acquainted, as ever frequenting fresh water, should have ascended an inland river, to the distance of about one hundred and fifty miles from its termination in the ocean, appeared to me a somewhat extraordinary fact : and I should have been induced very strongly to suspect the correctness of the statement made to Mr. Bird, had not that gentleman, who is a very accurate and cautious observer, assured me that the fish exhibited the peculiar silvery lustre, and all the other characters of freshness, which indicated that life could not have been, many hours, extinct. I have, this day, seen Mr. Bird's informant ; and questioned him very closely on the subject. He states that he took the fish, given to Mr. Bird, and another, considerably larger, of the same species, with a net, in the river Tame, just below Hop was bridge ; that it is the only instance of the capture of such fish in fresh water, which has fallen under his observation ; but that an old fisherman, of Tamworth, recollects having taken a Gar-pike, about twenty years ago, in the river Tame, near Hopwas. I shall feel much obliged by the communication, through the medium of The Naturalist, of any fact calculated to throw light upon this obscure and, in my opinion, still somewhat doubtful statement. That such a fish as the Gar-pike, which, however agile and vivacious, is not known to possess the saltatorial powers of the Salmon, should have made its way over the numerous weirs existing on the course of the Tame and Trent between Hopwas and the point of conflux of the latter with the Humber, it is difficult to conceive. A few weeks previously to the date of this reported capture, the Trent and its tributary streams had, I may, however, observe, been swollen to an unwonted height by the rapidly-dissolving snows, and profuse rains, of the early spring. I shall conclude my brief notice with a slight outline of the generic and spe- cific characters of this curious fish, and an exposition of the site which it occupies in the modern systems of Ichthyology. The Gar-pike, associated, in the System of Linneus, with the common pike, under the title of Esox belone, has, of late, been separated from Esox, and taken as the type of a new genus, named Belone, from b$xov*i, the Greek designation of the gar-pike. The following are the generic characters of Belone ; as traced by Fleming and Yarrell. Muzzle attenuated and greatly prolonged. Intermaxillary bones forming the entire margin of the upper jaw. Both jaws furnished with minute teeth ; none, on the vomer, palatine bones, or tongue. Along each side 40 of the abdomen, a row of carinated scales. Dorsal and anal fins entire. Con- tains only one British species, B. vulgaris, the subject of our present sketch: which varies, from eighteen inches to two feet, in length ; has the lower jaw con- siderably longer than the upper ; dorsal Jin, of 18 rays, situated very far behind ; exactly opposed to, in situation, and resembling in figure, the anal, of 21 rays : pectoral of 13 rays, small, and attached a little behind the gill-opening : ventral, of 7 rays, still smaller, and situated far back. Caudal fin, of 13 rays, and forked. Colour : Head, back, and dorsal portion of sides, fine bluish-green. Gill-covers, and other parts of the body, of a bright silvery hue. The flesh is edible ; and said to resemble, in flavour, that of the Mackarel ; but, from the circumstance of the bones acquiring a green colour, when boiled, a popular prejudice almost universally exists against its dietetic employment. On this account, also, it is sometimes distinguished by the provincial designation of Green-bone : at others, as preceding the Mackarel in its annual arrival on the coast in April, by that of the Mackarel-guide. The ventral fins of the Gar-pike being situated posteriorly to the pectoral, this fish has, consistently with the principles of ichthyological arrangement adopted by Linneus, been placed in his Order Abdominales, of true or osseous fishes. Cu- vier, in his distribution of this Class, constitutes three Orders of Malacoptery- gious, or Soft-finned Fishes : of these, the first, or Abdominales, is distinguished by the attachment of the ventral posteriorly to the pectoral fins : the Second, Sub-brachiales,~— by the insertion of the former below the latter ; and the last, Apodes, by the entire absence of ventral fins. Consequently, the Gar-pike be- longs to the Order, Malacopterygiens Abdominales, of Cuvier's System ; and, as nearly allied to the common Pike, the genus Belone, to which it belongs, is included, by British Ichthyologists, in the Esocidce, or Pike-family. This genus, as I have before observed, offers only one British species,* — la Belone, of the French, — and der hornfisch, of German Naturalists. Figures of the Gar-pike are given by Pennant, British Zoology, vol. hi., pi. lxxiv. ; by Donovan, Natural History of British Fishes, vol. hi., pi. liv. ; and by Yarrell, History of British Fishes, vol. i., p. 391. June 30th, 1836. S. P. * The species, captured by Mr. Couch, at Polperro, and regarded by him, — See Lin- nean Transactions, vol. xiv., p. 85, — as the Esox Brasiliensis, or Little Gar, is probably only the young of some other fish : and the Saury, referred, by some Naturalists, to the Belone genus, under the title of B. Saurus, has been taken by Lace'pede, to constitute a new genus ; and named Scomberesox saurus, by Fleming ; See History of British Animals, v. i„ p. 184. It is principally distinguished from Belone, by the division of the posterior portions of the dorsal and anal fins into several finlets resembling those of the Mackerel: — hence the propriety of the generic designation, Scomberesox, or Mackarel-pike ; and by the bi-cari- nated abdomen. An admirable figure of the Saury Pike is given, p. 394 of Yarrell's 1st vol. THE REDSHANK. By B. R. M. In my shooting excursions lately, I have not unfrequently met with that very pretty and interesting little bird, the Redshank ( Totanus calidris) ; and as my observations upon it lead me to conclude its habits and manners to be rather dif- ferent from what they are, in general, supposed to be, I send you the result, which may, perhaps, be interesting to some of your readers. I confess I was rather surprised at first to find the Redshank always in very large flocks, as I had al- ways previously considered it and its congeners to be birds of solitary habits ; but I have very seldom seen it in this neighbourhood in flocks of less than a dozen, frequently amounting even to one hundred and fifty, or two hundred ; and the larger the flock the more shy and difficult were the birds of approach. Indeed, even in small flocks, it generally contrives to baffle and elude the attempts of the sportsman ; as it is always on the look out, and takes wing on the least alarm, or the slightest appearance of approaching danger. Towards the beginning of the breeding season, they are, however, rather more accessible ; for they do not fly very far on being disturbed, but generally alight again a few hundred yards off. The breeding season is the only time of the year in which they are not found m flocks ; at this period they leave the shores, and disperse themselves over the country, in places more suitable for incubation. The tide here, on receding, leaves a very large surface of muddy sand exposed ; and this seems to be pecu- liarly favourable to birds of this class, and accordingly it is very much frequented by the Tringoe, Totani, Numenii, and other birds of this family ; for all these obtain their food in the same situations. The Redshank is, I think, most nearly allied, in its habits, to the genus Tringa ; and it has the same kind of dipping motion, when running on the sands, for which the latter is so remarkable. I was very much struck with the curious manner in which they dart their bills into the mud or sand, for the purpose of getting at their food. They seem to bury it in the sand nearly its whole length, by jumping up, and thus giving it a sort of impetus, if I may use the word, by the weight of their bodies pressing it downwards. The bill is about an inch and a half long. The legs are delicate, of a deep orange colour, and long. Dublin, May 10th, 1886. VOL. I. REVIEWS. Recherches Sur les Poissons Fossiles. Par Louis Agassiz. Neuchatel (Suisse). Quarto. Professor Agassiz, in this elegant and most instructive Monograph on Ichthyolites, proposes, after an introduction on the study of fishes, to " exhibit a view of the Comparative Anatomy of the organic systems, which may facilitate the determination of the fossil species ; a new classification of Fishes, shewing the relations which they have with the series of (geological) formations ; the exposi- tion of the laws of their succession and development during all the revolutions of the terrestrial globe, accompanied by general geological considerations ; and, finally, the description of five hundred species no longer existing (except in a fossil state), and of which the characters have been determined from the relics contained in the earth's strata." This is a truly comprehensive plan, — the emanation of an active, enterprizing, and profoundly philosophic spirit. As far as we can judge from an examination of the First Number (Premiere Livraison) now before us, it has verily been worked out with a master's hand. A production more honourable to the talents and industry of its author, or more useful and interesting to the Ichthyologist, the Comparative Anatomist, and, especially, to the student of Geology, we cannot well conceive. Of the divers modes in which a book may be reviewed, the Analytical is pecu- liarly, and almost exclusively, applicable to those scientific productions which have facts, rather than hypotheses, for their foundation. Whenever such productions are, either from the expensive form, or from the language, in which they have been published, inaccessible or unavailable to the great mass of readers whom they are calculated to interest and inform, the motives for the analytical method are greatly and obviously strengthened. Such are precisely the conditions of the valuable Researches of Professor Agassiz. The work is, moreover, written in a style which we, who have long been familiar with the scientific language of the French, have at times found it no easy matter to comprehend, or at least render intelligible to the English reader. Consequently, it will afford an admirable subject for a purely analytical sketch, and for the exhibition of our skill and patience, — if such we possess, — in the difficult but useful process of literary evisceration. The various new branches or departments of human acquirement demand, as they successively arise, new terms for their apt and precise designation. The in- fluence of a philosophical language on the character and progress of the Sciences is far greater than a superficial view of the subject would lead us to believe. The 43 study of fishes in a living or recent state is, with obvious aptitude, called Ichthy- ology : for that of fossil fishes, we, at present, possess none but a circuitous and consequently inconvenient form of expression. Ichthyolithology,* a term alike con- cise and destitute of ambiguity or objection, is so obviously and peculiarly ap- posite, that our only wonder is it should have been left for us to indicate or propose. The whole work of Professor Agassiz will consist of five volumes, in quarto ; and two hundred and fifty folio engravings. One part or number, composed of from ten to fifteen sheets of letter-press, and a fasciculus, of about twenty plates, is published every four months. The price of these is, in France, twenty-four francs. The First Number contains three sheets of letter-press of the first volume ; six sheets of the second ; two, of the fourth ; and one, of the fifth : the first Fasciculus of Engravings, — seven belonging to the first volume ; ten, belonging to the second ; and three each, to the fourth and fifth ; — in all, twelve sheets of text, and twenty-three engravings. From this unusual and apparently irregular method of publication, the ostensible object of which is a pleasing " variety," no inconvenience, the Professor asserts, will result : as all his materials have been, beforehand, systematically arranged. A Preface, and two Chapters, constitute the subject-matter of the first three sheets of the First Volume. To an analysis or description of these, our present article will be exclusively devoted. The work is dedicated in a style of simple, fervid, and affecting eulogy, to the Cuvier of his country, the illustrious Hum- boldt. Preface. The importance of the study of Ichthyolithology is very great : since fossil fishes, which occupy so elevated a rank in the series of organized beings, are found without interruption, and sometimes in great abundance, in all the terrains de sediment, from the oldest to the most recent formation : and their state of preservation is generally such as to allow an examination of all those parts which are requisite to decide their classification, and to impart a correct know- ledge of their structure. With little trouble, the entire skeleton, and all its fins, may be restored : and the scales are, in general, so well preserved as to supply the most valuable and unerring characters. In the sciences of Zoology, Comparative Anatomy, and Geology, it is highly advantageous to* be able to follow, in the Class of Fishes, the changes of organiza- tion which have been effected throughout all the revolutions suffered by the globe. Of all animals, fishes are those most intimately connected with the accidents of water : and, highly elevated, moreover, in the scale of organization, they are far better calculated, than any other Class, to furnish clear ideas respecting the revo- lutions which have taken place in the vast oceans by which the earth was formerly • 'ixfivh a fish ; x'rfot , a stone ; xiyat, a discourse. g2 44 covered. By the information thus acquired, it is possible to determine whether a fish inhabited river, lake, or pond, the open sea, or the shallow waters ; whether it lived on the surface, or frequented the great depths. These indications may serve to determine divers important circumstances in the formation of rocks. Another peculiar advantage resulting from the study of Fossil Fishes is, that the examination invariably makes us acquainted with the whole organization, and affords a perfect idea of its pristine condition. Such researches must consequently lead to results much more satisfactory than the study of the Mollusca, of which only the shells have been preserved ; and more general than that of the Mammi- fera, the whole skeleton of which is rarely discovered, and that only in the most recent strata. The Reptiles, even when more generally known, can scarcely emu- late the fishes in importance : since they are of rarer occurrence, and were deve- loped at a later period in the series of creations. Fossil Fishes differ according to the great geological formations in which they are found ; and exhibit, in each, a peculiar character of organization sufficient for their determination. They differ the more widely from the fishes of the existing period, as they are found in formations of a more ancient date. All the bony fishes anterior to the chalk, are referrible to genera, which have no longer repre- sentatives in the present world : they are invariably characterized by rhomboidal scales covered with enamel. Those of the same formations, which, in the present System, would be associated with the Chondropterygii, possess, like the genus Cestracio, flattened, dotted, or differently plaited teeth. Comparisons thus multiplied, justify, in the opinion of the Professor, an alte- ration in the arrangement of Fishes ; which will frequently indicate affinities hitherto unknown : and the new classification, which he advocates, is intended to expose the whole of the natural relations of fishes with each other, and their suc- cession in the series of formations. General geological considerations, moreover, drawn from the study of these fossils, will exhibit the connection which exists be- tween the organic development of the earth, and that of the different Classes of animals. These ideas will be completed by the organic representation of each of the great geological periods. Great pains have evidently been taken, by Professor Agassiz, in examining the various organs of fishes found in a fossil state, and in discovering the charac- ters proper for their distribution into families, genera, and species. With this view, he has applied himself, in an especial manner, to the study of the skeleton of fishes, and to the microscopic inspection of several thousands of scales belong- ing to more than two hundred species of different genera and families. As regards the publication of the work, the first volume will be devoted to an examination of all the general questions. It will contain an Introduction to the study of Fossils ; an indication of the sources from which the Professor has drawn, in the prosecution of his researches ; and the general anatomy of the 45 skeleton of fishes, and of all those parts which may contribute to determine more precisely the fossil species. In proposing a new classification of these animals, the Professor will comparatively examine, under their zoological relations, all the fossil species which have bsen described ; the genera to which they belong, and the situation which they should occupy in the Ichthyological System : in fine, he will seek to establish the relations of organization which exist between the fossil fishes of all the geological formations, and those of the present epoch : and exhibit the modifications which this study renders it necessary to introduce into the methodical distribution of fishes. Each of the four succeeding volumes will contain the description of the fossil species of one of the Orders of the Class. The second volume will comprehend the Order of the Gano'ides ; the third, that of the Placo'ides ; the fourth, the Cteno'ides ; and the fifth and last, the Cy chides, of the Professor's classification. All the species will be delineated with great care, and in minute detail ; and be accurately compared with the living species which most nearly resemble them ; with their skeletons and scales ; and, in fact, with all the parts which may serve to convey the most correct idea of them, and to establish most completely their gene- ric and specific characters. Chapter I. includes " Notices of the Collections of Fossil Fishes which the Professor has, himself, examined ; and of the materials which have been placed at his disposal for the determination of the species." The long enumeration of these Collections is terminated by an indication of those which it is necessary for the student to visit, in order to acquire a general knowledge of the fossil fishes of the different geological formations. An Appendix to this Chapter is occupied by a " Notice of the Collections which the Professor has not seen" In the whole of these, he calculates that a sufficient number of new species may be discovered to increase, by at least one half, the catalogue of Fossil Fishes already known. Chapter II. is devoted to a " Notice of the works which contain documents upon Fossil Fishes" Of the two Sections into which it is divided, the first, A. comprehends " General Works, or particular Memoirs, which treat exclusively of Fossil Fishes: and b. General Works, or particular Memoirs, geolo- gical, zoological, or paleontological, containing Chapters, or scattered Notes," on the same subject. The work of Columna, De Glossopetris Dissertatio, 4to., Romae, 1616, stands at the head of this Catalogue. It is terminated by that of the Spaniard, Torrubia, entitled, Aparato para la Historia Natural Espan- nola, folio, 1754. The lithographic drawings, which accompany this Number, are executed in a style of extraordinary neatness and elegance : and, if we may be allowed to judge from the few instances in which we have yet had an opportunity of comparing the figure with the original, the correctness is not surpassed by the beauty of the execution. 46 A Manual of British Vertebrate Animals : or Descriptions of all the Animals belonging to the Classes Mammalia, Aves, Reptilia, Amphibia, and Pisces, which have hitherto been discovered in the British Islands, fyc. By the Rev. Leonard Jenyns, M.A., &c. 8vo., pp. 559. Cambridge. 1835. In the literature of British Zoology, the want of a work like the present has long been felt. The Synopsis, of Dr. Berkenhout, complete and excellent for the times in which it appeared, and valuable to those whose hands were destined to receive it, has long been out of print : and the information which, even when attainable, it is found to convey, is rendered uninteresting, and comparatively useless, by the discoveries and the innovations, — if not the improvements, — of zoological science in this inquisitive and aspiring age. Berkenhout, in the last Edition of his Synopsis, enumerated only fifty-four species of British Mammifera, including man : while, in the present work, man, with the domesticated, natu- ralized, extinct, and doubtful species excluded, " the number of described Mamma- lia amounts to sixty-one." And of the Zoophagous Cetacea, — by far the most feebly-executed and unsatisfactory portion of Mr. Jenyns' work,— two or three well-defined species which inhabit the seas, and occasionally visit the coasts, of Britain, are excluded from the catalogue of the Reverend Author. The whole of the British Vertebrated Animals, in fact, described by Berkenhout, amount only to four hundred and seventy-two : while the species of the five Classes, acknow- ledged as British by the Cambridge Zoologist, " when added together, give five hundred and eighty-one as the total number ;" leaving, in favour of the latter, an increase of one hundred and nine newly discriminated, or newly discovered, spe- cies* of British Mammifera. Upon the character and execution of the British Fauna, of Dr. Turton, which, with the exception of Pennant's British Zoology, comes next to the Sy- nopsis of Berkenhout in order of time, we are unable to pronounce a judgment : a copy of it is nowhere to be had. The name and attainments of its author will, however, sufficiently vouch for the respectability of the work. But thirty years have now nearly elapsed since it was published ; and the value of literary produc- tions on the Natural Sciences is far more frequently impaired, than left untouched, by the destructive hand of time. The excellencies and defects of the zoological labours of Pennant are too well known to require eulogium or exposure here. As a work exhibiting far more of a popular than a scientific or synoptical character, the British Zoology, indeed, does not legitimately come within the line of our literary retrospect. Mam. Aves. Rept. Pisces. Total. • Berkenhout 54 245 15 158 472 Fleming 50 264 11 162 487 Jenyns 61 297 13 210 581 47 Far otherwise with the History of British Animals, of Dr. Fleming ; which, with all its errors and deficiencies, and after all the unmerited obloquies cast upon it, we are bold and stubborn enough to regard,* — yes, and publicly eulogize, — as a very meritorious and creditable production. The arrangement is, we are aware, confused and highly objectionable, and the characters of many of the genera will not stand scrutiny. Still, the specific characters are traced with a clear and mas- terly hand : and the History of British Animals has, we are confident, done much to facilitate and promote the study of zoological science in this country. The total number of British Vertebrata, we may add, enumerated or described by Dr. Fleming, amounts to only four hundred and eighty-seven ; leaving a ma- jority of ninety-four species for the Catalogue of Mr. Jenyns. (See note, p. 46). Lectures on the Vertebrated Animals of the British Islands, published in 1831, by Dr. Shirley Palmer, next claim our attention. The very easy, popular, and even playful style in which this little work is written, would preclude its in- troduction into a strictly scientific retrospect ; were it not for the Table of British Mammifera by which it is preceded, and the generally accurate and useful Synopsis of the various genera and species appended to it in the form of notes. In this table, and these notes, Dr. Palmer has enumerated and characterized sixty- five species of Mammifera belonging to the British islands. If to these are added the ten new species of the Bat-family described by Mr. Jenyns, the Oared Shrew, Sorex remifer, and the Bank-Campagnol, Arvicola riparia, first noticed by Sowerby and Yarrell, the catalogue of British Mammalia would be swelled to seventy-seven, — a number which exceeds, by sixteen, the whole of the vertebrat- ed animals specified, by Jenyns, as inhabiting Britain, or frequenting its shores. From the period which has elapsed since the appearance of the first Part of Dr. Palmer's Lectures, there is little probability that he will now complete them. The Manual of Mr. Jenyns, to which we finally and gladly revert, is, with a a few trivial exceptions, all that the student of British zoology can wish for, or require, in an elementary and synoptical work, — clear, luminous, minute, and, in general, extraordinarily accurate. We congratulate the reverend gentleman on the ability which he has so conspicuously exhibited in the execution of his arduous undertaking. We congratulate the younger naturalists of our country, on the acquisition of such a guide in their zoological studies and researches. Greatly should we rejoice to see the remaining Classes of animals, — the Invertebrata, — of the British Islands, synoptically illustrated by a hand as masterly, and in a style as clear, unostentatious and unexpensive, as that of the Rev. Leonard Jenyns. * We have, of late, been mightily amused by the freaks of a modern writer on "Mam- malogy ;" who, while arranging the Bats under the Order Quadrumana, has the modesty to stigmatize the History of British Animals, as a " wretched" production. Does he know how his favourite term Mammalogy is constructed ; or what Quadrumana actually means ? Has he deigned to peruse the really valuable work which he so unjustly decries ? [From the Foreign Scientific Journals], Professor Meisner, of Basle, has recently given some account of the pro- digious growth of incisor teeth, in some of the Rodentia, which he thus accounts for. These teeth, in their normal state, are continually growing in length, slowly rising in height from the alveola, in such proportions as become requisite to com- pensate for the daily wearing away of their chisel-formed edges. This growth not ceasing during life, he remarks that all such teeth are invariably tubular at their base ; and that the same effect is produced not only in the incisor teeth, but in all others whose roots remain unclosed. In animals — such as the Elephant, Babiroussa, Hippopotamus, and Narwal, — where these bony productions serve as a defence, the same observation seems fully to apply ; and they sometimes attain an enormous length, no given measure having been ascribed to them for the full period of their maturity, that depending solely upon the duration of the animal' s life. In the molar teeth of Hares, Rabbits, the Beaver, and some other Rodents, this fact holds equally good ; but it is not so in the domestic Rat, Mouse^and others, in which the alveola is always closed ; he cites the observations of Blimen- bach on the monstrous growth of the molar teeth of a Hare, examined b^him, and also those of Rudolphi on a similar lusus in an Indian Pig. We have fully confirmed these observations by an examination of several extraordinary examples of this phenomenon in the matchless Museum of the College of Surgeons. In a Rabbit, we observed the incisor teeth to have grown in a spiral form : in a Hare, also, in which, from their position, they must have occasioned the animal's death, by entering the head, or pressing so firmly upon it, at either side, as to wound the flesh and penetrate it. It thus appears clear that a beautiful provision of Nature is exhibited in the formation of these teeth ; their continual increase ena- bles them to preserve a fine, even, cutting edge, always set to a particular angle with each other, so long as they remain truly in opposition ; the motion of gnaw- ing or cutting their food, having also the effect of keeping the teeth sharp, by means of their constantly slipping over each other. If, however, by any accident or malformation of parts, these teeth cease to act against each other, their growth still going on, they form a curved line, extending to an indefinite length during the animal's life, and occasioning no doubt, in many instances, premature disease and death. So perfect is Nature in all her mechanism, that the slightest deviation from it, by accident or other causes, produces fatal effects. FICEDULA GARRULA. ORDER. INSESSORES. FAMILY. SYLVIADjE. WHITEBREASTED FAUVET. By Edward Blyth, Esq.* As the Whitebreasted Fauvet — the Lesser Whitethroat of most of its describ- ers — appears to be very little known, even to natualists who have attempted to describe it, I shall endeavour to give a full account of its habits, as observed in a neighbourhood where it is rather a common bird than otherwise ; and I have no doubt some of the readers of The Naturalist will recognize it as a regular summer visitant in localities where it has been hitherto unsuspected. It arrives in Surrey about the middle, or towards the close, of April, though I remember to have once seen its nest, with three eggs, so early as the 23rd of that month ; this, however, I consider to be a very unusual occurrence, as some- times it is not heard here till the beginning of May. Its coming is always announced by its characteristic shrill, shivering cry, often delivered from the midst of some tall, thick, hawthorn hedge, or from amid the branches of an elm, especially if growing near a ditch. It appears partial to the vicinity of human abodes, and is particularly abundant about little hedge-bound cottage gardens, where its tiresome and monotonous, but lively, note is perpetually reiterated, and becomes irksome from its too frequent repetition. It abounds in most of the market gardens near London, and may be discovered even on commons, provided there are trees ; but it is never found in open braky localities, or low hedges, where there are no trees — the proper habitat of its congener, the Whitethroated Fauvet (F. cinerea). In tall and leafy hedges, however, and in shrubberies, it occurs very commonly. The Whitebreasted Fauvet is the most lively and energe- tic of the British species, and the most restless when in motion. It is also of an ex- tremely quarrelsome disposition, and will sometimes very fiercely attack and drive away a Whitethroat from the vicinity of its abode. The same pugnacity is displayed in a still greater degree in confinement, which renders it necessary to keep it alone, to prevent its worrying other birds to death, even though thrice its own size, and apparent strength. I have noticed in an aviary a bird of this species successively * Communicated by Neville Wood, Esq., author of British Song Birds, &c. H 50 drive away several of the larger FringiWdce, the large Tit, and many others equally, to all appearance, its superiors in combat; but which were, nevertheless, quite unable to withstand the spirited attacks of the little Whitebreast. A very tame one, that was long in my possession, and which was often suffered to fly about the room, would frequently alight on the wires of a cage containing a Robin, and, on the latter approaching to defend his castle, the little termagant would fight fiercely with him through the wires, and soon compel him to retreat. Phre- nologists may look for an ample development of combativeness in this little bird's cranium. The characteristic activity of the Whitebreasted Fauvet is also very perceptible in confinement, and far exceeds that of any of its congeners. This beautiful little bird often assumes attitudes peculiarly calculated to shew itself to advantage ; — throwing back its head, and at the same time partially expanding its wings and tail (the white exterior feathers of which then appearing conspicuous) ; in a mo- ment it darts about with such rapidity that the eye can scarcely follow, or performs, in quick succession, rapid summersets in the air, throwing itself over backwards, and in a variety of fluttering and zig-zag ways. Then, perhaps, after a short time, it may be observed with the feathers of the crest and throat erected, and tail more or less raised, and often flirted, check, check, checking about, as is an occasional habit of all the Fauvets, more especially when they espy an enemy or object of distrust, which, in the wild state, they will thus follow for a considerable dis- tance along the hedges.* In the accompanying representation, I have endeavoured to delineate the bird in one of its characteristic attitudes, about to spring up into the air, and vacillate it knows not where ; but such positions are, of course, only momentary. The Whitebreasted Fauvet is of equally active habits in a state of nature, where, instead of dissipating its energy in the performance of summersets,f it may be seen, occasionally, fluttering, with strange irregular flight, from tree to tree, or winging a circuitous route across a field, ever and anon repeating its monotonous ditty as it flies ; but it never rises singing into the air, or hovers warbling, as is ob- served in the Whitethroated Fauvet, or in the Dusky Furzelin ( Melizophilus fuscu$),% another species closely allied, though ranging in a separate minimum division. Indeed, its inward warble is rarely emitted on the wing, except immedi- ately before it alights on a bough, as may be also noticed in the Blackcap and Garden Fauvets (F. atricapilla and F. hortensis), and in fact in numerous other small birds, all of which then continue the strain without stopping, after they have settled. * All this I know from actual observation, having for many years paid especial atten- tion to the highly interesting family of Warblers — N. W. f I have, however, noticed these summersets in wild individuals. — N. W. X Dart ford Warbler, of the books. 51 This inward warble of the Whitebreast is extremely pretty, cheerful, and lively, but very low, scarcely audible at a trifling distance. It consists of a variety of pleasing chirps, delivered continuously, in a warbling manner, and quite devoid of all that harshness which is too prevalent in the song of the Whitethroat. A note-like sip, sip, sip,* is often introduced, which will enable the young ornitho- logist at once to recognize it. This warble is often repeated for many minutes, almost without intermission ; as is also the case with that of the Blackcapt Fauvet, its more generally known congener. As in that charming songster, this warble commences, when in confinement, in spring, long before the loud notes are ever uttered, and it is similarly discontinued, by slow degrees, some time before the latter cease to be heard. As the Blackcap, too, almost invariably concludes with its loud and cheerful warble, so also does the Whitebreast mostly terminate with its loud, shrill, and monotonous shivering cry ; which note not a little resembles the reiterated and tiresome chant of the Cirl Bunting. The louder songs of both the Blackcap and Whitebreast may be heard, though gradually less and less frequently, till the end of July. The general habits of the wild Whitebreasted Fauvet approximate very closely to those of the Blackcap and Garden Fauvets, and it inhabits very nearly the same localities. Authors have described it to frequent exclusively the closest under- wood ; " on which account," says Selby, " specimens are only to be obtained with difficulty, and by patient watching." But it does not appear that this eminent ornithologist was personally much acquainted with the living bird, having, most probably, written from the imperfect description of some correspondent. In many parts of Surrey, where the species is extremely plentiful, it is as fre- quently observed in trees as the Garden Fauvet, and may be often seen, or rather heard (but, if watched for, may be seen also), at a considerable height from the ground. I have, indeed, more frequently noticed it near the summits of high trees than either of its British congeners, and have repeatedly shot it from such situations. Moreover, I cannot even admit that it is a particularly shy species ; but, on the contrary, it is, from its restlessness, much more fre- quently visible, and therefore somewhat easier to procure, than either the Black- cap or Garden Fauvets. It may likewise be often seen resting, with its plumage puffed, perched conspicuously in the sunshine on some bare branch, where its snowy white breast renders it extremely noticeable.f * Of course I am aware that consonants never occur in the notes of birds ; at the same time, my purpose is sufficiently effected if some idea can be thus conveyed of the parti- cular sound to which I allude, and this, I think, may be pretty correctly gleaned from the above attempt to spell it. + I must here plead innocent of confounding, in this instance, the subject of the present memoir with the Grey Flycatcher ( Musckapa grisola), or the Grove Petty chaps (Sylvia sibilans), both of which may be often seen watching for passing insects in similar situations, 52 The nest is built in similar situations to that of the Blackcapt Fauvet, but is less frequently placed in a fork ; sometimes it occurs in herbage close to the ground, and not unfrequently in tall hawthorn or other bushes, at six, eight, or even ten feet from the surface, but four or five is more the usual average. In construction it somewhat resembles that of the Whitethroated species, but is smaller, and more compact, and is invariably more or less lined with small rootlets, which is its distinguishing character. The eggs, four or five in number, are smaller than those of its British congeners, greenish white, blotched and spotted — chiefly at the large end, where the markings often form a zone — with brown and dusky ash-colour, the prevalent tints throughout the genus. They are compara- tively little liable to variation, and have the spots always larger, and the ground colour much clearer, than in those of the Whitethroated Fauvet. The specimens figured in the plate represent, very nearly, the extremes of variation. This species is also exceedingly shy of having any liberties taken with its cradle, which it will forsake on a very trifling occasion. The Whitebreasted Fauvet rears at least two, and, I suspect, often three, broods in a season, as I know to be the case with the Whitethroat. The young their white under parts shewing very conspicuously. So far as I have observed, none of the Fauvets have any idea of following an insect upon the wing, however expert they may be at capturing them the moment they come within their reach. I have many times, in a room, seen the Whitebreast eagerly watch the motions of flying insects, and snap at them with almost unerring aim (though sometimes two or three times in quick succession) the instant they ventured within the reach of its bill ; but I never knew one to attempt to follow them into the air, as is a common habit with the Redstart and Pettychaps genera ( Phanicura, and Sylvia as now limited). I observe, however, that Mr. Neville Wood, in his recently published work on British Song Birds, describes a habit of the Garden Fauvet (F. hortensis) which, he says, '' does not appear to have been noticed by any preceding na- turalist. And that is, its darting into the air to catch insects, in the same manner as the Flycatchers (Muscicapa), often taking its stand on a dahlia stake, watching for its prey, darting aloft with inconceivable rapidity, with its bill upwards, catching the fiy with a loud snap of the bill, and immediately returning to its station, again and again to renew the same process, with similar success. Often as I have observed this interesting manoeuvre, especially last summer, I do not remember a single instance in which it missed its prey." To these observations are annexed one or two remarks, in order to prove that he had not confused the Garden Fauvet with the Grey Flycatcher, a species with which, he assures us, he is equally familiar. For my own part, though I would by no means be understood to cast a doubt upon the accuracy of Mr. Wood's observations, still I cannot but observe that the habit he here mentions is at variance with the whole tenor of what I have hitherto noticed concerning the mode of taking insect-prey in this genus ; all the members of which (I mean the British species) I have repeatedly seen to act precisely in the man- ner I have just detailed of F. garrula. I may add, also, that the individuals in which I have noticed this were not dull-spirited, broken-plumaged, victims of mal-treatment, but clean and perfect, lively and active, specimens, which the most scrutinizing eye could not have distinguished from wild birds. are hatched after fourteen days' incubation, and in their nestling plumage nearly resemble the adult individuals, their feathers being, however, of looser texture, and the colour of the head and back more uniform The upper parts are of a brownish-ash colour, darkest about the ear-coverts, (which contrasts strikingly with the pure snowy white of the throat), and relieved by a lighter tint around the edges of the tertiary wing-feathers, which, however, do not in the least incline to mahogany colour, as in the Whitethroat: all the under parts are also white, inclining to silvery on the breast and flanks : exterior feathers of the tail whitish ; legs and feet dusky lead colour. The adults differ chiefly in the purer grey of the feathers on the head, and some of the males have a very faint tinge, or rather gloss, of blush, upon the breast, as is more observable in the male Whitethroat.* The hue of the iris, also, which is hazel in the younger individuals, becomes of a beautiful pure pearly-white as they advance in age. Specimens with white irides are, however, comparatively seldom met with.f Altogether, this is a bird of different aspect from that of either of its British congeners, but is nearly allied to a continental species, called Sylvia passerina by M. Temminck, and also to another, the S. subalpina of the same author, \ which combines the peculiar structure of the Whitebreasted Fauvet with the dark vinous colouring of the Dusky Furzelin. All these little birds (more particularly the last-mentioned) are rather more full-looking and puffy of feather about the head and throat than the Blackcap and other typical Ficedula ; and in affinities, appear to be intermediate between those species with black crowns and party-coloured tails, (F. sarda, melanocephala, &c), and that form to which the Whitethroated Fauvet of this country belongs, and the continental F. conspicillata ; which latter group, again, is connected with the typical species (those with tails of a uniform colour, as our F. atricapilla, and F. hortensis ) ', by the intervention of the Euro- pean F. orphea, a species common enough in the south of France, and remarkable for nidificating in society. § The dusky Furzelin is, in many respects, intermediate between the Whitethroated and WTiitebreasted Fauvets, (the Greater and Lesser Whitethroats of authors) ; but, nevertheless, possesses other characters of sufficient * I remember to have read, in the writings of some French Naturalist, who laboured to prove that birds of the same species are much brighter coloured as we proceed south- ward, that this faint tinge of rose-colour on the breast of the present specie3 is much finer in specimens obtained from Africa. What can be more shallow than such an assertion ? since the identical individuals which pass the summer in Europe, retire, after having undergone their autumnal moult, to Africa, to spend the winter, and return in the very same garb to their summer haunts ! •f- I have only seen two with the iris perfectly white, three or four with it partially so. Of the former, one was a male, the other a female. J Cwn-uca leucopizon of Mr. Gould. § At least, so says Temminck :-_" Niche dans les buissons, souvent plusieurs en un merae lieu," &c. 54 importance to warrant its being ranked as a separate division, undoubtedly subor- dinate, however, in station, to Ficedula, of which it is a modification. In make of bill, the species composing the small sub-group of which the Whitebreasted Fauvet is typical, are intermediate between the Blackcapt and Whitethroated Fau- vets, but approximate rather more to the former — their bills, in fact, differing chiefly from those of the Blackcap and Garden Fauvets in being somewhat more lengthened and attenuated. The Whitethroat's bill is more a miniature of that of the Black Thrush,* (each of which, be it remarked, are the brake birds of their respective genera), while this organ in the Blackcapt Fauvet is more in accordance with those of the arboreal Thrushes, (the Blackcap being likewise a tree-frequent- ing bird). The Dusky Furzelin presents the Whitethroat's bill, only rather more elongated and slender, and in general habits, song, nidification,-J- and eggs, ap- proaches very nearly to the last-mentioned species, while, in other respects it as closely resembles the Whitebreast. Another character of the Dusky Furzelin, in accordance with the Whitethroat section of the Fauvets, is the yellowish colour of the legs and feet, which in the other Ficedula are of a leaden hue. In all the Fauvets, however, the structure of the bill is very different from what we observe in the genera Salicaria and Sylvia, which many systematists still confound with Ficedula, comprehending all these, and, indeed, many others equally dis- tinct, in their vast and incongruous genus Sylvia, now with propriety restricted by most modern systematists to a truly sylvan group, the different species of Pettychaps, often popularly confused under the one name of " Willow Wren." It may be added, that the different species of Fauvet,, even before they have a feather, may be told from the other genera just alluded to, by the red colour of the interior of the mouth, which in Sylvia is yellow, and in Salicaria either yellow or orange. The Whitebreasted Fauvet exhibits a habit, in confinement, in common with the Dusky Furzelin, which is not observable in any of its British congeners, — that of climbing up the wires of its cage by repeated springs ; a trivial particular, no doubt, but which is quite worthy of notice in connexion with its other peculiari- ties, as tending, together with many similar accordances, to intimate its near affi- nity to the last-mentioned species. • This same scansorial propensity was likewise observed by White, of Selborne, who, in one of his letters to the Hon. Daines Barrington, observes, that " a rare, and, I think, a new, little bird frequents my garden, which I have reason to sus- pect is the Pettychaps, [Garden Fauvet is intended] : it is common in many parts of the kingdom. * * * This bird much resembles the Whitethroat, " Blackbird of ordinary colloquy. t In this particular differing entirely from Malurus, to which it has been approxi- mated. 55 but has a more white, or rather silvery, breast and belly ; is restless and active, like the Willow Wrens, [genus Sylvia, as now restricted], and hops from bough to bough, examining every part for food ;* it also runs [or, I should rather say, hops] up the stems of the Crown Imperials, and putting its head into the bells of those flowers, sips the liquor which stands in the nectarium of each petal. Some- times it feeds on the ground, like the Hedge Dunnock, by hopping about on the grass-plots and mown walks." I have myself observed this latter habit, on more than one occasion. The other Fauvets are hardly ever seen upon the ground. I may mention, among other accordances, observable in the Whitebreasted Fauvet and Dusky Furzelin, that both of these little birds emit, on certain emo- tions, a very peculiar low rattling note, which I have heard from no other species. This is repeated sometimes many times in succession, and in confinement, is almost sure to be uttered if any one approach their cage at night with a candle. From trivial peculiarities, such as these, we may judge of the true affinities of species. The food of the Whitebreasted Fauvet consists of insects and their larvae, which it seeks for with much assiduity amid the foliage of trees and bushes. It is less eminently frugivorous than the Blackcap and Garden Fauvets, more so than the Whitethroated Fauvet. Its depredations, however, are chiefly confined to the smaller fruits, — cherries, raspberries, and currants ; later in the season, it devours elderberries, apparently feeding almost exclusively upon them. It departs rather late, a few stragglers occasionally remaining till the first week in October ; indeed, that figured in the plate was shot in the last week of the preceding month, and accordingly exhibits the bird just moulted, with its feathers somewhat more neatly finished at the edges, than in those specimens which are killed in spring. Nearly all birds shed, in the course of the spring and summer, the extreme terminal edgings of their feathers, and this by a natural process ; not by their gra- dually wearing away, as is the common opinion. Thus, the white spots which adorn, in winter, the tertiary wing feathers of the Garden Siskin,-]- / Carduelis * It will be observed that this most accurate naturalist does not by any means here corroborate the accounts given by Selby, Mudie, Neville Wood, and others, of the hidling habits of this species, nor lead one in the least to infer that it is " exclusively an inhabit- ant of the closest underwood ;" but that the general tenor of his observations entirely bears out, on the contrary, what I have been asserting. If it be worth while quoting corroborative testimony, the Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert, in one of his interesting annota- tions to "White's Selborne, justly remarks, on this particular passage, that " this bird cer- tainly was not the Pettychaps [Garden Fauvet], which has not the manners here de- scribed ;" but that " the detail exactly answers to the Blue-grey, or Lesser Whitethroat." —p. 304. + For uniformity sake, I thus term the " Goldfinch" of the books ; which latter term is however applied, in Yorkshire, to the Yellow Bunting. Hence the necessity of a sys- tematical nomenclature. 56 elegans), disappear in summer, as if they had been cut out by a pair of scissors.* In some future communication, I may perhaps be induced to treat more fully upon this subject. It may be remarked, that this specimen, killed so late in the year, was by no means, as some would otherwise perhaps be inclined to suppose, a weakly young bird of a late hatch, too feeble to accompany its fellows at the time of their migra- tion ; but its quill-feathers having been changed, (as is intimated by one or two of them not having yet attained their development), sufficiently proves that it was not a bird of that year, as no member of the dentirostral sub-order of perching birds changes its wing-primaries at the first renovation of its clothing plumage. In confinement, the Whitebreast is hardy and healthy, and may be kept on the food usually given to insectivorous birds, allowing it also, occasionally, a little fruit, and insect diet whenever practicable. It mostly recommences singing about January ; but does not utter its loud note until about six weeks or two months afterwards. As to its distribution over the British islands, I believe it to be much more general than is commonly imagined, but that it is often most unaccountably over- looked, as it was, for a long time, in the southern counties. Mr. Neville Wood finds it plentiful in Derbyshire, and Mr. Herbert in the vicinity of Spofforth, in Yorkshire ; Mr. Rennie, who, to my certain knowledge, is well acquainted with the bird, speaks of having seen it in Ayrshire, and at Musselbourgh Haugh, near Edinburgh. According to Temminck, it is diffused over the temperate parts of Europe and Asia, but does not spread farther to the north than Sweden, in which country Linneus also observed it ; a fact which at least negatively corroborates the assertion that it also visits North Britain. This bird is the " Lesser Whitethroat" of most ornithological writers, and is known in Surrey by the names Nettlecreeper, Grey Whitethroat, and French Whitethroat. Frequently, however, the first of these appellations is also applied by the peasantry, to the Whitethroated Fauvet, but whenever a distinction is made (which is more commonly the case with the nests and eggs), the latter is invariably the Whitethroat, and the other the Nettlecreeper. In Mr. Wood's recent work on British Song Birds, the subject of the present paper is called the " Garrulous Fauvet," though, strictly speaking, it is decidedly less garrulous than the Whitethroat. I have, therefore, preferred to designate it by the term white- breasted, which name is at least sufficiently exclusive among the British species. That there should be a standard and a systematic vernacular nomenclature for our native productions, is, I think, very much to be desired. At the same time it is of little use altering unless we can improve. Every succeeding writer approxi- mates more towards supplying this deficiency, and most of the aquatic birds * This, however, only takes place very partially in confinement. 57 in Mr. Selby's meritorious British Ornithology are very aptly and euphoniously designated. Yet this author is often extremely careless about the names of his land birds, though he seems to prefer the appellation " warbler" for the Fauvet genus. For my own part, I much object to " warbler" as a generic name at all : firstly, from its having been so very extensively applied by writers in quite a tech- nical sense ; and secondly, because it appears invidious to term exclusively any particular genus of song birds by an appellation of such very general import. When, however, we find such a non-exclusive term actually applied to birds that do not warble, and by those, too, who profess to reform the nomenclature, it be- comes still more inapplicable. Who, for instance, can be expected to adopt the name " Hedge Warbler"* for a bird that neither warbles nor habitually fre- quents hedges ? Yet such an appellation is proposed, by Mr. Neville Wood, for the Sylvia loquax, a species which might be aptly designated the Dark- legged Petty chaps ; a name which is not liable to any such objections. Surely we ought to discriminate between improvement and alteration, and allow no newly- coined names to pass muster which are so very obviously inappropriate. In scien- tific nomenclature, the Whitebreast has been variously denominated by different authors. It is the Motacilla curruca, and also the M. dermetorum of Linneus ; the Curruca garrula of Brisson and Selby; the C. sylviella of Dr. Fleming; it is the Sylvia ( Curruca ) curruca of Mr. Jenyns, the S. curruca of Latham and Temminck, and also the S. dermetorum of the former. Buffon calls it La Fauvette Babillard, and Temminck Becfin babillard; Babillard is also Mr. Rennie's name for it, in Montagu's Dictionary. It is the Klapper Grasmiicke of the German, Meyer, and the Bianchetto of the Italians. Its more popular name among the Germans signifies " Little Miller." * A. name, too, which is not in the slightest degree the less objectionable from its having been applied, by many writers, to the Accentor modularis. VOL. I. ON THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN VERTEBRATED AND INVERTEBRATED ANIMALS. By Robert Mudie. The differences between the two grand divisions of the animal kingdom — those which have a vertebrated back-bone and internal skeleton on which all their organs of motion are inserted, and those which have no such skeleton, but have their organs of motion inserted in an external crust, or integument, of some de- scription or other — offer many important lessons to the student of nature ; and, in as far as the mechanical action of the animals is concerned, they furnish a count- less number of examples, the proper understanding of which is very essential in the mechanical arts. These are the two grand objects which we ought always to have in view when we study nature : because the first is at once the source and the gratification of mental inquiry, and the other enables us to turn our know- ledge to practical use, in a world where the labours and the enjoyments of society must keep pace with each other. But though the more solid parts which sustain the immediate organs of mo- tion in the vertebrated animals are internal of those organs, and the sustaining parts in the invertebrated animals are external, it must not be supposed that the two grand divisions are reverses of each other ; for there are in the bodies of all animals many other structures than sustaining parts, and muscles to put those parts in motion, producing the external actions of the animal, varying according to the place which it occupies in the great system of nature. There are four other essential systems possessed, in a greater or less degree, by animals of all kinds, though their general perfection or development, as it is called, and also their relative development in proportion to each other, are exceed- ingly varied in the different races. These four systems are, an assimilating sys- tem, a circulating system, a breathing system, and a nervous system ; which last is understood to be that upon which sensation, the grand characteristic of animals, depends, though upon this subject we cannot come to any very positive conclusion. The reason is, the animal cannot live without the joint action of all these systems ; and the dead animal, though it can shew us the anatomical structure, or number, form, and arrangement of the parts of the animal, can tell us nothing whatever about life. Hence we know life only as a phenomenon of the compound, and, consequently, we cannot refer it to any of the component parts separately from the rest. We have countless instances of the effect of such unions when we examine compound substances, and the elements into which we can resolve them, or by the union of which we can reproduce them. Water, for instance, is exceedingly refreshing to animals and to plants, when applied to them in substance ; but nei- 59 ther the oxygen nor the hydrogen of which water is composed, nor the two applied together in mechanical mixture, as a gas, produce this effect in the slightest de- gree. Water also boils at 212°, and freezes at 32°, of the common thermometer, but neither of its two elements does this. As gases, the ultimate effect of boiling has passed upon them in bringing them to that state ; and neither of them can be rendered solid, or even liquid, by any degree of cold with which we are ac- quainted. Innumerable instances, many of them far more striking than this, will occur to every one who has even a very slight acquaintance with chemistry, and also to any one who attends to the difference between the properties of mixtures, and those of the ingredients of which they are formed. The conclusion here is altogether irresistible ; namely, that we cannot attribute any one property or phenomenon, of a material compound, to any one ingredient of that compound, to the exclusion of the rest. It is in the fact of being com- pounded that all the properties of the compound originate, and when the com- pound is dissolved all those properties are at an end. This illustration is taken from compounds which are not organized, and there- fore it is not exactly in point as applied to animals. But still it is the foundation upon which our judgment of animals must rest, and, consequently, we must admit into the organized and more complicated compound nothing which is inconsistent with it. In every part of its system the animal is matter, and therefore it must obey the laws of matter, in so far as those laws are not controlled by the power of organization in the animal ; which is the fact of animal composition, and not a substance which could by possibility have a separate existence, or an existence in any other species of animal, or even in any other individual, than merely the one which was the immediate subject of the inquiry. Such being the case, we must be very careful, and not dogmatically attribute any function to any one structure of an animal, or even to any one organ, how necessary so ever that organ may be to the exercise of the function. Thus, for in- stance, an eye is absolutely necessary to the function of vision ; but still it would be most unphilosophical to say that an eye sees ; because, if such were the case, a dead eye, if in perfect preservation, ought to see as well as a living one. The very same argument applies to every organ in all the other systems. Nothing is more common, for instance, than the belief that animals perceive, and are impelled to act, by the brain ; and there are not a few who assign different impulses to diffe- rent parts of this organ : but were this the case, an uninjured brain, separated from the rest of the animal, ought to be as " cogitative" and " volontative" as ever. But to leave this preliminary caution, which is a most essential one, especially to young naturalists, let us return to the organic systems which, in their combina- tion, make up the body of an animal, and observe how they are distributed in the two grand divisions of vertebrated and invertebrated — or skeletoned and skeleton- i2 60 less — animals. The three systems of assimilation or nutrition, circulation, and respiration, are intimately connected with each other — so much so, that they ought, perhaps, to he considered as parts of one compound system, — the vital sys- tem, or that hy means of which the body of the animal is originally formed and maintained during the period of its life in the exercise of those functions which belong to its species. We need not mention that the first part of this compound system, in its organization, consists of the whole alimentary passage, together with the accessory parts which promote digestion, and those by which the assimilated food is conveyed to the blood ; that the second consists of the circulating vessels, whether their contents be blood in the arterial or venous state, or any other cir- culating liquid ; and that the third part consists of that apparatus by which the waste (in most cases apparently the surplus carbon) of the system is conveyed by means of air or water to the general mass of inorganic matter. In the greater number of animals, whether vertebrated or not, the alimentary, or assimilating, part of the system, is internal ; the circulating part is, also, more or less distri- buted throughout the whole body ; and the respiratory part is variously placed — being internal in the warm-blooded vertebrata, and in many invertebrated animals, but more or less external in others. The nervous system is very differently situ- ated ; though it is always internal in what may be considered as its most essential parts, and more or less ramified through the body in the others. In all vertebrated animals, the nervous system is really the central part ; for the brain and its spinal elongation, from which the nerves proceed to all parts of the body, are always lodged within the vertebral part of the skeleton. In them, too, the three parts of what we have described as the vital system, are internal as regards the whole mass of the body, but external as regards the spinal column. They proceed from the opening of the mouth, and are lodged in cavities of the chest and abdomen, suspended upon one side of the vertebral column, and corres- pondingly on the same side of it, in all the classes of the grand division ; but though they are supported on the spine, they are never contained in the same cavi- ty with its essential contents. Of the system of reproduction we do not speak, because this is connected with the succession of generations in the animal, and not with any one animal considered as an individual. In animals of this grand division, therefore, the several parts of the more im- portant systems are kept separate from each other, and each enjoys a different degree of protection from external injury, and even from injury by the working of the mechanical system. The central parts of the nervous system are wholly enclosed within the bones of the vertebral column, so that no external injury can happen to them, except from the fracture or dislocation of this column ; and the processes or projections of the different vertebras are so formed, that disloca- tion of the column is next to impossible, by any ordinary strain to which the ani- mal can be subjected. The breathing apparatus, and the heart, or centre of 61 circulation, are also well protected, and kept separate from each other, and from the alimentary or assimilating system ; so that no two of these can interfere with each other, unless by such an injury as would be fatal to the animal. Then, as the whole of them are within the mechanical system, none of them can receive any displacement by the natural action of that system. It is thus evident that, in such animals, the greatest care is taken both of the compound system which carries on tbe vital functions, and of that which is understood to be more immediately con- cerned in the function of sensation. It is very different with invertebrated animals, in all their classes, which are far more numerous and varied than those of the vertebrated ones. The whole of their structures, vital, motive, and sensal, are lodged within the same cavity ; and thus, if we except the motive one, which gains from the arrangement some mecha- nical advantages afterwards to be noticed, they cannot have the same freedom or action as in the vertebrated animals, which have them apart. Accordingly, the organs of assimilation, of respiration, and of circulation, are far less perfect than they are in the vertebrated animals. No single description can be made applicable to all the differences which are found among them ; but it may, in general, be stated that there is much less distinctness in the stomach and its auxiliary organs, though this is probably the most important part of them, because every animal must receive matter for its growth, and also for its nourishment ; consequently, this part is the most complete. In the circulation there is no distinct heart, for, in many of them at least, the assimilated blood goes directly to the growth or nourishment of the parts ; and they are provided with a sort of breathing tubes generally distributed through the cavity of the body, which perform the necessary process of aeration upon the nourishing fluid in its progress to the different parts. The system of sensation is, however, the least perfectly developed of the whole. There is not, in any invertebrated animal, any organ which can be positively said to be a true brain ; and, generally speaking, the central parts of the nervous sys- tem are placed near the system of nourishment, the most conspicuous ganglion, or enlargement, being situated on the gullet, and the others in the continuation of the cavity of the body. In the orders which are most humble in their organiza- tion, the radiata, there are no symmetrical organs, the counterparts of each other upon opposite sides, as we find in all vertebrated animals, and in the higher orders of the invertebrated ones. The whole proceeds, as it were, from a centre, and, in very many instances, almost any point is capable of becoming a centre ; for if the body is divided, the parts, in time, become entire animals. It should seem, therefore, that the invertebrated animals are founded upon the system of assimilation, or nourishment, and that their predominant function is that of growth. They all do, indeed, possess sensation in some degree or other, higher in one class, and lower in another ; but this part of their general system is always very inferior in its structure, and very subordinate in its power, to the nourishing and growing portion. Many of them, indeed, have curious instincts, and perform labours in which a great deal of what we would call ingenuity, if they were the results of contrivance, is displayed. The cells of the bee, the webs of the spiders, the nests and covert-ways of the white ants, and a countless num- ber of others, might be mentioned in proof of this ; but the animals which per- form those curious labours display no more sagacity and resource than the hum- blest of the whole. The bee or the spider, for example, does not display more sagacity than the common earthworm, which is, perhaps, the most sentient of the three ; and yet it has no visible organs of localized senses. This, by the way, is a pretty convincing proof that sensation is the result of the organization taken gene- rally, and not of any particular part of it ; though there is no doubt that any par- ticular modification of sense must be acute in proportion to the perfection of its organ. The vertebrated animals are as evidently founded upon the nervous system. It is the first organic portion which can be traced in the embryo when little else than a gelatinous mass ; and in that part of it which may be considered as central, and as such productive of the nervous energy, it is everywhere so fenced in and protected by bones, as that none of the other systems, and more especially the me- chanical system, can in the least interfere with it. In the invertebrated animals the case is very different ; the nervous system is, in its central and essential parts, mixed up both with the vital and the mechanical system, and it is subservient to them. We can easily understand from the structure of man and of the higher orders of vertebrated animals, that the nervous system, in order to work to the full degree of perfection of which it is susceptible, must work perfectly alone and undisturbed ; and though it is impossible for us to say what specific effect this system has on the ultimate action of the animal as a whole, yet as that is always superior in proportion as the nervous system is developed, we must conclude that this system is a most essential part. Another opportunity will be afforded in a future number of The Naturalist, for investigating the curious connexion which there appears to be between the nervous energy of animals and that general energy of matter, whether organized or not, which is known by the several names of caloric, electricity, and galvanism, and conversely by the name of magnetism. But we may, in the mean time, remark that those animals and parts of animals which are capable of the most powerful action, how brief soever may be its dura- tion, are also the most susceptible to electric excitement. This protection afforded to the centre of the nervous system in the vertebrated animals, is obtained at some sacrifice of effect in proportion to exertion in the me- chanical system ; and the sacrifice is always the greater the more that the nervous system is developed and protected. It is greater in mammalia than in birds ; greater in birds than in reptiles ; and greater in reptiles than in fishes : and it is greatest of all in the cartilaginous fishes, which, though superior to common fishes 63 in some of the humbler parts of their organization, are very inferior in vertebra- tion and nervous energy. But while the absolute effect of the muscles or mechanical organs of the more highly developed animals is less, upon the whole, than that of the lower, there are counterbalancing advantages ; for the internal skeleton is, if we may be allowed the term, much more disposable, that is, capable of much more varied action in a single articulation, than the external crust. We may take the Crustacea and Arachnida, of which the common crab and the garden spider may be taken as types, as expressive of the highest mechanical structure of invertebrated animals ; and we may take the human body, in consequence of the universality of its appli- cation, as the most characteristic of the vertebrated ones. In these, if any one examines the pincer-claw of the crab in the articulations of its crust, and the skeleton of the human arm in the articulations of the bones, he will not fail to be struck at the very limited range of motion which the former possesses to that possessed by the latter. In the claw, the hard parts which are moved are external of the muscles which move them ; and, therefore, if there is an articulation of one part of the crust upon another, there must be two centres, and an axis of motion passing through those centres. But two points determine, and fix the position of a line, so that it cannot by possibility vary, if the points themselves are fixed ; as, for instance, a line on the earth's surface, passing through a fixed point at Bir- mingham and another at London, would be determined until it girded the earth as a great circle, and could not by possibility deviate a single inch to the right hand or to the left, even at the remotest distance from those two fixed points. The two centres of motion in the articulation of the crusted animal are two fixed points in the crust ; and therefore the axis of motion, which must pass through them, can have no angular play, and the motion must be confined to one plane, from which it cannot deviate a single hair's breadth. Such a joint must act with the most perfect precision ; and it will be found that in all the hinge joints of the crab's claw there is not the least lateral motion. If, therefore, the limb of an inverte- brated animal is jointed by crust articulated upon crust, a great number of joints is required, in order to produce even a very limited variety of motion ; and no number of joints could produce the variety which the articulations of the human arm can communicate to the point of the finger. A more varied motion is ob- tained, by uniting the extremities of the two pieces of crust by a certain portion of cartilaginous matter, as we find in those joints which unite the crab's claw to the body of the animal, and also in the joints of the smaller claws, or walking legs. This mode of union, for it is not strictly an articulation, allows of bending in any direction, in proportion to the extent and flexibility of the cartilage that joins the two portions of crust. This, however, has a limit, and a very narrow one, because a very little extent or increased flexibility of the cartilage would render the limb so feeble and unsteady that it would not be efficient for any one purpose. Any 64 one who reflects upon the subject, and chooses to examine the specimen to which we have referred, will see at once that the range of action in the moving parts of an animal having the muscles inserted in an external crust or integument must be exceedingly limited ; and that, in order to produce even a fraction of the different motions of which an animal with an internal skeleton is capable, there must be a much greater number both of articulations and of muscles. Accordingly, we find that the muscles of a caterpillar exceed by hundreds the muscles of a greyhound or an eagle ; and yet its motions are mere crawling as compared with theirs, and its body is a thing of no weight in comparison. In the human arm, or in any other limb having internal bones, the motion of a single joint may command a good deal more than an entire hemisphere, having the length of the articulated bone for its radius. This can be done in conse- quence of the real centre of motion in the joint of two internal bones being a point, which is equally affected to every plane passing through it, and, therefore, not tied down to any straight line crossing the direction of the articulated bones when they are straight. It is true that we never have in the body of any verte- bated animal this extreme variety of motion of which the joint of such an animal could be made capable ; because, joints being made for purposes, must, from the very nature of the case, have motion in the direction of their purpose, and a ful- crum or support for that motion in the opposite direction. This, however, does not affect the perfect universality of the principle ; and as motion on a single point, as a centre, is not affected by, or confined to, one direction more than ano- ther, there is an unlimited basis to the motions of vertebrated animals ; and thus a joint can be formed capable of having its best motion in any direction that can be imagined. When several such joints are combined, the result is such as would stagger the belief of even those who are conversant with common mechanics, if they have not thought upon this very subject. Say that the human arm is, for instance, two feet in length, (making a little allowance for flexion in some posi- tions), and that it can command three-fourths of a sphere of two feet radius, which is within the truth, the human finger can, as told to the microscope, divide this space to the two-thousandth part of an inch every way ; and as it must pass from one of these very proximate points to the other, it may absolutely be said to divide this space to infinitude — that is, to a degree of minuteness which we cannot express by numbers, and of which, in fact, we can have no conception. Add to this, the motion which the shoulder-joint can receive from the action of the. rest of the body, and add to this the additional motion given by walking or running, or by the use of the feet generally — and the power of the finger in divid- ing space becomes an especial wonder, and should lead every one to employ, in the most useful manner, an instrument which has no parallel in the catalogue of material things. This subject is as long as it is instructive, and our limits are already exceeded ; but we may resume it on some future occasion. NOTICE OF CUTTINGS IN A DISTRICT OF THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY, BETWEEN Castle-Thorp, Northamptonshire, and Bletchley, Buckinghamshire. By the Rev. Josiah Bull, Jun., F.G.S. During frequent visits to a portion of the London and Birmingham Rail- way, some facts have fallen under my observation which have induced me to draw up the following notice, although my acquaintance with geology is limited, and I have little opportunity of acquiring a practical knowledge of subjects connected with it. The opinions I entertain may, consequently, be incorrect, but facts can- not be useless, and I therefore willingly make a statement of them. The line of railway between Bletchley and Castle-Thorp nearly traverses the breadth of the Oxford clay, or rather a stratum of clay, which has been regarded as constituting the widest part of that formation south of Huntingdon. There is certainly an uniformity in the character of this deposit, throughout its whole extent ; but it by no means agrees with the ordinary features of the Oxford clay, nor even with that formation in its immediate neighbourhood. Its fossils are dif- ferent, and many of them evidently extraneous. It presents, also, other appear- ances which shew that this deposit must have originated under circumstances of a totally different nature to those which were present during the deposition of that formation. The first point at which my observations have commenced is Castle-Thorp, on the borders of Northamptonshire. At the time I visited this spot, there was a cutting of about eighteen feet in depth through the deposit to which I have alluded, and the nature of which I shall presently describe. There was also a section, of a similar character, about half a mile from this, upon the south side of the hill. The line immediately proceeds across the valley of the Ouse, where a large viaduct is erecting. Beyond this point, at the north side of the valley, is a cutting of considerable depth, through horizontal strata of gravelly sand and clay, and boulders of limestone. Here also occur, in a horizontal position, large, fiat, tabular masses of limestone, having a yellowish brown exterior, and being blue within. A little farther on, the same limestone occurs in a large mass, forming a stratum, which dips at a small angle towards the north. This lime- -stone is covered by a clay similar to that at Thorp. Beyond this hill is the valley of Bradwell Abbey, and the ground rises again towards the village of Loughton. Here is a very fine section opposite the church at Loughton, the depth of which will not be less than forty feet, when the summit of the hill is reached. The depth, at present, is about twenty-eight feet through the same bed of clay ; and I VOL. I. K 66 am informed by the engineer of the works that the deposit presents a similar cha- racter at Bletchley, distant three miles from Loughton, and seven from Thorp. I have spoken of a bed of clay which prevails throughout the whole line, with the exception of one point, the acclivity to the south of the valley of the Ouse, where it is less cleaily denned. Now this stratum, although it occurs in what is denominated the Oxford-clay formation, presents characters which clearly prove that it has no connection with that deposit. It generally presents an uniform ap- pearance, being a hard, dry clay, of a very dark blue colour, occasionally breaking down in very large masses. Nodules of chalk, from the size of a pin's head to two or three inches in diameter, occur in great numbers, pretty regularly distri- buted throughout it. These are always rounded and smooth, and numerous flints are associated with them. The most interesting fact, however, is the number and variety of the fossils found in this deposit. These consist principally of Ammo- nites, of at least from fifteen to twenty species ; numerous specimens of Gryphcea, dUitata and incurva, especially the former ; Belemnites, portions of Pentacri- nites, several kinds of Terebratula, and specimens of Ostrea and Serpula. I have one specimen of Echinus, which is filled with chalk, and, though very much worn, exactly retains the appearance of the chalk fossils. Many of the fossils are, indeed, worn, others are broken ; the fragments of Ammonites are particularly numerous, and are often covered with indurated clay, or limestone, which has been worn round and smooth by the action of water. Beds of sand and gravel frequently occur through the deposit, and in them are found numerous small spe- cimens of Ammonites and univalve shells, most of which are composed of iron pyrites. A few saurian vertebrae have also been discovered. Now it is very evident that this deposit has little in common with the Oxford clay, although traversing the whole breadth of the formation so designated ; for, in addition to the peculiar fossils of that deposit, we here find those of the Chalk, Lias, and Oolites. The fossils of the Oxford clay, it is well know, are frequently much compressed, and, when they are of a delicate structure, preserved with diffi- culty. This is especially the case with the Ammonites. Of these, as also of Gryphcea dilitata, (a characteristic shell), I have several specimens from New- port Pagnel, four miles east of the railway, and from Willan, one mile to the south of Newport, where the deposit bears the true character of the Oxford clay. Here, also, I have found very beautiful remains of the Ichthyosaurus. The fossils, however, in this formation, are generally very few : in this respect forming a striking contrast to those discovered in the railway cuttings. Without offering any theory upon the subject, there is abundant evidence for the following conclusions. That, although supposed to form a part of the Oxford clay, the formation I have attempted to describe is of a totally different character ; that it is posterior in its deposition to the Chalk formation ; and that its fossils have been brought from a distance : and from all the circumstances of the case, it seems to be undoubtedly a deposit of diluvial origin. 67 Before bringing this notice to a conclusion, I ought not to omit mentioning the occurrence of some interesting vegetable remains which have been found in the Limestone which I described as forming a stratum to the south of the vale of the Ouse. In connection with large specimens of Lignite, are beautiful Ferns and coniferous plants. There are many cones in excellent preservation, imbedded in the limestone, all of which are about the size of a Brazil nut. The limestone is very similar in its character to that of the Forest Marble. It contains but a small number of shells, among which are the genera, Terebratula, Mytilus, &c. It is unfortunate for geological inquiry, that the sections to which reference has been made, and others of a similar kind, are so soon hidden from observation. It has, of course, been an object with me to obtain as many specimens as possible of the fossils and of the beds in which they occur ; and by these I shall be able at any time to confirm the statements I have made. In conclusion, I may be allowed to say that I shall sincerely rejoice if these brief observations may stimu- late the inquiry and elicit the opinion of those who are far more competent judges of the subject than I can pretend to be.* Newport Pagnel, March 14, 1836. List of Fossils from the London and Birmingham Railway, chiefly from the Parish of Loughton, Bucks : Ammonites biplex, (with perfect Ammonites Harveyi termination) A. Gulielmii A. communis A. Humphresianus A. triplicatus A. Lamberti A. serratus (With three others not figured) A. excavatus Nautilus lineatus A. spinosus Belemnites vulgaris A. omphaloides B. crassus A. contractus B. minimus A. Turned B. gracilis A. Duncani Cidaris ? * The above interesting communication was forwarded to us a few months since ; and we sincerely hope that its publication may induce some competent geologist to undertake an examination of the singular deposit which Mr. Bull has described. Mr. W. H. In- wood, the architect, a zealous collector of fossils, has visited the localities alluded to by Mr. Bull, and we have had an opportunity of examining, at his residence in Euston Square, the specimens obtained by him at the railroad. We were particularly struck with the great variety and beautiful preservation of the Ammonites. The fossil cones are par- ticularly interesting, and occur in a limestone apparently belonging to some member of the oolitic group. — Ed. k2 68 Spatangus ? Pecten ? Modiola elegans Terebratula tetrahedra Modiola ? T. trilineata Cerithiom ? T ? Lucina ? T. ? Unio Listeri Serpula ? U. ? Gryphoea incurva Pectunculus sublavis G. obliquata P. ? G. dilitata Plagiostoma ? G. bullata Nucula ovum Madrepora turbinata N. ? Pentacrinites ? Pecten lens EXPERIMENT ON THE NEST OF A BLACKCAPT FAUVET, (FlCEDULA ATRICAPILLA). The shy and jealous nature of this species during the period of incubation, is well known to almost every tyro in ornithology. Touching the nest, or even looking at it, before the eggs are laid, almost invariably causes the birds to desert. The following, however, is a curious deviation from this general rule : — On the 6th of July, I found a Blackcapt Fauvet's nest, without eggs. On the 8th it con- tained two eggs, which were warm. I then put a bit of light rotten wood into the nest, about the size of one of the eggs. This had been thrown out on the 10th, and a third egg was laid. I now inserted a small piece of hard mould, and took out one of the eggs ; this was ejected the same day, and a few days afterwards I added to the two remaining eggs a pebble, equal in size to one of the eggs, and somewhat resembling them in shape and colour. Whether this proved too heavy for the birds to move, or whether it was not distinguished from the eggs them- selves, I had no means of determining ; but it was never removed. The young birds, two in number, were hatched on the 20th. Another remarkable circum- stance, is, that the female should only have laid three eggs, Jive being the usual number ; and even more than five might reasonably have been expected, as birds will frequently continue laying considerably more than the ordinary quantum of eggs, if one or more of these be removed before incubation has commenced. The nest which furnished the above interesting experiments, was situated at the extremity of the branch of a yew tree, in a thick grove — a most unusual locality for this bird, and one in which I never before met with it. I have, how- ever, lately heard of another similar instance, communicated by a scientific friend residing in the south of England. N. W. ADAPTATION OF FISHES TO DEPTHS OF WATER. Few departments of natural history are more interesting, both in a philosophi- cal and in an economical point of view, than the natural history of fishes. They live in an element which, exclusive of lakes and rivers, covers seven tenths of the surface of our globe ; and they inhabit that element, not merely in the breadth of its surface, as mammalia inhabit the land, but they inhabit it to the depth of a considerable number of fathoms. In consequence of this great' breadth and depth of their pasture, as compared with the pasture of land animals, their numbers, and their powers of keeping up those numbers, are correspondingly great. The shoals of some of the surface fishes, and also of some of the ground ones — as, for in- stance, the common Herring and the Cod, — are numerous beyond all the powers of arithmetic ; and their fertility corresponds, for a single individual of the Cod produces four millions at a birth, and there are many other species scarcely less productive ; while land animals, whether mammalia or birds, are reckoned exceed- ingly prolific if they average a dozen, and some of the more important and highly developed races have very rarely indeed more than one. This vast abundance of the finny tribes and the extensive means of keeping up their succession, not only in the individual race, but that the one may supply food for the support of the others, give them a great deal of interest in a philosophical point of view, by showing us how much we are mistaken when we suppose that the waters are the waste places of our globe. There is another consideration : we do not need, generally speaking, to cultivate the waters as we cultivate the land ; or to breed fishes as we breed land animals. It is true that fresh-water fishes, and in some instances salt-water ones also, are bred for domestic purposes ; but this is done more for the gratification of luxury than for economical purposes. We need hardly mention that, besides the cartilaginous fishes, which approxi- mate some of the reptiles in some points of their physiology, there are two distinct divisions of true or bony fishes, distinguished from each other by the characters of their fins, or swimming organs. These are acanthopterygii, or fishes which have the rays of the fins in one continuous piece, more or less flexible, but sometimes an absolute spine of bone ; and rnalacopterygii, or fishes which have the rays of the fins jointed, and, generally speaking, of a less bony consistency than those in the others. Both of these grand divisions inhabit, in their different genera, different depths of the sea ; but it may be said, that, taking them on the whole, the fishes with spinous rays are the most discursive through the waters, and inhabit nearest the surface. Those with jointed rays to the fins are more divisible according to the grades of depths which they occupy ; and these grades follow pretty closely the arrangement of the fins on the under part of the body. In considering the mechanical action of a fish, it is distinctly to be understood that the tail is the 70 grand organ of motion, and that the muscles which form by far the greater part of the bulk of the animal, are so inserted upon the processes of the vertebral column as to give to this organ of swimming the greatest energy which it can possess consistently with the bulk of the animal. But the tail of a fish has no motion except lateral motion, that is striking right and left in the direction of a plane, which, in the majority of fishes, passes equally through the centre of the back and the centre of the belly ; and this, though it gives motion, and in many instances very rapid motion, has no power of ascent or descent in it, because it can strike the water neither downwards nor upwards ; and it is by striking the water in one direction, that the body of a fish, or any substance immersed in the water, is impelled in the opposite direction. The direction of the course of fishes thus depends chiefly upon the action of those fins on the under part of the body, which answer to the four extremities in the mammalia ; and those which have only two such fins — and for that reason are called apodal, or footless — have lengthened bodies, and partly direct their motions — which are, generally speaking, much slower than those of other fishes — by the contrary flexures of the length- ened body, as may be observed in the Eels, which have no distinct and separate caudal fin, but have the dorsal and the anal continued over a great portion of their length, and meeting each other at the extremity, as one continuous fin. In the majority of fishes, however, there are four fins on the under part, and the different place of the posterior pair, determines, in a great measure, the mode of swimming in the animal, and the depth at which it inhabits the water. There is, also, a form of the body correspondent to this position of the fins, and to the depth of water at which the fish in general inhabits. If it is a surface fish, the body is, generally speaking, compressed in its lateral diameter, and the head is rather small, so that the centre of gravity falls nearly in the middle of the length, or rather midway between the anterior and the posterior fins on the under part, or, as they are called, the pectoral and ventral fins. A fish formed in this manner, is adapted more for straight forward motion than for rapid ascent and descent ; and such fishes are furnished with dorsal fins, which, as well as the anal fins, are generally produced in proportion as the body of the fish is short and compressed according to its depth. Of this form we have examples in the Lancet fishes, and a number of others, many of which are vegetable feeders, living upon weeds ; and others, again, feed upon the small animals which inhabit, in great numbers, the floating sea-weed which remains in the great eddies in the tropical seas. Such fishes, as they are not predatory upon any other fishes, are very often armed with powerful defences against the attacks of these. Those armatures consist of hard and sharp spines situated on various parts of the body — near the tail in the Lancet fishes, on the gill-lids in others, and in the dorsal fin, or in advance of it, in those fishes which inhabit the bottom of the waters, as in the Weever. In short, those defensive weapons are always so placed upon the body of the fish 71 that they may be used in the readiest manner in the direction from which an attack is likely to come. The attack on the Lancet fishes feeding on sea-weed, can hardly be made except in the rear, and thus they have their very sharp and powerful weapons upon the sides of the tail, not far from the origin of the caudal fin. The Weevers, again, and fishes of similar habit, which lie at the bottom of the shallows and feed there, have their defensive weapons in the dorsal fin, or sometimes on the head ; and they repel their enemies by striking upwards with a violent rising motion of the body ; whereas, the surface fishes strike laterally with the tail or the side of the head, according to the situation of their defensive weapons. It is not understood, however, that any one weapon of this kind with which a fish is armed upon any part of the body, is ever used for offensive purposes. Animals, in fact, whether they inhabit the land or the water, have never any weapons of mere warfare in the way of attack ; their offensive weapons are given them for the purpose of obtaining their food; and when this purpose is accomplished, the animals repose, and are at peace with all the world. Fishes whose habit it is to swim freely through the water without much ascending or descending, have always the posterior pair of fins on the under side, abdominal, or placed backwards ; though many which have this form are ground fishes. It is to be understood, however, that this arrangement of the fins gives the fishes more command of the waters, in freedom of range, than those which have them differently situated. The Salmon may be taken as a common or abridged type of this form of fishes, and it is exceedingly discursive. The Her- ring also, and all the herring family have a similar arrangement of the fins ; and they too are remarkable for the distance to which they can range. If ascent and descent are more the motions of the fish, the second pair of fins on the under part are placed forwards ; sometimes immediately under the pectoral fins, and some- times in advance of them. By this means the fish has great command over the head, in ascending or descending ; and in such fishes the head is usually large in proportion, and the mass of the body concentrated on the fore part. The cod family are examples of this ; and, though they differ a good deal from each other, they may be all considered as ground fishes, or opposite in their habits to the free swimmers, which have the second pair of their fins abdominal. Such fishes do not inhabit the shallows near the shore, but the banks and the surfaces of the rocks out at sea. They are exceedingly numerous in localities suited to them ; and in point of numbers, and also in the lightness and wholesomeness of their flesh, they are among the most valuable tenants of the deep. The true fishes of the shallows, which keep and feed near the ground, are the flounder family, or flat fish as they are called ; they are, perhaps, the least discursive of the fishes. There is a peculiarity in the structure of their spine which is possessed by no other animal. The vertebrae, of what may be considered as the neck, have a twist to the right hand in some of the genera, and to the left hand in others ; so that the eyes 72 are always situated upon one side of the body, and not one on each side, as is the case with all other vertebrated animals. This twist of the cervical vertebrae throws the body on its side ; and as the body is much compressed, it has the appearance of being broad and flat, whereas in reality it is thin and deep. In its action in the water, however, the body is always on the side ; and the one side is like the belly of a common fish in the texture of its skin, and the other side like the back of an ordinary fish in the same respect. From this position of the body, the motions of the spine and caudal fin, in swimming, are up and down, and not right and left, as they are in the majority of fishes. The fins upon the two sides also, which may be considered as dorsal and anal, are similar to each other in size and form, and extend nearly the whole length of the body. The one of these fins is really on the back of the flat fish, and the other on the belly ; but in the position in which the fish swims they are on the sides, as estimated in the greatest dimension across the body. Some of the fishes of this description have the fins on the under side formed into a disc or sucker, and others of them have a sucker upon the head, by means of which they can adhere to rocks, the bottoms of ships, and other solids. The eel family close the list, and though they do not inhabit the extreme depths of the ocean, they are more decidedly ground fishes than any of the others ; and in cold countries they pass the winter buried in the mud, and in a dormant state. R. M. SCARCITY OF THE WALL SWIFT (Cypselus murarius). Mr. Waterton tells me he has not seen a single Swift in his neighbourhood (Walton Hall, near Wakefield) this year, and the Rev. W. T. Bree informs me that it is becoming much more scarce in some of the midland counties than it was formerly. In a letter dated October 31, 1835, Mr. B. observes — " I often hear the remark that ' we have fewer Swallows than usual ;' may not this be owing to their wanton destruction ? The Swifts, more especially, appear to me to be diminishing everywhere, to my no small regret, as they are charming crea- tures to my mind, and I love their harsh scream, perhaps, almost as well as the melody of the Brake Nightingale. I was forcibly struck with the comparative scarcity of these birds during a tour I made last May through various parts of Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Northamptonshire." Mr. Blyth also mentions the Swift having become of much less common occurrence of late years in Surrey. For my own part, I have found it extremely abundant in Der- byshire, and in the part of Yorkshire (Campsall Hall, near Doncaster) in which I now reside, during the present year. NEVILLE WOOD. POLLEN OF FLOWERS. On examining the flowers of a species of Amaryllis with the assistance of a microscope, I observed that its grains of pollen, which are elliptical, on being im- mersed in water, quickly assumed a spherical shape. On watching them, whilst under the microscope, until the water in which they were immersed had evaporated, I distinctly saw them gradually assume their original elliptical form. The length of the grains of pollen being twice their breadth, their external membranous coat- ing must possess greater elasticity than could have been anticipated. I afterwards applied heat to the dry pollen as it remained on the object-glass of the microscope, till some of its grains contracted into irregular shapes. On being again immersed in water they still possessed elasticity, generally became spherical, but some bluntly elliptical. I then applied heat to them whilst immersed. This experiment indicated the existence of a single orifice in each grain, and also that they con- tained a portion of free air, the ratification and consequent escape of which occa- sioned a minute bubble to rise on each grain of pollen. These facts, in themselves, are unimportant, but I have reason to believe that you desire both to communicate and elicit information ; and such facts may induce attention to the subject by some of your readers who are better qualified, and have more leisure, than myself. It may not be amiss just to hint at the extent of this field of inquiry. Gleichen, Brongniart, and others, have been travellers herein ; and we are told that numerous minute spherical granules have been dis- covered within each grain of pollen. The Amaryllis pollen which I examined may be considered as large sized, in comparison with that of the generality of flowers ; still I find that one hundred and eighty thousand of these, placed regularly in rows, would cover but a square inch. How inconceivably small must be the size of one individual of those minute granules, if they be numerous in such a grain of pollen as I have described I The imagination endeavours, in vain, to trace out the comparative dimension of its untangible materiality. I wish The Naturalist all possible success, and I shall most probably trouble you with other facts, as they happen to come under my observation in this world of wonders ; a world, by the bye, which most of us are satisfied to travel through blindfolded. VOL. I. ON THE HABITS OF THE COMMON COOT (Fulica atra, Linn.). By Neville Wood, Esq.* The Common Coot belongs, according to the quinary system, as developed by Vigors, to the fourth order of birds, Grallatores, and to the fourth family, Rallidce ; an aberrant group, which has not as yet been divided into the five sub-families which it must contain, supposing the arrangement now followed by most of our eminent ornithologists to be a natural one. As zoological classifica- tion is, however, at present, confessedly in its infancy, it would be a waste of space and time to fatigue the readers of The Naturalist with further observations on this subject. The specific names, common and atra, are neither of them unobjec- tionable, but I am compelled to adopt them until better are proposed. The habits of the Coot do not appear to have been very minutely studied by British naturalists, although so common a species in almost every part of the kingdom ; indeed, its abundance would almost seem to be the cause of this neglect. Thus, few birds are more cursorily noticed in most ornithological works than the common House Sparrow, and yet, when we more closely examine its habits, we find them by no means destitute of interest. The Coot is not particularly nice in the choice of its habitats, and is almost certain to be found in moist situations ; it abounds, however, much more in some localities than in others, and in general prefers large, unsheltered sheets of water, of considerable depth, and where the weeds, rushes, &c, are not over luxuriant, to the smaller pools, surrounded by woods, and choked up with herbage, which is the typically favourite haunt of the Gallinule. The lake which pasess through Foston, Derbyshire, is of the latter description, and while its surface literally swarms with Gallinules in the evening, scarce a Coot is to be seen ; whilst in the beautiful sheet of water behind Sudbury Hall, only two miles from Foston, the Coot is extremely plentiful, and the Gallinule comparatively scarce. This lake, though by no means destitute of aquatic herbage, is perfectly open, and only a very small portion is bordered by trees. It is worthy of remark that the Coot is seldom or never seen in the sheltered situations ; while, on the contrary, the Gal- linule frequents the secluded spots, only venturing far from the covert towards the approach of night. Another remarkable difference in the habits of the Coot and the Gallinule is, that the former retires to rest at sunset, while the dusk of evening is one of the favourite times for the sports of the latter ; and I have even seen several on the water, both summer and winter, many hours after it has become dark. In summer its shrill voice is sometimes heard at intervals through- out the night, as I have frequently observed when listening to the charming melody of the Brake Nightingale. * Author of the Ornithologists Text Book, British Song Birds, &c. 75 The Coot is not so often met with in wet ditches as the Gallinule, and the former is quite as aquatic as any of the duck family (Anatidce). Indeed, so partial is it to the water, that, during the many years which I have observed its habits, I have rarely seen one on land, and then only for a short time ; while the Gallinule is often found at a great distance from any water, on roads, near houses, &c. In districts where the Coot abounds, it may be seen in considerable numbers in all seasons, on the water during the whole day, either seeking its food on the surface of the lake, diving, half- diving, or lazily allowing itself to be wafted by the winds and waves on the surface of the pure element, with its head buried be- tween its shoulders, in the manner of the Herons (Ardea) and other aquatic birds. During the March winds it generally remains in this sulky mood the en- tire day ; and I have, at such times, frequently seen more than twenty floating and tossing about on the waves, having all the appearance of inanimate bodies but for an occasional dart at an insect or fish which had unwarily approached within their reach. At these stormy periods they are seldom seen to dive, which at other times they do expertly (although rather a clumsy half-diver) ; but no sooner do the winds subside and give place to the balmy air of April, than their aquatic sports commence in full vigour, and they may be observed frolicing on the water, diving beneath, and testifying their joy in a thousand different ways. This species cannot be termed gregarious, for although from forty to fifty may frequent a single sheet of water, yet each individual keeps perfectly distinct throughout the autumn and winter, and even in the breeding season they are not very often found in pairs ; this peculiarity has prevented my ascertaining the exact time at which they pair, which, however, usually takes place in March, though sometimes later, according as the seasons vary. The nest is built in a bed of rushes or irises, in an open spot several feet from the land, and is never situated, like that of the Gallinule, in a thick tuft of herb- age, with a view to concealment, but may be easily discovered at a considerable distance. Its composition does not differ from that of the Gallinule, but it is larger and flatter. The eggs are of a light chocolate colour, marked with thickly- set spots of brown and purple. Their usual number is seven or eight, but I have occasionally seen nine, and even ten. The first broods are hatched about the middle or towards the end of May, but there is a continual succession of broods through the month of June. My observations lead me to believe that the Coot has but one brood in the year ; and if two broods are ever raised I should be in- clined to consider it rather a rare occurrence. The young quit the nest immedi- ately they are hatched, keeping close to their parents until they can manage for themselves ; they remain in the immediate neighbourhood of the spot three or four days, sleeping in the nest at night, and then disappear. If you approach the newly-hatched brood in the day-time they all disperse, diving underneath the water, and rising to the surface under cover of the aquatic herbage, and are often con- l2 76 ducted to a place of safety by the male bird ; whilst the female remains about the nest, manifesting as much alarm at your presence as if her brood was actually there. The young birds have a very grotesque appearance, with black bodies, red heads, and white bills ; with yellow down sticking to their heads and necks on first quitting the nest. When they are in danger the parents swim anxiously round the object of alarm, uttering low chucks, and sometimes a kind of bark ; in pro- ducing this latter note the beak is opened as wide as it will permit. The common call-note of the Coot is a loud, chucking, mournful note, which may at times be heard issuing from a dozen different parts of the lake. I have likewise known it emit a noise resembling that of a Fowl before laying. In general the Coot is rather a shy bird, but in some places, as at Sudbury, they are extremely familiar ; and if you sit down near the edge of the water, and remain quiet a short time, they will swim up to reconnoitre you, without the slightest indications of alarm : and their peculiar habits and attitudes are then studied with ease. When swimming it never flirts up its tail, like the Gallinule, but moves its head backwards and forwards, often erecting the feathers of its whole body, and setting up its wings in the manner of the Swan. The Coot has a heavy body and short wings, and is, therefore, little adapted for flight. When- ever it attempts to rise into the air, which is but seldom, the feet are allowed to trail in the water, as if it were unwilling to leave its favourite element even for a moment. It always preens its feathers in the water, and occasionally tumbles over in this element in a most remarkable manner, and apparently with no other view than for its own amusement. When it has a nest to guard, it seems entirely to lose all shyness and fear of man, and is by no means easily driven off when sitting, and will even allow itself to be touched gently with a stick, but with true birdish wisdom endeavouring to cover its head. If the female is disturbed the male (which, at that season, remains " within call") immediately swims up, and becomes so bold as to approach within a few yards of where you are standing. On your leaving the place the male generally follows to a considerable distance, as if to attract your attention ; while the female slily enters her nest on the other side of the patch of herbage in which it is situated. If she is again disturbed she quits her nest much less reluctantly than before ; but, however often she may be driven off in the course of a single day, I have never known her desert her charge, as so frequently happens with the Gallinule. When the Coot leaves its nest it never covers the eggs ; and I have often been surprised that the eggs and young of this and other aquatic species are not more frequently plundered by the Water Rat, with which the aquatic plants abound, than appears to be the case ; but after many years close observation of these birds I have never discovered, with certainty, that they were molested by this quadruped. As the bird often quits its nest for a considerable time, 77 frequent opportunities are offered to the depredations of these animals ; but as these favourable occasions seem to pass unheeded we may fairly conclude that the thievish propensities of which this animal is accused properly belong to another species, and one, possibly, of rarer occurrence. That the eggs and young of water birds are occasionally devoured by some four-footed animals is undeniable ; and I have, probably, erroneously described these and other depredations as apper- taining to the Water Rat, in the British Song Birds. I believe Mr. Blyth is of opinion that the Water Rat never feeds on any animal matter ; and that gentle- man has communicated to me some experiments which certainly go very far to prove his opinion. I hope the doubt and obscurity in which this point is involved will be satisfactorily cleared up in Mr. Bell's beautiful work on British Quadru- peds, now in the course of publication. The food of the Coot consists of small fish, and various insects, slugs, &c, which it obtains either on the surface of the water, amongst the weeds at the sides of lakes and ponds, or by diving. I have occasionally seen it struggling for five minutes or more to devour an unusually large fish, but it never desists until its object is accomplished. I never tasted the flesh of this bird, but it is probably fishy and unpalatable ; at all events its smell is by no means inviting. The crown of the head and the bill are of an opaque white, and cause the bird to be conspicuous at a very considerable distance. The feathers of the head and neck are of a glossy black ; those of the body dusky brown : in swimming the tail is usually higher than the head. In the neighbourhood of Campsall, seven miles to the north of Doncaster, both the Coot and Gallinule are comparatively rare ; a circumstance for which I have not yet been able to account. THE GREY WAGTAIL (Motacilla cinerea) A SONG BIRD. No author with whom I am acquainted makes any mention of the song of this bird, and in the British Song Birds it is stated that, " with regard to vocal powers, the Grey Wagtail has no claims on our attention." In this, however, I have since discovered that I was mistaken, having heard the song, for the first time, about a week ago, in a corn field. The Pied Wagtail is by no means a con- stant songster ; the present species is, undoubtedly, even less so ; and perhaps the Oatears (Budytes) have no song at all. The notes of this bird are pleasing, but cursory, and much resemble those of the Pied Wagtail. N. W. July 24, 1836. CENSUS OF INSECTS. Dr. Imhoff, of Basle, has made an estimate of the number of insects now known, and such as, in all probability, may yet be discovered. In the first in- stance, he establishes a comparison between the number of insects mentioned in different faunas — and particularly Stephens' Catalogue of British Insects — with the probable number of insects now known, or yet to be found, in Germany. The sum total of this comparison gives, according to Stephens, 9,791 for Great Britain, and for Germany, according to the Doctor, 14,000 species. To arrive at a general result, Dr. Imhoff does not think it advisable to esti- mate the number of insects as compared with species of plants, but he has chosen reptiles, as a class of animals with which the comparison may more fairly be calcu- lated. Admitting, therefore, that in Germany there exist thirty-five or forty species of reptiles, and on the surface of the globe 1,500, that is, nearly forty times the number ' of those in Germany, the application of this system of compa- rison would give for the insect tribes the number of 560,000, being 14,000 multi- plied by 40 ; an mount considerably short of the probable number of insects inha- biting the world, since at least 2,500, or perhaps more, may be added to Stephens' Catalogue. To this calculation we add those of some eminent entomologists, in order to prove, as far as analogous reasoning goes, that something approximating a pro- bable reality may be inferred by taking a medium or averaged computation. Linneus, in his Swedish Fauna, 1761, described 1,700 species, and in the twelfth edition of the Systema Natural the entire number of these animals, in- cluding the Swedish and exotic species, he was then acquainted with, amounted to 3000. Since his time, however, and more particularly during the last half cen- tury, the study of entomology has received such an impetus, that Mr. Leay, in his Hor« Entomological, states that there are certainly more than 100,000 annulose animals preserved in various cabinets, nearly synonymous with the Linnean insects. Dr. Burmeister, whose census of insects is the most recent, takes his point of comparison with known plants, by which it will be seen that Dr. Imhoff's calcula- tion produces a larger amount of insect creation, though we think even his numbers short of the reality. In Germany, Burmeister states there are about 6,000 plants, including Cryptogamia, and upwards of 12,000 insects ; thus, if the proportion be a constant one, the number of insects known, according to the 60 — 70,000 described plants, will amount to 120 — 140,000 species ; and if the generally re- ceived opinion of modern botanists is adopted, that only about a third of the col- lective species of plants is known, the number of species inhabiting the earth would amount to 360 — 420,000 species of insects. The venerable Kirby, in his calculation of the number of insect species, as- sumes that there are, on an average, six species of insects to one phanerogamous 79 plant ; and considering that there may be 100,000 species of such plants in the world, the number of insects would amount to 600,000. In the Royal Entomological Cabinet at Berlin, there are 28,000 species of Beetles ; and from the presumed superiority in point of extent of the coleopterous order, Burmeister assumes that the actually known amount of insect species, and their relative proportions of number, in the different orders, may thus be distri- buted in round figures : — Coleoptera 36,000 Lepidoptera 12,000 Hymenoptera 12,000 Diptera..... 10,000 Hemiptera 4,000 Varia 4,000 78,000 Stephens, with his usual accuracy, establishes the following numbers of each of the Orders, as regards British species of insects : they must, however, be con- siderably increased by the addition of many minute Hymenoptera and Diptera, noticed since the publication of his Catalogue: — Coleoptera 3,300 Lepidoptera 1,838 Hymenoptera 2,054 Diptera 1,671 Hemiptera 605 Varia -. 544 British species 10,012 By a parity of reasoning on this distribution, it is manifest that the numerical strength of the orders is comparatively far greater than Burmeister calculates : we need only illustrate the two first, to arrive at a similar conclusion with regard to the others. Stephens makes the Coleoptera not quite twice the number of the Lepidoptera, while Burmeister makes the Coleoptera three times more numerous than the Lepidoptera. That good christian and excellent naturalist, John Ray, (to whose memory the equally great Cuvier paid a tribute when he styled him " le premier veritable naturaliste pour le regne animal"), says, in his Wisdom of God, — with great cau- tion, however, not to overstep the bounds of truth or the modesty of conjecture — " supposing, then, there be a thousand several sorts of insects in this island and the sea near it, if the same proportion holds between the insects, natives of Eng- land and those of the rest of the world, as doth between plants, domestic and exo- tic, (that is, I guess, decuple), the species of insects on the whole earth— land and 80 water — will amount to 10,000, and I do believe they rather exceed than fall short of this sum." Having afterwards discovered a greater number of English moths and butterflies, he was induced to imagine the number of British insects might be increased to 2,000, making the total number of the insect creation on the globe's surface 20,000 — not so many as are now extant of one order in one collection, and only twice the number of British species in one catalogue, without the subse- quent discoveries. Thus, Ray guessed the total amount of insect tribes to be a quarter of those now actually known to entomologists of the present day ; and tbis number is assumed to be less than an eighth of those supposed to exist in the world. From such facts it requires no extraordinary stretch of imagination to conceive what yet remains to be discovered in this reign of creation alone, without adding the bound- less stars of Nature's other works, of which, in some instances, we know but little more, and in others far less. The strides now rapidly making in the study of natural history must produce extraordinary results ; but we need only adduce the present subject as an instance of how far mankind is distant from the point of general knowledge, even of such things as are tangible and meet the eye, without embracing a microscopic world of animated beings, not less important in their seve- ral functions and purposes, and probably far more numerous in all their classes. CD. SOME ACCOUNT OF THE LEVEL OF HATFIELD CHASE. By the Rev. F. Orpen Morris. Journeying from Doncaster in a north-easterly direction, an hour's ride will bring you to the border of Lincolnshire, crossing which you will soon reach the village of Wroot. Even those who have never before been in Roger Wild- rake's " moist county of Lincoln," at this extremity of it, will at once recognize its peculiar characteristics, although the traveller on the road from Doncaster will have been gradually prepared for the wild and dreary tract of country which will here meet his view. I have travelled much, both in England and Ireland, but never did I before behold so strange and anomalous a region. The naturalist will visit " the Level of Hatfield Chase" with a spirit of inquiry, at least such was my case, for I had heard so much of the mystery in which its history is involved that I embraced the first opportunity of accompanying a friend who had greatly excited my curiosity by his description of the country. The following observations from my inspection of this locality are chiefly intended with the view of obtaining fur- ther information or corroborating my suppositions on the subject. There are three s 81 conclusions with respect to this singular district at which it will be necessary to arrive with me. First, that the whole of this extensive region has been (at what remote period I am unable to say) an extensive and tangled forest ; secondly, that it has been completely covered by fresh water ; thirdly, that it has been entirely inundated by the sea. The facts from which these conclusions are derived, and the manner in which I account for them, are as follow : first, that it has formerly been an extensive forest is evident, for everywhere you meet with roots of trees, and trunks, and branches ; and you cannot dig below the surface to any depth without striking against them. I have no doubt that the village of Wroot derived its name from the roots of trees which surround it on every side ; and it is also possible that our modern word root may formerly have been thus spelt.* It is probable the village was originally partly built with these roots, and even at the present day extensive fences are made of this material, both in the open fields and in the village. In the less cultivated fields (for the country has been partially en- closed sdme years) many trunks of trees project above the surface, while in some of the best tilled enclosures there are none at all apparent, in consequence of their having fallen under the axe of the husbandman. There is no entire tree re- maining above the ground ; the action of the wind and weather, and perhaps the necessities of the inhabitants, having long since destroyed every part, except the base, and such portions as are under ground. The air being excluded, many roots and parts of trunks are left uninjured, and indeed unaltered, save that they have become exceedingly dark, indeed almost black in colour, and are harder than any modern trees. They make excellent palings, and are sold as such at rather a high price, requiring no paint, either for appearance or preservation. The whole face of this county is intersected by dykes of different dimensions, crossing each other at right angles, at the interval of almost every field. Even with these drains, the whole surface has, in past years, been completely covered with water, occasionally for three and sometimes six weeks, to the entire destruction of the crops ; but a steam engine has been erected for the purpose of emptying the dykes and remedy- ing this evil. From the observations I made on inspecting the clearing out of one of these dykes, I am led to my second conclusion, namely, that the region has been, in past times, covered by fresh water, but whether this was prior to the inundation by the sea is more than I can, at present, determine. The men employed in clear- ing out this drain dug down to a depth of about eight feet below the surface, and two and a half feet below the low water level of the sea. At the greatest depth they find the roots or parts of the trunks of trees in an upright position, and exactly as they grew. There are some also, as previously mentioned, growing, or rather standing, nearer to the present surface, so that the ground must have been formerly undulating and uneven, to what heighth or depth we can only ascertain as * Root is derived from the Swedish word rot and the Danish rood. — Ed. VOL. I. M 82 far as has been dug down ; at the lowest depth, however, trunks or roots are found so close together as to justify my former supposition as to the thickness of the forest; for whilst clearing out the dyke, the whole road was lined with the fragments of the trees thrown up. Oak is the prevailing kind of timber, but there are also other sorts whose species I cannot ascertain, though birch and alder are, I think, among them. With the trees, at even the lowest depth, are found, here and there, very many species of shells, not fossilized, but in a recent state ; and it is from many of these being land species that we must infer, as I have before observed, the inundation of the plain by some river ; Helices, and a great variety of other land shells, being found among them. If left on the bank as they are thrown up, the atmospheric influence soon destroys them ; but I have several pre- served in my collection which are unlike any I have ever seen, and relative to which I should be glad to have the opinion of some more able conchologist. In other places nuts and acorns are dug up, from various depths, in a perfect state, though apt to crumble to pieces after two or three days exposure to the air. The present extremely level state of the surface has evidently been brought about by the action of water (probably when receding), filling up or smoothing down the inequalities which I have before shewn to have existed. The tide is still kept from floating the present surface of the country by embankments on the Trent, and even at low water it is still above the level where these sea-shells and nuts and acorns are found in deepening the dykes, which might probably be discovered even still lower, if the soil were cleared away to a sufficient depth. It would appear, then, that the question must be asked, whether the sea has risen on the eastern coast, since the washing in of these shells ; and also whether it must not have ^r^ fallen to allow of the present surface (so much above the for- mer deposit left by the sea) becoming high and dry ? It also requires some ex- planation to account for the great accumulation of soil, to the depth, as I have shewn, of at least eight feet, over every part of the plain ; although this is partly accounted for by the upper inequalities of surface filling up the hollows, when sub- jected to the washing of so great a body of water. With regard to the former of these two suppositions, the sea has certainly, even of late years, made great inroads on this eastern coast, and some suppose that this is partially accounted for by its gradual rising above its accustomed level, inde- pendent of the crumbling nature of some of the cliffs, which leaves them an easy prey to the ceaseless dashing of the mighty ocean. With respect to these lands having been also formerly covered by the sea, this is abundantly evidenced by the numerous species of sea-shells, muscles, and other shells, with which they abound. Whether the anomaly of sea-shells being found by the excavators in some parts of the Levels at a similar depth to that at which, in other parts, they discover acorns and nuts, may be explained by supposing a slight inaccuracy of measurement, and that one or the other may lie in a stratum an inch or two more 83 elevated — (the mistake as to depth, if any, cannot be greater) — I have not, at present, the means of ascertaining. There are various theories entertained with regard to this singular region ; but the most reasonable supposition appears to be this : that, in the olden times, some vast stream must have flowed through these tracts ; that its course, on some occasion, must have been impeded by an accumulation of fallen trees, (whether a sudden or a gradual accumulation it is now difficult to determine, though probably impetuously carried down by some storm and flood) ; its outlet being thus obstruct- ed, the natural consequence was the overflowing of the low land in its vicinity ; and the water was, in all probability, prevented from running off into the sea again by such low eminences as still exist and now are useful to keep out the tide in the Trent from forcing its way, in its turn, over the land inside. The deluge of this river probably remained for some considerable time, until, at length, some obstruction was removed from staying its onward course ; and when it retired it left an accumula- tion of soil, such as a river will always bring down, upon the previously levelled surface which the action of the sea (u e. on the supposition that the sea was the first invader) had already prepared for its reception. Whether it was the sea that prepared it thus, as I have supposed, for the overflowing of the river — or the overflowing of the river for the irruption of the sea — is more than I can take upon me to assert. All the substratum of this tract is a very black and rich looking soil, and is no doubt an amalgamation of vegetable matter ; but it, as well as the superjacent earth, is poor and unproductive ; though, with plenty of manure, when well culti- vated, it will produce a very fair average crop. Much of the wood below the surface has a thin coating of a bright indigo-blue colour. I am entirely at a loss even to guess as to what it can owe its formation. The Level of Hatfield Chase, was first drained by a Dutchman, on the plan of the dykes used in the low countries of Holland for keeping out the sea. I have in my possession some bones of animals, which were dug out of one of these dykes, which I have not alluded to, doubting whether, though found at con- siderable depth underneath the slough, they might not have sunk gradually into it, having been cast in there at some comparatively recent period. One is a large thigh-bone, apparently of a horse ; the other, I imagine, the skull of a deer. On inspecting the latter again rather more minutely, I discovered, in one of the orifices for the arteries, a beautifully perfect shell, nearly hidden in the hollow, but which I safely extricated in an entire state. This probably may, in some measure, cor- roborate the original supposition, as to their having been deposited coeval with the inundation of water. I will only add, that the word Chase signifies a forest, which is in favour of my first conclusion, that this tract formerly wore a similar appearance to Cranborne Chase, in Dorsetshire, and many others. m 2 ON THE CULTIVATION OF NATURAL HISTORY. Mr. Coquand, whose residence and scientific labours in the Pyrenees are so well known and so much admired, has opened a gratuitous course of lectures on Natural History, at the college of St. Bertrand, under the direction of Mr. Cabal. The ardour which his young pupils already begin to exhibit in collecting and learning the names of the different natural productions met with in their walks, and the emulation which this delightful pursuit imparts to all their other studies, sufficiently demonstrates the great utility to be derived from establishing, in every public or private seminary, similar elementary courses for young persons. But let the heads of these establishments carefully avoid the danger that may arise and frustrate all their best and most earnest intentions, if the professor to whom this instruction is confided does not avoid all theoretical considerations of me- thod and of classification, which, at the outset, would inspire repugnance, disgust them from a study apparently surrounded with insurmountable difficulties, and make a laborious task of that which may be rendered a mental relaxation for the young or old. Let him, on the contrary, confine himself to instructing his pupils in the technical and common names of the objects they meet with — let him point out the strong indications nature always furnishes, more or less distinctly, of her own undeviating system — let him, so far as he can, at the same time furnish his scholars with the most familiar facts regarding the uses and applications of natural objects to domestic economy, the arts, &c. Let him point out, as a constant guide, the natural affinities of creation, so as to enable the young student to approximate and class together, from his own ideas, the genera and families of animated crea- tion— let him describe the cheapest and simplest method of forming an infant Hortus siccus, of displaying and preserving the first capture in entomology, or arranging the pupil's geological specimens ; and this study will soon present daily increasing charms, more fascinating, more varied, than any other of their juvenile pleasures : they will imperceptibly acquire that love of observation — of order — of research — and above all, when properly directed, that reverence of the great archi- tect of nature — which will influence their future lives, affording them a source of consolation and mental enjoyment in the midst of the anxious cares of life, and their relative future positions in civilized society ; it will also, at an early period of life, prevent the fatal consequences of idleness or ill-spent leisure, but too fre- quently, morally and physically, exhibited in large schools. These remarks may not, probably, be considered novel ; but why has no atten- tion been paid to them ? Eminent men concur in advising such a step. The system of present education fully sanctions the introduction of the study of Natural History, as being instructive to the youngest person ; yet no measures are generally taken to promote it in our juvenile schools or colleges, where, if it is adopted, it is only recommended to pupils of a certain age, whose advance in learning has 85 already developed well-defined propensities, too late to be checked if bad ones, too confirmed to be guided into another channel, and most frequently derived from any other source than that every day presented by nature's inexhaustible store- house. It is also true that, with boys somewhat advanced, they, to a certain ex- tent, disdain the first principles of natural science, as only worthy their junior's at- tention : they would, as it were, acquire natural history per saltum, and begin where they should end, in forming or embracing a particular system. It is, there- fore, with the younger classes that a study of this nature is most likely to pro- duce beneficial results, a lasting moral impression, and obviate infallibly many vicious propensities or opinions so much to be deplored in youth, so difficult to correct in after years. The present time is most fruitful in elementary works for the instruction of youth, but they are all founded on subjects too difficult to ac- quire without making a labour of that which may be learned without fatigue in the book of nature ; and there are always opportunities afforded to do so, without the study wearing the appearance of a task. It has been urged tbat, with children, some branches of Natural History could not be taught, as it involves a degree of cruelty incompatible with the benefit attempted to be imparted ; and the child who, in infancy, could deliberately pin a butterfly to a piece of cork, might, at a more advanced age, feel disposed, with the same sang froid, to stab a fellow creature. Bad, indeed, must be the instruction that could lead to such a conclusion — to such a perversion of the first principles of humanity. Let every species of philosophi- cal cruelty be avoided, as it readily may be ; confine the pupil's study to such ob- jects as present a vegetable existence, or are merely of inorganic formation, leaving to the result of time the peculiar taste that may arise for the investigation of other portions of creation when the mind is capable of acquiring information at the smallest sacrifice of humanity, and when such knowledge may conduce to the ge- neral benefit of mankind rather than to the peculiar gratification of any one's individual taste. C. D. UNUSUAL LOCALITY FOR THE NEST OF THE COMMON GALLINULE (Gallinula chloropus). I have seen the nest of this bird situated in the upper branches of a middle- sized Portugal laurel, overhanging the water, and at several feet from its surface. I had previously met with more than one instance where it was built in bushes, but never before at so considerable a height from the ground. It would have been interesting to have observed the manner in which the newly-fledged young were conveyed from the nest ; but this, unfortunately, I had not an opportunity of doing. — -N. W. REVIEWS. Transactions of the Geological Society of Pennsylvania. Vol. I., Part 2. Philadelphia : James Kay and Brother. Our brethren across the Atlantic, with that shrewdness and foresight which enters largely into their national character, are wisely anticipating the advantages which, as a flourishing commercial people, they will derive from an intimate acquaintance with the geological history of their own country. In many of the United States, geological surveys are going forward, encouraged by the immediate sanction, or even active co-operation of the legislature ; and judging from what has already been effected, the completion of these important undertakings will not be retarded by any lack of spirit and energy on the part of the government, or from a want of competency among those who have volunteered their services in the cause. Three or four years hence, and a considerable portion of the new world will be before us with its geological relations familiarly laid down in colours, or as minutely detailed in black and white, as are now (thanks to the industry and per- severance of British geologists) those of our own island. There is something at first almost startling to the imagination, in contemplat- ing a task so arduous as that of working out the geological features of the vast continent of North America. Difficult, however, as the attempt may appear, the undertaking is not one beset with insurmountable obstacles. The ground, it is true, may be untrodden, but he who ventures to explore it is not without a beacon to direct his steps. The American geologist has a course of investigation before him, in which the modus operandi is already determined. On entering the field of inquiry, a track that has been beaten elsewhere points out to him the line of research which he must adopt. The rocks in this country will be, as it were, the stepping-stones to the mountain-ranges in his own ; and while traversing the deep ravines and boundless plains of that extensive region, he will not be unmindful of the benefits conferred on science through the patient industry and unflinching zeal which animated Smith, or fail to appreciate the true spirit of philosophy which prompted the labours of Coneybeare or Greenhough. The work now before us is the second part of the first volume of transactions, published by the Geological Society of Pennsylvania : a Society established in 1832, at that time consisting of only seven individuals, but which now enrolls on its list of supporters more than 200 resident or corresponding members. It is with feelings of the most lively interest that we observe the name of our countryman, Richard Cowling Taylor, as one of the leading contributors to the present volume. Six years have now elapsed since this enterprising geologist 87 quitted England for America, carrying with him that indefatigable ardour in the promotion of scientific objects which, being united to the happiest qualifications for the services on which he was engaged, could hardly fail to rouse a spirit of philosophical research among those into whose society he might be thrown. The name of Featherstonehaugh is as well known for his enthusiasm in the cause of science, as for the possession of talents which enable him to exert that enthusiasm so powerfully in her behalf. He has been one of those most actively engaged in geological surveys in several of the States, and the result of some portion of his labours has been laid before the public at the express desire of the American government. The following passage is from the pen of Mr. F. He is describing the travertin deposited by the waters in the valley of Sweet Springs, Alleghany county, Virginia, and proceeds to relate a highly interesting phenomenon connect- ed with them : — " I was one day returning to my cabin with some specimens of this travertin, when I met Mr. Rogers, the landlord of the establishment at the Sweet Springs, an old inhabitant of this part of the country and a very intelligent and worthy person. He assured me that, some years ago, when hunting deer in the hills, he had seen some rocks exactly resembling them. As he is a man of very good judgment, I proposed to him to accompany me there, and he cheerfully consented. Mounting his horse and accompanied by myself on foot, we went about six miles in a north direction ; but so many years had elapsed since he had casually ob- served the place, and the deep dells and hills, clothed with their everlasting woods, resembled each other so much, that we passed an entire morning wandering about, climbing one hill and descending another, till I began to think he had been mis- taken, and told him so ; but he proposed trying another hill side called Snake Run Mountain, and there I followed him. Being in advance of me, I heard him holloa, and I immediately knew that the game was found. He approached me holding in his hand a piece of very ancient travertin, which I recognized at once ; and leading me to the brow of a hill, at least three hundred and fifty feet above the level of the Sweet Spring, I saw, to my great surprise, a huge mural escarpe- ment of travertin, skirting the brow of the hill, with the weather-worn remains of old stalactites ; whilst the body of the rock resembled, in every particular, the recent one at the cascade, abounding in large pipes of calcareous matter, which had formerly enclosed logs and branches of wood. The pendant stalactites con- sisted of concentric circles ; and there was the complete evidence that a stream of mineral water of great breadth, containing carbonate of lime, had, for a great length of time, passed over this brow, and formed the rock. The surface of the rock, in many parts, was interspersed with what are vulgarly called pot-holes, being circular perforations made in rocks by pieces of rock and gravel, kept whirling in them by streams of water similar to those which I have seen at the summit of the lofty hills of Lake George, in the State of New York. This Snake 88 Run Mountain stood, as I found by compass, N. N. E. by E. from tbe Sweet Springs ; and Peter's Mountain, of which I could get a peep through the trees, bore east of the place where I stood. " Here was an extraordinary phenomenon ! an immense deposit of travertin, lying three hundred and fifty feet above the level of the spring from which it probably was derived. It seems to be susceptible of no other explanation than that the level of the valley was, at some remote period, much higher than it is now, and that the springs were, at least, at this level. The Snake Run Mountain is a large limestone outlier from Peter's Mountain, such as are constantly found in the valleys. Before these were scooped out by the retiring currents, it is probable that the whole surface of this now deeply-sulcated region was continuous, and that the springs issued from the bottom of the ocean. When the valleys were swept out, these knobs, hills, and spurs, being hard, compact, transition limestone, re- sisted, and were left ; whilst the conglomerates, shales, and sandstones, were car- ried away : since that period the softer parts of the formations, occupying that part of the valley where the springs now are, have been gradually worn down, and a new direction given to the stream ; whilst the old travertin remains a monument of the ancient level, and one of the strong geological proofs of the process of denudation." A considerable portion of the communications now under consideration relate to subjects more or less connected with the mineral resources of some parts of the United States, and which, though of the highest importance, naturally possess a more local interest than other parts of the volume. The contributions relating to organic remains contain some new and valuable information ; but the limits of our present article will not admit of extending our analysis to them, and we must therefore refer our readers for points connected with their history to the work itself. There is certainly one subject upon which we cannot help expressing our regret, and that is, that the present volume should be so destitute of information upon the tertiary geology of America. With the exception of a short notice, by Mr. Conrad, upon a portion of the Atlantic tertiary region, we find no allusion whatever to the supra-cretaceous deposits, which are so largely developed in some parts of the United States. The important results which have attended the exa- mination of the beds above the chalk in England and the adjoining continent ; the wide field which has been opened for theoretical inquiry into the causes of pheno- mena which are there presented to us ; and the connection existing between the newest rocks of this period and those deposits which are accumulating from the operation of agents now in activity, give a degree of interest to facts bearing upon the history of that epoch which does not attach itself to any other department of geological investigation. We are not, it is true, entirely without sources of information upon the ter- 89 tiary formations in America. Mr. Rogers's report recently laid before the British Association for the Advancement of Science, gives a general outline of their ex- tent, besides furnishing much valuable matter respecting them. No one, we pre- sume, will dispute the talent and ability which he has displayed in the execution of the task, but he has performed it under a conviction of the soundness of the new principle in the arrangement of tertiary strata. He can infer, with precision, the exact comparative age of a deposit by comparing its fossil shells with existing spe- cies ! If we may hazard an opinion with reference to this subject, it would be that the new principle, however beautiful in theory, or apparently simple in appli- cation, as it at present stands, is as much a stumbling-block on the one hand as it may be an assistance on the other. Mr. Conrad, it would appear, does not always see his way so clearly as could be wished in making out his formations upon the new system ; the per centages do not always tell up exactly as they ought. At page 340 he observes, " I have rather too hastily supposed that the equivalent of Mr. Lyell's miocene period occurred in this country ; but I am now convinced that all above the eocene may more properly be termed older and newer pliocene. There is no gradual transition from the older to the newer tertiary, but so vast has been the change in the period of time which elapsed between them that a single species of testacea has alone survived it ; besides, so many recent species of the Atlantic coast of North America occur in every deposit of the tertiary above the eocene, that although the amount varies considerably in different localities, from fifteen to thirty per cent., yet I believe the discrepancy to have been caused by different depths of water, or peculiarity of situation, not difference of time in which the species existed. These remarks, however, do not apply to those depo- sits which are composed almost exclusively of existing species ; they are certainly entitled to the appellation of newer pliocene, and occur chiefly in Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina." We cannot help wishing that Mr. Conrad had been a little more explicit in his observation respecting the variation in the per centage of extinct fossil shells. As the passage now stands it is involved in considerable obscurity. Every one must be aware that in order to ascertain what proportion of fossil mollusca are identical with existing forms in any one deposit, the comparison is made with species from all depths and situations. The explanation given by Mr. Conrad is only applica- ble upon the supposition that the recent types to which the fossil ones are referred are exclusively littoral, or have all existed under similar physical conditions. Then, indeed, we might reasonably infer that, in our examination of a fossiliferous deposit, those localities would furnish us with the greatest number of recent spe- cies in which the conditions which formerly existed most closely resembled those from whence the living testacea had been obtained, and vice versa. If Mr. Conrad can bring forward evidence proving that deposits of the same geological age exhibit a variation of fifteen per cent, in the number of extinct spe- VOL. I. n 90 cies which they contain, he will undoubtedly have established a limit of error to that amount in the application of the new principle. It may, perhaps, be urged that, in the present instance, no serious error could have arisen from the application of the new principle, because fifteen per cent, forms the maximum of variation ; there being every intermediate degree from one to that number. This consideration, however, does not at all modify the bearing of Mr. Conrad's statement, with reference to the per centage test ; because those localities which have furnished the intermediate proportions, and so connect- ed the whole together, might have been destroyed by denudation, or might not have been accessible. Had this (which is by no means an unreasonable surmise) been the case, part of what Mr. Conrad now considers older pliocene would, under those circumstances, have been miocene. We are rather surprised that Mr. Taylor should not have directed his atten- tion to the tertiary formations in America. The Transactions of the Geological Society of London, and the pages of the Philosophical Magazine, bear ample proofs of the interest which he felt in those of England. It is true that, at Phila- delphia, he is not exactly in the tertiary district ; but fifty or a hundred miles are nothing in America, and even the crag at Bramerton, the favourite resort of cabinet collectors, will not bear competition with the bank of the Potomac. We must not draw our observations to a close, without adverting to the valu- able paper, by Dr. Harlan, on the remains of the Basilosaurus. As the descrip- tion of this animal is before the public in another form,* we shall only allude to its prodigious length, which far exceeds that of any other saurian. " We understand from Mr. Conrad, that he was informed by Mr. Creagh, that on his first settlement in that portion of the country, a train of vertebrse belonging to this animal was observed on the surface of this rock extending in a line much over 100 feet in length. This statement agrees with that made by Judge Bree ; 150 feet in length being attributed by him to the Arkansa skeleton." —p. 350. Had the Basilosaurus been discovered anywhere but in America, we should have thought the above statement exaggerated ; but we are already familiar with the history of the great Sea Serpent, to which reptile we should, a priori, imagine it to be allied. We wonder what Mr. Hawkins, of saurian notoriety would say to this monster of the "pre-Adamite epoch." He compares some of his specimens to Moloch, Satan, and Abaddon ;f but they surely must yield the palm now. One more extract and we have done ; it is from the Miscellaneous Intelli- gence : — * Dr. H. has published this paper, with many others, in a separate volume Ed. -f- Memoirs of Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri, by Thomas Hawkins, F.G.S., &c, &c, &c. 91 " We insert the following letter, which has just been received from Dr. John- son, of Louisville, Kentucky, without further comment, at present, than merely observing that we place entire confidence in the author's statements, whose obser- vations were made on the spot. Specimens of the substance in question have been placed in the cabinet of the Geological Society in Pennsylvania, and in the private collections of Messrs. Taylor, Harlan, and Wetherill. It is the intention of Mr. W. to analyze these grains, which appear, in some instances, to display, when fractured, a shining surface. Exposed to the blow-pipe, they are reduced to a fine white ash, and yield neither smoke nor flame. The grains represent the true In- dian variety of corn. " Louisville, July, 1835. "My dear Sir, — I now send you, by Mr. Frazer, the fossilized corn of which I spoke when I last saw you. It is found in the alluvial bank of the Ohio River, about twenty-five miles below Wheeling, both above and below the mouth of Fish Creek, and extending up the creek some distance, and four or five miles on the Ohio ; it may extend farther, but it shews itself only that distance by the washing of the river against the bank. The stratum is generally from eight to ten inches thick, and from five to six feet below the surface, and contains nothing but the corn grains closely impacted together with the black dust which you perceive among the corn, filling up the interstices. No cob or stock of the corn has ever been found with the grains. The same stratum has been met with in places distant from this, in digging below the surface. This is all that I could learn relative to this unaccountable and interesting deposition. Why or how did the corn get from the cob ? It certainly must have been charred, or it would not have been thus preserved. It could not have been reduced to this black cinder, like the loaves of bread and grains, of different kinds, found at Pompeii, or rather it could not have resulted from a like cause. I do believe if all the corn raised on the Ohio, and all its tributaries above this point, were collected in one mass, it would not amount to one-tenth of this deposition. " Most truly your's, " R. Harlan, M.D." « J. C. Johnson. There is a disposition in England to give credit to our fellow labourers in America for occasionally making " mountains of mole-hills" in their investigation of natural phenomena. This credulity on our part is certainly not without foun- dation, and until we are fully satisfied that the causes in which it has originated no longer exist, all relations emanating from the new world which border upon the marvellous will be received here with some degree of scepticism, unless sup- ported by evidence of a most explicit and unexceptionable character. As an illus- tration of the very limited insight into some branches of natural science which its cultivators possessed on that continent, even within a comparatively recent pe- riod, we would refer our readers to a catalogue published a few years since, of the n2 92 objects contained in the Museum of Natural History, at the Lyceum, New York. This catalogue is drawn up by one of the leading members of that institution, and, as an indication of his competency for the task, we find ten or twelve honorary titles and three or four et cetera s attached to his name. The writer, after giving a list of numerous Buccinums, Venuses, Turbos, vertebra? and teeth of sea-serpents, &c, notices a flint-stone from England containing two Echinites, one of which is "fast in its hole," while the other, mirabile dictu, " can be made to revolve upon its own a.vis /" This remarkable phenomenon appears to have amazingly puzzled the learned compiler of the catalogue, who does not presume to attempt any solu- tion of the problem. With regard to the statement respecting the fossil corn, we are by no means disposed to question its authenticity, notwithstanding the apparently anomalous conditions attending its deposition. These, perhaps, may be explained when a more minute investigation has been made of the locality in which this singular stratum has been discovered. The only instance at all analogous to the present, with which we are acquainted, is the prodigious accumulation of fruits and seeds in the London clay of the Isle of Sheppy. It is not at all beyond the limits of pro- bability to imagine that, under some circumstances, the clay might, by aqueous agency, be removed, and a continuous stratum of seeds left. We are, however, unwilling to enlarge upon so novel a fact as that related by Mr. Johnson until we have all the circumstances connected with its history before us. In closing the present volume we cannot help expressing the gratification we have derived from its perusal, and the sincere hope that this year will not pass away without the publication of a second. A History of British Quadrupeds. By Thomas Bell, F.R.S., F.L.S., Lecturer on Comparative Anatomy at Guy's Hospital. Illustrated by a Wood-cut of each Species, and numerous Vignettes. 8vo. London : Van Voorst. 1836. Of all the Vertebrata of the British Islands, the Mammiferous, or Masto- zoary,* animals have been the least frequently and efficiently delineated by the artist. While the birds have been figured with various degrees of ability and suc- cess, by Pennant, Lewin, Donovan, and the lamented Bewick ; and a highly re- spectable work, by Meyer, on British Ornithology, is in active progress ; and our *• To the newly-introduced term, Mammal, we have an insuperable objection ; and the hybrid compound, Mammalogy, is not to be, for a moment, tolerated by an educated ear. There is, in fact, no such term in the Greek, as (tuppa, signifying teat or dug : and, even were it so, what would Mammalogy express, but dug-discourse, — not, as it is meant to im- ply, the doctrine of teated or Mammiferous Animals. Maslozoology, although not exactly to our taste, is surely far preferable, as compounded of ij.u.otos, a dug or teat, {juoi, an ani- mal, and x'oyoi, a discourse, to the spurious, unscientific, and unmeaning " Mammalogy" fishes have been iconographically displayed by Pennant and Donovan, and re- cently, in a style of surpassing excellence, by Yarrell, we have, at present, no il- lustrated publication on the British Mammalia at all comparable, in extent and comprehensiveness of design, or in correctness of execution, with them. The British Zoology, of Pennant, contains indifferently drawn figures of only seven- teen species of animals belonging to this Class : the History of Quadrupeds, by Bewick, not more than thirty-four species. Of the shewy and expensive History of British Quadrupeds, by Donovan, — the only monograph on the subject with which we are acquainted, — justice forbids us to speak in any other terms than those of unqualified reprobation and contempt. Contemplated either as a work of Science or of Art, it is alike disgraceful to its author, and unworthy of the age and of the country on which it has been obtruded. Under these circumstances, we hail, with no ordinary feelings of gratification, the appearance of the first two Parts of the History of British Quadrupeds, some time since announced by Mr. Bell. Our expectations, highly as they have been excited by a knowledge of the character, talents, and opportunities of the author, even a cursory inspection of the commencement of his work has completely satisfied. It is quite worthy to occupy the same shelf, in the zoological library, as Yarrell's British Fishes :■ a more eloquent eulogium than this, we are unable to pronounce. If the illustrated works on British Birds, Reptiles and Amphibia, Crustacea, and Zoophytes, re- cently announced for publication, correspond as closely in correctness and beauty of execution, as is contemplated in form and style, with the two productions already before us, a new and most auspicious era will have dawned upon the hitherto obscure and entangled paths of British Zoography. Parts 1 and 2 of Mr. Bell's work exhibit a description of the genera and spe- cies belonging to the Vespertilionidce and Rhinolophidce, of the Order Cheirop- tera, and the Hedge-hog and the Mole, respectively arranged under the Erina- ceadce and Talpidce, of the Order Insectivora. The notices of the internal struc- ture, of the generic and specific characters, and the habits and economy, of the various animals are singularly accurate and luminous, frequently original, and always interesting. The figures of the bats are, moreover, without one solitary exception, uncommonly spirited and characteristic : and those of the hedge-hog and the mole, in particular, so powerfully executed that they would make our old favorite Bewick, were he allowed to behold them, " start from the dreamless slumbers of the grave." If the volume be completed in the spirit, and with the zeal and talent, which the opening parts display, it will prove to the student of zoology in general, and more especially to the British naturalist, a most instructive and delightful work. Until the appearance of Dr. Fleming's valuable History of British Animals, six species only of the Bat-Family were recognized by systematic writers, as na- tives of the British islands. To this scanty catalogue, a seventh species, the 94 Vespertilio emarginatus, was added by Fleming. Aware, or, at least, suspecting-, from our own cursory observation, that some few still remained undistinguished and undescribed, still we were little prepared for the acquisition of ten new species of British Cheiroptera. Such, however, is absolutely the case : seventeen species are now enumerated as inhabiting Great Britain ; and so clearly characterized, both by Mr. Jenyns and Mr. Bell, as to leave no shadow of a doubt upon the zoologist's mind, of their perfectly distinct nature. This large addition having rendered necessary a new systematic distribution of the British Cheiroptera, we propose, in our next Number, to present a Synoptical Sketch of the Families, Genera, and Species, according to Mr. Bell's principles of characterization and plan of arrangement. To this, we shall prefix a cursory view of the anatomical structure of the Order to which these curious and interesting ani- mals belong : sincerely hoping that the little information which our confined limits will allow us to communicate, may spur on many of our readers to a deeper study of this yet unexhausted subject, and to a profitable use of the abundant sources from which our own supplies will be principally drawn — the admirable History of British Quadrupeds, by Mr. Bell ; and the Article, Cheiroptera, in Dr. Todd's excellent Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology. EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 1. — M. De Blainville has published, in the Nouvelles Annates du Museum de VAcademie des Sciences, an account of the Dodo, or Dronte (Dipus ineptus, L.). This remarkable bird, only at present known by an oil painting of a dried foot preserved in the British Museum, and a head and foot in the University of Oxford, has occupied much of the ornithologist's attention. It is, in fact, a remarkable circumstance that a bird of such magnitude should no longer be found, and that it should, as it were, have passed away from the face of nature. Besides the reflections that may attach to this and other circumstances, de Blainville has principally directed his researches towards establishing the zoological position of this strange bird. In 1497 and 1499, the Dodo was abundantly found by the Portuguese in an island beyond the Cape of Good Hope. The Dutch, in 1598, also found it in the same island, now called Maurice Island (Mauritius), Isle de Bourbon, Isle de France. Clusius, a Dutch author, in 1605, gave a description of this bird, under the name of Walgh-Vogel, or a disgusting bird, on account of its tough and bad-scented flesh. In 1634, Herbert describes this bird under the name of Dodo, which it still retains : he describes it as weighing upwards of fifty 95 pounds, very fat, and possessing a melancholy look. The portion of this bird now extant in the Oxford Museum came from the collection of Tradiscant, where it had existed prior to 1681. The bird was even intact in 1700 ; in 1755 the com- mittee threw the greater part away, merely retaining the head and two feet. The oil portrait in the British Museum appears to have been painted in Holland, from a living specimen brought from the Mauritius. Collecting all the facts relating to this bird in original documents, it may be concluded that the Dodo is a massive bird, very large, not at all graceful, with short feet, and thick legs; the body oval, somewhat resembling that of a large Duck whose posterior part is not pointed ; the neck is thick, short, and curved in the form of an S. The head is very large, particularly the beak ; the tongue appears pointed, the leg is feathered to the knee : the toes are four in number, short, thick, and armed with strong nails, without any trace of interdigital membrane. The back is of a black colour, the head greenish gray ; the feathers of the wings of the tail are white. But little is known of its habits, it appears to have possessed no powers of flight, and the stones found in its gizzard lead to a conclusion that it is graminivorous. With respect to its place in an ornithological series, ancient writers placed it near to the Swan, or the Echassiers. Temminck places it, as a genus of a parti- cular order, after the series of birds : Mc Leay approximates it to the Gallinacece, and, on account of its short wings, it has also been classed with the Ostriches. De Blainville combats all the opinions of previous writers, and finishes by con- cluding that it is more nearly related to the birds of prey than any other order.; adding also that he is by no means satisfied that this bird has positively become extinct ; and so little being hitherto known of the natural productions of the Mau- ritius, it is hoped some traces may yet be discovered to throw a further light on the history of this most singular bird. 2. — M. de la Saussaye, secretary to the next scientific congress of France, which is to be held at Blois, on the 1 1th of Sept. next, has published a programme of questions relative to history and natural sciences ; among them are many of high interest to the antiquary and naturalist. One of these is to determine the precise spot mentioned by Caesar as the site of the great annual meeting of the Druids, and to examine if those places in which the greater number of Druidical monuments are to be found are not also those in which Christianity first founded its religious establishments. Another question of general importance is, to give the rise and progress of printing in the different localities of France. In agricul- ture— to examine the origin of the diseases in wheat, their effect on the animal economy, and their best mode of cure. In natural science — to determine whether it is not possible to create a mineralogical classification presenting the advantages resulting from the natural methods followed in zoology and botany. To pronounce if there exists among animals a primitive type in which all the creations of that 96 great class of organized beings are more or less combined. To inquire if external circumstances can so modify the organization of animals and plants as to change their specific, or even generic, characters. To examine if it is well demonstrated that the cellular tissue of plants presents a nervous system analagous to that of animals, and to indicate in what that physiological analogy consists. If there is any transformation of the cellular tissue of plants into vessels, or have the vessels an individual existence from the first instant of their manifestation. Are bota- nists agreed on the mode of formation of the ligneous strata in dicotyledonous vegetables. 3. — Three new species of South American Pheasants are added to the Parisian Menagerie; their familiarity and gentleness are remarkable. The cry of the male bird distinctly utters the three syllables ca tra ca ; the name by which they are recognised in their native localities, and that now scientifically adopted. 4. — M.de PARAVEYhas communicated to the Academy of Sciences a memoir on slate found in the primitive formations of the Meuse ; in which it is observed that it possesses the property of dividing into plates, according to the given direction of the longitudinal fibres, called, by the workmen, longrain, according to whom no slate is good not presenting this constant and regular division. Therefore slate of a more modern formation, such as that of St. Anger's, which breaks, like glass, into irregular fractures or splinters, never lasts more than about thirty years, while that of the Ardennes exist uninjured during a lapse of two centuries ; a fact proved by inscriptions on the green slates with which the roofs of some ancient monuments in Belgium are covered. It is to this peculiar property of separating lengthwise, according to the parallel direction of the fibres — which supposes a species of crystallization — that M. de Paravey wishes to draw the attention of geologists. 5. — Geologists in France appear to be in a complete state of uncertainty respect- ing the supposed impressions of bird's feet in the sandstone of Hildburghausen. Do they belong to terrestrial or marine mammals — to reptiles — to saurians — to birds — or are they impressions of vegetables ? The zoologist declares they are not the foot-marks of animals or reptiles, the ornithologist assures us he can trace no re- semblance whatever to the feet of birds, and de Jussieu denies positively that they can be vegetable impressions. These and other contradictory opinions on geolo- gical subjects keep alive that interesting science, and must ultimately produce the most satisfactory conclusions, as well as much able discussion in the learned world. ORNITHORHYNCHUS PARADOXUS ORDER. PALMATA. FAMILY. BRUTA. By Frederick Ryland. This singular animal has excited the attention of naturalists in a very great degree, from the peculiarities of its organization, which, until they were more minutely investigated, caused some doubt as to whether it could properly be arranged under any of the existing classes of vertebrata, and hence the name Ornithorhynchus paradoxus was assigned it by Professor Blumenbach, and has been retained to the present day. The body of the animal is rather flattened horizontally, and partakes of the characters of the Otter, the Mole, and the Beaver.* Its length, measured from the extremity of the mandible to the end of the tail, varies, in full-grown speci- mens, from sixteen to twenty-three or twenty-four inches ; the male is generally found to be, in a slight degree, larger than the female. The body is covered externally with long silky hairs of a dark-brown colour approaching to black, underneath which is a very fin^bft fur of a greyish colour, the latter being thick- er and softer on the under sdft^ce of the animal. In the possession of these two kinds of hair, the Ornithorhynchus resembles many of the amphibious quadru- peds,' as the Otter and the Beaver. The tail is flat afcd broad, and varies in length from four and a half to six inches ; the hair covering its upper surface is longer and coarser thaa»Aat of any other part of the body, and projects a little distance beyond the termination of the tail. The legs are exceedingly short ; the hinder ones rather shorter than the fore legs ; the feet have each five toes, connected with each other by a strong mem- branous expansion, like the feet of a Duck ; in the fore feet, which are the largest and most powerful, the web extends a little distance beyond the extremities of the claws, whilst in the hinder feet it attains only to the roots of the claws. The claws on the fore feet are strong and blunt, and well adapted for burrowing, those on the hind feet are sharp and curved backwards. The fore feet, with their membranous web are, when expanded, four inches across, and that part of the web * See an account of the structure and habits of the Ornithorhynchus, in the Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, vol. i., part iii., by Mr. G. Bennett, to which the author is indebted for most of the facts contained in the present article. VOL. I. O 98 which projects heyond the extremities of the toes, is loose, and can, therefore, fall back when the animal burrows. Owing to this arrangement, the Ornithorhyn- chus has the full benefit of its broad foot as a paddle when swimming ; and when making its way into the earth, where strength more than breadth is requisite, the falling back of the web increases the power of resistance in the foot, and, at the same time, allows the strong blunt claws to come into operation. The male has a moveable spur upon the posterior and inner surface of the hind leg, a little dis- tance above the claws. The head, like the body, is compressed horizontally ; the eyes of a light brown colour, very small, but brilliant, are placed rather backwards. There is no pro- jecting external ear, but the orifice of the auditory canal is situated behind and external to the eye, and the animal has the power of opening and closing it at pleasure. The mouth or beak is the most characteristic part of this curious quad- ruped ; it is formed of two flat projecting lips or mandibles, of a cartilaginous structure, and slightly serrated at the sides ; altogether bearing a very strong re- semblance to the beak of the Shoveller Duck. It is of a dirty greyish black colour, and covered with innumerable minute dots. At the base of each mandible is a loose projecting fold of skin, of the same dark colour as the beak, and to this different uses have been assigned. Mr. Bennett is of opinion that it affords pro- tection to the eyes when the animal is engaged in burrowing or seeking its food in the mud ; Sir Everard Home* considers the use of these folds to be, to prevent the beak from being pushed into the soft mud beyond this part, which is so broad as completely to stop its further progress. The possession of cheek-pouches is the only other structural peculiarity to which it is necessary to refer in the description of "this animal. When recently captured, they generally contain mud and small stones mixed up with the animal- culae on which the creature feeds ; and it is supposed that in these pouches the food undergoes trituration and other changes, preliminary to its digestion in the stomach. The Ornithorhynchus is ovoviviparous, but suckles its young, after birth, like most other quadrupeds. From the singular organization of this creature, we can scarcely wonder at the indicision of naturalists, in the first instance, as to what place it ought to occupy in the animal series. To increase the dilemma, it was always believed, till very recently, that the Ornithorhynchus propagated its species by means of eggs, but the investigations of Mr. Bennett and Mr. Owen-f- have completely set that ques- tion at rest. In its mode of generation, it resembles the reptile tribe ; its want of bony teeth, the singular formation of its duck-like bill, and the possession of " Philosophical Transactions for 1800. ■f Philosophical Transactions, for 1834; and Zoological Transactions, vol. i., p. 221. 99 webbed feet, seem to ally this animal to the family of the water-fowl ; whilst its general appearance, its hairy covering-, and internal structure prove indisputably its title to be ranked amongst the mammalia. The Ornithorhynchus is an inhabitant of Australia, and is found both in New Holland and in Van Dieman's land. The race is very numerous ': they frequent the rivers of those countries, and form their burrows in the banks. They are called by the colonists Water-Moles, from a resemblance they are supposed to bear to the common European Mole. Their shyness and timidity are extreme ; so that " on seeing them," says Mr. Bennett,* who had many opportunities of observing them in their native haunts, " the spectator must remain perfectly sta- tionary, as the slightest noise or movement of the body would cause their instant disappearance, so acute are they in sight or hearing, or perhaps in both ; and they seldom re-appear when they have been frightened. By remaining perfectly quiet when the animal is " up," the spectator is enabled to obtain an excellent view of its movements on the water ; it seldom, however, remains longer than one or two minutes playing and paddling on the surface, soon diving again and re-appearing a short distance above or below, generally according to the direction in which it dives. It dives head foremost with an audible splash." They swim very low, so that the upper part of the back and the head only are seen above the surface of the water ; and when their fur is wet, they resemble a mass of dirty weeds rather than a living animal, on which account they often escape observation. Their food consists of river insects, small shell-fish, and other animalculae, which they obtain for the most part by inserting their beaks into the soft mud on the sides of the rivers, and particularly at the roots of the various aquatic plants that grow in such situations. Their mode of seeking food in the mud or water is very like that of a Duck when feeding in similar places ; immediately after withdrawing the beak from the mud, they raise the head, and masticate the prey they have obtained by a lateral motion of the mandibles one upon the other. Their habitations are formed by burrowing in the banks of the rivers which they frequent. The burrows are generally about twenty feet long, but they have been found as much as fifty feet in length ; they have two entrances, one of them situated three or four feet above the surface of the river, and the other a short distance below the level of the water. At the commencement they are capacious, but immediately afterwards become contracted to a size little more than sufficient to let the body of the animal pass ; they proceed upwards, rather in a serpentine direction, and terminate just beneath the surface of the ground in a kind of cham- ber large enough to contain the mother and three or four young ones. The nest is made of dried weeds, bark, and small fibrous roots. The entrance of the bur- row is so placed as to be concealed from observation by surrounding grass, weeds, * Loc. Cit., page 234. o2 100 and shrubs, and no heaps of dirt are found near it ; so that Mr. Bennett suggests the probability of the animal carrying away the loose mould collected during the excavation, in order that the heap, which would otherwise be formed, may not point out the situation of the burrow. Mr. Bennett succeeded in capturing two full-furred young Ornithorhynci, in one of the burrows that he examined. He conveyed them to Sidney, and was in hopes of sending them alive to England ; but, though they were at first very ac- tive and sprightly, in a short time they became meagre, their coats lost the sleek glossy appearance indicative of health, they ate little, and at length died, about five weeks from the period of their capture. As his opportunities of observing these animals were considerable, and his account of their habits is the only one of much value that we possess, I shall not hesitate to transcribe, in his own words, some of the observations he made upon their proceedings. " The young animals sleep in various postures, sometimes in an extended posi- tion, and often rolled up like a hedgehog, in the form of a ball." The latter pos- ture, which is a favourite one with them, " is effected by the fore paws being placed under the beak, with the head and mandibles bent down towards the tail, the hind paws crossed over the mandibles, and the tail turned up ; thus complet- ing the rotundity of the figure. They usually reposed side by side, like a pair of furred balls, and awful little growls issued from them when disturbed ; but when very sound asleep, they might be handled and examined with impunity. One evening, both the animals came out about dusk, went as usual, and eat food from the saucer, and then commenced playing one with the other like two puppies, attacking with their mandibles, and raising the fore paws against each other. In the struggle one would get thrust down, and at the moment when the spectator would expect it to rise again and renew the combat, it would commence scratching itself, its antagonist looking on, and waiting for the sport to be renewed." They were very fond of combing themselves with their hind feet ; an operation they generally performed after being in the water, and before retiring for the night. " It was most ludicrous to observe these uncouth-looking little beasts running about, overturning and seizing one another with their mandibles, and then, in the midst of their fun and frolic, coolly inclining to one side, and scratching themselves in the gentlest manner possible. After the cleaning operation was concluded, they would perambulate the room for a short time, and then seek repose." Their mode of climbing to the summit of a book-case, or any other elevated piece of furniture, is very surprising, because the opportunity of exercising such an in- stinct or propensity could scarcely have occurred to them when in a state of na- ture ; it reminds one of a late celebrated escape from Newgate. " This was at last discovered to be effected by the animal supporting its back against the wall, and placing its feet against the book-case, and thus, by means of the strong cuta- neous muscles of the back, and the claws of the feet, contriving to reach the top 101 very expeditiously. They performed this mode of climbing often, so that I had frequent opportunities of witnessing the manner in which it was done." As far as we are at present acquainted with the disposition of the Ornitho- rhynchus, it is free from vicious propensities ; its extreme timidity induces it to seek for solitude, and to haunt only the most unfrequented parts of rivers ; when handled or disturbed, it evinces its impatience and dislike by a low growl, but never shews a disposition to bite or scratch. It has been asserted that the spur with which the hind leg of the male is armed is perforated, and that through it a poisonous secretion is discharged, when the animal is irritated.* Mr. Bennett endeavoured to ascertain the correctness of this, by seizing the hind leg of the male animal, and roughly handling him ; but he could not perceive that any effort was made to avail himself of the spur in his defence, and he appears to think, therefore, that the statement touching the use of the spur is entirely groundless. This animal, though not strictly amphibious, appears to spend as much of its time on the water as on the land ; its short legs and webbed feet are better adapted for urging the body through the former element than over the surface of the latter. In the water it finds its food, in the immediate vicinity of the water it con- structs its habitation. Mr. Bennett generally indulged his captives with an occa- sional swim, in which they seemed to take great delight. When placed near the water (a cord having been fastened round the hind leg to prevent escape), they would instinctively find their way into it, and travel up and down the stream, at the same time shewing a partiality for those places that most abounded in aquatic weeds. After swimming and feeding, they laid themselves down on the grassy bank, combing and cleaning their coats with the claws of the hind feet. I am not aware that this animal has, as yet, been made, in any way, serviceable to the human race. The natives of Australia use them as food, but as they devour, with equal avidity, frogs, snakes, and rats, this cannot be considered as any very great recommendation of their edible qualities. Besides the name of Ornithorhynchus, this animal is commonly known by the name of Platypus, which was given to it by Dr. Shaw ; and it is still more fre- quently called the Duck-billed Animal, from the peculiar form of its beak. * History of Austral-Asia, by R. M. Martin, F.S.S., page 111. ON THE MORAL ADVANTAGES OF THE STUDY OF NATURE. Though it may seem superfluous to offer any observations on this subject in a work not likely, in the present stage of its career, to fall into the hands of readers not already devoted to the pursuit of Natural History, yet we are induced to do so in the hope that, if they should approve our remarks, they may point them out to their friends, and so perchance increase the number of the cultivators of natural science. It is more particularly with a view to excite the attention of parents and teachers that we throw out these suggestions, since it is more espe- cially in their power to give them effect. These influential persons would we intreat in favour of those interesting beings, the members of the rising generation, committed to their care. We would appeal to every feeling and principle of their better nature, in their behalf. Few parents can be charged with neglecting the bodily health of their children, though some err in the choice of the means by which it is to be promoted ; but many, very many, are either indifferent to- the mental and spiritual welfare of their offspring, or err grievously in the choice of the means by which they are to be secured. The education which is necessary to fit an individual for the discharge of the social duties of his station, and for forwarding the interests of the community, it is undoubtedly right that he should receive. But man lives not for society alone, but also for himself ; he lives not for time only, but for eternity : and an education is required for these too, which, in many cases, he never receives, or at least never has provided for him by his parents. Let us not be misunderstood, nor let it be supposed that we undervalue or would dispense with classical learning, or the kind of learning necessary to carry on mercantile affairs. Far from it : our wish is that they should have that, and much more. While some of their time is devoted to acquire those languages by which man has held, or still holds, intercourse and sweet communion with his fellow men, improvement and enlargement of their minds must follow. But while we teach them many tongues, and enable them to read many books, shall we leave them ignorant of the signs and characters of the book of nature, or give them no opportunity of perusing the bright volume of creation, the pages of which are daily and annually unrolled before us, containing the autograph of its mighty author, and which, to use the impressive words of Lord Bacon, " is written in the only language that hath gone out to all the ends of the earth, unaffected by the confusion of Babel." Alas ! that we should teach them to read what will only enable them to " heap up riches, while they know not who shall gather them" and fail to teach them how to commune with their God, and to acquire a portion of that treasure which they, and not another, shall inherit throughout eternity. Those who are born and bred in large cities are rarely permitted, still less purposely led out, to see the face of nature, to trace her lineaments, and feel the influence of her smiles. They are not taught to regard her as the common mother 103 of all organized beings, nor to look upon her with the eyes of affectionate children. The case is not altered when they are sent to any of the schools, whether suburban or remote from the city of their birth ; for in the walks which are then taken, as a part of the system, they are made to march, during the stated period, only for the health of the body, in formal columns, and not allowed to delay to examine any natural object, nor even to turn their eyes either to the right side or the left. And thus they quit these seminaries as ignorant of the operations of nature as if they had continued to dwell in the centre of the most crowded metropolis, or had been denied all use of the organ of sight. This important period of life, when they are so susceptible of receiving beneficial impressions from the examination of the works of creation, being allowed to pass unimproved, the parent imagines he has discharged his duty to his children if he then places them at the entrance of the paths which lead to wealth, to honour, to glory, or to power. But the fondest hopes may be disappointed, the best laid schemes for arriving at distinction may be frustrated, and the unsuccessful candidate may be compelled to retire from the busy mart, and to close those books and correspondence which he trusted would have proved the instruments of his gain, and betake himself to an obscure or soli- tary abode, far from the smoke of cities and the hum of men. How irksomely must pass his days, what a dreary and desolate void must be his existence, if, from ignorance of its alphabet, the book of natural wisdom lies open before him in vain, " where, beneath the white-armed beach, By valley's stream, or hillock's verdant crown, Her simple lesson nature waits to teach." But suppose the greatest success to have attended his efforts, and that he has become the possessor of " woods, and lawns, and long-withdrawing vales." His bosom may dilate when his eye surveys the fruit of his toil and his gratified ambi- tion, and his ear may be regaled with the lowing of his cattle on a thousand hills ; but all these he must leave to another, nor can it be said that while in possession of them his mind was more improved, or even as much, as that of the ploughman who tilled his acres, or the herd who tended his flocks, if the latter, and not the former, saw and understood, and traced to their source, the operations of nature continually taking place around them, and which could alone render his lands pro- ductive, and his position an object of vulgar envy. An able divine (the Rev. W. Jones, of Nayland) has well observed — " Let a man have all the world can give him, he is still miserable, if he has a grovelling, unlettered, indevout mind. Let him have his gardens, his fields, his woods, his lawns, for grandeur, plenty, ornament, and gratification : while at the same time God is not in all his thoughts ; and let another have neither field nor gar- den, let him only look at nature with an enlightened mind — a mind which can see and adore the Creator in his works, can consider them as demonstrations of his 104 power, his wisdom, his goodness, and his truth : this man is greater, as well as happier, in his poverty, than the other in his riches. The one is but a little higher than a beast, the other but a little lower than an angel." The very leisure for which the wealthy merchant sighed may prove his great- est bane, and, finding time hang heavy, and deprived of the excitement connected with his former pursuits, he may, as a substitute, betake himself to debasing and ruinous ones — to gambling, or dissipation, and perchance impair, if not lose, his fortune, and, to meet the consequences of his extravagance, may oppress his tenants whom he should befriend, and, becoming morose and selfish, introduce misery and distress into his domestic circle. " But," says Dr. Drummond, in his excellent Letters to a Young Naturalist, " who are these men to whom time is a burden ? Are they geologists, or astro- nomers, or chemists ? Are they botanists, or landscape painters ? Are they en- tomologists, are they naturalists or philosophers of any kind ? We may safely, I believe, answer in the negative. No one who pursues science is likely to com- plain of the ennui of modern times ; and I feel convinced that science, in union with natural religion, is the pursuit best of all calculated to make our time pass happily, and the world we inhabit seem a paradise." Another writer (Dr. Boot) has eloquently said — " There is a mysterious com- munion between the mind and heart of man and the sights and sounds of natural objects. A voice, descending from heaven, and borne upon the breath of morn, is heard along the enamelled mead, or through the mazes of the dark forest, which penetrates to the sources of our thoughts and affections, and which kindles a spirit of devotion to light and warm our own bosoms, to be thence reflected upon all around us. Listen to its instructions in the delightful solitude of your occasion- ally secluded hours, far from the contaminating influence of worldly ambition ; and you will return to society with feelings better adapted to the discharge of your duties there, and in possession of a mean for happiness of which no adversity can rob you, and with a refinement of mind which no prosperity can vitiate." Nor is it only in the joyous morn or active noon of life that these things should engage our attention, or are capable of yielding pleasure, and bringing with them their reward. For after a long period of usefulness to ourselves and others, when the sun of our day begins to cast lengthened and prophetic shadows along the vale of life, we naturally feel anxious to retire, to repose and meditate awhile, ere we quit this for another scene of being. Then what occupation can be found so calm and tranquil, so befitting the evening of life, as the contempla- tion of the objects of nature? In observing and considering "the lilies, how they grow," we at once comply with the divine injunction and reap the benefit of our compliance, in finding our minds gradually purified from those stains of earth which even the best of us contract during a lengthened intercourse with the world, and so become progressively prepared for the change which awaits us* — Z. HISTORY OF THE COMMON DIPPER, (Cinclus aquaticus). By William Mac Gillivray, A.M., F.R.S.E., M.W.S., &c, CONSERVATOR OF THE MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF EDINBURGH. The Dipper is, in many respects, one of the most interesting of our native birds. Residing chiefly in the wild glens of the mountainous districts, it now and then presents itself to the wandering naturalist as it flits along the streams, or is seen perched on a stone in the midst of the water ; the white patch on its breast rendering it conspicuous at a great distance. Even the mere collector of plants — who, of all men, seems to be the least capable of comprehending the harmonies of nature — pauses to gaze upon it, as it shoots past him in its rapid and even flight ; the solitary shepherd, wending his way to the mountain corry, meets it with delight ; and the patient and contemplative angler, as he guides his tackle over the deep pool, smiles upon the tiny fisher whose frequent becks have attracted his notice. The singular circumstance of its obtaining its food under the surface of the water, although in form and structure it is allied to the Thrushes and other land birds, has especially drawn the attention of ornithologists to it ; and the explanation of its mode of progression in that element has exercised their ingenu- ity, although very few have based their conjectures on actual observation. Lastly, the land-proprietor or his factor, too much occupied with other pursuits to inquire for themselves, and trusting to the reports of prejudiced persons, direct their gamekeepers and shepherds to destroy the lively and harmless creature whenever an opportunity occurs, because it has been supposed to destroy the eggs and fry of the salmon. This bird having, in a particular manner, attracted my attention in the course of my many rambles, I have been enabled in some measure to trace its history, which I now have the pleasure of presenting to the readers of The Naturalist, assuring them that it contains nothing but the results of long-continued observa- tion. In the first place, however, I shall give the generic characters of Cinclus, of which only three species are known to me : C. Pallasii, found by Professor Pallas, in the Crimea ; C. Americanus, which inhabits Mexico and the Rocky Mountains ; and C. aquaticus, found in most parts of Europe. Cinclus, — (Bechst). Dipper. Bill rather short, slender, slightly ascending, deeper than broad at the base, much compressed towards the end. Upper mandible, with the dorsal line, slightly arched, the ridge rounded, the sides convex, the edges sharp and inflected, with an obscure notch close to the narrow, somewhat deflected, tip. Lower mandible slightly bent upwards, the angle medial and very narrow, the crura having the VOL. I. P 10G sides sloping outwards, the dorsal line slightly convex, the ridge narrow and rounded, the tip rather acute. Mouth very narrow ; upper mandible internally narrow, concave, with a central depressed line ; palate nearly flat ; aperture of the posterior nares linear, margined with acute papillae ; lower mandible concave, with a central prominent line. Tongue slightly extensile, sagittate, narrow, grooved, serrulato-setose towards the end, and terminated by two bristle-points. (Esopha- gus of nearly uniform diameter; proventriculus with oblong simple glandules. Stomach muscular, compressed, with two roundish central tendons ; its cuticular coat dense, tough, and rugous. Intestine of nearly uniform diameter ; two very small vermiform coeca. Nostrils linear, direct, with a bare margin above, in the lower and fore part of the nasal membrane, which is covered with very short feathers. Eyes rather small ; eyelids densely feathered. Aperture of external ear round, of moderate size. Head oblong, rather small, compressed, the forehead low. Neck rather short. Body compact, rather deeper than broad. Legs strong, of ordinary length ; tar- sus compressed, covered anteriorly with a long undivided plate and four inferior scutella, posteriorly with two long plates united at a very acute angle, and several transverse rugae below. Toes rather large and strong, covered above with a few plates, papillar beneath ; first, second, and fourth nearly equal, third much longer ; second slightly connected at the base, by a web, with the third, which is connected with the fourth by a longer but narrower web, as far as the second joint of each. Claws short, bluntish, much compressed, slightly margined, laterally grooved, that of the hind toe considerably larger. Plumage ordinary, rather compact, the feathers oblong and rounded ; those about the base of the bill very short and somewhat velvety, without bristly points. No bristles at the base of the bill. Wings rather short, broad, rounded ; primary quills ten, the first very short and narrow, the third longest, and, with the next three, slightly cut out on the outer web towards the end ; secondary quills nine, long, broad, rounded ; all the quills much decurved. Tail short, even, of twelve broadish feathers, which are slightly decurved. Legs feathered to the tibio-tarsal joint. The whole body closely covered with down, as in the diving sea-birds. Cinclus aquaticus, — (Bechst). The Common Dipper. The Dipper, Water Ouzel, or Water Crow, is remarkable for the compact- ness of its form, in which respect, as well as in some of its motions and attitudes, it bears more resemblance to the Kingfisher and the Common Wren, than to any other British bird. Among foreign birds, the species of the genus Pitta, are those which approach nearest to it in form. Its plumage is of ordinary length, soft, rather compact, slightly glossed, very short on the fore part of the head, 107 where it resembles that of the diving palmipede birds. The wings, when closed, reach one-third down the tail, and when expanded are of a semi-ovate form, broad and rounded. The first quill is very short and narrow ; the third longest, but the second and fourth are scarcely shorter. The quills are all much curved down- wards, the secondaries slightly bent inwards, all rounded. The tail is short and even. , The bill is blueish-black, tinged with brown at the edges ; the inside of the mandibles blackish ; the palate white ; the tongue blackish anteriorly, yellowish behind. Iris pale brown, with a ring of black in the middle. Tarsi and toes blueish grey, tinged with brown ; claws dusky. Head and hind-neck deep brown ; both eye-lids with a white speck. The general colour of the upper parts is dark- grey, each feather broadly margined with black. First row of coverts and all the quills slightly tipped with pale grey ; the quills and tail dark brown, tinged with grey. Throat and fore- neck pure white ; breast chestnut-brown, that colour gra- dually blended with the deep grey of the abdomen. Sides and lower tail-coverts of a lighter grey, the latter slightly tipped with pale-brown. The down and the downy parts of the feathers, are dull dark-greyish-blue, the concealed part of the shafts whitish. The oesophagus is two inches long, its glandular part five-twelfths. The sto- mach is oblong, compressed, muscular, the cuticular coat hard and rugous. Intes- tine twelve inches long, diminishing a little in diameter towards the coeca, which come off at the distance of about an inch from the extremity, and are only ^ of an inch in length. The entire length is 7| inches ; bill |- along the ridge, 9-8ths along the edge ; extent of wings 12£ ; wing from flexure 3| ; longest quill 2|- ; tail 2£ ; tarsus 1£, middle toe 1^-. The female differs very little from the male in external appearance, the brown of the head being merely a little lighter, the brownish-red of the breast less intense, and the white of the fore-neck of somewhat less extent. Length 1\ ; bill } ; extent of wings 11 ; tarsus 1^; middle toe 1 and l-16th inches. Adult individuals vary chiefly with respect to the tints of the breast, that part having more or less of the red or chestnut colour, and sometimes a white band down the centre. The changes that take place in the plumage, as it becomes old and worn, are not very remarkable. The tail-feathers and primary quills are those which suffer most from rubbing. The Dipper frequents the sides of rivers and streams of inferior magnitude, especially such as are clear and rapid, with pebbly or rocky margins. I have met with it in every part of Scotland, as well as in the hilly portions of Cumberland and Westmoreland ; and it is said, by Montagu, to occur in Wales and Devon- shire. In Scotland, it is not peculiar to the mountainous regions, being found in the lowest parts of the Lothians, as well as on the alpine rills of the Grampians, p2 108 and other elevated tracts ; but it is generally more abundant in hilly ground, and, although never common in any district, is nowhere more plentiful than on the. Tweed and its tributaries in the pastoral counties of Peebles and Selkirk. It is also a well-known bird in all the larger Hebrides. It is not only a permanent resident, but seldom shifts its station to any great extent, excepting during con- tinued frosts, when it descends along the streams, and is seen flitting about by the rapids and falls. On lakes having a muddy or peaty bottom I have never observ- ed it ; but it may sometimes be seen on those which are shallow and pebbly at the margins, as on St. Mary's Loch, where I have shot it. The flight of the Dipper is steady, direct, and rapid, like that of the King- fisher, being effected by regularly timed and quick beats of the wings, without intermissions or sailings. It perches on stones or projecting crags by the sides of streams, or in the water, where it may be seen frequently inclining the breast downwards, and jerking up the tail, much in the manner of the Wheatear and Stonechat, and still more of the Wren ; its legs bent, its neck retracted, and its wings slightly drooping. It plunges into the water, not dreading the force of the current, dives and makes its way beneath the surface, generally moving against the stream, and often with surprising speed. It does not, however, immerse itself head foremost, like the Kingfisher, the Tern, or the Gannet ; but either walks out into the water, or alights upon its surface, and then plunges like an Auk or Guil- lemot. I have seen it moving under water in situations where I could observe it with certainty, and I readily perceived that its actions were precisely similar to those of the Divers, Mergansers, and Cormorants, which I have often watched from an eminence as they pursued the shoals of Sand-eels along the sandy shores of the Hebrides. It, in fact, flew — not merely using the wing from the carpal joint, but extending it considerably and employing its whole extent, just as if mov- ing in the air. The general direction of the body in these circumstances is obliquely downwards ; and great force is evidently used to counteract the effects of gravity, the bird finding it difficult to keep itself at the bottom. Montagu well describes the appearance which it presents under such circumstances i — " In one or two instances, where we have been able to perceive it under water, it appeared to tumble about in a very extraordinary manner, with its head downwards, as if picking something ; and at the same time great exertion was used, both by the wings and legs." When searching for food, it does not proceed to great distances under water ; but, alighting on some spot, sinks, and soon reappears in the imme- diate neighbourhood, when it either dives again, or rises on the wing to drop some- where else on the stream, or settle on a stone. The assertion of its walking be- low the water, which some persons have ventured, is not made good by observa- tion nor countenanced by reason. The Dipper is by no means a walking bird : even on land I have never seen it move more than a few steps, which it accom- plished by a kind of leaping motion. Its short legs and long curved claws are 109 very ill adapted for running, but admirably calculated for securing a steady foot- ing on slippery stones, whether above or beneath the surface of the water. My first opportunities of observing this bird moving under water were in Braemar, in 1819 ; since which time I have had much pleasure in taking notice of it in various parts of the country. In September, 1832, I watched a Dipper for some time, on a part of the Tweed, where the current was very rapid. It flew off from the shore, and alighted in the middle of the stream, where it immediately dived. Re-appearing a little way farther up the river, it floated for a few seconds, dived, emerged, and flew to the opposite bank, on reaching which it again disap- peared under water for a short time, and thus continued its exertions. When perched on a stone near the shore, it usually makes short incursions into the water, apparently for the purpose of procuring food, and returns to its station. On these occasions it is not difficult to approach it, provided due precaution be used ; but in general it is shy and easily alarmed. In August, 1834, while ascending White Coom, the highest mountain in Dumfriesshire, accompanied by a boy, I observed a Dipper retreating beneath a large stone, over which the water fell, in the midst of a streamlet that flowed along the bottom of a narrow scar or rut. Imagining that its nest or young might be concealed there, we went up to the place, and, on seeing the bird behind the little waterfall, endeavoured to catch it, on which it sallied forth, plunged into a pool, and attempted to escape down the stream, but without success, for we met it at every turn, and it was obliged to betake itself again to its retreat. We now turned off the water from the stone, when it again plunged into the pool, and after some turnings, at length effected its escape. This bird on emerging at some distance, flew off: and I considered it strange that it had not used its wings from the beginning, as it certainly could have more easily escaped through the air than through the water. The chace afforded another rare opportunity of viewing its subaqueous flight, which, in all probability, was caused by excessive alarm. On being wounded, it commonly plunges into the water, flies beneath its sur- face to the shore, and conceals itself among the stones or under the bank. In fact, on all such occasions, if enough of life remains, it is sure to hide itself, so that one requires to look sharply after it. In this respect it greatly resembles the Com- mon Gallinule, or Water-hen. In the winter of 1829, 1 shot one on the Almond, which flew to the other side, walked deliberately out into the water, disappeared, and slowly emerged under a bank at some distance, where I found it after cross- ing the stream. Another had just strength sufficient to fly into a deep hole under a bridge on the Yarrow, partially filled with water, on which it was found floating, dead. In August, 1834, I shot a Dipper on Mannor Water, in Tweeddale, when it flew off, dived, and hid itself under a bank, on which I forded the stream and endeavoured to secure it, but it slipped out under water, swam down the current twenty yards or so, and got under a large stone, where it was traced. The intro- 110 duction of the gun-rod only caused the persecuted bird to retreat as far as it could, and when I was employed in removing some pebbles and gravel from behind the stone, it slipped out under water, and proceeded down the stream a considerable way before it rose to breathe. I noticed the place where it dived in under the bank, and it being at length obliged to come up to respire I met the bird with my hand, and so secured it. Men are not much accustomed to regard with interest or compassion the suf- ferings of animals, especially of the smaller species ; and although the death of an Elephant at Exeter 'Change, or a Giraffe in Windsor Park, may make a great noise — that of a Mouse in a trap, or a Snipe in a springe, is as little considered as the fall of a leaf or a flake of snow. The most melancholy ornithological exhibi- tion that I remember to have witnessed, was that of a wounded Dipper, which was shot through the lungs, above Cramond Bridge, near Edinburgh. It stood still without attempting to fly off, apparently insensible to all external objects, its legs bent, its wings drooping, its head declined. The blood was oozing from its side and gurgling in its windpipe, which the poor bird made ineffectual efforts to clear. At intervals, a convulsive heaving of the chest took place, followed by an effort to vomit ; and in this state the sufferer stood for five minutes until I got over the stream to it, when it expired in my hand. In the agony of death, the pupil became contracted to a mere point, and presently after dilated; when the lower eyelid gradually rose and covered the eye. This is commonly the case in birds, which do not expire with the eyes open, like man and most quadrupeds. I may here remark that there are two very expeditious modes of killing a wounded bird : one, first shewn to me by my friend Mr. Audubon, consists of squeezing with the finger and thumb the sides of the bird against its heart, which in a very few seconds ceases to act : the other, which is still more rapidly effec- tual, is to introduce a pin between the occiput and atlas, and thus lacerate the spinal cord. When wounded and caught, the Dipper struggles hard, grasping firmly with the feet, but does not attempt to bite. I mention this circumstance as common to certain species of birds, such as the Fieldfare, Blackbird, and Starling, which, without possessing the power of annoying their enemy, yet do not tamely suffer themselves to be destroyed, but struggle to the last, undismayed and ready to use the slightest chance of escape. Other species, equal in strength, such as the Snipe, the Golden Plover, and the Lapwing, do not struggle so vigorously, but meet their fate in a quiet and apparently stupid manner. Some birds, again, such as the Titmice and some Sylvice, although evidently extremely frightened on being seized, watch every opportunity of biting. I need scarcely add that some, as the Kestril and Sparrowhawk, grasp and bite with as much good will as effect. These diversities of character may in general be traced to differences in organization ; but the general rules or laws to which one might attempt to reduce them are not easily detected. Ill The food of the Dipper is said, by authors, to consist of small fishes, roe, and water-insects ; and there is nothing incredible in this, although these persons have not asserted that they have observed fish or their eggs in the stomach of this spe- cies. I have opened not a few, at all seasons of the year, and have never found any other substances than Lymnece, Ancyli, Coleoptera, and grains of gravel. As to the ova and fry of the Salmon, there is no evidence whatever that the Dip- per ever swallows them ; and, therefore, the persecution to which this bird has been subjected in consequence of the mere suspicion, ought to cease until the fact be proved. With respect to the sand and gravel, which many birds, insectivorous as well as granivorous, swallow, I may here remark that none of it, so far as I have observed, ever passes into the intestines, excepting in the tribe of Geese and Ducks. The Dipper is generally seen in pairs, sometimes singly, and, at the breeding season, in families, but never in flocks. To the naturalist, its occurrence along the streams of our wild and mountainous districts is peculiarly delightful. Even shepherds and labourers take special notice of it ; the Water Crow, as it is com- monly named, being familiar to the inhabitants of such districts as it frequents. Its song is short, but lively, and continued at intervals. It bears no resemblance to that of any species of Thrush, excepting the Redwing, but is not unlike the subdued song of the Starlings. This gentle warble is not confined to any period of the year, but may be heard during sunny weather at all seasons. Its common note, which it frequently utters while perched on a stone or while flying along the stream, resembles the syllable, chit. Early in spring the Dipper begins to form its nest, so that its first brood is abroad at the same time with that of the Blackbird. The nest is bulky, composed of mosses, grass, and roots, lined with dry leaves and covered with an arch of the same materials. It is placed among the moss on the bank of a stream, or among the roots of a tree in a concealed place overhanging the water, sometimes in a crevice of the rock, or under a bridge. The eggs, five or six in number, are of a regular oval form, rather pointed, pure white, generally eleven-twelfths of an inch long, and nearly nine-twelfths in their greatest breadth. The general colour of the upper parts of the young bird when fledged is dull grey, lighter than that of the adult ; the head and hind-neck are of the same colour as the back, all the feathers being margined with brownish-black. The wings are brownish-black ; the quills, alula, and larger coverts margined with grey, the latter slightly tipped with greyish-white. The throat, fore-neck, and breast are of a delicate pale-buff or cream colour intermixed with blackish, the margins of all the feathers being of the latter colour. The upper and hind part of the sides, the abdomen, and lower tail-coverts, are dull grey, mixed with cream colour, and the proximal tail-coverts are chiefly of the latter. The tail is like the wings, but tipped with brownish-white. The bill and eyes are as in the adult ; but the tarsi 112 are paler anteriorly, as are the toes, and the claws are hair-brown, margined with whiteish. At the first autumnal moult, which takes place in September, the young assume nearly the appearance of the adults : the fore-neck becomes white, the breast dusky, with more or less red, and the head brown ; but it is not until the second change that the colours are completed. Several curious circumstances are observed with respect to the bill of the Dipper. In the first place, when the bird is young, it precisely resembles that of the genus Turdus, being merely a little more slender ; but when the bird is advanced in age, it is not merely proportionally, but actually much shorter, and the tips, by being rubbed, become similar to those of the bill of the Woodpeckers, although less neatly wedged. In this respect, the Dipper resembles the Oyster- catcher ; and the change in the form of the bill is caused by the same action in both species. Again, in old birds, the thin edges of the mandibles become marked with parallel cuts, similar to those of the mandibles of the Gannet, although gene- rally perpendicular, as in the Jabiru. The Dipper, which in the form of its bill and feet, and in the structure of its digestive organs, is allied to the Thrushes, Pittae, and Chamaezae, is singular in respect to its plumage, which is in a great measure that of an aquatic bird. The parts of the body which in these birds are bare of down, are in it closely covered ; bristles are entirely wanting at the base of the bill ; the feathers on the fore part of the head are very short ; the wings and tail are also short ; and the body being nearly as broad as deep, the adaption for floating and diving is obvious, although the feet are not webbed, and the claws rather large, compressed, and curved. These latter circumstances shew that the bird is not fitted for pursuing fishes under water ; and, as I have remarked, although authors conjecture that fish forms part of its food, none of them assert that they know this to be the case from actual observation. The digestive organs are entirely analogous to those of the Thrushes, and other allied genera, but bear no resemblance to those of the piscivorous birds, the oesophagus being narrow and the stomach a true gizzard. The bird is destin- ed to feed upon aquatic insects and mollusca, which adhere to the stones under the water. It is, therefore, fitted for making its way to the bottom at small depths, and maintaining itself there for a short time — a minute or more ; in con- formity with which design, its plumage is short and dense, its tail short, its wings short, broad, and strong, its bill unincumbered by bristles and of the proper form for seizing small objects. Having its feet constructed like those of a Thrush, but proportionally stronger, the Dipper thus forms a connecting link between the slender-billed passerine birds and the diving palmipedes, as the Kingfisher seems to unite them with the plunging birds of the same order, or perhaps with the Herons. 113 In this account of a bird with which I have been in some measure familiar for years, I have refrained from all poetical embellishment, and confined myself entire- ly to the results of observation ; judging that histories of birds constructed on the plan of a fashionable romance are not such as can gratify the taste of the real lover of nature. And in truth the realities of existence are much more admirable than the creations of the most unbridled imagination. ON THE SILURIAN AND OTHER ROCKS OF THE DUDLEY AND WOLVERHAMPTON COAL-FIELD,* FOLLOWED BY A SKETCH PROVING THE LICKEY QUARTZ ROCK TO BE OF THE SAME AGE AS THE CARADOC SANDSTONE. By Roderick Impey Murckison, Esq., F.G.S., V.P.R.S. The author having previously shown that the coal-field extending from Dud- ley into the adjacent parts of Staffordshire is surrounded and overlaid by the lower member of the new red sandstone, laid before the Society an Ordnance map, geo- logically coloured, and then proceeded to give, 1st, A. general sketch of the struc- ture of the coal-field in descending order : 2ndly, Detailed accounts of the Silu- rian rocks which protrude through the coal measures or lie beneath them : 3rdly, A sketch of the quartz rocks of the Lickey : 4thly, A description of the trap rocks : 5thly, General remarks upon the dislocation of the stratified deposits ; and the dependence of these phenomena upon the intrusion of trap rocks. 1. Coal measures. — In most parts of the productive coal-field the coal mea- sures are covered by a considerable quantity of detritus, the greater part of which has been derived from the breaking up of the new red sandstone which once overspread this tract, with which are mixed, especially in the northern part of the field, a few boulders of northern origin and some from the surrounding region. General and detailed sections are then given of the regular succession of the carboniferous strata ; for the greater part of which in the neighbourhood of Dud- ley, and for much valuable information, Mr. Murchison expresses great obliga- tion to Mr. Downing ; the best sections of the Wolverhampton field having been afforded by Mr. J. Barker. The principal points of novelty consist in drawing a * The following Paper, which was read before the Geological Society of London, on the 11th of May, is published with the permission of the author. — Ed. VOL. I. Q 114 clear distinction between the upper or thicker measures, which contain the ten- yard coal, generally known as the Dudley coal, and the underlying carbonaceous strata, or ironstone measures. The latter, rising from beneath the ten-yard coal, range to the N.N.E. from Wednesbury and Bilston, in a long tract between the parallels of Walsall and Wolverhampton, extending to Cannock Chace. At the southern end of the field, emerging from beneath the ten-yard coal, they occupy the district between Stourbridge and Hales Owen, containing the well-known " fire clay ;" though some of the most valuable of the Wolverhampton iron-stones, beneath those called the " New Mine," are here wanting, viz. the " Gubbins," and " Blue Flats." This poverty in the lower coal measures extends over all the district south of Dudley. In the northern and southern end of the district, these lower measures represent the whole carboniferous system ; and in various natural sections near the Hagley and Clent hills, the author has detected them, in very feeble bands, passing upwards and conformably into the lower new red sandstone. Besides the open works formerly alluded to by him in previous memoirs, Mr. M. now states, that his former conjectures respecting the passage of the ten-yard coal beneath the new red sandstone which flanks it on the east and west, have been verified by the efforts of the Earl of Dartmouth, who, after sinking to a depth of 151 yards through strata of the lower new red sandstone, has very recently suc- ceeded by further borings, carried down to the depth of 290 yards, in discovering the one-foot, two-foot, and " Brooch" coal seams, which overlie the ten-yard coal throughout the Dudley field. These operations have taken place at Christchurch, one mile beyond the superficial boundary of the coal field. Besides the plants so common in all carboniferous tracts, the author has ob- served the presence of animal organic remains. Unio3 of several species are abundant ; and in the northern or lower part of the field he has extracted frag- ments of fishes, which have been named by Professor Agassiz, Megalichihys Hibbertii, M. Sauroides, and Diptodus gibbus ; together with scales, coprolites, &c, proving an identity between the animals deposited in these coal measures and those of Edinburgh, described by Dr. Hibbert. The same species, it will be recollected, have been pointed out by Sir Philip Egerton, as occurring in the N. Staffordshire coal-field, and one of them has been observed by Mr. Prestwich in the coal-field of Coalbrook Dale. Mr. Murchison, however, remarks that he has not yet observed any marine remains in these coal measures similar to those of Coalbrook Dale ; and nothing yet found can invalidate the inference that the coal of Dudley and Wolverhampton may have been accumulated exclusively in fresh water, b. Silurian rocks. — The mountain or carboniferous limestone and the old red sandstone, which in so many other parts of England form the support of coal tracts, being wanting, this field reposes directly on rocks which Mr. Murchison proves to consist of the two upper members of the Silurian system, viz., the " Ludlow 115 rocks," and " Wenlock limestone."* As, however, these rocks rise up irregu- larly, like separate islands, through the surrounding coal measures, and not in their regular order of superposition, so it was obviously impracticable to have determined their relative age by any local evidences ; and hence no attempts could have been made to distinguish the younger from the older deposits, until the structure and organic remains of the different members of the Silurian system had been fairly worked out in other districts, where these types were fully and clearly displayed in their regular order. 2. Ludlow rocks. — These rocks appear at the surface in three detached points in this coal-field, viz., Sedgeley, Turner's Hill, and the Hayes. At Sedge- ley they are thrown up in an elongated ellipse, very much resembling a large inverted ship, of which Sedgeley Beacon, 630 feet above the sea, may be consider- ed as the keel. The upper Ludlow rock, though not thick, is plainly marked by containing the Laptcena lata, the Serpula gigantea, &c, and by overlying a limestone which is in every respect identical with that of Aymestrey or the middle member of the Ludlow rocks, presenting the same lithological structure, i. e. a dull argillaceous grey limestone, which among other well-known shells, such as the Terebratula Wilsoni and the Lingula, contains also the beautiful Pentame- rus Knightii so entirely peculiar to this stratum. As at Ludlow and Aymestrey, this limestone of Sedgeley, known here as the " black limestone," forms an excel- lent cement under water. Turner's Hill, a small elevation between Gornals and Himley, is composed of Ludlow rocks ; and the Hayes is a narrow short tongue of the same, with a cen- tral baud of limestone, which rises at a high angle from beneath the coal mea» sures, on the main road from Stourbridge to Hales Owen, a portion of the lower. Ludlow rock being also well exposed. 2a. Wenlock limestone. — This limestone formation is much more largely developed than that of the Ludlow rocks, constituting several ellipsoidal masses near the town of Dudley, which have been long worked and extensively known among collectors, from the number and beauty of their organic remains. Hence the rock has been usually termed the " Dudley limestone." As, however, it was impossible to have ascertained in this district the relative age of these rocks, their different members being independently in contact with the coal measures, the nor menclature of the Silurian system already selected is adhered to, because in Shropshire the Wenlock limestone, in its fullest standard, rises out regularly from beneath the Ludlow rocks, and the latter passing beneath the old red sandstone and carboniferous limestone (both of which are wanting at Dudley) complete the proofs required. The author, therefore, entreats geologists not to employ the * There is one spot, however, within the author's knowledge where the underground works reached a thick mass of red shale or marl beneath the coal-field ; but the works hav-. ing been long abandoned, no correct knowledge of these red rocks can be now obtained. q2 116 term Dudley limestone, except as the synonym of Wenlock, with which he pro- ceeds to show its lithological and geological identity. This limestone is described in detail at the Castle Hill, Wren's Nest, and Hurst Hill, in all of which it forms ellipsoidal elevated masses, 500 to 650 feet high, protruding through the coal measures in lines parallel to similarly shaped masses of Ludlow rock at Sedgeley, &c; i. e., tending from 10° E. of N., to 10° W. of S. Two strong bands of limestone occur in these hills, overlaid and separated from each other by shale, charged with numerous small concretions of impure limestone, the " bavin" of the workmen. The limestone having been quarried out from these bands, which have been raised up from a common centre, and disposed with a quaquaversal dip at high angles, it is evident that the hills themselves would ere now have been demo- lished, had they been composed throughout of calcareous masses of equal purity ; but the " bavin" or refuse composes the framework of these perforated hills, and preserves their outline. The Wenlock shale, or underlying part of the formation, constitutes the nucleus of the Wren's Nest, the largest and most perfect of these ellipsoids, and of this the author gives a detailed plan. These ellipsoids usually feather off at one extremity with a broken-down margin, and thus complete their resemblance in physical features to ancient craters of eruption.* The greatest superficial extent of the Wenlock formation is in the neighbourhood of Walsall, where it rises both in dome-shaped masses and in rectilinear ridges, running from S.S.W. to N.N.E., parallel to the axis of the Wolverhampton coal-field, of which one of these ridges forms the eastern boundary, the limestone plunging beneath the coal-field at a rapid angle. The other ridge is continuous with the new red sandstone of the Bar-beacon, and is known as the Hey Head lime. In the Dud- ley, or ten-yard coal tract, few works have yet proceeded downwards beneath the lower coals, and hence the subjacent Silurian rocks are little known to the miners. A remarkable and accidental discovery of a mass of limestone took place recently, near Dudley Port, on the rise side of a great fault, which bounds the downcast of the coal, called " Dudley Trough." Having worked out the coal on the upcast side, a shaft was sunk in and upon the southern side of this fault, when, at a depth of 208 yards, and about 100 yards below the exhausted coal strata, a mass of lime- stone was met with, which proved to be near seven yards thick, and of very good crystalline quality. Being found to extend in a form more or less horizontal, ex- tensive works were promptly opened in it for the extraction of a rock so precious in the heart of the coal-field. When the author visited it, a considerable cavity had been formed, in which no trace of moisture was discernible, whilst it was known- that copious streams of water were flowing in the coal measures overhead. He accounts for this mass of limestone being hermetically excluded from the per- * See account of Valley of Woolhope for similar phenomena on a larger scale, and with a greater number of concentric and enveloping formations. — Proceedings Geol. Soc., vol. ii., p. 15. 117 eolation of water, by the impervious nature of the Silurian shale which separates the coal measures from the limestone, and by the shafts being sunk in the fault itself, which, like other lines of fissure, is filled up with clay and other materials, so closely compacted as to form complete dams to water. At the north-western edge of the subterranean excavation, the fault was stripped, and the materials of which it is composed having thinned out, the limestone was found in contact with a bed of coal, the edges of which appeared bent, both the coal and the lime- stone having a slick ensides polish. By boring through the limestone, a second calcareous stratum was found, thus completing the proofs of identity between this underground mass and that which rises to the surface in the hills of Dudley Castle and the Wren's Nest. In the northern or Wolverhampton field, where the whole of the coal mea- sures, even to beneath the lowest beds of ironstone, (the blue flats), are traversed by shafts not exceeding 120 yards in depth, the field has been proved at several points to rest on shale and impure limestone, the equivalents of the Ludlow and Wenlock formations. For lists of the fossils in this group of Upper Silurian rocks, the author refers to previous memoirs, announcing that more perfect lists will shortly be laid before the public in his large work upon the Silurian system. 3. Lickey Quartz rock, Caradoc sandstone, (Lower Silurian rocks).—' Dr. Buckland first called the attention of geologists to the Lickey quartz rock ;* and, showing that it had been one of the principal magazines of the quartz peb- bles in the new red sandstone and diluvium of the southern counties, he further compared it with certain rocks in situ in the neighbourhood of the Wrekin. The Rev. J. Yates has also clearly described the lithological structure of this rock, and has briefly touched upon some of its fossils.-]- Mr. Murchison undertakes to prove the true geological position of these rocks. He shows that they lie in the direct prolongation of the Silurian rocks of Dudley, and that, being partially flanked and covered by thin patches of coal, they emerge through a surrounding area of the lower new red sandstone and calcareous red conglomerate (described in previous memoirs). Unlike, however, the succession in the Dudley field, there are here no traces of the Ludlow rock and Aymestrey limestone. Nor are there masses of any size of the Wenlock limestone ; but shreds only of the shale or lower part of this formation, with some of its well-recognised fossils (Colmers). The lower Silurian rocks rise from beneath the Wenlock shale in thin courses of bastard limestone, alternating with red and green courses of sandstone and shale, the equivalents of those bands which, at various places in Shropshire and at Woolhope in Herefordshire, constitute the top of the formation of Caradoc sand- * Transactions Gcol. Soc, 1st Series, vol. v., p. 507. ■f Transactions Geol. Soc, 2nd Series, vol. iL, p. 137- 118 stones. Like these, they are here underlaid by flag-like sandstones, sometimes rather more argillaceous and approaching to clay slate, the whole passing down into silicious sandstones, both thick and thin bedded. In the latter are casts of sever- al fossils of the Caradoc formation, such as Pentameri of two species, and corals peculiar to it. These fossiliferous strata are well exposed on the eastern side of the hills by recent cuttings, where the new road from Bromsgrove to Birmingham traverses the ridge. The ridge itself, however, consists essentially of quartz rock, which the author shows is nothing more than altered Caradoc sandstone, precisely analogous to that which he has on former occasions pointed out on the flanks of Caer Caradoc, the Wrekin, Stiper Stones, &c. In those districts the passage from a fossiliferous sandstone to a pure quartz rock has been accounted for by the latter being in absolute contact with eruptive masses of igneous origin ; and here it is suggested that the same cause may have operated, though the contact is not visible, because the line of quartz rock is precisely upon the prolongation of the trappean axis of the Rowley Hills, whilst the southern end of the parallel outburst of the Clent Hills is but little distant. Notwithstanding their highly altered con- dition, it is shown that all the quartz rocks throughout this ridge of low hills are uniformly stratified, the dip being either to the E.N.E. or W.S.W., i. e. at right angles to the direction ; and the parallelopipedal fragments into which the rock breaks are shown to be produced by fissures more or less at right angles to the planes of stratification ; these fissures being so numerous where the mass is much altered, as almost to obscure the true laminae of deposit. 4. Trap. — The composition and characters of the trap rocks and basaltic masses of the Rowley Hills are first described, together with the manner in which they are supposed to rise through and cut off the coal upon their flanks. Rocks of similar origin occur at various detached points to the west of Dudley, of which Barrow Hill is the principal, affording the most convincing proofs of the volcanic mass having burst through the carboniferous strata, since the latter are not only highly disturbed and broken, but fragments of coal and coal measures, in highly altered conditions, are found twisted up upon the sides, and even mixed with the trap itself. In the Wolverhampton or northern coal-field, the chief vent of erup- tion is at Pouk Hill, two miles west of Walsall, where the greenstone is arranged in fan-shaped columns. After pointing out distinct evidences of the intrusion of similar rocks at Bentley Forge and the Birch Hills, in some of the old open works near which the trap is seen to overlie the coal, the author gives various sec- tions of subterranean works, which prove the existence of greenstone, in bands more or less horizontal. As these bands of trap have jagged edges, are of limited extent, of exceeding irregularity in thickness, and often produce great alteration upon the inclosing carbonaceous masses, the author has no hesitation in expressing his belief that they are not true beds, but simply wedges of injected matter which 119 have issued from central foci, and have been intruded laterally amid the coal strata ; an opinion formerly expressed by Mr. A. Aikin in an able memoir.* Although these lateral masses of greenstone in the Wolverhampton field are of origin posterior to the accumulation of coal strata, the author does not deny that the tufaceous conglomerates of Hales Owen, which have a strong analogy in composition to a certain class of volcanic grits described in former memoirs, may have been formed contemporaneously with the carboniferous deposits. The trap of the Clent Hills is then briefly described, and is shown to be iden- tical with that of the Abberley Hills, also mentioned in previous memoirs. 5. Principal lines of dislocation. — The whole of this carboniferous tract has been upcast through a cover of new red sandstone, the lower members of which are frequently found to have been dislocated conformably with the inferior carbon- aceous masses, proving (as formerly expressed by Mr. Murchison) that some of the greatest of these movements took place subsequently to the deposits of the red sandstone. In describing the faults along the boundary of the new red sand- stone, he directs particular attention to that of Wolverhampton, where the coal measures dip slightly inwardsirom the line of fissure, along which they are conter- minous with the overlying strata, a fact, perhaps, without parallel in this or the adjacent coal-fields (including Coalbrook Dale), the usual phenomena being that, however disrupted, the carbonaceous or upcast strata always incline outwards, as if they would pass eventually beneath the lower new red sandstone on their flanks. This exception is supposed to have been caused by the upheaving of a subjacent mass of Silurian or trap rocks close to the edge of the line of fault. Having next described the effect of the great longitudinal faults produced by the upcast of the Wenlock limestone of Walsall, he shows that the subterranean mass at Dudley Port, is upon the same parallel, i. e. from N. E. to S.W., if not directly on the same line of fissure. This line of eruption is strongly marked on both edges of the northern half of the coal-field extending to Cannock Chace. Another great axis of elevation which affects the Dudley field, diverges at a considerable angle from the former. It is prominently marked by the line of the Rowley Hills, and after concealment for a certain distance beneath the red sand- stone to the S. of Hales Owen, re-appears in the ridge of the Lickey quartz rock. The lofty trappean ridge of the Clent Hills is parallel to this last-mentioned axis. It is further pointed out as remarkable that at the angle formed by the confluence of these diverging lines of elevation, the Silurian or fundamental rocks of the tract are raised in inflated ellipsoidal forms from common centres, the strata having a quaquaversal dip, in one case completing the outlines of a very perfect valley of elevation. The author infers that such curvatures are exactly what might be ex- pected at the point of greatest flexure in the axis of the coal-field, where the volca- • Transactions Gcol. Soc, 1st Series, vol. iii., p. 251. 120 nic matter, unable to find issue, has produced these inflated masses. There are numberless faults in this coal-field to which no reference is made, it being stated that much additional labour is required to give a complete history of them ; but attention is called to the Birch Hill, Lanesfield, and Barrow Hill faults, which are the principal transverse faults, and which the author conceives may be explained upon the principles of the theory of Mr. Hopkins, or as cross fractures which have resulted from elevation of the coal-field en masse. The memoir concludes with referring to the importance of one of the problems to which the author has been directing public attention during the last few years, viz., the probable extension of carboniferous tracts of the central counties beneath the surrounding new red sandstone ; and he rejoices that the deductions which necessarily follow from his observations in this and the adjacent coal-fields, have recently been so ably supported by the masterly observations of Mr. Prestwich upon Coalbrook Dale, with whose opinions he entirely coincides. The quantity, therefore, of unwrought coal beneath the new red sandstone of Shropshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, &c, though previously omitted in sta- tistical data, must form an element in all calculations concerning the probable duration of the carboniferous wealth of the empire. NOTES OF A BOTANIST. Medicinal Plants applied to Vegetation. There is an expression used by Gardeners ; namely, that " plants draw up plants," which would seem to indicate that plants do reciprocally affect each other, and that the fact is admitted. A gentleman once told me that a choice exotic, exposed sub die, flowered in winter, and though surprised by frost, suffered no injury; but this resistance he attributed to a dose of brandy which he administer- ed to the plant ! Be this as it may, there is one extraordinary fact which I have verified by direct experiment : I had read somewhere of the sanative or healing effects of Chamomile on some particular plants ; but I confess I treated the state- ment as fanciful. The remarkable effects of the revivification of a plant, appa- rently dying, by placing two small pots of Chamomile beneath its branches, and pointed out to me in a gentleman's garden at Leicester, induced me to apply the curious remedy to several plants, as China Roses, a shrubby Calceolaria and 121 Malva, &c, all sickly and apparently dying ; I however succeeded in restoring every one of them to health and vigour. It is also a very curious circumstance that the Chamomile is materially affected, and suffers in its turn ; indeed generally dies. Some systematic action supervenes, and the question is altogether one, not merely curious in itself, but promises a new field of observation. How far other odoriferous or medicinal herbs, as Feverfew, Sage, Tansy, &c, may affect particu- lar plants, it would certainly be interesting to inquire. Plants sometimes Plant their own Seeds* This is emphatically the case with the Arachis hypogcea, or " ground nut." When the seed is fully formed, and partly mature, the branches which clutch the seed-vessels begin to curve toward the earth ; and in process of time the pod disap- pears, having been forced into the earth by the plant, where it lies buried, there to vegetate at a depth of about one to two inches. This plant, therefore, provides for its perpetuity in a singular manner ; the offspring is kept at home, and not suffered to wander vagabond, or the seeds become like other seeds, " as a rolling thing before the whirlwind." The chances of the breeze are, in this case, deprived of their prey. I have watched this curious provision in the Arachis hypogcea with much interest. In the Nasturtium something similar may be observed : the spi- ral coils contiguous to the seeds seem concerned in the office of immuring them, which may occasionally be noticed to penetrate a sandy soil. This phenomenon, however, is more apparent in the Cyclamen, where the seeds will often disappear about the period of their maturity, the plant having hidden them in the earth, and the coils may be sometimes observed to form a complete plexus or sheath round the seed-pod. Plants sometimes Water their own Roots. The most remarkable example of this extraordinary phenomenon, occurs in the Raining or Fountain Tree, or the Spartium nubigenum ? in Ferro, one of the Canary Islands, forming the only source of water in the whole Island, and at which living stream all are supplied, " themselves, their little ones, and their cat- tle." The water is dispensed to the inhabitants by the insular authorities. In this case, the atmospheric aqueous vapour is condensed by the branches and foliage, and trickles from them into the excavation at the base of the tree, said to be allied to the Laurus indica. Of the same description is the Cobea pluviosa of the American Continent, and another in the same hemisphere, of which we have only an imperfect account, but said on the slightest touch to emit a copious shower. There are other plants, however, which are supplied with a distillatory appara- VOL. I. R 122 tus connected with their organization, for they are true alembics. The stem of a particular kind of Bamboo, and also of a Cissus, or wild Vine, have been found charged with limpid and wholesome water, grateful to the weary and thirsty tra- veller. In these last, it is obvious the liquid is an elaboration of the plant. This, too, is the case with the Agapanthus umbellatus, or African Lily, which often distils water from its gracefully pendant leaves ; and in one instance this distilla- tion was so copious during the night, as nearly to destroy a work-box, accidentally left beneath its foliage : hence the intention is obviously to enable the plant to water its own roots. It belongs to the parched and sandy desert of Africa. The Calla cethiopica is another instance of the same kind : it is a native of the Cape. We almost esteem it as a half-aquatic ; and yet it is found a denizen of the desert — its natal soil an arid sand. I am informed, however, that an individual who communicated the fact, and brought a magnificent specimen to this country, which I have seen, has found this plant where the ground around it was as wet as if it had been saturated with a heavy dew or a gentle shower of rain. The Calla wthiopica, like its congener, the Agapanthus umbellatus, distils water from the tips of its leaves, and in both cases the process takes place during the night. Not the least singular among the phenomena of the vegetation of the desert, is the existence of succulent plants ; precisely where we should least of all expect to find them ; such as the Cactuses, Mesembryanthemums, and the Stapelias ; the last of these being emphatically called " the Vegetable Camel." The curious berry met with by Mr. Campbell, in the desert, full of limpid water, and which some little mice were observed to treasure up in their retreats, will also be remem- bered, and suggest a train of singular and useful reflections. But the most curious of all is, certainly, the Tillandsia, or Water Withe, of Jamaica, belonging to the curious tribe of Epiphytes — dwellers on trees, though they do not live upon their kind, like parasites. The Tillandsias are associated in their port and habit with the Bromelias and Silbergias. The Tillandsia has what may be called a hollow stem ; it is, in fact, a tank or cistern, formed by the leaves which overlap each other in an imbricated arrangement, and in ordinary conditions of the atmosphere constitutes an envelope alike impervious to air and moisture. This tank catches and retains the condensed dews — very copious in tropical countries — or the early and latter rains, retaining the supply when that which falls upon the ground is promptly absorbed by the thirsty and porous soil. Here, then, is a living well where insects and birds may slake their thirst, and quadrumana and others among the Scansores may apply to as containing a cool and refreshing beverage. So far there is much to admire in the beneficent pro- vision : but the tale of interest is not half unfolded. In Earl Fitzwilliam's exten- sive conservatories, at Wentworth House, there were two plants of the Tillandsia, and being in different compartments were subjected to varied temperature. In the one, the temperature of the external atmosphere was 71° Fah., and in the other 123 8 degrees higher. I was surprised, however, as well as delighted to find that the temperature of the water in the " stem" in both cases was 68° Fah. It is obvious, therefore, that this equable temperature, of which the plant must necessarily par- take, is maintained by the equal ratio of evaporation, which will necessarily cor- respond with the measure of temperature in the atmospheric medium. It is thus that the plant will possess a medium temperature amid the vicissitudes and transi- tions of a fluctuating clime ; having a remarkable correspondence with that com- pensation by which the animal machine is enabled to maintain a temperature of 98°, whether traversing the snows of Lapland, or the sands of Nigritia. The overshadowing foliage of the tree, among the branches of which the Tillandsia takes up its abode, will contribute to the check of the cooling effects of radiation. There is, however, another fact, which I have experimentally ascertained, still more wonderful : as soon as the external air becomes dry and parched, the leaves, previously even air-tight at their junction, relax and open, and the water may be seen to trickle down the stem to moisten the roots. The Tillandsia, therefore, literally waters its own roots. Opening and Shutting of Flowers. At first sight, these phenomena would appear perplexed and somewhat difficult of solution ; but, in some cases at least, I have found that the question may be determined by experiments. The characteristic feature of the opening and shut- ting of the flower, is its dependence on hygrometry — the moisture or dryness of the atmosphere. Towards evening, the flowers of the Ranunculus acris and Daisy gradually close and droop. The Anagallis arvensis is specially sensible of the coming shower, and multitudes among the numerous tribes of vegetation obey the same law, and must be familiar to all, — for instance, the blossom of Esch- scholtzia californica. If the common Everlastings, or the flowers of the Xeran- themum lucidum or proligerum, the Gnaphalium faetidum, or the shrubby Gna- phaliums of the Cape, the Ammobium alatum, and others be plunged into cold water, they will slowly close ; but when immersed into hot water, the petals instantaneously collapse. When the moisture evaporates in a dry and warm atmosphere, these flowers will as regularly open — experiments which I have often repeated with all of them ; and so far the question seems sufficiently clear, namely, that the opening of the blossom is connected with a warm and dry state of the atmosphere, and its closure with a humid condition of the ambient air. But " non fades omnibus una;" there are not only exceptions, but the cases are numerous. When many plants go to sleep, some there are just awake ; of this description is the Evening Primrose and its nocturnal associates. The Cereus grandiflora, and Stelis micraniha are exotics of a kindred character. So that beings are wakeful during the ordinary season of repose, both in the animal and r2 124 vegetable kingdom. The physiology of these nocturnal flowers, it is evident, must be of a different character from those that unfold by day and repose at night. We have parallel phenomena which may be adverted to and adduced in illustra- tion ; and, as in the cases previously cited, may be made the subject of direct ex- periment. If an orbicular mass of the Lycopodiurn circinale be introduced into warm water it will unfold. The same thing occurs with the seed-vessel of the Fig-marigold ( Mesevnbryanthemum ) of the Cape when put in water. In the lat- ter case, the seed-vessel expands, and the seeds are scattered when moistened with the tropical rains, and under circumstances which ensure the germination of the seeds. That curious plant, the Rose of Jericho^ ( Hierochuntica anastatica ) , which inhabits the borders of the wilderness or the desert, is constructed with a similar design, and presents analogous phenomena ; for the same agency that shuts the flower of the Xeranthemwm, and closes the imbricated calix of the Centurea montana, contrariwise unlocks its tiny branches. Accordingly, when it is intro- duced into warm water, a little above the junction of the branches with the stem, these branches gradually open, — another feature of the same beneficent arrange- ment apparent " in the length and breadth" of creation. The blast of the desert uproots the tiny plant, and flings it on the waves of the Nile or the Red Sea — the branches open and scatter the seeds that they previously enclosed on the sur- face of the stream, where they can alone germinate. In the meanwhile the withered plant is carried towards the Delta of the Nile, or the embouchure of the Red Sea ; and having fulfilled its office and provided for the perpetuity of its kind, is engulphed in the ocean. The little seeds, floating hither and thither, bud and begin to grow ; the wave at length lands them on the banks of the river, and a friendly breeze wafts them back to the soil of their ancestry, where they take root and spring up under the influence of tropical dews by which they are refresh- ed every night. I have a specimen of the Rose of Jericho, a great part of a cen- tury old, which has not lost its- susceptibility of opening when introduced into warm water. My next communications will embrace the subjects of " The Vital Principle in Plants," " Monphology," and " Spontaneous Production." J. Murray. ON THE CIRCULATION IN THE INVERTEBRATA. By Langston Parker. All animals possess a series of organs by which the fluids which are the product of digestion are distributed to the various parts of the body, to serve the purposes of nutrition and support. The sum of the actions of these organs is termed circulation ; and the aggregate of parts by which it is performed, the vas- cular system. In the whole animal series the organs of circulation are infinitely varied, bearing a strict relation to the degree the animal holds in the scale of being, to its mode of life, and the number of internal organs it possesses. In the lower animals, we find their bodies everywhere impregnated with fluids which are not contained in distinct canals, but pervade every part. In a higher grade, the fluids are contained in distinct canals ; in the course of these canals are situated, in certain classes, organs which receive and propel the circulating fluids, for the purpose of giving them an activity and force of movement not impressed upon them by their mere containing vessels. In vertebrate animals, these organs are termed hearts, and are variable in the four orders of vertebrate animals in their number, their situation, and mode of action. In this paper I shall notice the dis- position of the vascular system, and the peculiarities of the circulation in the inver- tebrate classes of animals ; tracing them from the simple Zoophyte through the numerous families of molluscous and articulated animals, which are comprehend- ed in the system of Linneus, in the two grand classes of insects and worms, and by Cuvier in the three classes of articulata,* mollusca,f and radiata.^ In the zoophytes there is no true circulating system. In the infusoria, polypes, and the inhabitants of corals and sponges, the uniform gelatinous granular mass of which the body is composed, is universally impregnated with fluids, and the func- tions of composition and decomposition, in the opinion of Carus, are performed by mere elective attraction and repulsion dependant on organic laws. In the medusae,§ echinodermata||, andholothuriae,^ a rudimentary class of vessels has been described by Cuvier, which opening from the intestines, pass either towards the organs of respiration, or towards the surface of the body, which in these instances is probably a respiratory organ as the skin is, in some degree, in certain reptiles. * Animals in which the general envelope of the body is divided, by transverse folds, into a certain number of rings. ■f Animals with a soft contractile skin, destitute, as the articulata, of a skeleton. X In which the organs of motion are disposed as radii round a centre. § Sea-blubber. || Prickly-skinned zoophytes ; from 1%!**, a hedgehog, and St^«, the skin. % The Portuguese man of war. 126 In the acephalous* mollusca we have distinct organs of respiration, in the shape of rudimentary gills, and into these organs the veins returning the blood from the body enter. From the gills the blood is sent to the heart, and thence to the body at large, from whence it is again returned to the gills or organs of respi- ration. In the ascidiae there is but one sac, which fulfils the office of a heart ; in the teredo navalis there are four : the whole order of acephalous mollusca pre- sent great varieties in the number of hearts, as also in their form and position. The teredines alone have red blood, probably owing to the excessive stimulus required by the muscles which move the boring shells. In molluscous animals generally, the circulation is double ; the blood passing through the gills, or lungs, or whatever name the respiratory organ may bear, as well as through the body. The passage of the blood through the body is assisted by a muscular heart placed in the course of the blood ; the heart is generally single and aortic, that is, the single ventricle sends the blood to the body, after having received it from the or- gans of respiration : the circulation of fishes, on the contrary, is different, though performed by a single heart, which is termed pulmonary, because it receives the blood from the body and transmits it to the lungs. When the heart is single and sends the blood first to the lungs, it is termed pulmonary ; when the fluid is trans- mitted first to the body, it is termed aortic. The veins in the cephalopodousf orders of mollusca have numerous glandular appendages, which appear to absorb fluids from the abdomen and pass them to the blood. The annelidae;): have an arterial and venous circulation, consisting of a central dorsal vessel, which is the artery, and two lateral vessels, which are veins ; there are no hearts placed in the course or centre of the circulation ; the movement of the nutritive fluid is extremely slow, and performed either by the power of its con- taining vessels, or the pressure of the surrounding parts. In these animals the blood is uniformly red but does not exceed in temperature the medium in which they live. In the crustaceae there is an elongated sac upon the dorsal surface of the body, which is the heart ; this organ which receives the blood from the organs of respiration and propels it to the body, approaches in its appearance the dorsal vessel of insects ; it is, in fact, merely a dilated vessel, of which the coats are thicker and more powerful than those of the other parts of the circulating system. In the arachnidae§ the circulation does not differ materially from the crustaceae, the function is performed by a dorsal vessel, which is a rudimentary heart sending out blood vessels which are arteries, and receiving others which are veins. * Mollusca without apparent head, which is concealed under the mantle in the centre of the body. •f- In which the organs of motion, feet or tentaculse, are supported by the head. $ Red-blooded worms. § The Spider genus, differing from the Insecta in many particulars, and forming the third class of articulated animals in the Regne Animal, of Cuyier. 127 If the back of the silk-worm be attentively examined, we shall observe upon it a dark coloured line continually in a state of oscillatory movement. This organ is analagous to the heart of other animals ; and although much discussion has arisen among naturalists, with regard to its nature and use, the researches of Carus have established beyond doubt, that it is the central organ of the circulation, and both sends out and receives fluids. Cuvier considered the dorsal vessel of insects as the mere rudiment or vestige of a heart, and supposed that nutrition was effected by mere imbibition, as in the lower orders of zoophytes. That a distinct passage of fluids from the dorsal vessel does, however, take place, is certain, from the mi- croscopic researches of Carus, which were first made known to the German natu- ralists in 1826. The first observations of Carus were made upon the larva of the Agrion Puella ;* subsequently upon that of the Ephemera Vulgata, and at length upon many insects, both in the larva and imago state. In the first mentioned insect which swims with great velocity by means of three vertical laminae attached to the caudal extremity of the body, and in which there are at first no traces even of the rudiments of wings, Professor Carus found the blood entering by single globules from the dorsal vessel into the caudal lamina?, passing through them and return- ing again to the central organ of the circulation. These laminae are composed of a granular substance (resembling boiled sago) enveloped by folds of the common covering of the body. Into this granular substance the blood passes by single glo- bules, which are not contained in distinct vessels, but form for themselves a pas- sage through the homogeneous structure of the body. The path or channel thus formed in the midst of the granular substance is perfectly transparent ; its sides are not strictly defined, nor formed by any thing like the coats of a vessel. This extra vascular circulation in the permanent state in insects, is found to exist in the embryo state, at the first commencement of organization, in many of the higher classes of animals ; thus the first appearance of circulation in the incubated egg is the movement of a few red globules at points separate from each other, when, as yet, no vessels are formed.-f- In the aquatic " ephemera vulgata" the circula- tion is distinctly visible, with the microscope, in the three last segments of the body, in the upper phalanges of the legs, in the head, and in the posterior roots of the antennae ; it consists, as in the Agrion Puella, of two streams, an excurrent and a returning one ; the blood passing through the various parts of the granular substance of the body, unconfined in vessels resembling either arteries or veins. In 1827, M. Carus discovered the circulation in the fully-developed insect, and subsequently Ehrenberg and Hemprich, travellers in Africa, have observed similar currents of blood in the wings of a Mantis. • A species of Dragon-fly. ■f For a full and most interesting account of the formation of the ovum in various ani- mals, and the development of its several structures, see Breschet's translation into French of the German work of Baer — Sur la Formation de FCEuf. Paris, 1829. 128 In reviewing, for a moment, the disposition of the organs of circulation in those classes of invertebrate animals we have noticed, we shall find the confirmation of a law in the formation of the internal organs of animals which has been noticed and promulgated by Serres, Geoffrey-St.-Hilaire, and Meckel ; viz., that the vari- ous degrees of development which an animal, high in the scale of being, passes through from the first moment of conception to a period of full maturity, corres- pond to the permanent states of development in the lower grades of the animal series. Thus, in relation to the vascular system, we find at first but one system of vessels in the embryo. This condition of the vascular system resembles the per- fect state of these organs in the medusae and other zoophytes which have but one system of vessels ; and the resemblance is the more striking, since in both in- stances, the vessels are not distinct from the general mass of the body. At a more advanced stage of development, the central organ of the circulation presents a mere dilated oblong canal, hardly possessing muscularity. In this stage we have the analogy with the greater part of the annelidae, or red-blooded worms, where the heart is a mere dilated tube. In the arachnidae and some Crustacea;, the heart is a thin elongated sac, from the extremities of which the blood-vessels arise. In the primitive state of the development of the heart in higher animals, there exists but one dilatation, as in the arachnidae and Crustacea?, when perfect. In a sub- sequent degree of development, where a second dilatation is produced by the sepa- ration of the auricles, or receiving cavities of the heart, from the general system of veins returning the blood, we have the analogy of the embryo state of the higher animals with the perfect formation of the mollusca, fish, and the lowest orders of reptiles. We shall trace the remaining analogies between these states, when speaking, in a subsequent paper, of the circulation in vertebrate animals. At present we have followed it as far as the invertebrate classes will permit us. LEECHES. It is stated by Mr. Gay, in a letter from Chili, that Leeches there inhabit the woods, and never are found in water. He has frequently had his legs wounded by them in traversing the country. Only one aquatic species is known to him at Valdivia, and one at Santiago. Another interesting fact indicated by him, is the tendency of reptiles in these southern regions to become viviparous ; an anomaly which Mr. Gay has observed in a great number of Ophidians, Iguanas, and even in one species of Frog. ON THE NESTS OF BIRDS. It is stated by a correspondent, at page 68, in alluding to the Blackcapt Fau- vet (Ficedula atricapilla), that " touching the nest, or even looking at it, before the eggs are laid, almost invariably causes the birds to desert." I have, however, known several instances to the contrary. Last summer, seeing a bird of this spe- cies with a piece of wool between its mandibles, I traced it to the nest, which was situated in a wild, retired hedge, overgrown with brambles, and other shrubs of the Rose family (Rosacea). From this time I daily visited the nest, in which the eggs were deposited, one by one, notwithstanding my repeated visits ; and I never found the birds absent. The male was on the eggs almost as frequently as his helpmate, and would allow me to come within two or three yards ; but on a nearer approach would fly off to a neighbouring elm, with evident signs of impa- tience. The same correspondent, at page 75, says — " The nest of the Coot is built in a bed of rushes or irises, in an" open spot, several feet from the land, and is never situated, like that of the Gallinule, in a thick tuft of herbage, with a view to con- cealment, but may easily be discovered at a considerable distance." With this statement I cannot agree. I am well acquainted with the localities of the nests both of the Coot and of the Gallinule, and have found them generally in similar places. I have often found the nest of the Gallinule six or seven feet from the ground, in a bush, and that of the Coot in a similar situation ; overhanging the water, but not so high up, and frequently closely concealed in the rushes and flags. Neither can I concur in the remark that " the young quit the nest immediately they are hatched." That this is often the case I do not doubt, as Selby, in his British Ornithology, states it from his own observation ; but I have known them remain in the nest several days. The most curious instance of eccentric nest building which has fallen under my observation, was that of an Ivy Wren's ( Anorthura troglodytes) within the nest of a Chimney Swallow ( Hirundo garrula, Blyth). The Wren's nest was, in all respects, as perfect as usual, with the sole difference of being encrusted by the procreant cradle of the Swallow. I shall be very glad if the readers of The Naturalist can bring forward any parallel instances. It is well known that several species of Falcon build in the nests of different species of Crows, and I have also heard of the Garden Tit (Parus hortensis) building in the prickly castle of the Common Pye (Pica varia) : this latter circumstance is, I believe, very rare. C. T. Wood. Campsall Hall, near Doncaster. ON THE HABITS OF THE RING PIGEON (Columba palumbus, Linn.) By Neville Wood, Esq.* Of the situation of the Ring Pigeon in the systematic arrangement, it will be sufficient, on the present occasion, to mention that it belongs to the third order of birds, Rasores, to the first family of this order (which, I believe, has not hitherto been divided into its five tribes), Columbidce, and to the typical genus, Columba. This beautiful bird is the largest of the British species, and, being indigenous and extremely abundant in this country, is perfectly familiar to the most superficial observer, under the various names of Wood Pigeon, Ring Dove, Stock Dove, &c. It is a favourite among individuals who have no personal interest in agricul- ture, on account of its plaintive melancholy cooing, which sounds so delightful amid the thick groves, in a still summer's evening. But by the farmer it is pro- scribed as vermin, and destroyed with relentless pertinacity. Although common in every part of England, it abounds most in wooded districts, where it may be seen in flocks of hundreds, feeding during the day in turnip and rape fields, and retiring at night, in immense numbers, to thick and gloomy woods, always pre- ferring those most distant from the habitations of man. It generally retires rather early to roost, most frequently selecting the same spot, which it flies over and around several times before settling on the trees. If disturbed when about to roost, it will fly off to a considerable distance, and return ; but if scared away a second or a third time, it will select another wood for that night's repose (espe- cially if the evening be far advanced),* where it will sometimes continue for several nights together. The flight of the Ring Pigeon is straight, rapid, smooth, and lofty, being effected by quickly-repeated strokes of the wings. In rising out of a thicket, how- ever, or when surprised on its nest, its action is extremely heavy and clumsy until it has gained an open space and full command of its volar powers, when it glides along in a beautiful manner. Although well adapted for long-protracted flight, it does not commonly remain long on the wing — usually passing only from field to field, or from wood to wood. Indeed it is only when food becomes scarce in one district, and the species is thus compelled to seek its sustenance by a partial migra- tion to another, that its wings are exercised for any length of time. In autumn and winter it is mostly met with in flocks ; but early in the year they disperse in pairs over the country. When a pair of Ring Pigeons is started in a wood, espe- cially if they have a nest, one of them invariably pursues a course diametrically opposite to that of the other ; but after flying some little distance, they wheel * Author of British Song Birds, &c, &c. 131 round, and meet at some well-known rendezvous, where the male often commence* his delightful note as soon as he has settled. This note, if I remember rightly, invariably consists of three strains, and a short note at the end. The whole ditty may be written thus : coo coo ; coo cod coo ; coo coo coo, coo coo ; cod. The stress is laid on the second syllable of each strain, which consists, musically speaking, of but one note. Delightful as the Ring Pigeon's love-song sounds at a distance, it is astonishing how rough and hoarse it becomes on a nearer approach. The Ring Pigeon begins to coo about the middle, or towards the end of February, when the flight of the male is diversi- fied in a most curious manner. This mode of flight ceases as soon as the nest is commenced, or perhaps somewhat before. The Ring Pigeon begins to build in March, and forms its nest of sticks and twigs, usually selecting the oldest and most brittle for the purpose. The sticks in the interior of the structure are somewhat smaller than those on the exterior. The shape of the nest is that of a platform, placed in the fork of a branch ; and though sometimes sufficiently substantial, at other times is so slightly constructed as to allow a practised eye to detect the eggs through the interstices. The nest is ge- nerally found near the tops of tall trees, particularly the fir, but I have observed it in nearly all the other common trees and shrubs which grow in sequestered woods. From its naturally shy habits, the Ring Pigeon is rarely known to build near houses ; but in places where the feathered tribes are not disturbed, I have met with instances of its breeding in the immediate neighbourhood of the abodes of men. Mr. Waterton pointed out a nest in an elm tree, within a few yards of Walton Hall, wherein both birds were sitting : so exceedingly tame will almost any bird become when unmolested. Last year a pair of Ring Pigeons built their nest in a laurel bush in the gardens at Foston Hall, Derbyshire, and hatched their young, though, for some reason I cannot explain, they deserted their progeny when about ten days old. This bird rears two or three broods in the season. The eggs are never more than two,* one being laid two or three days after the other ; which causes a corresponding difference in their times of hatching. The eggs are oval, but nearly elliptical, of a pure white, and remarkably smooth. The first egg is hatched in sixteen days, the other in nineteen, and hence the rea- son of one of the young birds being invariably so much larger than the other. They are at first scantily provided with yellow down, but the feathers of the wings soon begin to shoot forth. In about three weeks they are ready to fly ; and in Derbyshire the peasants are accustomed, about this period, to tie them to the nest by one leg, in order to allow the parents to feed them until they have become * The domestic Pigeon (which is descended from the Rock Pigeon, C. livia) also lays only two eggs ; but almost every extensive breeder of Pigeons must be aware that they will occasionally lay three. Instances of this have fallen under my own notice. s 2 132 sufficiently large and plump to afford a good Sunday-dinner. They are then what epicures would call " excellent eating," but become very tough and tasteless after a few years have passed over their heads. Persons little conversant with the habits of birds would climb up to every nest they saw, in order to ascertain whether or not it contained eggs or young ; but if the slightest portion of the egg-shell is to be seen under the tree, neither will be found in the nest ; should it, however, contain the latter, the droppings of the young birds are mostly to be seen, either outside the nest, or on the ground. After a few days, these become formed into a solid crust, which prevents the young from falling out, at the time when they begin to be restless. When we consider the flat formation of the nest, it becomes evident that without this " won- derful provision of Nature," the young birds would frequently be precipitated to the ground. The impossibility of taming this bird and of domesticating it, in the manner of the Rock Pigeon, has been often mentioned, but I should imagine this statement has either been copied from other authorities, or the experiment has not been pro- perly tried. Two years ago I reared a male Ring Pigeon from the time when it would have left the nest, always supplying it with green peas, beans, &c, until it was able to feed itself. When full grown, I turned it out and fed it with my other dovecot Pigeons, with which it constantly remained several months, except on one occasion, when it flew off to a considerable distance, but returned, to my surprise after an absence of a few hours. It found some difficulty in keeping up, on the wing, with the tame Pigeons (several of which were tumblers), as wild Pigeons are not accustomed to turn rapidly and frequently in the air. This bird sickened and died after I had possessed it six months, and I have not since had an opportunity of renewing the experiment ; but doubt not it would succeed with common care. The Ring Pigeon is an extremely handsome bird, the metallic hues of the head and neck contrasting finely with the white patches on either side of the neck. The feathers of the tail are considerably spread when the bird rises from the ground. The colours of the Ring Pigeon are so well known, that I shall not fatigue the readers of the Naturalist with a recital of them. THE SWIFTFOOT. Extract of a Letter from James Wilson, Woodville, Edinburgh. I have derived both pleasure and instruction from the perusal of the first number of The Naturalist, which contains some interesting facts accurately stated. From the favourable impression the work has produced upon me, I am 133 induced to offer an emendatory note to the first article, that on the Swiftfoot ( Cursorius isabellinus ) , by Dr. Palmer. The author has followed an excellent plan in joining to his interesting sketch of that beautiful and graceful species a brief notice of the remainder of the genus. He errs, however, in supposing that these are only two in number, viz., the Coromandel Swiftfoot ( C. Asiaticus) and the double-collared species ( C. bicinctus). It is true that when M. Temminck, about sixteen years ago, published the second edition of his Manuel d" Ornitholo- gie, the three birds above named were all that had been discovered of the genus in question. But several years have elapsed since Mr. Swainson (in his Zoolo- gical Illustrations, plate 106) figured and described a fourth species, under the name of C. Temminclcii ; and more recently the Dutch ornithologist himself has described a fifth species, under the name of C. chalcopterus (Planches Enlum., 268). Both of these are said to be natives of Western Africa. Thus the genus Cursorius, though more noted (as its name implies) for its running than its flying powers, occurs in countries not only widely distant from each other, but separated by an intermediate ocean of some thousand miles. In regard to the species which is figured in the first number, it might have been as well to have added, as a synonym, the title of Cursorius Europceus, which it bears in Mr. Latham's work (Index. Orn., ii., 751). Dr. Palmer is, however, quite right in adopting, as the specific title, that of isabellinus, bestowed by Meyer (in his Tasschenbuch Deut., ii., 328). The appearance of the bird in question in our division of the globe is entirely casual, and the application of Europceus is most inapplicable to a species which never voluntarily abandons the warmer regions of more sunny climes. It has never been known to breed in Europe, and is so rare in Britain that one of the only three recorded captures was purchased, by Mr. Donovan, at the extraordinary price of eighty-three guineas. It has been only once taken in France, and once in Austria. Sig. Ilanzani makes no mention of its having ever occurred in Italy. In Africa it is said to be more abundant in Abys- sinia than elsewhere ; and you may judge of the vast extent of its geographical dis- tribution when I inform you that several specimens were received by Professor Jameson, some years ago, from the southern base of the Himmalah Mountains. The geographical relations, then, of the genus Cursorius, and its amount of spe- cies, I conceive to be as follows : — 1. Cursorius isabellinus. Africa and Asia : accidental in Europe. 2. C. asiaticus. Asia and Africa. 3. C. bicinctus. Africa. 4. C. Temminckii. Africa. 5. C. chalcopterus. Africa. Scarcely anything is known of the habits or natural history, properly so called, of any of these birds. THE OSCILLARIA PHARAONIS. [From a Foreign Correspondent]. M. de Bribisson has communicated to the last meeting of the Academical Society of Falaise, an interesting account of a rare and but little known species of Alga — the Oscillaria Pharaonis. The coloured liquid formed by its prompt de- composition, presents a remarkable phenomenon, hitherto not sufficiently studied. The water in which this hydrophite has been deposited immediately after its being gathered, assumes a tinge of deep red, either ochreous or blood-coloured, when examined in a deep place or in an opaque vessel : but, on the contrary, if this water is placed between the eye and the light, in a thin diaphanous vessel, the colour assumes a beautiful indigo-blue tinge. A bottle filled with this liquid appears, in the sun, blue on one side and red on the other ; thus it may be said that this liquid in decomposing the rays of light, only permits the blue rays to pass, and reflects the red only. White paper plunged in this liquid always takes an azure colour, and never a red tinge. Bovy de St. Vincent, was the first naturalist who has described this singular hydrophite, in the Diet, classique a" Histoire Naturelle. He says of the Oscilla- ria Pharaonis, " we are indebted to the learned Mougeot for a knowledge of this singular species, which, in February and March of the year 1825, presented on the Lakes of Neufchatel and Morat, a phenomenon which recalled the idea of one of the plagues of Egypt, by which the waters were changed into blood. De Can- dolle published some account of this Oscillaria, proposing to call it Oscillaria purpurea — a name which would have created considerable confusion, since other Oscillaria possess a purple colour. The present species is not itself coloured ; but possesses the property of giving out a coloured matter. Its filaments, whose structure has not yet been examined under a microscope, are excessively fine, at first invisible to the naked eye, but become visible by a careful separation in fluid, when they resemble minute undulated tufts, similar to those of the Orgyrosa, to which, also, the Pharaonis we examined presents another resemblance, that of being curled and shining, though the colour is quite different. A red tinge is given by it to paper. It appears that this Oscillaria, while living, was of a fine red colour, which, on dessication, passed into shades of lilac, more or less distinct." De Bribisson remarks that the above description would lead us to imagine that the Oscillaria found in France was of a different species, if it were not that St. Vincent had given it from a dried specimen. This Oscillaria is not of a red colour ; its filaments are extremely delicate, being scarcely the hundredth part of a millimeter in diameter. They are long, of a shining blackish -green colour, often as if fasciculated ; growing from a mucous base, thick, and yellowish. It grows in considerable tufts, sometimes more than 135 six inches in length, attached at the bottom of the water to stones or aquatic floating plants : examined under the microscope, these filaments present segments nearly as wide as they are long. After the emission of the colouring matter, the filaments become of a clear green ; a portion of the tube is