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diff --git a/32800.txt b/32800.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..de6c659 --- /dev/null +++ b/32800.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11403 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Romance of Natural History, Second +Series, by Philip Henry Gosse + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Romance of Natural History, Second Series + +Author: Philip Henry Gosse + +Release Date: June 13, 2010 [EBook #32800] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NATURAL HISTORY *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Odessa Paige Turner, Bill +Tozier and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: Obvious printer error's have been corrected. +Inconsistencies in Hyphenation and use of accents have been +maintained. Italic text has been surrounded by _, the only superscript +character is marked by ^. The ligature of [oe] had to be represented +as {oe}. + + + + +THE ROMANCE + +OF + +NATURAL HISTORY. + +EDINBURGH: +PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY, +PAUL'S WORK. + + +[Illustration: FASCINATION. + +_Front._] + + + + + THE ROMANCE + + OF + + NATURAL HISTORY. + + by + Philip Henry Gosse, F.R.S. + + Second Series. + + LONDON: + JAMES NISBET AND CO., 21 BERNERS STREET. + + M.DCCC.LXI. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +I. THE EXTINCT. + +PAGE + + Death of Species -- Some Died in Early Historic Ages -- Some Dying Now + -- Changes of Land and Water -- Tertiary State of Europe -- Dinothere of + Germany -- Sivathere of India -- Gigantic Tortoise -- Pachyderms of + Siberia -- Rhinoceros -- Mammoth -- Mastodon of America -- Great + Quadrupeds of South America -- Sloths -- Habits of Mylodon -- Macrauchen + -- Toxodon -- Ancient Australia and its Colossal Birds -- Ancient + Britain -- Its Flora and Fauna -- Irish Elk -- Carnivores -- Chronology + of the Tertiary Era -- Contemporaneous Existence of Man with the Fossil + Fauna -- Gigantic Tortoise -- Condition of Siberian Pachyderms -- + Discovery of the Remains -- Contemporary Fauna of Britain -- Chinese and + Siberian Traditions -- Indian Traditions of the Mastodon -- State of its + Remains -- Its Food -- Comparative Lateness of Geologic Processes in + America -- Possibility that the Mastodon was a Beast of Burden -- Darwin + on the South American Sloths -- Freshness of their Remains -- + Synchronism with Existing Creatures -- Birds of New Zealand -- Maori + Tales -- Evidence of Recent Existence -- Story of an English Seaman -- + Examination of its Truth -- Fossil Eggs -- Comparison of Dimensions -- + Larger Eggs in Madagascar -- AEpyornis -- Its Present Existence Possible + -- Discovery of the Notornis -- Tertiary Britain -- Fossil Man -- Worked + Flints -- Associated with Fossil Bones -- Species -- Age of Man -- + Alluvium of the Nile -- Conclusions from it Delusive -- Rates of + Geologic Changes Variable -- Examples -- Evidence of Contemporaneity of + Man with the Tertiary Fauna -- Irish Elk -- State of its Remains -- + Traditionary and Documentary Evidence of its Recent Existence -- + Slaughtered by Man -- Proof of this Fact -- Great Accumulation of Skulls + at Lough Gur -- Weapons found with Elk Relics -- Proofs of its having + been Cooked -- Manner of Hunting the Elk -- Ancient Irish Poem on + Animals -- No Allusion to the Elk in it -- This Explained -- Notices of + Early Oxen -- Their Fossil Relics -- Caesar's Account of the Urus -- Wild + Oxen in Ancient Greece and Western Asia -- Guy of Warwick and the Dun + Cow -- The Turnbulls -- The Urus Fossil in Britain -- Vast Size of + Fossil Oxen -- Scanian Fossil Ox bearing a Spear-wound -- Other Ancient + Oxen -- European Bison -- British Bears -- Period of their Extinction -- + Extinction of the Wolf -- Beaver Extinct in Britain -- Almost Extinct in + Europe -- Dodo -- Accounts of Voyagers -- Seen in London -- Museum + Relics -- Paintings -- Stelleria -- Cheiromys -- Moho -- Kaureke -- + Manu-mea -- Nestor of Norfolk Island -- Great Auk -- Its Recent + Abundance -- Catalogue of Specimens and Eggs in Cabinets -- Falkland Fox + -- Musk Ox -- Hand-tree of Mexico -- Attempt to Estimate the Rate of + Species-extinction -- Perhaps One a Year -- Question of Continuous + Creation of Species -- Causes of Extinction -- Thoughts of Owen and + Darwin -- Geographic Distribution an Important Element -- Fauna Peculiar + to Islands -- Red Grouse -- Precariousness of its Existence, 1 + +II. THE MARVELLOUS. + + Vulgar Love of Marvels -- False Causes -- Counter Tendency of Science -- + Blood-Showers -- Traced to Butterfly-discharges -- Worms in Horse Pond + -- Crimson Snow -- Discharges of Birds -- Real Red Rain -- Waters turned + to Blood -- Oscillatoria -- Infusoria -- "Raining Cats and Dogs" -- + Snail-showers -- Frog-showers -- At Portobello -- At Leeds -- On the + Continent -- Fish-showers -- The Aberdare Shower -- Explanations and + Criticisms -- Veritable Fish-showers in South America -- In India -- In + Ceylon -- Torpidity of Fishes in Mud -- Lepidosiren -- Its Structure -- + Amphibious Fishes -- Climbing Perch -- Salarias of Ceylon -- Provisional + Structure, 96 + +III. MERMAIDS. + + The Oannes of Berosus -- Assyrian Representations of Mermen -- Dagon and + Atergatis -- Universal Belief in Mermaids -- Opinion of Swainson -- + Sirens in Dongola -- Museum Specimens -- Japanese Ingenuity -- Accounts + of Living Specimens -- Assumed to be Cow-whales -- Indian Accounts -- + Scandinavian Myths -- Mermaids in Shetland -- A Love Story -- Cavern in + Skye -- Veritable Narratives -- Hudson's Report -- Steller's Sea-ape -- + Rencontre of Weddell's Seaman -- Merman seen at Landscrone -- Mermaid + Captured by Six Shetlandmen -- Comments on the Story -- Critical + Examination of it, 125 + +IV. THE SELF-IMMURED. + + Toads Found in Wood and Stone -- Difficulties -- Bell's Caution -- + Current Explanations -- Mr Bartlett's Toad in Fir-tree -- His Letter in + Reply -- Mr Bree's Toad in Sandstone -- Mr Peacock's Toad in Lias -- + Toad in Tamarind-wood in India -- Comments on the Report -- Toad in + Flint at Blois -- Toad in Iron Ore -- _Audi alteram partem_ -- Mr + Plant's Disappointment -- Seven Frogs in Nodules of Limestone -- Toad + Immured in Old Wall -- Frog in Freestone -- Toads deep in Stiff Clay -- + Experiments -- Dr Buckland Immures Toads in Oolitic Limestone and + Sandstone -- Results -- Dr Buckland's Conclusions -- Toads Inclosed in + Plaster of Paris -- Critical Examination of the Experiments -- + Objections to the Conclusions -- Evidence rather in Favour of Common + Belief -- Toad Sixteen Years in Closed-in Wall -- Toad in Mortar under a + Horse-block -- Indefinite Torpidity of Wasps -- Mr Bartlett Finds a Bat + in a Vault Closed for Twenty Years -- Mr Smith Finds a Bat in a Vault + Closed for One Hundred and Six Years, 146 + +V. HYBERNATION OF SWALLOWS. + + The Question -- Popular Belief -- Scientific Statements of Swallows' + Torpidity and Submersion -- Achard's Statement -- White's Account -- + Cases given by Bishop Stanley -- Supposed Torpidity of American Swift -- + Hybernating Corn-crakes -- Barrington's Reports of Torpid Swallows -- + Curator Wall's Story -- Fitton's Story -- Swallows in Britain during + Winter -- Cases recorded by White -- Montagu -- Yarrell -- C. Bree -- + Bell -- Hewitson -- Harcourt -- Rodd -- Hadfield -- W. Bree -- Johnston + -- Gurney -- Examination of the Evidence -- Conclusion in Favour of + Torpidity, 191 + +VI. THE CRESTED AND WATTLED SNAKE. + + Seba's Museum -- His "Thesaurus" -- Figures of Curious Serpents -- What + could they have been? -- Proofs that they were Ophidian, not Piscine -- + Reports of Wonderful Serpent in Jamaica -- Singular Character of its + Habitat -- Geological and Botanical Features -- Locale of Three-fingered + Jack -- Crested Snake Killed here -- Negro Stories of its Voice -- Heard + of in Hayti -- Author's Efforts to obtain a Specimen -- Occurrence of + Two Specimens, 211 + +VII. THE DOUBTFUL. + + Viper Swallowing her Young -- Conflicting Statements -- Physiologically + not Impossible -- Reports of Witnesses -- Mr Percival's Account -- Mr + Wolley's Corroboration -- Mr Bond's Testimony -- Case of the Rattlesnake + -- Seen by Palisot de Beauvois -- Case of the Common Lizard -- Comments + on the Evidence. + + Madame Merian -- Her Truth Impeached -- Her Story of the Lantern-fly -- + Denials of its Luminosity by Entomologists -- Confirmation of it by + Lacordaire -- By Spinola -- By Wesmael -- English Insects only + Occasionally Luminous -- Mole-cricket -- The Cause of _ignis fatuus_ -- + Crane-fly -- Luminous Caterpillars -- Perhaps a Disease. + + Madame Merian again Arraigned -- Her Account of Spiders Preying on + Humming-birds -- Mr MacLeay's Denial and Proof of the Negative -- + Comment on his Evidence -- Langsdorff's Evidence -- Ceylon Spiders -- + Sir E. Tennent's Criticisms -- Collateral Evidence for the Affirmative + -- Strong Webs of _Nephila_ -- The Solfuga of India -- Account of its + Habits -- Attacks and Overcomes Small Birds -- Captain Sherwill Saw a + Spider Eating a Bird in India -- Moreau de Jonnes' Direct Confirmation + of Merian -- Mr H. Bates's Conclusive Testimony, 220 + +VIII. FASCINATION. + + Power Attributed to Serpents of Paralysing their Prey -- Dr Bird's Story + of Black Snake -- Rattlesnake and Squirrel -- Cobra and Lizard -- + African Snake and Mouse -- Snake and Frog -- Habits of the Boomslange -- + Snake and Shrike -- Snake and Mouse -- Dr Evans's Observations on + Serpents at the Zoological Gardens -- Ringed Snake and Hedge Sparrow -- + Snake and Robin -- Indian Serpent and Eel -- Attempted Explanations -- + Mr Martin's Observations -- Barton Attributes the Phenomena to Maternal + Love -- Explanation Inadequate -- The Power Exercised by Other Animals + -- Lizard and Butterfly -- Scorpion and Fly -- Stoats and Hares -- Foxes + and Pullets -- Eagle and Rabbit -- Attractive Power of Fire -- + Entomologist's Bull's-eye Lamp -- Yard-fire in Alabama -- Insects come + to the Fire -- Titmouse around a Gas-lamp -- Bell Rock Lighthouse + visited by Herring-gull -- Fire Fascinates Toads in Africa, 242 + +IX. SERPENT-CHARMING. + + Revulsion Inspired by the Serpent -- Persons Professing Immunity against + Venomous Serpents -- Scriptural Allusions -- The Ancient Psylli and + Marsi -- Babylonian Magician -- Atyr -- Immunity Distinct from + Serpent-charming -- Hexagon the Ambassador -- Posterity of Psylli in + Sennaar -- Bruce's Curious Account -- Various Plants Antidotic to + Serpent-venom -- Experiments on _Simaba Cedron_ -- Peruvian Serpents and + Remedies -- Various South American Antidotes -- Vejuco of Venezuela -- + Grass of Dahomey -- Immunity of Mangouste -- Anecdotes -- Of Hedgehog -- + Bruce's Account of the Cerastes -- Hasselquist's Observations -- Psyllic + Woman -- Power of Spittle -- Influence of Music on Serpents -- + Proceedings of Egyptian Charmers -- Rattlesnake Charmed by a Flute -- + Cobra of India Attracted by Music -- Occasional Failures and Fatalities + -- Anecdotes -- Comments -- Psylli in London -- Are the Poison-fangs + Extracted? -- Power of Snake-stones -- Napier's and Tennent's Accounts + -- Faraday's Analysis -- Plant-remedies, 263 + +X. BEAUTY. + + Delight in Beauty -- Divine Appreciation of it -- Magnificent Flower in + a Thicket -- Beauty of Deer -- Pet Fawn -- Eye of Gazelle -- Spotted Fur + -- Zebra-stripes -- Birds -- Spoonbills on the Amazon -- Carolina + Parakeet -- Cock of the Rock -- Soft blending in the Goatsuckers -- + Resplendent Trogon -- Metallic Colours -- Rifle-bird -- Plume-birds -- + Iridescent Hues -- Sun-birds -- Humming-birds -- Mexican Names -- + Jamaican Humming-birds -- Mango -- Long-tail -- Cause of changeable + Lustre -- Angle of Light -- Other Examples -- Region of the Amazon and + Rio Negro -- Birds -- Fiery Topaz Humming-bird -- Cerro of Potosi -- + Night-blowing Cactus -- Bar-tail Comet -- Pheasant tribe -- Chinese + Pheasants -- Fire-back of Java -- Argus of Malacca -- Impeyan of India + -- Polyprectons -- Peacock -- Wild Peacock-shooting -- Paradise-birds -- + Emerald -- His Vanity in Dress -- Splendour of Insects -- Metallic + Beetles -- Soft Refulgence -- Gem-scales -- Butterflies -- Changes of + Hue -- Opalescence -- Ray on the "_Cui bono?_" -- Smith on South + American Butterflies -- Splendour of Spiders -- in Jamaica -- in Borneo + -- Tortoise-beetles -- Beauty of Plants -- Mosses -- Ferns -- Palms -- + Grasses -- Bamboo -- in Jamaica -- in Madagascar -- Plantains -- Scene + in Tahiti -- Beauty exceeds our Power of Imbibing it -- Flowers -- + Orchideae -- Sobralia -- Cypripedium -- Anaectochilus -- Dendrobium -- + Huntleya -- Scene in Guiana -- Death of Reiss -- Rhododendrons of + Himalayas -- of Borneo -- Lightning-tree of Madagascar -- Flamboyant -- + Barbadoes Pride -- Burmese tree -- Le Bois Immortel -- Scene in Tartary + -- Microscopic Beauties of London Pride, 302 + +XI. PARASITES. + + Fleas on fleas _ad infinitum_ -- Intestinal Worms -- Economy of + Creation -- Epiphyte Vegetation -- Life in a Sea-weed -- Orchids in the + Tropics -- Parasitic Fig-trees -- Lianes -- in Ceylon -- Parasitism in + Insects -- Ichneumons -- Kirby's Discovery of Stylops -- Economy -- + Oil-beetle -- Medusa and Shrimp -- Medusa parasitic on Medusa -- Fish in + Stomach of Star-fish -- Crab and Sponge -- Hermit Crab and Polype -- + Parasites in Corals -- Ostrich parasitic on Ostrich -- Cuckoo and Cowpen + birds -- Veneration of Small Birds for Cuckoo -- Slavery among Ants -- + Nigger-hunting, 359 + +APPENDIX. + + Sea-serpent -- Additional Testimonies to its Existence -- Statement of + Consul Grattan -- Communication from Mr Stephen Cave, 387 + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + PLATE PAGE + + I. FASCINATION (_Frontispiece_). + + II. ENCOUNTER WITH A MOA, 36 + + III. SPEARING THE ANCIENT ELK, 56 + + IV. THE CLIMBING PERCH, 122 + + V. TOAD IN A HOLE, 158 + + VI. BIRD-EATING SPIDER, 240 + + VII. SNAKE-CHARMING, 278 + + VIII. ANTELOPES, 304 + + IX. PLUME-BIRD, 310 + + X. PEACOCK-SHOOTING, 326 + + + + +THE ROMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. + + + + +I. + +THE EXTINCT. + + +If it is a scene of painful interest, as surely it is to a +well-constituted mind, to stand by and watch the death-struggles of one +of the nobler brutes,--a dog or an elephant, for example,--to mark the +failing strength, the convulsive throes, the appealing looks, the sobs +and sighs, the rattling breath, the glazing eye, the stiffening +limbs--how much more exciting is the interest with which we watch the +passing away of a dying species. For species have their appointed +periods as well as individuals: viewed in the infinite mind of GOD, the +Creator, from the standpoint of eternity, each form, each race, had its +proper duration assigned to it--a duration which, doubtless, varied in +the different species as greatly as that assigned to the life of one +individual animal differs from that assigned to the life of another. As +the elephant or the eagle may survive for centuries, while the horse and +the dog scarcely reach to twenty years, and multitudes of insects are +born and die within a few weeks, so one species may have assigned to +its life, for aught I know, a hundred thousand years as its normal +period, and another not more than a thousand. If creation was, with +respect to the species, what I have elsewhere proved it was with respect +to the individual,[1]--a violent irruption into the cycle of life--then +we may well conceive this to have taken place at very varying relative +periods in the life-history of the different species;--that is to say, +that at a given date, (viz., that of creation) one species might be just +completing, _ideally_, its allotted course, another just commencing, and +a third attaining its meridian. + +Certain it is, that not a few species of animals have died during the +present constitution of things. Races, which we know on indubitable +evidence to have existed during the dominion of man, have died out, have +become extinct, so that not a single individual survives. The entire +totality of individuals which constituted the species, have, in these +cases, ceased to be. Some of these seem to have died at a very early era +of human history; but others at a comparatively recent period, and some +even within our own times. Even within the last twenty years several +animals have been taken, of which it is highly probable that not a +single representative remains on the earth; while there are others yet +again, which we know to be reduced to a paucity so extreme, that their +extinction can scarcely be delayed more than a few years at most. Thus +we may consider ourselves as standing by the dying-beds of these +creatures, with the consciousness that we shall soon see them no more; +that the sentence is gone forth against them; that their sands are +running to the last grains, and that no effort of ours can materially +prolong their existence. The facts from which these conclusions are +drawn are highly curious, and I shall endeavour to lay them, with as +much brevity as they will allow, before my readers. + +On that prochronic hypothesis, by which alone, as I conceive, the facts +revealed by geological investigation can be reconciled with the unerring +statements of Scripture,--every word of which is truth, the truth of a +"God that cannot lie,"--we may assume the actual creation of this earth +to have taken place at that period which is geologically known as the +later Tertiary Era, or thereabout. When, on the third day, "the waters +under the heaven were gathered together into one place, and the dry land +appeared," it is not necessary to suppose that the form assumed by the +emerging land was immediately that which it now has; we may, on the +other hand, I think, assume as likely, that successive or continuous +changes of elevation followed, which have been protracted, perhaps +constantly decreasing in extent and force, to the present hour.[2] + +Perhaps between the six days' work of Creation and the Noachic Flood, +Europe became much altered in outline, and in elevation. It may have +been, at first, a great archipelago, agreeing with the epithet by which +it is designated in early Scripture, "the Isles,"[3] and by which it +was subsequently known for ages. The Pyrenees, the Alps, and the +Apennines, already emerged, were slowly uniting, and the Carpathians, +the Balkan, the Taurus, and the Caucasus, were uprearing, while the vast +regions to the north were still an expanse of open sea. England was +probably united with the newly-formed European continent, and embraced +Ireland in one great mass of unbroken land, which stretched far away +into the Atlantic. Volcanoes were active in the north of Ireland, and in +the west of Scotland, pouring forth those floods of fiery lava which +have cooled into the columnar forms seen at the Giant's Causeway and the +Cave of Fingal. Slowly the north of Europe emerged, and the great +south-west expanse of Britain sank beneath the sea, leaving, it may be, +the large island of Atlantis in mid-ocean, to be submerged by a later +catastrophe. + +Probably changes very similar were coevally taking place in Asia and +North America, while the vast flat alluvial regions of South America +were, perhaps, even still more recently formed, and a great Pacific +continent was in course of subsidence, of which Australasia and +Polynesia are the existing remains. + +Such changes of elevation, and of the continuity of land, must effect +considerable alterations of climate; and, therefore, it is not +surprising to know that, in earliest ages, animals and plants flourished +in regions to which they would now be altogether unfitted, and that +many races existed then which have since died out; for geological and +climatal modifications are among the most easily conceivable causes of +the decease of species. + +In the great swamps of emerging Germany, and in the, as yet, only +half-drained valleys of Switzerland, lurked then the heavy Dinothere. +Huger than the hugest elephant, he carried an enormous body of twenty +feet in length, vast and barrel-like, which even his columnar limbs of +ten feet long scarcely sufficed to raise from the ground. His uncouth +head, elephantine in shape, was furnished with a short proboscis; and +two tusks, short and strong, projected from the lower jaw, not curving +upward, as in the elephant, but downward, as in the walrus. In the +teeming marshes lurked this ungainly beast, half immersed, digging out +with his mighty pickaxe-tusks the succulent roots that permeated the +soft soil, which his sensitive trunk picked up, and conveyed to his +mouth. + +On the southern slopes of the slowly-rising Himalayas, already clothed +with forests of teak, and palm, and bamboo, revelled the Sivathere, +another heavy creature, of the bulk of a rhinoceros, and therefore not +more than half equalling the German colossus. He too was a strange +subject. With a proportionally enormous head, in form somewhat between +that of the elephant and of the rhinoceros, minute sunken piggish eyes, +and a short proboscis like that of the tapir, he carried two pairs of +dissimilar horns. On the forehead were placed one pair, seated upon bony +cores, not unlike those of our short-horn oxen. Behind these there rose +another pair, large and massive, which were palmated and branching, +like those of the fallow-deer, but on a gigantic scale. What sort of a +body, and what kind of limbs, furnished the complement of this +curiously-compound head, we do not exactly know; but surely it must have +been a very remarkable form, as it browsed quietly and blamelessly, +among the luxuriant shrubs of those sun-facing slopes. + +In the same regions a land Tortoise of enormous bulk, far vaster than +the vastest of now existing species, to which that ponderous one which +will march merrily away with a ton weight on its back, is a mere pigmy, +shook the earth with its waddle, and the forests with its hoarse +bellowing. Broad roads, like our highways, were beaten by it through the +jungle, along which it periodically travelled to the cool springs, +leisurely sauntering, and tarrying to munch the fleshy gourds and +cactuses that bordered its self-made track. + +The plains of Siberia, stretching away towards the Arctic Ocean, +sheltered countless hosts of huge pachydermatous quadrupeds. A species +of Rhinoceros, not less bulky than those of the present age, roamed to +the very verge of the Icy Sea; its hide, tough and leathery, was +destitute of folds, but was clothed with tufts of rigid gray hair,--an +ornament which is denied to our existing degenerates. Two horns, the +front one of unusual massiveness and length, were seated, as in several +of the African kinds, one behind the other, and were wielded by a head +of great strength and development. + +More remarkable still was that great hairy Elephant, called the +Mammoth, which appears to have swarmed in those cold plains by myriads. +Of equal dimensions to the Indian species of the present age, this +denizen of the north had far more enormous curving tusks, and instead of +the naked hide of those we are familiar with, his body was encased in +black hair, with a thick under stratum of red curled wool, and bore a +long mane on the ridge of the neck. + +There was, at the same time, a quadruped, nearly allied to the +elephants, but differing from them in some technical characters. With a +body equally bulky, but considerably longer, it had shorter limbs, a +broader head, small tusks in the lower, as well as large curving ones in +the upper jaw, and probably a trunk intermediate between the elephant's +and the tapir's. Truly cosmopolite as this great Mastodon was, for we +dig up his bones from all parts of the world, he had his head-quarters +in North America, where, from his dimensions and his numbers, he must +have formed a very characteristic feature of the primeval swamps and +forests. There, with his tusks, he grubbed up the young trees, whose +juicy roots he ground down with his great mammillary molar teeth, or +chewed up to a pulp the sapwood of the recent branches and spicy twigs. +And ever and anon he would resort to the broad saline marshes,--the +"Licks," as they are now called,--to lick up the crystallised salt on +their margins, so grateful to all herbivorous quadrupeds. Here, in his +eagerness to gratify his palate with the pungent condiment, he would +press farther and farther into the treacherous quagmire, till he began +to sink, and then, in his terror, he would plunge and flounder, getting +more and more deeply bemired, till at length he could struggle no more, +and the bog would close over him, and he would be no more seen till some +spectacled geologist of this nineteenth century, note-book in hand, +would go and dig up his remains, marvelling at the freshness with which +they had been preserved in the antiseptic peat. + +But let us look at South America, where, as the great back-bone chain of +the Andes is being elevated out of the sea, the torrents and cataracts +are pouring down from its sides immense quantities of crumbled rock and +pasty mud, which, deposited upon the vast tabular field, brought by the +upheaving just to the level of the sea, forms that grand alluvial plain +unequalled on the face of the globe for extent, which is clothed with +the mighty forests of Guiana and Brazil, or with the tall grass and +thistles of the Pampas. The torrents still fall; and, meandering through +this glorious plain, unite and form the most majestic of rivers, ever +depositing the rich alluvium, and thus sensibly augmenting, to this day, +the breadth of their noble continent, and their own length. + +Strange creatures riot here in these primal ages. The young land, hot +and moist,--moist with the unevaporated water of the depositing rivers, +and hot with the influence of the submarine volcano which is lifting it, +as well as with the beams of the tropical sun,--brings forth from its +steaming bosom, the most gigantic trees in the most profuse luxuriance. +And animal life teems too, in this riant vegetation. Millions of +insects,--ants, and termites, and beetles,--are busy at work upon the +trunks of the great trees, eating them down, and swarming in their +immense populous nests, beyond all imaginings. Surely they will soon eat +up the entire forest, dense and rapid as it grows, and there will be +nothing left but cities of insects. No fear! See those great waddling +beasts[4] with stout short legs, and enormous hoof-like claws so bent +inward that the creatures are obliged to walk on the edge of their +paws,--they are equally busy with the insects, tearing apart with their +powerful claws the earthy nests as fast as they are built, and devouring +the makers themselves by wholesale. Here is a wonderful creature, a vast +armadillo, with a body as big as a rhinoceros, covered with a convex +oval shield, formed of hexagonal plates accurately fitted to each other. +See how he approaches a fallen tree, which his unerring instinct tells +him is perforated through and through, and filled with the swarming +millions of ants; with his powerful jaws he munches up the entire mass; +the thin and papery partitions of the dusty wood are ground to powder, +and the ants are licked in and chewed into a black pulp between those +curious cylinders of teeth. + +But lo! here are mightier creatures yet! See the vast Mylodon, the +Scelidothere, and the still more colossal Megathere. Ponderous giants +these! The very forests seem to tremble under their stately stride. +Their immense bulk preponderates behind, terminating in a tail of +wonderful thickness and solidity: the head is mean and awakens no +terror; the eye lacks lustre and threatens no violence, though the whole +form betokens vast power, and the stout limbs are terminated by the same +stout, inbent, sharp hoof-claws. One of them approaches that +wide-spreading locust-tree; he gazes up at the huge mud-brown structures +that resemble hogsheads affixed to the forks of the branches, and he +knows that the luscious termites are filling them to overflowing. His +lips water at the tempting sight; have them he must. But how? that heavy +sternpost of his was never made for climbing; yet see! he rears himself +up against the tree; is he about to essay the scaling? Not he: he knows +his powers better. He gives it one embrace; one strong hug; as if to +test its thickness and hold upon the earth. Now he is digging away +below, scooping out the soft soil from between the roots,--and it is +marvellous to note how rapidly he lays them bare with those great +shovel-like claws of his. Now he rears himself again; straddles wide on +his hind feet, fixing the mighty claws deep in the ground; plants +himself firmly on his huge tail, as on the third foot of a tripod, and +once more grasps the tree. The enormous hind quarters, the limbs and the +loins, the broad pelvis, the thick spinal cord supplying abundant +nervous energy to the swelling muscles, inserted in the ridged and +keeled bones, all come into play, as a _point d'appui_ for the Herculean +effort. "And now conceive the massive frame of the Megathere convulsed +with the mighty wrestling, every vibrating fibre reacting upon its bony +attachment with the force of a hundred giants: extraordinary must be the +strength and proportions of the tree, if, when rocked to and fro, to +right and left, in such an embrace, it can long withstand the efforts of +its assailant."[5] It yields; the roots fly up; the earth is scattered +wide upon the surrounding foliage; the tree comes down with a thundering +crash, cracking and snapping the great boughs like glass; the frightened +insects swarm out at every orifice; but the huge beast is in upon them; +with his sharp hoofs he tears apart the crusty walls of the earth-nests, +and licks out their living contents, fat pupae, eggs and all, rolling +down the sweet morsels, half sucking, half chewing, with a delighted +gusto that repays him for all his mighty toil. + +While the heavy giant is absorbed in his juicy breakfast, see, there +lounges along his neighbour, the Macrauchen. Equally massive, equally +heavy, equally vast, equally peaceful, the stranger resembles a huge +rhinoceros elevated on much loftier limbs; but his most remarkable +feature is an enormously long neck, like that of the camel, but carried +to the altitude of that of the giraffe. Thus he thrusts his great muzzle +into the very centre of the leafy trees, and gathering with his +prehensile and flexible lip the succulent twigs and foliage, he too +finds abundance of food for his immense body, in the teeming vegetation, +without intruding upon the supply of his fellows. + +And what enormous mass is suddenly thrust up out of the quiet water of +yonder igaripe? A hoarse, hollow grunt, as it comes up, tells us that +it is alive, and now we discern that it is the head of an animal--the +Toxodon. Half hidden as it is under the shadow of the fan-palms, and the +broad, arrowy leaves of the great arums that grow out of the lake, we +see the little piggish eyes, set far up in the great head, and wide +apart, peeping with a curious union of stupidity and shrewdness; the +immense muzzle and lips; the broad cheeks armed with stiff projecting +bristles; and, as the creature opens its cavernous mouth to seize a +floating gourd, an extraordinary array of incurving teeth, strangely +bowed so as to make a series of arches of immense power. Now, with his +strong front teeth, he tears up the great fleshy arum-roots from the +clay of the bank, and grinds them to pulp; and now, with another grunt, +the vast bristly head sinks beneath the water, and we see it no more. +Hundreds of other creatures are straying around,--sloths, bats, and +monkeys, and birds of gay plumage, on the trees; ant-eaters and cavies, +lizards and snakes, on the ground; butterflies and humming-birds +hovering in the air; tapirs and turtles and crocodiles in the +waters;--but these are matters of course:--we are only thinking of such +as have passed away and left no descendants to perpetuate their forms to +our own times. + +Away to the great Austral land--in our day minished to the insular +Australia and New Zealand and a few satellite isles--but then, in the +morning of creation, possibly stretching far to the north and on either +hand, so as to include the scattered groups of Polynesia in one great +continent, and even to reach so far as Madagascar on the west. This was +the region of gigantic fowls, and of marsupial quadrupeds. Kangaroos of +eight or nine feet in stature leaped over the primeval bush, and wombats +and dasyures of elephantine bulk burrowed in the hill sides, and great +lion-like beasts prowled about the plains. But surely the most +characteristic feature of the scene was impressed by the birds! Vast +struthious birds, which would have looked down with supreme contempt on +the loftiest African ostrich, whose limb-bones greatly exceeded in bulk +those of our dray horses, whose three-toed feet made a print in the clay +some eighteen inches long, and whose proud heads commanded the horizon +from an elevation of twelve feet above the ground,--terrible birds, +whose main development of might was in the legs and feet, being utterly +destitute of the least trace of wings--these strode swiftly about the +rank ferny brakes, possessing a conscious power of defence in the back +stroke of their muscular feet, and fearless of man or beast, mainly +nocturnal in their activity, concealing themselves by day in the +recesses of the dense forests, where the majestic trees were interwoven +with cable-like climbers, or couching in the midst of tall reeds and +aroideous plants that margined the great swampy lakes of these regions. + +But what of our own land? What of these distant isles of the Gentiles in +that early day, when the enterprising sons of Cain, migrating from the +already straitened land of Nod, were pushing their advancing columns, +with arts and arms, in all directions over the young earth? Did any of +them reach to the as yet insular Europe, settling themselves along the +margins of its deep gulfs and draining basins? Perhaps they did, and +even explored the utmost limits of the great Atlantic island, on the +remains of which we live. What did they find here? A land of mountain +and valley, of plain and down, of lake and river, of bog and fell, of +forest and field, in some features much as now: where the oak, and elm, +and ash covered great tracts, and the birch and fir clothed the hills; +but where the yew and the laurel grew side by side with the +custard-apple and the fan-palm, and the ground was overrun with trailers +of the gourd and melon kind, but where grasses were few and scarce, the +exquisite order _Rosaceae_, with its beautiful flowers and grateful +fruit, was rarely seen, and the aromatic _Labiatae_--the thyme, and mint, +and sage--were as yet unknown. + +And the beasts that already tenanted this fair land were for bulk and +power worthy of the domain. The Dinothere and the Mastodon wallowed and +browsed where great London now crowds its princely palaces. Through the +greenwood shades of the forests of oak wandered hippopotamuses and +rhinoceroses of several kinds, the long-tusked mammoth, and two or three +species of horses. Two gigantic oxen--a bison and a urus--roamed over +the fir-clad hills of Scotland, and a curious flat-headed ox, of small +size and minute horns, made Ireland its peculiar home. That island, too, +was the metropolis of a colossal fallow-deer, whose remains, ticketed as +those of the Irish Elk, astonish us in our museums. It stood seven feet +in height at the withers, and waved its branching antlers, eleven feet +wide, twelve feet and upwards above the ground;[6] yet its magnificent +stature could not preserve it from a not infrequent fate, that of +becoming intombed in the deep bogs of its native isle. Britain had, +moreover, a stag of scarcely less gigantic proportions, with the +reindeer of the north, and the smaller kinds with which we are now +familiar. + +All these herbivores, and numberless smaller genera, some now extinct, +some surviving, were kept in check by powerful predatory tyrants, for +whose representatives we must now look to the jungles of India or the +burning karroos of Southern Africa. The Lion and the Tiger stalked over +these isles, and a terrible tiger-like creature, the Machairode, of even +superior size and power to the scourge of the Bengal jungle, with curved +and saw-edged canine-teeth, hung upon the flanks of the cervine and +bovine herds, and sprang upon the fattest of them. Then, too, there was +a vast Bear, huger and mightier than the fearful grizzly bear of +America, which haunted caves, and prowling around forced down with its +horrid paws the shaggy bull, and broke his stout neck by main force, and +dragged the body home to devour at leisure. And many of these caves, the +holes and chasms of the limestone districts, were inhabited by a +gigantic species of Hyena, which seems to have existed in great numbers, +so that the caverns are strewn all over, from end to end, with thousands +of teeth and disjointed bones, both of the hyenas themselves and of the +other carnivores; shewing that there they lived and died in successive +generations; and, mainly, of other creatures, of very varied species, +great and small, most of them cracked, and crushed, and gnawed, shewing +the plain marks of the powerful conical teeth of those obscene nocturnal +animals. + +Thus I have endeavoured to draw a picture, vague and imperfect, I know, +of some of the more remarkable and prominent features of the primeval +earth, limiting the sketch to those forms which we know only by their +fossil remains. In endeavouring to paint their contour and general +appearance, and still more their habits and instincts, conjecture must +be largely at work--a conjecture, however, which takes for its basis the +anatomical exigencies of the osseous structure, and the analogy of +existing creatures the most nearly related to the fossil. + +These forms, many of them so huge and uncouth, are well known as having +tenanted various regions of the earth during what is known as the +Tertiary Era, in its later periods. They certainly do not exist in those +regions now. When did their life--their species-life--terminate? I have +been assuming that they were upon the earth, as living sentient beings, +in the earliest age of what we call the historic period--that is, +according to the chronology of the Word of God, which must be true, +within the last six thousand years. This assumption is so heterodox, +that unsupported by evidence, it would be generally rejected; let us +then inquire what evidence there is that man was an inhabitant of the +globe contemporaneously with these huge giants of the bestial creation. + +I do not pretend to offer positive evidence concerning the synchronism +of _all_ the animals I have been describing with man; but, as there is +no doubt that they were all contemporaneous, _inter se_, if we can +attain to good grounds for concluding his co-existence with _some_ of +them, it may be no unfair presumption that the case was so with the +others. + +And first, with respect to the _Colossochelys Atlas_, that vast fossil +land tortoise of the Sewalik hills, in the north of India, whose +carapace may have covered an area of twelve or fifteen feet in diameter, +and whose entire length, as in walking, when head and tail were +protruded, could not have been much less than thirty feet. The +discoverers of this interesting relic, Dr Falconer and Major Cauntley, +have discussed the question of its probable cessation of existence with +some care; and they have come to the conclusion "that there are fair +grounds for entertaining the belief, as probable, that the +_Colossochelys Atlas_ may have lived down to an early period of the +human epoch, and become extinct since." This they infer on two grounds: +first, from the fact that, in the same strata, which are not limited to +the Sewalik hills, but extend, with the remains of this immense +tortoise, all over the great Indian area, from Ava to the Gulf of +Cambay, other tortoises, crocodiles, &c., which were contemporary with +the _Colossochelys_, have survived to the present time; and, secondly, +from mythologic and cosmogonic traditions of many eastern nations, +having reference to a tortoise of such gigantic size as to be associated +in the current fables with an elephant.[7] + +Elian, the Greek naturalist, quoting Megasthenes, a still older +authority, who resided several years in India, and who collected a good +deal of interesting information concerning the country, reports that in +the sea around Ceylon there were found tortoises of such enormous +dimensions that huts were made of their shells, each shell being fifteen +cubits (or twenty-two feet) long; so that several people were able to +find comfortable shelter under it from the rain and sun.[8] And both +Strabo and Pliny[9] assert that the Chelonophagi, who inhabited the +shores of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, converted the enormous +shells of the turtles which they caught into roofs for their houses and +boats for their little voyages. It has been suggested that the +_Colossochelys_ may have given origin to these statements; but I rather +think the great sea-turtles of the genus _Chelone_ are referred to, the +convex shells of which are known in our own day to reach to a length of +eight feet or upwards. + +The circumstances attending the discovery of the rhinoceros and elephant +of Siberia are very curious and interesting; since of them we have not +the fossilised skeletons, but the carcases preserved in a fresh state, +as if just dead, with (in one case) the flesh upon the bones in an +eatable state, and actually forming the food of dogs and wolves, the +skin entire, and covered with fur, and even the eyes so perfectly +preserved that the pupils could be distinctly seen. + +In 1771, in the frozen gravelly soil of Wilhuji, in the northern part of +Siberia, an animal was found partially exposed. It was twelve feet in +length; its body was enveloped in a skin which had the thickness and +firmness of sole-leather, but was destitute of folds. Short hair, +strongly planted in the pores of the skin, grew on the face in tufts; it +was rigid in texture, and of a grey hue, with here and there a black +bristle, larger and stiffer than the rest. Short ash-grey hair was +observed to clothe the legs, in moderate profusion. The eyelids and +eyelashes were still visible; the remains of the brain were still in the +cavity of the skull, and the flesh of the body, in a putrefying +condition, was still beneath the skin. On the nose there were +indications of a horn having been seated, around which the integument +had formed a sort of fold. + +Thus the creature was known to be a Rhinoceros, and the head and feet +were lifted, and conveyed to St Petersburg, where they are still +preserved in the Imperial Museum. Men of science soon remarked that in +very many points this specimen differed from any species now known; and, +indeed, a hairy rhinoceros was, in itself, an anomaly. Subsequent +investigations have revealed that the same species, known as _Rhinoceros +tichorhinus_, inhabited Siberia in great numbers, and is now extinct. + +Nearly thirty years afterwards a still more interesting revelation +occurred. The shores of the Icy Ocean had yielded a vast number of +tusks, not distinguishable from those of the known elephants, and +capable of being worked up by ivory-manufacturers, so that they occupied +a well-recognised place in the commercial markets, and they constitute +to this day the principal supply of the Russian ivory-turners. A +fisherman living at the mouth of the Lena, being one day engaged in +collecting tusks, saw among some ice-blocks an uncouth object. The next +year he observed it still further exposed, and in the following season, +1801, he saw that it was an enormous animal, having great tusks, one of +which, with the entire side of the carcase, projected from the frozen +mass. He knew it to be a _Mammoth_, for so the fossil elephants were +called, and observed it with interest. The next season was so cold that +no change took place; but in 1803, the melting of the ice proceeded so +far that the gigantic animal fell down from the cliff entire, and was +deposited on the sand beneath. The following season the fisherman, +Schumachoff, cut out the tusks, which he sold for fifty rubles, and two +years after this the scene was visited by Mr Adams, in the service of +the Imperial Court, who has given an interesting account of his +observations, made, it must be remembered, in the seventh year after the +first discovery:-- + +"I found the Mammoth," observes this gentleman, "still in the same +place, but altogether mutilated ... the Jakutski of the neighbourhood +having cut off the flesh, with which they fed their dogs during the +scarcity. Wild beasts, such as white bears, wolves, wolverines, and +foxes, also fed upon it, and the traces of their footsteps were seen +around. The skeleton, almost entirely devoid of its flesh, remained +whole, with the exception of one fore-leg. The head was covered with a +dry skin; one of the ears, well preserved, was furnished with a tuft of +hairs. All these parts have necessarily been injured in transporting +them a distance of 7330 miles (to St Petersburg); but the eyes have been +preserved, and the pupil of one can still be distinguished. + +"The Mammoth was a male, with a long mane on the neck. The tail and +proboscis were not preserved. The skin, of which I possess +three-fourths, is of a dark-grey colour, covered with reddish wool and +black hairs; but the dampness of the spot, where it had lain so long, +had in some degree destroyed the hair. The entire carcase, of which I +collected the bones on the spot, was nine feet four inches high, and +sixteen feet four inches long, without including the tusks, which +measured nine feet six inches along the curve. The distance from the +base or root of the tusk to the point is three feet seven inches. The +two tusks together weighed three hundred and sixty pounds, English +weight, and the head alone four hundred and fourteen pounds. + +"I next detached the skin of the side on which the animal had lain, +which was well preserved. This skin was of such extraordinary weight +that ten persons found difficulty in transporting it to the shore. After +this I dug the ground in different places, to ascertain whether any of +its bones were buried, but principally to collect all the hairs which +the white bears had trod into the ground while devouring the flesh. +Although this was difficult from the want of instruments, I succeeded in +collecting more than a pood (thirty-six pounds) of hair. In a few days +the work was completed, and I found myself in possession of a treasure +which amply recompensed me for the fatigues and dangers of the journey, +and the considerable expenses of the enterprise.... The escarpment of +ice was thirty-five to forty toises high; and, according to the report +of the Tungusians, the animal was, when they first saw it, seven toises +below the surface of the ice, &c. On arriving with the Mammoth at +Borchaya, our first care was to separate the remaining flesh and +ligaments from the bones, which were then packed up. When I arrived at +the Jakutsk, I had the good fortune to repurchase the tusks, and from +thence expedited the whole to St Petersburg. The skeleton is now in the +Museum of the Academy, and the skin still remains attached to the head +and feet. A part of the skin, and some of the hair of this animal were +sent by Mr Adams to Sir Joseph Banks, who presented them to the Museum +of the Royal College of Surgeons. The hair is entirely separated from +the skin, excepting in one very small part, where it still remains +attached. It consists of two sorts, common hair and bristles, and of +each there are several varieties, differing in length and thickness. +That remaining fixed on the skin is of the colour of the camel, an inch +and a-half long, very thick-set, and curled in locks. It is interspersed +with a few bristles about three inches long, of a dark-reddish colour. +Among the separate parcels of hair are some rather redder than the short +hair just mentioned, about four inches; and some bristles nearly black, +much thicker than horse hair, and from twelve to eighteen inches long. +The skin, when first brought to the Museum, was offensive; it is now +quite dry and hard, and where most compact, is half-an-inch thick. Its +colour is the dull black of the living elephants."[10] + +To me this narrative possesses an intense interest, and I have gazed +with great curiosity on the bit of dried and blackened leather that is +preserved in the Museum in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, knowing it to have +presented the primal freshness of life within the present century. I +cannot help thinking that both the rhinoceros and this elephant roamed +over the plains of Siberia, not only since the creation of man, but even +since the Deluge. The freshness of their state shews that the freezing +up of their carcases must have been sudden, and immediate upon death. +What supposition so natural as that, perhaps in a blinding snowstorm, +they slipped into a crevice in the ice-cliff, were snowed up instantly, +and thus preserved by the antiseptic power of frost to this age? The +glaciers of the north may hold multitudes more of these and kindred +creatures, some of which may yet be disinterred, or thawed out, and may +lift yet more the curtain which so tantalisingly covers the conditions +of their life-history. These two huge Pachyderms are certainly extinct +now; yet their remains, scattered over so vast an area, are everywhere +associated with those of other animals which were indubitably +contemporary with them, and whose species-life is continued to our own +times. Some of these, as the great bear and the musk-ox of the sub-polar +regions, we know to be in the habit of migrating northward in spring, +and southward in autumn. That no lack of suitable food would be found, +even in such high latitudes, for browsing quadrupeds, appears from the +fact that, even beyond the parallel of 75 deg. north, large birch-trees are +found embedded in the cliffs, in abundance sufficient to be largely used +as common fuel, and still retaining their woody fibre, their bark, +branches, and roots. The climate then was not _greatly_ different from +what it is now, when the birch, as a tree, reaches to about 70 deg.. + +It is interesting to observe that both this elephant and this rhinoceros +were inhabitants of England also; and that at the same period as the +cavern bear, the hyena, the lion, and the machairode, the baboon, the +bison, and the urus, the Irish elk, and the extinct horse; at the same +time too, as the reindeer, the stag, the black bear, the wolf and fox, +the beaver, the wild cat, the hare, and rabbit, the otter and badger, +the wild hog, the rat and mouse, all our present shrews, the mole, the +stoat and polecat, the noctule and the horse-shoe bats. And curious it +is to note, as we go over this list, how some of the creatures +enumerated are long extinct everywhere, some have been long extinct in +England, but are still found elsewhere, some have more recently become +extinct here, but at different eras, some are nearly extinguished, and +some are yet abundant in different degrees. + +I do not attach much importance to the traditions of the Siberians, that +the tusks and skeletons which they find belonged to a large +subterraneous animal, which could not bear the light; nor to those of +the Chinese, respecting a similar burrowing quadruped of prodigious +bulk, which they call, by a sort of irony, _tyn-schu_, or the mouse that +hides himself. The fables may have easily been formed from the +observation of the fossil bones, and do not necessarily imply any memory +of the living original. + +The two examples of the exhumation of _Pachydermata_ in a fresh state, +which I have given in detail, are by no means the only cases that have +occurred. It is the universally-received belief throughout Siberia, that +Mammoths have been found with the flesh quite fresh and filled with +blood; probably meaning that the animal juices flowed when thawed. +Isbrand Ides mentions a head on which the flesh, in a decaying state, +was present; and a frozen leg, as large as the body of a man; and Jean +Bernhard Mueller speaks of a tusk, the cavity of which was filled with a +substance which resembled coagulated blood. + +Again, in the voyage of Sarytschew, particulars are given of the +discovery of a Mammoth on the banks of the Alaseia, a river which flows +into the Arctic Ocean, beyond the Indigirska. It had been dislodged by a +flood, and somewhat injured; but the carcase was still almost entire, +and was covered with the skin, to which in some places long hair +remained attached. + +These statements might reasonably have been esteemed either fables or +gross exaggerations, but for the subsequent discovery of the rhinoceros +and elephant whose remains have been brought to Europe. Read in the +light of these accounts, the earlier stories take the dignity of +authentic history; and it is interesting to note how well these details +agree with those observed by the accurate Adams;--the long hair, for +example, with which the Alaseia carcase was clothed being the very +counterpart of that upon the Lena elephant; though _a priori_ we should +have looked for a very different condition in the integument of these +huge Pachyderms. + +If we look now at the great Mastodon, that elephantine beast, which with +a stature equal to that of the tallest African elephant combined a much +greater length of body and bulk of limb, we shall see some reason for +concluding that the period of its decease is not indefinitely removed +from our own era. Its remains occur in greatest abundance in North +America; and it is interesting to observe that among several of the +aboriginal tribes of Red men there were extant traditions of the +Mastodon as a living creature. Dim, vague, and distorted these +traditions are; but so far from our rejecting them _in toto_ on that +account, we ought rather to consider these characters as evidence of +their antiquity. When semi-savage nations present us with +orally-preserved accounts of very remote objects or actions, we look, as +a matter of course, for a considerable element of the wild, and +extravagant, and absurd in them. If we found nothing but what was +reasonable, and consistent, and intelligible, we should say in a moment, +this account cannot have been transmitted very far. The question, in the +case before us, is not, we must remember, the precise habits and +instincts of the Mastodon, but whether the Indians knew anything at all +of the Mastodon having ever been a living animal. Now, as I have +observed, they had. M. Fabri, a French officer who had served in Canada, +informed Buffon that the Red men spoke of the great bones which lay +scattered in various parts of that region as having belonged to an +animal which, after their oriental style, they named _Le Pere aux +B{oe}ufs_. The Shawnee Indians believed that with these enormous animals +there existed men of proportionate development, and that the Great Being +destroyed both with thunderbolts. Those of Virginia stated that, as a +troop of these terrible quadrupeds were destroying the deer, the bisons, +and the other animals created for the use of the Indians, the Great Man +slew them all with His thunder, except the big bull, who, nothing +daunted, presented his enormous forehead to the bolts, and shook them +off as they fell, till, being at last wounded in the side, he fled +towards the great lakes, where he is to this day. + +Evidence of the comparatively-recent entombment of these remains exists, +however, of another character. They do not in general appear to have +been rolled, but to have lived where they are now found; in some +instances, as along the Great Osage River, being imbedded in a vertical +position, as if the animals had been suddenly bogged in the swampy soil. +Nor is there any great accumulation of earth upon them generally. All +along the edges of that great saline morass called, from the abundance +of these animal relics, Big Bone Lick, and on the borders, the skeletons +are found sunk in the soft earth, many of them not more than a yard or +two below the surface, and some even scarcely covered. With them are +found in large numbers the bones of the existing bison, the wapiti-stag, +and other herbivores, which still throng to the same place, for the same +reasons, and meet the same fate. + +Comparative anatomy determines, from the structure of the bones of the +head in the Mastodon, that it must have carried a proboscis like that of +the elephant. This, though wholly fleshy, has left traces of its +existence. Barton reports that, in 1762, out of five skeletons which +were seen by the natives, one skull still possessed what they described +as a "long nose" with the mouth under it. And Kalm, in speaking of a +skeleton, discovered by the Indians in what is now the State of +Illinois, says that the form of the trunk was still apparent, though +half decomposed. The preservation of these perishable tissues in this +case must doubtless be attributed to the salt with which the bog-earth +is saturated. Still more recently a skeleton was found in Virginia, +which contained a very interesting proof of the food of the animal: a +mass of twigs, grass, and leaves, in a half-bruised state, enclosed in a +sort of sac, lay within the cavity of the body, doubtless the contents +of the stomach. Some of the twigs could be identified as those of +existing species of trees and shrubs, among them a species of _rose_, +still common in the region. + +All this is very strong evidence that the deposition of these remains +cannot have taken place in a _very_ remote era,--that, in fact, it must +have been since the general deluge recorded in the Word of God. + +Hugh Miller has an interesting observation concerning the actual date of +geologic phenomena in North America, compared with that of their +counterparts in the Old World. He says, "The much greater remoteness of +the mastodontic period in Europe than in America is a circumstance +worthy of notice, as it is one of many facts that seem to indicate a +general transposition of at least the later geologic ages on the +opposite sides of the Atlantic. Groups of corresponding character on the +eastern and western shores of this great ocean were not contemporaneous +in time. It has been repeatedly remarked that the existing plants and +trees of the United States, with not a few of its fishes and reptiles, +bear in their forms and constructions the marks of a much greater +antiquity than those of Europe. The geologist who set himself to +discover similar types on the eastern side of the Atlantic, would have +to seek for them among the deposits of the later tertiaries. North +America seems to be still passing through its later tertiary ages; and +it appears to be a consequence of this curious transposition, that while +in Europe the mastodontic period is removed by two great geologic eras, +from the present time, it is removed from it in America by only +one."[11] + +Professor Agassiz has expressed opinions of the same character, adducing +the present existence in America of several forms of animals, which are +known in this hemisphere only in a fossil state.[12] + +I cannot refrain from adding the following combination of fact and +speculation, from the pen of an accomplished traveller in Mexico. It +opens up a new train of ideas:-- + +"Some time before our visit, a number of workmen were employed on the +neighbouring estate of Chapingo, to excavate a canal over that part of +the plain from which the waters have gradually retired during the last +three centuries. At four feet below the surface, they reached an ancient +causeway, of the existence of which there was of course not the most +remote suspicion. The cedar piles, by which the sides were supported, +were still sound at heart. Three feet below the edge of this ancient +work, in what may have been the very ditch, they struck upon the entire +skeleton of a Mastodon, embedded in the blue clay. Many of the most +valuable bones were lost by the careless manner in which they were +extricated; others were ground to powder on their conveyance to the +capital, but sufficient remained to prove that the animal had been of +great size. My informant measured the diameter [_qu._ circumference?] +of the tusk, and found it to be eighteen inches. + +"Though I should be very glad to take shelter under the convenient +_Quien sabe_? the use of which I have suggested to you, I could not +avoid, at the time I was in Mexico, putting my isolated facts together, +and feeling inclined to believe that this country had not only been +inhabited in extremely remote times, when the valley bore a very +different aspect from that which it now exhibits, or which tradition +gives it, but that the extinct race of enormous animals, whose remains +would seem, in the instance I have cited, to be coeval with the undated +works of man, may have been subjected to his will, and made +instrumental, by the application of their gigantic force, to the +transport of those vast masses of sculptured and chiselled rock which we +marvel to see lying in positions so far removed from their natural site. + +"The existence of these ancient paved causeways also, not only from +their solid construction over the flat and low plains of the valley, but +as they may be traced running for miles over the dry table-land and the +mountains, appears to me to lend plausibility to the supposition; as one +might inquire, to what end the labour of such works, in a country where +beasts of burden were unknown? + +"But I leave this subject to wiser heads and bolder theorists. Had the +Mammoth of Chapingo been discovered with a ring in his nose, or a bit in +his mouth, a yoke on his head, or a crupper under his tail, the +question would have been set at rest. As it is, there is plenty of room +for conjecture and dispute."[13] + +With respect to the great extinct Mammalia of South America, we find Mr +Darwin, to whom we are indebted for our knowledge of so many of them, +continually expressing his wonder at the comparatively modern era of +their existence. After having enumerated nine vast beasts, which he +found imbedded in the beach at Bahia Blanca, within the space of 200 +yards square, and remarked how numerous in kinds the ancient inhabitants +of the country must have been, he observes that "this enumeration +belongs to a very late tertiary period. From the bones of the +_Scelidotherium_, including even the kneecap, being entombed in their +proper relative positions, and from the osseous armour of the great +armadillo-like animal being so well preserved, together with the bones +of one of its legs, we may feel assured that these remains were fresh +and united by their ligaments when deposited in the gravel with the +shells. Hence we have good evidence that the above-enumerated gigantic +quadrupeds, more different from those of the present day than the oldest +of the tertiary quadrupeds of Europe, lived whilst the sea was peopled +with most of its present inhabitants."[14] + +Of the remains of the Mylodon, and of that strange semi-aquatic creature +the Toxodon, he says, they appeared so fresh that it was difficult to +believe they had lain buried for ages under ground. The bones were so +fresh, that they yielded, on careful analysis, seven per cent. of +animal matter, and when heated in the flame of a spirit-lamp, they not +only exhaled a very strong animal odour, but actually burned with a +small flame. + +Mr Darwin's interest was excited by the evidences everywhere present of +the immensity of this extinct population. "The number of the remains +imbedded in the great estuary-deposit which forms the Pampas, and covers +the gigantic rocks of Banda Oriental, must be extraordinarily great. I +believe a straight line drawn in any direction through the Pampas would +cut through some skeleton or bones.... We may suppose that the whole +area of the Pampas is one wide sepulchre of these extinct gigantic +quadrupeds."[15] + +The whole plain of South America from the Rio Plata to the Straits of +Magellan has been raised from the sea within the species-life of the +existing sea-shells, the old and weathered specimens of which, left on +the surface of the plain, still partially retain their colours! Darwin +infers, as certain, from data which he has adduced, that the Macrauchen, +that strange giraffe-necked pachyderm, lived _long after_ the sea was +inhabited by its present shells, and when the vegetation of the land +could not have been other than it is now. And if the Macrauchen, then +the Toxodon, the Scelidothere, the Megathere, the Mylodon, the +Glyptodon, the Glossothere, and all the rest of the quaint but mighty +host of gone giants, that once thronged these austral plains. + +Evidence for the recent existence of the colossal ostrich-like birds of +New Zealand is stronger still. It is about twenty-one years since the +first intimation was given to scientific Europe of the remains of such +animals, through some bones sent by the Rev. W. Williams to Dr Buckland. +From these, and a collection soon afterwards sent home, Professor Owen +established the genus _Dinornis_, identifying five species, the largest +of which, _D. giganteus_, he concluded to have stood about ten feet in +height. The remains have since been obtained in great profusion, and the +result of further investigations by the Professor has been the +establishment of three other genera, viz., _Palapteryx_, _Nestor_, and +_Notornis_,--the latter a large bird allied to the Rails and Coots. + +A very interesting communication from Mr Williams accompanied one of the +consignments, extracts of which I will quote. It bears date "Poverty +Bay, New Zealand, 17th May 1842." "It is about three years ago, on +paying a visit to this coast, south of the East Cape, that the natives +told me of some extraordinary monster, which they said was in existence +in an inaccessible cavern on the side of a hill near the river Wairoa; +and they shewed me at the same time some fragments of bone taken out of +the beds of rivers, which they said belonged to this creature, to which +they gave the name of _Moa_. When I came to reside in this neighbourhood +I heard the same story a little enlarged; for it was said that this +creature _was still existing_ at the said hill, of which the name is +Wakapunake, and that it is guarded by a reptile of the Lizard species, +but I could not learn that any of the present generation had seen it. I +still considered the whole as an idle fable, but offered a large reward +to any who would catch me either the bird or its protector." These +offers procured the collection of a considerable number of fossil bones, +on which Mr Williams makes the following observations:-- + +"1. None of these bones have been found on the dry land, but are all of +them from the banks and beds of fresh-water rivers, buried only a little +distance in the mud.... All the streams are in immediate connexion with +hills of some altitude. + +"2. This bird was in existence here at no very distant time, though not +in the memory of any of the inhabitants: for the bones are found in the +beds of the present streams, and do not appear to have been brought into +their present situation by the action of any violent rush of waters. + +"3. They existed in considerable numbers,--(an observation which has +since been abundantly confirmed.) + +"4. It may be inferred that this bird was long-lived, and that it was +many years before it attained its full size. (The writer grounds this +inference on the disparity in dimensions of the corresponding bones, +supposing that they all belonged to one and the same species; which, +however, was an erroneous assumption.) + +"5. The greatest height of the bird was probably not less than fourteen +or sixteen feet. The leg-bones now sent give the height of six feet to +the root of the tail. + +"Within the last few days I have obtained a piece of information worthy +of notice. Happening to speak to an American about these bones, he told +me that the bird is still in existence in the neighbourhood of Cloudy +Bay, in Cook's Straits. He said that the natives there had mentioned to +an Englishman belonging to a whaling party, that there was a bird of +extraordinary size to be seen only at night, on the side of a hill near +the place, and that he, with a native and a second Englishman, went to +the spot; that, after waiting some time, they saw the creature at a +little distance, which they describe as being about fourteen or sixteen +feet high. One of the men proposed to go nearer and shoot, but his +companion was so exceedingly terrified, or perhaps both of them, that +they were satisfied with looking at the bird, when, after a little time, +it took the alarm, and strode off up the side of the mountain. + +"This incident might not have been worth mentioning, had it not been for +the extraordinary agreement in point of the size of the bird [with my +deductions from the bones]. _Here_ are the bones which will satisfy you +that such a bird _has been_ in existence; and _there_ is said to be the +_living bird_, the supposed size of which, given by an independent +witness, precisely agrees." + +[Illustration: ENCOUNTER WITH A MOA.] + +The story told of the whaler appears to me to bear marks of truth. The +bold essay to explore, the terror inspired by the gigantic figure, +especially in the solemnity of night, the description of the manners of +the bird running and striding, so like those of the Apteryx, with which +its bones shew the Moa to have been closely allied, and the inglorious +return of the party without achieving any exploit, are all too +natural to permit the thought that no more than inventive power has been +at work. + +And well may the colossus have inspired fear. The bones sent to London +greatly exceed in bulk those of the largest horse. The leg-bone of a +tall man is about one foot four inches in length, and the thigh of +O'Brien, the Irish giant, whose skeleton, eight feet high, is mounted in +the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, is not quite two feet. But +the leg-bone (_tibia_) of the _Dinornis_ we know measured as much as two +feet ten inches, and we have no reason to suppose, considering the +disparity that exists in the specimens examined, that we have seen by +any means the largest. + +Additional reason for supposing these magnificent birds to have existed +not long ago, is found in the fact that specimens of their eggs have +been preserved. The circumstances attendant on the discovery and +identification of these possess a remarkable interest. In the volcanic +sand of New Zealand Mr Walter Mantell found a gigantic egg, which we may +reasonably infer to be that of either _Dinornis_ or _Palapteryx_, of the +magnitude of which he gives us a familiar idea by saying that his hat +would have been but just large enough to have served as an egg-cup for +it. This is the statement of a man of science, and therefore we may +assume an approximate degree of precision in the comparison. + +I do not know the size of Mr Mantell's hat, but I find that the +transverse diameter of my own is six inches or a little more. If we may +take this as the shorter diameter of the ovoid, the longer would +probably be about eight and a half inches; dimensions considerably +greater than those of the Ostrich's egg (which are about six and a +quarter in length), but not what we should have expected from a bird +from twelve to fourteen feet in height. And this the rather when we +consider that the egg of the New Zealand _Apteryx_, to which these birds +manifest a very close affinity, is one of dimensions that are quite +surprising in proportion to the bulk of the bird. The Apteryx is about +as big as a turkey, standing two feet in height, but its egg measures +four inches ten lines by three inches two lines in the respective +diameters. The egg of the _Dinornis giganteus_, to bear the same ratio +to the bird as this, would be of the incredible length of two feet and a +half, by a breadth of one and three quarters! Possibly this specimen, +though indubitably the egg of one of this great family of extinct birds, +may after all be that of one of the subordinate species. + +But about the same time as Mr Mantell's discovery, one of equal interest +was made in Madagascar. The master of a French ship obtained, in 1850, +from natives of the island, three eggs, of far greater size, and +fragments of the leg-bones of an immense bird. These, on their arrival +at Paris, formed the subjects of valuable investigations by M. Isidore +Geoffroy St Hilaire[16] and Professor Owen.[17] + +The native statement was, that one of the eggs had been found entire in +the bed of a torrent, among the debris of a land-slip; that a second +egg, with some fragments of bone, was subsequently found in a formation +_which is stated to be alluvial_; a third egg, which the natives had +perforated at one end, and used as a vessel, was also found. This last +egg was broken in the carriage, the other two arrived in Europe entire. + +These two, though nearly alike in size, differed considerably in their +relative proportions and shape, the one being shorter and thicker, with +more equal ends than the other. The following table shews the dimensions +of both compared with those of an ostrich's egg:-- + + Ovoid egg. Ellipsoid egg. Ostrich egg. + ft. in. li. ft. in. li. ft. in. li. +Longer circumference 2 10 9 2 9 6 1 6 0 +Shorter circumference 2 4 3 2 5 6 1 4 6 +Extreme length 1 0 8 1 0 5 0 6 4 + +M. Geoffroy St Hilaire estimates the larger of the two to contain 10-1/8 +quarts, or the contents of nearly six eggs of the Ostrich, or sixteen of +the Cassowary, or a hundred and forty-eight of the Hen, or fifty +thousand of the Humming bird.[18] + +The fragments of bone indicated a bird of the same natural affinities as +the New Zealand colossi, and of dimensions not widely remote from +theirs. Professor Owen thinks that it did not exceed in height or size +_Dinornis giganteus_, and that there is a probability that it was +slightly smaller. The Madagascar bird has been named _AEpyornis +maximus_. + +The fragments of the egg of the New Zealand bird (still uncertain as to +the species to which it is to be referred) shew that the shell was +absolutely thinner, and therefore relatively _much_ thinner than that of +the Ostrich's egg; the air-pores, too, have a different form, being +linear, instead of round, and the surface is smoother. In these +qualities, the New Zealand egg resembles that of the _Apteryx_; in the +thickness and roughness of the egg of _AEpyornis_ there is more +similarity to those of the Ostrich and Cassowary. The colour of the +Madagascar egg is a dull greyish yellow; but it is possible that this +may be derived from the soil in which it has long been imbedded. The +fragments of the New Zealand egg are white, like the eggs of the +_Apteryx_ and Ostrich: those of the Emu and Cassowary are light green. + +The willing fancy suggests the possibility that, in an island of such +immensity as Madagascar, possessing lofty mountain-ranges, covered with +the most magnificent forests, where civilised man has only yet touched +one or two spots on the seaward borders, but where these slight +explorations have educed so many wondrous animals, so many strange forms +of vegetable life, the noble _AEpyornis_ may yet be stalking with giant +stride along the fern-fringed hill-sides, or through the steaming +thickets; though in the more contracted area of New Zealand its equally +ponderous cousins, the _Dinornis_ and the _Palapteryx_, may have sunk +beneath the persevering persecutions of man. + +Yet another item of evidence bearing on the recent if not present +existence of these great fowls has recently come to light:--the most +interesting discovery that one of the genera whose fossil remains had +been found associated with theirs is really extant in New Zealand. I +refer to the _Notornis_. + +At a meeting of the Zoological Society of London, held on the 13th +November 1850, Dr Mantell made the following communication relative to +this discovery:-- + +"It was in the course of last year, on the occasion of my son's second +visit to the south of the middle island, that he had the good fortune to +secure the recent _Notornis_, which I now submit, having previously +placed it in the hands of the eminent ornithologist Mr Gould, to figure +and describe. This bird was taken by some sealers who were pursuing +their avocations in Dusky Bay. Perceiving the trail of a large and +unknown bird on the snow, with which the ground was then covered, they +followed the footprints till they obtained a sight of the _Notornis_, +which their dogs instantly pursued, and, after a long chase, caught +alive in the gully of a sound behind Resolution Island. It ran with +great speed, and on being captured uttered loud screams, and fought and +struggled violently. It was kept alive three or four days on board the +schooner, and then killed, and the body roasted and eaten by the crew, +each partaking of the dainty, which was declared to be delicious. The +beak and legs were of a bright red colour. My son secured the skin, +together with very fine specimens of the Kapapo or ground parrot +(_Strigops_), a pair of Huias (_Neomorpha_), and two species of +Kiwikiwi, namely _Apteryx Australis_, and _A. Oweni_. The latter very +rare bird is now added to the collection of the British Museum." + +"Mr Walter Mantell states, that, according to the native traditions, a +large Rail was contemporary with the Moa, and formed a principal article +of food among their ancestors. It was known to the North Islanders by +the name 'Moho,' and to the South Islanders by that of 'Takahe;' but the +bird was considered by both natives and Europeans to have been long +since exterminated by the wild cats and dogs; not an individual having +been seen or heard of since the arrival of the English colonists. On +comparing the head of the bird with the fossil cranium, and mandibles, +and the figures and descriptions in the 'Zoological Transactions' (Plate +lvi.), my son was at once convinced of their identity. It may not be +irrelevant to add, that in the course of Mr Walter Mantell's journey +from Banks's Peninsula along the coast to Otago, he learned from the +natives that they believed there still existed in that country the only +indigenous terrestrial quadruped, except a species of rat, which there +are any reasonable grounds for concluding New Zealand ever possessed. +While encamping at Arowenua, in the district of Timaru, the Maoris +assured them that about ten miles inland there was a quadruped which +they called Kaureke, and that it was formerly abundant, and often kept +by their ancestors in a domestic state as a pet animal. It was described +as about two feet in length, with coarse grizzly hair; and must have +more nearly resembled the otter or badger than the beaver or the +Ornithorhynchus, which the first accounts seem to suggest as the +probable type. The offer of a liberal reward induced some of the Maoris +to start for the interior of the country where the Kaureke was supposed +to be located; but they returned without having obtained the slightest +trace of the existence of such an animal. My son, however, expresses his +belief in the native accounts, and that, if the creature no longer +exists, its extermination is of very recent date. In concluding this +brief narrative of the discovery of a genus of birds once contemporary +with the colossal Moa, and hitherto only known by its fossil remains, I +beg to remark that this highly interesting fact tends to confirm the +conclusions expressed in my communication to the Geological Society, +namely, that the _Dinornis_, _Palapteryx_, and related forms, were +coeval with some of the existing species of birds peculiar to New +Zealand, and that their final extinction took place at no very distant +period, and long after the advent of the aboriginal Maoris." + +Mr Gould then read a paper pointing out the zoological characters of the +bird discovered by Mr Mantell, which he had no hesitation in identifying +as the species formerly characterised, from its osseous remains, by +Professor Owen, under the name of _Notornis Mantelli_. Mr Gould, in +adverting to the extreme interest with which the present existence of a +species which was certainly contemporary with the Moa must be regarded, +pointed out, from the preserved skin, which was on the table, how +accurate a prevision of its character had been made by Professor Owen, +when investigating the fragments from which our first knowledge of it +had been derived.[19] + +At length I come home to Great Britain and Ireland--the "nice little, +tight little islands" where so many of our sympathies properly centre, +where natural-history facts and all other facts interest us so much more +than parallel facts elsewhere, and where, above all, there are so many +more lights streaming into the darkness, and bringing out truth. Let us +again look back to the period of the Bison, and Reindeer, and Elk, of +the Elephant, and Hippopotamus, and Rhinoceros, of the Lion and the +Hyena, and the great Cave Bear, and search among the vanishing traces of +the far past for glimpses of evidence when their age ceased to be. + +Some dim light falls on the obscurity from the discovery of the fossil +remains of man himself--the human bones found by Dr Schmerling in a +cavern near Liege, the remains mentioned by M. Marcel de Serres and +others in several caverns in France, associated with fossil relics of +this period. But more from the occurrence of flints, apparently +fashioned by human art, in superficial deposits, together with the same +extinct fossils of the tertiary. Even at the very moment that I write +this sheet, my eye falls on the report[20] of an important meeting of +the Ethnological Society, for the purpose of discussing this very +subject of "The flint implements found associated with the bones of +extinct animals in the Drift." Many of the leading geologists and +archaeologists were present, for the matter has become one of absorbing +interest, conflicting, as the facts seem to do, with some assumptions +received as unquestioned verities in Geology. + +These flints, which seem indubitably to have been chipped into the forms +of arrow-heads, lance-heads, and the like, have been found in France in +large numbers, as also in other parts of the continent, and in England. +They resemble those still used by some savage tribes. In this very +neighbourhood, as in the cavern called Kent's Hole near Torquay, and in +one more recently examined at Brixham, they are found mixed up with the +bones of the Rhinoceros, of the Cave Bear, and the Hyena, At +Menchecourt, near Abbeville, they occur in a deposit of sand, sandy +clay, and marl, with bones of the same animals, and others, their +contemporaries. Concerning this bed, Mr Prestwich, in a paper read +before the Royal Society, May 26, 1859, says that it must be referred to +those usually designated as post pliocene, but that the period of its +deposit was anterior to that of the surface assuming its present +outline, so far as some of its minor features are concerned. "He does +not, however, consider that the facts of necessity carry man back in +past time more than they _bring forward the great extinct mammals +towards our own time_, the evidence having reference only to relative, +and not to absolute time; and he is of opinion that many of the later +geological changes may have been sudden, or of shorter duration than +generally considered. In fact, from the evidence here exhibited, and +from all that he knows regarding the drift phenomena generally, the +author sees no reason against the conclusion that this period of man and +the extinct mammals--supposing their contemporaneity to be proved--was +brought to a sudden end by a temporary inundation of the land; on the +contrary, he sees much to support such a view on purely geological +considerations."[21] + +At the meeting of the Ethnological Society just held, there seems to +have been an increasing tendency to admit the hypothesis of the +continuance of the Mammalia of the Tertiary into the human era. Mr +Evans, who exhibited specimens taken at a depth of twenty to thirty +feet, from a stratum of coarse fresh-water gravel, lying on chalk, and +containing an entire skeleton of an extinct Rhinoceros, and overlaid by +sandy marl containing existing shells, shewed that the deposit had +certainly not been disturbed till the present time, so that the gravel, +the bones, and the flints had been deposited coetaneously. He suggested +"that the animals supposed to have become extinct before man was created +might have continued to exist to more recent periods than had been +admitted." And this opinion found support from other leading geologists. + +That this conclusion would throw the existence of man to an era far +higher than that assigned to him by the inspired Word, is, I know, +generally held; and certain investigations, made in the alluvial deposit +of the Nile,[22] are considered to prove that man has been living in a +state of comparative civilisation in the Nile Valley for the last +13,500 years. But that conclusion absolutely rests on the supposition +that the rate of increase formed by the annual deposit of the Nile mud +has been always exactly the same as now,--a supposition, not only +without the least shadow of proof, but also directly contrary to the +highest probability, nay, certainty, in the estimation of those who +believe in the Noachian deluge. For surely the drainage of the entire +plain of North Africa after that inundation must have produced an +alluvium of vast thickness in a very brief time; while beneath that +deposit the works of the antediluvian world might well be buried. Yet +the possibility of there ever having been any greater rate of deposit +than within the last 3000 years, the recorder of those investigations, +in his unseemly haste to prove the Bible false, strangely leaves wholly +out of his consideration. + +So, doubtless, concerning other deposits containing fossil remains, +whose extreme antiquity is assumed from the known rate of +surface-increase now, we ought to remember that we have not a tittle of +proof that the rate of increase has not at certain remote periods been +suddenly and immensely augmented. There are many facts on record which +tend to shew that the rate at which geologic changes take place in +certain localities affords no reliable data whatever to infer that at +which phenomena apparently quite parallel have occurred in other +localities. An upheaval or a subsidence of one part of a country may +rapidly effect a great change in the amount of soil or gravel +precipitated by streams, without destroying or changing their channels, +and yet the deposit may be made sufficiently gradually to allow the +burial of shells or of bones of creatures which lived and died on the +spot. + +The degradation of a cliff, either suddenly or gradually, might throw a +vast quantity of fragments into a rapid stream, and cause a deposit of +gravel of considerable breadth and thickness in a comparatively short +period of time,--say a century or two. + +Sir Charles Lyell has adduced examples of very rapid formation of +certain stony deposits, which should make us cautious how we assert that +such and such a thickness _must_ have required a vast number of years. +In one of them there is a thickness of 200 or 300 feet of travertine of +recent deposit, while in another, a solid mass _thirty feet thick was +deposited in about twenty years_. There are countless places in Italy +where the formation of limestone may be seen, as also in Auvergne and +other volcanic districts.[23] + +From these and similar considerations it seems to me by no means +unreasonable that the four thousand years which elapsed between the +Creation and the commencement of Western European history should have +been amply sufficient for many of those geological operations whose +results are seen in what are known as the later Tertiary deposits,--the +crag, the drift, the cavern-accumulations, and the like. And, as a +corollary to this, that the great extinct Mammalia may have extended +into this period, and thus have been contemporary with man, for a +greater or less duration, according to the species; some, probably, +having been extinguished at a very early period of the era, while others +lived on to the time I have named, or even later. + +But have we nothing better for this conclusion than an assumption of the +possibility, and a more or less probable conjecture? Yes; we have some +facts of interest to warrant it, or I should not have ventured to +introduce the subject in this work. There are facts,--besides the +admixture of human workmanship with the animal remains in undisturbed +deposits--direct evidence, not altogether shadowy, of the co-existence +of the extinct animals with living men. + +And first, I would mention some circumstances bearing analogy to the +exhumation of the fresh Pachyderms of Siberia. Some years ago, a portion +of the leg of an Irish Elk, so-called, (_Megaceros hibernicus_,) with a +part of the tendons, skin, and hair upon it, was dug up with other +remains from a deposit on the estate of H. Grogan Morgan, Esq., of +Johnstown Castle, Wexford, and is now in that gentleman's possession. +This leg was exhibited, and formed the subject of a lecture at the time +by Mr Peile, veterinary surgeon, Dublin. + +It has been ascertained that the marrow in some of the bones blazes like +a candle; that the cartilage and gelatine, so far from having been +destroyed, were not apparently altered by time.[24] Archdeacon Maunsell +actually made soup of the bones, and presented a portion thereof to the +Royal Dublin Society (whether they enjoyed it I have not heard; it must +have been "a little high," I fear). They are frequently used by the +peasantry for fuel. On the occasion of the rejoicings for the victory at +Waterloo, a bonfire was made of these bones, and it was observed that +they gave out as good a blaze as those of horses, often used for similar +purposes.[25] + +Pepper, in his "History of Ireland," states that the ancient Irish used +to hunt a very large black deer, the milk of which they used as we do +that of the cow, and the flesh of which served them for food, and the +skin for clothing. This is a very remarkable record; and is confirmed by +some bronze tablets found by Sir William Betham, the inscriptions on +which attested that the ancient Irish fed upon the milk and flesh of a +great black deer. + +According to the "Annals of the Four Masters," Niel Sedamin, a king of +Ireland before the Christian era, was so called because "the cows and +the female deer were alike milked in his reign." The art of taming the +wild deer and converting them into domestic cattle is said to have been +introduced by Flidisia, this monarch's mother. Deer are said to have +been used to carry stones and wood for Codocus when his monastery was +built, as also to carry timber to build the castle of a king of +Connaught. These may have been red deer, but as there is good proof +that the giant deer was really domesticated, it seems more likely that +such offices should have been performed by the latter than by the +former. + +An interesting letter from the Countess of Moira, published in the +"Archaeologia Britannica," gives an account of a human body found in +gravel under eleven feet of peat, soaked in the bog-water; it was in +good preservation, and completely clothed in antique garments of +deer-hair, conjectured to be that of the Giant Elk. + +A skull of the same animal has been discovered in Germany in an ancient +drain, together with several urns and stone-hatchets. And in the museum +of the Royal Dublin Society there exists a fossil rib bearing evident +token of having been wounded by some sharp instrument which remained +long infixed in the wound, but had not penetrated so deep as to destroy +the creature's life. It was such a wound as the head of an arrow, +whether of flint or of metal, would produce. + +In the year 1846, a very interesting corroboration of the opinion long +held by some that the great broad-horned Deer was domesticated by the +ancient Irish, was given by the discovery of a vast collection of bones +at Lough Gur, near Limerick. The word Gur is said to mean "an +assemblage," so that the locality is "the Lake of the Assemblage," +commemorating perhaps the gathering of an army or some other host at the +spot. In the midst of the lake is an island, which is described as being +so completely surrounded with bones and skulls of animals "that one +would think the cattle of an entire nation must have been slaughtered to +procure so vast an assemblage." + +The skulls are described as belonging to the following animals:--The +giant deer (females); a deer of inferior size; the stag; another species +of stag; the fallow deer; the broad-faced ox; the hollow-faced ox; the +long-faced ox; another species of ox; the common short-horned ox; the +goat; and the hog. + +The principal points of interest centred in the Giant Deer or so-called +Irish Elk. The skulls of these, as of all the larger animals, "were +broken in by some sharp and heavy instrument, and in the same manner as +butchers of the present day slaughter cattle for our markets, and in +many cases the marrow-bones were broken across, as if to get at the +marrow." + +Of course, if this was indubitable, the conclusion was inevitable, that +the Giant Deer was not only contemporary with man, but was domesticated +by him with other quadrupeds, and used for food. Professor Owen, +however, contended that the skulls of the Giant Deer were not females +but males, from which the horns had been forcibly removed, and that the +holes in the foreheads were made by the violent wrenching off of the +horns tearing away a portion of the frontal bone from which they grew. + +In reply to this opinion, Mr H. D. Richardson of Dublin, whose personal +acquaintance with the relics of this noble species is peculiarly +extensive, shewed that certain variations of proportion on which the +learned Professor relied to prove the skulls to be male, were of no +such value, individual animals presenting great discrepancies in these +respects: that the total absence of cornuous peduncles from the sides of +the forehead, and of the elevated bony ridge, conclusively proved the +sex to be female, which was permanently destitute of horns; and that in +no case could it be said that the ridge was forced away, since the +violence was confined to a _small hole_ in the centre of the forehead. + +To put the matter to test, Mr Richardson experimented on two perfect +male skulls. In the one instance the force was applied to the beam of +the horns, and the result was their fracture where they are united to +the peduncles. In the other case the force was applied to the peduncles +themselves, to ascertain whether it was possible to wrench them and the +ridge away from the face, when the consequence was, that the skull was +completely riven asunder. Indeed to any one who looks at the position of +the horns in this animal, and their implantation, it must be +self-evident that their violent removal must tear away the entire +forehead, and not leave a central hole. Mr Edward Newman who +subsequently examined the specimens speaks decidedly on this point:--"I +have not the least hesitation in expressing my firm conviction that the +fractures were the result of human hands, and were the cause of the +death of the animals. These two fractured skulls correspond too exactly +with each other, and with that of a bullock with which I compared them, +to have resulted from accident: the edges of the fractures wore the +appearance of having been coeval with the interment or submergence of +the skulls, and presented a very strikingly different appearance from a +fracture recently made, and which I had the opportunity of examining. +There were several skulls of the male of the same species, one bearing +enormous antlers, but none exhibiting the slightest trace of frontal +fracture."[26] + +A circumstance of much importance is that these skulls were found in +company with those of many well-known domestic animals, as the ox, the +goat, and the hog. _These skulls were similarly fractured._ As it is +evident that _their_ demolition was produced by the butcher's pole-axe, +why not that of the elk-skulls? + +"At the first cursory glance, it may appear somewhat strange that the +skulls of the males should invariably have been found entire, and that +even the recent discovery at Lough Gur should form no exception. + +"I do not, however, find any difficulty here. In the first place, we may +fairly suppose that males, like our bulls, were not equally prized as +food. In the second place, the size, as well as the position of the +antlers, would render it next to an impossibility to give the desired +blow with the pole-axe. In the third place, the greater strength and +thickness of the skull would almost to a certainty render the blow +unavailing; and in the fourth place, supposing the females domesticated, +and the occasional tenants of sheds and other buildings, we may well +imagine that the males were excluded from such buildings by the enormous +size of their antlers. Perhaps a few only of the males, as in our +cattle, were suffered to become adult, one male sufficing for many +females. Perhaps the males were allowed free range, the females only +being permitted at stated seasons to accompany them. In fine, the more +we investigate probabilities, the more we reason from present experience +and knowledge, the less difficulty shall we find in the way of believing +the gigantic deer of Ireland an animal coeval with man and subservient +to his uses."[27] + +In a communication subsequently made to the _Zoologist_ by Mr +Richardson, he gives the following additional evidence:--"In the +collection of the late Mr Johnston, of Down, which had been left by his +uncle, an attorney, and in which everything was labelled with the +accuracy and precision of that profession, is a small brass spear, with +a piece of wood still in the socket, with a label, stating it to have +been found in a marl-pit, among the bones of a deer. An excise-officer +told me that he saw, found in a marl-pit, at Mentrim in Meath, the +skeleton of a deer, and a man, and a long knife: the latter, I believe, +is rather a short sword, now, I think, in the collection of Mr Petrie, +of Dublin, who told me that some such tradition had accompanied it into +his possession.... Dr Martin informs me that on the banks of the river +Suir, near Portland, Waterford, and on nearly every farm, are found, +near springs, spaces of frequently seventy feet in diameter, consisting +of stones, broken up as if for roads, and lying together in a mass. +These stones were evidently purposely broken, and all much of one size, +and are charred. These spaces are many feet in depth. The tradition +respecting them is current among the peasantry, that here in olden time, +a great deer was killed and baked in these stone-pits, the stones having +been previously heated like a kiln, and they also distinguish the animal +as the 'Irish Elk.' These places are called in Irish by a name +signifying the 'Buck's Den.'" + +[Illustration: SPEARING THE ANCIENT ELK.] + +From all these testimonies combined, can we hesitate a moment in +believing that the Giant Deer was an inhabitant of Ireland since its +colonisation by man? It seems to me that its extinction cannot have +taken place more than a thousand years ago. Perhaps at the very time +that Caesar invaded Britain the Celts in the sister isle were milking and +slaughtering their female elks, domesticated in their cattlepens of +granite, and hunting the proud-antlered male with their flint arrows and +lances. It would appear, that the mode of hunting him was to chase and +terrify him into pools and swamps, such as the marl-pits then were; +that, having thus disabled him in the yielding bogs, and slain him, the +head was cut off, as of too little value to be worth the trouble of +dragging home; that the under jaws and tongue were cut off; and that +frequently the entire carcase was disjointed on the spot, the best parts +only being removed. This would account for the so frequent occurrence of +separate portions of the skeleton, and especially of skulls, in the +bog-earth. No doubt so large an animal would not long survive in a state +of freedom, after an island so limited in extent as Ireland became +peopled throughout; and supposing the females to have been +domesticated, it is quite conceivable that the difficulty or even danger +of capturing or domesticating the males, may have caused the species +soon to become extinct in captivity, when it no longer continued to +exist in a wild state. Thus we may perhaps account for the certainly +remarkable fact that no native Irish name has been recognised as +belonging to it;--remarkable, because the Irish tongue is particularly +rich in distinctive names for natural objects. There exists a very +curious ancient poem in that language which professes to enumerate the +whole fauna of the island. It is founded on the legend that Fian +MacCumhaill was made prisoner by Cormac MacArt, king of Erinn; that the +victor promised to give him freedom on condition that, as a ransom, a +pair of each wild animal found in Ireland were brought before him on the +green of Tara. Cailte MacRonain, the foster-brother of the captive +general undertook the task, and succeeded in bringing the collection +before the king within a twelvemonth; and in the poem, he is supposed to +narrate to St Patrick the detail and result of his enterprise. Of this +poem, which is considered to be as early as the ninth century, the +reader may like to see the following translation by Mr Eugene Curry, +containing the zoological portion:-- + + "I then went forth to search the lands, + To see if I could redeem my chief, + And soon returned to noble Tara, + With the ransom that Cormac required. + + "I brought with me the fierce _Geilt_,[28] + And the tall _Grib_[29] with talons, + And the two Ravens of Fid-da-Beann, + And the two Ducks of Loch Saileann. + + "Two Foxes from Sliabh Cuilinn, + Two Wild Oxen[30] from Burren, + Two Swans from the dark wood of Gabhran, + And two Cuckoos from the wood of Fordrum. + + "Two _Toghmalls_[31] from Fidh-Gaibhle, + Which is by the side of the two roads, + And two Otters after them, + From the brown-white rock of Dobhar. + + "Two Gulls from Tralee hither, + Two _Ruilechs_[32] from Port Lairge (Waterford), + Four _Snags_[33] from the River Brosna, + Two Plovers from the rock of Dunan. + + "Two _Echtachs_[34] from the lofty Echtghe, + Two Thrushes from Letter Longarie, + Two _Drenns_[35] from Dun Aife, + The two _Cainches_[36] of Corraivte. + + "Two Herons from the hilly Corann, + The two _Errfiachs_[37] of Magh Fobhair, + The two Eagles of Carrick-na-Cloch, + Two Hawks from the wood of Caenach. + + "Two Pheasants from Loch Meilge, + Two Water-hens from Loch Eirne, + Two Heath-hens from the Bog of Mafa, + Two Swift Divers from Dubh Loch. + + "Two _Cricharans_[38] from Cualann, + Two Titmice from Magh Tualang, + Two Choughs from Gleann Gaibhle, + Two Sparrows from the Shannon. + + "Two Cormorants from Ath Cliath, + Two _Onchus_[39] from Crotta Cliach, + Two Jackdaws from Druim Damh, + Two _Riabhogs_[40] from Leathan Mhaigh. + + "Two Rabbits from Dumho Duinn, + Two wild Hogs from circular Cnoghbha, + Two _Peatans_[41] from Creat Roe, + Two wild Boars[42] from green-sided Tara. + + "Two Pigeons out of Ceis Corann, + Two Blackbirds out of Leitir Finnchoill, + Two black Birds (?) from the strand of Dabhan, + Two Roebucks from Luachair Deaghaidh. + + "Two _Fereidhins_[43] from Ath Loich, + Two Fawns from Moin mor, + Two Bats out of the Cave of Cnoghbha, + Two Pigs[44] from the lands of Ollarbha. + + "Two Swallows out of Sidh Buidhe, + Two _Iaronns_[45] from the wood of Luadraidh, + Two _Geisechtachs_[46] from Magh Mall, + Two charming Robins from Cnamh Choill. + + "Two Woodcocks from Coillruadh, + Two Crows from Lenn Uar, + Two _Bruacharans_[47] from Sliabh-da-Ean, + Two Barnacle-Geese from Turloch Bruigheoil. + + "Two _Naescans_[48] from Dun Daighre, + Two Yellow-ammers from the brink of Bairne, + Two _Spireogs_[49] from Sliabh Cleath, + Two Grey Mice from Limerick. + + "Two Corncrakes from the Banks of Shannon, + Two Wagtails from the brinks of Birra, + Two Curlews from the Harbour of Galway, + Two _Sgreachogs_[50] from Muirtheimhne. + + "Two _Geilt Glinnes_[51] from Glenn-a-Smoil, + Two Jackdaws from great Ath Mogha, + Two fleet _Onchus_[52] from Loch Con, + Two Cats out of the Cave of Cruachain. + + "Two Goats from Sith Gabhran, + Two Pigs[53] of the Pigs of Mac Lir, + A Ram and Ewe both round and red, + I brought with me from Aengus. + + "I brought with me a Stallion and a Mare, + From the beautiful stud of Manannan, + A Bull and a white Cow from Druim Cain, + Which were given me by Muirn Munchain." + +No _known_ allusion occurs in this poem to the Giant Deer.[54] First, +however, we must remember that no small number of the animals mentioned +are quite unrecognisable; and that of those names to which an +explanation is given, many are probably incorrectly rendered. Secondly, +if it could be absolutely shewn that no allusion exists to that fine +beast, it would not at all disprove its existence a thousand years +before. Supposing that the _Megaceros_ became extinct soon after the +colonisation of Ireland, and that this was several centuries before the +Christian era, the distinctive name by which it had been known might +well have died out and become extinct also, among a people unacquainted +with letters. Or if a dim tradition of the animal and of its name still +lingered here and there, it might well be omitted from a catalogue which +professed to give the creatures actually collected in a living state at +a given period. It would have been interesting to have been able to +identify the Great Elk, but its introduction would have been a glaring +anachronism. + +The enumeration of nearly a hundred and sixty quadrupeds and birds +either indigenous to or naturalised in Ireland at so early a period, +possesses, I say, a peculiar interest. + +If the editor's suggestion is correct, that the _Echtach_ was a bovine +animal, then we have three distinct mentions of this family in the +poem,--the Wild Oxen, the Echtachs, and the Bull and White Cow. The +second and third of these were probably domesticated animals; the first +one expressly "Wild." Now at least five distinct species of Oxen are +known to have inhabited Europe and the British Isles during the later +periods of the Tertiary era, which have been named respectively, _Bison +priscus_, _Bos primigenius_, _frontosus_ and _longifrons_, and _Ovibos +moschatus_. Of these, skulls of _Bos frontosus_ and _B. longifrons_ have +been dug up in some numbers in Ireland. Some of these bear, in the +perforation of the forehead, evident proof of having been slaughtered +_secundum artem_, and therefore of having been domesticated. But one +large skull of the _longifrons_ type, now in the Museum of the Royal +Irish Academy, has a cut in the forehead, into which can be accurately +fitted several of the narrow bronze "celts," or arrow-heads so +frequently dug up in Ireland; a pretty fair proof that this animal was +killed by the hunter's arrow, and was therefore wild. + +No bovine animals of the true taurine race are now known to exist in an +aboriginally wild state; but at the epoch of our earliest historical +knowledge of central and western Europe it was far otherwise. Caesar, +describing, under the name of _Urus_, certain wild oxen of the great +Hercynian forest, says, "These Uri are little inferior to elephants in +size, but are bulls in their nature, colour, and figure. Great is their +strength, and great their swiftness, nor do they spare man or beast when +once they have caught sight of him. These, when trapped in pitfalls, the +hunters unsparingly kill. The youths, exercising themselves by this sort +of hunting, are hardened by the toil, and those among them who have +killed most, bringing with them the horns, as testimonials, acquire +great praise. But these Uri cannot be habituated to man, nor made +tractable, not even when taken young. The great size of the horns, as +well as the form and quality of them, differs much from those of our +oxen." + +It is probable that this race extended widely over Europe, and even into +Asia. Herodotus mentions Macedonian wild oxen, with exceedingly large +([Greek: hypermegathia]) horns; and Philip of Macedon killed a wild bull +in Mount Orbela, which had made great havoc, and produced much terror +among the inhabitants; its spoils he hung up in the Temple of Hercules. +The Assyrian artists delighted to sculpture on the royal bas-reliefs of +Nineveh the conquest of the wild bull by the prowess of their Nimrod +monarchs, and the figures, in their minute anatomical characters, well +agree with the descriptions and remains of the European _Urus_. The +large forest that surrounded ancient London was infested with _boves +sylvestres_ among other wild beasts, and it is probable that these were +_Uri_. The legendary exploit of Guy, Earl of Warwick, in freeing the +neighbourhood from a terrible dun cow, whether historically true or not, +shews the existence of formidable wild bovines in the heart of England, +and the terror they inspired among the people. The family of Turnbull, +in Scotland, are traditionally said to owe their patronymic to a hero +who turned a wild bull from Robert the Bruce, when it had attacked him +while hunting. + +What has become of the terrible Uri which lived in Europe at the +commencement of the Christian era? Advancing civilisation has rooted +them out, so that no living trace of them remains, unless the +cream-white breed which is preserved in a semi-wild state in some of our +northern parks be their representatives; or, as is not improbable, their +blood may still circulate in our domestic oxen. + +Yet there is no doubt of the identity of a species found abundantly in +Britain in the Tertiary deposits, and named by Owen _Bos primigenius_, +with the Urus of Caesar. This fossil bull was as certainly contemporary +in this island with the elephant, and the hyena, and the baboon, and, +strange to say, with the reindeer, and the musk-ox, too--thus combining +a tropical, a temperate, and an arctic fauna in our limited island at +the same period! What a strange climate it must have been to suit them +all! + +Professor Nilsson, who has paid great attention to fossil oxen, mentions +a skull of this species which must have belonged to an animal more than +twelve feet in length from the nape to the root of the tail, and six +feet and a half in height. Again, the skull of a cow in the British +Museum, figured by Professor Owen, measures thirty inches from the crown +to the tips of the jaws! What a beast must this have been! Would not the +slaughter of such a "Dun Cow" as this in single combat have been an +exploit worthy of a doughty earl? + +That this ancient fossil bull was really contemporary with man in +Scandinavia is proved by evidence which is irrespective of the question +of its identity with Caesar's Urus. For one of Professor Nilsson's +specimens "bears on its back a palpable mark of a wound from a javelin. +Several celebrated anatomists and physiologists, among whom," he says, +"I need only mention the names of John Mueller, of Berlin, and Andreas +Retzius, of Stockholm, have inspected this skeleton, and are unanimous +in the opinion that the hole in question upon the backbone is the +consequence of a wound, which, during the life of the animal, was made +by the hand of man. The animal must have been very young, probably only +a calf, when it was wounded. The huntsman who cast the javelin must have +stood before it. It was yet young when it died, probably not more than +three or four years old." + +We may, then, assume as certain that the vast _Bos primigenius_ of +Western Europe lived as a wild animal contemporaneously with man; and as +almost certain (assuming its identity with the _Urus_) that it continued +to be abundant as late as the Christian era. + +The _Bos frontosus_ is a middling-sized bovine. "Its remains," says +Professor Nilsson, "are found in turf-bogs in Southern Scandinavia, and +in such a state as plainly shews that they belonged to a more ancient +period than that in which tame cattle existed in Sweden. This species +lived in Scandinavia contemporaneously with the _Bos primigenius_, and +the _Bison Europaeus_.... If ever it was tamed, and thereby in the course +of time contributed to form some of the tame races of cattle, it must +have been the small-horned, often hornless, breed, which is to be found +in the mountains of Norway, and which has a high protuberance between +the setting-on of the horns above the nape." + +This species occurs in a fossil state in some numbers in Ireland; it has +also been found in England. It is by some supposed to be the origin of, +or, at least, to have contributed blood to, the middling Highland races +with high occiput, and small horns. + +There is more certainty of the co-existence of the small _B. longifrons_ +with man. Some of the evidence I have already adduced. "Within a few +years," says a trustworthy authority, "we have read in one of the +scientific periodicals,--but have just now sought in vain for the +notice,--of a quantity of bones that were dug up in some part of +England, together with other remains of what seemed to be the relics of +a grand feast, held probably during the Roman domination of Britain, +for, if we mistake not, some Roman coins were found associated with +them. _There were skulls_ and other remains of _Bos longifrons_ quite +undistinguishable in form from the antique fossil, whether wild or +domesticated, which, of course, remains a question."[55] + +Professor Owen conjectures that this species may have contributed to +form the present small shaggy Highland and Welsh cattle,--the kyloes and +runts; and a similar breed in the northern parts of Scania may have had +a similar origin. + +In the _Bison priscus_, the fossil remains of which occur in many parts +of Europe, and more sparsely in Great Britain,[56] we have an example of +a noble animal, which, contemporary with all those which have been +engaging our attention, survives to the present hour, but is dying out, +and would have long ago been extinguished, probably, but for the +fostering influence of human conservation. For the species is considered +as absolutely identical with the _Bison Europaeus_ of modern zoology, the +Bison or Wisent of the Germans, the Aurochs of the Prussians, the Zubr +of the Poles, that formidable creature, which is maintained by the Czar +in an ever-diminishing herd in the vast forests of Lithuania,[57] and +which, perhaps, still lingers in the fastnesses of the Caucasus. This, +the largest, or at least the most massive of all existing quadrupeds, +after the great Pachyderms, roamed over Germany in some numbers as late +as the era of Charlemagne. Considerably later than this it is reckoned +among the German beasts of chase, for in the _Niebelungen Lied_, a poem +of the twelfth century, it is said, + + "Dar nach schlouch er schiere, einen wisent und einen elch, + Starcher ure viere, und einen grimmen schelch." + + "After this he straightway slew a bison and an elk, + Of the strong uri four, and a single fierce schelch."[58] + +It is a formidable beast, standing six feet high at the shoulders, where +it is protected by a thick and profuse mane. Specimens have been known +to reach a ton in weight. It manifests an invincible repugnance to the +ox. + +There are several other animals of note which, like the Bison, were once +common inhabitants of these islands, but have long been extinct here, +though more genial circumstances have preserved their existence on the +continent of Europe. Of the great Cave Bear, no evidence of its period +exists, that I know of, except that which may be deduced from the +commixture of its remains with those of other animals of whose recent +date we have proof. But there is another kind of Bear, whose relics in a +fossil state are not uncommon in the Tertiary deposits, viz., the common +Black Bear (_Ursus arctos_) of Europe. + +This savage animal must have early succumbed to man. The "Triads"[59] +mention bears as living here before the Kymri came. The Roman poets knew +of their existence here: Martial speaks of the robber Laureolus being +exposed on the cross to the fangs of the _Caledonian_ Bear; and Claudian +alludes to British bears. The Emperor Claudius, on his return to Rome +after the conquest of this island, exhibited, as trophies, combats of +British bears in the arena. In the Penitential of Archbishop Egbert, +said to have been compiled about A.D. 750, bears are mentioned as +inhabiting the English forests, but they must have gradually become +rare, for the chase-laws of Canute, at the beginning of the eleventh +century, are silent about them. In Doomsday Book, we find incidental +notice of this animal, for the city of Norwich is said to have been +required to furnish a bear annually to Edward the Confessor, together +with "six dogs for the bear,"--no doubt for baiting him. This seems to +have been the latest trace on record of the bear in Britain; unless the +tradition may compete with it, which states that one of the Gordon +family was empowered by the king of Scotland to carry three bears' heads +on his banner, as a reward for his prowess in slaying a fierce bear. + +In Ireland it seems to have become extinct even yet earlier. Bede +says the only ravenous animals in his day were the wolf and the fox; +Donatus, who died in A.D. 840, distinctly says it was not a native +of the island in his time; and Geraldus Cambrensis does not enumerate +it as known in the twelfth century. Neither is it included in the +ransom-beasts of Cailte's collection. Yet a native Irish name for the +bear--Mathghambain--occurs in an old glossary[60] in the Library of +Trinity College, Dublin; and the late Wm. Thomson says that a tradition +is current of its having once been an Irish animal; and it is associated +with the wolf as a native beast in the stories handed down from +generation to generation to the present time. + +The wolf, however, survived in both islands to a much later era. In the +days of the Heptarchy it was a terrible pest; King Edgar commuted the +punishment of certain offences into a requisition for a fixed number of +wolves' tongues; and he converted a heavy tax on one of the Welsh +princes into an annual tribute of three hundred wolves' heads. These +laws continued to the time of Edward I., when the increasing scarcity of +the animal doubtless caused them to fall into disuse. Mr Topham, in his +Notes to Somerville's "Chase," says, that it was in the wolds of +Yorkshire that a price was last set on a wolf's head. The last record of +their occurring in formidable numbers in England is in 1281; but for +three centuries after this, the mountains and forests of Scotland +harboured them; for Hollinshed reports that in 1577 the wolves were very +troublesome to the flocks of that country. Nor were they entirely +destroyed out of this island till about a century afterwards, when the +last wolf fell in Lochaber, by the hand of Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel. +In Ireland the last wolf was slain in 1710. + +Thus here we are able to lay our finger on the exact dates when a large +and rapacious species of animal actually became extinct so far as the +British Isles are concerned. And if the species had been confined in its +geographical limits, as many other species of animals are, to one group +of islands, we should know the precise date of its absolute extinction. + +The Beaver was once an inhabitant of British rivers. Its remains are +found in Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Yorkshire, and elsewhere, associated +with the other Mammalia of the fresh-water deposits and caves, but not +in any abundance. No record of its actual existence, however, in these +counties exists, nor anywhere else but in Wales and Scotland, whose +mountain streams and rugged ravines afforded it shelter till after the +Norman Conquest. It was very rare even then, and for a hundred years +before; for the laws of Howel Dda, the Welsh king, who died in 948, in +determining the value of peltry, fix the price of the beaver's skin at a +hundred and twenty pence, when the skins of the stag, the wolf, the fox, +and the otter, were worth only eightpence each, that of the white weasel +or ermine at twelvepence, and that of the marten, at twenty-four pence. +The appropriate epithet of Broad-tail (Llostllyddan) was given it by the +Welsh. Giraldus Cambrensis, who travelled through Wales in 1188, gives, +in his Itinerary, a short account of the beaver, but states that the +river Teivy in Cardiganshire, and one other river in Scotland, were the +only places in Great Britain, where it was then found. In all +probability it did not long survive that century, for no subsequent +notice of it as a British animal is extant. Tradition, however, still +preserves the remembrance of its presence in those indelible records, +names of places. "Two or three waters in the Principality," says +Pennant, "still bear the name of _Llyn yr afangc_,--the Beaver Lake.... +I have seen two of their supposed haunts: one in the stream that runs +through Nant Francon; the other in the river Conwy, a few miles above +Llanrwst; and both places, in all probability, had formerly been crossed +by beaver-dams." + +If, as naturalists of the highest eminence believe, there is specific +difference between the beaver of Europe and that of America, then we may +say that our species is fast passing away from the earth. A few colonies +yet linger along the banks of the Danube, the Weser, the Rhone and the +Euphrates, but they consist of few individuals, ever growing fewer; and +the value of their fur exciting cupidity, they cannot probably resist +much longer the exterminating violence of man. + +The causes which led to the extinction of these animals in our islands +are then obvious, and are thus playfully touched by the late James +Wilson:--"The beaver might have carried on business well enough, in his +own quiet way, although frequently incommoded by the love of peltry on +the part of a hat-wearing people; but it is clear that no man with a +small family and a few respectable farm servants, could either permit a +large and hungry wolf to be continually peeping at midnight through the +keyhole of the nursery, or allow a brawny bruin to snuff too frequently +under the kitchen door (after having hugged the watch-dog to death) when +the servant-maids were at supper. The extirpation then of at least two +of these quondam British species became 'a work of necessity and mercy,' +and might have been tolerated even on a Sunday, (between sermons,) +especially as naturalists have it still in their power to study the +habits of similar wild beasts, by no means yet extinct, in the +neighbouring countries of France and Germany."[61] + +Perhaps the example of recent extinction most popularly known is that of +the Dodo, a very remarkable bird, which about two centuries ago existed +in considerable abundance, in the isles of Mauritius, Bourbon, and +Rodriguez. It was a rather large fowl, incapable of rising from the +ground, by reason of the imperfect development of its wings, of massive, +uncouth figure, predisposed to fatness, and noted for the sapidity of +its flesh. Two skulls and two unmatched feet of this strange bird are +preserved in European museums; and these shew that its nearest +affinities were with the pigeon-tribe, of which we know some species of +terrestrial habits, but none approaching this bird in its absolute +confinement to the earth. + +In the reports of numerous voyagers who visited these islands from the +end of the fifteenth century to the middle of the seventeenth, we have +many accounts of the appearance and habits of this bird, evidently +sketched from the life. Some of the descriptions, as also the figures by +which they are illustrated, are quaint enough; as, for example, that +graphic sketch hit off by old Sir Thomas Herbert, who saw the bird in +his travels in 1634:-- + + "The Dodo," he says, "comes first to our description. Here and in + Dygarrois (and nowhere else that I c^d ever see or heare of) is + generated the Dodo. (A Portuguize name it is, and has reference to + her simplenes) a bird which for shape and rareness might be call'd + a Ph{oe}nix (wer't in Arabia); her body is round and extreame fat, + her slow pace begets that corpulencie; few of them weigh lesse than + fifty pound: better to the eye than the stomack: greasie appetites + may perhaps commend them, but, to the indifferently curious, + nourishment, but prove offensive. Let's take her picture: her + visage darts forth melancholy, as sensible of nature's injurie in + framing so great and massive a body to be directed by such small + and complementall wings, as are unable to hoise her from the + ground, serving only to prove her a bird; which otherwise might be + doubted of: her head is variously drest, the one halfe hooded with + downy blackish feathers; the other perfectly naked; of a whitish + hue, as if a transparent lawne had covered it; her bill is very + howked and bends downwards, the thrill or breathing place is in the + midst of it; from which part to the end, the colour is a light + greene mixt with a pale yellow; her eyes be round and small, and + bright as diamonds; her cloathing is of finest downe, such as ye + see in goslins; her trayne is (like a China beard) of three or + foure short feythers; her legs thick, and black, and strong; her + tallons or pounces sharp; her stomack fiery hot, so as stones and + yron are easilie digested in it; in that and shape, not a little + resembling the Africk oestriches: but so much, as for their more + certain dyfference I dare to give thee (with two others) her + representation."[62] + +It is pretty certain that a living specimen was about the same time +exhibited in England. Sir Hamon L'Estrange tells us distinctly that he +_saw_ it. His original MS. is preserved in the British Museum, and with +some blanks caused by the injury of time, of no great consequence, reads +as follows:-- + + "About 1638, as I walked London streets, I saw the picture + of a strange fowl hong out upon a cloth. + vas and myselfe with one or two more Gen. in + company went in to see it. It was kept in a chamber, and was a + greate fowle somewhat bigger than the largest Turky Cock and so + legged and footed but stouter and thicker and of a more erect + shape, coloured before like the breast of a yong Cock Fesan and on + the back of dunn or deare coulour. The keeper called it a Dodo and + in the ende of a chimney in the chamber there lay an heap of large + pebble stones whereof hee gave it many in our sight, some as bigg + as nutmegs and the keeper told us shee eats them conducing to + digestion and though I remember not how farre the keeper was + questioned therein yet I am confident that afterwards shee cast + them all agayne."[63] + +It is probable that this very specimen passed into the museum of +Tradescant, who, in the Catalogue of "The Collection of Rarities +preserved at Lambeth," dated 1656, mentions the following: "Dodar from +the Island Mauritius: it is not able to flie being so bigg." Willoughby +the ornithologist, a most unexceptionable testimony, says that he saw +this specimen in Tradescant's museum: it is mentioned also by +others;--as by Llhwyd in 1684, and by Hyde in 1700. It passed, with the +rest of the Tradescant Collection, to Oxford, and thus became part of +the Ashmolean Museum,--and being in a decayed condition, was ordered to +be destroyed by the authorities, who had no apprehension of its value, +in 1755. The skull and one foot, however, were preserved, and are still +in the Museum at Oxford. Remains of the Dodo have been dug up in the +Mauritius, and are in the Paris Museum, and in that of the Zoological +Society of London. The bird certainly does not exist there now, nor in +either of the neighbouring islands. + +In the British Museum there is a fine original painting, once the +property of George Edwards, the celebrated bird painter, representing +the Dodo surrounded by other minor birds and reptiles. Edwards states +that "it was drawn in Holland, from a living bird brought from St +Maurice's Island, in the East Indies. It was the property of Sir Hans +Sloane at the time of his death, and afterwards becoming my property, I +deposited it in the British Museum as a great curiosity." + +Professor Owen has discovered another original figure of this +interesting form in Savary's painting of "Orpheus and the Beasts," at +the Hague. The figure, though small, displays all the characteristic +peculiarities, and agrees well with Edwards' painting, while evincing +that it was copied from the living bird. + +It is possible that there were two species of Dodo; which would explain +certain discrepancies in the descriptions of observers. At all events we +have here one, if not more, conspicuous animal absolutely extinguished +within the last two hundred years. + +Just about a century ago a great animal disappeared from the ocean, +which, according to Owen, was contemporary with the fossil elephant and +rhinoceros of Siberia and England. Steller, a Russian voyager and +naturalist, discovered the creature, afterward called _Stelleria_ by +Cuvier, in Behring's Straits; a huge, unwieldy whale-like animal, one of +the marine pachyderms, allied to the Manatee, but much larger, being +twenty-five feet long, and twenty in circumference. Its flesh was good +for food, and from its inertness and incapacity for defence, the race +was extirpated in a few years. Steller first discovered the species in +1741, and the last known specimen was killed in 1768. It is believed to +be quite extinct, as it has never been met with since. + +Nearly a century ago, Sonnerat found in Madagascar, a curious animal, +(_Cheiromys_,) which in structure seems to connect the monkeys with the +squirrels. So rare was it there that even the natives viewed it with +curiosity as an animal altogether unknown to them; and, from their +exclamations of astonishment rather than from its cry, the French +naturalist is said to have conferred upon it the name of Aye-aye, by +which it is now known. _Not a specimen, as I believe, has been seen +since Sonnerat's day_, so that, if not actually obliterated, the species +must be on the verge of extinction. + +Species are dying out in our own day. I have already cited the +interesting case of the Moho, that fine Gallinule of New Zealand, of +which a specimen--probably the last of its race,--was obtained by Mr +Walter Mantell; and that of the Kaureke, the badger-like quadruped of +the same islands, which was formerly domesticated by the Maoris, but +which now cannot be found. + +The Samoa Isles in the Pacific recently possessed a large and handsome +kind of pigeon, of richly-coloured plumage, which the natives called +_Manu-mea_, but to which modern naturalists have given the name of +_Didunculus strigirostris_. It was, both by structure and habit, +essentially a ground pigeon, but not so exclusively but that it fed, and +roosted too, according to Lieut. Walpole, among the branches of tall +trees. Mr T. Peale, the naturalist of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, +who first described it, informs us that according to the tradition of +the natives, it once abounded; but some years ago these persons, like +more civilised folks, had a strong desire to make pets of cats, and +found, by means of whale-ships, opportunities of procuring a supply; but +the consequence of the introduction of "pussy,"--for under this familiar +old-country title were the exotic tabbies introduced--was the rapid +diminution of the handsome _Manu-mea_. Pussy did not fancy yams and +taro--the vegetable diet on which the natives regaled--and took to the +woods and mountains to search for something better. There she met with +the feeble-winged _Didunculus_ scratching the soft earth for seeds, and +with a purr and a mew soon scraped acquaintance with the stranger. Pussy +declared she loved him well, and so she did--too well, in fact; she felt +"as if she could eat him up,"--_and did_. The news soon spread among the +tabbies that there were sweet birds in the woods, and the result is the +almost total disappearance of poor _Manu-mea_. Like the Dodo, it has +ceased to be, but at the hand of a more ignominious foe. The Samoan may +truly say to his former pet, "_Cecidisti, O Manu-mea, non manu mea, sed +ungue felino_." So rare had the bird become, that during the stay of the +Expedition only three specimens could be procured, and of these two were +lost by shipwreck. I do not know whether another has been met with +since. Probably they are all gone; for that was twenty years ago. + +When Norfolk Island,--that tiny spot in the Southern Ocean since so +stained with human crime and misery--was first discovered, its tall and +teeming forests were tenanted by a remarkable Parrot with a very long +and slender hooked beak, which lived upon the honey of flowers. It was +named _Nestor productus_. When Mr Gould visited Australia in his +researches into the ornithology of those antipodeal regions, he found +the Nestor Parrot absolutely limited to Philip Island, a tiny satellite +of Norfolk Island, whose whole circumference is not more than five +miles in extent. The war of extermination had been so successful in the +larger island that, with the exception of a few specimens preserved in +cages, not one was believed to survive. Since then its last retreat has +been harried, and Mr J. H. Gurney thus writes the dirge of the last of +the Nestors:-- + +"I have seen the man who exterminated the _Nestor productus_ from Philip +Island, he having shot the last of that species left on the island; he +informs me that they rarely made use of their wings, except when closely +pressed; their mode of progression was by the upper mandible; and +whenever he used to go to the island to shoot, he would invariably find +them on the ground, except one, which used to be sentry on one of the +lower branches of the _Araucaria excelsa_, and the instant any person +landed, they would run to those trees and haul themselves up by the +bill, and, as a matter of course, they would there remain till they were +shot, or the intruder had left the island. He likewise informed me that +there was a large species of hawk that used to commit great havoc +amongst them, but what species it was he could not tell me."[64] + +I have before mentioned that Professor Owen had recognised the species +in fossil skulls from New Zealand, associated with remains of +_Dinornis_, _Palapteryx_, and _Notornis_. Thus it appears that the +long-billed Parrot is an ancient race, whose extreme decrepitude has +just survived to our time;--that it first became extinct from New +Zealand, then from Norfolk Island, and lastly from Philip Island. Peace +to its ashes! + +Mr Yarrell, in his "History of British Birds,"[65] commences his account +of one of them in these words:--"The Great Auk is a very rare British +Bird, and but few instances are recorded of its capture. The natives in +the Orkneys informed Mr Bullock, on his tour through these islands +several years ago, that only one male had made its appearance for a long +time, which had regularly visited Papa Westra for several seasons. The +female, which the natives call the queen of the Auks, was killed just +before Mr Bullock's arrival. The king or male, Mr Bullock had the +pleasure of chasing for several hours in a six-oared boat, but without +being able to kill him, for though he frequently got near him, so expert +was the bird in its natural element that it appeared impossible to shoot +him. The rapidity with which he pursued his course under water was +almost incredible. About a fortnight after Mr Bullock had left Papa +Westra, this male bird was obtained and sent him, and at the sale of his +collection, was purchased for the British Museum, where it is still +carefully preserved." + +This fine bird, which was larger than a goose, is believed to be +extinct. Mr Bullock's specimen was taken in 1812; another was captured +at St Kilda in 1822, another was picked up dead near Lundy Island in +1829, and yet another was taken in 1834, off the coast of Waterford. + +On the north coast of Europe the bird is equally rare; not more than +two or three, at the utmost, having been procured during the present +century. During that period, however, it has haunted one or two +breeding-rocks on the south coast of Iceland, in some abundance. In the +years 1830 and 1831, as many as twenty-seven were obtained there, and +from that time till 1840, about ten more. The last birds obtained on the +Iceland coast were a pair, which were shot on their nest in 1844. The +last taken in any locality, so far as is known, was one shot in 1848, by +a peasant, on the Island of Wardoe, within the Arctic Circle. + +Two centuries ago, the Great Auk was not uncommon on the shores of New +England; and, off the great fishing-banks of Newfoundland, it appears to +have been very abundant. "Its appearance was always hailed by the +mariner approaching that desolate coast as the first indication of his +having reached soundings on the fishing-banks. During the sixteenth and +seventeenth centuries these waters, as well as the Iceland and Faroe +coasts, were annually visited by hundreds of ships from England, France, +Spain, Holland, and Portugal; and these ships actually were accustomed +to provision themselves with the bodies and eggs of these birds, which +they found breeding in myriads on the low islands off the coast of +Newfoundland. Besides the fresh birds consumed by the ship's crew, many +tons were salted down for further use. In the space of an hour, these +old voyagers tell us, they could fill thirty boats with the birds. It +was only necessary to go on shore, armed with sticks to kill as many as +they chose. The birds were so stupid that they allowed themselves to be +taken up, on their own proper element, by boats under sail; and it is +even said that on putting out a plank it was possible to drive the Great +Auks up and out of the sea into boats. On land the sailors formed low +enclosures of stones, into which they drove the Penguins [or Auks], and, +as they were unable to fly, kept them there enclosed till they were +wanted for the table." + +"In 1841, a distinguished Norwegian naturalist, (too early, alas! lost +to science,) Peter Stuwitz, visited Tunk Island, or Penguin Island, +lying to the east of Newfoundland. Here, on the north-west shore of the +island, he found enormous heaps of bones and skeletons of the Great Auk, +lying either in exposed masses or slightly covered by the earth. On this +side of the island the rocks slope gradually down to the shore; and here +were still standing the stone fences and enclosures into which the birds +were driven for slaughter."[66] + +It is just possible that the bird may yet haunt the inaccessible coast +of East Greenland, but ships sailing between that country and Iceland +never meet with it at sea. Nor did Graah observe it during his toilsome +researches east of Cape Farewell. The numerous fishing craft that every +season crowd the shores of Newfoundland and Labrador forbid the notion +that it yet lingers there; for the great market-value set upon the bird +and its eggs for collections would prevent its existence there from +being overlooked. The numerous Polar voyages of discovery, and the +annual fleets of whalers, would certainly have discovered it, if it +still haunted the more northern regions. It is possible that a few +isolated individuals may still survive; but it is the habit of the bird, +as of most sea-fowl, to breed in society in bare seaward rocks, and the +circumstance that no breeding station is known to be now frequented by +the Great Auk renders it but too probable that it also must be classed +among the species that were. + +The interest attached to this now extinct bird has induced some +correspondents of the _Zoologist_ to attempt an enumeration of the +specimens, both of the bird and of its eggs, (which from their great +size, as well as from their rarity, have always had a value with +collectors,) known to be preserved in cabinets. The result is that +English collections contain 14 birds and 23 eggs; those of continental +Europe, 11 birds and 20 eggs; the United States, 1 bird and 2 eggs:--the +total being 26 birds and 45 eggs. + +It would appear that the rock off the south of Iceland which was the +chief breeding resort of the Great Auk, and which from that circumstance +bore the name or "Geir-fulga Sker," sank to the level of the sea during +a volcanic disturbance in or about the year 1830. "Such disappearance of +the fit and favourable breeding-places of the _Alca impennis_," observes +Professor Owen, "must form an important element in its decline towards +extinction." One might think that there would be rocks enough left for +the birds to choose a fresh station; but really we do not know what are +the elements of choice in such a case: some peculiarities exist which +make one particular rock to be selected by sea-fowl, when others +apparently to us as suitable are quite neglected; but we do not know +what they are. Possibly when Geir-fulga Sker sank, there was no other +islet fit to supply the blank. Possibly, too, the submersion took place +during the breeding season, drowning the eggs or young. If this was the +case, it would indeed be "a heavy blow and great discouragement" to the +dwindling Alcine nation. + +Mr Darwin speaks of a large wolf-like Fox (_Canis antarcticus_) which at +the time of his voyage was common to both the Falkland Islands, but +absolutely confined to them. He says, "As far as I am aware, there is no +other instance in any part of the world, of so small a mass of broken +land, distant from a continent, possessing so large an aboriginal +quadruped peculiar to itself. Their numbers have rapidly decreased; they +are already banished from that half of the island which lies to the +eastward of the neck of land between St Salvador Bay and Berkeley Sound. +Within a very few years after these islands shall have become regularly +settled, in all probability this fox will be classed with the Dodo, as +an animal which has perished from the face of the earth."[67] + +The Musk Ox (_Ovibos moschatus_), a long-haired ruminant, resembling +what you would suppose a cross between a bull and a sheep might +be,--formerly an inhabitant of Britain with the Elephant and the Hyena, +but now found only on the polar margins of North America,--is becoming +very scarce; and it is probable that before long its last representative +will leave its bones with those of the lamented Franklin and his +companions. + +From the more perishable character of vegetable tissues we have far less +data for determining the extinction of plant species; but analogy +renders it highly probable that these also have died out, and are dying +in a corresponding ratio with animals. I am not aware that a single +example can be adduced of a plant that has certainly ceased to exist +during the historic era. But Humboldt mentions a very remarkable tree in +Mexico, of which it is believed only a single specimen remains in a +state of nature. It is the Hand-tree (_Cheirostemon platanoides_), a +sterculaceous plant with large plane-like leaves, and with the anthers +connected together in such a manner as to resemble a hand or claw rising +from the beautiful purplish-red blossoms. "There is in all the Mexican +free States only one individual remaining, one single primeval stem of +this wonderful genus. It is supposed not to be indigenous, but to have +been planted by a king of Toluca about five hundred years ago. I found +that the spot where the Arbol de las Manitas stands is 8825 feet above +the level of the sea. Why is there only one tree of the kind? Whence did +the kings of Toluca obtain the young tree, or the seed? It is equally +enigmatical that Montezuma should not have possessed one of these trees +in his botanical gardens of Huaxtepec, Chapoltepec, and Iztapalapan, +which were used as late as by Philip the Second's physician, Hernandez, +and of which gardens traces still remain; and it appears no less +striking that the Hand-tree should not have found a place among the +drawings of subjects connected with Natural History, which Nezahual +Coyotl, king of Tezcuco, caused to be made half a century before the +arrival of the Spaniards." + +There is an example of this interesting plant growing in one of the +conservatories at Kew, but I do not know whence it was obtained. It has +been asserted that it grows wild in the forests of Guatemala. + +Leaving plants out of consideration from lack of adequate data, we find +that a considerable number of species of animals have certainly ceased +to exist since man inhabited the globe. There have been, doubtless, many +others that have shared the same fate, which we know nothing about. It +is only within the last hundred years that we have had anything +approaching to an acquaintance with the living fauna of the earth; yet, +during that time some seven or eight creatures we know have been +extinguished. Fully half of these,--the Auk, the Didunculus, the +Notornis, and the Nestor,--within the last ten years! It would really +seem as if the more complete and comprehensive an acquaintance with the +animals of the world became, the more frequently this strange phenomenon +of expiring species was presented to us. Perhaps it is not extravagant +to suppose that--including all the invertebrate animals, the countless +hosts of insects, and all the recondite forms that dwell in the recesses +of the ocean--a species fades from existence every year. All the +examples that have been given were either Mammalia or Birds, (_the +Colossochelys_ only excepted:) now these, though the most conspicuous +and best known, are almost the least populous classes of living beings. +There is no reason whatever for concluding that the law of mortality of +species does not extend to all the other classes, vertebrate and +invertebrate, in an equal ratio, so that my estimate will appear, I +think, a very moderate one. Yet it is a startling thought, and one which +the mind does not entertain without a measure of revulsion, that the +passing of every century in the world's history has left its fauna +_minus_ a hundred species of animals that were denizens of the earth +when it began. I was going to say "left the fauna so much _poorer_;" but +that I am not sure of. The term would imply that the blanks are not +filled up; and that, I repeat, I am not sure of. Probability would +suggest that new forms are continually created to supply the lack of +deceased ones; and it may be that _some_, at least, of the creatures +ever and anon described as new to science, especially in old and +well-searched regions, may be newly called into being, as well as newly +discovered. It may be so, I say; I have no evidence that it is so, +except the probability of analogy; we know that the rate of mortality +among _individuals_ of a species, speaking generally, is equalled by the +rate of birth, and we may suppose this balance of life to be paralleled +when the unit is a species, and not an individual. If the Word of God +contained anything either in statement or principle contrary to such a +supposition, I would not entertain it for a moment, but I do not know +that it does. I do not know that it is anywhere implied that God created +no more after the six days' work was done. His Sabbath-rest having been +broken by the incoming of sin, we know from John v. 17, that He +continued to work without interruption; and we may fairly conclude that +progressive creation was included as a part of that unceasing work. + +I know not whether my readers will take the same concern as I do in this +subject of the dying-out of species, but to me it possesses a very +peculiar interest. Death is a mysterious event, come when and how it +will; and surely the departure from existence of a species, of a type of +being, that has subsisted in contemporary thousands of individuals, for +thousands of years, is not less imposingly mysterious than that of the +individual exemplar. + +We do not know with any precision what are the immediate causes of death +in a species. Is there a definite limit to life imposed at first? or is +this limit left, so to speak, to be determined by accidental +circumstances? Perhaps both: but if the latter, what are those +circumstances? + +Professor Owen says:--"There are characters in land animals rendering +them more obnoxious to extirpating influences, which may explain why so +many of the larger species of particular groups have become extinct, +whilst smaller species of equal antiquity have survived. In proportion +to its bulk is the difficulty of the contest which the animal has to +maintain against the surrounding agencies that are ever tending to +dissolve the vital bond, and subjugate the living matter to the +ordinary chemical and physical forces. Any changes, therefore, in such +external agencies as a species may have been originally adapted to exist +in, will militate against that existence in a degree proportionate to +the size which may characterise the species. If a dry season be +gradually prolonged, the large mammal will suffer from the drought +sooner than the small one; if such alteration of climate affect the +quantity of vegetable food, the bulky herbivore will first feel the +effects of stinted nourishment; if new enemies be introduced, the large +and conspicuous animal will fall a prey while the smaller kinds conceal +themselves and escape. Small quadrupeds, moreover, are more prolific +than large ones. Those of the bulk of the mastodons, megatheria, +glyptodons, and diprotodons, are uniparous. The actual presence, +therefore, of small species of animals in countries where larger species +of the same natural families formerly existed, is not the consequence of +degeneration--of any gradual diminution of the size--of such species, +but is the result of circumstances which may be illustrated by the fable +of 'the Oak and the Reed;' the smaller and feebler animals have bent and +accommodated themselves to changes to which the larger species have +succumbed."[68] + +"We do not steadily bear in mind," remarks Mr Darwin, "how profoundly +ignorant we are of the condition of existence of every animal; nor do we +always remember that some check is constantly preventing the too rapid +increase of every organised being left in a state of nature. The supply +of food, on an average, remains constant; yet the tendency in every +animal to increase by propagation is geometrical; and its surprising +effects have nowhere been more astonishingly shewn, than in the case of +the European animals run wild during the last few centuries in America. +Every animal in a state of nature regularly breeds; yet in a species +long established, any _great_ increase in numbers is obviously +impossible, and must be checked by some means. We are nevertheless +seldom able with certainty to tell in any given species, at what period +of life, or at what period of the year, or whether only at long +intervals, the check falls; or again, what is the precise nature of the +check. Hence probably it is, that we feel so little surprise at one, of +two species closely allied in habits, being rare and the other abundant +in the same district; or again, that one should be abundant in one +district, and another, filling the same place in the economy of nature, +should be abundant in a neighbouring district, differing very little in +its conditions. If asked how this is, one immediately replies that it is +determined by some slight difference in climate, food, or the number of +enemies: yet how rarely, if ever, we can point out the precise cause and +manner of action of the check! We are, therefore, driven to the +conclusion that causes generally quite inappreciable by us, determine +whether a given species shall be abundant or scanty in numbers. + +"In the cases where we can trace the extinction of a species through +man, either wholly or in one limited district, we know that it becomes +rarer and rarer, and is then lost; it would be difficult to point out +any just distinction between a species destroyed by man or by the +increase of its natural enemies. The evidence of rarity preceding +extinction, is more striking in the successive tertiary strata, as +remarked by several able observers; it has often been found that a shell +very common in a tertiary stratum is now most rare, and has even long +been thought to be extinct. If, then, as appears probable, species first +become rare and then extinct--if the too rapid increase of every +species, even the most favoured, is steadily checked, as we must admit, +though how and when it is hard to say--and if we see, without the +smallest surprise, though unable to assign the precise reason, one +species abundant, and another closely-allied species rare in the same +district--why should we feel such great astonishment at the rarity being +carried a step further to extinction? An action going on, on every side +of us, and yet barely appreciable, might surely be carried a little +further, without exciting our observation. Who could feel any great +surprise at hearing that the Megalonyx was formerly rare compared with +the Megatherium, or that one of the fossil Monkeys was few in number +compared with one of the now living Monkeys? and yet, in this +comparative rarity, we should have the plainest evidence of less +favourable conditions for their existence. To admit that species +generally become rare before they become extinct--to feel no surprise at +the comparative rarity of one species with another, and yet to call in +some extraordinary agent and to marvel greatly when a species ceases to +exist, appears to me much the same as to admit that sickness in the +individual is the prelude of death--to feel no surprise at sickness--but +when the sick man dies to wonder, and to believe that he died through +violence."[69] + +Geographical distribution is an important element in this question of +extinction. A species that is spread over a wide region is far more +likely to survive than one which is confined to a limited district; and +extraneous influences acting prejudicially will exterminate a species +which is confined to an island much sooner than if it had a continent to +retire upon. We have seen how the _Nestor_ Parrot became extinct in New +Zealand, while it survived in Norfolk Island, because the former was +colonised by the Maori race, while the latter remained in its virginity. +But how quickly did the poor Parrot succumb as soon as man set his foot +on Norfolk and Philip Islands! And how brief was the lease of life +accorded to the _Didunculus_, when once the "Pussies" found their way to +the little Samoa isles! + +Very many islands have a fauna that is to a great extent peculiar to +themselves. I know that, in Jamaica, the Humming-birds, some of the +Parrots, some of the Cuckoos, most of the Pigeons, many of the smaller +birds, and, I think, all of the Reptiles, are found nowhere else. Nay, +more, that even the smaller islands of the Antilles have each a fauna of +its own, unshared with any other land;--its own Humming-birds, its own +Lizards and Snakes; its own Butterflies and Beetles, its own Spiders, +its own Snails, its own Worms. How likely are some of these very limited +species to become extinguished! By the increasing aggressions of +clearing and cultivating man; by slight changes of level; even by +electric and meteoric phenomena acting very locally. I find that, in +Jamaica, many of the animals peculiar to the island are not spread over +the whole surface, limited as that is, but are confined to a single +small district. In some cases, the individuals are but few, even in that +favoured locality; how easily we may conceive of a season drier than +ordinary, or wetter than ordinary, or a flood, or a hurricane of unusual +violence, or a volcanic eruption, either killing outright these few +individuals, or destroying their means of living, and so indirectly +destroying them by starvation. And then the species has disappeared! + +The common Red Grouse, so abundantly seen during the season hanging at +every poulterer's and game-dealer's shop in London, is absolutely +unknown out of the British Isles. It could not live except in wide, +unenclosed, uncultivated districts; so that when the period arrives that +the whole of British land is enclosed and brought under cultivation, the +Grouse's lease of life will expire. We owe it to our hard-worked members +of Parliament to hope that this condition of things may be distant. + +[1] See my _Omphalos_,--_passim_. + +[2] The gradual but constant elevation of the bed of the Baltic, and the +subsidence of that of the Pacific Ocean, are examples on a large scale. + +[3] Gen. x. 5. + +[4] _Chlamydotherium_, _Euryodon_, _Glossotherium_, _&c._ + +[5] Owen _On the Mylodon_. + +[6] Perhaps the most complete and the most magnificent skeleton of this +animal ever discovered, was exhumed in 1849 at Killowen, in Co. Wexford. +It was buried _only four feet below the surface_, between the vegetable +mould and plastic clay. The roots of the black willow and German rush +had entwined themselves round the bones, and some seeds, ascertained to +be those of the wild cabbage, were found in the same bed. The dimensions +of the skeleton were as follows:--Height, 12-1/2 feet to the tips of the +horns, 7 feet to the top of the pelvis; expanse of horns 11 feet in a +chord, or 13 feet 6 inches along the curve; palm of the antlers 2 feet 7 +inches long by 1 foot 5 inches broad, some of the snags 2 feet 6 inches +long; the face 1 foot 10-1/2 inches in length. + +[7] _Annals of Nat. Hist._ xv. + +[8] _Hist. Animals_, xvi. 17. + +[9] _Nat. Hist._ ix. 10. + +[10] _On the Mammoth or Fossil Elephant, &c._ London, 1819. + +[11] _Testimony of the Rocks_, p. 97. + +[12] See vol. i. p. 361, _supra_. + +[13] Latrobe's _Mexico_, p. 192. + +[14] _Nat. Voyage_, ch. v. + +[15] _Nat. Voy._ ch. viii. + +[16] _Compts Rendus_, Jan. 27, 1851. + +[17] _Proc. Zool. Soc._, Jan. 27, 1852. + +[18] "_The_ Humming-bird." Rather a vague mode of speaking, by a +zoologist, of a genus which numbers more than three hundred species, +varying in size from that of a swallow to that of a humble-bee. But +probably he means one of the minuter species. + +[19] _Proc. Zool. Soc._, Nov. 7, 1850. + +[20] In the _Times_ of Feb. 21, 1861. + +[21] _Proc. Roy. Soc._, X. xxxv. 50. + +[22] _Ibid._ IX. xxix. 133. + +[23] Because comparatively few readers, and especially the critics, will +take the trouble to ascertain what an author really means if he attempt +argumentation, generally supposing him to be proving something else than +he propounds to himself, it may be needful to say, that I am not +touching the question of the time required for the formation of the +stratified rocks in general, but solely for that of the later Tertiary +deposits. + +[24] _Reports of Analysis_, by Apjohn. + +[25] Hart _On the Fossil Deer_. + +[26] _Zoologist_, for 1846: Preface, p. 10. + +[27] Mr Newman, _op. cit._ x. + +[28] _Geilt._--According to O'Reilly, this word means "a wild man or +woman,--one living in woods,"--a maniac. It may, however, have been +figuratively applied to some very fierce or untameable creature, either +quadruped or bird, which inhabited the woods. But that the _Simiae_, or +monkey tribe, were not likely to have at any time inhabited so cold a +country, one would have seen in the term an exceedingly apt expression +for "the wild man of the woods." (Note by Translator.) + +But, I venture to remind the reader, there was a veritable ape found in +Britain during the very era of the Giant Deer, and of many of the now +extant animals. I refer to the _Macacus pliocaenus_ (Owen) of the +fresh-water deposits. Is it not just possible that the _Geilt_ of +Ireland, the first-named animal in the poem, may have been this species? +A _Macacus_ still lingers in Europe, though the elephants and +hippopotamuses have long deserted us. + +[29] _Grib._--Probably the Osprey. + +[30] These Wild Oxen are worthy of notice. + +[31] The _Toghmall_ was a bird kept as a pet. "When Cuchulain slung a +stone at Queen Meave he killed the Toghmall that was sitting on her +shoulder." + +[32] _Ruilech._--Unknown. + +[33] _Snag._--Probably the Crane, or one of the Heron tribe. + +[34] _Echtach._--From a legend attached to the locality, there is a +possibility that these were a peculiar breed of horned cattle. + +[35] _Drenn._--Probably the Wren. + +[36] _Cainche_--Unknown. + +[37] _Errfiach._--Unknown. + +[38] _Cricharan._--Possibly the Squirrel, or the Marten. + +[39] Mr Curry says, "In the dictionaries _Ormchre_ is the term for a +leopard, but that animal did not exist in Ireland." But the caves of +Britain shew that very formidable _Felidae_ roamed here in the Later +Tertiary Era. + +[40] _Riabhog._--The "cuckoo's waiting-maid," a little bird, is still so +called in the west of Ireland. In England the wryneck (_Yunx torquilla_) +bears this office, and also in Wales, where Pennant says it is called +_Gwas y gog_, which means the same thing. + +[41] _Peatans._--Conjectured to be Leverets. + +[42] What is the difference between wild Boars and wild Hogs? The +ransom, too, was to consist of a male and a _female_ of each kind of +_wild_ animals. + +[43] _Fereidhin._--Unknown. + +[44] See note [42] _supra_. + +[45] _Iaronn._--Unknown. + +[46] _Geisechtachs._--"Screamers;"--perhaps Peacocks. But is it likely +that the Peacock and the Pheasant (_vide supra_) were imported from the +East so early? + +[47] _Bruacharan._--Unknown. + +[48] _Naescan._--The Snipe may be meant. + +[49] The term _Spireog_ is still used in the locality referred to, and +signifies the Sparrowhawk. It has, however, somewhat of a Saxon sound. + +[50] _Sgreachog._--Conjecturally, Screech-owl; or Jay. + +[51] _Geilt Glinne._--See note [28] on p. 58. + +[52] The _Onchu_ has been mentioned before. See note [39] on p. 59. +There were several kindred _Felidae_ in the Pliocene period. May the word +refer to two of these bearing the same name, but the one distinguished +by the term _fleet_? + +[53] "_Pigs_" again! This is the fourth time. "Wild Hogs, wild Boars, +Pigs, and yet Pigs." From the prominence thus given to the grunting race +in the ransom, one is tempted to conclude that "'Twas the Pig that paid +the rint," then, as now! + +[54] Mr Wilde, in an interesting paper "On the Unmanufactured Animal +Remains belonging to the Royal Irish Academy," read before the Academy +on the 9th and 25th of May, 1859, to which I am indebted for the +foregoing poem, cites the following legend, which we might have referred +to the _Megaceros_, but that he appears to consider the animal in +question the Red Deer or Stag:--"On another occasion St Patrick and his +retinue, with Cailte MacRonain, came to the house of a rich landholder +who lived in the southern part of the present County of Kildare, near +the river Slaney. The farmer complained to Cailte that although he sowed +a great quantity of corn every year, it yielded him no profit, on +account of _a huge wild Deer_ which every year came across the Slaney +from the west when the corn was ripe for cutting, and, rushing through +it in all directions, trampled it down under his feet. Cailte undertook +to relieve him, and he sent into Munster for his seven deer-nets, which +arrived in due time. He then went out and placed his men and his hounds +in the paths through which the great deer was accustomed to pass, and he +set his deer-nets upon the cliffs, passes, and rivers around, and when +he saw the animal coming to the Ford of the Red Deer on the river +Slaney, he took his spear and cast a fortunate throw at him, driving it +the length of a man's arm out through the opposite side; and 'The Red +Ford of the Great Deer' is the name of that pass on the Slaney ever +since; and they brought him back to Drom Lethan, or 'The Broad Hill,' +which is called 'The Broad Hill of the Great Wild Deer.'" + +[55] The Editor of "The Indian Field;" in the _Zoologist_, p. 6427. + +[56] The Welsh "Triads," supposed to have been compiled in the seventh +century, say that "the Kymri, a Celtic tribe, first inhabited Britain; +before them were no men here, but only bears, wolves, beavers, and oxen +with high prominences." Were these Bisons? + +[57] See Vol. i, 203, _supra_. + +[58] This is the more interesting because it includes the _Urus_ as well +as the "_Schelch_," which latter, though the meaning of the word is not +certain, some are disposed to identify with the Giant Deer of Ireland. + +[59] See note [56] on p. 68. + +[60] M.S. H. ii. 13. + +[61] _Blackwood's Magazine_, January 1849. + +[62] "Travels," 4th ed., 1677. + +[63] Sloane MSS., No. 1839. + +[64] _Zoologist_, p. 4298. + +[65] _British Birds_, iii. 477, (Ed. 2.) + +[66] Dr Charlton, in the _Trans. Tyneside Nat. Hist. Soc._ + +[67] _Nat. Voy._, ch. ix. + +[68] Lecture; reported in the _Athenaeum_ for May 21, 1859. + +[69] _Nat. Voyage_, ch. viii. + + + + +II. + +THE MARVELLOUS. + + +The vulgar mind is very prone to love the marvellous, and to count for a +prodigy every unusual phenomenon, every occurrence not perfectly +accountable on any hypothesis which is familiar to them. The poetical +period of history in every country is full of prodigies; for in the dawn +of civilisation the physical laws of nature are little understood, and +multitudes of natural phenomena are either referred to false causes, or, +being unreferrible to any recognised cause, are set down as mere +wonders. It is the province of science to dispel these delusions, to +expose the undiscovered, but by no means undiscoverable, origins of +unusual events, and thus to be continually narrowing the limits of the +unknown. These limits, however, have not even yet quite reached the +minuteness of a mathematical point; and there are a few marvels left for +the indefatigable rummagings of modern science to explain. + +Perhaps the predominant tendency of uneducated minds in the present day +is rather to attribute effects to _false_ causes, than to leave them +without any assignable cause. It is much easier for an unreasoning +person to say that Tenterden steeple is the cause of Goodwin Sands, than +to leave Goodwin Sands quite unaccounted for; or to say, the plant-lice +suddenly appear crowding the rose-twigs, "the east wind has cast a +blight," or "it is something in the air," than "I do not know how to +account for their appearance." To a reflecting person, indeed, who +weighs forces, the east wind appears as incompetent to the production of +living animals as the tall tower to the origination of a sand-bank; and +this, though he might be able to suggest nothing a whit more competent. +What should he do in such a case? Manifestly this--test the actual +existence and conditions of the phenomenon; see that it really has +occurred; and, if the fact cannot be denied, admit it as a fact, and +wait further light as to its causation. + +I do not by any means presume to declare the universal "why and because" +of every familiar or unfamiliar occurrence: I leave that to more +pretentious philosophers; smiling occasionally in my sleeve at the +egotism which cannot see its own _non-sequiturs_. But still less can I +consent to set aside every phenomenon which I cannot explain, with the +common resource,--"Pooh! pooh! there must be some mistake!" Rather would +I say, "There must still be some ignorance in me: near as I have reached +to the summit of the ladder of knowledge, there must be still one or two +rongs to be mounted before I can proclaim my mastery of all, absolutely +_all_, the occult causes of things. Therefore, till then I must be +content with the lowlier task of patiently accumulating evidence." + +At various times and in various places popular superstition has been +excited by the occurrence of what have been called showers of blood. The +destruction of cities and of kingdoms has been, according to historians, +preceded by this awful omen. Yet this has been explained by a very +natural and accountable phenomenon. In the year 1553, the hedges and +trees, the stones of the pathway, and the clothes of many persons, were +sprinkled copiously with drops of red fluid, which was supposed to be +blood, till some observant person noticed the coincident appearance of +unusual swarms of butterflies, and marked that the coloured drops +proceeded from them. Again, at Aix la Chapelle in 1608, the same awful +appearance occurred, especially on the walls of a particular churchyard. +M. Peiresc, an able naturalist, residing at Aix, traced the phenomenon +here to the same cause. Just before, he had found a large chrysalis, +which he had enclosed in a box, in order to identify the species to +which it belonged. A few days after, hearing a rustling, he opened the +box, and discovered a beautiful butterfly evolved from the pupa, which +had left upon the floor of its prison a large red stain. He saw that the +character of this deposit agreed exactly with that of the ominous drops +abroad, and remarking an unusual abundance of the same kind of +butterfly, he conceived that he had revealed the cause of the terrific +phenomenon. He was confirmed in this belief by the circumstance that the +supposed blood-drops were not found in the streets of the town, nor upon +the roofs of the houses, where they must have occurred had they fallen +from the sky; and, moreover, that it was rare to see any on the exposed +parts of stones, walls, &c.; but rather under the protection of angles, +and in slight cavities--which agrees well with the habits of the insects +in question. No doubt this was the true explanation of the phenomenon, +but it does not say much for the powers of observation which could have +attributed it to blood, for the colour is by no means that of blood, +especially _dried_ blood, but much more crimson; and the earthy deposit, +resembling chalk, which copiously remains after the fluid part has +evaporated, would in a moment convince any one who was in the habit of +comparing things which differ, that, whatever the substance was, blood +it certainly was not. + +I myself not long ago met with an appearance which bore a much closer +resemblance to drops of blood than this, and which yet was referrible to +a widely different origin. In the neighbourhood of Ashburton, in Devon, +a quarter of a mile or so from the town, there is a shallow horse-pond, +the bottom of which consists of an impalpable whitish mud, much indented +with hoof-holes and other irregularities. In these, the water being +dimly clear from settlement, I observed what looked exactly like blood, +in numerous patches, the appearance being as if two or three drops of +blood had fallen in one spot, half-a-dozen in another, and so on. The +colour was true, and even when I alighted, and looked carefully on the +spots, they had just that curdled appearance that drops of blood assume +when they fall into still water. But there appeared on minute +examination a constant intestine motion in each spot, which caused me to +bring my eye closer, when I discovered that I had been egregiously +deceived. Each apparent drop of blood was formed of a number of slender +worms, about as thick as a hog's bristle, and an inch and a half long, +of a red hue, which protruded the greater part of their length from the +mud, in a radiating form, each maintaining a constant undulatory +movement. There were more or fewer centres of radiation, the circles +frequently interrupted by, and merging into, others, just as drops of +blood crowded together would do. On the slightest disturbance the little +actors shrank out of sight into the soft mud; but by scooping up a +little of this I contrived to get a number of them into a phial, which, +as the sediment settled, were seen at the bottom playing as if in their +pond. On examination of the specimens with a microscope I found them to +be minute Annelids, such as I have described, apparently of the genus +_Lumbriculus_ of Grube, with two rows of bristle-pencils, and two +bristles in a pencil. The body was transparent and colourless, and the +red hue was given by the great and conspicuous longitudinal +blood-vessels, and by the lateral connecting vessels, which viewed +sidewise took the form of loops. The animals soon died in captivity, but +I kept some for three or four days alive. + +I have elsewhere referred to the curious phenomenon of crimson snow, and +to the uncertainty which still hangs over its cause. I have lately met +with another explanation, which seems sufficiently guaranteed to be +depended on, though, as the red snow occurs in places where this cause +cannot operate, it only shews that similar results may be produced by +diverse agencies. A certain resemblance between the facts and those +adduced by M. Peiresc will warrant my quoting them. Mr Thomas Nicholson, +in a visit to Sowallik Point, in Prince Regent's Inlet, thus describes +what he saw:--"The summit of the hill forming the point is covered with +huge masses of granite, while the side, which forms a gentle declivity +towards the bay, was covered with crimson snow. It was evident, at first +view, that this colour was imparted to the snow by a substance lying on +the surface. This substance lay scattered here and there in small masses +bearing some resemblance to powdered cochineal, surrounded by a lighter +shade, which was produced by the colouring matter being partly dissolved +and diffused by the deliquescent snow. During this examination our hats +and upper garments were observed to be daubed with a substance of a +similar red colour; and a moment's reflection convinced us that this was +the excrement of the little Auk, myriads of which bird were continually +flying over our heads, having their nests among the loose masses of +granite. A ready explanation of the origin of the red snow was now +presented to us, and not a doubt remained in the mind of any of us that +this was the correct one. The snow on the mountains of higher elevation +than the nests of these birds was perfectly white; and a ravine at a +short distance, which was filled with snow from top to bottom, but which +afforded no hiding-place for these birds to form their nests, presented +an appearance uniformly white."[70] + +After all, however, real _bona fide_ rain does sometimes descend, which, +if not blood-red, is at least red. "M. Giovanni Campani, Professor of +Chemistry at the University of Siena, has just published a letter, +addressed to Professor Matteucci, on a most singular phenomenon which +occurred at Siena in December last. On the 28th of that month, about +seven A.M., the inhabitants of the northwestern part of the city +witnessed with surprise the curious phenomenon of a copious fall of rain +of a reddish hue, which lasted two hours; a second shower of the same +colour occurred at eleven A.M., and a third at two P.M., but that of the +deepest red fell the first time. But what adds to the strangeness of the +occurrence is that it was entirely confined to that particular quarter +of the town, and so nicely was the line drawn that the cessation of the +red colour was ascertained in one direction to be at about two hundred +metres from the meteorological observatory, the pluviometer of which +received colourless rain at exactly the same time. The temperature +during the same interval varied between 8 deg. and 10 deg. Centigrade +(46 and 50 Fahrenheit). The wind blew from the S.W. at the beginning of +the phenomenon, and afterwards changed to W.S.W. None of the rural +population in the immediate vicinity of Siena remarked the occurrence, +so that most probably the rain that fell round the town was colourless. +The same phenomenon, strange to say, recurred in exactly the same +quarter of the town on the 31st of December, and again on the 1st of +January, the wind being W.N.W., and the temperature respectively 35 and +39.42 deg., Fahrenheit. Each time, however, the red colour diminished +in depth, its greatest strength having at no time exceeded that of weak +wine and water. A similar occurrence is recorded as having taken place +in 1819 at Blankenburg, when MM. Meyer and Stopp found the water to +contain a solution of chloride of cobalt. Professor Campani, who is now +engaged, in conjunction with his colleague, Professor Gabrielli, in +analyzing the red water collected, has ascertained that in this instance +it contains no chloride of cobalt, and, moreover, that the colour must +be owing to some solution, since the water has deposited no +sediment."[71] + +The occasional occurrence of large masses of water stained of a vivid +red hue, and for the most part suddenly, and without any ostensible +cause, has not unreasonably been recorded as a prodigy, rivalling one of +the plagues of Egypt--the turning of the waters into blood. + +"I remember," says Mr Latrobe, "the report reaching Neufchatel, through +the medium of the market-people passing from the one lake to the other, +(some time during the winter,) that the waters of the lake of Morat had +suddenly become the colour of blood, though I could meet with no one +whose testimony was sufficiently clear and unequivocal to establish the +fact. This, joined to my not having the leisure then to go and see for +myself, caused the matter to slip from my memory entirely, till I found +myself in the neighbourhood. Here the circumstance was fully confirmed +to me in a manner not to be questioned; and having since met with a +paper, written by M. de Candolle, of Geneva, on the subject, I shall +take what is there stated as my best guide in mentioning the facts as +they occurred:-- + +"It appears that this singular phenomenon began to excite the attention +of the inhabitants of Morat as early as November last year, and that it +continued more or less observable during the whole of the winter. + +"Mr Trechsel, a gentleman resident at Morat, to whom M. de Candolle +applied, on hearing the report, for information and specimens of the +colouring matter, stated--That during the early hours of the day no +extraordinary appearance was observable in the lake; but that a little +later, long parallel lines of reddish matter were seen to extend along +the surface of the water, at some short distance from the banks. This, +being blown by the wind towards the more sheltered parts of the shore, +collected itself about the reeds and rushes, covering the surface of the +lake with a light foam; forming as it were different strata of various +colours, from greenish black, grey, yellow, and brown, to the most +delicious red. He adds, that this matter exhaled a pestiferous odour +during the day, but disappeared at the approach of night. It was further +observed, that during tempestuous weather it vanished altogether. Many +small fishes were seen to become intoxicated while swimming amongst it, +and after a few convulsive leaps, to lie motionless on the surface. + +"The naturalists of Geneva decided, from the specimens sent, that it +was an animal substance, which, if not the _Oscillatoria subfusca_,[72] +was nearly allied to it. + +"Soon after the beginning of May it disappeared entirely. It is not +known that this phenomenon has appeared before in the lake of Morat +within the memory of man. Tradition states the same to have happened the +year preceding the great battle."[73] + +A few years ago, in one of my tanks of sea-water, there occurred a +phenomenon much like this. Patches of a rich crimson-purple colour +formed here and there on the surface, which rapidly grew on all sides +till they coalesced. If allowed to be a few days undisturbed, the entire +surface of the water became covered with a pellicle of the substance, +which spread also over the stones and shells of the bottom, and the +sides of the vessel. It could be lifted in impalpable laminae on sheets +of paper. I found it difficult to keep it within bounds, and impossible +to get quite rid of it, till, after some months, I lost it by the +accidental breaking of the vessel. Under the microscope, this proved an +_Oscillatoria_, which I could not identify with any of the described +species in Harvey's _Phytologia_: the filaments creeping and twining +with the peculiar vermicular movements of the genus. + +Blood-like waters are sometimes produced by a rapid evolution of +infusorial animalcules. Of these the most effective are _Astasia +haematodes_, and _Euglena sanguinea_; both of them minute spindle-shaped +creatures of a pulpy substance, and sanguine hue. They are produced +occasionally in incalculable numbers, increasing with vast rapidity by +means of spontaneous division. Ehrenberg suggests that the miracle of +blood-change performed on the Nile and on all other collections of water +in Egypt by Moses (Exod. vii. 17-25) may have been effected by the +agency of these animalcules. Of course it would require Divine power as +much to educe uncounted millions of animalcules at the word of command, +as to form real blood, so that no escape from the presence of Deity +would be gained by admitting the supposition; but the words of the +inspired narrative seem to render it untenable. + +To return to showers. "If it should rain cats and dogs,"--is a phrase +which is in many mouths; but probably no one has heard it transferred +from the subjunctive to the indicative mood. Why not, however, if it +rains snails, frogs, fishes, and feathers? That these animals and animal +products are really poured down from the atmosphere, I can adduce some +evidence; the value of which my readers may weigh when they have heard +the pleadings. + +In that venerable newspaper, _Felix Farley's Journal_, for July 1821, +there was "an account of a wonderful quantity of snail-shells found in a +piece of land of several acres near Bristol, that common report says +fell in a shower." This shell-storm attracting much attention at the +time, Mr Wm. Baker, of Bridgewater, asked information from the Curator +of the Bristol Institution, who thus cleared up the mystery:--"The +periwinkles are indeed wonderful. They descended, forsooth, in a heavy +rain-like shower on the field of Mr Peach, as a due punishment for his +disrespect to the virtues of our late queen. The shower was so intense, +that the umbrella of an old lady passing by was broken to pieces, and +the fragments lifted in the air by the whirlwind, which picked up all +the periwinkles on the neighbouring hills, and dropped them three inches +thick on Mr Peach's field! But you know the story of 'The Three Black +Crows;' and thus the whole is reduced to no periwinkle rain, no +whirlwind; but turns out to be our old friend _Helix virgata_, making +its annual pilgrimage in search of a mate, and occurring one in almost +every square inch in the field in question." + +Provincial newspapers seem to have a special power of reporting such +natural history facts, which rarely survive investigation. The _Stroud +Free Press_, for May 23, 1851, tells us that "an extraordinary scene was +witnessed at Bradford, about twelve miles from Bristol, on Saturday +week, when that village was visited by a heavy shower of snails. They +might have been gathered by bushels." Mr J. W. Douglas, the eminent +entomologist, immediately asked some pertinent questions anent the +shower; but whether it was that the witnesses were grieved at his +profanely comparing such prodigies to Professors Morison and Holloway's +cures, or whether they had no more definite intelligence to communicate, +_certes_ echo answered not. + +We fear we must give up snails. But frogs! everybody knows that toads +and frogs fall from the sky. According to travellers in tropical +America, the inhabitants of Portobello assert that every drop of rain is +changed into a toad; the more instructed, however, believe that the +spawn of these animals is raised with the vapour from the adjoining +swamps, and being driven in the clouds over the city, the ova are +hatched as they descend in rain. 'Tis certain that the streets after a +night of heavy rain are almost covered with the ill-favoured reptiles, +and it is impossible to walk without crushing them.[74] But heretic +philosophers point to the mature growth of the vermin, many of them +being six inches in length, and maintain that the clever hypothesis just +mentioned will scarcely account for the appearance of these. + +In the _Leeds Mercury_ for June 1844, there occurred the following +statement:--"In the course of the afternoon of Monday last, during the +prevalence of rather heavy rain, the good people of Selby were +astonished at a remarkable phenomenon. It was rendered forcibly +apparent, that, with the descent of the rain, there was a shower of +another description, viz. a shower of frogs. The truth of this was +rendered more manifest by the circumstance that several of the frogs +were caught in their descent by holding out hats for that purpose. They +were about the size of a horse-bean, and remarkably lively after their +aerial but wingless flight. The same phenomenon was observed in the +immediate neighbourhood." + +The editor of the _Zoologist_ immediately asked for confirmation of the +stated facts, from resident persons of science; but notwithstanding the +circumstantiality of the account, and especially the reported actual +capture of the little sprawlers in hats, no one replied to the demand, +and we are compelled to conclude that the report would not bear critical +investigation. + +Yet incredulity may be pushed too far even here. For, in the continental +journals many more such statements occur than in those of this country, +and some of them vouched by apparently indisputable authority. If my +readers will refer to _L'Institut._ tom. ii. (1834) pp. 337, 346, 347, +353, 354, 386, 409; tom. iv. (1836) pp. 221, 314, 325; tom. vi. (1838) +p. 212, they will find mention made of this phenomenon,--showers of +toads. In two or three of these cases, the toads were not only observed +in countless numbers on the ground, during, and after, heavy storms of +rain, but were seen to strike upon the roofs of houses, bounding thence +into the streets; they even fell upon the hats, umbrellas, and clothes +of the observers, who were out in the storm, and, in one instance, were +actually received into the outstretched hand.[75] + +Much more recently, namely, early in 1859, the newspapers of South Wales +recorded a shower of fish in the Valley of Aberdare. The repeated +statements attracted more notice than usual, and the Rev. John Griffith, +the vicar of the parish, communicated the following results of his +inquiries to the _Evening Mail_:-- + +"Many of your readers might, perhaps, like to see the facts connected +with this phenomenon. They will be better understood in the words of the +principal witness, as taken down by me on the spot where it happened. +This man's name is John Lewis, a sawyer in Messrs Nixon and Co.'s yard. +His evidence is as follows:--'On Wednesday, February 9, I was getting +out a piece of timber for the purpose of setting it for the saw, when I +was startled by something falling all over me--down my neck, on my head, +and on my back. On putting my hand down my neck I was surprised to find +they were little fish. By this time I saw the whole ground covered with +them. I took off my hat, the brim of which was full of them. They were +jumping all about. They covered the ground in a long strip of about +eighty yards by twelve, as we measured afterwards. That shed (pointing +to a very large workshop) was covered with them, and the shoots were +quite full of them. My mates and I might have gathered bucketfuls of +them, scraping with our hands. We did gather a great many, about a +bucketful, and threw them into the rain-pool, where some of them now +are. There were two showers, with an interval of about ten minutes, and +each shower lasted about two minutes or thereabouts. The time was eleven +A.M. The morning up-train to Aberdare was just then passing. It was not +blowing very hard, but uncommon wet, just about the same wind as there +is to-day (blowing rather stiff), and it came from this quarter +(pointing to the S. of W.). They came down with the rain in "a body, +like."' Such is the evidence. I have taken it for the purpose of being +laid before Professor Owen, to whom, also, I shall send to-morrow, at +the request of a friend of his, eighteen or twenty of the little fish. +Three of them are large and very stout, measuring about four inches. The +rest are small. There were some--but they are since dead--fully five +inches long. They are very lively.--Your obedient servant, + + "JOHN GRIFFITH, + "Vicar of Aberdare and Rural Dean. + "VICARAGE, ABERDARE, _March 8_." + +The specimens which were forwarded to Professor Owen were exhibited in a +tank at the Zoological Gardens in the Regent's Park: they consisted of +minnows (_Leuciscus phoxinus_) and Smooth-tailed sticklebacks +(_Gasterosteus leiurus_.) A _savant_ thus endeavoured to "enlighten" the +uninitiated on the matter:--"On reading the evidence it appears to me +most probably only a practical joke of the mates of John Lewis, who seem +to have thrown a pailful of water with the fish in it over him, and he +appears to have returned them to the pool from which they were +originally taken. The fish forwarded are very unlike those taken up in +whirlwinds in tropical countries, and we must make allowance for +unintentional exaggerations of quantity, &c., in an account given a +month after the event had occurred." + +This "appears to me" a beautiful example of critical acumen. My readers +will do well to look at it for a moment; as they may thus learn how to +sift the grain of truth out of the bushel of chaff. _Reverenter +procedamus!_ + +The main (is it not the only?) objection to the honest sawyer's +statement is that "the fish are very unlike those taken up in whirlwinds +in tropical countries." That is, that, seeing the phenomenon occurs in +Great Britain, it is most unfortunate that the fishes are British +species. Now, in India, when such things occur, it is always _Indian_ +species that are taken up; _ergo_, it ought to be Indian species _here_. +But these are "very unlike" the Indian fishes; _ergo_, it is manifestly +a humbug. + +Then, does it not strike one as palpably probable, when once one's dull +intellect has been "enlightened" by the brilliant suggestion,--that the +worthy sawyer who had a pail of water soused upon him, thought it was a +heavy shower of rain? _Very_ heavy, no doubt; indeed he says it was +"uncommon wet." To be sure, he thought there were _two_ showers, each +lasting about two minutes, with an interval of ten minutes between them; +but this little error might be easily made, for doubtless a bucket of +water poured on one's head might well be equivalent to two showers of +rain, or even ten, for that matter. To be sure, moreover, there was a +considerable quantity of fish:--"The whole ground was covered with them: +they were jumping all about: they covered the ground in a long strip of +about eighty yards by twelve, _as we measured_ afterwards: the shed was +covered with them, and the shoots were quite full of them.... My mates +and I might have gathered bucketfuls of them: we did gather about a +bucketful." Yes, yes: but all were originally in the pail of water +thrown over you, John. How stupid you were, not to perceive _that_! How +there was room for any water at all in the pail, seeing there were so +many fish, you say you don't know; but that is your stupidity, John! +There _must_ have been room for water, for it was "uncommon wet;" and +the water was in the pail, for the Doctor says so. Uncommon fishy, too, +I should think; but let that pass. Where the mates collected the pail of +live fishes for their pleasant and profitable hoax, and how, and +when,--the sceptic might wonderingly ask; but a hoax it was. _Ipse +dixit._ + +However, the verdict did not obtain universal assent; and an excellent +and well-known naturalist, Mr Robert Drave, residing in the vicinity, +ventured modestly to indicate a dissent. "I think actual fact will +excuse the otherwise apparently unbecoming assumption in me, of opposing +such high authority by a contrary opinion, for from information +_obtained from many sources, and very careful and minute_ inquiry, I am +quite convinced that a great number of fish did actually descend with +rain _over a considerable tract of country_. The specimens I obtained +_from three individuals_, resident some distance from each other, were +of two species, the common minnow and the three-spined stickleback; the +former most abundant, and mostly very small, though some had attained +their full size."[76] + +If now we look to other lands, we shall find that the descent of fishes +from the atmosphere, under conditions little understood, is a phenomenon +which rests on indubitable evidence. Humboldt has published interesting +details of the ejection of fish in large quantities from volcanoes in +South America. On the night between the 19th and 20th of June, 1698, the +summit of Carguairazo, a volcano more than 19,000 feet in height, fell +in, and all the surrounding country for nearly thirty-two square miles +was covered with mud and fishes. A similar eruption of fish from the +volcano of Imbaburu was supposed to have been the cause of a putrid +fever which raged in the town of Ibarra seven years before that period. + +These facts are not inexplicable. Subterraneous lakes, communicating +with surface-waters, form in deep cavities in the declivities, or at the +base of a volcano. In certain active stages of ignition, these internal +cavities are burst open, and their contents discharged through the +crater. Humboldt ascertained that the fishes in question belonged to a +curious and ill-favoured species of the _Siluridae_,--the _Pimelodes +Cyclopum_. + +Showers of fishes, however, do occur, which cannot be connected with +volcanic agency. Dr Buist, in an interesting paper published in the +_Bombay Times_ in 1856, has collected a number of authentic examples of +this phenomenon. The author, after enumerating the cases just cited, and +others of similar character, in which fishes were said to have been +thrown out from volcanoes in South America, and precipitated from clouds +in various parts of the world, adduces the following instances of +similar occurrences in India:--"In 1824," he says, "fishes fell at +Meerut, on the men of her Majesty's 14th Regiment, then out at drill, +and were caught in numbers. In July 1826, live fish were seen to fall on +the grass at Moradabad during a storm. They were the common _Cyprinus_, +so prevalent in our Indian waters. On the 19th of February 1830, at +noon, a heavy fall of fish occurred at the Nokulhatty factory, in the +Daccah Zillah; depositions on the subject were obtained from nine +different parties. The fish were all dead; most of them were large; some +were fresh, others were rotten and mutilated. They were seen at first in +the sky, like a flock of birds, descending rapidly to the ground; there +was rain drizzling, but no storm. On the 16th and 17th of May, 1833, a +fall of fish occurred in the Zillah of Futtehpoor, about three miles +north of the Jumna, after a violent storm of wind and rain. The fish +were from a pound and a-half to three pounds in weight, and of the same +species as those found in the tanks in the neighbourhood. They were all +dead and dry. A fall of fish occurred at Allahabad, during a storm in +May 1835; they were of the chowla species, and were found dead and dry +after the storm had passed over the district. On the 20th of September +1839 after a smart shower of rain, a quantity of live fish, about three +inches in length, and all of the same kind, fell at the Sunderbunds, +about twenty miles south of Calcutta. On this occasion it was remarked +that the fish did not fall here and there irregularly over the ground, +but in a continuous straight line, not more than a span in breadth. The +vast multitudes of fish, with which the low grounds round Bombay are +covered, about a week or ten days after the first burst of the monsoon, +appear to be derived from the adjoining pools or rivulets, and not to +descend from the sky. They are not, as far as I know, found in the +higher parts of the island. I have never seen them, though I have +watched carefully, in casks collecting water from the roofs of +buildings, or heard of them on the decks or awnings of vessels in the +harbour, where they must have appeared had they descended from the sky. +One of the most remarkable phenomena of this kind occurred during a +tremendous deluge of rain at Kattywar, on the 25th of July 1850, when +the ground around Rajkote was found literally covered with fish; some of +them were found on the top of haystacks, where probably they had been +drifted by the storm. In the course of twenty-four successive hours +twenty-seven inches of rain fell, thirty-five fell in twenty-six hours, +seven inches in one hour and a-half, being the heaviest fall on record. +At Poonah, on the 3d of August 1852, after a very heavy fall of rain, +multitudes of fish were caught on the ground in the cantonments, full +half a mile from the nearest stream. If showers of fish are to be +explained on the assumption that they are carried up by squalls or +violent winds, from rivers or spaces of water not far away from, where +they fall, it would be nothing wonderful were they seen to descend from +the air during the furious squalls which occasionally occur in June." + +Sir E. Tennent adds the following examples:--"I had an opportunity, on +one occasion only, of witnessing the phenomenon which gives rise to this +popular belief. I was driving in the cinnamon gardens near the fort of +Colombo, and saw a violent but partial shower descend at no great +distance before me. On coming to the spot, I found a multitude of small +silvery fish from one and a half to two inches in length, leaping on the +gravel of the high road, numbers of which I collected and brought away +in my palankin. The spot was about half a mile from the sea, and +entirely unconnected with any watercourse or pool. + +"Mr Whiting, who was many years resident at Trincomalee, writes me that +he 'had been often told by the natives on that side of the island that +it sometimes rained fishes; and on one occasion (he adds) I was taken by +them, in 1849, to a field at the village of Karrancotta-tivo, near +Batticaloa, which was dry when I passed over it in the morning, but had +been covered in two hours by sudden rain to the depth of three inches, +in which there was then a quantity of small fish. The water had no +connexion with any pond or stream whatsoever.' Mr Cripps, in like +manner, in speaking of Galle, says: 'I have seen in the vicinity of the +fort, fish taken from rain-water that had accumulated in the hollow +parts of the land that in the hot season are perfectly dry and parched. +The place is accessible to no running stream or tank; and either the +fish, or the spawn from which they were produced, must of necessity have +fallen with the rain.'"[77] + +Mr J. Prinsep, the eminent secretary to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, +found a fish in the pluviometer at Calcutta, in 1838.[78] + +It is a highly curious fact that the pools, reservoirs, and tanks in +India and Ceylon are well provided with fish of various species, though +the water twice every year becomes perfectly evaporated, and the mud of +the bottom becomes converted into dust, or takes the condition of baked +clay, gaping with wide and deep clefts, in which not the slightest sign +of moisture can be detected. This is the case with temporary hollows in +the soil, which have no connexion with running streams or permanent +waters, from which they might be supposed to receive a fresh stock of +fish. + +Two modes of accounting for this strange phenomenon have obtained +currency. The one is that received by those Europeans who are content +with any solution of a difficulty, without too closely testing it; viz., +that the fishes fall with the rains from the air. The actual occurrence +of such showers rests, as we have just seen, on good evidence; but, +admitting the fact, it must be a rare phenomenon, whereas the presence +of fish in the new-made pools is universal. Again, if the rains brought +them in such abundance as to stock all the pools, an equal number would +fall on the dry ground, which is not pretended to be the case. The other +accepted solution is that which has received the sanction of Mr Yarrell, +who observes--"The impregnated ova of the fish of one rainy season are +left unhatched in the mud through the dry season, and from their low +state of organisation _as ova_, the vitality is preserved till the +occurrence and contact of the rain and the oxygen of the next wet +season, when vivification takes place from their joint influence."[79] + +This may be fully allowed, yet it does not meet the exigences of the +case. Sir E. Tennent and others have shewn that it is not young fishes +just escaped from the egg which appear in the new-formed pools, but +full-grown fishes, fit for the market; a fact well known to the +Singalese fishermen, who resort to the hollows as soon as the monsoon +has brought rain; and they invariably take in these pools, which a day +or two before were as dry as dust, plenty of fishes fully grown, a foot +or eighteen inches long, or longer. + +Neither of these hypotheses, then, will account for the fact: and we +must admit that the fishes of these regions have the instinct to burrow +down in the solid mud of the bottom, at the approach of the dry season, +and the power of retaining life, doubtless in a torpid condition, until +the return of the periodic rains, as Theophrastus long ago observed.[80] + +The _Lepidosiren_, a very remarkable genus of animals from Africa and +South America, affords a curious illustration of this power. It is +altogether a highly singular creature, and has attracted a great deal of +notice because its organisation belongs to two types: it is, so to +speak, placed midway between the great classes of Reptiles and Fishes, +the characters which identify it with either being almost equally +balanced. Professor Owen and other eminent physiologists regard it as a +fish, while Professor Bischoff, with others equally learned, consider it +an Amphibian reptile. + +It is the habits of this strange creature, however, which induce me to +notice it here. An inhabitant of rivers and ponds, which are swollen by +periodic rains, and subject to entire or partial desiccation by long +droughts, it is liable to be left by the retreating waters, exposed to +the burning sun, under which it would presently die, but for a special +provision. + +The animal has the instinct to bury itself in the mud of the bottom, on +the approach of the droughts, penetrating to a depth of several feet. +There it coils itself into a ball, with the tail folded over the nose, +but so as to leave the nasal apertures uncovered; and, probably by its +wrigglings, it forms a cavity or chamber in the clay, which becomes +lined with a membranous slough thrown off from its body. Meanwhile the +water evaporates, the mud dries, bakes, and cracks under the torrid heat +of the dry season, thus allowing air to penetrate down to the retreat of +the torpid mud-fish, in sufficient quantity for its very sluggish +respiration. Here it lies inactive for five or six months, until the wet +season again sets in, and the returning floods cover the old beds, +soften the baked clay, revivify the imprisoned animal, and restore it to +liberty and aquatic locomotion. + +To meet these strange conditions of life, the _Lepidosiren_ is furnished +with a twofold apparatus for respiration; the one aquatic, consisting +of gills, ordinarily contained in a branchial chamber, (but in one +species, at least, external,) suited for the separation of oxygen from +the water, and the other aerial, consisting of true lungs, closely +resembling those of serpents, though manifestly only a modification of +the well-known swim-bladder of many fishes,--by means of which the +animal breathes atmospheric air, during its periodic captivity. + +The same emergency is met by other species in another way. It does not +appear that the _Lepidosiren_ has the power of voluntarily forsaking the +water, or of travelling on land, notwithstanding its twofold +respiration; but some of the fishes of the tropics certainly resort to +this mode of evading the fatal contingency of being baked out by the +evaporating power of the periodical dry season. + +Theophrastus, the contemporary of Aristotle, mentions fishes found in +the Euphrates which in the dry seasons leave the vacant channels and +crawl over the ground in search of water, moving along by fins and +tail.[81] Pallegoix gives three kinds of fish in Siam, which leave the +tanks and channels and travel through the grass;[82] and Sir John +Bowring states that in ascending the river Meinam to Bangkok, he was +amused with the sight of fish leaving the stream, gliding over the wet +banks, till they disappeared among the trees of the jungle.[83] The +_Hydragyrae_ of Carolina in like manner leave the drying pools, and seek +the nearest water in a straight line, though at a considerable distance. +And Sir R. Schomburgk tells us that certain species of _Dora_ in Guiana +have the same habit, and are occasionally met with in such numbers in +their terrestrial travels that the negroes fill baskets with them.[84] + +These fishes, provincially called Hassars, project themselves on their +bony pectoral fins, aiding their advance by the elastic spring of the +tail exerted sidewise, proceeding in this manner nearly as fast as a man +can walk. The strong scaly bands which envelop the body facilitate the +march, in the same way as the transverse plates (_scuta_) on the belly +of serpents, which take hold of the ground, as the ribs perform the +office of feet. The Indians know that these fishes have the power of +carrying a supply of water in a reservoir, for the keeping of the gills +in a moist condition. If they fail in finding water, they are said to +burrow in the still soft mud, and pass the dry season in torpidity like +the _Lepidosiren_. + +The common eel is well known to have this habit of travelling with us; I +well remember my surprise, when a boy, at finding an eel in a grassy +meadow one dewy summer evening, at a considerable distance from water. +Since then I have seen a small species of _Antennarius_, running quickly +to and fro on the surface of the great beds of floating sea-weed in the +Gulf stream, progressing by means of its pectorals and ventrals quite +out of water, with the utmost facility. + +[Illustration: THE CLIMBING PERCH.] + +The most celebrated example of this faculty, however, is the climbing +perch (_Anabas scandens_) of India. The vagaries of this little fish +have been recorded from the earliest times, and numerous modern +witnesses have borne record to its powers. Mr E. Layard once encountered +several travelling along a hot dusty gravel-road in the mid-day sun.[85] +Daldorf, a Danish zoologist of reputation, asserts that he has seen this +species in the act of climbing palm-trees, effecting its ascent by means +of fins and tail, with the aid of its spinous gill-covers. There is, +however, some doubt whether he was not under mistake in this, though the +fact of its crawling up the banks and living out of water is abundantly +known. + +On the coasts of Ceylon, according to its accomplished historian,--on +the rocks which are washed by the surf, there are multitudes of a +curious little fish, (_Salarias alticus_,) which possesses the faculty +of darting along the surface of the water, and running up the wet +stones, with the utmost ease and rapidity. By aid of its pectoral and +ventral fins and gill-cases, it moves across the damp sand, ascends the +roots of the mangroves, and climbs up the smooth face of the rocks in +search of flies; adhering so securely as not to be detached by repeated +assaults of the waves. These little creatures are so nimble, that it is +almost impossible to lay hold of them, as they scramble to the edge, and +plunge into the sea on the slightest attempt to molest them. They are +from three to four inches in length, and of a dark-brown colour, almost +indistinguishable from the rocks they frequent.[86] + +In all these cases probably, the power of sustaining a protracted +privation of water depends on a peculiar structure of the pharynx, which +is divided by membranous plates into cells which the fish can fill at +pleasure with water, and by ejecting small portions at a time can +moisten its gills, and thus preserve the filaments of these organs in a +fit condition to maintain the circulation and oxygenation of the blood. +These labyrinthal water-chambers are particularly numerous and +complicated in the _Anabas_ just mentioned. This, however, has no +analogy with the lung of the _Lepidosiren_. + +[70] _Mag. Nat. Hist._, ii. 322. + +[71] From the _Times_ of Jan. 24, 1861. + +[72] The _Oscillatoria_ is a genus of _plants_; it is a microscopic +_Alga_ of wire-like form belonging to the great Confervoid family, +having the remarkable peculiarity of spontaneous and apparently +voluntary motion. + +[73] Latrobe's _Alpenstock_, p. 12. + +[74] Seemann's _Isthmus of Panama_. + +[75] I am indebted for this note to the Rev. Leonard Jenyns. See his +edition of White's _Selborne_, (1843) p. 66. + +[76] _Zoologist_, pp. 6541, 6564. + +[77] _Ceylon_, i. 211. + +[78] _Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal_, vi. 465. + +[79] _Brit. Fishes_, i. xxvii. Aristotle had long before given the same +explanation. + +[80] _De Pisc. in siceo degent._ + +[81] _De Piscibus._ + +[82] _Siam_, i. 144. + +[83] _Emb. to Siam_, i. 10. + +[84] _Fishes of Guiana_, i. 113. + +[85] _Annals N. H._, _May 1853_. + +[86] Tennent's _Ceylon_, ii. 498. + + + + +III. + +MERMAIDS. + + +According to Berosus there came up from the Red Sea, on the shore +contiguous to Babylonia, a brute creature named Oannes, which had the +body of a fish, above whose front parts rose the head of a man; it had +two human feet, which projected from each side of the tail; it had also +a human voice and human language. This strange monster sojourned among +the rude people during the day, taking no food, but retiring to the sea +again at night; and continued for some time, teaching them the arts of +civilised life. Other ancient authors, as Polyhistor and Apollodorus, +allude to the same tradition; and we gather that the portrait of the +learned stranger (not painted _from the life_, we may presume, +considering the condition of the people when he appeared, unless we may +suppose it to have been the effort of one of his pupils in the pictorial +art under his instruction) was preserved at Babylon to the historic +period. + +In an elaborate sculpture of the later Assyrian period, discovered by M. +Botta at Khorsabad, a maritime expedition is portrayed, and the sea +around the ships is filled with various marine animals, and among them +the compound mythic forms of winged bulls and bull-lions, in which the +Assyrians delighted, together with a figure composed of the body and +tail of a fish extended horizontally, and the perpendicular trunk and +foreparts of a man, crowned with the sacred cap, possibly representing +the traditional Oannes. + +The god Dagon of the Philistines, and the goddess Atergatis of the +Syrians were worshipped under the same combination of the human and +piscine forms, and the Tritons of classical mythology perpetuated the +idea. + +It is curious that in almost all ages and in almost all countries there +should have prevailed a belief in the actual living existence of +creatures like this. Was the mythological symbol the origin of the +persuasion? Or is there any marine animal uniting so much of the general +form of the fish with that of man as to have given the conception of the +idol? A naturalist of deserved eminence has maintained, on purely +scientific grounds, that such an animal must exist,--that the laws of +nature absolutely require such a being; and though the amount of force +which his reasoning, possesses will be estimated differently according +as we reject or accept the hypothesis of the circularity of the great +plan of nature, we may as well see what he has to say for a marine +primate,--be he man or ape, mermaid or mermonkey. + +"There is yet," says Mr Swainson, "another primary type necessary to +complete the circle of the quadrumanous animals, and it is that which we +have elsewhere distinguished as the natatorial; but of such an animal we +have only vague and indefinite accounts. It will be seen that, +throughout the whole class of quadrupeds, the aquatic types are +remarkably few, and in general scarce; and that they contain fewer forms +or examples than any other, and are often, in the smaller groups, +entirely wanting. To account for this is altogether impossible; we can +only call attention to the fact, as exemplified in the aquatic order of +_Cetacea_, in that of the _Ferae_, in the _Pachydermata_, in the circle +of the _Glires_, and in all the remaining natatorial types of the +different circles of quadrupeds. We do not implicitly believe in the +existence of mermaids as described and depicted by the old writers--with +a comb in the one hand and a mirror in the other; but it is difficult to +imagine that the numerous records of singular marine animals, unlike any +of those well known, have their origin in fraud or gross ignorance. Many +of these narratives are given by eye-witnesses of the facts they vouch +for--men of honesty and probity, having no object to gain by deception, +and whose accounts have been confirmed by other witnesses equally +trustworthy. Can it be supposed that the unfathomable depths of ocean +are without their _peculiar_ inhabitants, whose habits and economy +rarely, if ever, bring them to the surface of the watery element? As +reasonably might a Swiss mountaineer disbelieve in the existence of an +ostrich, because it cannot inhabit his Alpine precipices, as that we +should doubt that the rocks and caverns of the ocean are without animals +destined to live in such situations, and such only. The natatorial type +of the _Quadrumana_, however, is most assuredly wanting. Whatever its +precise construction may or might have been, it would represent and +correspond to the seals in the circle of the _Ferae_, or rapacious +quadrupeds; while a resemblance to the _Simiadae_, or monkeys, must be +considered an essential character of any marine animal which is to +connect and complete the circular series of types in the _Quadrumana_." + +Mr Swainson absolutely excludes Man from the zoological circle, on +grounds which few naturalists are disposed to think sufficient; else we +might suggest that man himself is the natatorial type of the _Primates_. +Taking this author's own selection[87] of the characters which mark the +natatorial types of animals, for our guide, we find that the largest +size, the smallest fore-limbs, the most obtuse muzzle, the most +carnivorous appetite, and the most natatory habits (for I do not know +that the Apes, or the Sapajous, or the Lemurs, or the Bats, ever take to +the water voluntarily, whereas savage Man is always a great swimmer), +belong to Man, and so, _Swainsonio ipso judice_, constitute _him_ the +true aquatic primate. But if so, we do not want a merman or mermonkey; +nay, we should not know where to insert him in the zoological circle if +we found him; he would be awkwardly _de trop_. + +But yet nature _has_ an awkward way of mocking at our impossibilities; +and it _may be_ that green-haired maidens with oary tails lurk in the +ocean caves, and keep mirrors and combs upon their rocky shelves. +Certainly the belief in them is very widely spread, and occasionally +comes to us from quarters where we should hardly have looked for it. A +negro from Dongola assured Prince Puckler Muskau that in the country of +Sennaar there was no doubt that Sirens (mermaids) still existed, for +that he himself had seen more than one.[88] + +In my boyhood I well recollect being highly excited by the arrival in +our town, at fair-time, of a "show," which professed to exhibit a +mermaid, whose portrait, on canvas hung outside, was radiant in feminine +loveliness and piscine scaliness. I fondly expected to see the very +counterpart within, how disposed I did not venture to imagine, but alive +and fascinating, of course. Had I not seen her picture? I joyfully paid +my coppers, but oh! woful disappointment! I dimly saw, within a dusty +glass case, in a dark corner, a shrivelled and blackened little thing +which might have been moulded in mud for aught I could see, but which +was labelled, "MERMAID!" So great was my disgust, so bitter my feelings +of shame and anger at having been so grossly taken in, that I did not +care to observe what might have been noteworthy in it. I read afterwards +that it was a very ingenious cheat; the trunk and head of a monkey had +been grafted on to the body and tail of a large salmon-like fish, and +the junction had been so cleverly effected, that only a very close +examination detected the artifice. It professed to have been brought +from China, but possibly was an importation even thither, if Steinmetz +is correct. According to this writer, "A Japanese fisherman contrived to +unite the upper half of a monkey to the lower half of a fish, so neatly +as to defy ordinary inspection. He then gave out that he had caught the +creature alive in his net, but that it had died shortly after being +taken out of the water; and he derived considerable pecuniary profit +from his cunning in more ways than one. The exhibition of the +sea-monster to Japanese curiosity paid well; but yet more productive was +the assertion that the half-human fish, having spoken the few minutes it +existed out of its native element, had predicted a certain number of +years of wonderful fertility, and a fatal epidemic, the only remedy for +which would be possession of the marine prophet's likeness. The sale of +these pictured mermaids was immense. Either this composite animal, or +another, the offspring of the success of the first, was sold at the +Dutch factory, and transmitted to Batavia, where it fell into the hands +of a speculating American, who brought it to Europe, and here, in the +years 1822-3, exhibited his purchase as a real mermaid at every capital, +to the admiration of the ignorant, the perplexity of the learned, and +the filling of his own purse. Indeed, the mermaids exhibited in Europe +and America, to the great profit of the enterprising showmen, have all +been of Japanese manufacture."[89] + +This, however, will not account for the frequent reports of the living +creatures having been seen, and unbelievers have to form some other +hypothesis. In the tropical seas the cow-whales, uncouth marine +_pachydermata_, have been assumed to be the originals of these stories. +Megasthenes reported that the sea which washed Taprobane, the modern +Ceylon, was inhabited by a creature having the appearance of a woman; +and AElian improves the account by stating that there are whales having +the form of satyrs. 'Tis true the Manatee and the Dugong are rather +mer-swine than mer-maids; but there is something in the bluff round head +which may remind a startled observer of the human form divine. Sir +Emerson Tennent considers that this rude approach to the human outline, +and the attitude of the mother while suckling her young, pressing it to +her breast with one paw, while swimming with the other, the head of both +being held perpendicularly above water, and then, when disturbed, +suddenly diving and displaying her broad fin-like tail,--these, together +with her habitual demonstrations of strong maternal affection, may +probably have been the original from which the pictures of the mermaid +were portrayed, and thus that earliest invention of mythical physiology +may be traced to the Arab seamen and to the Greeks, who had watched the +movements of the Dugong in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. + +The early Portuguese settlers in India had no doubt that true mermen +were found in those seas; and the annalist of the exploits of the +Jesuits narrates that seven of these monsters, male and female, were +captured at Manaar in 1560, and carried to Goa, where they were +dissected by Demas Bosquez, physician to the Viceroy, and "their +internal structure found to be in all respects conformable to the +human." Making allowance for the very limited acquaintance which the +worthy physician was likely to have made with human anatomy by actual +autopsy, this statement goes for little:--the real resemblance, assuming +them to have been Dugongs, was about the same as that presented by the +hog, whose inwards are popularly believed by our own country people to +be in very close accordance with those of "Christians." + +Sir E. Tennent has embellished his book with a very taking portrait of +the mermaid on the Dugong hypothesis; shewing two females, each holding +a baby [is it right to say _merbaby_?], emerging from the sea-wave; they +do look, to be sure, sufficiently human, but the well-known monogram of +our clever friend Wolf in the corner of the cut suggests shrewd doubts +that the portraits were not "_ad viv_." + +It is, perhaps, among the Scandinavian races that the belief in the +merman has reached its culminating point. So many particulars are +inculcated concerning the mode and conditions of life of these submarine +beings, that the most intimate relations appear to have subsisted +between the terrestrial and the aquatic peoples. According to the creed +of the Norsemen, there exists, far beneath the depths of the ocean, an +atmosphere adapted to the breathing organs of beings resembling in form +the human race, endowed with surpassing beauty, with limited +supernatural powers, but liable to suffering, and even to death. Their +dwelling is in a vast region, situate far below the bottom of the sea, +which forms a canopy over them, like the sky over us, and there they +inhabit houses constructed of the pearly and coralline productions of +the ocean. Having lungs not adapted to a watery medium, but formed for +breathing atmospheric air, it would be impossible for them to pass +through the volume of waters that separates our world from theirs, if it +were not that they possess the power of entering the skin of some marine +animal, whose faculties they thus temporarily acquire, or of changing +their own form and structure so as to suit the altered condition through +which they are to travel. The most ordinary shape they assume is, as +everybody knows, that of man (that is, their own proper form) from the +waist upward, but below that of a fish. Whether they now breathe by +gills or lungs, the anatomists, it seems, have not yet determined; we +must presume the former alternative, since else it is not apparent what +they have gained by their piscine metamorphosis of tail; though where +the branchiae are situate we are a little at a loss to imagine. These, +however, are matters which doubtless the scientific world will one day +determine: it seems certain that they do thus acquire an amphibious +nature, so as not only to exist submerged in the waters, but to land on +the shores of our sunny world, where they frequently doff their fishy +half, resume their proper human form, and pass muster while they pursue +their investigations here.[90] + +Unfortunately, but one of these resources can ever be availed of by any +individual mer-man or -maid, nor can any "son or daughter of the ocean +borrow more than one sea-dress of this kind for his own particular use; +therefore if the garb should be mislaid on the shores he never can +return to his submarine country and friends. A Shetlander, having once +found an empty seal-skin on the shore, took it home and kept it in his +possession. Soon after, he met the most lovely being who ever stepped on +the earth, wringing her hands with distress, and loudly lamenting, that, +having lost her sea-dress, she must remain for ever on the earth. The +Shetlander, having fallen in love at first sight, said not a syllable +about finding this precious treasure, but made his proposals, and +offered to take her for better or for worse, as his future wife! The +merlady, though not, as we know, much a woman of the world, very +prudently accepted the offer! I never heard what the settlements were, +but they lived very happily for some years, till one day, when the +green-haired bride unexpectedly discovered her long-lost seal-skin, and +instantly putting it on, she took a hasty farewell of everybody, and ran +towards the shore. Her husband flew out in pursuit of her, but in vain! +She sprang from point to point, and from rock to rock, till at length, +hastening into the ocean, she disappeared for ever, leaving the worthy +man, her husband, perfectly planet-struck and inconsolable on the +shore!"[91] + +Nor are there lacking in the rocky cliffs of our own northern islands +fit lodgings for these sea kings and queens. The gifted pen of Sir +Walter Scott has sketched one of these from his own observation: +"Imagination can hardly conceive anything more beautiful than the +extraordinary grotto discovered not many years since upon the estate of +Alexander MacAllister, Esq. of Strathaird [in Skye]. The first entrance +to this celebrated cave is rude and unpromising: but the light of the +torches with which we were provided, was soon reflected from the roof, +floor, and walls, which seemed as if they were sheeted with marble, +partly smooth, partly rough with frostwork and rustic ornaments, and +partly seeming to be wrought into statuary. The floor forms a steep and +difficult ascent, and might be fancifully compared to a sheet of water, +which, while it rushed whitening and foaming down a declivity, had been +suddenly arrested and consolidated by the spell of an enchanter. Upon +attaining the summit of this ascent, the cave opens into a splendid +gallery, adorned with the most dazzling crystallizations, and finally +descends with rapidity to the brink of a pool, of the most limpid water, +about four or five yards broad. There opens beyond this pool a portal +arch, formed by two columns of white spar, with beautiful chasing upon +the sides, which promises a continuation of the cave. One of our sailors +swam across, for there is no other mode of passing, and informed us (as +indeed we partly saw by the light he carried) that the enchantment of +MacAllister's cave terminates with this portal, a little beyond which +there was only a rude cavern, speedily choked with stones and earth. But +the pool on the brink of which we stood, surrounded by the most fanciful +mouldings, in a substance resembling white marble, and distinguished by +the depth and purity of its waters, might have been the bathing grotto +of a naiad. The groups of combined figures projecting or embossed, by +which the pool is surrounded, are exquisitely elegant and fanciful. A +statuary might catch beautiful hints from the singular and romantic +disposition of those stalactites. There is scarce a form or group on +which active fancy may not trace figures or grotesque ornaments, which +have been gradually moulded in this cavern by the dropping of the +calcareous water hardening into petrifactions. Many of these fine groups +have been injured by the senseless rage for appropriation of recent +tourists; and the grotto has lost, (I am informed,) through the smoke of +torches, something of that vivid silver tint which was originally one of +its chief distinctions. But enough of beauty remains to compensate for +all that may be lost."[92] + +But these tales are the _nugae canorae_ of the naturalist. Once more,--Is +there any substratum of truth underlying these fancies? or must they be +unhesitatingly dismissed to the region of fable? Certainly, if there +were not two or three narratives which have an air of veracity and +dependableness, bearing out the belief to some slight extent, I should +not have noticed it here. + +How simple and circumstantial is this story told by old Hudson, the +renowned navigator! a man whose narrative is more than usually dry and +destitute of everything like, not only imagination, but even an +imaginative aspect of ordinary circumstances. On the 15th of June, when +in lat. 75 deg., trying to force a passage to the pole near Nova Zembla, he +records the following incident: "This morning one of our company +looking overboard saw a mermaid; and calling up some of the company to +see her, one more came up, and by that time she was come close to the +ship's side, looking earnestly on the men. A little after, a sea came +and overturned her. From the navel upward, her back and breasts were +like a woman's, as they say that saw her; her body as big as one of us; +her skin very white; and long hair hanging down behind, of colour black. +In her going down they saw her tail, which was like the tail of a +porpoise, and speckled like a mackerel. Their names that saw her were +Thomas Hilles and Robert Rayner."[93] + +Whatever explanation be attempted of this apparition, the ordinary +resource of seal or walrus will not avail here. Seals and walruses must +have been as familiar to these Polar mariners as cows to a dairy-maid. +Unless the whole story was a concerted lie between the two men, +reasonless and objectless,--and the worthy old navigator doubtless knew +the character of his men,--they must have seen, in the black-haired, +white-skinned creature, some form of being as yet unrecognised. + +Steller, a zoologist of some repute, who examined the natural history of +the Siberian seas, reports having seen, near Behring's Straits, a +strange animal, which he calls a Sea-ape. "It was about five feet long, +with a head like a dog's; the ears sharp and erect, and the eyes large; +on both lips it had a kind of beard; the form of the body was thick and +round, but tapering to the tail, which was bifurcated, with the upper +lobe longest; the body was covered with thick hair, grey on the back, +and red on the belly. Steller could not discover any feet or paws. It +was full of frolic, and sported in the manner of a monkey, swimming +sometimes on one side of the ship and sometimes on the other, and +looking at it with seeming surprise. It would come so near the ship that +it might be touched with a pole; but if any one stirred, it would +immediately retire. It often raised one third of its body above the +water, and stood upright for a considerable time; then suddenly darted +under the ship, and appeared in the same attitude on the other side; +this it would repeat for thirty times together. It would frequently +bring up a sea plant, not unlike a bottle-gourd, which it would toss +about and catch again in its mouth, playing numberless fantastic tricks +with it." + +There is nothing in this description which would exclude it from +well-recognised zoological classification. It is highly probable that it +was one of the seal tribe, but of a species, perhaps a genus, not yet +identified. All analogy would suggest that fore-paws must have been +present in an animal with a dog-like head, and clothed with hair; but +they were perhaps small,--smaller even than in other _Phocadae_, and may +have been so concealed in the long hair, or held so closely pressed to +the body, as not to be visible. The only other difficulty is in the +posterior extremity. This is described by Steller in terms that imply a +true piscine tail, expanded in a direction vertical to the plane of the +body, and of that peculiar form called _heterocercal_, which +distinguishes the cartilaginous families of Fishes, the Sharks and Rays. +But the animal was indubitably a Mammal; and therefore we may almost +with certainty assume that, if the body terminated in a natatory +expansion, it would be, as in the whales, and manatees, a horizontal +expansion, and not a vertical one. But if the strange creature was +indeed, as I conclude, of the Phocine type, we have only to suppose the +tail, which is usually very small in this family, to have been so +greatly developed, as to exceed the united hind feet, which may have +been small, and the appearance, seen momentarily, and in the wash of the +waves, might well seem that of a heterocercal tail. + +Captain Weddell, well known for his geographical discoveries in the +extreme south of the globe, relates the following story: "A boat's crew +were employed on Hall's Island, when one of the crew, left to take care +of some produce, saw an animal whose voice was even musical. The sailor +had lain down, and about ten o'clock he heard a noise resembling human +cries; and as daylight in these latitudes never disappears at this +season, he rose and looked around; but, on seeing no person, returned to +bed; presently he heard the noise again; rose a second time, but still +saw nothing. Conceiving, however, the possibility of a boat being upset, +and that some of the crew might be clinging to some detached rocks, he +walked along the beach a few steps, and heard the noise more distinctly, +but in a musical strain. Upon searching round he saw an object lying on +a rock a dozen yards from the shore, at which he was somewhat +frightened. The face and shoulders appeared of human form, and of a +reddish colour; over the shoulders hung long green hair; the tail +resembled that of the seal, but the extremities of the arms he could not +see distinctly. The creature continued to make a musical noise while he +gazed about two minutes, and on perceiving him it disappeared in an +instant. Immediately when the man saw his officer, he told this wild +tale, and to add weight to his testimony, (being a Romanist,) he made a +cross on the sand which he kissed, as making oath to the truth of his +statement. When I saw him, he told the story in so clear and positive a +manner, making oath to its truth, that I concluded he must really have +seen the animal he described, or that it must have been the effects of a +disturbed imagination."[94] + +The _green_ hair in this description is the most suspicious element; it +is so exactly that attributed to the poetical mermaids, and so entirely +without precedent in the whole range of known zoology,--that, if taken +literally, I fear it would condemn the narrative. But among the +Antarctic seals, both golden yellow fur, and black fur, are found; and +if hairs of these two colours were about equally intermingled, the +result would be an olive-green, as we see in some of the monkeys; and +then some allowance must doubtless be made for imagination, in one +little accustomed to precise observation, and "somewhat frightened" +withal. I should say, with little hesitation, that this creature was of +the seal family, only that the seaman's daily habits brought him into +the most familiar contact with various kinds of seals; and, unless the +animal in question had differed notably from such as he was acquainted +with, he would not have been so affected by the phenomenon. In such +stories, the sorts of creatures familiar to the observation of the +narrator, and the amount of surprise produced in his mind by the +stranger,--must always be carefully estimated, as important elements in +the formation of our judgment. + +To come nearer home, Pontoppidan records the appearance of a merman, +which was deposed to on oath by the observers: "About a mile from the +coast of Denmark, near Landscrona, three sailors, observing something +like a dead body floating in the water, rowed towards it. When they came +within seven or eight fathoms, it still appeared as at first, for it had +not stirred; but at that instant it sunk, and came up almost immediately +in the same place. Upon this, out of fear, they lay still, and then let +the boat float, that they might the better examine the monster, which, +by the help of the current, came nearer and nearer to them. He turned +his face and stared at them, which gave them a good opportunity of +examining him narrowly. He stood in the same place for seven or eight +minutes, and was seen above the water breast high. At last they grew +apprehensive of some danger, and began to retire; upon which the monster +blew up his cheeks, and made a kind of lowing noise, and then dived from +their view. In regard to his form, they declare in their affidavits, +which were regularly taken and recorded, that he appeared like an old +man, strong-limbed, with broad shoulders, but his arms they could not +see. His head was small in proportion to his body, and had short curled +black hair, which did not reach below his ears; his eyes lay deep in his +head, and he had a meagre face, with a black beard; about the body +downwards this merman was quite pointed like a fish."[95] + +But the most remarkable story that I know of in recent times, is that +adduced by Dr Robert Hamilton, in his able History of the Whales and +Seals, in the _Naturalist's Library_, he himself vouching for its +general truth, from personal knowledge of some of the parties: "It was +reported that a fishing-boat, off the island of Yell, one of the +Shetland group, had captured a mermaid by its getting entangled in the +lines!! The statement is, that the animal was about three feet long, the +upper part of the body resembling the human, with protuberant mammae like +a woman; the face, the forehead, and neck, were short and resembling +those of a monkey; the arms, which were small, were kept folded across +the breast; the fingers were distinct, not webbed; a few stiff long +bristles were on the top of the head, extending down to the shoulders, +and these it could erect and depress at pleasure, something like a +crest. The inferior part of the body was like a fish. The skin was +smooth, and of a grey colour. It offered no resistance, nor attempted to +bite, but uttered a low plaintive sound. The crew, six in number, took +it within their boat, but superstition getting the better of curiosity, +they carefully disentangled it from the lines, and a hook which had +accidentally fastened in its body, and returned it to its native +element. It instantly dived, descending in a perpendicular direction. + +"After writing the above, (we are informed) the narrator had an +interview with the skipper of the boat and one of the crew, from whom he +learned the following additional particulars. They had the animal for +three hours within the boat; the body was without scales or hair; was of +a silvery grey colour above, and white below, like the human skin; no +gills were observed; nor fins on the back or belly. The tail was like +that of the dog-fish: the mammae were about as large as those of a woman; +the mouth and lips were very distinct, and resembled the human. + +"This communication was from Mr Edmonston, a well-known and intelligent +observer, to the distinguished Professor of Natural History in the +Edinburgh University, and Mr E. adds a few reflections, which are so +pertinent, that we shall avail ourselves of them. That a very peculiar +animal has been taken, no one can doubt. It was seen and handled by six +men, on one occasion, and for some time, not one of whom dreams of a +doubt of its being a mermaid. If it were supposed that their fears +magnified its supposed resemblance to the human form, it must at all +events be admitted that there was some ground for exciting these fears. +But no such fears were likely to be entertained; for the mermaid is not +an object of terror to the fisherman; it is rather a welcome guest, and +danger is to be apprehended only from its experiencing bad treatment. +The usual resources of scepticism, that the seals and other sea-animals, +appearing under certain circumstances, operating on an excited +imagination, and so producing ocular illusion, cannot avail here. It is +quite impossible that, under the circumstances, six Shetland fishermen +could commit such a mistake."[96] + +There is, no doubt, much in this account which signally distinguishes it +from all other statements with which it can be compared, except that of +Hudson's sailors, with which it well coincides. The protuberant mammae, +resembling those of a woman; the human, or at least simian face, +forehead, and neck, and especially the mouth and lips; the distinct +unwebbed fingers; the erectile crest of bristles; the nature of the +surface,--without scales or hair; the colour; and the tail,--like that +of a fish;--are all very remarkable points; and unless we conclude the +entire story to be a lie, a mere barefaced hoax,--must necessarily +indicate a creature of which scientific zoology knows absolutely +nothing. + +It is observable that, here again, the tail is said to have been piscine +and heterocercal, "like that of the dog-fish:" while the naked skin, and +the colour--silvery grey above and white below,--will well agree with +the characteristics common to the smaller _Squalidae_. + +It is a pity that an account like this, avouched by six witnesses, was +not thoroughly sifted. I have no doubt that, if a person tolerably +conversant with zoology, and accustomed to the habit of +cross-examination, had examined these six eye-witnesses _separately_, +making full notes of what each could remember to have observed, and had +then checked each deposition by all the others, a mass of testimony +would have been accumulated that would in an instant have convinced any +candid inquirer what measure of truth lay in the story. Points in which +the whole six, or even three or four, agreed, might unhesitatingly have +been set down as correct: suggestive questions, (not, however, +suggesting the sort of answer,) as, "Had the creature so and so, or so +and so?" could not have received the same reply from all the deponents, +without being worthy of credence: even the points on which they would +have differed might themselves have been instructive to an intelligent +inquirer. I do not know that any such precautionary measures were +resorted to in this case, and the tale must remain as we get it; but I +make these observations for the purpose of suggesting, in the event of +any similar occurrence, the advantage of _separate_ examination in +getting at the truth. On a review of the whole evidence, I do not judge +that this single story is a sufficient foundation for believing in the +existence of mermaids; but, taken into combination with other +statements, it induces a strong suspicion that the northern seas may +hold forms of life as yet uncatalogued by science. + +[87] _Geog. and Classif. of Animals_, 249. + +[88] _Egypt and Mehemet Ali_, ii. p. 322. + +[89] _Japan and her People_, p. 193. + +[90] See Hibbert's _Shetland Islands_, p. 566. + +[91] Miss Sinclair's _Shetland_. + +[92] Notes to _The Lord of the Isles_. + +[93] _Hudson the Navigator_, by Asher, Voy. ii. + +[94] _Voyage towards the South Pole_, p. 143. + +[95] Pontoppidan's _Nat. Hist. of Norway_, p. 154. + +[96] _Edinburgh Magazine_, vol. xiii. + + + + +IV. + +THE SELF-IMMURED. + + +Turning from reputed beings of which the very existence is the subject +of doubt, let us consider one or two well-known and homely creatures, +about which a certain degree of romantic interest hovers, because +conditions of life are attributed to them by popular faith, which the +general verdict of science denies. + +One of the most remarkable examples in this category of _dubitanda_, is +the oft-repeated case of Toads and similar animals found inclosed within +the solid wood of living trees, or even within blocks of stone, with no +discernible communication with the external air, or at least no aperture +by which they could have entered their prison, yet, in every instance, +alive. That insuperable difficulties stand _a priori_ in the way of our +believing in such conditions, no one familiar with animal physiology can +deny; for, as Mr Bell observes, to believe that a Toad inclosed within a +mass of clay, or other similar substance, shall exist wholly without air +or food, for hundreds of years, and at length be liberated alive and +capable of crawling, on the breaking up of the matrix,--now become a +solid rock,--is certainly a demand upon our credulity which few will be +ready to answer. + +Yet, after all, it is a question that must not be decided _a priori_: it +must rest upon evidence. It may be that here, too, fact is stranger than +fiction; and we must not shut our eyes and ears to concurrent credible +testimony, if it happen to bear witness to facts which we cannot account +for. Truth will certainly be upon us, even though, ostrich-like, we +thrust our head into a bush, and maintain that we cannot see it. + +The learned historian of British Reptiles speaks with his characteristic +candour upon the point. He admits that the many concurrent assertions of +credible persons, who declare themselves to have been witnesses of the +emancipation of imprisoned Toads, forbid us hastily to refuse our +assent, or at least to deny the possibility of such a circumstance; +while he demands better and more cautious evidence to authorise our +implicit faith in these asserted facts.[97] + +The ordinary mode of accounting for the phenomena, supposing them to be +narrated in good faith, is that the animal "fell into the hollow where +the men were at work, and was taken up by them in ignorance of the mode +in which it had come there," or that "it may have hidden in the hollow +of a tree during the autumn and winter, and on the return of spring +found itself so far inclosed within its hiding-place as to be unable to +escape." This latter suggestion would be more worthy of attention were +the winter season the period in which, in our climate, periodical +additions are made to the living wood, so as to narrow the entrance, or +in which augmentations of bulk occurred to Toads, so as to prevent them +from getting out where they got in;--but unfortunately the reverse of +both suppositions is true. As to the former suggestion, while it may +possibly serve to dismiss a few of the published statements, there are +others which it would be absurd to explain thereby. + +True to its principles of never shutting the door to the investigation +of any natural history subject, the _Zoologist_ has, during the eighteen +years of its existence, been a medium for collecting and preserving +facts bearing on this question. The pages of this periodical form an +invaluable storehouse to the philosophic naturalist, who wishes to +pursue his science undeterred by the ridicule of sciolism or the frown +of authority. Let us search its treasures, then, expecting to find +stories of diverse grades of credibility, of which the editor wisely +leaves his readers to judge for themselves. + +In May 1844, the Rev. J. Pemberton Bartlett of Kingston, in Kent, an +experienced naturalist, mentions the following fact as having just come +under his own notice:--"Only a few weeks since, in cutting down a +fir-tree here, the workman discovered, completely imbedded in the +centre, a Toad, which had doubtless been there some years, as the tree +had completely grown over it; it must have been kept alive by absorbing +the moisture of the tree. It was not in a completely torpid state, and +after being exposed to the air a few hours, it crawled in true toad-like +style. The age of the tree in which it was found was, as far as I could +judge from the number of circles, about twenty-five years."[98] + +In reply to an inquiry whether he himself saw the Toad, and counted the +timber-rings, Mr Bartlett favours me with the following note:-- + + "EXBURY PARSONAGE, NEAR SOUTHAMPTON, + _February 22, 1861_. + +"DEAR SIR,-- ... _I_ quite believe that Toads _do_ live in stone, but I +have found it very difficult to get the facts from eye-witnesses. The +imbedded Toad in the fir-tree, mentioned by me in the _Zoologist_, I +saw, and, as stated there, I counted the rings of the tree. I believe it +to have been the common Toad; but it looked rather more flabby, and not +quite so round in its proportions, as toads generally do; in fact, +instead of being 'puffed up' as they commonly are, it was considerably +_down in the mouth_, from its close imprisonment! The cavity in which it +was fixed appeared to have been originally a crack or fissure in the +side of the tree; whether caused by decay, or made by a nuthatch or some +other bird, I cannot say. The wound appeared to have healed, as the bark +had apparently closed over it. The question now arises, Was the Toad +_young_ when it got into the hollow? and did it grow after it became a +prisoner? Or had it come to years of discretion, when it took that +unfortunate step, or rather crawl, into the cavity where it was so long +to be imprisoned? And _why did_ it remain there so quietly, while the +bark gradually grew over its prison-house? The answer that I should +give to the first of these questions would be, that probably it had +arrived at a state of _toadhood_ when it took refuge in the tree, and +_did not_ grow afterwards. My theory why it remained ensconced there so +quietly is this, that probably it might have been accustomed for some +time to take refuge by day in this hole, from whence it would set out on +its nocturnal rambles, and probably 'not go home till morning;' that on +some occasion, 'when daylight did appear,' it returned to its accustomed +haunt, and there squatted, winking and puffing, after its night's +exploits, as toads are wont to do; that, on that luckless day, some +felled tree or trees were laid up against the fir-tree that contained +its abode, and that the tree or trees remained there till the bark +closed so as to prevent its escape. What makes this idea the more +probable is that the place where the fir-tree grew had, for probably +years, been used as a place to store felled timber, as it was used for +that purpose at the time I saw the Toad. + +"After the discovery of this Toad in the fir-tree, I tried several +experiments on Toads, by burying them in closely-sealed flower-pots, at +a depth of nearly three feet. I much regret that I cannot find my notes +on the subject; but I remember perfectly the main facts of one. The Toad +was placed in a flower-pot, with another turned over it, and well +cemented together--the two holes in both pots being also closely +cemented up. It was buried between two and three feet deep in the +garden. At the end of three months I took it up, and weighed the Toad, +and found it had lost a very little in weight. This I did again at the +end of three months more; it was then quite lively, and had lost again +but little in weight. I replaced it as before, and on taking it up the +third time, I found the pots had, probably the cement not having been +dry when buried, slipped on one side, and the moisture had got in, and +consequently the poor Toad was dead, as well as buried! Now, surely if a +Toad could live _six months_ hermetically _sealed_ in a flower-pot, +without air or food--why not a much longer time?...--Believe me, yours +faithfully, + + "J. PEMBERTON BARTLETT." + +The Rev. W. J. Bree of Allesley, also an excellent zoologist, alluding +to some queries by Mr E. Newman, communicated the following facts:--"I +quite agree with you that the statements about Toads found in solid +stone are mostly very unsatisfactory. One instance of the kind I have +seen, as briefly stated, _Mag. Nat. Hist._, ix. 316. The Toad appeared +to me neither more nor less than our common species, although I +certainly did not examine it scientifically. The stone was the new red +sandstone of geologists; and was brought up, as I was told, some yards +from below the surface. I understood the Toad, and the two portions of +stone in which it was found inclosed, were deposited in some medical +museum at Birmingham. The animal would not have been discovered but for +an accident: the workmen were carting the stone away, and the block +containing the Toad happened to be placed on the top of a great load, +and accidentally fell from the cart to the ground, and, breaking by the +fall, brought to light the incarcerated reptile, which, I conclude, was +somewhat injured by the fall, as there was a fresh wound on one side of +the head, and it appeared to be blind of one eye. The Toad died, I was +informed, the second day after it was discovered, partly, in all +probability, in consequence of the injury. When I say the block of stone +was _solid_, this statement requires some qualification: the two parts +of the stone fitted together exactly, and quite close, except where the +cavity was in which the Toad lay; but from this cavity there was +evidently a flaw on one side towards the extremity, and a discolouring +of the substance of the sandstone, so that although the two portions +fitted together, they might not have been (on one side of the cavity) +very firmly united. This circumstance, perhaps, may detract from the +value of the example; nevertheless, it is unaccountable how the animal +could have got into the position in which it was found: it is not +conceivable, I think, that it should have been there ever since the +first formation of the rock, and there certainly appeared to be no means +by which it could have entered the rock in its present state, even +admitting (what we know to be the fact) that Toads have the power of +getting in and out of a very small orifice." + +The author of the next account, signed "E. Peacock," is unknown to me; +and it does not appear whether he speaks from personal observation or +not. He says, "A few days ago, two labourers, employed at a stone quarry +at Frodingham, near Brigg, Lincolnshire, found, at a depth of five feet +below the surface of the ground, and between two blocks of stone (lias), +a living Toad: the interstice between the stones was filled with yellow +clay, and there did not appear the least possible aperture by which +anything could have passed."[99] + +Even from remote India we have reports of the same phenomenon. A +correspondent from Serampore sends the _Zoologist_ the following:--"Last +Wednesday, Feb. 7, 1849, on severing the branch of a tree, apparently of +the tamarind species, I found a Toad in the centre of the wood, entirely +excluded from light and air. The appearance of the animal was rather +extraordinary. The body seemed full of air, and the skin soft and puffy, +and of a light yellowish colour, with the exception of the extremities +of the feet, which were hard and dark. The creature when exposed to the +air seemed rather uncomfortable, and drew in its head just like a turtle +when alarmed. It was thrown into a tank, when the water around, to the +space of about a foot on either side, became perfectly white, like milk. +It jumped out of the water immediately, apparently not liking the +coldness. I did not have opportunity of observing it further, which I +regret, as the animal got concealed in the long grass on the side of the +tank, and was thus lost. The general supposition as to the mode by which +animals get inclosed within trees, is their taking shelter in the cavity +of a tree when very young, and the growth of the tree filling up the +cavity, and thus imprisoning the animal. But this supposition, if true +in the present case, makes the circumstance now related the more +extraordinary. The tree is an old one, upwards of fifty feet high, and +having a trunk more than three feet in diameter; and the height from the +ground at which the Toad was found was about twelve feet. We must +suppose the Toad to have got into the tree when within a foot from the +ground: how many years old then must the animal be?" + +The mention of the whitening of the water in which the Toad was immersed +is to my mind a strong corroboration of the veracity of the preceding +narrative. It is not a circumstance at all likely to occur to a mere +inventor, as it does not in the least bear on the question of +incarceration, and there is no attempt to explain it. I have +occasionally seen fluids rendered partially opaque by the outflow of a +milky secretion from animals immersed in them, as in the case of the +curious _Peripatus_ of Jamaica, which, when put alive into spirits, +discharges a considerable quantity of white fluid, which diffuses in the +alcohol. The Toad was probably distinct from our common English species, +but we know that the latter secretes a yellow acrid fluid in some +abundance in the follicles of its skin, and this might be poured out +under the excitement of alarm or anger. + +In the summer of 1851, the Academie des Sciences was interested +(according to the public papers) with this question. In digging a well +at Blois, in June of that year, "some workmen drew up from about a yard +beneath the surface a large flint, weighing about fourteen pounds, and +on striking it a blow with a pickaxe, it split in two, and discovered, +snugly ensconced in the very centre, a large Toad. The Toad seemed for a +moment greatly astonished, but jumped out, and rather rapidly crawled +away. He was seized and replaced in the hole, when he settled himself +down very quietly. The stone and Toad, just as they were, were sent to +the Society of Sciences at Blois, and became immediately the subject of +curious attention. First of all, the flint, fitted together, with the +Toad in the hole, was placed in a cellar, and imbedded in moss. There it +was left for some time. It is not known if the Toad ate, but it is +certain that he made no discharge of any kind. It was found that if the +top of the stone were cautiously removed in a dark place he did not +stir, but that if the removal were effected in the light, he immediately +got out and ran away. If he were placed on the edge of the flint, he +would crawl into his hole, and fix himself comfortably in. He gathered +his legs beneath his body; and it was observed that he took especial +care of one of his feet, which had been slightly hurt in one of his +removals. The hole is not one bit larger than the body, except a little +where the back is. There is a sort of ledge on which his mouth reposes, +and the bones of the jaws are slightly indented, as if from long resting +on a hard substance. Not the slightest appearance of any communication +whatsoever between the centre and the outside of the stone can be +discovered, so that there is no reason to suppose that he could have +drawn any nourishment from the outside. The committee, consisting of +three eminent naturalists, one of whom has made Toads his peculiar +study for years, made no secret of their belief that the Toad had been +in that stone for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years; but how he could +have lived without air, or food, or water, or movement, they made no +attempt to explain. They accordingly contented themselves with proposing +that the present should be considered another authentic case, to be +added to the few hundreds already existing, of Toads being found alive +imbedded in stone, leaving it to some future savant to explain what now +appears the wonderful miracle by which Nature keeps them alive so long +in such places. But the distinguished M. Majendie suggested that it was +just possible that an attempt was being made to hoax the Academy, by +making it believe that the Toad had been found in the hole, whereas it +might only have been put in by the mischievous workmen after the stone +was broken. Terrified at the idea of becoming the laughing-stock of the +public, the Academy declined to take any formal resolution about the +Toad, but thanked the committee for its very interesting communication; +and so the subject dropped." + +This statement does not, to be sure, bear about it that character of +precision which should mark the report of a scientific body, nor is it +verified by authority; but the terror ascribed to L'Academie at the idea +of being hoaxed, and the instant quashing of the inquiry, are so true to +nature, so accurately characteristic of our august associations of +savans, that I cannot help believing the story. + +Here is another, which has the air of a _bona fide_ account, though I +have no knowledge of the writer, nor does he himself seem to pretend to +personal autopsy of the discovery. + +On Monday last, September 20, while some workmen were engaged in getting +iron ore at a place called Paswick, in the north of this county, +[Derby,] they came upon a solid lump of ore, which, being heavier than +two men could lift, they set to work to break with their picks, when, to +their surprise, in a cavity near the centre of the stone, they found a +Toad alive. The cavity was much larger than the Toad, being nearly six +inches in diameter, and was lined with crystals of what I suppose to be +carbonate of lime. The stone was about four yards from the surface of +the ground; it is now in the possession of Mr Haywood of Derby, by whose +men it was found; but unfortunately the Toad was not preserved after its +death, which took place almost immediately on its exposure to the +atmosphere.[100] + +_Audi alteram partem._ Mr Plant of the Salford Museum tells us, both in +sorrow and in anger, a story, doubtless more amusing to us who read it +than to him, of his adventures among the toad-finders. When geologising +in the neighbourhood of Chesterfield, a quarryman, whom he had invited +to share a bottle of porter, informed him in confidence that Toads +inclosed in stone were plentiful thereabout. "He said he had often found +them, and that he knew a stone before it was broken that would contain a +Toad; giving me long and circumstantial accounts of the whole +phenomenon: and, to convince me of the truth of his statement, he took +me to the quarry (a carboniferous sandstone) that I might see the stones +out of which he said the Toads had been released. I examined the stones +and the whole quarry very attentively, and listened to the emphatic +testimony of other miners present. After complying in an agreeable +manner to their remark that the day was warm, and the water of the +quarry not much in favour, I made a simple proposal of this nature:--I +promised to pay to any one of them the sum of twenty shillings for the +next stone in which they found a Frog or Toad when the stone was broken +in two. They should catch the Frog if he bolted out of the hole, replace +him, and fit the stones together again, afterwards despatching it to me +in that condition. I further promised to pay the sum of forty shillings +to any one of them who should procure me a stone, unbroken, in which he +considered a Toad or Frog was imprisoned, if, on breaking it myself, +such turned out to be the case. These conditions were to remain in force +for twelve months; and as the means of conveyance to my address, which I +gave them, would occasion little or no trouble, the offer was readily +accepted by the miners; who also, to express their confidence in soon +being able to supply the order, proposed that it would be all safe if I +advanced a little cash on account; which however I resolutely declined +doing. And now what will the credulous believers in these 'Toads in +stone' who read the _Zoologist_ say, when they learn that I visited the +quarry twice during the twelve months, in order to fetch the Toads +which never came by rail? I always found the men there blasting tons of +new rock, splitting stones for every building purpose, yet dry-throated +and sullen; for, alas! most unaccountably during that long twelve months +they found plenty of holes--not Toad holes--in the sandstone, but the +reptiles had been banished as effectually as ever they were from the +Emerald Isle."[101] + +[Illustration: TOAD IN A HOLE.] + +This was disheartening, certainly: and we do not wonder that Mr Plant +became "a total disbeliever in these 'simple tales.'" Still, it is just +possible, that immured Toads may exist, though Mikey of the Chesterfield +quarry, in hope of the advance, did brag a little too confidently of the +commonness of the occurrence. That, within one twelvemonth, within the +limits of one quarry, no such Toad turned up, even under the stimulus of +the proffered forty shillings, can scarcely be admitted to be absolutely +conclusive proof of the negative, at least not to us who were not placed +in the painful position of _gullees_. Mr Arthur Hussey of Rottingdean +justly remarks, when presenting some evidence _per contra_, that we +should not think the innocence of a culprit was established by his +asserting, when sundry witnesses affirmed they saw him commit the +offence he was accused of,--that he could produce ten times the number +who would swear they _did not_ see him. + +"During the summer of 1846," writes Mr Hussey, "in the formation of a +railroad, about half a mile from Pontefract, in Yorkshire, the works +were carried a 'depth of four feet through a rock betwixt lime and +sandstone, about the junction of the two formations:' the rock being so +firm as to require blasting. 'It is entirely free from beds of any kind, +or what the workmen term "backs," running up it,' but therein are 'an +infinite number of small nodules of a harder quality, entirely +crystallised in the interior.' After blasting, the labourers were much +surprised to find among the fragments several of these nodules, each one +containing a Frog, as many as seven having been counted after one +'shot.' + +"These were not casually seen when exposed, and then disregarded, but +were examined in their stone prisons through very minute holes, some +even preserved in that state for a long period. For example, the relator +states of one specimen, 'I kept this Toad in a cellar for about five +months, during which time it ate nothing, and was without light, the +hole in the stone being covered with a piece of clay, and the whole kept +moist and cool with water.' Of another he says, 'The Frog lived only +about a week, as I kept it in a place which I think was too warm for it, +and also not sufficiently dark and quiet. When the Frogs were disturbed +by the shots, their first desire seemed to be to get under shelter of +some stone, or into their old holes again, shewing thereby that sight +was not wanting, and bodily activity was perfect as far as could be +seen. One thing struck me as singular with regard to the Frog I +kept--its fresh, plump, and healthy appearance, its skin being soft and +transparent. One day, when I was holding my finger over the hole in the +stone, it pushed its head between my finger and the sides of the hole, +and drew its whole body after it on to the table, where it appeared more +like a skeleton than any living animal I have ever seen, but by degrees +it extended itself to its former dimensions.' + +"Of the above curious occurrence my only knowledge is derived from the +account written to a distant friend, of which the substance has now been +extracted. The writer is an utter stranger, but he was officially +employed in the operations which resulted in the discoveries; and my +information leads me to believe his report deserving of confidence, for +which reason I have not hesitated to offer this abstract for publication +in the _Zoologist_."[102] + +The Rev. Alfred Charles Smith, an excellent and genial naturalist, +favours us with another case, introducing it incidentally in +illustration of the general habit he is denouncing of wantonly +destroying animal life:--"As an instance of this thoughtless cruelty, I +must give an account that has just come to my notice. Some labourers +were pulling down an old wall, in the thickness of which they found one +of those phenomena--so frequently heard of and so unsatisfactorily +accounted for--a Toad completely imbedded in stone and mortar. 'There +was no doubt,' said the labourer who described it, 'that he had been +there for a great number of years, for there was no hole or chink by +which he could have entered or left the place of his long sojourn.' +'Well,' said the listener to his account, 'but are you sure that the +Toad was alive when you found it?' 'No doubt of that, sir,' said the +man, 'for he crawled out of his round hole and was moving away, when I +knocked him on the head with my pickaxe.' + +"So here was this poor harmless creature, whose long incarceration in +his gloomy dungeon might have excited compassion in his favour, suddenly +released from his prison, only to be slain by his liberator!"[103] + +The next is from the _Caledonian Mercury_. Newspaper zoology is +proverbially untrustworthy, and the editor of the _Zoologist_, who +reprints the paragraph, kindly adds a caveat for the benefit of his +readers,--"_Nimium ne crede Mercurio!_" But, nevertheless, let us look +at it: alone it would stand for little, but, remember, in such questions +as this the evidence is cumulative. "There is at present to be seen at +Messrs Sanderson and Sons, George Street, Edinburgh, an extraordinary +specimen of natural history--a Frog which had been discovered alive in +freestone rock. A few months ago, while some colliers in the employ of +Mr James Nasmyth (lessee of Dundonald Colliery, in Fife, the property of +R. B. Wardlaw Ramsay, Esq. of Whitehill), were engaged in taking out the +pavement of the seam coal, which was freestone, they discovered a cavity +in which a Frog was lying. On touching it the Frog jumped about for some +time, and a bucket of water being procured, it was put into it, and +taken to the surface. On reaching it, the animal was found to be dead. +It was at the depth of forty-five fathoms, or ninety yards from the +surface, in a perpendicular line of strata, consisting of alternate +layers of coal and freestone, with ironstone, and about four hundred +yards from the outcrop surface. The Frog seems to have much of the same +character as the present species. It is very attenuated, which cannot be +wondered at, considering its domicile for so many ages, its original +existence being of course considered contemporaneous with the formation +of the freestone rock in which it was contained."[104] + +Now, again, we get the statement of a careful working naturalist, Mr +Thomas Clark of Halesleigh. He cannot, indeed, give personal authority +for what he records; but the confidence of such a man in his informant +is an element not without its value. "March 25, 1859. In the early part +of this month, two live Toads were dug out from the bottom of a bed of +stiff brick clay, in the neighbourhood of Bridgewater, at the depth of +fourteen feet from the surface of the ground; a third was killed by the +spade before they were observed. This bed of clay rests on peat, and the +Toads were found at the junction of the two beds, in a small domed +cavity, about the size of the crown of a man's hat. On being exposed to +the air, they uttered a squeaking cry, resembling that of a rat, but in +about a minute they seemed reconciled to their new destiny, and moved +freely about. They were kept in a jar for a few days, and then placed at +liberty in a garden, where I suppose they are still living. The living +ones were about two inches in length, but narrow in proportion, and of +a rather lighter colour than Toads usually are; the one which was killed +was very much larger. The clay under which they were buried had been +gradually dug out from the surface since about the beginning of the +year, but the last five feet of depth was not dug till the day on which +they were discovered. After about two feet of the surface, the clay is +very close and adhesive, and far too moist to admit of cracks being +formed in it, even in the driest summers."[105] + +To this communication inserted in the _Zoologist_, Mr Newman added a +note asking the name of any scientific man who was present at the +exhumation. Mr Clark replies:--"I am unable to give such a name, further +than as the intelligent foreman of the brickyard, Thomas Duddridge, (who +witnessed the exhumation by one of the labourers of the yard,) may be +entitled to the appellation; but no one, however high his scientific +attainments, could be more careful than he was to give me correct +information, or more exact in his statements; and if, after minute +inquiry, I had not been fully satisfied of the correctness of his +account, I should not have sought to occupy the pages of the _Zoologist_ +with its recital. On shewing him the notice in the _Zoologist_, he said +it was impossible for anything to be more correct; and he added, that +the little cavity which the Toads occupied was quite smooth in every +part, apparently by their long-continued movements,--as smooth, to use +his own illustration, as the inside of a China bowl."[106] + +Numerous experiments have been made with a view to test the possibility +of these reputed facts. If Toads do so commonly become voluntarily or +accidentally immured, and remain without light, food, or even air, for +many years, and yet survive, let us put some Toads into similar +circumstances, keep them shut up, and, after the lapse of a sufficient +interval, examine them, and see whether they are alive or dead. +"_Experimentum faciemus in corpore vili_," as the village doctor said to +his assistant over the sick traveller. + +_Probatum est!_ Besides the case mentioned in Mr Bartlett's letter +(_ante_, p. 149), the late Dr Buckland, in November 1825, instituted a +series of careful experiments, which are thus narrated by himself:--"In +one large block of coarse oolitic limestone, twelve circular cells were +prepared, each about one foot deep and five inches in diameter, and +having a groove or shoulder at its upper margin fitted to receive a +circular plate of glass, and a circular slate to protect the glass: the +margin of this double cover was closed round and rendered impenetrable +to air and water by a luting of soft clay. Twelve smaller cells, each +six inches deep and five inches in diameter, were made in another block +of compact siliceous sandstone, viz., the Pennant Grit of the coal +formation near Bristol; these cells also were covered with similar +plates of glass and slate, cemented at the edge by clay. The object of +the glass covers was to allow the animals to be inspected, without +disturbing the clay so as to admit external air or insects into the +cell. The limestone is so porous that it is easily permeable by water, +and probably also by air; the sandstone is very compact. + +"On the 26th of November 1825, one live Toad was placed in each of the +above-mentioned twenty-four cells, and the double cover of glass and +slate placed over each of them, and cemented down by the luting of clay. +The weight of each Toad in grains was ascertained and noted by Dr +Daubeny and Mr Dillwyn at the time of their being placed in the cells; +that of the smallest was 115 grains, and of the largest 1185 grains. The +large and small animals were distributed in equal proportion between the +limestone and sandstone cells. + +"These blocks of stone were buried together in my garden beneath three +feet of earth, and remained unopened until the 10th of December 1826, on +which day they were examined. Every Toad in the smaller cells of the +compact sandstone was dead, and the bodies of most of them so much +decayed that they must have been dead some months. The greater number of +those in the larger cells of porous limestone were alive. No. 1, whose +weight when immured was 924 grains, now weighed only 698 grains. No. 5, +whose weight when immured was 1185 grains, now weighed 1265 grains. The +glass cover over this cell was slightly cracked, so that minute insects +might have entered: none, however, were discovered in this cell; but in +another cell whose glass was broken, and the animal within it dead, +there was a large assemblage of minute insects; and a similar assemblage +also on the outside of the glass of a third cell. In cell No. 9, a Toad +which when put in weighed 988 grains, had increased to 1116 grains, and +the glass cover over it was entire; but as the luting of the cell within +which this Toad had increased in weight was not particularly examined, +it is probable there was some aperture in it by which small insects +found admission. No. 11 had decreased from 936 grains to 652 grains. + +"When they were first examined in December 1826, not only were all the +small Toads dead, but the larger ones appeared much emaciated, with the +two exceptions above mentioned; we have already stated that these +probably owed their increased weight to the insects which had found +access to the cells, and become their food. + +"The death of every individual of every size in the smaller cells of +compact sandstone, appears to have resulted from a deficiency in the +supply of air, in consequence of the smallness of the cells, and the +impermeable nature of the stone; the larger volume of air originally +inclosed in the cells of the limestone, and the porous nature of the +stone itself, (permeable as it is slowly by water, and probably by air,) +seem to have favoured the duration of life to the animals inclosed in +them without food. + +"It should be noticed that there is a defect in these experiments, +arising from the treatment of the twenty-four Toads before they were +inclosed in the blocks of stone. They were shut up and buried on the +26th of November, but the greater number of them had been caught more +than two months before that time, and had been imprisoned all together +in a cucumber frame placed on common garden earth, where the supply of +food to so many individuals was probably scanty, and their confinement +unnatural, so that they were in an unhealthy and somewhat meagre state +at the time of their imprisonment. We can therefore scarcely argue with +certainty from the death of all these individuals within two years, as +to the duration of life which might have been maintained had they +retired spontaneously, and fallen into the torpor of their natural +hibernation in good bodily condition. + +"The results of our experiments amount to this: all the Toads, both +large and small, inclosed in sandstone, and the small Toads in the +limestone also, were dead at the end of thirteen months. Before the +expiration of the second year all the large ones also were dead; these +were examined several times during the second year through the glass +covers of the cells, but without removing them to admit air; they +appeared always awake, with their eyes open, and never in a state of +torpor, their meagreness increasing at each interval in which they were +examined, until at length they were found dead; those two also which had +gained an accession of weight at the end of the first year, and were +then carefully closed up again, were emaciated and dead before the +expiration of the second year. + +"At the same time that these Toads were inclosed in stone, four other +Toads of middling size were inclosed in three holes, cut for this +purpose on the north side of the trunk of an apple-tree; two being +placed in the largest cell, and each of the others in a single cell. +The cells were nearly circular, about five inches deep and three inches +in diameter; they were carefully closed up with a plug of wood, so as to +exclude access of insects, and apparently were air-tight; when examined +at the end of a year, every one of the Toads was dead, and their bodies +were decayed. + +"From the fatal result of the experiments made in the small cells cut in +the apple-tree and the block of compact sandstone, it seems to follow +that Toads cannot live a year excluded totally from atmospheric air; +and, from the experiments in the larger cells within the block of +oolitic limestone, it seems also probable that they cannot survive two +years entirely excluded from food; we may therefore conclude that there +is a want of sufficiently minute and accurate observation in those so +frequently recorded cases, where Toads are said to be found alive within +blocks of stone and wood, in cavities that had no communication whatever +with the external air. The fact of my two Toads having increased in +weight at the end of the year, notwithstanding the care that was taken +to inclose them perfectly by a luting of clay, shews how very small an +aperture will admit of insects sufficient to maintain life. In the cell +No. 5, where the glass was slightly cracked, the communication though +small was obvious, but in the cell No. 9, where the glass cover remained +entire, and where it appears certain, from the increased weight of the +inclosed animal, that insects must have found admission, we have an +example of these minute animals finding their way into a cell to which +great care had been taken to prevent any possibility of access. + +"Admitting, then, that Toads are occasionally found in cavities of wood +and stone with which there is no communication sufficiently large to +allow the ingress and egress of the animal inclosed in them, we may, I +think, find a solution of such phenomena in the habits of these +reptiles, and of the insects which form their food. The first effort of +the young Toad, as soon as it has left its tadpole state and emerged +from the water, is to seek shelter in holes and crevices of rocks and +trees. An individual which, when young, may have thus entered a cavity +by some very narrow aperture, would find abundance of food by catching +insects, which, like itself, seek shelter within such cavities; and may +soon have increased so much in bulk as to render it impossible to get +out again through the narrow aperture at which it entered. A small hole +of this kind is very likely to be overlooked by common workmen, who are +the only people whose operations on stone and wood disclose cavities in +the interior of such substances. + +"In the case of Toads, Snakes, and Lizards, that occasionally issue from +stones that are broken in a quarry, or in sinking wells, and sometimes +even from strata of coal at the bottom of a coal-mine, the evidence is +never perfect to shew that the reptiles were entirely inclosed in solid +rock. No examination is ever made until the reptile is first discovered +by the breaking of the mass in which it was contained, and then it is +too late to ascertain, without carefully replacing every fragment, (and +in no case that I have seen reported has this ever been done,) whether +or not there was any hole or crevice by which the animal may have +entered the cavity from which it was extracted. Without previous +examination it is almost impossible to prove that there was no such +communication. In the case of rocks near the surface of the earth, and +in stone quarries, reptiles find ready admission to holes and fissures. +We have a notorious example of this kind in the Lizard found in a +chalk-pit, and brought alive to the late Dr Clark. In the case also of +wells and coal-pits, a reptile that had fallen down the well or shaft, +and survived its fall, would seek its natural retreat in the first hole +or crevice it could find, and the miner dislodging it from this cavity, +to which his previous attention had not been called, might in ignorance +conclude that the animal was coeval with the stone from which he had +extracted it. + +"It remains only to consider the case (of which I know not any +authenticated example) of Toads that have been said to be found in +cavities within blocks of limestone, to which, on careful examination, +no access whatever could be discovered, and where the animal was +absolutely and entirely closed up with stone. Should any such case ever +have existed, it is probable that the communication between this cavity +and the external surface had been closed up by stalactitic incrustation, +after the animal had become too large to make its escape. A similar +explanation may be offered of the much more probable case of a live Toad +being entirely surrounded with solid wood. In each case, the animal +would have continued to increase in bulk so long as the smallest +aperture remained by which air and insects could find admission; it +would probably become torpid as soon as this aperture was entirely +closed by the accumulation of stalactite or the growth of wood. But it +still remains to be ascertained how long this state of torpor may +continue under total exclusion from food and from external air: and, +although the experiments above recorded shew that life did not extend +two years in the case of any one of the individuals which formed the +subjects of them, yet, for reasons which have been specified, they are +not decisive to shew that a state of torpor, or suspended animation, may +not be endured for a much longer time by Toads that are healthy and well +fed up to the moment when they are finally cut off from food, and from +all direct access of atmospheric air. + +"The common experiment of burying a Toad in a flower-pot covered with a +tile, is of no value unless the cover be carefully luted to the pot, and +the hole at the bottom of the pot also closed, so as to exclude all +possible access of air, earthworms, and insects. I have heard of two or +three experiments of this kind, in which these precautions have not been +taken, and in which at the end of a year the Toads have been found alive +and well. + +"Besides the Toads inclosed in wood and stone, four others were placed +each in a small basin of plaster of Paris, four inches deep and five +inches in diameter, having a cover of the same material carefully luted +round with clay; these were buried at the same time and in the same +place with the blocks of stone, and on being examined at the same time +with them in December 1826, two of the Toads were dead, the other two +alive, but much emaciated. We can only collect from this experiment, +that a thin plate of plaster of Paris is permeable to air in a +sufficient degree to maintain the life of a Toad for thirteen months. + +"In the 19th Vol., No. I, p. 167, of _Sillimans American Journal of +Science and Arts_, David Thomas, Esq. has published some observations on +Frogs and Toads in stone and solid earth, enumerating several authentic +and well-attested cases. These, however, amount to no more than a +repetition of the facts so often stated and admitted to be true, viz., +that torpid reptiles occur in cavities of stone, and at the depth of +many feet in soil and earth; but they state not anything to disprove the +possibility of a small aperture, by which these cavities may have had +communication with the external surface, and insects have been admitted. + +"The attention of the discoverer is always directed more to the Toad +than to the minutiae of the state of the cavity in which it was +contained." + +The importance of these experiments, the care with which they were +instituted, the deserved reputation of the experimenter, and the +philosophic character of his inferences, will, I trust, apologise for +the extent of this quotation. I do not think, however, that the question +is settled by them; and I will venture to make one or two comments on +the facts and on the observations. + +Dr Buckland allows that the circumstances of the incarceration of his +Toads were not natural. This seems to me an element of more importance +than he attributes to it. They were shut up while in active life, after +having been confined for two months on scanty food;--"So that they were +in an _unhealthy and somewhat meagre_ state at the time of their +imprisonment." We do not know what conditions, what natural provisions +precede torpidity and are essential to it; but possibly there are some, +which in these cases were compulsorily precluded by human interference. +It is stated that the animals that survived to the second year were +always found awake when examined,--"_never in a state of torpor_." But +Toads that had hid themselves would have been torpid during the winter +months; and thus we have a sufficient proof that a natural condition of +body had been by some means prevented. The experiment would be much more +fair to the Toad, and much more conclusive to me, if the animal were +inclosed during the depth of its winter-sleep, care being taken to +handle it as little as possible. + +As it was, however, _most of the Toads_ inclosed in the limestone +_survived upwards of thirteen months_. This surely is a very remarkable +fact. Take the case of No. 9. Here was a Toad, nearly full grown, which +had been shut up in a stone cell, covered with a plate of glass +carefully luted down all round, so as to exclude air, buried under three +feet of earth, so as to exclude the smallest gleam of light; yet, at the +expiration of thirteen months, the cell being examined in winter, when +normally all Toads ought to be sound asleep, this Toad was wide awake, +not in the least emaciated, but so thriving in its strange dungeon as +actually to have made 128 grains of flesh! to have actually increased in +weight at the rate of 12-1/2 per cent.! + +Dr Buckland says, "It is probable there was some aperture in the luting +by which small insects found admission." But this is altogether a +_petitio principii_: it absolutely begs the question at issue. Are not +these insects entirely gratuitous? The luting was, of course, carefully +laid on: there could be no drying to cause contraction, buried as it was +in the earth; the glass was uninjured; no orifice was detected; and yet, +forsooth, it must be assumed that "small insects found admission." Then, +too, consider the problem. It is not the possibility that a +microscopically minute insect or two may have managed in some +inscrutable way to insinuate themselves, but insects sufficient to +support this large Toad for thirteen months, and to make it at the end +of that time 128 grains heavier than it was when first inclosed! There +is the fact, as stated by this careful observer; and I am sure his +hypothesis of intrusive insects will not account for it. + +I might make similar remarks on No. 5. The glass was "_slightly_ +cracked." No insects were discovered in it; nor is any perceptible +orifice alluded to; yet this Toad had increased from 1185 grains to 1265 +grains. The "_slight_ crack" in the glass makes this example less +remarkable at first sight than the other; but in reality it is equally +inscrutable. Insects, however minute, do not pass through glass merely +cracked; but the requirement is the admission of insects enough to make +an increase of flesh of 80 grains' weight, besides maintaining the waste +of the Toad during thirteen months. Where, in each case, was the +excrement corresponding to such an augmentation? An insect-diet, as +every naturalist knows, leaves a very considerable residuum of +indigestible, incorruptible, chitinous matter: the f{oe}cal remains of +an insect-diet sufficient to keep an adult Toad in condition for +thirteen months, and leave him 128 grains heavier than at first, would +form no inconsiderable or inconspicuous mass. Yet the silence of the +observer on so conclusive an evidence proves that it was utterly +wanting. + +The Toads which survived longest were the largest specimens. Perhaps it +requires a condition of peculiar vigour to bear the incarceration. Even +these were all dead before two years had elapsed. But then it must be +remembered that they had been disturbed: they had been taken out, +handled, and weighed, and replaced; and during the second year they had +been examined "several times." Air, it is true, was not admitted in +these later examinations; but _light was_; and it may be that the +absence of all external stimulus (and light is a potent one) is +indispensable to the prolongation of vitality under conditions so +abnormal. + +No one supposes that incarceration in solid rock is an ordinary event in +the life of even a Toad. However it occur,--granting that it may +occur,--it must surely be a rare accident happening to an individual +here and there, from which millions of Toads are exempt. We may +reasonably suppose, too, that not one in a hundred so accidentally +incarcerated would survive, the accident in the majority of cases +proving fatal. If we bear in mind these not unreasonable presumptions, +we shall not hastily decide that all the recorded discoveries of Toads +immured are proved false and impossible, because we have not succeeded +in finding a case of longevity out of four-and-twenty Toads, many of +them little ones, which we took and violently immured at our pleasure. + +To my own mind these interesting experiments are far more corroborative +than contradictory of the popular belief. The amazing fact remains, that +an adult vertebrate air-breathing animal can certainly live, and +increase in size, shut up in a stone cell, debarred from light and air +and food, for a period between one and two years! What have we parallel +to this in the whole range of natural history? _C'est le premier pas qui +coute._ After the first year has passed so auspiciously, why may not a +second? a third? and so indefinitely--under circumstances peculiarly +favouring? It is by no means certain that there are not such favouring +circumstances, because we cannot precisely predicate what they are. And +if we admit the reported cases to be--only a few of them--true, we +cannot evade the conclusion, that the longevity of these imprisoned +Toads must be immense, incalculable. For a Toad that emerges when a +block of stone is split up, from a matrix that fits (say somewhat +roughly, if you please) its form and size, must have been there ever +since the stone was in a soft state, how long soever that may have +been. Nor does it in the least affect the question, that there may have +been some minute crack in the matrix through which insects, sufficient +to support life, entered. This circumstance, I say, if satisfactorily +proved, would not touch the question of time. And surely it is a marvel +of colossal magnitude that a vertebrate animal should have maintained +its life shut up in a mass of stone ever since the deposition of the +matter in a solid form, even though we be able to eliminate from it the +element of total abstinence during the entire period. + +But facts are upon record which prove the possibility of Toads surviving +a protracted incarceration, effected by man, and therefore without their +will. In 1809, on opening a gap in a wall at Bamborough, in +Northumberland, for the passage of carts, a Toad, which had been +incarcerated in the centre of a wall, was found alive, and set at +liberty. A mason, named George Wilson, when building this wall, sixteen +years before, had wantonly immured the animal, in a close cavity formed +of lime and stone, just sufficient to contain it, and which he plastered +so closely as seemingly to prevent the admission of air. When +discovered, it seemed at first, as must naturally be supposed, in a very +torpid state; but it soon recovered animation and activity, and, as if +sensible of the blessings of freedom, made its way to a collection of +stones, and disappeared.[107] + +Mr F. W. L. Ross of Broadway House, near Topsham, an acute and +experienced naturalist, narrates the following circumstances:--"In the +year 1821, I was residing in the country, and in my court-yard was a set +of stone steps for mounting on horseback. These being useless to me, I +desired they might be removed. On taking them down, the lowest step, a +coarse red conglomerate, measuring about three feet in length, ten +inches in depth, and about fourteen in width, was raised by a heavy bar. +It had been well bedded in mortar, in which, while soft, a Toad had been +evidently placed, as there was no appearance of any way by which it +could have found ingress or egress, the mould or cast being as perfect +as if taken in plaster. On the removal of the stone, the Toad remained +torpid for a few minutes, when it seemed to revive, and then crept out. +From the owners of the property I ascertained that the steps had been +placed there forty-five years before, and, to the best of their +knowledge, had never been moved. + +"The second account is from a clergyman, and originated in my informing +him of the above. He caused a pit to be dug in his garden, six feet +deep; at the bottom was laid a slate, on which a full-sized Toad was +placed, with an inverted flower-pot over it. The hole and edges were +well luted with clay; the pit was then filled in, and on that day twelve +months reopened, when the Toad was found alive, and as well as when +inclosed in its living tomb. If, therefore, it could exist in such a +state for twelve months, it is not impossible that it might do so for a +much longer period."[108] + +These curious facts derive confirmation and augmented interest from +some apparently parallel conditions observed of other animals, widely +removed in the organic scale from the Reptilia, and that on both sides. +Some glimpses of an indefinitely protracted torpidity in Wasps are given +to us in a communication from an eminent entomologist, Mr G. Wailes of +Newcastle, to the Entomological Society of London, and published in +their "Proceedings" of March 5, 1860. These Rip Van Winkles of the +insect race choose, it seems, the tops of loftiest mountains for going +to their long sleep. Who knows what might be found if a clever +insect-hunter were to go stone-turning on the peaks of Ararat? Read the +following, young enterprising entomologists! and set out. + +"It is very evident that we have a great deal yet to learn about the +Social Wasps, and therefore the following remarks as to _Vespa vulgaris_ +may be interesting. Ever since 1829 I have, at intervals, searched the +summit of Skiddaw (3022 feet) for specimens of _Leistus montanus_, and +on every occasion have taken out from underneath the loose fragments of +the slate perfectly torpid females of this Wasp, with the wings, legs, +antennae, &c., precisely in the state in which we find them during winter +in the lower lands. Not unfrequently I have met with dead specimens +which seemed to have perished in the same dormant state, and been there +for a year or two at least. Mr Smith, in his catalogue of the British +Vespadae, under this species, states that Mr Wollaston found the female +abundant under stones on the extreme summit of Gribon Oernant, near +Llangollen, in September 1854, adding, 'probably hybernating for the +winter,' but had evidently forgotten my writing to him on the subject. +My visits to the mountain have extended from the latter end of June to +the latter end of August, and therefore it necessarily follows that +either these specimens of the female Wasp were those of the previous +year, or that this sex appears much earlier in the season than has +hitherto been supposed. But in either case the question arises, why are +they torpid during these the hottest months of the year? It is quite +true that the temperature of the altitude is below that of the plains, +especially during the night, and I have myself been enveloped in falling +sleet and snow more than once, both in June and August, though, as a +rule, the Cumberland mountains seldom have a thick covering of snow, and +often only a few inches once or twice in the winter. Still, the +temperature of ordinary mountains always approaches that of the plains +in summer, and, one would have expected, was in Britain at least +sufficiently high to rouse these Wasps in their winter quarters, when +every other insect under the same stones was active and stirring, and +the air so warm and bright that _Larentia salicata_ and _Crambus +furcatillus_ were sporting in the mid-day sun above them. Such, however, +was not the case, and when turned out of their snug, dry quarters, they +allowed themselves to be handled and put into pill-boxes just as they do +in winter. We may therefore ask, when are these sleepers to awake? for +as the ground temperature reaches its maximum during the months in which +I have met with them, and Mr Wollaston has found them in a similar +state in September, when a declining temperature has set in, we must +conclude that for that year all prospect of their subsequent issue from +their retreats through the influence of heat is barred. Can this be +called hybernation, as it is usually understood? Or is there some other +cause of torpidity besides mere cold? Or are we to conclude that when +once put to sleep in these lofty regions, they wake no more unless +kindly removed into a milder clime by a stray entomologist, when, as I +have always noticed, they become as active as those of the warm +lowlands?"[109] + +Mr Westwood, in the conversation that ensued on this communication, +suggested that these female Wasps had been the founders of colonies in +the preceding spring, and, after performing their maternal duties, had +retired to die in the situations in which they were found by Mr Wailes. +But with all due deference to so great an authority, is not this another +example of those "explanations" which are thrown off without a due +consideration of the exigencies of the case in hand--explanations which +really explain nothing? For though this hypothesis might account for +Wasps found under such conditions in June, it will not do for the +September findings. Insects that had performed the end of their +existence and had retired to die in June, would not live through July +and August, and be found alive in September. Besides, Mr Wailes +distinctly affirms, that _they always become active_ when removed to a +milder clime, which is proof positive that they had not retired to die. +Mr Smith's hypothesis, that they are "probably hybernating for the +winter," will not account for their torpidity in June and July. Mr +Westwood's hypothesis, that they are moribund individuals after their +spring work, will not explain their vitality till September, and their +revivification when removed. + +But these are insects; and the difference between vertebrate and +invertebrate life is so vast that, after all, the possibilities of the +latter may not have much bearing on those of the former. What, then, +shall we say to an indefinite prolongation of life under like dreary +conditions in--_Bats_? _Bats_, which are true vertebrata; and no +amphibia grovelling at the bottom of the vertebrate ladder, where the +dim flame of spinal life is just glimmering in the socket, but +_Mammalia_, and those of nearly the highest type;--_Bats_, which Linnaeus +associated with _Homo sapiens_ himself in his first Order _Primates_! +Can _these_ live for years shut up from light and food and air? these +great-chested, well-lunged, warm-blooded, aerial quadrupeds? +"Impossible! I would not believe it, if----" Stay! make no rash vows; +but read, weigh, and judge. Remember,--both the following statements are +by clergymen, each of whom is a well-known, careful, experienced +naturalist. + +"A very curious instance," says Mr Pemberton Bartlett, "of the great +length of time that a Bat can remain in a state of torpidity, came under +my notice about three weeks since; and as I believe instances of the +kind are but rarely observed, perhaps an account of the facts of the +case may not prove uninteresting. Upon opening a vault in Bishopsbourne +church, the bricklayer observed a large Bat clinging to the wall. +Thinking it a curious thing to find a Bat in a vault which he knew had +not been opened for twenty years, in the evening he sent it to me by his +boy, who, when he arrived at the door, was tempted to open the basket to +look at the inmate, when most unfortunately it made its escape, and +flitted into a leaden spout which was placed against the house, from +whence I was unable to recover it. Upon learning the particulars of its +discovery, I made a careful search about the vault, but was unable to +trace any hole or crack through which the smallest Bat could have crept. +The bricklayer also informed me that there was no place where a Bat +could have entered, in the part where he opened the vault, as the +entrance was bricked up, and over the steps was a slab which fitted +close. If, indeed, it had been possible for a Bat to have got between +this, the brickwork at the entrance would most effectually have +prevented it from finding an asylum in the vault. The natural inference +therefore is, that the Bat must have got into the vault when it was last +opened, and consequently had been entombed since the year 1823! It was +most unfortunate that I was unable to decide what species it was; but, +from the bricklayer's description, I think it must have been +_Vespertilio Pipistrellus_. When first taken out of the vault it was in +a torpid state, but the effects of the air may be imagined from its +taking the first opportunity to escape in the evening; it flew, +however, far more 'leaden winged' than ever bats are wont to fly, which +was by no means marvellous, when we consider it had been out of practice +for twenty-one years."[110] + +The next account, by the Rev. A. C. Smith, of Yatesbury Rectory, Calne, +is one of peculiar interest. The narrator actually witnessed the +discovery. His investigation was pursued with the cautious care, and his +statement is made with the precision, which belong to science; and the +details are so full, and his remarks so appropriate, that though the +story is somewhat long, I cannot bring myself to abridge it. It bears +date, Feb. 18, 1854. Of course, the reader will note how these two +narratives yield each other mutual corroboration. + +"While effecting some repairs in the pavement of the aisle of my church, +a short time since, the masons found it necessary to remove some bricks +from the solid wall of an adjacent vault, in order the better to adjust +an iron bar intended to support the superincumbent flagstone. It seems +that one or two bricks being removed, and several large and handsome +coffins being exposed to view, curiosity tempted one of the workmen to +reach his hand in with a lighted candle, in order to see the names and +dates on the coffins; the result of which investigation shewed that the +last coffin was placed there in 1748. During this search I entered the +church, just in time to witness the extreme surprise, and the no little +consternation, of the man, whose hand had suddenly come in contact with +a Bat, suspended from the roof of the vault. The Bat was soon brought +to light; and, in its half-torpid state, placed in my hand. We then +proceeded to make a very minute examination of this vault with a lighted +candle, in order to discover, if possible, by what means the Bat could +have penetrated to its resting-place: but, although our search was very +careful and long continued, we failed to discover the smallest crack or +crevice in which a pin could be thrust. The roof was an arch of brick, +surmounted by flagstones; the sides were solid masonry, bearing no +appearance internally of decay; and the position of the vault was very +near the centre of the church: so that I was much puzzled to account for +the occurrence of the Bat in a place apparently hermetically sealed for +above a hundred years; and knew not how to combat the opinion of the +workmen, that it must have been entombed there alive since the year +1748. + +"I now proceeded to institute inquiries regarding the vault in which the +Bat was found. The marble monument above, recorded the names of an old +Wiltshire family long since extinct in these parts, and the dates of the +three coffins below, corroborating the statement of the brass plate, +that the individual last buried died A.D. 1748. Several old men in the +parish remembered an adjacent vault being opened, when they were boys, +nearly sixty years since: but all positively denied that the vault in +question had ever been opened in their lives: and one, a very old man, +formerly clerk, and whose then residence abutted on the churchyard, was +very emphatic on this point. So that I am constrained to believe that +the vault has remained untouched since it received its last occupant, a +hundred and six years ago: and I am the more convinced of this from the +excessive freshness of the last coffin, the brass plate and nails of +which are as bright, and its whole appearance as new, as if it had been +placed there but yesterday, which would not have been the case had the +external air been admitted at any time since the vault was closed. + +"During the time of the examination of the vault, the Bat was held in my +hand, and above an hour must have elapsed since its capture before I was +enabled to take it to the Rectory, and place it under an inverted glass: +by this time the warmth of my hand had considerably revived it, and it +wandered round its prison, snuffing about with its curious nose, and +standing up, and trying to hook itself on to the smooth glass, which +baffled all its attempts. As it obstinately refused to eat small pieces +of chopped meat, with which I tempted it to break its fast, which may +have continued a hundred and six years, and after which I should have +imagined it to be ravenous; and as it lay on its side, apparently in a +dying state, humanity urged me to give it a chance of life, by restoring +it to liberty, and I accordingly carried it to the garden, where I +placed it upon the turf, and watched its movements. At first it clung to +the blades of grass, and shivered a good deal; presently it fluttered +along the ground; soon it rose upon the wing, though in an awkward +manner, and although it sank several times, as if about to fall to the +ground, and as if it had not found the use of its wings, (which might +have been a little stiff for want of exercise, if they had been closed +above a hundred years), it passed behind a clump of trees and I saw it +no more; and then I began to regret, when too late, that I had not made +more efforts to keep it alive and watch its recovery. I know little of +the different species of Bats, but, from its diminutive size, and +extremely long ears, I should imagine it to be the _Vespertilio auritus_ +of Gilbert White. + +"Now, if the hypothesis be deemed absurd that the Bat had been immured +in the vault since 1748, how then are we to account for its presence +there? For although I am aware that a Bat, and especially one of the +smallest species, would creep through a very small crack or crevice, yet +the evidence of my own senses, after a very close examination, convinces +me that not even the smallest crack existed between the bricks of the +vault; and I think the evidence no less conclusive that the vault has +remained untouched for a great number of years. Again, notwithstanding +the disbelief of some, it is very generally acknowledged that Toads do +occasionally exist in blocks of stone and in timber; and the material in +which they are inclosed having gradually formed around them, they must +necessarily have been entombed, in some well-authenticated cases, for a +very long period of time. Why then, I ask, should we deny that to be +possible with the Bat, which we so readily concede to be an occurrence +by no means unusual with the Toad? I own, that, taking all these things +into account, and finding no other possible solution for the mystery, I +came to the conclusion, after mature deliberation, that the Bat had +been entombed in the vault since it last was opened in the year 1748. +That impression has increased upon longer reflection, and has been +further strengthened almost into certainty, from the perusal of a very +interesting and very similar case, recorded by the Rev. J. P. Bartlett +in an early volume of the _Zoologist_ (_Zool._, 613.)[111] That +gentleman states, that on opening a vault which had been closed for +twenty-one years, a Bat was discovered in a torpid state; that he +himself made a very careful search about the vault, and was unable to +discover any crack through which the smallest Bat could have crept; that +the vault was surrounded with brickwork; the entrance was bricked up, +and over the steps was placed a close-fitting slab; and that he could +come to no other conclusion than that the Bat had been inclosed there +for twenty-one years. I confess that I quite agree in opinion with Mr +Bartlett, and believe that the Bat discovered in the vault in +Bishopsbourne church crept in on the occasion of its last opening: and +so in the like manner with the one found in my own church; for although +there is unquestionably a vast difference between twenty-one and a +hundred and six years, yet, if we can establish the fact of a Bat +remaining torpid for the shorter period, I find no difficulty in +understanding that a sleep which would endure so long as that did, might +be protracted to a far longer period. It is most probable that many will +differ from me in opinion, and perhaps some will ridicule the idea: if +they can discover any other probable or even possible means of +accounting for the presence of the Bat in the vault, exclusive of a +crack or chink in it, or of its having been opened within the memory of +living man, both of which views I firmly oppose, I shall feel greatly +obliged by their stating their opinions in the _Zoologist_: meanwhile I +hold to my belief, that the Bat had been there for not less than _one +hundred and six years_!"[112] + +[97] Bell's _Brit. Rept._ (1839), 112. + +[98] _Zoologist_, 614. + +[99] _Zool._, 1879. + +[100] _Zool._, 3632. + +[101] _Zool._, 3808. + +[102] _Zool._, 3848. + +[103] _Zool._, 3904. + +[104] _Zool._, 5959. + +[105] _Zool._, 6537. + +[106] _Ibid._, 6565. + +[107] Richardson's _Borderer's Table Book_, iii. 92. + +[108] _Zool._, 3266. + +[109] _Zool._, 6941. + +[110] _Zool._, 613. + +[111] See page 183, _ante_. + +[112] _Zool._, 4245. + + + + +V. + +HYBERNATION OF SWALLOWS. + + +What becomes of our swallows in the winter? They migrate, you reply, +to a warmer parallel. That is true, no doubt; though there have not +been wanting naturalists of respectable name who have maintained that +none of them ever leave the country. No doubt, however, they do migrate; +but is this true of the entire body, or only of a portion? That the +whole hirundinal population--swifts, swallows, martins, and +bank-martins--disappear from view, every one knows; for who ever saw any +of the tribe wheeling and traversing through the sky in the frosts of +January or February? But so do the Bats and the Butterflies. Now, the +Bats hybernate with us, concealing themselves in crevices, caves, hollow +trees, unused buildings, and similar places; so do the house-flies; so +do the butterflies, some species at least, and many other insects. Do +the Swallows hybernate? That they do is a very old opinion; and those +homely but wide-spread rhymes that record so many accepted facts in +popular natural history, record _this_ as a fact. Our rustic children +sing-- + + "The bat, the bee, the butterfly, + The cuckoo and the swallow, + The corn-crake and the wheat-ear, + They all sleep in the hollow." + +Local variations--what we may call _lectiones variae_--exist; for +example, in the south-east of our island, the third line runs, + + "The corn-crake and the _nightingale_." + +In the north of Europe an opinion has long prevailed that the Swallows +not only hybernate in a state of torpidity, but, like the frogs and +toads, retire to the bottoms of pools to spend that dreary season. In +Berger's "Calendar of Flora," published in the _Am{oe}nitates +Academicae_, vol. iv., he puts down as the phenomenon proper to the 22d +of September, "_Hirundo submergitur_," talking, as Gilbert White +remarks, as familiarly of the Swallows going under water, as he would of +his poultry going to roost at sunset. Klein, and even Linnaeus himself, +adopted this strange opinion, which was considered to rest upon good +testimony, and that not only of the illiterate and unobservant. +Etmuller, who was Professor of Anatomy and Botany at Leipsig in the +middle of the seventeenth century, says, "I remember to have found more +than a bushel would hold of Swallows closely clustered among the reeds +of a fish-pond under the ice, all of them to appearance dead, but with +the heart still pulsating." And Derham, the acute author of +"Physico-theology," citing this statement, adds, "We had at a meeting of +the Royal Society, February 12, 1713, a further confirmation of Swallows +retiring under water in the winter from Dr Colas, a person very curious +in these matters, who, speaking of their way of fishing in the northern +parts by breaking holes and drawing their nets under the ice, saith, +that he saw sixteen Swallows so drawn out of the Lake of Lamrodt, and +about thirty out of the king's great pond in Rosneilen; and that at +Schlehitten, near a house of the Earl of Dohna, he saw two Swallows just +come out of the waters, that could, scarcely stand, being very wet and +weak, with their wings hanging on the ground; and that he observed the +Swallows to be often weak for some days after their appearance."[113] + +The Academy of Upsal received the winter submersion of the Swallows as +an undoubted fact, and even Cuvier admits as "well authenticated, that +they fall into a lethargic state during winter, and even that they pass +that season at the bottom of marshy waters."[114] One would think that a +zoological statement which Linnaeus and Cuvier accepted, must be fact; +yet it remains utterly improbable. In Germany, a reward of an equal +weight in silver was publicly offered to any one who should produce +Swallows found under water, but we are assured that no one was found to +claim the money. + +We may safely dismiss the notion of submersion till better +authenticated; but that of torpidity is still open to examination. +Statements to the effect that quantities of Swallows in a death-like +condition have been found in hollow trees, holes in cliffs, banks, &c., +are even more common than those of their submersion; and they seem to +obtain credence in all the temperate or cold regions where the Swallows +are found. It is hard to think that a persuasion so widely diffused can +be wholly groundless. + +Peter Collinson, the friend and correspondent of Linnaeus, communicated +to the Royal Society the following statement by M. Achard:--"In the +latter end of March I took my passage down the Rhine to Rotterdam. A +little below Basel, the south bank of the river was very high and steep, +of a sandy soil, sixty or eighty feet above the water. + +"I was surprised at seeing, near the top of the cliff, some boys tied to +ropes, hanging down doing something. The singularity of these +adventurous boys, and the business they so daringly attempted, made us +stop our navigation, to inquire into the meaning of it. The waterman +told us they were reaching the holes in the cliffs for Swallows or +Martins, which took refuge in them, and remained there all the winter, +until warm weather, and then they came abroad. + +"The boys being let down by their comrades to the holes, put in a long +rammer, with a screw at the end, such as is used to unload guns, and, +twisting it about, drew out the birds. For a trifle I procured some of +them. When I first had them, they seemed stiff and lifeless; I put one +of them in my bosom, between my skin and shirt, and laid another on a +board, the sun shining full and warm upon it; and one or two of my +companions did the like. That in my bosom revived in about a quarter of +an hour; feeling it move, I took it out to look at it; but perceiving it +not sufficiently come to itself, I put it in again; in about another +quarter, feeling it flutter pretty briskly, I took it out, and admired +it. Being now perfectly recovered, before I was aware, it took its +flight; the covering of the boat prevented me from seeing where it went. +The bird on the board, though exposed to a full sun, yet, I presume from +a chilliness of the air, did not revive so as to be able to fly."[115] + +On this account I may observe that Collinson would hardly have been the +medium of this communication, unless he had been satisfied of the +probity of his correspondent. The time was "the latter end of March," a +fortnight at least before the arrival of the Sand Martin--the earliest +of our migrants; and the whole enterprise of the boys, and the +familiarity of the waterman with the circumstance, as well as their +assertions, shew that they, at least, had no doubt about this being a +case of hybernation. Yet the repeated exploration of the Sand Martin's +burrows in this country, in winter, has produced no birds. + +White of Selborne, who was very much interested in the solution of this +question, mentions two instances--both, however, on hearsay evidence. A +clergyman assured him that, when he was a boy, some workmen, in pulling +down the battlements of a tower, early in spring, found two or three +Swifts _among the rubbish_, which appeared dead, but revived in the +warmth. The other account was that of the fall of a portion of the cliff +near Brighton in winter, when many persons found Swallows among the +rubbish; but here even White's informant did not see the birds, but was +merely told of them.[116] + +Bishop Stanley, in his "Familiar History of Birds," has collected some +stories which appear circumstantial enough, if we could be quite sure +they were authentic; on which point the good bishop seems to give the +weight of his own character, since he observes that they are "cases +which have come to our knowledge, on the most respectable authority." + +"On the 16th of November 1826, a gentleman residing near Loch Awe, in +Scotland, having occasion to examine an out-house, used as a cart-shed, +saw an unusual appearance upon one of the rafters which crossed and +supported the thatched roof. Upon mounting a ladder, he found to his +astonishment that this was a group of Chimney-swallows (_Hirundo +rustica_) which had taken up their winter quarters in this exposed +situation. The group consisted of five, completely torpid: and none of +the tribe to which they belonged had been seen for five or six weeks +previously: he took them in his hand, as they lay closely and coldly +huddled together, and conveyed them to his house, in order to exhibit +them as objects of curiosity to the other members of his family. For +some time they remained to all appearance lifeless; but the temperature +of the apartment into which they were carried being considerably raised +by a good turf fire, they gradually evinced symptoms of reanimation; and +in less than a quarter of an hour, finding that they were rather rudely +handled, all of them recovered, so as to fly impatiently round the room, +in search of some opening by which they might escape. The window was +thrown up, and they soon found their way into the fields, and were never +seen again. A similar circumstance, though, from the place of its +discovery it must refer probably to Sand Martins, was related by a +gentleman who found two Swallows in a sand-bank at Newton, near +Stirling, quite dormant. + +"Again, about half-a-dozen Swallows were found a few years ago, in a +torpid state, in the trunk of a hollow tree, by a countryman, who +brought them to a respectable person, by whom they were deposited in a +desk, where they remained forgotten till the following spring, when, one +morning, on hearing a noise, he opened the desk, and found one of them +fluttering about: the others also began to shew signs of life, and upon +being placed out of doors in the sun, speedily arranged their plumage, +took wing, and disappeared. + +"On the 2d of November 1829, at Loch Ransa, in the island of Arran, a +man, while digging in a place where a pond had been lately drained off, +discovered two Swallows in a state of torpor; on placing them near the +fire, they recovered. One unfortunately escaped, but the other was kept +by the man, for the purpose of shewing it to some scientific persons." + +In North America there is a curious species of Swift, (_Acanthylis +pelasgia_,) which associates in immense flocks to roost in chimneys and +hollow trees. It is the popular belief that these birds spend the winter +in a torpid condition in their roosting trees. Williams, in his "History +of Vermont," speaks of a large hollow elm which had been for many years +appropriated to this purpose. A farmer resident close to the tree was +persuaded that it was the winter dwelling-place of the Swifts, and +avoided felling it on that account. About the 1st of May, he always saw +them come out of it in large numbers, about the middle of the day, and +in a short time return. Then, as the weather grew warmer, they came +forth in increased multitudes in the morning, and did not return till +night. A similar account was given of another tree: the first appearance +of the Swifts in spring was always their emergence from its hollow +trunk, and their last, in September, was their ingress. Yet Wilson, the +great ornithologist of America, argues, not without some heat, yet with +considerable force, that such a belief is erroneous. Erroneous, +certainly, the supposition that the whole body of the Chimney-swifts so +hybernate; but whether a few do or do not, his arguments do not quite +conclude. + +The rustic quatrain, quoted in the outset of this disquisition, mentions +the Corncrake, as associated with the Swallow in this winter-sleep,--"in +the hollow." It is curious that two modern instances are on record of +hybernating Corncrakes, though this is certainly as migratory a species +with us as the _Hirundinidae_. A farmer at Aikerness in Orkney, about +midwinter, in demolishing a mud-wall, found a Corncrake in the midst of +it. It was apparently lifeless; but being fresh to the feel and smell, +it was placed in the warmth. In a short time it began to move, and in a +few hours was able to walk about, and lived for two days in the kitchen; +when refusing all food, or rather, none that suited it being then +obtainable, it died.[117] + +"The second case occurred at Monaghan, in Ireland, where a gentleman, +having directed his labourers, in winter, to remove a large heap of +manure, that had remained undisturbed for a great length of time, +perceived a hole, which was supposed to have been made by rats; it +penetrated to a great depth, but at its termination, instead of rats, +three Corncrakes were discovered, as if placed there with the greatest +care, not a feather being out of its place, and apparently lifeless. The +birds on examination were, however, considered to be in a torpid state, +and were placed near a fire in a warm room. In the course of a short +time a tremulous motion was observed in one of their legs, and soon +after a similar motion was noticed in the legs and wings of the whole, +which at length extended itself to their whole bodies, and finally the +birds were enabled to run and fly about the room."[118] + +Daines Barrington, the correspondent of Gilbert White and of Pennant, +was a firm believer in the winter sleep of Swallows with us. He +mentions, on the authority of Lord Belhaven, that numbers of Swallows +had been found in old dry walls and in sandhills near his lordship's +seat in East-Lothian; not once only, _but from year to year_, and that +when they were exposed to the warmth, they revived. He says, however, he +cannot determine the particular species.[119] + +The same naturalist mentions many other instances in which they have +been reported to be found, but he cannot give his personal voucher for +the truth of the statements. + +"As first in a decayed hollow tree, that was cut down near Dolgelly, in +Merionethshire; secondly, in a cliff near Whitby, in Yorkshire, where, +in digging out a fox, whole bushels of Swallows were found in a torpid +condition; thirdly, the Rev. Mr Conway, of Lychton, Flintshire, a few +years ago, between All Saints' and Christmas, on looking down an old +lead mine in that county, observed numbers of Swallows clinging to the +timbers of the shaft, seemingly asleep, and on flinging some gravel on +them they just moved, but never attempted to fly or to change their +place."[120] + +In some communications to the _Zoologist_ for 1845, by the late Mr F. +Holme, of Oxford, I find the following statement:--"On the hybernation +of this species (the House-swallow) I was told many years since, by old +Wall, then keeper of the Kildare Street Museum, in Dublin, ... that +after a heavy snow, in the winter of 1825-26, on going into the +_mansarde_ to see whether the snow had melted through, he found four +Chimney-swallows perched close together on a cross-beam, with their +heads under their wings; but on approaching his hand to them they flew +off, and escaped into the open air."[121] + +Again, Mr J. B. Ellman of Battel, says, "There is a farmer named Waters, +residing at Catsfield, (adjoining parish,) who informs me he has +frequently (some years ago) dug Swallows out of banks in winter, while +widening the ditches in the brooks," &c.[122] + +It is unfortunate that most of these and similar discoveries were "some +years ago;" and that, instead of increasing in frequency with the +increase of scientific research and communication, they strangely become +more rare. The same remark applies to the following statement: it is +minute enough, and circumstantially precise; but, unfortunately, it was +"fifteen years ago." The communicator is Edward Brown Fitton, Hastings, +under date September 8, 1849:-- + +"A labourer named William Joyce, who is now employed in excavating part +of the East Hill for the foundation of a house, told me yesterday, that, +in the month of December, about fifteen years ago, while he was working +for Mr William Ranger, who had the contract for cutting away the 'White +Rock,' which used to stand between this place and St Leonard's, the men +found an immense quantity of Swallows in a cleft of the rock. The birds +were clinging together in large 'clots,' and appeared to be dead, but +were not frozen together, the weather being rather warm for the season, +nor were they at all putrid or decayed. The men carried out at least +_three railway-barrows_ full of birds, which were buried with the mould +and rubbish from the cliff as it was wheeled away. Some people from the +town carried away a few of the birds to 'make experiments with,' but +Joyce never heard any more of them. He mentioned the names of four +persons now in Hastings, who were then his fellow-labourers, and says, +that forty or fifty of Mr Ranger's men were on the spot when the birds +were found, and can confirm what he says, both as to the finding and the +very great quantity of the birds. There are many crevices in the seaward +surface of the cliffs about here, which apparently penetrate the cliff +for several yards. The birds were found about ten feet from the surface +of the rock facing the sea, and not very high up."[123] + +There is yet another class of facts to be adduced, which has an +important bearing on the subject. At first sight, these facts appear +less conclusive than the asserted discoveries of the birds, because less +direct; but I am inclined to attach more value to them, because they are +attested by so many and so unexceptionable witnesses. I mean the sight +of Swallows at large in these islands during the winter months. Let us +see some examples. + +White of Selborne records several cases: thus, in 1773, twenty or thirty +House-martins were playing in the air all day on the 3d of +November,[124] after having disappeared from the 22d of October. In +1772, he saw three House-swallows gliding by on the sea-shore at +Newhaven, on the 4th of November.[125] On another occasion, (the year +not being recorded,) he saw, on a sunny morning, a House-martin flying, +at Oxford, on the 20th of November.[126] On the 26th of November 1768, +one of his neighbours saw a Martin hawking briskly after flies.[127] And +a very respectable gentleman assured him that on a remarkably hot day, +either in the last week in December or the first week in January, he +espied three or four Swallows in the moulding of a window of Merton +College, Oxford.[128] + +Colonel Montagu remarks that "there are a variety of instances of the +Swallow and Martin having been seen flying in the months of November and +December, roused probably from a state of torpidity by an unusual warmth +of the air;"[129] and Captain H. W. Hadfield, commenting on this, +affirms that he has "more than once had ocular proof of their presence +during the winter months."[130] Yarrell gives examples of the late +appearance of the Swift. One was seen by Mr Blackwall on the 20th of +October 1815; a second in Perthshire on the 8th of November 1834; and a +third in Devonshire, by the Rev. Mr Cornish, on the 27th November +1835.[131] In considering these cases, it is needful to bear in mind +that the Swift migrates from this country annually from the 1st to the +15th of August. + +Mr C. R. Bree mentions the following case, which I record, not because +it was particularly late, but because the state of the season, and some +other circumstances which he remarks on are interesting:--"On the 25th +of October 1848, some workmen being engaged on the roof of my house, I +was surprised by the appearance of three Swallows flying about the men. +I had not seen one since the beginning of the month. By the side of the +edge of the gable-end of the house the plaster was broken away, forming +a hole, which led under the roof. While watching the birds, which came +occasionally quite close to my face, I saw first one, then another, +alight upon the ledge of the gable-end, near the hole. Now, I thought, I +am to settle the question of hybernation: but I was disappointed. Though +I watched them for several hours--though I sent the workmen to another +part of the house, yet, although they frequently settled about the hole, +they never entered it. They were evidently young birds, and had been +disturbed. One of them rested upon the chimney, and appeared weak and +dull. I lost sight of them during the day; but the following morning, +the weather being warm, I saw several flying about high up in the air. +There is some mystery about these things. Why have these late +appearances been more remarked this year than other years? How did the +birds obtain food during the three weeks of bitter cold weather when +they were not seen in October?"[132] + +On the 10th of December 1843, a specimen of the Swallow, _an adult bird, +not a young of the season_, (an important circumstance,) in full plumage +and good condition, was shot at Goole, in the West Riding, and was sent +to Mr R. J. Bell, of Derby, a good ornithologist,[133] who records the +fact. In 1852, that excellent naturalist, Mr Hewitson, of Oatlands, saw +two Chimney-swallows at Eshar on the 18th of November, and on the 21st +had four martins about his house.[134] In 1855, Mr E. Vernon Harcourt +reports the occurrence of several Martins skimming about at Uckfield on +the 23d of November; and on the 6th of December several Chimney-swallows +about the house at Hastings.[135] In the same season flocks of Martins +were hawking vigorously, in the vicinity of Penzance, to the 28th of +November, as witnessed by Mr E. H. Rodd.[136] Captain Hadfield again, +writing in 1856, gives extracts from his journals, whereby he records +having seen Swallows and Martins as late as November 3, 1841, December +2, 1842, November 13, 1852, November 22, 1853, November (about the +middle) 1854, and November 24 (Swallows) and December 2 (Martins) 1855. +Of the last-mentioned occurrence he gives the following interesting +note:--"Dec. 2, 4 P.M. Observed eight Martins flying round the garden, +and occasionally alighting on the perpendicular face of the wall of a +house near my garden gate, to which they would cling for a few seconds, +and then, dropping off, whirl round, returning to the same spot, +seemingly quite unconscious of my presence and that of several others: +they seemed bent on effecting an entrance under the eaves of the house, +by a small opening they had discovered near a water-pipe that had been +carried through the wall: they were, I believe, all young birds of the +season, as they appeared small, their tails being also shorter than in +the adults; they were weak on the wing, but that may have arisen from +their being benumbed by the cold, the thermometer standing at 44 deg. only +at the above hour. There had been a bright sun during the greater part +of the day, but I had observed a white frost in the morning. I conclude +that these late birds were merely seeking a roosting-place for the +night, and not a place of concealment for the winter, although I might +have been excused, according to Cuvier, White, &c., had I thought they +were taking up their winter quarters; but I have not sufficient faith in +the theory to induce me to unslate a part of the roof to seek for them, +which might be done, however, at a trifling cost, provided permission +were obtained."[137] + +It is rather a pity that the observer had not confidence enough to +induce him to make the investigation which he suggests. + +Mr William Bree mentions as many as fifteen or twenty Martins and +Swallows sporting in the air near Temple Balsall on the 18th November +1846, adding that he has frequently seen individuals much later, but +never recollects to have seen so great a number together at that late +period. And, finally, Mr J. Johnston, jun., reports that he saw, in the +afternoon of 18th January 1837, three Swallows dipping and hawking as in +summer, near Wakefield.[138] + +There is less evidence of the appearance of these birds before the +ordinary time of arrival of the migrants. But White, when a boy, +observed a Swallow for a whole day together on a sunny warm Shrove +Tuesday, which day could not fall out later than the middle of March, +and often happened early in February.[139] And Mr Samuel Gurney, jun., +together with several other persons, saw either a Martin or Swallow, on +the 27th of March 1844.[140] + +If this last occurrence had stood alone, it would have been of slight +importance; for Yarrell mentions a single Swallow as having been seen by +a fisherman near the Eddystone as early as the 4th of April; and +Sand-martins, even as far north as Carlisle, before the end of March. It +is just possible that these may have been stragglers of the great army +of migrants, arriving some ten or fifteen days before their time; but +considering the whole great array of evidence, I rather believe that +these too were hybernants, who had been prematurely awakened from +torpidity by unusually warm days. + +The accounts of _Hirundines_ having been found in a somnolent state in +winter may or may not be true; though the great number of such +statements in various and distant countries makes the indiscriminate +rejection of them even more difficult than the acceptance. But still +there remains the undeniable fact that it is quite an ordinary thing for +birds of this family, including all our four common species, to be seen +with us through November and December, and occasionally in +January;--that is, for two or three months after the great body of +migrants have left the country. No one, I suppose, pretends that +migration of Swallows takes place in December or January; therefore it +is manifest that a certain number--more or fewer--remain. What becomes +of them? We certainly see them only occasionally: where are they on the +days on which they do not appear,--days extending to several consecutive +weeks? If they had not been torpid during those weeks, if the more +active functions of life had not been suspended, would they not +certainly have been starved? But the specimen shot on the 10th December, +and examined by Mr Bell, was in good condition, which is consistent with +but one alternative; either it had been well fed throughout the +preceding six weeks, or it had been hybernating. But the former +supposition implies that it had been habitually on the wing during that +period, as Swallows feed only on the wing; which could not have been the +case without its being noticed and recorded. + +It is common to say that these occasional winter Swallows are the later +broods of young, which, being too infantile to migrate, are compelled to +linger in the country of their nativity, and becoming lethargic from the +advancing cold, at length die before the spring. But when this +hypothesis is looked at, it seems hardly tenable. In many of the +instances recorded, the specimens seen even late into the winter, are +represented as gaily and vigorously hawking for flies, or sweeping over +the water as in summer. This does not look like poor deserted orphans +starved with the cold, retiring to die; but birds in health, temporarily +awakened from normal slumber by an unusual temperature, and instantly +ready for a full use of their faculties. However, to settle the point by +fact, Mr Bell distinctly states that his specimen of December 10th was +"an adult bird, _not_ a young bird of the season." + +If it should be asked why they do not appear in January or February, as +well as November and December, the answer is obvious. The winter's +lethargy of hybernating warm-blooded vertebrates is much more readily +interrupted in the earlier part of the season than in the middle and +latter part. And this is natural; for the more intense cold of January +benumbs and suspends the vital functions far more completely, and the +_coma_ so superinduced is sufficiently deep to resist the counteracting +influence of a few warm days, even though the temperature should be as +high as on those earlier days that awakened them, or even higher. + +The aggregate evidence, then, seems to leave no room for reasonable +doubt, that a certain number of our _Hirundinidae_,--few, indeed, as +compared with the vast migrant population, but still considerable, +looked at _per se_,--for some reason or other, evade the task of a +southward flight, and remain, becoming torpid, occasionally betrayed +into a temporary activity, and resuming their active life, about the +same time, or occasionally a little _before_ the time, of the arrival of +their congeners from abroad. It is, however, desirable for the absolute +settlement of the question, that specimens, actually discovered in a +lethargic condition, should come under the observation of competent +scientific naturalists, _open to conviction_, who would leave them _in +situ_, keeping an eye on them from time to time till the return of warm +weather in spring. It is not enough to take them into a warm room, and +to shew that they revive in such circumstances: we want to know +positively whether they will be resuscitated normally and naturally by +the vernal warmth, and come forth spontaneously to sport, and wheel, and +skim, and soar, and stoop, and hawk, and twitter,--among their travelled +fellows. Who will undertake to decide the point in this manner? He will +have achieved a name in science. + +[113] _Phys. Theol._, vii., Note _d_. + +[114] _Regne Anim._, (Griffith's Ed.,) vii. 61. + +[115] _Phil. Trans._, 1763. + +[116] _Letter_ x. + +[117] Stanley's _Fam. Hist. of Birds_, p. 263. + +[118] _Edin. Journ._, viii. + +[119] In Pennant's _Brit. Zool._ + +[120] _Brit. Zool._, App. + +[121] _Zool._, 1136. + +[122] Ibid., 2302. + +[123] _Zool._, 2590. + +[124] _Letter_ xxxviii. + +[125] Ibid. xii. + +[126] Ibid. xi. + +[127] Ibid. xxxi. + +[128] _Letter_ xxiii. + +[129] _Orn. Dict._, Introd., xxvii. + +[130] _Zool._, 5364. + +[131] _Brit. Birds_, ii. 264. + +[132] _Zool._, 2455. + +[133] Ibid., 565. + +[134] Ibid., 3753. + +[135] _Zool._, 4945. + +[136] Ibid., 4945. + +[137] _Zool._, 4995. + +[138] Ibid. 1639. + +[139] _Letter_ xviii., 2d ser. + +[140] _Zool._, 565. + + + + +VI. + +THE CRESTED AND WATTLED SNAKE. + + +About the middle of the last century there existed in Amsterdam a Museum +of natural history, which, though accumulated by the zeal and industry +of a private individual, far exceeded in extent and magnificence any +collection then in the world. It had been gathered by Albert Seba, a +wealthy apothecary in the Dutch East India Company's service, who +fortunately published an elaborate description of its contents. This +great work, "_Locupletissimi Rerum Naturalium Thesauri accurata +Descriptio_,"--in four volumes folio, published from 1734 to 1765,--is +even now remarkable for the accuracy and beauty of its copious +engravings, which still are referred to as authorities, though the +descriptions are devoid of scientific value. Many of these figures and +descriptions, about whose reality no shadow of doubt exists, are those +of creatures which are altogether unknown to modern science, and some of +them are highly curious. + +Serpents seem to have been a special hobby of Seba's; and he has +delineated a vast number of species. Among them are two[141] about which +a singular interest hangs. They are of rather small size; the one pale +yellow, marked with oval reddish spots, the other reddish, with five +green transverse bands. The head in each case has a horny-pointed +muzzle, and the cheeks are furnished with depending wattles of a +coral-red hue. + +From the expressions of wonder with which Seba introduces his +descriptions of these animals, it is evident that they were no ordinary +forms. He does not know whether to call them Eels or Serpents, the +critical characters, which in our day would instantly determine this +point, being then scarcely heeded. He calls them "marine," but whether +on any other evidence than the pendent processes of the cheeks, which he +calls "fins," does not appear. But no fish known to naturalists will +answer to these representations. The pointed head, indeed, resembles in +some respects that of _Mur{oe}na_, but this genus of fishes is altogether +destitute of pectoral fins, while the vertically-flattened tail, and the +long dorsal and anal fins confluent around the extremity of the body in +_Mur{oe}na_, are totally unlike these figures. These and all similar fishes +are, moreover, destitute of visible scales; but in these the scaling is +decidedly serpentine, and the second, in particular, has large +symmetrical plates across the belly, while the head in both is shielded +with broad plates like a Colubrine Snake. The tail is drawn out to a +long conical point, without the slightest appearance of compression or +of bordering fins. In one figure there is seen a little projecting point +at the edge of the lower belly, which at first sight suggests the idea +of the anal hook of a _Boa_, but which, by comparison with other +figures, we discover to be intended to represent the projection of the +pre-anal scale. The very minuteness of this character makes it valuable: +its value was doubtless unheeded by the artist, who merely drew what he +saw; it is, however, a very decisive mark of distinction between a +serpent and a fish. + +Seba records that he had received these Serpents from the Island of St +Domingo. This was at that time a flourishing French colony, and its +natural productions were far better known to Europe than they now are. +When I visited the neighbouring island of Jamaica in 1845-46, I heard +accounts of a wonderful animal occasionally seen in the eastern +districts of the island, which was reported as a Snake with a cock's +comb and wattles, and which crowed like a cock. A good deal of mystery +attached to this strange Serpent. + +It was appropriated to a very remarkable and peculiar character of +scenery:--A wild mountain-region, formed of white limestone, abounding +in narrow glens, bounded by abrupt precipices, and permeated by +whispering streams that frequently pour in slender cascades over the +rocks. The limestone rock rises in abrupt terraces, wall above wall, and +its entire surface is most singularly honeycombed, "as if wrought by a +graving tool into rough diamond-points," alternating with smooth and +rounded holes of various sizes, from that of a hazel-nut upward. In many +of these hollows lie the small land-shells of the country, bleached +perfectly white, like the stone itself, of the genera _Helix_, +_Cyclostoma_, _Helicina_, _Cylindrella_, _Achatina_, &c., many of them +perfect, but many more in fragments. They exactly resemble fossil shells +_in situ_, but the species are absolutely identical with those that +crawl over the shrubs and trees in the same region. In very many cases +the dead shells accurately fit the hollows in the rock, whose interior +is impressed with the form and sculpturing of the shell in +_intaglio_:--a most curious and interesting fact, as it points to the +very recent formation of the region, the stone bearing evident tokens of +having been in a plastic condition when the shells were enveloped in it. +Out of the hollows of the rock, their roots fast grasping the +sharp-edged projections and tooth-like points of stone, and twining +through the tortuous cavities, and insinuating their fibrils into every +minute hollow where water may lodge, grow many tall trees of various +kinds, interlaced with climbers, and hung with festoons of _lianes_, +that resemble long and twisted cords, thrown from one to another, or +depending from the branches towards the ground. The noble Agave, or what +we in England call the American Aloe, here throws out its broad, fleshy, +spine-edged leaves, and lifts its tall flower-stalk loaded with the +candelabra-like branches of bloom; and numerous thick _Cacti_, some +erect and massive, others whip-like, long and trailing, give a peculiar +aspect to the vegetation. Great tufts of _Orchide{oe}_,--the lovely +_Broughtonia_, with its thick ovate leaves, and racemes of elegant +crimson flowers, the _Brasavola_, with long leaves resembling +porcupine-quills in form, and blossoms of virgin white, the _Oncidium_, +with its yellow and red flowers, like a score of painted butterflies +dancing in every breath, and many others,--crowd the forks or droop from +the twisted boughs of the trees. + +This formation of honeycombed limestone is full of caverns, many of +which lead into one another in chains, and which have invested the +region with a sort of superstitious mystery. Runaway slaves and outlaws +have availed themselves of the facilities which its ravines and +inaccessible fastnesses afford, to defy capture; and during the +rebellion of the Maroons, it attained a considerable notoriety. There is +one estate about eight miles from Kingston, in the immediate vicinity of +which the famous hero, Three-fingered Jack, made his head-quarters. It +is a district of wild torrents and waterfalls of the most romantic +character; "the imagination of no painter of theatrical spectacles can +surpass the wild wonders of the mountain-hold of the _real_ +Three-fingered Jack. Part of the road by which you ascend the falls is a +subterranean passage; and caverns are entered by simple crevices which +seem mere chinks in the irregular surface of the rock, all which natural +peculiarities account for the mysterious disappearances which the +mountain hero was enabled to enact from his pursuers." + +It was at this spot I first heard reliable tidings of the strange +Crested Snake. A medical gentleman of reputation informed me that he had +seen, in 1829, a serpent of about four feet in length, but of unwonted +thickness, dull ochry in colour with well-defined dark spots, having on +its head a sort of pyramidal helmet, somewhat lobed at the summit, of a +pale red hue. The animal, however, was dead, and decomposition was +already setting in. He informed me that the negroes of the district were +well acquainted with it; and that they represented it as making a noise, +not unlike the crowing of a cock, and as being addicted to preying on +poultry. + +Nor is it in Jamaica alone that the Crested Snake is known. In the +island of St Domingo, whence Seba received his curious specimens, my +friend Mr Hill heard reports of it. A Spanish gentleman whom he was +visiting in Hayti, told him that he had seen it, and begged him to note +it among the remarkable things of the country. It was in that far east +of the island, known as the ancient Caciquedom of Higuey, where the +Indians were of a more warlike disposition than their meek brethren of +the centre and west, and where the cruelties perpetrated upon them by +their Spanish invaders reached such a superhuman pitch of diabolism, +that even Las Casas says he almost feared to repeat them. The limestone +mountains are here of exactly the same description as those in Jamaica, +and the scenery assumes exactly the same romantic character. My friend's +Spanish informant had seen the serpent with mandibles like a bird, with +a cock's crest, with scarlet lobes or wattles; and he described its +habits,--perhaps rather from common fame than from personal +observation,--as a frequenter of hen-roosts, into which it would thrust +its head, and deceive the young chickens by its imitative physiognomy, +and by its attempts to crow, like their own Chanticleer. "Il canta como +un Gallo;" was the report in Hayti, just as in Jamaica. + +I was much interested in this mysterious reptile, and mentioned in the +public papers my wish to possess a specimen. A gentleman of the +vicinity, Mr Jasper Cargill, was so desirous to oblige me that he +offered a sovereign for one; but though several persons were prompt to +promise the capture, no example was forthcoming. + +After my return from Jamaica, the occurrence of two specimens found came +under the notice of my friend, but neither of them was preserved. Mr +Cargill had informed him that some years before, when visiting Skibo, in +St George's, an estate of his father's, in descending the mountain-road, +his attention was drawn to a snake of a dark hue, that erected itself +from amid some fragments of limestone-rock that lay about. It was about +_four feet long_, and unusually _thick-bodied_. His surprise was greatly +increased on perceiving that it was _crested_, and that from the side of +the cheeks depended some _red-coloured flaps_, like gills or wattles. +After gazing at him intently some time, with its head well erect, it +drew itself in, and disappeared among the fragmentary rocks. + +The son of this gentleman met with another specimen under the following +circumstances, as detailed to me by my friend:--"It was, I think, on +Easter Eve, the 30th of March last, [1850,] that some youngsters of the +town came running to tell me of a curious snake, unlike any snake they +had ever seen before, which young Cargill had shot, when out for a day's +sport among the woodlands of a neighbouring penn. They described it as +in all respects a serpent, but with a very curious shaped head, and with +wattles on each side of its jaws. After taking it in hand and looking at +it, they placed it in a hollow tree, intending to return for it when +they should be coming home, but they had strolled from the place so far +that it was inconvenient to retrace their steps when wearied with +rambling; but they had lost no time in relating the adventure to me, +knowing it would interest me much, particularly as young Cargill's +father had thought it a snake similar to the one he had seen at Skibo, +in St George's, or to the crested serpent for a specimen of which, when +in St Thomas's in the East, he had offered the sum of twenty shillings. +The youth that shot the snake fell ill on the following morning with +fever, and could not go back to the woodlands to seek it, but he sent +his younger brother who had been with him; but although he thought he +rediscovered the tree in which his brother had placed it, he could not +find the snake. He conjectured that the rats had devoured it in the +night. When this adventure was related to me, another youth, Ulick +Ramsay, a godson of mine, who came with the young Cargills to tell me of +their discovery, informed me that not long previously, he had seen in +the hand of the barrack-master-serjeant at the barracks in Spanish Town, +a curious snake, which he, too, had shot among the rocks of a little +line of eminences near the railway, about two miles out, called +Craigallechie. It was a serpent with a curious shaped head, and +projections on each side, which he likened to the fins of an eel, but +said they were close up to the jaws. Here are, unquestionably, two of +the same snakes with those of Seba's Thesaurus, taken near Spanish Town, +and both about the honeycombed rocks that protrude through the plain of +St Catherine's in detached ridges and cones and hummocks, being points +of the greater lines of limestone, which have been covered by the +detritus of the plains, leaving masses of the under-rocks here and there +uncovered. These are the spots frequented, too, by the _Cyclura_; and +are continuations of our Red Hills--a country that so much resembles the +terraced cliffs and red-soil glens of Higuey. + +It is remarkable that I have heard nothing more of this serpent of +renown, this true Basilisk, from that time till now; though I have no +doubt my Jamaica friends, who had become much interested in the matter, +would have communicated the specimen to me if any one had been obtained. +There is, however, sufficient evidence to assume the existence of such a +form in the greater Antilles, whether Seba's figures be identical with +it or not. + +[141] _Op. cit._; vol. ii. pl. 40. + + + + +VII. + +THE DOUBTFUL. + + +A very curious and unaccountable habit is attributed to some Reptiles, +which, though asserted by many witnesses, at different times and in +distant countries, has not yet received the general assent of men of +science. White of Selborne, in one of his charming letters to Pennant, +has the following note:--"Several intelligent folks assure me that they +have seen the Viper open her mouth and admit her helpless young down her +throat on sudden surprises, just as the female Opossum does her brood +into the pouch under her belly, upon the like emergencies. Yet the +London viper-catchers insist on it, to Mr Barrington, that no such thing +ever happens."[142] + +The evidence of the London viper-catchers goes for no more than it is +worth; those whom Mr Barrington applied to,--how many and of what +experience I know not,--had not met with such a case. But negative +evidence is of little weight against positive. At the same time, others +of the same fraternity affirm the fact. There is, as Mr Martin observes, +no physiological reason against the possibility of the young maintaining +life for a brief period within the stomach of the parent. A swallowed +frog has been heard, by Mr Bell, to cry several minutes after it had +been swallowed by a snake; and the same excellent authority has seen +another frog leap out of the mouth of a snake which had swallowed it, +taking advantage of the fact that the latter gaped, as they frequently +do, immediately after taking food. + +Mr Martin says he has conversed with several who had been assured by +gamekeepers and gardeners that the swallowing of the young by vipers had +been witnessed by them.[143] And Mr Blyth, a zoologist of established +reputation, observes,--"I have been informed of this by so many credible +eye-witnesses, that I cannot hesitate in yielding implicit credence to +the fact. One man particularly, on whose word I fully rely, tells me +that he has himself seen as many as thirteen young vipers thus enter the +mouth of the parent, which he afterwards killed and opened for the +purpose of counting them."[144] + +Mr E. Percival, writing to the _Zoologist_, under date "64 +Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, Oct. 17, 1848," narrates the following +facts:--"When in Scotland, last autumn, I saw what at the time satisfied +me that vipers really possessed this faculty, though the evidence was +scarcely as conclusive as might have been wished. Walking along a sunny +road, I saw a viper lying on the parapet. She had apparently just been +killed by a blow from a stick. Five or six young ones, about four inches +long, were wriggling about their murdered parent, and one was making its +way out of her mouth, at the time when I approached. Whether this was +the first time the young ones had seen the light, or whether they were +only leaving a place of temporary refuge, I leave to more experienced +observers than myself to determine."[145] + +This communication brought out the following from the late Mr John +Wolley:--"Mr Percival's interesting note (_Zool._, 2305) on this subject +reminds me of a very similar anecdote, told me several years ago by a +gentleman who is an accurate observer, and who has had long experience +in all kinds of sports. He one day shot a viper, and almost immediately +afterwards it was surrounded by young ones, in what appeared to him the +most mysterious manner. But here the grand link was wanting which Mr +Percival has supplied,--the young ones were not seen to come out of +their mother's mouth. I may be allowed to mention an anecdote, told me +in 1842, by an illiterate shepherd of Hougham, near Dover: he met me +catching vipers, and, on my entering into conversation with him, he +volunteered--without any allusion of mine--to tell this curious story. +One day his father came suddenly upon a viper surrounded by her young, +she opened her mouth and they all ran down her throat; he killed her, +and leaving her on the ground, propped her mouth open between two pieces +of stick; presently the young ones crawled out: on the slightest alarm +they retreated back again,--and this they did repeatedly for several +days, during which time many people came to see it.[146] The young which +White of Selborne cut out of the old female, and which immediately +threw themselves into attitudes of defiance, had probably not then seen +the daylight for the first time. Mr Bell, in a note in Bennett's edition +of White's 'Selborne,' mentions the wide-spread belief in this alleged +habit of the viper; but appears to consider the fact not proved. +Accounts of similar habits in foreign viviparous snakes, common report, +and, above all, Mr Percival's observation, leave no doubt on my mind +about the matter." + +The most recent case on record that I have met with, is the following, +communicated to the _Zoologist_[147] for last December, by the Rev. +Henry Bond, of South Petherton:-- + +"Walking in an orchard near Tyneham House, in Dorsetshire, I came upon +an old adder basking in the sun, with her young around her; she was +lying on some grass that had been long cut, and had become smooth and +bleached by exposure to the weather. Alarmed by my approach, I +distinctly saw the young ones run down their mother's throat. At that +time I had never heard of the controversy respecting the fact, otherwise +I should have been more anxious to have killed the adder, to prove the +case. As it was, she escaped while I was more interested in the +circumstance I witnessed than in her destruction." + +Exactly the same thing is told of the North American Rattlesnake. Hunter +says, that when alarmed, the young ones, which are eight or ten in +number, retreat into the mouth of the parent, and reappear on its +giving a contractile muscular token that the danger is past.[148] + +M. Palisot de Beauvois asserts that he saw a large rattlesnake which he +had disturbed in his walks immediately coil itself up and open its jaws, +when in an instant five small ones that were lying by it rushed into its +open mouth. He concealed himself, and watched the snake, and in a +quarter of an hour saw her discharge them. He then approached a second +time, when the young ones rushed into the parent's mouth more quickly +than before, and the animal immediately moved off, and escaped. The +phenomenon is said to have been observed in regard to some of the +venomous snakes of India, but I cannot now refer to details. + +Confirmation of a reported fact is sometimes derived from collateral +evidence, and such is not wanting in the present case. The phenomenon is +not confined to serpents; it has been observed in their near relatives, +the lizards. Mr Edward Newman, while guarding the subject with a +philosophical caveat, furnishes his readers with the following highly +interesting and germane statement:--"1st, My late lamented friend, +William Christy, jun., found a fine specimen of the common scaly lizard +with two young ones. Taking an interest in everything relating to +Natural History, he put them into a small pocket vasculum to bring home; +but when he next opened the vasculum the young ones had disappeared, and +the belly of the parent was greatly distended; he concluded she had +devoured her own offspring; at night the vasculum was laid on a table, +and the lizard was therefore at rest: in the morning the young ones had +reappeared, and the mother was as lean as at first. 2d, Mr Henry +Doubleday, of Epping, supplies the following information:--A person +whose name is English, a good observer, and one, as it were, brought up +in Natural History, under Mr Doubleday's tuition, once happened to set +his foot on a lizard in the forest, and while the lizard was thus held +down by his foot, he distinctly saw three young ones run out of her +mouth. Struck by such a phenomenon, he killed and opened the old one, +and found two other young ones in her stomach, which had been injured +when he trod upon her. In both these instances the narrators are of that +class who do know what to observe, and how to observe it; and the facts, +whatever explanation they may admit, are not to be dismissed as the +result of imagination or mistaken observation."[149] + +It is remarkable that all the serpents to which the phenomenon is +attributed are ovo-viviparous. Our common lizard, to which the facts +just narrated doubtless belong (_Zootoca vivipara_), has the same +property, which, however, appears to be by no means common among the +Saurian races. This coincidence, while it would afford a handle to the +deniers of the stated facts, in the assumption that the emergence of the +living young from the abdomen, or their presence within it, has given +rise to the notion--may have an essential significance and connexion +with the phenomenon itself, on the hypothesis of its truth. That +endowment, whatever it be, which enables the young to live and breathe +in the abdominal cavity of the mother before birth, may render it easier +for them than for others not so endowed to survive a temporary +incarceration within the stomach after birth. Mr Newman does not know +how to believe that a young and tender animal can remain in the strongly +digestive stomach of a viper and receive no injury; but he has forgotten +to take into the account the well-ascertained power that living tissues +have the power of resisting the action of chemical re-agents that would +instantly take effect upon them when dead. The walls of the stomach +itself are not corroded by the gastric-juice which is rapidly dissolving +the piece of meat within it. If the young animals can do without air for +a while in their snug retreat, I do not think they would need fear the +digestive operation. Air, I should suppose, _must_ be excluded from the +stomach, unless the parent have the power of swallowing air voluntarily, +for the emergency; but perhaps a cold-blooded animal like a reptile, +with a sluggish circulation and respiration, might do with very much +less fresh air than a mammal under similar conditions. + +The proposed _rationale_ of those who reject these statements,--that +female vipers in the last stage of pregnancy have been opened, and have +given freedom to living and active young, and that careless and +unscientific observers have leaped to the conclusion that their young +must have entered by the mouth,--will not stand before the testimony +distinctly given by witnesses, who have actually seen the young retreat +into the mouth, and have then found them within the body. No doubt the +subject needs further investigation by careful and unprejudiced +naturalists; but the positive evidence already adduced on the testimony +of so many deponents, warrants our accepting the phenomenon as a normal +habit of certain species of Saurians and Ophidians, though it may be +somewhat rarely resorted to, and that whatever physical difficulties may +seem to stand in the way of its _a priori_ probability--difficulties +which perhaps depend on our ignorance, and which will disappear before +the light of advancing knowledge. + + * * * * * + +The entomologists have fallen most ungallantly foul of Madame Merian, a +lady who resided in Surinam nearly two hundred years ago, and devoted +her attention to the native entomology, painting insects in a very +admirable manner. She is set down as a thorough heretic, not at all to +be believed, a manufacturer of unsound natural history, an inventor of +false facts in science. + +Among other things, she speaks of a large hemipterous fly, which has in +consequence of her reports been named _Fulgora lanternaria_. This insect +has the head produced into a large inflated proboscis more than an inch +in length, which is said to carry an intense luminosity within its +transparent walls, as a candle is carried within a lantern. The fair +observer says that the first discovery which she made of this property +caused her no small alarm. The Indians had brought her several of these +insects, which by daylight exhibited no extraordinary appearance, and +she enclosed them in a box until she should have an opportunity of +drawing them, placing it upon a table in her lodging-room. In the middle +of the night the confined insects made such a noise as to awake her, and +she opened the box, the inside of which, to her great astonishment, +appeared all in a blaze; and in her fright letting it fall, she was not +less surprised to see each of the insects apparently on fire. She soon, +however, divined the cause of this unexpected phenomenon, and +re-enclosed her brilliant guests in their place of confinement. She adds +that the light of one of these Fulgorae is sufficiently bright to read a +newspaper by: and though the tale of her having drawn one of these +insects by its own light is without foundation, she doubtless might have +done so if she had chosen. + +This circumstantial and apparently truthful statement has brought no +small odium on the fair narrator. Other naturalists who have had +opportunities of seeing the insect in its native regions strongly deny +its luminosity. The inhabitants of Cayenne, according to the French +Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle, aver that it does not shine at all; +and this is confirmed by M. Richard, a naturalist, who reared the +species. The learned and accurate Count Hoffmansegg states that his +insect collector Herr Sieber, a practised entomologist of thirty years' +experience, who during a sojourn of several years in Brazil took many +specimens of the _Fulgora lanternaria_, never saw a single one which was +in the slightest degree luminous. There is a kindred species in China, +_F. candelaria_, very common in those glazed boxes of insects which the +Chinese sell to mariners; this also has been supposed to emit light, but +Dr Cantor assures us that he has never observed the least luminosity in +this species. + +Thus it would seem that the obloquy which has fallen upon the ingenious +lady is not altogether undeserved, and that for the sake of a telling +story, she has been indeed "telling a story." But we may imagine her +offended ghost looking round and saying, "All these gentlemen merely say +they have _not_ seen the light; now I say I have: is there no one who +will verify my statement?" + +M. Lacordaire,--an authority on South American insects second to none, +says that he himself indeed never saw a luminous _Fulgora_ all the time +he was collecting in Brazil and Cayenne, and that most of the +inhabitants of the latter country, when questioned on the subject, +denied the fact, yet _that others of the natives as distinctly affirmed +that it is luminous_. He asks whether it is not possible that the light +may be confined to one sex, and thus the conflicting testimony be +reconciled; and gives it as his opinion that the point is rather one +which requires more careful observation, than one which we can consider +absolutely decided.[150] + +Again, the Marquis Spinola, in an elaborate paper on this tribe, +published in the Annals of the Entomological Society of France,[151] +strenuously contends that the remarkable development of the frontal +portion of the head in the whole race is luminous. And finally, a friend +of Mr Wesmael assured him that he had himself seen the American +_Fulgora_ luminous while alive.[152] + +It may help to sustain our faith in the veracity of Madame Merian, to +know that there is some reason for attributing occasional luminosity to +well-known English insects, of which hundreds, and even thousands, have +been taken without manifesting a trace of the phenomenon. Mr Spence, in +his interesting Letter on Luminous Insects,[153] adduces the following +evidence:--Insects "may be luminous which have not hitherto been +suspected of being so. This seems proved by the following fact: A +learned friend has informed me, that when he was curate of Ickleton, +Cambridgeshire, in 1780, a farmer of that place, of the name of +Simpringham, brought to him a mole-cricket (_Gryllotalpa vulgaris_, +Latr.), and told him that one of his people seeing a _Jack-o'-lantern_, +pursued it, and knocked it down, when it proved to be this insect, and +the identical specimen shewn to him. + +"This singular fact, while it renders it probable that some insects are +luminous which no one has imagined to be so, seems to afford a clue to +the, at least, partial explanation of the very obscure subject of _ignes +fatui_, and to shew that there is considerable ground for the opinion +long ago maintained by Ray and Willughby, that the majority of these +supposed meteors are no other than luminous insects. That the large +varying lambent flames mentioned by Beccaria to be very common in some +parts of Italy, and the luminous globes seen by Dr Shaw cannot be thus +explained, is obvious. These were probably electrical phenomena; +certainly not explosions of phosphuretted hydrogen, as has been +suggested by some, which must necessarily have been momentary. But that +the _ignis fatuus_ mentioned by Derham as having been seen by himself, +and which he describes as flitting about a thistle, was, though he seems +of a different opinion, no other than some luminous insect, I have +little doubt. Mr Sheppard informs me that, travelling one night between +Stamford and Grantham on the top of the stage, he observed for more than +ten minutes a very large _ignis fatuus_ in the low marshy grounds, which +had every appearance of being an insect. The wind was very high: +consequently, had it been a vapour it must have been carried forward in +a direct line; but this was not the case. It had the same motion as a +_Tipula_, flying upwards and downwards, backwards and forwards, +sometimes appearing as settled, and sometimes as hovering in the air. +Whatever be the true nature of these meteors, of which so much is said +and so little known, it is singular how few modern instances of their +having been observed are on record. Dr Darwin declares, that though in +the course of a long life he had been out in the night, and in the +places where they are said to appear, times without number, he had never +seen anything of the kind; and from the silence of other philosophers of +our own times, it should seem that their experience is similar." + +A paper by Mr R Chambers on the subject adduces the additional +testimony of facts observed by good naturalists, as Dickson and +Curtis the eminent botanists, and Stothard the painter and entomologist, +by his own father Mr A. Chambers, and by Joseph Simpson, a fisherman +living near Boston, all of which strongly corroborate the probability +that some, at least, of the _ignes fatui_ are produced by luminous +insects.[154] Mr Main narrates the case of a farmer who stated +that he had pursued a Will-o'-the-wisp, and coming up with it had +knocked it down, when it proved to be an insect "exactly like a +Maggy-long-legs"--that is, the common Crane-fly (_Tipula oleracea_), the +very insect with which Mr Sheppard had compared the motions of the +luminous flame observed by him.[155] Mr Spence argues that while gaseous +emanations may be a cause of stationary _ignes fatui_, the same cause +will not explain those which flit along from place to place; and that +these are probably luminous insects, however rarely they may have come +under the notice of entomologists. "A very strong argument for the +possibility of some flying insects being occasionally luminous (in +England) is afforded by the facts ... of luminous caterpillars having +been within these few years observed for the first time since entomology +has been attended to, and that by observers every way competent. If +caterpillars so very common as those of _Mamestra oleracea_ may +sometimes, though so rarely, be luminous, and if, as Dr Boisduval +suggests, and is very probable, this appearance was caused by disease, +it is obvious that flying insects may be also occasionally (though +seldom) luminous from disease--a supposition which will at once explain +the rarity of the occurrence, and the circumstance that insects of such +different genera, and even orders, are said to have exhibited this +phenomenon."[156] + +These highly curious facts should make observers cautious in strongly +denying statements made by others of phenomena, when they themselves +have not been so fortunate as to witness them, even though they may +think their opportunities to have been as favourable as those of the +_soi-disant_ observer.[157] + +But we have not yet dismissed Madame Merian. If acquitted of falsehood +here, she stands arraigned on a second charge of similar character. + +In most tropical countries there are found hideous hairy spiders of +monstrous size and most repulsive appearance; short-legged, sombre-hued, +ferocious marauders of the night, that by day lurk in obscure retreats +under stones, or in burrows in the earth. + +Guiana produces a formidable species of this sort (_Mygale avicularia_), +which measures three inches in length, and whose feet--though the genus +is, as I have said, comparatively short-limbed--cover an area some +eight or ten inches in diameter. Madame Merian has exquisitely figured +the tragical end of a tiny humming-bird, surprised by one of these +monsters on her eggs; the petite bird overthrown under the fangs of the +sprawling spider, one of whose feet is in the nest. It was on the +authority of this lady that Linnaeus gave the name of _avicularia_ to the +species. Later naturalists have scouted the whole story. Mr MacLeay, who +resided in Cuba, says that there are indeed there huge spiders, allied +to our garden spider, which make a geometric net, strong enough to +embarrass small birds; but that these do not attempt to catch such prey, +and never molest birds at all. On the other hand, he avers that the +Cuban _Mygale_, an allied species to that of Guiana, makes no web, and +has no power of injuring birds. He put this to the test of experiment; +for having maimed a humming-bird, he thrust it into the _Mygale's_ hole, +which, instead of seizing the victim, retreated as in fear out of his +den. This Mr MacLeay supposes to be conclusive; but a moment's +reflection will shew how equivocal is the evidence. The spider may not +have been hungry; or he may have been taken aback by the sudden +intrusion; or he might not choose to take prey that he had not stolen +upon and slaughtered _suo more_; or he may have muttered in the +Arachnidan language,-- + + "Timeo Danaos, et dona ferentes." + +Because a wolf will cower down in the corner of his lair (even a tiger +has been known to do so)--when a man suddenly enters his presence, and +will manifest the most abject fear, would it be philosophical to +ridicule the tales told of wolves pursuing and devouring men by night? + +M. Langsdorff asked the people of Brazil if the Caranquexeira, or the +great _Mygale_ of that country, fed upon humming-birds, when they +answered him, with bursts of laughter, that it only gratified its maw +with large flies, ants, bees, wasps, beetles, &c.; an answer which the +traveller verified by his own personal experience.[158] If M. Langsdorff +means, which of course he does, that he learned by personal observation +that the spider _ordinarily_ feeds on insects, that fact is indubitable, +and never has been doubted; but if he means that he had experience that +it eats _only_ such prey, which is the question at issue, it is plain +that this experience proves no more than that he never witnessed such a +fact. + +Percival, in his account of Ceylon, observes:--"There is an immense +spider here, with legs not less than four inches long, and having the +body covered with thick black hair." This was doubtless the _Mygale_ of +the island. "The webs which it makes are strong enough to entangle and +hold even small birds, which form its usual prey." Alluding to this +statement, Sir Emerson Tennent says:-- + +"As to the stories told of the _Mygale_ catching and killing birds, I am +satisfied, both from inquiry and observation, that, at least in Ceylon, +they are destitute of truth, and that (unless in the possible case of +acute suffering from hunger) this creature shuns all description of food +except soft insects and annelides." And yet he immediately adds:--"A +lady at Marandan, near Colombo, told me that she had, on one occasion, +seen a little house-lizard (_gecko_) seized and devoured by one of these +ugly spiders."[159] Does he not, then, credit his informant? Or are +lizards included in the category of "soft insects and annelides?" + +Against this incredulity, resting on no better than negative evidence, +one might adduce collateral proof from analogy. There _are_ spiders +which feed on vertebrate animals, and there _are_ spiders whose webs +catch birds. The large and beautiful _Nephila claripes_ of tropical +America weaves strong threads of yellow silk in the paths of the woods, +converging to a web quite strong enough to arrest a bird of weak flight. +It must have been a species allied to this, but certainly, I think, not +the same, of which Dr Walsh speaks in his "Travels in Brazil." "Among +the insects is an enormous spider, which I did not observe elsewhere. In +passing through an opening between some trees, I felt my head entangled +in some obstructions, and on withdrawing it, my straw hat remained +behind. When I looked up I saw it suspended in the air, entangled in the +meshes of an immense cobweb, which was drawn like a veil of thick gauze +across the opening, and was expanded from branch to branch of the +opposite trees as large as a sheet ten or twelve feet in diameter. The +whole of this space was covered with spiders of the same species but +different sizes; some of them, when their legs were expanded, forming a +circle of six or seven inches in circumference.[160] They were +particularly distinguished by bright spots. The cords composing the web +were of a glossy yellow, like the fibres of silkworms, and equally +strong." + +There is a creature found in the tropical parts of both hemispheres, +called _Solpuga_, which though not exactly a spider, is yet so closely +allied to that family as to be in some measure responsible for its +misdoings. It is about as large as the _Mygale_, and, with sufficient +general resemblance to it to warrant its being popularly considered a +spider, it has much the same habits and appetites. Captain Hutton, in a +most interesting memoir, describes the details of an Indian species +under the name of _Galeodes vorax_. Among many other details, he +says--"This species is extremely voracious, feeding at night upon +beetles, flies, and even large lizards; and sometimes gorging itself to +such a degree as to render it almost unable to move. A lizard, three +inches long, _exclusive of tail_, was entirely devoured; the spider +sprung at it, and made a seizure immediately behind the shoulder, never +quitting its hold until the whole was consumed. The poor lizard +struggled violently at first, rolling over and over in its agony, but +the spider kept firm hold, and gradually sawed away with its double jaws +into the very entrails of the victim. The only parts uneaten were the +jaws and part of the skin, although the lizard was at least five inches +long from nose to extremity of tail. After this meal, the spider +remained gorged and motionless for about a fortnight, being much +swollen and distended. + +"A young sparrow, about half grown, was placed under a bell-glass with a +_Galeodes_; the moment the luckless bird moved, the spider seized him by +the thigh, which he speedily sawed off, in spite of the sparrow's +fluttering; and then as the poor bird continued to struggle in pain, the +savage seized him by the throat, and soon put an end to his sufferings +by cutting off the head. It did not, however, devour the bird, nor any +part of it, but seemed satisfied with having killed it. + +"On another occasion, I gave it a large garden-lizard, which was +instantly seized by the middle of the body; the lizard, finding that it +could not shake off its adversary, turned its head, and bit the +_Galeodes_ on the leg, which obliged it immediately to quit its hold and +retreat. + +"On another occasion my friend, Dr Baddeley, confined one of these +spiders in a wall-shade with two young musk rats (_Sorex Indicus_), both +of which were killed by it."[161] + +In an expedition to the Kurruckpoor Hills, south of Monghyr, Captain +Sherwill found upon the summit of Maruk, a table-topped hill of 1100 +feet elevation, several of the gigantic webs of the Epeira spider, some +of which measured (including the guy-ropes) from ten to twelve feet in +diameter, the reticulated portion being about five feet, in the centre +of which the spider, of a formidable size and very active, sits waiting +for prey. "The webs," he says, "from their great strength, offered a +sensible resistance when forcing our way through them. In the web of +one of the spiders we found a bird entangled, and the young spiders, +about eight in number, feeding upon the carcase. The bird was, with the +exception of its legs and beak, entirely enveloped in the web, and was +much decomposed; the entwined web had completely pinioned the wings of +the bird, so as to render its escape impossible. The bird was about the +size of a field-lark, and was near the centre of the web; the old spider +was about a foot above the bird: we secured, measured, and bottled him. +Its dimensions were six inches across the legs, and it was armed with a +formidable pair of mandibles."[162] + +It is clear, then, that there is nothing absurd or contrary to +probability in the statement that spiders attack, overcome, and devour +birds. But Madame Merian is here again favoured with direct witnesses to +sustain her good faith. M. Moreau de Jonnes expressly mentions, on his +own authority, that the South American Mygale climbs the branches of +trees to devour the young of humming-birds. But the most satisfactory +statement is made by Mr H. W. Bates, who has recently returned from the +interior of Brazil after many years spent in studying the entomology of +that vast region. No one will deny his competency as a witness. "Now I +will relate to you," he says, "what I saw in the month of June 1849, in +the neighbourhood of Cameta. I was attracted by a curious movement of +the large gray-brown Mygale on the trunk of a vast tree: it was close +beneath a deep crevice or chink in the tree, across which this species +weaves a dense web, open for its exit and entrance at one end. In the +present instance the lower part of the web was broken, and two pretty +small finches were entangled in its folds; the finch was about the size +of the common siskin of Europe, and I judged the two to be male and +female; one of them was quite dead, but secured in the broken web; the +other was under the body of the spider, not quite dead, and was covered +in parts with the filthy liquor or saliva exuded by the monster. I was +on my return from a day's excursion by land at the time, with my boxes +full of valuable and delicate insects, and six miles from my house, and +therefore could not have brought the specimens home, even if I had +wished, which I did not, as the spider was a very common species, easily +to be procured nearer home. The species I cannot name; I sent several +fine specimens, stuffed, to London, in 1851; it is wholly of a +gray-brown colour, and clothed with coarse pile. Doubtless you will +immediately know the exact species to which I refer. + +"If the Mygales did not prey upon vertebrated animals, I do not see how +they could find sufficient subsistence. + +[Illustration: BIRD-EATING SPIDER.] + +"On the extensive sandy campos of Santarem, so bare in vegetation, there +are hundreds of the broad slanting burrows of the large stout species, +(that fine one, dark brown with paler lines down the legs, of which I +sent specimens in 1851.) The campos, I know, from close research, to be +almost destitute of insects, but at the same time to swarm with small +lizards, and some curious ground finches of the Emberiza group (one of +which has a song wonderfully resembling our yellow bunting of +England), besides which, vast numbers of the _Caprimulgidae_ and ground +doves lay their eggs on the bare ground. + +"I believe this species of Mygale feeds on these animals and their eggs +at night. Just at the close of day, when I have been hurrying home, not +liking to be benighted on the pathless waste, I have surprised these +monsters, who retreated within the mouths of their burrows on my +approach."[163] + +[142] _Brit. Rept._, 51. + +[143] _Penny Cyclop._, xxvi. 348. + +[144] Loudon's _Mag. Nat. Hist._ for 1837, p. 441. + +[145] _Zool._, 2305. + +[146] Ibid., 2355. + +[147] _Zool._, 7278. + +[148] _Captivity among the Indians._ + +[149] _Zool._, 2269. + +[150] _Introd. a l'Entom._, ii. 143. + +[151] _Op. cit._, viii. 163. + +[152] _Westwood's Mod. Classif. Ins._, ii. 430. + +[153] _Introd. to Entom._ Lett. xxv. + +[154] _Mag. Nat. Hist._, New Ser., i. 353. + +[155] Ibid., i. 553. + +[156] Dr Boisduval, one hot evening in June, found caterpillars on grass +which diffused a phosphorescent light; he thought them to be those of +_Mamestra oleracca_--one of the most abundant of our moths--but they +seemed larger than common; and whether owing to want of care in the +rearing or to a condition of disease--which may, indeed, have been the +cause of their luminosity--none of them attained the chrysalis state, +and so the species was not absolutely decided. + +[157] _Introd. to Entom._, _loc. cit._ + +[158] _Exped. into Int. of Brazil._ + +[159] Tennent, _Ceylon_, ii. 226. + +[160] Probably we should read "diameter" for "circumference." A spider +whose legs cover an area of six inches _in circumference_ is by no means +rare even in England. + +[161] _Journ. Asiat. Soc._ + +[162] _Proc. Entom. Soc._, November 1, 1852. + +[163] _Proc. Entomol. Soc._, July 2, 1855. + + + + +VIII. + +FASCINATION. + + +It is a notion of long standing and widely diffused, that certain +predaceous animals have a power, which, however, they only occasionally +exert, of paralysing the creatures on which they prey, so as utterly to +take away the faculty of flight, and even, in some circumstances, of +drawing them, as if by an irresistible influence, to their known and +dreaded destruction. This fascinating power has been most generally +attributed to serpents, and is supposed to reside in a peculiar glare +and fixity of the eyes, which appear to mesmerise the victims. If the +gaze be interrupted, _on either part_, though but for a moment, it is +supposed that the spell is broken. Is there any such power? or is it +merely one of the many myths with which popular natural history is still +burdened, and which it is the province of real science to explode? Let +us gather together a few of the facts on which the opinion rests. + +I am not sure whether I ought to reckon as such the following statement, +for I do not know the value of the authority on which it rests. It is, +however, sufficiently curious. + +Dr Bird, a somewhat appropriate authority in this case, mentions an +incident which happened in America. "Two boys lighted by chance upon a +large black snake; upon which one of them resolved to ascertain whether +the snake, so celebrated for its powers, could fascinate him. He +advanced a few steps nearer the snake, and made a stand, steadily +looking on him. When the snake observed him in that situation, he raised +his head with a quick motion, and the lad says, that at that instant +there appeared something to flash in his eyes, which he could compare to +nothing more similar than the rays of light thrown from a glass or +mirror when turned in the sun-shine; he said it dazzled his eyes; at the +same time the colours appeared very beautiful ... he felt as if he was +in a whirlpool, and that every turn brought him nearer to the centre. +His comrade seeing him approach nearer to the snake, immediately ran and +killed it."[164] + +There is, however, better authority than this for the belief in +serpent-mesmerism. Professor Kalm states of the Rattlesnake of North +America, that it will frequently lie at the bottom of a tree on which a +squirrel is seated. The snake fixes his eyes upon the little animal, and +from that moment it cannot escape: it begins a doleful outcry, runs up +the tree a little way, comes down again, then goes up, and afterwards +comes still lower. The snake continues at the bottom of the tree, with +its eyes fixed on the squirrel; and its attention is so entirely taken +up, that a person accidentally approaching may make a considerable +noise, without so much as the snake's turning about. The squirrel comes +lower, and at last leaps down to the snake, whose mouth is already wide +open for its reception. The little animal then, with a piteous cry, runs +into its jaws and is swallowed. + +Catesby, though he says he never saw the phenomenon himself, reports the +same thing on the testimony of many witnesses, who all agreed that the +animals, particularly birds and squirrels, no sooner spy the snake than +they skip from spray to spray, hovering and approaching gradually nearer +their enemy, regardless of any other danger; but with distracted +gestures and outcries descend, though from the top of the loftiest +trees, to the mouth of the snake, who, opening his jaws, takes them in +and in an instant swallows them.[165] + +More recently Acrell tells the same story, as unquestionable. He +declares that as the snake, who is the most indolent of all serpents, +lies under the shade of a tree, opening his jaws a little, he fixes his +brightly-glittering eyes on any bird or squirrel which is in it. The +squirrel, uttering a mournful and feeble cry, leaps from bough to bough, +as if seeking to escape, but presently, as if struck with the +fascination, he comes down the tree, and flings himself, with a spring, +into the very jaws of his enemy. A mouse, shut up with a rattlesnake in +an iron box, at first sat in one corner, the snake opposite to it. The +reptile fixed its terrible eye on the little trembler, which at length +threw itself into the mouth of the serpent.[166] + +Lawson affirms that _he has seen_ the phenomenon actually take place +with a squirrel and a rattlesnake.[167] + +I said that the belief is widely spread. We have seen it in North +America; we will now look at it in Africa. + +Captain Forbes incidentally mentions a case analogous to these. Passing +through some high grass at Ahomey, he observed, within an inch of his +leg, a small lizard, with its eyes fixed. It did not move at his +approach. At the same moment a cobra darted at it, and before he could +raise his stick, bore the victim away. The captain naturally enough was +occupied with his own narrow escape, and simply narrates the facts +without comment; but the fixity of the gaze, and the motionlessness of +the lizard, were not a little remarkable.[168] + +Mr Ellis, in his charming volume on Madagascar and the Cape, makes the +following observations:--[169] + +"In a country abounding, as Africa does, with serpents, I expected to +hear many anecdotes respecting them; and, conversing on one occasion +with Mr Pullen, a farmer who has lived many years in the country, and +seemed to have paid rather more than usual attention to this species of +reptile, he said he once saw a mouse running in a field, and that, +coming in sight of a snake, though at a considerable distance, it +instantly stopped. The snake fixed its eye on the mouse, which then +crept slowly towards the snake, and, as it approached nearer, trembled +and shrieked most piteously, but still kept approaching until quite +close, when it seemed to become prostrate, and the snake then devoured +it. On another occasion he had watched a snake capture a mouse in the +same manner; but, as it was retreating, he followed, and struck it on +the back with a stick, when it opened its mouth, and the mouse escaping, +ran for some distance, then fell down; but after a minute recovered and +ran away. Another time he said he watched a snake in the water, which +had fixed its eye on a frog sitting amongst the grass on the bank. The +frog, though greatly alarmed, seemed unable to stir, until Mr Pullen +gradually pushed a rush growing near so that it intervened between the +eye of the snake and its intended victim, when the frog, as if suddenly +liberated, darted away. Mr Pullen's ideas were in accordance with the +popular notion, that the snake has the power of exercising some mesmeric +or other influence through the steady fixing of its eye, and that +whatever intercepts this gaze breaks, as it were, the charm, and sets +the prisoner free." + +A most important witness on this matter is Dr Andrew Smith, the learned +zoologist of South Africa, who thus soberly throws the weight of his own +thoroughly competent and most conclusive personal observations into the +affirmative scale. In his interesting account of the Boomslange, a +serpent of considerable size found in that region, he says:-- + +"As this snake, _Bucephalus capensis_, in our opinion, is not provided +with a poisonous fluid to instil into wounds which these fangs may +inflict, they must consequently be intended for a purpose different to +those which exist in poisonous reptiles. Their use seems to be to offer +obstacles to the retrogression of animals, such as birds, &c., while +they are only partially within the mouth; and, from the circumstance of +these fangs being directed backwards, and not admitting of being raised +so as to form an angle with the edge of the jaw, they are well fitted to +act as powerful holders when once they penetrate the skin and soft parts +of the prey which their possessors may be in the act of swallowing. +Without such fangs escapes would be common; with such, they are rare. + +"The natives of South Africa regard the _Bucephalus capensis_ as +poisonous; but in their opinion we cannot concur, as we have not been +able to discover the existence of any glands manifestly organised for +the secretion of poison. The fangs are enclosed in a soft, pulpy sheath, +the inner surface of which is commonly coated with a thin glairy +secretion. This secretion possibly may have something acrid and +irritating in its qualities, which may, when it enters a wound, occasion +pain and even swelling, but nothing of greater importance. + +"The _Bucephalus capensis_ is generally found upon trees, to which it +resorts for the purpose of catching birds, upon which it delights to +feed. The presence of a specimen in a tree is generally soon discovered +by the birds of the neighbourhood, who collect around it, and fly to and +fro, uttering the most piercing cries, until some one, more +terror-struck than the rest, actually scans its lips, and, almost +without resistance, becomes a meal for its enemy. During such a +proceeding the snake is generally observed with its head raised about +ten or twelve inches above the branch round which its body and tail are +entwined, with its mouth open and its neck inflated, as if anxiously +endeavouring to increase the terror which it would almost appear it was +aware would sooner or later bring within its grasp some one of the +feathered group. + +"Whatever may be said in ridicule of fascination, it is nevertheless +true that birds, and even quadrupeds, are, under such circumstances, +unable to retire from the presence of certain of their enemies; and, +what is even more extraordinary, unable to resist the propensity to +advance from a situation of actual safety into one of the most imminent +danger. This I have often seen exemplified in the case of birds and +snakes; and I have heard of instances equally curious, in which +antelopes and other quadrupeds have been so bewildered by the sudden +appearance of crocodiles, and by the grimaces and contortions they +practised, as to be unable to fly or even to move from the spot towards +which they were approaching to seize them."[170] + +It may have been the Boomslange to which Le Vaillant alludes, who says +that he saw, on the branch of a tree, a species of shrike, trembling as +if in convulsions; and at the distance of nearly four feet, on another +branch, he beheld a large species of snake, that was lying with +outstretched neck, and fiery eyes, gazing steadily at the poor animal. +The agony of the bird was so great, that it was deprived of the power of +moving away; and when one of the party killed the snake, the shrike was +found dead upon the spot, and that entirely from fear; for on +examination it appeared not to have received the slightest wound. The +same traveller informs us, that a short time afterwards he observed a +small mouse, in similar agonising convulsions, about two yards distant +from a snake, whose eyes were intently fixed upon it; and on frightening +away the reptile, and taking up the mouse, it expired in his hand.[171] + +In a record, by Mr D. T. Evans, of some experiments with Venomous +Serpents, made at the Zoological Gardens, mainly with a view to test the +efficacy of a reputed remedy for their bite,--_Simaba cedron_--and which +were pursued with the utmost philosophic care, we find the following +interesting particulars:--"The attitudes and movements of the serpent +intending to bite were very striking and beautiful. In the first place, +he made, with the posterior half of his body, a bold curve, having a +strong prehensile 'purchase' on the floor of the cage, so as to secure a +steady fulcrum for the rapid dart made at the time of the bite. The +upper half of the body was raised some ten inches or a foot, the neck +strongly arched, and the head, bent at nearly right angles with the +neck, was poised directly opposite the prey. In such position the +serpent remained a greater or lesser time (sometimes as long as twenty +minutes) according to circumstances. During this interval, the slightest +motion of the animal before him was followed by an instantaneous and +correspondent movement of the head and neck of the serpent. The purpose +seemed to be that of aim-taking, for the eyes were intently fixed upon +the prey; but I am by no means sure that the snake, knowing that the +latter cannot escape him, does not derive pleasure from this prolonged +and intent gaze. At all events, in one experiment, where the head of a +rattlesnake so engaged was sideways to the glass of the cage, and near +it, I observed, and called attention to the fact, a remarkable +vermicular motion along the course of the poison-gland to the opening of +the angle of the mouth, which we thought might afford him pleasure, and +this continued until the snake struck his prey. + +"So far the Serpents. I now proceed to describe the peculiarities shewn +by the animals on which we experimented. Some philosophers have denied +innate ideas to man; these and some others have furthermore denied an +instinctive apprehension of danger in animals. They say that of itself, +as born, the hare has no dread of the hound: that its fear is acquired +of experience. I concur in neither of these opinions, and think the +latter altogether refuted by the conduct of the animals exposed to +serpents in these experiments. Not one of the guinea-pigs or rabbits +(which were all something under their full growth) had ever seen a +serpent; yet when introduced to the cage they shewed unequivocal +symptoms of distress and fear. In some instances they actually screamed +before they were struck. They generally shewed restlessness at first, +but when the serpent, intending to strike, poised himself in front, they +became for a time, if not altogether, motionless. Is there such a thing +as 'fascination?' If by this is meant a pleasurable paralysis of the +animal's powers, I think it more than doubtful; but a deprivation of +the power of motion from terror may, perhaps, take place. All, however, +that I speak to is a perfectly motionless condition of snake and prey, +lasting several minutes."[172] + +Nor are there wanting examples of the same power exercised by the common +Snake of our own country. I content myself with the following two, both +of very recent record:-- + +"Up the hill above Tyneham," writes the Rev. Henry Bond, last August, +"towards the sea, I was struck by the shrill cry and fluttering +agitation of a common hedge-sparrow, in a whitethorn bush. Regardless of +my presence, its remarkable motions were continued, getting, at every +hop from bough to bough, lower and lower down in the bush. Drawing +nearer, I saw a common snake coiled up, but having its head erect, +watching the sparrow; the moment the snake saw me it glided away, and +the sparrow flew off with its usual mode of flight."[173] + +This anecdote brings out another by Mr John Henry Belfrage, of Muswell +Hill:--"When proceeding down the avenue here one morning, at a turn in +the path I saw a robin, which appeared to me spell-bound, so much so as +to allow a much closer approach than is usual even with that boldest of +the feathered tribe. On going nearer I perceived what I took to be the +cause, in a large common snake, which was lying coiled up on one side of +the path, with its head a little raised. My appearance broke the spell, +and the robin flew away; at the same time, the snake dropped its head +and assumed a perfectly inert appearance."[174] + +A writer in the _Journal of the Indian Archipelago_ thus reports the +mesmeric faculty exercised upon a certainly somewhat unlikely +subject:--"On approaching an almost dry drain, I saw a snake slowly +extending his coils, raising his head, and steadfastly gazing on what I +saw to be an eel of about a foot in length. The eel was directly +opposite to the snake, and glance seemed to meet glance, when the snake, +having the requisite proximity, darted on the eel and caught it about an +inch behind the head, and carried it off; but the captor was soon +himself a captive, for with a blow on his head I secured both."[175] + +The mystery is, as usual in such cases, attempted to be explained away. +Man does not like mystery; scientific man least of all: it is humbling +to the pride of science to be obliged to confess that there exists +anything unaccountable to the initiated. Mr W. C. L. Martin thus +"explains" the statements of Dr A. Smith, and all such accounts:--"There +is nothing mysterious in all this; the snake does not _mesmerise_ its +prey, but merely so terrifies it as to stupify it; besides, the victim +may feel an impulse similar to that which urges many nervous persons on +the edge of a precipice, or top of a lofty tower, to throw themselves +down headlong, and which we have heard such describe as resisted with +difficulty; so may the panic-struck bird feel an impulse to rush into +danger which it might escape by flight."[176] + +And again:--"Fear, amounting to panic, solicitude for its young, and +efforts to drive away the dreaded intruder, leading the bird to venture +too closely to the snake for its own safety, produce the results +erroneously attributed to the Reptile's fancied power of fascination by +its glance, or by some mystic property."[177] + +Dr Barton, of Philadelphia, who, at the close of the last century, +published a memoir on the fascinating powers attributed to certain +serpents, advocated the same views. He considered that in almost every +instance the supposed power was exerted on birds at the particular +season of nidification, and that the whole hypothesis originated in the +[Greek: storge] which prompts them to protect their eggs or young. No +doubt _some_ of the instances which have been reported as examples of +fascination are capable of such an explanation, but surely not all; and +the fallacy, here again, as in so many parallel cases, lies in the +advocating of some theory which will cover a certain number of the +facts, and the ignoring of all such as will not be so accounted for. Is +it to be supposed that Dr A. Smith could not distinguish between the +condition of involuntary paralysis of the faculties which he says he has +_often_ seen, and the insane boldness of nesting birds? Had the mice, +seen by Mr Pullen, had the frog, young ones to protect? Or the squirrel +mentioned by Kalm? or the mouse seen by Le Vaillant? or the eel in the +drain? But what is the value of a hypothesis,--so far as its claims to +solve this question are concerned,--which will not touch these cases? +When Mr Martin denies that there is anything mysterious in the matter, +and in the same sentence admits that "the victim may feel an impulse to +rush into the danger which it might escape," he just yields the whole +point. I venture to affirm that this _is_ something mysterious, +something totally unaccountable. I ask _what_, and _whence_, and _why_, +this strange impulse that overcomes the first of all instincts, the +prime law of self-preservation? + +It does not explain the cause of the phenomenon, though it possibly +helps us to determine its proper seat, to learn that fascination belongs +to other animals besides the serpent tribes. We shall perhaps not err if +we conclude that the peculiarity resides not in the object, but in the +subject; that it is a mental emotion capable of being excited by objects +having little in common except the death-terror which they excite. I +have no doubt that it is a phase of extreme terror; the singularity of +the phenomenon consists in the reversal of ordinary instinctive laws +which it induces. My readers will probably be interested in the details +of some cases in which the exciters of the emotion were animals other +than serpents. Here is one, apparently related with care and +truthfulness, though anonymous, in which the fascinator was as unlikely +as can be well imagined to excite, and the fascinatee to feel, the +emotion:-- + +"One evening, being seated in a room at Garrackpore, the window of which +was open, and the ceiling on one side sloped downwards towards the +window, my attention was attracted by a butterfly which chanced to fly +into the room. I observed its motions for a minute or two, when I +thought there was something that appeared unnatural in them, and the +insect began to dart to and fro in one direction, occasionally, however, +varying its flight about the room. I looked up to see what it could +possibly be at, and instantly observed an ordinary-sized lizard on the +cloth of the upper ceiling. I had not even then the most distant idea of +what was really going on; but seeing the butterfly dart every now and +then at the lizard, I supposed it in play, till its motions became less +quick and animated. The lizard remained all this time immovable, but at +last suddenly shifted its ground to the sloping part of the ceiling. The +motions of the butterfly became still more languid, until at length, to +my utter surprise, I saw the lizard open its mouth, and the butterfly +flew directly into it. The lizard was about half a minute swallowing it, +wings and all. Until the last act of this curious scene, though I well +knew the lizard's object, I supposed it would probably make a leap at +the butterfly, yet had no idea of its succeeding, and expected to see +the butterfly fly away. Had I had an idea of the cause, I should have +broken the charm. + +"From that moment I never had the least doubt of the power of +fascination: that power I conceive to be _terror_, which, if the object +was sufficiently terrible, I believe would act equally on man or any +other creature."[178] + +Still more strange is it to hear of scorpions fascinating blue-bottle +flies! "On my arrival" says Mr Robert Hunter, "at Nagpur, in Central +India, in 1847, I requested that the first scorpion found in the house +might be allowed to live for a few minutes, that I might have an +opportunity of observing its form and movements. In that part of India +one has rarely to wait long for such a visitant, and on an early evening +my colleague, the Rev. Mr Hislop, announced that there was a scorpion on +the wall. A lamp was set down on the floor, and we took convenient +stations for noting what might pass. Just then a large fly, of the genus +Musca, made its appearance, and soon became aware of the presence of the +scorpion. A strong fury seemed to seize it, irresistibly impelling it to +an insane attack on the terrible occupant of the wall: it flew at it +with all the little force it could muster, the scorpion meanwhile +stretching out its lobster-like claw to catch it as it came. At the +first charge, the fly rebounded from the crustaceous integument of its +adversary, having done no more damage than if a child were to apply its +hand to the well-mailed body of a cuirassier. It seemed amazed at its +own audacity; and in a state of great apparent agitation wheeled round, +and taking precipitately to flight, soon put two or three yards of safe +space between itself and its formidable but wingless foe. We now +forcibly hoped 'the better part of valour' might be allowed to prevail. +But no! the tiny creature stood--it ventured to look--there glared still +in view the malignant form. What could the poor animal do but make a +second brilliant onset, in which it again eluded the outstretched claw +of its enemy, and, as before, was successful in effecting a retreat? +'Surely,' we mused, 'no further knight-errantry will be attempted: the +most exacting would consider this enough.' But we were mistaken. Again +and again did the fly return to the combat, till in an unguarded moment +it flew exactly into the open claw, which closing, rendered escape +impossible. The generosity of a Mouravieff was scarcely to be looked for +in the scorpion, which, as will be readily believed, lost no time in +devouring its gallant captive. Possibly the fly may have been partly +dazzled by the glare of the lamp. But undoubtedly it was in the main +fascination, induced by the sight of the dread figure on the wall, that +impelled it to begin the unequal contest, which could terminate only in +the loss of its life."[179] + +After these cases, I fear my readers would see but little of the +romantic in stories of stoats mesmerising hares and rabbits, or foxes +paralysing pullets. The former are common enough,--the wretched hare +creeping along with a bewildered look, as if its back were broken, or +screaming in helpless immobility. I will confine myself to a single +narrative furnished by Mr Henry Bond, to whom this chapter is already +indebted for one case. As he was walking on the hillside above West +Creech Farm, in Penbeck, Somerset, last August, where the down is +scattered with very low furze-bushes, his attention was arrested by a +cry of distress. It proceeded from a rabbit which was cantering round in +a ring, with a halting gait. He watched it for some minutes; but, as +the circle became smaller, and the rabbit more agitated, he perceived a +stoat turning its head with the rabbit's motion, and fixing its gaze +upon it. He struck a blow at the stoat, but missed it; its attention was +thus withdrawn from its intended victim, which instantly ran away with +great vigour in a straight direction.[180] + +This is a remarkably good case; the circular movement of the rabbit; the +ever-diminishing circle; the rotation of the stoat; the fixity of its +gaze; the liberation of the rabbit the moment the stoat was disturbed; +and the instant recovery of its faculties on the breaking of the +spell;--all these are circumstances of the highest interest in a case +avouched by so good a naturalist as Mr Bond. + +Mr J. H. Gurney reports the account of a respectable gamekeeper, who, +being much annoyed by the nightly visits of a fox to the poultry, could +not imagine how Reynard managed to effect his purpose, as they roosted +on a large spreading oak. One morning, however, just as day was dawning, +he heard a great noise among the poultry, and, looking out of the +window, saw a fox running round and round under the place where they +sat, and soon observed that the fowls began to fall from the tree in +great confusion. The fox immediately seized his victim, and the mystery +was so far solved. A day or two afterwards the fox, a very large male, +was killed in an adjoining paddock, and no further assaults were made +upon the poultry. + +In this case the result was possibly effected by vertigo; the birds, +bewildered and amazed in the dim light, followed with their eyes the +course of the sly depredator, as he ran swiftly in a circle beneath, +until the frequent turning of their heads made them giddy and unable to +keep their balance. _But how did the fox know that such a result would +follow?_ + +The same gentleman gives, from his own observation, a case that is more +to the point. Here a bird is the mesmeric practitioner. "I once saw a +golden eagle which appeared entirely to fascinate a rabbit that was put +into the large cage in which the eagle was kept. As soon as the rabbit +was introduced, the eagle fixed his eye upon it, and the rabbit intently +returned the gaze, and began going round the eagle in circles, +approaching nearer each time, the eagle meanwhile turning on his axis +(as it were) on the block of wood upon which he was seated, and keeping +his eye fixed upon that of the rabbit. + +"When the rabbit had approached very near to the bottom of the eagle's +perch, it stood up on its hind legs, and looked the eagle in the face; +the eagle then made his pounce, which appeared at once to break the +charm, and the rabbit ran for its life, but it was too late for it to +escape the clutch of the eagle, and the instant death which followed +that tremendous squeeze."[181] + +I am not sure how far a parallelism exists between this animal +fascination by the eye, and that attraction which fire is well known to +possess for many creatures. Shelley sings of + + "The desire of the moth for the star," + +as if it were a romantic passion for that which is bright and beautiful. +This is, of course, a poet's aspect; the insect-collector, who wants to +fill his cabinet--"my friend the weaver," who nightly pursues his +"untaxed and undisputed game"--well knows that the glare of his +bull's-eye lamp will attract the moths by thousands on a damp night in +June. The little flitting atoms pass and repass across the field of +light, suddenly flashing into full radiance, and in an instant relapsing +into the darkness, unless his gauze net is too rapid for them. I have +often sat reading late at night with a candle in the window, and +observed with interest how many insects of all orders will soon +congregate on the outside; now and then some large moth coming up with a +dull _thud_, or a great mailed beetle dashing against the glass with a +crash that makes one look sharply up to see whether he has not cracked +the pane. In Jamaica I have taken many valuable beetles and other +insects around the candle-shades at an open window, which were not met +with in any other way. + +So in Alabama, where it is customary in balmy autumn evenings for the +family to sit in the yard under the broad sheltering trees, by the +flickering light of the yard-fire. This fire is lighted at dusk on an +iron tripod breast-high, and kept up till bed-time. It is the duty of a +negro urchin to keep it constantly bright with splints of pine, so as to +maintain a perpetual blaze, as the object is to illuminate the yard and +its contiguous offices. The little "nigger" nods, of course, but the +loud scolding voice of master, mistress, or overseer, or any one else, +rates him, and rouses him to duty, as soon as the flame falls. It is +pleasant to sit and watch the effect of the light, either transmitted +through or reflected from the quivering leaves of the surrounding trees, +the blaze now rising brightly and playing in tongue-like flickering +spires, now sinking and dying to a ruddy glow, then suddenly reviving +under the frightened watchfulness of the sable minister, who plays the +part of vestal virgin at this altar. + +Large insects often play around this fire. Beetles "wheel their drony +flight" in buzzing circles round for a few turns, and are gone; and +moths come fluttering about, and often scorch their plumy wings. I have +taken some very fine Sphinges and other moths thus; and the only +specimen I ever saw of that very curious insect the Mole-cricket alive +(a species distinct from, but very closely allied to, our European +insect) was one that suddenly dashed into the ashes of the +light-stand--a curious and interesting circumstance, when connected with +the opinion that I have before alluded to, that the _Gryllotalpa +Europaea_ is one of the producers of the _Ignis fatuus_. + +Birds also are attracted by light at night. I have read of a Titmouse +that was seen fluttering around a gas-lamp in the suburbs of London, and +would not be driven away; it at length made its entrance into the lamp +through the orifice at the bottom, and continued to flit around and +across the jet. In 1832, a Herring-gull struck one of the mullions of +the Bell Rock Light-house with such force, that two of the polished +plates of glass, measuring about two feet square, and a quarter of an +inch in thickness, were shivered to pieces, and scattered over the floor +in a thousand atoms, to the great alarm of the keeper on watch, and the +other inmates of the house, who rushed instantly to the light-room. The +gull was found to measure five feet between the tips of the wings. In +his gullet was a large herring, and in his throat a piece of plate-glass +of about one inch in length. + +Dr Livingstone gives some curious examples of the attractive power of +fire over various creatures in South Africa, which he attributes to a +sort of fascination. "Fire," he says, "exercises a fascinating effect on +some kinds of toads. They may be seen rushing into it on the evenings +without ever starting back on feeling pain. Contact with the hot embers +rather increases the energy with which they strive to gain the hottest +parts, and they never cease their struggles for the centre, even when +their juices are coagulating and their limbs stiffening in the roasting +heat. Various insects also are thus fascinated; but the scorpions may be +seen coming away from the fire in fierce disgust, and they are so +irritated as to inflict at that time their most painful stings."[182] + +[164] _Peter Pilgrim._ + +[165] _Hist. of Carolina._ + +[166] _Amaenit. Acad._ + +[167] _Hist. of Carolina._ + +[168] _Dahomey and the Dahomans._ + +[169] _Visits to Madagascar_, 231. + +[170] _Zoology of South Africa_--Reptilia. + +[171] _Oiseaux d'Afrique._ + +[172] _Times_ Newspaper, November 9, 1852. + +[173] _Zoologist_, 7273. + +[174] _Zoologist_, 7382. + +[175] Quoted in the _Zoologist_, 2397. + +[176] _Pict. Museum_, ii. 107. + +[177] _Reptiles_, (Rel. Tr. Soc.,) 206. + +[178] _Bengal Sporting Mag._ for Oct. 1836; cited in the _Zoologist_, +5070. + +[179] _Zool._, 5214. + +[180] _Zool._, 7273. + +[181] _Zool._ 4049, 4050. + +[182] _Travels_, 144. + + + + +IX. + +SERPENT-CHARMING. + + +From the day when the solemn doom was pronounced,--"I will put enmity +between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed," the +serpent-form has begotten revulsion and dread in the human breast. And +deservedly; for a venomous serpent is a terrible enemy: the direful +venom of sin injected by "that old serpent, the Devil," is well +symbolised by the most potent of all lethic agencies,--the poison of the +rattlesnake or the cobra. + +And yet in all ages there have been persons in the countries where the +most venomous snakes abound, who have professed, and have been believed +to enjoy, an absolute immunity from their bites, and even to exercise +some inexplicable power over them, whereby their rage is soothed, and +they are rendered for the time gentle and harmless. The Holy Scriptures +repeatedly allude to this ancient art. The Magicians of Egypt, who +turned their rods into serpents, are supposed to have had recourse to a +secret known, it is said, to the modern conjurors of the same country, +who, by pressing the nape of the neck of the cobra with their fingers, +throw it into a sort of catalepsy, by which its whole body becomes rigid +like a rod, and from which it is relieved by suddenly throwing it on the +ground. Aaron's rod was a veritable rod before and after the +transaction, but changed into a serpent by Divine miraculous energy: +theirs were serpents made to assume the appearance of rods for the +moment by a cunning device. + +Other and more direct allusions, however, occur to the art of +serpent-charming. Thus the obduracy of the wicked is compared to "the +deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; which will not hearken to the voice of +charmers, charming never so wisely."[183] And the Aseverity of the +Chaldean invaders is depicted under this imagery:--"Behold, I will send +serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they +shall bite you, saith the LORD."[184] + +Among the ancient Romans the Psylli, a people of Africa, and the Marsi, +a German tribe who had settled in Italy, were reputed to have the power +of charming serpents, and to be endowed with immunity from the results +of their venom. Celsus, however, maintains that this power consisted in +an acquaintance with the fact, now well known, that animal poisons are +hurtful only when mingled with the blood. They may therefore be taken +into the mouth with perfect impunity. With reference to so great an +authority, however, there is more in the art and mystery of +serpent-charming than this. + +When Lucian describes the Babylonian magician as walking abroad, and +calling to him all the serpents that were near, with certain ceremonies, +such as the utterance of sacred words from an ancient book, lustrations +made with sulphur and a torch, and solemn marchings in a circle, and +when he asserts that the venomous reptiles, _nolentes volentes_, +presented themselves harmless at his feet,--he describes a scene which +is sufficiently familiar to European travellers in Egypt and India. And +so, when Silius Italicus speaks of Atyr, instructed how to disarm +serpents of their dire venom, and to lull to sleep the terrible +water-snakes with his magic touch, he refers, whether truly or falsely, +to something of a more potent character than the feat by which Queen +Philippa saved the life of her royal husband. + +Immunity from the poison of serpents, and serpent-charming, are two +things. The former, so far as it depends on the natural law already +mentioned, scarcely comes within the province of this work. But is there +not an innate immunity residing in some persons, and even in some +peoples, by which, without the operation of any recognised natural law, +or even any effort, they are securely protected either against the bites +of venomous serpents, or, at least, against the fatality which is the +ordinary result of being bitten? + +The Psylli, according to Pliny, were so characteristically endowed with +this immunity, that they made it a test of the legitimacy of their +children; for they were accustomed to expose their new-born babes (only +in doubtful cases, we may suppose) to the most venomous serpents they +could find; assured that if their paternity was pure Psyllic, they would +be quite unharmed. Of this tribe was the ambassador Hexagon, who, +boasting of his power before the Roman consuls, submitted to the +crucial test which they suggested, of being inclosed in a vessel +swarming with poisonous reptiles, which, says the legendary story, hurt +him not. + +The same historian tells us that the Psylli, who formerly inhabited the +vicinity of the Greater Syrtis,--that is, the modern Tripoli and +Barca,--were conquered and almost exterminated by the Nasamones, who +possessed their land; but that a remnant fled to some distant region. It +is not improbable that the present inhabitants of Sennaar, on the south +of Egypt, may be the lineal descendants of these same Psylli; for, since +Egypt was densely peopled and highly cultivated, a barbarous tribe could +scarcely have made good their footing there; and as on the other side +was the Great Desert of the Sahra, and on the north the sea, there was +no resource open to them but to creep along the desert edge of Egypt +till they found a thinly-inhabited land sufficiently savage to enable +them to form a settlement. The first region of this character that they +could possibly find would be Nubia; and there it is most interesting to +know that there exists a people at the present time, pretending to the +same powers as the old Psylli. Bruce, whose testimony, at first much +impugned, has come to be received with confidence, avouches that all the +black people in the kingdom of Sennaar, whether Funge or Nuba, are +perfectly armed against the bite of either scorpion or viper. They take +the _Cerastes_--a little asp with two horns, of the most deadly +venom--into their hands at all times, put them into their bosoms, and +throw them at one another as children do balls, without ever irritating +them by this usage so much as to make them bite. One day when the +traveller was sitting with the brother of the prime minister of Sennaar, +a slave of his brought a _Cerastes_, which he had just taken out of a +hole, and was using with every sort of familiarity. Bruce expressed his +suspicion that the teeth had been drawn, but was assured that they were +not, both by the slave and by his master, who, taking the viper from +him, wound it round his arm, and at the traveller's desire, ordered the +servant to accompany him with it to his residence. Here Bruce, to test +the power of the serpent, took a chicken by the neck, and made it +flutter; the seeming indifference of the snake immediately gave place to +eagerness, and he bit the fowl with great signs of anger, which died +almost immediately. Bruce considers that the indifference was only +seeming towards the man,--that it was indeed powerlessness, for he +constantly observed that, however lively the snake was before, yet upon +being seized by any of the blacks, it seemed as if taken with sudden +sickness and feebleness, frequently shut its eyes, and never turned its +mouth towards the arm of the person who held it. + +How exactly this account agrees with the words of Silius, + + "---- _tactuque_ graves _sopire_ chelydros." + +The Nubian traveller informs us that the Arabs--meaning apparently the +Moslem blacks--have not this secret naturally, but that from infancy +they acquire an exemption from the mortal consequences attending the +bites of all venomous reptiles by chewing a certain root, and washing +themselves (it is not _anointing_) with an infusion of certain plants in +water. This is by no means improbable; and it were much to be desired +that the root and the plants were obtained and identified, that their +preventive powers might be tested by competent men of science. In all +probability they would be found to belong to the Quassia tribe, the +natural order _Simarubaceae_, plants of the tropical regions of both +continents, whose juices are of an intense bitterness. An infusion of +the chips of _Quassia amara_ and of _Simaruba amara_ is found to be an +effectual poison to flies; and the Brazilian Indians use an infusion of +_Simaruba versicolor_ as a specific against the bite of serpents, and +use it with great effect in the pediculous diseases which are so common +among that people. + +It was a plant of this order, _Simaba cedron_, on which experiments were +made a few years ago, at the Zoological Gardens, just before the +lamentable death, by the bite of the Cobra, of poor Gurling, who, +indeed, assisted in them. Mr Squire, the eminent chemist, was desirous +of testing the powers of this plant, which, dried and reduced to powder, +is in high repute among the Indians of South America as a serpentifuge. +Dr Quain and Mr Evans concurred in this desire; and, with the permission +of the Zoological Society of London, a series of experiments, of much +interest, if not very conclusive in their results, were performed at the +Gardens, on the 8th July 1852. + +The trials were made only on small animals, but in each case the alleged +remedy proved inefficacious. The experimenters, however, think that it +would be unsafe to reject the _Simaba cedron_ as an antidote because it +here failed, inasmuch as death followed so rapidly that there was small +opportunity for its action. It is not until it shall have been tried and +have failed upon stronger animals, that, in the face of the experience +of the Indians in hot climates, it should be repudiated. The remedy was +applied in the form of an infusion poured down the throat of the bitten +animal as quickly as possible after the stroke, and of the moistened +powder applied to the wound. It seems to me worthy of consideration +whether, in the light of what Bruce says of the Nubians, a washing of +the body with the infusion, or an imbibition of it, or both, _before_ +the serpent's attack, might not be more efficacious as a preventive +either of the bite or of its results, than its administration afterwards +as a cure. Whatever be the substance with which the Nubians wash +themselves, it seems to communicate to the body some quality, perhaps of +odour, which repels and sickens serpents. Now, this may reside in the +intense bitterness of the _Simarubaceae_; and it would be worth while to +try whether a rattlesnake or a puff-adder would strike a guinea-pig that +had just been bathed in an infusion of the _Simaba_, or to which a dose +of the same had just been administered, and if so, whether the bite then +would be fatal. Even if these experiments yielded no positive result, it +would still be open to consider whether the lapse of time, or a long +sea-voyage, or exposure to our moist climate, may not have deprived the +powdered root of the plant of antitoxic properties which it may have +possessed when freshly prepared in its native region. + +Tschudi, whose researches into the natural history of Peru are replete +with interesting and valuable information, has some observations on the +native remedies for serpent-bites which I will cite, prefacing the +extract with a graphically terrible picture from his pen of the venomous +reptiles themselves:-- + +"The serpents are to be feared; and, on approaching them, it is not easy +to decide at the first view whether they belong to a poisonous or +innoxious species. In the forests, where the fallen leaves lie in +thick moist layers, the foot of the hunter sinks deep at every step. +Multitudes of venomous Amphibia are hatched in the half-putrescent +vegetable matter; and he who inadvertently steps on one of these +animals may consider himself uncommonly fortunate if he can effect +his retreat without being wounded. But it is not merely in these places, +which seem assigned by nature for their abode, that loathsome reptiles +are found: they creep between the roots of large trees, under the +thickly-interwoven brushwood, on the open grass-plats, and in the maize +and sugar-cane fields of the Indians; nay, they crawl even into their +huts, and most fortunate is it for the inhabitants of those districts +that the number of the venomous, compared with the innoxious reptiles, +is comparatively small. Of the poisonous serpents, only a few kinds are +known whose bite is attended with very dangerous consequences. The +minamaru or jergon (_Lachesis picta_, Tsch.) is, at most, three feet +long, with a broad, heart-shaped head, and a thick upper lip. It haunts +the higher forests, while in those lower down his place is filled by his +no less fearful relative, the flammon, (_Lachesis rhombeata_, Prince +Max.,) which is six or seven feet in length. These serpents are usually +seen coiled almost in a circle, the head thrust forward, and the fierce, +treacherous-looking eyes glaring around, watching for prey, upon which +they pounce with the swiftness of an arrow; then, coiling themselves up +again, they look tranquilly on the death-struggle of the victim. It +would appear that these Amphibia have a perfect consciousness of the +dreadful effect of their poisonous weapon, for they use it when they are +neither attacked nor threatened, and they wound not merely animals fit +for their food, but all that come within their reach. More formidable +than the two snakes just described, but happily much less common, is the +brown ten-inch-long viper (_Echidna ocellata_, Tsch.). It is brown, with +two rows of black circular spots. The effect of its bite is so rapid +that it kills a strong man in two or three minutes. So convinced are the +natives of its inevitably fatal result, that they never seek any remedy: +but immediately on receiving the wound lay themselves down to die. In +the montanas of Pangoa this viper abounds more than in any other +district: and never without apprehension do the cholos undertake their +annual journey for the coca harvest, as they fear to fall victims to the +bite of this viper. The warning sound of the rattlesnake is seldom +heard in the hot montanas, and never in the higher regions. + +"Nature, who in almost all things has established an equilibrium, +supplies the natives with remedies against the bite of the serpent. One +of the cures most generally resorted to is the root of the amarucachu +(_Polianthes tuberosa_,[185] Linn.), cut into slips and laid upon the +wound. Another is the juice of the creeping plant called vijuco de huaco +(_Mikania huaco_,[186] Kunth), which is already very widely celebrated. + +"This latter remedy was discovered by the negroes of the equatorial +province Choco. They remarked that a sparrow-hawk, called the _huaco_, +picked up snakes for his principal food, and when bitten by one it flew +to the vejuco and ate some of the leaves. At length the Indians thought +of making the experiment on themselves, and when bitten by serpents they +drank the expressed juice of the leaves of the vejuco, and constantly +found that the wound was thereby rendered harmless. The use of this +excellent plant soon became general, and in some places the belief of +the preservative power of the vejuco juice was carried so far that men +in good health were inoculated with it. In this process some spoonfuls +of the expressed fluid are drunk, and afterwards some drops are put into +incisions made in the hands, feet, and breast. The fluid is rubbed into +the wounds by fresh vejuco leaves. After this operation, according to +the testimony of persons worthy of credit, the bite of the poisonous +snake fails for a long time to have any evil effect. Beside the two +plants mentioned above, many others are used with more or less +favourable results. The inhabitants of the montana also resort to other +means, which are too absurd to be detailed here: yet these medicines are +often of benefit, for their operation is violently reactive. They +usually produce the effect of repeated emetics and cause great +perspiration. There is much difference in the modes of external +treatment of the wound, and burning is often employed. I saw an Indian +apply to his wife's foot, which had been bitten, a plaster consisting of +moist gunpowder, pulverised sulphur, and finely-chopped tobacco mixed up +together. He laid this over the wounded part, and set fire to it. This +application in connexion with one of the nausea-exciting remedies taken +inwardly had a successful result. + +An English officer, engaged in the wars which freed the South American +republics from the Spanish dominion, thus speaks of a plant which is +probably the same _Mikania_. His account is curiously confirmatory of +the accuracy of Bruce:-- + +"Among the many medicinal and poisonous plants growing on the banks of +the Orinoco, one of the most singular is a species of _vejuco_, which, +when properly administered, proves a powerful preservative from the +effects of poisonous serpents. It even appears to deprive these reptiles +either of their power or inclination to use their fangs. Some of the +leaves and small branches are pounded, and applied in that state as a +cataplasm to both arms; the skin having been previously scarified freely +above the elbows. This species of inoculation is repeated, at stated +intervals; the juice of the bruised plant, diluted with water, being +also occasionally drunk. Several soldiers, belonging to General Tedeno's +division, had undergone this treatment, and frequently made the +advantage they had thus acquired useful on a march. They were thereby +enabled to take shelter in deserted huts, which we dared not enter on +account of the snakes always lurking in such places; although these men +could bring them out in their hands, without sustaining any injury. As +they had been for some time in our company, we could ascertain that they +had not any snakes in their possession concealed for the purpose of +deception. Besides, they could have little or no inducement to practice +an imposition upon us, as they neither asked for, nor expected, any +reward for exhibiting their skill in destroying these reptiles."[187] + +According to Captain Forbes, the negroes of Dahomey employ a grass, or +grass-like herb, with success. One of his hammock-men had been bitten by +venomous snakes repeatedly, but, his father being a doctor, he had +escaped injury. Walking one day through some long grass, the captain, +pointing to the bare legs of his servant, asked if there was not danger. +"None," said he; "my father picks some grass, and if on the same day the +decoction is applied, the wound heals at once."[188] + +Some animals, especially those which prey upon serpents, seem to be +proof against their bites. The Ichneumons or Mangoustes of Africa and +Asia have long been celebrated for their immunity, and veritable stories +have been narrated of their having recourse to some herb, when bitten, +after which they successfully renewed the attack. Percival, in his +account of Ceylon, relates that a Mangouste placed in a close room where +a venomous serpent was, instead of darting at it, as he would ordinarily +have done, ran peeping about anxiously seeking some way of escape; but +finding none it returned to its master, crept into his bosom, and could +by no means be persuaded to face the snake. When, however, both were +removed out of the house into the open field, the Mangouste instantly +flew at the serpent, and soon destroyed it. After the combat the little +quadruped suddenly disappeared for a few minutes, and again returned. +Percival concludes, not unreasonably, that during its absence, it had +found the antidotal herb, and eaten of it. The natives state that the +Mangouste resorts on such occasions to the _Ophiorhiza mungos_, whose +root is reputed a specific for serpents' bites. This is a Cinchonaceous +plant, so intensely bitter that it is called by the Malays by a name +which signifies earth-gall.[189] + +Captain Forbes in his interesting account of Dahomey, alludes to these +combats, which he says he has witnessed in India. He says that the +serpent (Cobra) has usually the advantage at first, but the Mangouste +retreating, devours some wild herb, returns and presently conquers. + +Sir Emerson Tennent inclines to refer the immunity of the Mangouste to +an inherent property. He remarks that the mystery of its power has been +"referred to the supposition that there may be some peculiarity in its +organisation which renders it _proof against_ the poison of the serpent. +It remains for future investigation to determine how far this conjecture +is founded in truth; and whether in the blood of the Mongoos there +exists any element or quality which acts as a prophylactic. Such +exceptional provisions are not without precedent in the animal economy: +the hornbill feeds with impunity on the deadly fruit of the _Strychnos_; +the milky juice of some species of _Euphorbia_, which is harmless to +oxen, is invariably fatal to the zebra; and the tsetse fly, the pest of +South Africa, whose bite is mortal to the ox, the dog, and the horse, is +harmless to man and the untamed creatures of the forest."[190] + +Our own hedgehog possesses the privilege of being unharmed by the venom +of the viper, as is manifest in its frequent contests with it. Mr Slater +has frequently seen combats between these animals, which always +terminated in favour of the hedgehog. The latter seemed perfectly +regardless of the many bites it received on the snout.[191] + +To return to Bruce's statements. After describing the little horned +viper of Egypt, the _Cerastes_, and its insidious manner of creeping +towards its victim with its head averted, till within reach, when it +suddenly springs and strikes, he goes on to say: "I saw one of them at +Cairo crawl up the side of a box, in which there were many, and there +lie still as if hiding himself, till one of the people who brought them +to us came near him, and though in a very disadvantageous posture, +sticking, as it were, perpendicularly to the side of the box, he leaped +near the distance of three feet, and fastened between the man's +forefinger and thumb, so as to bring the blood. The fellow shewed no +signs of either pain or fear, and we kept him with us full four hours, +without his applying any sort of remedy, or seeming inclined to do so. + +"To make myself assured" (adds Bruce) "that the animal was in its +perfect state, I made the man hold him by the neck, so as to force him +to open his mouth and lacerate the thigh of a pelican, a bird I had +tamed, as big as a swan. The bird died in about thirteen minutes, though +it was apparently affected in fifty seconds; and we cannot think this +was a fair trial, because a very few minutes before it had bit the man, +and so discharged part of its virus, and it was made to scratch the +pelican by force, without any irritation or action of its own. + +[Illustration: SNAKE-CHARMING.] + +"I will not hesitate to aver," he adds, "that I have seen at Cairo (and +this may be seen daily without trouble or expense) a man, who came from +above the catacombs, where the pits of the mummy-birds are kept, who has +taken a Cerastes with his naked hand from a number of others lying at +the bottom of the tub, has put it upon his bare head, covered it with +the common red cap he wears, then taken it out, put it in his breast, +and tied it about his neck like a necklace, after which it has been +applied to a hen and bit it, which has died in a few minutes;. and, to +complete the experiment, the man has taken it by the neck, and beginning +at its tail, has ate it, as one would do a carrot or a stock of celery, +without any seeming repugnance."[192] + +A few years earlier than Bruce, Hasselquist, an enthusiastic young +naturalist, and one of the pupils of Linnaeus, had visited the East. He +paid much attention to the subject, and records his judgment that there +is no delusion in serpent-charming, but that certain persons do really, +in whatever way they effect it, fascinate serpents. "They take the most +poisonous vipers with their bare hands, play with them, put them in +their bosoms, and use a great many more tricks with them, as I have +often seen. The person I saw on the above day had only a small viper, +but I have frequently seen them handle those that are three or four feet +long, and of the most horrid sort. I inquired _and examined_ whether +they cut out the viper's poisonous teeth: but _I have seen with my own +eyes they do not_: we may therefore conclude, that there are to this day +Psylli in Egypt; but what art they use is not generally known. Some +people are very superstitious; and the generality believe this to be +done by some supernatural art, which they obtain from invisible beings; +I do not know whether their power is to be ascribed to good or evil; but +I am persuaded that those who undertake it use many superstitions." + +Subsequently we find some details of interest. "Now was the time (July) +to catch all sorts of snakes to be met with in Egypt, the great heats +bringing forth these vermin. I therefore made preparation to get as many +as I could, and at once received four different sorts, which I have +described and preserved in _aqua vitae_. These were the Common Viper, the +Cerastes of Alpin, the Jaculus, and an Anguis Marinus. They were brought +me by a Psylle, who put me, together with the French consul, Sironcourt, +and all the French nation present, in consternation. + +"They gathered about us to see how she handled the most poisonous and +dreadful creatures alive and brisk, without their doing or offering to +do her the least harm. When she put them into the bottle where they were +to be preserved, she took them with her bare hands, and handled them as +our ladies do their laces. She had no difficulty with any but the +_Viperae officinales_, which were not fond of their lodging. They found +means to creep out before the bottle could be corked. They crept over +the hands and bare arms of the woman, without occasioning the least fear +in her; she with great calmness took the snakes from her body, and put +them into the place destined for their grave. She had taken these +serpents in the field with the same ease she handled them before us; +this we were told by the Arab who brought her to us. Doubtless this +woman had some unknown art which enabled her to handle those creatures. +It was impossible to get any information from her, for on this subject +she would not open her lips." + +He thus sums up the results of his investigations. "The circumstances +relating to the fascination of serpents in Egypt stated to me, were +principally:-- + +"1st.--That the art is only known to certain families, who propagate it +to their offspring. + +"2d.--The person who knows how to fascinate serpents, never meddles with +other poisonous animals; such as scorpions, &c. There are different +persons who know how to fascinate these animals; and they again never +meddle with serpents. + +"3d.--Those that fascinate serpents eat them both raw and boiled, and +even make broth of them, which they eat very commonly amongst them; but +in particular they eat such a dish when they go out to catch them. I +have been told that serpents, fried or boiled, are frequently eaten by +the Arabians, both in Egypt and Arabia, though they know not how to +fascinate them, but catch them either alive or dead. + +"4th.--After they have eaten their soup, they procure a blessing from +their scheik, who uses some superstitious ceremonies, and, amongst +others, spits on them several times with certain gestures." + +The blessing of the priest, Hasselquist pronounces correctly enough to +be mere superstition; we may fairly conclude that the eating of the +snakes is also irrelevant,--both of these circumstances being calculated +to increase popular wonder only, and to lead the observers from the true +scent, which probably is the employment of preventive simples. +Hasselquist had been told of a plant with which the charmers anointed +or rubbed themselves before they touched the serpents; but, as no such +plant was produced to him, he regarded it as fabulous. We have seen +reason, however, to conclude that the real key to the mystery lies +there.[193] + +The ancients believed that the human spittle was so fatal to serpents +that much of the secret of charming lay in the knowledge of this fact. +Of course this would make Psylli of all men; but there may be this +measure of truth in the supposition, that the natural exudations of a +human body which has been bathed or rubbed with a penetrating +alexipharmic, may be so impregnated with the odour, as to be peculiarly +repellent of the snake. Denham describes a scene of snake-charming in +which the spittle played an important part. A juggler brought him in a +bag two venomous snakes, which he set at liberty, beginning to beat a +little drum. They immediately reared themselves on their tails, moving +in a sort of dance. The juggler played various tricks with them, +sometimes wreathing them round his neck, coiling them in his bosom, or +throwing them among the people. On pointing his finger at their mouth, +they immediately raised themselves in attitude to spring forward and +strike; but after having exasperated them to the utmost, _he had only to +spit in their face_, to make them retreat quite crest-fallen. From his +description these seem to have been of the genus _Naia_, upwards of six +feet long, and very venomous. The fangs, he says, had been extracted; +but still, to guard against all possible injury, the fellow who played +tricks with them had a large roll of cloth wound round the right +arm.[194] + +The influence of music on the serpents seems to be universally assumed +as a part of the professional snake-charmer's success. The ancient +Psylli who were employed to prevent the Roman camp from being troubled +with venomous serpents, marched around it, chanting mystic songs.[195] +Johnson describes the very clever snake-catchers of India as pretending +to draw them from their holes by a song, and by playing a plaintive tune +on an instrument somewhat resembling an Irish bagpipe.[196] He says, +indeed, that this is all delusion; but Forbes, in his "Oriental +Memoirs," allows its reality. A learned native of India assured Sir +William Jones that he had frequently seen the most venomous and +malignant snakes leave their holes upon hearing notes from a flute, +which, as he supposed, gave them peculiar delight. + +The Egyptian snake-charmer assumes an air of mystery, strikes the walls +with a short palm-stick, whistles, makes a clucking noise with his +tongue, and says, "I adjure you, by God, if ye be above, or if ye be +below, that ye come forth; I adjure you by the most great Name, if ye be +obedient, come forth, and if ye be disobedient, die, die, die!"[197] The +late Dr W. A. Bromfield, in some extracts from his letters published in +the _Zoologist_,[198] confirms this:--"The chief actor was a +fine-looking man, with a handsome and intelligent, but peculiar cast of +countenance. He carried a stick in his hand, with which, on entering +each apartment, he struck the wall several times, uttering, in a low, +measured tone, a form of exorcism in Arabic; adjuring and commanding the +serpent--which he declared, immediately on the door being thrown open, +was lurking in the walls or ceiling--to come forth. Presently, the +reptile would be seen emerging from some hole or corner, with which +every room, even in the better class of Egyptian houses, abounds; on +which the enchanter would draw the unwilling serpent towards him, with +the point of the stick, and when within reach put it in the bag he +carried about with him for that purpose." + +Chateaubriand has drawn a graphic picture of the power of music on the +American Rattlesnake. The serpent happening to enter the encampment of +his party in Canada, a Canadian who could play on the flute, advanced, +by way of diversion, with his magic pipe, against it. On his approach +the haughty reptile curled itself into a spiral line, flattened its +head, inflated its cheeks, contracted its lips, displayed its envenomed +fangs, and its bloody throat; its double tongue glowed like two flames +of fire; its eyes were burning coals; its body, swollen with rage, rose +and fell like the bellows of a forge; its dilated skin assumed a dull +and scaly appearance; and its rattle, which sounded the denunciation of +death, vibrated with extreme velocity. The Canadian now began to play +upon his flute: the serpent started with surprise, and drew back its +head. In proportion as it was struck with the magic effect, its eyes +lost their fierceness, the vibrations of its tail became slower, and the +sound which it emitted gradually became weaker and ceased. The folds of +the fascinated Serpent became less perpendicular upon their spiral line, +expanded by degrees, and sunk one after another upon the ground, forming +concentric circles. The colours recovered their brilliancy on its +quivering skin; and, slightly turning its head, it remained motionless +in the attitude of attention and pleasure. At this moment, the Canadian +advanced a few steps, producing with his flute sweet and simple notes. +The Reptile inclined its variegated neck, opened a passage with its head +through the high grass, and began to creep after the musician, stopping +when he stopped, and following him again as soon as he moved forward. In +this manner, to the astonishment both of Europeans and natives, he was +led out of the camp; and it was unanimously decreed, that the life of a +creature so sensible of the concord of sweet sounds should be +spared.[199] + +Some allowance in the colouring of this picture, which must be allowed +to be beautifully painted, may possibly be made to the poetical +imagination of the narrator, for Chateaubriand could not tell a story +without embellishing it _suo more_. We may, however, accept the main +facts, confirmed as they are by the experience of other observers in +other countries. + +Mr Gogerly, a missionary of some standing in India observes that some +persons who were incredulous on the subject, after taking the most +careful precautions against any trick or artifice being played, sent a +charmer into the garden to prove his powers;--the man began to play upon +his pipe, and proceeding from one part of the garden to another, for +some minutes stopped at a part of the wall much injured by age, and +intimated that a serpent was within. He then played quicker, and his +notes were louder, when almost immediately a large Cobra di Capello put +forth its hooded head, and the man ran fearlessly to the spot, seized it +by the throat, and drew it forth. He then shewed the poison fangs, and +beat them out; afterwards it was taken to the room where his baskets +were left, and deposited among the rest. The snake-charmer, observes the +same writer, applies his pipe to his mouth, and sends forth a few of his +peculiar notes, and all the serpents stop as though enchanted; they then +turn towards the musician, and approaching him within two feet raise +their heads from the ground, and bending backwards and forwards, keep +time with the tune. When he ceases playing, they drop their heads and +remain quiet on the ground. + +The _Penny Magazine_ for April 1833, contains the following very precise +and circumstantial narrative, communicated by a gentleman of high +station at Madras:--"One morning, as I sat at breakfast, I heard a loud +noise and shouting among my palankeen-bearers. On inquiry, I learned +that they had seen a large hooded snake, and were trying to kill it. I +immediately went out, and saw the snake creeping up a very high green +mound, whence it escaped into a hole in an old wall of ancient +fortification; the men were armed with their sticks, which they always +carry in their hands, and had attempted in vain to kill the reptile, +which had eluded their pursuit, and in his hole had coiled himself up +secure, whilst we could see his bright eyes shining. I had often desired +to ascertain the truth of the report, as to the effect of music upon +snakes. I therefore inquired for a snake-catcher. I was told there was +no person of the kind in the village; but after a little inquiry, I +heard there was one in a village distant about three miles. I +accordingly sent for him, keeping a strict watch over the snake, which +never attempted to escape, whilst we, his enemies, were in sight. About +an hour elapsed, when my messenger returned bringing a snake-catcher. +This man wore no covering on his head, nor any on his person, excepting +a small piece of cloth round his loins; he had in his hands two baskets, +one containing tame snakes, the other empty: these and his musical pipe +were the only things he had with him. I made the snake-catcher leave his +two baskets on the ground, at some distance, while he ascended the mound +with his pipe alone. He began to play: at the sound of the music the +snake came gradually and slowly out of his hole. When he was entirely +within reach, the snake-catcher seized him dexterously by the tail and +held him thus at arm's length; whilst the snake, enraged, darted his +head in all directions, but in vain: thus suspended, he has not the +power to round himself, so as to seize hold of his tormentor. He +exhausted himself in vain exertions; when the snake-catcher descended +the bank, dropped him into the empty basket, and closed the lid: he then +began to play, and after a short time, raised the lid of the basket; the +snake darted about wildly, and attempted to escape; the lid was shut +down again quickly, the music always playing. This was repeated two or +three times; and in a very short interval, the lid being raised, the +snake sat on his tail, opened his hood and danced quite as quietly as +the tame snakes in the other basket, nor did he attempt again to escape. +This, having witnessed with my own eyes, I can assert as a fact." + +Experienced and skilful as these men are, however, they do not +invariably escape with impunity. Fatal terminations to these exhibitions +of the psyllic art now and then occur, for there are still to be found +"deaf adders, which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming +never so wisely." In Madras, a few years ago, a noted serpent-charmer +chanced one morning to get hold of a Cobra of considerable size, which +he got conveyed to his home. He was occupied abroad all day, and had not +time to get the dangerous fangs extracted from the Serpent's mouth. This +at least is the probable solution of the matter. In the evening he +returned to his dwelling, considerably excited with liquor, and began to +exhibit tricks with his snakes to various persons who were around him at +the time. The newly-caught Cobra was brought out with the others, and +the man, spirit-valiant, commenced to handle the stranger like the rest. +But the Cobra darted at his chin, and bit it, making two marks like pin +points. The poor juggler was sobered in an instant. "I am a dead man," +he exclaimed. The prospect of immediate death made the maintenance of +his professional mysticism a thing of no moment. "Let the creature +alone," said he to those about him, who would have killed the Cobra; "it +may be of service to others who are of my trade. To me it can be of no +more use. Nothing can save me." His professional knowledge was but too +accurate. In two hours he was a corpse! The narrator saw him a short +time after he died. His friends and brother jugglers had gathered around +him, and had him placed on a chair in a sitting position. Seeing the +detriment likely to result to their trade and interests from such a +notion, they vehemently asserted that it was not the envenomed bite +which had killed him. "No, no; he only forgot one little word--one small +portion of the charm." In fact, they declared that he was not dead at +all, but only in a sort of swoon, from which, according to the rules of +the cabalistic art, he would recover in seven days. But the officers of +the barracks, close to which the deceased had lived, interfered in the +matter. They put a guard of one or two men on the house, declaring that +they would allow the body to remain unburied for seven days, but would +not permit any trickery. Of course the poor serpent-charmer never came +to life again. His death, and the manner of it, gave a severe blow, as +has been already hinted, to the art and practice of snake-charming in +Madras. + +Roberts also mentions the instance of a man who came to a gentleman's +house to exhibit tame snakes, and on being told that a Cobra, or Hooded +Snake was in a cage in the house, was asked if he could charm it; on his +replying in the affirmative, the Serpent was released from the cage, +and, no doubt, in a state of high irritation. The man began his +incantations, and repeated his charms, but the Snake darted at him, +fastened upon his arm, and before night he was a corpse. + +These failures, rare and abnormal as they confessedly are, do not by any +means disprove the reality of snake-charming; they certainly shew that +the men believe in their own powers. It may be, as some Europeans have +maintained, that in India, the exhibitors usually practise upon tame +snakes, from which they have already extracted the fangs, or even +eradicated the poison sacs,--an operation performed without difficulty +by making an incision beneath and behind each eye. Or it may be that the +power of music over these reptiles is ordinarily relied on, and that in +rare instances this fails. I have myself taken fierce and active +lizards, in Jamaica, by a noose of string, while whistling a lively +tune. As soon as the whistling commenced, the lizard would become still +on the trunk or the branch of a tree, and so remain unmoved, with a +sleepy look all the while I was searching up the string, preparing the +noose, and presenting it to him, giving just a backward glance of his +eye, as the noose slipped over his head, the whistling going on +vigorously all the time, of course, till the cord being jerked tight, he +suddenly found himself dangling in the air at the end of a stick, and +began to wriggle and writhe, and scratch and bite furiously. + +One thing seems clear from these accidents. The Indian _samp-wallahs_ do +not use any infusion or unguent to stupefy and disarm their snakes, as +do those of Ethiopia. If these men just mentioned had been so protected +they would not have been killed, however rash or pot-valiant they might +have been. Indeed the accounts of Bruce and others of the African +professors of the psyllic art, and the phenomena of the serpents acted +upon, differ greatly from descriptions of parallel exhibitions in India, +and suggest diverse modes of explanation. + +A dozen years ago there were a couple of oriental Psylli performing at +the Zoological Gardens. Mr Brodcrip has given a very graphic sketch of +their performance as he saw it in the Reptile House. The two Arabs took +up their position on the floor, the company standing in a semicircle at +a respectful distance. + +"The old Arab said something to the young one, who stooped down ... and +took out a large deal-box, drew off the cover, thrust in his hand and +pulled out a large long _Naia haje_ (the Egyptian species of Cobra). +After handling it and playing with it a little while, he set it down on +the floor, half squatted close to it, and fixed his eyes on the snake. +The serpent instantly raised itself, expanded its hood, and turned +slowly on its own axis, following the eye of the young Arab, turning as +his head, or eye, or body turned. Sometimes it would dart at him, as if +to bite. He exercised the most perfect command over the animal. All this +time the old Arab stood still, pensively regarding the operation; but +presently he also squatted down, muttering some words, opposite to the +snake. He evidently affected the reptile more strongly than his more +mercurial relative, though he remained motionless, doing nothing that I +could see but fixing his eyes upon the snake, with his face upon a level +with the raised head of the serpent, which now turned all its attention +to him, and seemed to be in a paroxysm of rage. Suddenly it darted +open-mouthed at his face, furiously dashing its expanded whitish-edged +jaws into the dark hollow cheek of the charmer, who still imperturbably +kept his position, only smiling bitterly at his excited antagonist. I +was very close, and watched very narrowly; but though the snake dashed +at the old Arab's face and into it more than twice or thrice with its +mouth wide open, I could not see the projection of any fang. + +"Then the old Arab, who, it was said, had had the gift of charming +serpents in his family for a long series of years, opened another box, +and took out four or five great lizards, and provoked the Naia with +them, holding them by the tails in a sort of four-in-hand style. Then +the youth brought out a Cerastes, which I observed seemed overpowered, +as if, as the country people say, something had come over it. He placed +it on the floor; but this serpent did not raise itself like the Naia, +but, as the charmer stooped to it, moved in a very odd, agitated manner, +on its belly, regarding him askant. I thought the serpent was going to +fly at the lad, but it did not. He took it up, played with it, blew or +spit at it, and then set it down apparently sick, subdued, and limp. He +then took it again, played with it a second time, gathered it up in his +hand, put it in his bosom, went to another box, drew the lid, and +brought out more snakes, one of which was another Naia, and the others +of a most venomous kind. + +"Now there were two Naias, with heads and bodies erect, obeying, +apparently, the volition of the charmers. One of the snakes bit the +youth on the naked hand, and brought blood; but he only spat on the +wound and scratched it with his nail which made the blood flow more +freely. Then he brought out more lizards of a most revolting aspect. By +this time the floor of the reptile house, that formed the stage of the +charmers, began to put one in mind of the incantation-scene in _Der +Freischutz_, only that the principal performers looked more like the +Black Huntsman and one of his familiars than Max and Caspar, and the +enchanters' circle was surrounded with fair ladies and their +well-dressed lords, instead of the appalling shapes which thronged round +the affrighted huntsman at the casting of the charmed bullets. + +"The Arabs, holding the snakes by the tails, let their bodies touch the +floor, when they came twisting and wriggling on towards the spectators, +who now backed a little upon the toes of those who pressed them from +behind. Sometimes the charmers would loose their hold, when the +serpents, as if eager to escape from their tormentors, rapidly advanced +upon the retreating ring; but they always caught them by the tails in +time, and then made them repeat the same advances. I kept my position in +front throughout, and had no fear, feeling certain that Mr Mitchell, +and those under whose superintendence this highly amusing and +instructive establishment is so well conducted, would not have permitted +the exhibition to take place, if there had been the least danger. +Besides this, I observed that the charmers only used their own serpents, +which they had, I presume, brought with them; and I confess that the +impression upon my mind was, that they had been rendered innoxious by +mechanical means."[200] + +This last assumption the narrator subsequently found to be indubitably +true. What is said of the _Cerastes_, however, looks more like the +effect of something detrimental to the snake in the lad's odour, or in +his spittle. Of course no confidence can be placed in their statements, +but it is noteworthy that they both claimed to belong to a race over +whom snakes have no morbific power,--Psylli, in fact, of many +generations. + +Dr Davy asserts that in India, however, the poison fangs are _not_ +extracted. He tells us that he has himself examined the snakes exhibited +(which are always Cobras) and have found the fangs uninjured. He +attributes the power of the charmers to their agility and courage, +founded on an intimate acquaintance with the habits and disposition of +the reptiles. The learned Doctor acting on this persuasion, says that he +has himself repeatedly irritated these serpents with impunity. They can +be readily appeased when irritated, by the voice and by gentle movements +of the hand in a circle, and by stroking them on the body. + +A very curious subject, closely connected with serpent-charming, is the +power of extracting venom from a wound inflicted by reptiles, attributed +to the "snake-stone," which the Hindoos and Cingalese usually carry with +them. Captain Napier thus describes it:-- + +"These people generally have for sale numbers of _snake-stones_, which +are said to be equally an antidote against the bite of the serpent and +the sting of the scorpion. For the former I have never seen it tried: +and to prove its efficacy with the latter, the samp-wallah generally +carries about in small earthen vessels a number of these animals, one of +which he allows to wound him with his sting. The snake-stone, which is a +dark, shining, smooth pebble, about the size and shape of a French bean, +on being applied to the wound, instantly adheres to it, and by a power +of suction appears to draw out the poison, which is supposed to be +contained in the small bubbles which, on the immersion of the stone into +a glass of water are seen in great numbers to rise to the surface. + +"My first idea on beholding the samp-wallah allow himself to be stung by +the scorpion was that the latter had by some means been rendered +harmless. However, not wishing voluntarily to put this to the test by +personal experience, I purchased some of the stones, resolved on the +very first opportunity to try their efficacy. Shortly after this, +happening to be marching up the country with a detachment, we pitched +our camp on some very stony ground, in clearing which one of the English +soldiers happened to be bit [stung] in the hand by a large scorpion. As +soon as I heard of this circumstance, I sent for the sufferer, who +appeared to be in great pain, which he described as a burning sensation +running all the way up his arm to the very shoulder. + +"I applied one of the snake-stones to the puncture; it adhered +immediately, and during about eight minutes that it remained on the +patient, he by degrees became easier; the pain diminished, gradually +coming down from the shoulder, until it appeared entirely confined to +the immediate vicinity of the wound. I now removed the stone; on putting +it into a cup of water, numbers of small air-bubbles rose to the +surface, and in a short time the man ceased to suffer any inconvenience +from the accident."[201] + +It is scarcely needful to say that the emission of bubbles is a most +ordinary phenomenon, and could have not the slightest connexion with the +alexipharmic power of the stone, whether real or imaginary. Any one may +see exactly the same thing on dropping a bit of new flower-pot, or a +very dry brick into water, or any other substance heavier than the +fluid, which is at the same time dry and porous. It results from the air +which is contained in the pores of the material, which on immersion is +displaced by the heavier water, and rises in oozing bubbles to the +surface. + +Sir Emerson Tennent has some observations of much value on these +"stones," as well as on cognate matters, which my readers may like to +see, and with which I close this subject:-- + +"On one occasion, in March 1854, a friend of mine was riding, with some +other civil officers of the government, along a jungle-path in the +vicinity of Bintenne, when they saw one of two Tamils, who were +approaching them, suddenly dart into the forest and return, holding in +both hands a _cobra di capello_ which he had seized by the head and +tail. He called to his companion for assistance to place it in their +covered basket, but in doing this, he handled it so inexpertly that it +seized him by the finger, and retained its hold for a few seconds, as if +unable to retract its fangs. The blood flowed, and intense pain appeared +to follow almost immediately; but, with all expedition, the friend of +the sufferer undid his waistcloth, and took from it two snake-stones, +each of the size of a small almond, intensely black and highly polished, +though of an extremely light substance. These he applied one to each +wound inflicted by the teeth of the serpent, to which the stones +attached themselves closely, the blood that oozed from the bites being +rapidly imbibed by the porous texture of the article applied. The stones +adhered tenaciously for three or four minutes, the wounded man's +companion in the meanwhile rubbing his arm downwards from the shoulder +towards the fingers. At length the snake-stones dropped off of their own +accord; the suffering appeared to have subsided; he twisted his fingers +till the joints cracked, and went on his way without concern. Whilst +this had been going on, another Indian of the party who had come up +took from his bag a small piece of white wood, which resembled a root, +and passed it gently near the head of the cobra, which the latter +immediately inclined close to the ground; he then lifted the snake +without hesitation, and coiled it into a circle at the bottom of his +basket. The root, by which he professed to be enabled to perform this +operation with safety, he called the _Naya-thalee Kalinga_ (the root of +the snake-plant,) protected by which he professed his ability to +approach any reptile with impunity. In another instance, in 1853, Mr +Lavalliere, the District Judge of Kandy, informed me that he saw a +snake-charmer in the jungle, close by the town, search for a _cobra di +capello_, and, after disturbing it in its retreat, the man tried to +secure it, but, in the attempt, he was bitten in the thigh till blood +trickled from the wound. He instantly applied the _Pamboo-Kaloo_ (or +snake-stone), which adhered closely for about ten minutes, during which +time he passed the root which he held in his hand backwards and forwards +above the stone, till the latter dropped to the ground. He assured Mr +Lavalliere that all danger was then past. That gentleman obtained from +him the snake-stone he had relied on, and saw him repeatedly afterwards +in perfect health. The substances which were used on both these +occasions are now in my possession. The roots employed by the several +parties are not identical. One appears to be a bit of the stem of an +_Aristolochia_; the other is so dry as to render it difficult to +identify it, but it resembles the quadrangular stem of a jungle vine. +Some species of _Aristolochia_, such as the _A. serpentaria_ of North +America, are supposed to act as a specific in the cure of snake-bites; +and the _A. Indica_ is the plant to which the ichneumon is popularly +believed to resort as an antidote when bitten; but it is probable that +the use of any particular plant by the snake-charmers is a pretence, or +rather a delusion, the reptile being overpowered by the resolute action +of the operator, and not by the influence of any secondary appliance, +the confidence inspired by the supposed talisman enabling its possessor +to address himself fearlessly to his task, and thus to effect by +determination and will, what is popularly believed to be the result of +charms and stupefaction." + +The writer then alludes to the facts mentioned by Bruce, which I have +before adduced; and proceeds:-- + +"As to the snake-stone itself, I submitted one, the application of which +I have been describing, to Mr Faraday, and he has communicated to me, as +the result of his analysis, his belief that it is 'a piece of charred +bone which has been filled with blood perhaps several times, and then +carefully charred again. Evidence of this is afforded, as well by the +apertures of cells or tubes on its surface as by the fact that it yields +and breaks under pressure, and exhibits an organic structure within. +When heated slightly, water rises from it, and also a little ammonia; +and, if heated still more highly in the air, the carbon burns away, and +a bulky white ash is left, retaining the shape and size of the 'stone.' +This ash, as is evident from inspection, cannot have belonged to any +vegetable substance, for it is almost entirely composed of phosphate of +lime. Mr Faraday adds that 'if the piece of matter has ever been +employed as a spongy absorbent, it seems hardly fit for that purpose in +its present state; but who can say to what treatment it has been +subjected since it was fit for use, or to what treatment the natives may +submit it when expecting to have occasion to use it?'" + +Sir E. Tennent supposes that the animal charcoal may be sufficiently +absorbent to extract the venom from the recent wound together with a +portion of the blood, before it has had time to be carried into the +system. If this be so the process is analogous to that of sucking a +poisoned wound, already referred to.[202] + +What the author means by a jungle vine I do not exactly know, but +conjecture that it may be one of the _Bignoniaceae_, the woody climbing +species of which have in general their stem divided into lobes arranged +in a quadrangular manner. I am not aware that any species of this order +is an antidote to animal poisons, but many have powerful medicinal +properties, and abound in bitter juices. The whitewood of Jamaica +(_Bignonia leucoxylon_) enjoys a reputation as a remedy for the poison +of the Manchineel (_Hippomane mancinella_) which is so virulent that +persons are reported to have been killed by its volatile emanations, +when accidentally sleeping under its shade, and a drop of its juice +falling on the skin burns it like fire, and produces an ulcer difficult +to heal. The value of the _Aristolochia_ has been already referred to; +and on the whole I am disposed to attach more importance to the use of +vegetable specifics by the Ceylonese operators than the learned author +whom I have just quoted. The subject is a highly curious one, and well +worthy of minute investigation by able and unprejudiced men of science, +willing to receive unscientific information and suggestions, in various +parts of the world, particularly in the intertropical regions of both +hemispheres. + +[183] Psalm lviii. 4, 5. + +[184] Jer. viii. 17. + +[185] This is the Tuberose, a liliaceous plant, so commonly cultivated +in our conservatories. It is generally stated to be a native of the East +Indies, but the one spoken of by Tschudi, with a Peruvian name, must +certainly be an indigenous plant of the country. + +[186] The genus _Mikania_ of Willdenow is one of the tubuliflorous +_Asteraceae_. _M. guaco_ Humboldt mentions, under the name of Vijuco del +Guaco, as being highly esteemed in South America as a valuable antidote +against the bite of serpents. "Guaco" and "huaco" are the same word, the +intensity of the aspirate varying among different peoples. The power of +this _Mikania_ is denied in the most positive terms by Hancock, who +suspects that the real Guaco antidote is some kind of _Aristolochia_. +The word "Vijuco" or "Bejuco," in Tropical America, signifies any +climbing plant, and is equivalent to our florist word "creeper." + +_Eupatorium ayapana_, belonging to the same order as _Mikania_, is a +valuable repellent of the poison of venomous snakes. For this purpose it +is used in Brazil. A quantity of the bruised leaves, which are to be +frequently changed, is laid on the scarified wound, and some spoonfuls +of the expressed juice are from time to time administered to the +patient, till he is found to be free from the symptoms, especially the +dreadful anxiety which follows the wounds of venomous reptiles. _E. +perfoliatum_ has a very similar action, and _Mikania opifera_ is +employed in the same way.--(_Lindley's Veg. Kingd._, p. 707.) These +facts tend to confirm the accuracy of Tschudi and Humboldt against +Hancock. + +[187] _Campaigns and Cruises in Venezuela_, vol. i., p. 43. + +[188] _Dahomey and the Dahomans._ + +[189] Several of the _Aristolochieae_--plants generally having a very +bitter taste, and a strong, pungent, disagreeable smell--are valuable +alexipharmics. There is a plant very common in Jamaica, where it is +called snake-withe, trailing over the stone fences, which I suspect to +be an _Aristolochia_, and perhaps _A. trilobata_; it is employed as a +sudden and potent sudorific, and as an antidote to serpent-bites in +other countries, for in Jamaica there is no venomous reptile. The _A. +anguicida_ of Carthagena is described by Jacquin as fatal to serpents. +He says that the juice of the root chewed and introduced into the mouth +of a serpent so stupefies it that it may be for a long time handled with +impunity: if the reptile is compelled to swallow a few drops, it +perishes in convulsions. The root is also reputed to be an antidote to +serpent-bites. "It is not a little remarkable," observes Dr Lindley, +"that the power of stupefying snakes, ascribed in Carthagena to +_Aristolochia anguicida_, should be also attributed to _A. pallida_, +_longa_, _b{oe}tica_, _sempervirens_ and _rotunda_; which are said to be +the plants with which the Egyptian jugglers stupefy the snakes they play +with." + +[190] _Ceylon_, i., 147. + +[191] "On the Habits of the Viper in Silesia:" _Zoologist_, p. 829. + +[192] _Trav. to the Sources of the Nile, passim._ + +[193] _Travels in the Levant, passim._ + +[194] _Discov. in Africa_, ii., p. 292. + +[195] _Lucan's Pharsalia._ + +[196] _Ind. Field Sports._ + +[197] _Mod. Egyptians._ + +[198] _Zool._, 6400. + +[199] _Beauties of Christianity._ + +[200] _Note-book of a Naturalist_, 202. + +[201] Napier's _Scenes and Sports_, vol. ii., p. 227. + +[202] Tennent's _Ceylon_. + + + + +X. + +BEAUTY. + + +Very much of the delight with which we pursue natural history is surely +due to the almost constant recognition of the beautiful. I do not know +that I could say with the poet,-- + + "A thing of beauty is a joy _for ever_;" + +but certainly it is a joy as long as it endures; and the naturalist +finds an endless recurrence of things of beauty. Birds, insects, shells, +zoophytes, flowers, sea-weeds, are all redundant of beauty; and all the +classes of natural objects, though not in an equal degree, nor +manifestly in every individual object, yet possess it as a prominent +element. Indeed, from the profusion with which loveliness is sown +broadcast over the works of God, I have often thought, though it is not +directly revealed, that a sense of the beautiful and a complacency in +it, altogether independent of fitness for certain ends, or the uses +which may be subserved, is an attribute of the Holy One Himself, and +that our perception of it is the reflection of His--a part of that image +of God in which man was created, and which sin has not wholly +obliterated. I know that God may have clothed His works with beauty for +other admiring eyes than man's; and that it is probable that the holy +angels may be far more conversant with creation than we are with all our +researches,--that the ten thousand times ten thousand flowers which are +"born to blush unseen" by _man_, may be seen and admired by "ten +thousand times ten thousand" angels,[203] and thus the tribute of praise +for their perfection may be ever ascending before Him whose hands made +them for His glory. We may allow this; and yet with reverence presume +that His own pure eyes look upon the lilies' array with a delight in +their mere loveliness, infinitely greater than that which men, or even +angels, take in it, seeing it is written,--"for thy pleasure they are, +and were created." + +I remember being struck, and somewhat awed, too, with a thought of this +kind, once, when, pushing my way through a very dense and tangled +thicket in a lone and lofty mountain region of Jamaica, sufficiently +remote from the dwellings of man to render it probable that no civilized +human foot had penetrated thither before. I suddenly came upon a most +magnificent terrestrial orchid in full blossom. It was _Phajus +Tankervilliae_,--a noble plant, which from the midst of broad leaves +growing out of a mass of green bulbs, had thrown up its stout +blossom-stems to the height of a yard or more, crowned with the +pyramidal spike of lily-like flowers, whose expanding petals of pure +white on one side and golden brown on the other, and trumpet-lip of +gorgeous purple seemed, to my ravished gaze, the very perfection of +beauty. For ages, I thought, that beauteous flower had been growing in +that wild and unvisited spot, every season "filling the air around with +beauty," and had in all probability never met a single human gaze +before. Had, then, all that divinely-formed loveliness been mere waste +for those generations? I asked myself; and I immediately replied, No: +the eye of God himself hath rested on it with satisfaction, and the Lord +hath taken pleasure in this work of His hands. + +I shall not make this chapter an essay on the sublime and beautiful, nor +seek to analyse the sense of beauty. It is enough that it is an appetite +of our being, and that most abundantly in nature, on every side, there +is the material of its gratification. So abundantly, indeed, that it +were easy to expand the few pages which I propose to devote to the +subject into a volume, or a dozen volumes, and yet leave untouched vast +treasures of the beautiful in natural history. I must content myself and +my readers with the selection of a few of the more prominent objects in +which this sense is gratified, and with a discrimination of two or three +distinct phases or conditions of existence which contribute, each in its +measure, to give delight to the eyes. + +[Illustration: ANTELOPES.] + +Among Quadrupeds, there is perhaps less of beauty, strictly considered, +than in most other classes of animals. Elegance of form, however, which +is one phase of it, is seen in the lithe and active squirrel, the pretty +petaurist, and many other of the smaller beasties, and is found in +perfection in the deer and antelopes. Who that has seen a pet fawn +coming to be caressed by a fair girl, but must have had his sense of the +beautiful gratified? Mark the freedom and grace of every motion! See +how it stretches out its pretty meek face and taper neck towards the +hand; its extreme timidity causing its whole body and every limb to +start on the slightest stir from the beholders, while on the least +approach it bounds away in the exuberant playfulness of its little +heart, then stops, and turns, and gazes, and stretches out its neck +again! See when it trots or walks, how high it lifts its little slender +feet, bending its agile limbs as if motion itself were a pleasure! See, +as it stands, with one fore-foot bent up, the hoof nearly touching the +belly; the long graceful ears moving this way and that, now thrown +forwards, now backwards, now erected, to catch the slightest +sound,--what a picture of fairy grace it is! There is beauty, too, in +the soft, full liquid eye of these animals,--the "bright, black eye" of +the "dear gazelle," which in the East is the very ideal of female +loveliness. Its melting gaze seems full of tenderness, so that we cannot +look without loving it. + +Nor is beauty of colour wholly wanting. How rich is the tawny fur of the +tiger, dashed with its black streaks! And the brighter yellow of the +leopard and the jaguar, studded all over with rosettes of black spots! +We forget the ferocity of the savage in its beautifully-painted coat. +The zebra, too,--with the fine contrast of those bands of richest sable +on the cream-coloured ground, now bold and broad, as on the rounded +body, now running in fine parallel but irregularly-waved lines, as on +the face,--is a beautiful quadruped; and a herd of them galloping +wantonly over a South African plain, must be a sight worth seeing +indeed. + +When we come to Birds, however, beauty is not the exception, but the +rule. The form of a bird is almost always graceful; the rounded +swellings and undulations of outline, and the smoothness of the plumage +give pleasure to the eye, even when there is no attractiveness of hue. +One has almost a difficulty in naming an inelegant bird. But when, as in +a thousand instances, brilliancy of colouring is combined with elegance +of shape and smoothness of plumage, we must be charmed. Is not our own +little goldfinch, is not the pert chaffinch that comes up to our very +feet for a grain or a crumb, a pretty object? But the tropical +birds,--we must look at them if we wish to know what nature can do in +the way of adornment. We should go to the flats on the embouchure of the +Amazon, and see the rosy spoonbills, in their delicate carnation dress, +set off by the lustrous crimson of their shoulders and breast-tufts, +feeding by hundreds on the green mud, or watch the gorgeous ibises, all +clad in glowing scarlet with black-tipped wings, when, in serried ranks, +a mile in length, like the vermillion cloud of morning, they come to +their breeding-place,--a truly magnificent sight.[204] + +The first of the Parrot tribe that I ever had an opportunity of seeing +in its native freedom was the beautiful Parrakeet of the Southern +States. Eighty or a hundred birds in one compact flock passed me flying +low, and all nearly on the same plane; and, as they swept by, screaming +as they went, I fancied that they looked like an immense shawl of green +satin, on which an irregular pattern was worked in scarlet and gold and +azure. The sun's rays were brilliantly reflected from the gorgeous +surface, which rapidly sped past like a splendid vision. + +The Cock of the Rock is a fine South American bird of the richest orange +colour, crowned with a double crest of feathers edged with purple. Mr +Wallace describes his search for it on the Rio Negro, and his admiration +of its beauty. Some time he sought in vain, for it is a rare bird, till +the old Indian who was his guide suddenly caught him by the arm, and, +pointing to a dense thicket, whispered in a low tone, "Gallo!" Peering +through the foliage, the naturalist caught a glimpse of the magnificent +bird, sitting amidst the gloom, and shining out like a mass of brilliant +flame. As it is easily alarmed and very wary, it required some following +and perseverance before he shot it. One of his Indians descended into +the deep rocky glen into which it fell, and brought it to him. "I was +lost," he says, "in admiration of the dazzling beauty of its soft downy +feathers; not a spot of blood was visible, not a feather was ruffled, +and the soft, warm, flexible body set off the fresh swelling plumage in +a manner which no stuffed specimen can approach."[205] + +There is something exquisitely pleasing to the eye in the delicate +painting of the soft plumage in most of the Goatsuckers and their +allies. Entirely destitute of brilliant hues as they are, the +combinations of warm browns, and cool greys, interchanged with black and +white, and the manner in which these are softened, and blended, and +minutely pencilled, produce an effect that is peculiarly charming. + +In the Trogons of the tropical regions we see elegance of form combined +with the most gorgeous colouring. Green and gold, crimson, scarlet, +orange, and black, are the hues of these birds, which hide themselves in +the deep dark recesses of the Amazonian and Indian forests. That species +called the Resplendent is the noblest of the race, whose magnificence +was so well appreciated by the ancient Mexican emperors, that none but +members of the royal family were permitted to adorn themselves with its +flowing plumes. The whole upper parts of this bird, its fine coronal +crest of erectile plumes, its shoulder-hackles, or long lance-shaped +feathers, that droop over the sides, and the elongated tail-coverts +which hang down beyond the tail to a length of three feet or more, +curving elegantly under the bird, as it sits on a branch, are of the +richest golden green, shining with a satiny radiance. The under parts +are of a splendid scarlet, and the tail feathers are white, with broad +black bars. + +More enchanting than mere colour, however rich and glowing this may be, +is the fine metallic reflection which we see on the plumage of many +tropical birds. The Rifle-bird of Australia might be seen sitting on a +tree, and be passed by with contempt as a mere crow, while the eye was +attracted to a more gaily-hued parrot by its side. But viewed close at +hand, in the full blaze of the sun, the darker-plumaged bird is seen to +exceed the other by far, in gorgeous glory, and to be not unworthy of +the specific title of _Paradiseus_, by which it is known to naturalists. +The body generally is of a deep velvet black, but it reflects a purple +flush on the upper parts, and the feathers of the under parts are edged +with olive-green. The crown of the head, and the whole throat, are +clothed with scale-like feathers of the brightest emerald-green, which +blaze with a gemmeous lustre in certain lights, and make the most vivid +contrast with the velvet of the body. The tail displays its two middle +feathers of the same lustrous green, while the bordering ones are deep +black. + +The vast and little-known island of Papua contains some specimens of the +feathered race of surpassing glory. The _Epimachi_, or Plume-birds, take +a prominent place in this category. They are remarkable for the erectile +scale-like feathers of the sides and shoulders, which form large +fan-shaped tufts, standing out from the body in a very striking manner. +Speaking of the superb Epimachus, Sonnerat, its describer, thus +writes:--"As if to add to the singularity of this bird, nature has +placed above and below its wings feathers of an extraordinary form, and +such as one does not see in other birds; she seems, moreover, to have +pleased herself in painting this being, already so singular, with her +most brilliant colours. The head, the neck, and the belly are glittering +green; the feathers which cover these parts possess the lustre and +softness of velvet to the eye and touch; the back is changeable violet; +the wings are of the same colour, and appear, according to the lights in +which they are held, blue, violet, or deep black; always, however, +imitating velvet. The tail is composed of twelve feathers, the two +middle feathers are the longest, and the lateral feathers gradually +diminish; it is violet, or changeable blue above, and black beneath. The +feathers which compose it are as wide in proportion as they are long, +and shine above and below with the brilliancy of polished metal. + +"Above the wings the scapularies are very long and singularly formed; +their points being very short on one side, and very long on the other. +These feathers are of the colour of polished steel, changing into blue, +terminated by a large spot of brilliant green, and forming a species of +tuft or appendage at the margin of the wings. + +"Below the wings spring long curved feathers, directed upwards; these +are black on the inside, and brilliant green on the outside. The bill +and feet are black."[206] + +The same author, in referring to the brilliant metallic hues of this and +other birds, takes occasion to notice the iridescent effect which is +produced by the different angle at which light falls on the feathers. +The emerald-green, for instance, will often fling out rays of its two +constituent primary colours, at one time being blue-green, at another +gold-green, while in certain lights all colour vanishes, and a +velvet-black is presented to the eye. The ruby feathers of several birds +become orange under certain lights, and darken to a crimson-black at +other times. + +[Illustration: MOURNING THE DEAD CUCKOO.] + +This change of hue is analogous to the well-known iridescent +changeableness of the nacre which lines various shells, and is owing to +the structure of its surface reflecting the light in different rays, +according to the angle at which it falls upon the feathers. + +Another species, a native of the same teeming region, the Twelve-thread +Epimachus, glows, with equal lustre, in the richest violet and emerald, +but somewhat diversely arranged. The long, elegant depending tail is +here reduced to ordinary dimensions, but, as if to compensate for this +inferiority, the Twelve-thread is adorned with an expanding dress of the +purest snowy white, composed of long silky plumes that spring from +behind and below the wings, so soft and so loosely webbed as to wave +gracefully in the slightest breeze. From these tufts project long and +very slender shafts, unwebbed, and as fine as threads, curling +elegantly, six on each side. + +The little Sun-birds of India and Africa, and the still tinier +Humming-birds of the New World are conspicuous for the metallic radiance +of their plumage. Take for an example of the former the Fire-tailed +Sun-bird of Nepal. The crown and forehead are brilliant steel-blue, +while the neck, the back, and the rump are of the richest scarlet, +diversified by a broad patch of bright yellow across the middle of the +back. The central feathers of the tail are lengthened, and are bright +scarlet, while the lateral feathers are edged with the same rich hue on +brown. The breast is golden yellow or orange, flushed with crimson in +the centre, and the rest of the inferior parts are olive-green. Most of +those gorgeous colours have a silky or metallic lustre, and blaze out +under the tropical sunlight with amazing brightness. + +Exquisite ornaments are these to an Indian garden, where they delight in +the flowering plants and shrubs. They creep to and fro about the stalks +and twigs, clinging by their little purple feet, and rifling the tubular +corollas of the honeyed blossoms, whence doubtless they gather many +minute insects, licked up with the nectar, by the aid of their curiously +pencilled tongue. + +For that peculiar charm which resides in flashing light combined with +the most brilliant colours, the lustre of precious stones, there are no +birds, no creatures, that can compare with the Humming-birds. Confined +exclusively to America,--whence we have already gathered between three +and four hundred distinct species, and more are being continually +discovered,--these lovely little winged gems were to the Mexican and +Peruvian Indians the very quintessence of beauty. By these simple people +they were called by various names signifying "the rays of the sun," "the +tresses of the day-star," and the like. Their glittering scale-like +plumage was employed to make, at the cost of immense time, patience, and +labour, the radiant mantles in which the emperors and highest nobles +appeared on state occasions, as well as to form by a sort of mosaic, +those embroidered pictures which so attracted the admiration of the +Spanish conquerors. The Mexican priests adopted the tiny birds into +their mythology: they taught that the souls of those warriors who died +in defence of the gods, were conducted by Toyamiqui, the wife of the +god of war, straight to the mansion of the sun, and there transformed +into humming-birds. + +In the gorgeous forest glooms of the mountainous parts of Jamaica, and +especially in the sunny glades which here and there break their +uniformity, where the ever-verdant foliage rises upon all sides of the +open space like a wall, covered with the most elegant and fragrant +flowers, I have been charmed by the familiar fearlessness and lustrous +splendour of these little creatures. Here sitting down on a prostrate +log in the shadow, I have watched them sipping all around, flitting to +and fro, coming and going, every moment disappearing in the sombre +shade, or suddenly flashing out, with a whirr like that of a +spinning-wheel, into the bright sunshine. Bold and unsuspecting, they +might be seen exploring bush after bush, and coming, while I remained +motionless, even within arm's length of me, busily rifling all the +blossoms in rapid succession, regularly quartering the surface of some +favourite shrub, so as to lose none, and of course, in their zeal, +frequently probing the same flower again and again. Sometimes it would +be the Mango, suspending himself on whirring pinions in front of the +flowers, his broadly-expanded tail-feathers of the richest violet, his +body plumage all green and gold, and his cheeks and throat blazing, in +the changing light, with the radiance now of the ruby, now of the +amethyst, now of the sapphire, and now becoming for an instant the most +intense black. But much more commonly on these occasions was I visited +by the elegant Long-tail, whose slender form, black velvet crest, +emerald bosom, and long tail-plumes, distinguish it as one of the +_principes_ of this patrician race. This lovely little gem would be +hovering about, half-a-dozen visible at the same moment, threading the +projecting branches, now probing here, now there, one moment above a +flower and bending down to it, the next hanging below it, and thrusting +up its crimson beak to kiss its nectar-tube from beneath, the cloudy +wings on each side vibrating with a noise like that of a factory wheel, +and its entire throat, breast and belly clothed in scaly plumage of the +richest green, contrasted finely with the velvety black of all beside. +This scaly plumage would flash brilliantly back the sun's light, like a +noble emerald in the crown of a king; then, by the slightest possible +turn of the bird, it would become black, all the light being absorbed; +then, on another movement, it would seem a dark rich olive, and in an +instant flame forth again with emerald effulgence, over which olive and +black clouds were momentarily passing and repassing. + +The phenomenon of this changing lustre is worthy of more careful +attention than it has received. In such Humming-birds as I have +examined,--and possibly it may be a general rule,--the iridescence of +those portions of the plumage that are changeable is splendid in the +ratio of the acuteness of the angle formed by the incident ray and the +reflected one. Thus the scaly plumage of the neck of the Mango appears +to advantage in a room with a single window, only when the beholder +stands with his back to the light, and has the bird before him and +facing him. Then the perpendicular band down the throat and breast, +which seems composed of the richest black velvet, is bounded on each +side by a broad band of glowing crimson, mingled with violet. It is not +the _entire_ plumage of even a Humming-bird that displays these +refulgent gleams: some of the brilliant hues are permanent, not +changeable colours; such as the golden greens which adorn the back and +wing-coverts in so many species; in which the colour is subject to +little change, and the only effect produced by the alteration of the +angle of the light is the transforming the tips of the feathers into the +appearance of burnished gold. + +Wilson[207] has remarked that the plumage of the Indigo finch +(_Fringilla cyanea_) in certain lights appears of a rich sky-blue and in +others of a vivid verdigris green, so that the same bird, in passing +from one place to another before your eyes, seems to undergo a total +change of colour. When the rays of light so fall on the plumage that the +angle of the incident and reflected ray is acute, the colour is green, +when obtuse, blue. I have myself noticed exactly the same thing in the +brilliant changeable colour of insects,--as, for instance, the +_Cicindelae_ of America, and the Emerald Virgin Dragonfly (_Agrion +Virginica_.) + +To return, however, to our Humming-birds, of which my readers will like +to have one or two more described,--_la creme de la creme_, the very +_elite_ of this lovely little fairy population. If we were to cross the +Atlantic to Brazil, track up the mighty Amazon some thirty days' sail, +and a distance of a thousand miles, we should come to the mouth of the +Rio Negro, where a remarkable change in the appearance of the water +indicates a totally different region. Instead of the muddy water of the +Amazon, resembling pea-soup, that of the Negro is intensely dark, but +clear and limpid, every ripple sparkling like crystal. The land becomes +high, and the river, some four miles wide, passes between lofty cliffs, +crowned with the rich green walls of the primeval forest. The country is +far more attractive than that on the Amazon; instead of a dead level, +swampy and intersected by sluggish _igaripes_, or shallow ponds, +overhung by impenetrably tangled thickets, and full of venomous flies, +here are gentle hills, and tiny brooks of sparkling water, and a +comparatively open forest, with bright clear glades in which the +traveller may recline without persecution from the flies,--these pests +being unknown on the "black waters." The ground is covered by evergreens +of different species and exquisite forms, and many kinds of elegant +ferns are growing in the valleys. There are few lianes or spinous briers +stretching from tree to tree, obstructing free passage, but a thousand +lesser vines drape the low tree tops with myriads of flowers, new and +attractive to the visitor. Everywhere the forest is intersected by +paths, some made by the inhabitants in their frequent rambles, others by +wild animals that come to the water to drink; and along these the eager +naturalist can readily pass to the feeding trees of many beautiful and +peculiar birds. + +Here are wont to haunt many varieties of the richly-hued trogons, +unknown to the lower regions; and at any hour their plaintive note may +be heard at intervals, as they sit moodily, singly or in pairs, on the +branches, with the long tail outspread and drooping, watching for +passing insects. Cuckoos of several kinds, their plumage glancing red in +the subdued light, flit noiselessly through the woods, searching for +caterpillars. Purple jays, in large flocks, alight on some berry-bearing +tree, chattering and gesticulating, but shy and alert,--ready to start +at the snapping of a twig. Motmots and chatterers in gayest +hues,--scarlet, violet and blue,--are abundant. Goatsuckers, in +exquisitely-blended and pencilled tones of colour, start from some shady +glen where they are dozing away the day hours, and, flying a short +distance on soft winnowing pinions, rest again, and seem to fall asleep +in an instant. Showy manikins and tanagers of the brightest tints are +flaunting in every bush: pigeons and doves of soberer hues are cooing +their gentle complainings in the taller trees; and guans and curassows +are marching with stately pace in the paths, picking here and there some +delicate morsel; or running with loud harsh cry, with outstretched neck +and rapid stride, as they detect approaching danger.[208] + +Still, conspicuous above all are the Humming-birds, which, revelling in +this region of the sun, are buzzing around the blossoming shrubs like +insects. And pre-eminent among these is the Fiery Topaz, a name that +attempts to express what neither title, nor description, nor coloured +figure can adequately express,--its gemmeous magnificence and lustre. +One of the first ornithologists of the age, the Prince of Canino, has +assigned to the species the honour of being "_inter Trochilides +pulcherrimus_." Description, however, I must give, for want of anything +better, since, even if I possessed a living specimen, I could not +exhibit its living radiance to all my readers: therefore, pray pay +attention to the details, and imagine. The general hue of this imperial +atom is a blazing scarlet, in fine contrast with which the head and +lower part of the throat are deep velvet-black. The gorget of the throat +is emerald green, with a cloud of delicate crimson in the centre. The +lower part of the back, the rump and the upper tail-coverts are of that +beautiful bronzed green which changes to orange gold, so frequently seen +in this tribe; while the wing-quills and tail are purplish black, except +the middle pair of feathers in the latter, which are very slender, +project to a great length, and cross each other; these are green with a +purple gloss. + +Among the hundreds of species of this very lovely tribe that swarm in +the intertropical regions of South America, I will select one more for +its surpassing beauty. It is the Bar-tailed Comet. We must look for it +in the temperate and equable valley of the Desaguedero, which leads out +of Lake Titicaca, the largest sheet of water on the South American +continent, and famous in Peruvian tradition, as the scene where Mango +Capac and Mama Ocollo surprised the barbarous aborigines by their first +appearance. On one of the charming islets of this quiet lake, the two +august strangers were seen, clothed in garments; and, declaring that +they were the children of the sun long prophesied of, proceeded to teach +their simple subjects the arts of civilisation, and to establish a +regular government. We must search for our tiny Comet, too, in the +cultivated plains that surround the Cerro of Potosi, that singular cone +sixteen thousand feet in height, which is wholly composed of silver, and +which is estimated to have yielded, during the three hundred years that +have elapsed since the Indian exposed the solid silver, when he +accidentally tore up a shrub by the roots,--the sum of two hundred +millions of pounds sterling. The districts around, and specially the +environs of the town of Chuquisaca, are adorned with a profusion of +gardens and orchards, in which many European trees and flowers grow, as +well as those of the tropics, the climate possessing the charms of many +regions. In the shrubberies of the city, and in the gardens of the +Indian cottages, as well as the slopes of the surrounding mountains, +where the native groves and forests grow undisturbed, the brilliant +Bar-tail may be seen during the summer months; but, as soon as the +chilling winds of April tell of coming winter, the charming visitor +becomes scarce, and flitting northward finds in the forests of Lower +Peru the mild and balmy air which he loves. When the trees are in +blossom, and particularly the apple-trees, which have been introduced +from Europe, and are largely cultivated in orchards, the males may be +seen shooting in and out among the foliage, like glowing coals of fire, +chasing each other with shrill chirpings, and with surprising +perseverance and acrimony. The fields of maize, and pulse, and other +leguminous plants which are cultivated in the plains, receive a fair +share of his attention; and the nopaleries, or cactus-gardens, where the +cochineal insect is reared for those most valuable crimson and scarlet +dyes, which far outshine the vaunted productions of ancient Tyre. The +blossom of the nopal is itself one of the most splendid of flowers. It +begins to open as the sun declines, and is in full expanse throughout +the night, shedding a delicious fragrance, and offering its brimming +goblet, filled with nectareous juice, to thousands of moths, and other +crepuscular and nocturnal insects. When the moon is at the full in those +cloudless nights whose loveliness is known only in the tropics, the +broad blossom is seen as a circular disk nearly a foot in diameter, very +full of petals, of which the outer series are of a yellowish hue, +gradually paling to the centre, where they shine in the purest white. +The numerous recurving stamens surround the style which rises in the +midst like a polished shaft, the whole glowing in its silvery beauty +under the moonbeams, from the dark and matted foliage, and diffusing its +delicious clove-like fragrance so profusely that the air is loaded with +it for furlongs round. + +Other species of Cactus and Cereus, some with yellow, and some with +pink, and some with rich crimson blossoms,--the pride of our +conservatories,--sprawl profusely in these gardens; and here the +Bar-tail flaunts all day long sipping the nectar, and picking up myriads +of minute insects which the blossoms attract, and which lodge in the +honeyed recesses. + +But it is time that the reader should know what sort of a bird this +Bar-tailed Comet is. Attend, then, while I describe his ball-dress, more +lustrous than any fair lady ever wore at Almack's. The head, neck, upper +part of the back, and a considerable portion of the under surface, are +light green, with reflections of burnished gold on the cheeks and +forehead. The lower back is of a deep crimson. The throat flames like an +emerald. The tail is the chief feature, the feathers being broad, and +greatly lengthened, in regular graduation from the central ones to the +outmost pair, which are double the length of the entire bird besides. +The form of the tail is widely forked, its outline having a double +curve, somewhat lyre-shaped. The tail-coverts are ruddy brown; and the +feathers themselves are of the richest and most glowing fire-colour, +incomparably lustrous; each feather being broadly tipped with velvety +black. The graduation of the feathers throws these terminal black tips +to a considerable distance from each other, and their alternation with +the intermediate spaces of the fiery glow has an inconceivably charming +effect, as the bird makes its rapid evolutions through the air, and +whisks about among the flowers, with a velocity which the eye of the +beholder can scarcely follow. It is very fond of certain long +trumpet-shaped pendent blossoms, into which it penetrates so far, that +nothing of it can be seen except the tips of its radiant forked tail +projecting from the tube. + +Another family of birds that is conspicuous for gorgeous beauty is that +of the Pheasants. Our own familiar species, which is said to have been +brought long ages ago from the banks of the Phasis in Colchis, by Jason +in the Argo,-- + + "Argiva primum sum transportata carina,"[209]-- + +is a very splendid bird, and is well painted in a few lines by +Pope;--who speaks of his + + "Glossy varying dyes, + His purple crest and scarlet-circled eyes; + The vivid green his shining plumes unfold, + His painted wings, and breast that flames with gold."[210] + +But besides this, there are Indian and Chinese species which excel it in +glory. There are the richly-pencilled Gold and Silver Pheasants, and the +noble Reeves' and Amherst Pheasants, with their extraordinary +long-barred tail plumes. The last named is a bird of unusual +magnificence. + +Then there is the splendid Fire-back of Sumatra and Java, which is +adorned with a crest of slender stalked feathers, each expanding into a +disk with spreading barbs. The head, neck, breast, and belly of this +rare bird are of deep steel-blue, very lustrous, the lower part of the +back fiery orange-red or flame-colour, varying in intensity according to +the incidence of the light, and passing like a zone of fire round the +body, though less brilliant on the abdomen; the rump and tail-coverts +broad and truncate, bluish-green, each feather tipped by a paler bar. +The tail is erect and arched, somewhat like that of the common cock, +its middle feathers are pure white, and all the rest black, with green +reflections. The legs and feet, which are scarlet, and the skin of the +face, purple, complete the toilet of this magnificent oriental. + +What shall we say to the Argus Pheasant, the bird of Malacca with the +magnificent pinions? How fine a sight must it be to see this noble fowl +displaying his coxcombery in the presence of his admiring hens, +strutting to and fro with his long tail feathers spread and erected, and +his broad wings expanded and scraping the ground far on each side! The +colours, it is true, are sober browns, varied with black and white; but +how exquisitely are these arranged! Perhaps no brilliancy of tint would +more charm the eye than the row of ocellated spots,--each a dark +circular disk surrounded by concentric circles,--that runs along the +centre of each of the enormously-developed secondary wing-quills. + +To come back to colour and metallic refulgence. We must not overlook the +Monal, or Scaly Impeyan of the Himalaya chain. This fowl, which is +little less than a turkey, looks as if clothed in scale armour of +iridescent metal, of which the specific hues can scarcely be indicated, +so changeable are they; green, steel-blue, crimson, purple, and +golden-bronze,--all of the utmost intensity of colour, and of dazzling +refulgence, adorn this bird, set off by a broad square patch of pure +white in the middle of the back, while the crown of the head carries a +drooping crest of naked-shafted, broad-tipped, green feathers. This +splendid fowl is as hardy as the turkey or pheasant, and will probably +before long be domesticated in British preserves, to which it would be a +noble addition, being perhaps exceeded by nothing in nature for +refulgence. + +In the same regions are found the Polyplectrons, or Pheasant Peacocks, +birds of the same family. Look at one of these in detail, the Crested +Polyplectron of the Sunda Isles. It much resembles a peacock in contour, +the head and neck black, with steely reflections, relieved by a long +stripe of white arching over each eye, and a broad patch of the same on +the ears. The forehead and crown carry a crest of tall feathers capable +of erection, and making a fine ornament. The whole under parts are +velvet black; the back and rump warm brown, with paler wavy bands and +lines. The coverts and secondary feathers of the wings are of the +richest blue, each feather tipped with velvety black. But the tail is +the grand display. It is a true tail, not a train of superincumbent +feathers as in the peacock, the quill-feathers being of great length and +breadth, and the whole capable of being widely expanded into an enormous +rounded fan. The individual feathers are brown, pencilled and sprinkled +with pale buff,--a pretty ground, on each of which is painted two large +oval eye-spots of the most brilliant metallic blue or green, according +to the light, contained within encircling double rings of black and +white. These refulgent eyes are so set that they constitute two curved +bands placed at some distance apart, running across the tail, and when +this organ is expanded they impart to it a most regal appearance. + +Last, but not least, in this distinguished tribe, there is the familiar +Peacock, a proverb of splendour in raiment from the remote antiquity of +Aristophanes and Aristotle to Mr Hollingshead, who lashes the sumptuary +tendencies of our modern ladies under the title of "Peacockism."[211] +The true Peacock, however, the genuine bird, may at least plead that no +milliners' bills of L3000 are ever proved against him in Bankruptcy +Courts. + +I am not going to be so impertinent as to describe in detail the plumage +of a bird so well known as the Peacock. Who does not know his empurpled +neck so elegantly bridled, his aigrette of four-and-twenty +battledore-feathers, his pencilled body-clothing, and, above all, his +grand erectile train with its rows of eyelets? Who has not admired the +lustre and beauty of those eyelets,--the kidney-like nucleus of deepest +purple, the surrounding band of green, widening in front and filling the +notch of the pupil, the broad circle of brown, and the narrow black ring +edged with chestnut, and then the decomposed barbs of the feather, +gilded green, all presenting the effulgence of burnished metal, or +rather the glitter and glow of precious gems, flashing in the varying +light? One can hardly imagine the splendour of the scene described by +Colonel Williamson, as seen by him in the Jungleterry District in India, +when, being engaged shooting these beautiful fowl, he estimates that not +fewer than twelve or fifteen hundred Peafowl of various sizes were +within sight of him for nearly an hour. "Whole woods were covered with +their beautiful plumage, to which the rising sun imparted additional +brilliancy. Small patches of plain among the long grass, most of them +cultivated, and with mustard then in bloom, which induced the birds to +feed, increased the beauty of the scene." + +In the preceding volume I have spoken of the gorgeous beauty of the +Birds of Paradise, and have quoted the description given by Lesson of +his rapt feelings when, on first seeing a specimen in the forests of +Papua, he could not shoot from emotion. A chapter on animal beauty +cannot pass over this magnificent family, though to my own taste there +is something in the refulgent radiance of the Humming-birds and +Pheasants which is superior to anything seen in the Paradise-birds. The +latter, or some of them at least, give me the idea of being +over-dressed, particularly that one called the Superb, whose singular +forked gorget and shoulder-cape, gorgeous as these adornments are, with +their lustrous violet and green flushes, are somewhat inelegant in form. +Yet some of them are softly beautiful;-- + + "So richly deck'd in variegated down, + Green, sable, shining yellow, shading brown, + Tints softly with each other blended, + Hues doubtfully begun and ended; + Or intershooting, and to sight + Lost and recover'd, as the rays of light + Glance in the conscious plumes touch'd here and there. + + * * * * * + + "This the Sun's Bird, whom Glendoveers might own, + As no unworthy partner in their flight + Through seas of ether, where the ruffling sway + Of nether air's rude billows is unknown: + Whom sylphs, if e'er for casual pastime they + Through India's spicy regions wing their way, + Might bow to as their lord."[212] + +[Illustration: PEACOCK-SHOOTING.] + +The Emerald Paradise, the best known of the family, seems to have been +in the poet's eye; and certainly the combination of form and colour in +this species is very charming. The rich chocolate of the upper parts, +and the delicate lemon-yellow of the neck, contrast well with the +gemmeous green lustre of the front, when the velvety plumage flashes and +gleams in the sunlight. And the numerous soft floating plumes that arch +out from the flanks to a great distance on all sides are exquisite in +loveliness. "Even in the absolute quiet of a stuffed skin under a glass +case," as Mr Wood remarks, "these plumes are full of astonishing beauty, +their translucent golden-white vanelets producing a most superb effect +as they cross and recross each other, forming every imaginable shade of +white, gold and orange, and then deepening towards their extremities +into a soft purplish red." + +Mr G. Bennett, who saw a living specimen in an aviary at Macao, +describes these long, elegant, loose-barbed plumes as occupying a good +deal of the bird's own attention and care. "One of the best +opportunities of seeing this splendid bird in all its beauty of action +as well as display of plumage, is early in the morning, when he makes +his toilet: the beautiful sub-alar plumage is then thrown out and +cleaned from any spot that may sully its purity, by being passed gently +through the bill; the short chocolate wings are extended to the utmost, +and he keeps them in a steady flapping motion as if in imitation of +their use in flight, at the same time raising up the delicate long +feathers over the back, which are spread in a chaste and elegant manner, +floating like films in the ambient air. In this position the bird would +remain for a short time, seemingly proud of its heavenly beauty, and in +raptures of delight with its most enchanting self; it would then assume +various attitudes, so as to regard its plumage in every direction."[213] + +Passing over all other classes of animate existence, I shall say a few +words on the surpassing loveliness which is displayed by many of the +Insect tribes. The nursery prejudice, that these creatures are worthy +only to be trodden under foot, as things repulsive and disgusting, is +certainly decaying, though it retains its hold still in some minds. A +glance through an entomological cabinet would prove how unjust are such +notions. If brilliant hues, polished surface, sculptured chasings, +graceful forms, and lively motions can command admiration, these are +displayed by Insects to a degree which we should in vain look for in any +other class of creatures. We need not speak of simple colours; these +occur in profusion, of all hues, of all shades of intensity, and of the +very highest degrees of brightness; combined too, in the most elegant +manner, and very frequently, particularly in the _Lepidoptera_, +presenting that peculiar charm which results from the association of +tints that are complemental to each other. + +Words are always felt to be too poor to describe the refulgence of the +hues of many of the feathered tribes;--the metallic gloss of the Trogons +and the oriental _Gallinaceae_, the gem-like flashings of the +Humming-birds and the Birds of Paradise. Perhaps it would be deemed +extravagant to assert, that these glories can be _excelled_ by the tiny +races I am now discussing; but equalled, _most fully equalled_, they +assuredly are. To possess the glow of burnished metal upon the most +varied hues, is, in the order _Coleoptera_, a common thing. Most of the +_Eumolpidae_ are remarkable for this; of which I may instance _Chrysochus +fulgidus_, a beetle from Bombay. The _Buprestidae_ have long been +celebrated, for the same reason; and portions of their bodies have been +used in the toilet of ladies, in association with diamonds and rubies. + +Many of the _Chlamydae_ blaze with golden-crimson, purple, and the most +fiery orange. The species of the small genus _Eurhinus_ seem to send +forth the coloured flames of the pyrotechnic art. The _Longicornes_ +display the same beauties, associated with gigantic size. _Cheloderus +Childreni_, for example, a large beetle from Columbia, is equal to any +_Buprestis_ for the radiance of the green, crimson, purple, blue, +scarlet, and gold, that are all at the same time flaming from its +singularly-sculptured surface. + +But there are impressions conveyed by the reflection of light from the +bodies of many beetles, which far exceed the metallic fulgor of which I +have been speaking, beautiful as it is. I cannot hope to describe them +intelligibly; I know of no combination of words which will give an idea +of them. I mean the soft, almost velvety radiance of some of the +_Goliathi_; of many of the _Cetoniae_, as the genus _Eudicella_, for +instance; and of not a few of the _Phanaei_, in the former two, the hue +is generally green; in the latter, this colour is associated with other +hues, most glowing, yet of an indescribable softness. I cannot imagine +anything of this sort more charming than the soft golden and orange hue +upon the green of the magnificent _Phanaeus imperialis_. + +Others again, as _Hoplia farinosa_, a little chafer from Southern +Europe, and many of the weevil tribe (_Curculionidae_), are covered with +scales of vivid splendour, but so minute, and so closely set, that the +whole surface reflects one soft but rich lustre of tints, differing +according to the species. We would instance, of these, the noble species +of the genus _Cyphus_. Others of the same great family, on a dark but +still richly-coloured ground, have the minute scales clustered in spots +or bands, forming regular patterns in much variety; and in these they +reflect rainbow hues, as if a sunbeam decomposed through a prism had +been solidified and pulverised; or if viewed through a lens, looking +like powdered gems, each individual scale changing its hues with the +slightest motion of the eye. Among these we may mention _Hypsonotus +elegans_, _Cyphus spectabilis_, _Entimus splendidus_, and _E. +imperialis_, commonly known as diamond beetles; and the elegantly-shaped +genus _Pachyrhynchus_, of which the _P._ _gemmatus_, from the +Philippine Islands, is, perhaps, the most lovely of all earthly +creatures. + +And if we look at the _Lepidoptera_, the order more especially under +review, we feel that beauty belongs to them rather as an essence than as +an accident. Their broad fan-like wings have an airy lightness and grace +to which the painter and the poet pay homage, when they endow the sylphs +and loves of their fancy with butterfly pinions. + +They are clothed with minute scales, which are the vehicle of their +colours, somewhat resembling in this respect the beetles last spoken of; +but they have beauties peculiar to themselves. Fine combinations and +contrasts of colours are too much the rule in this order to need +specification; and these are often shaded and blended with a downy +softness, as in the Sphinges and Moths. As illustrious examples, I will +mention the _Gynautocera_, a group of Oriental Moths approaching in some +points the Butterflies, as exhibiting the most brilliant hues in bands +and clouds, but softly blended and mingled, with exceeding chasteness +and beauty. + +Many species of the genus _Catagramma_, a group of Butterflies marked on +the inferior surface of the fore-wings with scarlet and black, and on +that of the hind with singular concentric circles of black on a white +ground, have on the superior surface the metallic lustre common in the +beetles, the wings being of golden green or blue. The genus _Urania_ has +this radiance still more conspicuous; while the inferior surface of some +of the _Theclae_, as _T. imperialis_, _T. Actaeon_, _T. Endymion_, &c., is +covered with the most rich and varied metallic hues, as if powdered +with gold, copper, and silver filings. Some Butterflies, as several of +our native _Fritillaries_, and more vividly an American species, +(_Argynnis passiflorae_,) one from New Zealand, (_Argyrophenga +antipodum_,) and the beautiful _Paphia Clytemnestra_, have spots of +burnished silver on their inferior surface; and several of our own +moths, as the genus _Plusia_, are so spotted on the upper surface. +Others display a lustre between that of silver and that of pearl, as +several species of _Charaxes_ on one, and the magnificent _Morpho +Laertes_ on both surfaces. But of this sort of beauty, perhaps nothing +can excel the gemmeous green, changing to azure, of _Papilio Ulysses_, +or that of _Apatura (?) laurentia_; or, above all, of some of the great +Brazilian _Morphos_. The blaze of silvery azure that flashes from _M. +Adonis_, _M. Cytheris_, and _M. Menelaus_, is indescribable; the eyes +are pained as they gaze upon it; yet there is said to be an unnamed +species from the emerald mountains of Bogota, of which a single specimen +is in a private cabinet in London, which is far more lustrous than +these. + +The change from one hue to another produced by the play of light in +altering the angle of its reflection, has always been much admired; and +this occurs in great perfection, and with much diversity, in the lovely +insects of the _Lepidopterous_ order. + +Some of the genus _Haetera_, (as _H. piera_, and _H. esmeralda_,) and +many of the _Heliconiadae_, as _Hymenitis diaphana_, &c., have the wings +nearly or quite destitute of the ordinary scaly clothing, presenting +only a transparent membrane of great delicacy; over which the light +plays with a beautiful iridescence. _Papilio Arcturus_ and some allied +species, are of a golden-green, changing to blue, or to glowing purple. +Very many of the _Nymphalidae_ are distinguished for a flush of +surpassing richness, that in one particular light gleams over the +surface. Our own _Apatura Iris_, commonly known as the purple emperor, +is a native example of this beauty, and still more _A. namoura_; but +especially the species of the genus _Thaumantis_, as well as _Morpho +Martia_, and _M. Automedon_. _Diadema bolina_ also displays a purple +flush over and around the white spots, which is exquisitely beautiful. +In general this glow is found only in the male, but in the lovely +_Epiphile chrysitis_ it is common to the female. + +In _Colias Electra_ a warm purple glow plays over the surface in a +strong light, which is the more singularly beautiful, because the +permanent colour which is thus suffused is a rich golden orange. There +is, however, a species (_C. Lesbia_) of which only a single specimen is +known, and that is in fragments, in the Banksian Collection, which is in +this respect vastly superior to the former. In all these cases, the +playing gleam is more or less empurpled; in _Paphia Portia_, however, it +may be called crimson. + +But still more exquisitely beautiful than any of these is the fine +opalescence that irradiates some butterflies in the changing beam. There +is a white butterfly from Senegal (_Anthocharis Ione_) allied to our +common garden whites, marked at the tips of the wings with a spot of +violet, surrounded by black. In a certain aspect, there plays over this +spot a violet opalescence of exceeding richness. And to mention no more, +(for, indeed, we know not that we could mention anything to surpass +this,) the carnation spots on the black wings of _Papilio Anchises_, _P. +AEneas_, _P. Tullus_, &c., are at intervals flushed with a violet +opalescence, so brilliant, that we know no other object to compare with +it. + +In contemplating such objects, we cannot help concurring in the +sentiments expressed by the pious Ray:--"Quaeri fortasse a nonnullis +potest, quis Papilionum usus sit? Respondeo, Ad ornatum universi, et ut +hominibus spectaculo sint: ad rura illustranda velut tot bracteae +inservientes. Quis enim eximiam earum pulchritudinem et varietatem +contemplans mira voluptate non afficiatur? Quis tot colorum et schematum +elegantias naturae ipsius ingenio excogitatas et artifici penicillo +depictas curiosis oculis intuens, divinae artis vestigia eis impressa non +agnoscat et miretur?" And I may add, since such exquisite traces of +loveliness remain in a world which Satan has spoiled and sin defiled, +what must have been its glory when He who made it could take complacency +in beholding it, and in the minutest details could pronounce it "very +good!" + +The Rev. James Smith of Monquhitter thus alludes to the exquisite beauty +of some South American butterflies. One or two of the species I have +already alluded to, but even these can yield additional themes of +admiration. "I hold," he says, "that there are hues and shades of +colour which are positively beautiful in themselves, and independently +of all associations whatever; and to look upon which merely as patches +of colour, affords a gratification of no mean description. And for the +truth of such an opinion, I know not where I should obtain a stronger +and a more pleasing proof, than from the _Lepidoptera_ to which I have +alluded. The patch, for instance, which is on the posterior wings of the +_Haetera Esmeralda_, and which may be characterised as a compound of +carmine and of the deepest blue dotted with two spots of vermilion, will +in itself, and irrespectively of association, communicate a pleasure to +every eye which looks upon it. The band of silver blue on the wing of a +large _Morpho_; the deep tone, to speak in pictorial phrase, of the +black in the _Papilio Sesostris_, finer even than the finest velvet of +Genoa; the rich dark orange on _Epicilia Ancaea_; the blue, shining in +one unnamed species like polished steel, in another (_Thecla_) with a +radiant clearness, which ultramarine itself could not surpass; the +satin-like golden green, the pearly lustrous white, and the deep shining +emerald ribbons in _Urania Boisduvalii_; the crimson lines and spots +deeper and clearer than blood, in a species to which no name is +attached, of _Papilio_; the small spangles of silver with which the +under surface of one of the least among them (_Cupido_) is, as it were, +incrusted; the iridescent and delicate violet with which, on the same +surface, a particular species of _Haetera_ is, so to speak, washed over, +in a way which calls to our remembrance the 'scumbling' given by +Rembrandt as the finishing touch to his finest productions; all these, +and many more, possess a beauty which I contend, in opposition to the +doctrine of Alison and Jeffrey, is absolute in itself; which is +altogether irrespective of association; and which the most skilful of +human pencils would find it impossible completely and properly to +copy."[214] + +I must apologise to fair readers for alluding to Spiders--"nasty +spiders!"--in a chapter on beauty; but prejudice must not make us shut +our eyes to glories even among these. In the tropical species there is +often metallic splendour and brilliance of colour. In my "Naturalist's +Sojourn in Jamaica," my friend Mr Hill has written some very interesting +observations on the web of a certain Spider, and on the relations of its +structure with that of the Spider itself; but I allude to it now because +of the elegance of the creature, the _Epeira argentata_ of Fabricius. +The upper surface of the body is of a glistening satiny or silvery +whiteness, the belly yellow, spotted with black, and the legs marked +with alternate rings of the same contrasted hues. + +In the same island I was familiar with another species, (_Nephila +clavipes_,) remarkable for the length and strength of its silken cords. +The body, which is lengthened, is studded with round white spots, each +encircled with a black border, on a rich greenish brown ground, +reminding one of the characteristic markings of the Tragopans among +birds. The cephalothorax is shining black, its lustre half concealed by +a clothing of short silvery down: the legs are very long, and have a +remarkably elegant appearance from having a bunch of black hair set +around the extremity of the first and second joints, like the bristles +of a bottle-brush. + +I fortify my own verdict with the observations of a brother naturalist +on the Spiders of Borneo, presuming that those which he alludes to +appear to belong to the genus _Gastracantha_, of which I have seen +species in Jamaica. + +"The spiders, so disgusting in appearance in many other countries, are +here of quite a different nature, and are the most beautiful of the +insect tribe; they have a skin of a shell-like texture, furnished with +curious processes, in some long, in others short, in some few, in others +numerous; but are found, of this description, only in thick woods and +shaded places: their colours are of every hue, brilliant and metallic as +the feathers of the humming-bird, but are, unlike the bright colours of +the beetle, totally dependent on the life of the insect which they +beautify, so that it is impossible to preserve them."[215] + +It is possible that this beauty might be less evanescent if the animals +were preserved in spirit or other antiseptic fluid. A writer in the +_Zoologist_ (p. 5929) mentions the fact that the iridescence of certain +beetles (_Cassida_) which is peculiarly splendid and metallic, and which +disappears immediately on the insects' becoming dry, is perpetuated in +its original loveliness when the specimens are preserved in spirit, even +after the lapse of several years. + +The tropical species of this genus are far finer and richer than our +little English kinds, though these are pretty. I was much delighted by +the brilliance of some of the Jamaican species, and Sir Emerson Tennent +thus speaks of them in Ceylon:-- + +"There is one family of insects, the members of which cannot fail to +strike the traveller by their singular beauty, the _Cassidadae_, or +tortoise beetles, in which the outer shell overlaps the body, and the +limbs are susceptible of being drawn entirely within it. The rim is +frequently of a different tint from the centre, and one species which I +have seen is quite startling from the brilliancy of its colouring, which +gives it the appearance of a ruby inclosed in a frame of pearl; but this +wonderful effect disappears immediately on the death of the +insect."[216] + +If we turn to the vegetable world, what a profusion of beauty do we +find! Exquisite are the tiny Mosses, when the fogs and rains of winter, +so inimical to other vegetation, have quickened them into verdure and +fruit. How they spread along the hedgerow banks in soft fleeces of vivid +emerald, and shoot up their slender stalks, each crowned with its tiny +urn, and wearing its fairy nightcap! Beautiful are the tiny dark-green +feather-like leaves of the Forkmoss crowded on the clayey bank; +beautiful the wild sprays of the plumy Hypnum; and beautiful the little +round velvet cushions of Tortula, that grow on every old wall-top. + + "The tiny moss, whose silken verdure clothes + The time-worn rock, and whose bright capsules rise, + Like fairy urns, on stalks of golden sheen, + Demand our admiration and our praise, + As much as cedar kissing the blue sky + Or Krubul's giant-flower. God made them all, + And what _He_ deigns to make should ne'er be deem'd + Unworthy of our study." + +Exquisite too are the Ferns, in their arching fronds, so richly cut in +elegant tracery. See a fine crown of the Lady Fern in a shaded +Devonshire lane, and confess that grace and beauty are triumphant there. +And in the saturated atmosphere of the tropical islands, where these +lovely plants form a very large proportion of the entire vegetation, and +some of them rise on slender stems thirty or forty feet in altitude, +from the summit of which the wide-spreading fronds arch gracefully on +every side, like a vast umbrella of twinkling verdure, through whose +filagree work the sunbeams are sparkling,--what can be more charming +than Ferns? + +The queenly Palms, too, are models of stately beauty. Linnaeus called +them _vegetabilium principes_; and, when we see them in some noble +conservatory of adequate dimensions, such as the glass palm-house at +Kew, crowded side by side, with their crowned heads, and lofty stature, +and proud, erect bearing, we are involuntarily reminded of the monarchs +of many kingdoms met in august conclave. + + "Lo! higher still the stately palm-trees rise, + Chequering the clouds with their unbending stems, + And o'er the clouds, amid the dark-blue skies, + Lifting their rich unfading diadems. + How calm and placidly they rest + Upon the heaven's indulgent breast, + As if their branches never breeze had known! + Light bathes them aye in glancing showers, + And Silence, 'mid their lofty bowers, + Sits on her moveless throne." + +Are the Grasses worthy of mention for their beauty? Surely, yes. Many of +them display a downy lightness exquisitely lovely, as the common +Feather-grass. The golden panicles of the great Quake-grass, so +curiously compacted and hanging in stalks of so hair-like a tenuity as +to nod and tremble with the slightest motion, how beautiful are these! +And the satiny plumes of the Pampas-grass projecting from the clump of +leaves form a fine object. But the Bamboos, those great arborescent +Grasses of the tropics, form a characteristic feature of the vegetation +of those regions, of almost unexampled magnificence. I have seen them in +their glory, and can sympathise with the philosophical Humboldt in the +powerful effect which the grandeur of the Bamboo produces on the poetic +mind. It is an object never to be forgotten, especially when growing in +those isolated clumps, that look like tufts of ostrich-plumes magnified +to colossal dimensions. A thousand of these noble reeds standing in +close array, each four or five inches in the diameter of its stem, and +rising in erect dignity to the height of forty feet, and all waving +their tufted summits in diverging curves moved by every breeze,--form, +indeed, a magnificent spectacle. Growing in the most rocky situations, +the Bamboo is frequently planted in Jamaica on the very apex of those +conical hills which form so remarkable a feature in the landscape of the +interior, and to which its noble tufts constitute a most becoming crown. + +Mr Ellis thus describes the elegance of these magnificent Grasses in +Madagascar:-- + +"The base of the hills and the valleys were covered with the Bamboo, +which was far more abundant than during any former part of the journey. +There were at least four distinct varieties: one a large growing kind, +erect nearly to the point; a second smaller, seldom rising much above +twenty feet in height, bushy at the base, and gracefully bending down +its tapering point. A third kind rose in single cane, almost without a +leaf, to the height of thirty feet or more; or, bending over, formed a +perfectly circular arch. I also saw a Bamboo growing as a creeper, with +small short joints, feathered with slender leafy branches at every +joint, and stretching in festoons from tree to tree along the side of +the road, or hanging suspended in single lines from a projecting branch, +and swinging gently with the passing breeze. The appearance of the +Bamboo when growing is exceedingly graceful. Sometimes the canes, as +thick as a man's arm at the base, rise forty or fifty feet high, fringed +at the joints, which are two or three feet apart, with short branches of +long, lance-shaped leaves. The smaller kinds, which abound most in this +region, are still more elegant; and the waving of the canes, with their +attenuated but feathery-looking points, bending down like a plume, and +the tremulous quivering, even in the slightest breeze, of their long, +slender leaves, present ever-varying aspects of beauty; and, combined +with the bright-green colour of the Bamboo-cane and leaf, impart an +indescribable charm to the entire landscape."[217] + +Glorious in loveliness are the _Musaceae_, the Plantains and Bananas of +the hot regions. Humboldt calls the Banana "one of the noblest and most +lovely of vegetable productions;" and truly its enormous, flag-like +leaves of the richest green, permeated by nervures running transversely +in exactly parallel lines, and arching out in every direction from the +succulent, spongy, sheathed stem, command our admiration, apart from the +beauty of their flowers, or the importance of their fruit. + +In a description of a mountain scene in Tahiti, drawn with graphic power +by Charles Darwin, the Banana forms a prominent element:--"I could not +look on the surrounding plants without admiration. On every side were +forests of Banana; the fruit of which, though serving for food in +various ways, lay in heaps decaying on the ground.... As the evening +drew to a close, I strolled beneath the gloomy shade of the Bananas up +the course of the stream. My walk was soon brought to a close, by coming +to a waterfall between two and three hundred feet high; and again above +this there was another.... In the little recess where the water fell, it +did not appear that a breath of wind had ever blown. The thin edges of +the great leaves of the Banana, damp with spray, were unbroken, instead +of being, as is so generally the case, split into a thousand shreds. +From our position, almost suspended on the mountain-side, there were +glimpses into the depths of the neighbouring valleys: and the lofty +points of the central mountains, towering up within sixty degrees of the +zenith, hid half the evening sky. Thus seated, it was a sublime +spectacle to watch the shades of night gradually obscuring the last and +highest pinnacles."[218] + +This scene must have been one of surpassing sublimity and loveliness. +Few doubtless have ever beheld anything that can be compared with it. +But perhaps many have felt--I have, often,--that there are occasions in +which the sense of the beautiful in nature becomes almost painfully +overpowering. I have gazed on some very lovely prospects, bathed perhaps +in the last rays of the evening sun, till my soul seemed to struggle +with a very peculiar undefinable sensation, as if longing for a power to +enjoy, which I was conscious I did not possess, and which found relief +only in tears. I have felt conscious that there were elements of +enjoyment and admiration there, which went far beyond my capacity of +enjoying and admiring; and I have delighted to believe, that, by and by, +when, in the millennial kingdom of Jesus, and, still more, in the +remoter future, in the dispensation of the fulness of times, the +earth--the "_new_ earth,"--shall be endowed with a more than +paradisaical glory, there will be given to redeemed man a greatly +increased power and capacity for drinking in, and enjoying the augmented +loveliness. Doubtless the risen and glorified saints, sitting with the +King of kings upon His throne, will have the senses of their spiritual +bodies expanded in capacity beyond what we can now form the slightest +conception of; and as all then will be enjoyment of the most exquisite +kind, and absolutely unalloyed by interruption or satiety,--the eye will +at length be satisfied with seeing, and the ear be satisfied with +hearing. "_I shall be satisfied_, when I awake up with thy likeness." + +It is in _Flowers_ that the beauty of the vegetable world chiefly +resides; and I shall now therefore select a few examples from the +profusion of lovely objects which the domain proper of Flora presents to +us. + +That very curious tribe of plants, the _Orchideae_, so remarkable for the +mimic forms of other things, that its blossoms delight to assume, is +also pre-eminent in gorgeous beauty. Take the _Sobraliae_,--terrestrial +species from Central America, where they form extensive thickets, +growing thrice the height of man, with slender nodding stems, and +alternate willow-like leaves, and terminal racemes loaded with +snow-white, pink, crimson, or violet flowers.[219] Imagine the crushing +through "thickets" of the lovely _S. macrantha_! The large lily-like +blossoms of this species are eight inches long, and as many wide, of the +richest purple crimson, and of the most elegant shape conceivable, with +the lip so wrapped round the column as to appear funnel-shaped, bordered +by an exquisitely-cut fringe. + +I have before alluded to _Phajus Tankervilliae_, that rich lily-like +spike of blossom which I stumbled on in the midst of a dense thicket in +the mountains of Jamaica. Another terrestrial genus of great elegance is +_Cypripedium_, of which we have one native species, _C. calceolus_, the +yellow lady's slipper,--one of the most charming, but the rarest and +most difficult of propagation, of British plants. But this is far +excelled in beauty by many of the exotic species; as, for example, the +exquisite _C. barbatum_ from Malacca. The very foliage is princely; for +the nervures and cross-veins form a network pattern of dark green upon +the light green area of each broad leaf. The blossom rears up its noble +head erect, with its standard-petal of white, striped with green and +purple, the wing-petals studded with purple tubercles along their edges, +and the lip or slipper-shaped petal of a dark purple hue. + +My readers may have occasionally noticed a little plant, in the most +recherchees stove-houses, of so much delicacy and preciousness that it +is invariably kept under a bell-glass. I mean the _Anaectochilus +setaceus_. It belongs to this tribe, and is a terrestrial species, +growing about the roots of the trees in the humid forests of Ceylon. Its +exquisite loveliness has attracted the attention of even the apathetic +Cingalese, who call it by the poetical epithet of _Wanna Raja_, or king +of the forest. It does not appear to possess any peculiar attractiveness +in its blossoms,--indeed, I have never seen it in flower; but its +leaves, which grow in opposite pairs, are elegantly heart-shaped, of a +deep rich greenish-brown hue, approaching to black, of a surface which +resembles velvet, reticulated all over with pale golden veins, which, +being numerous and minute, have a very charming appearance, somewhat +like the pale network on black patches which we see in the wings of some +dragon-flies. + +The epiphyte Orchids are also magnificent in beauty. One of the +handsomest genera is _Dendrobium_, containing many species, mostly +natives of Southern Asia and the great islands. Perhaps the finest of +all is _D. nobile_, of which the sepals and petals are greenish-white, +tipped with rich purple, and the downy tube-like lip is of the same +regal hue in the interior, with a pale yellow margin. + +By the side of this you may set the lovely _Huntleya violacea_, one of +the discoveries of Sir R. Schomburgk in the interior of Guiana. Its +broad wavy petals of the softest richest violet, "vary in intensity from +deepest sapphire to the mild iridescence of opal." This fine flower has +a melancholy interest from its being associated with the death of Sir +Robert's friend and fellow-servant, Mr Reiss. The gorgeous scenes of +tropical vegetation in which the plant was found, and the sad accident, +are thus depicted by the accomplished traveller:-- + +"I discovered the _Huntleya violacea_ for the first time in October +1837, then on my ascent of the river Essequibo. The large cataract, +Cumaka Toto, or Silk Cotton Fall, obliged us to unload our corials, and +to transport the luggage overland, in order to avoid the dangers which a +mass of water, at once so powerful and rapid, and bounded by numerous +rocks, might offer to our ascent. While the Indians were thus occupied, +I rambled about one of the small islands, which the diverging arms of +the river formed in their descent, and the vegetation of which had that +peculiar lively appearance which is so characteristic of the vicinity of +cataracts, where a humid cloud, the effects of the spray, always hovers +around them. Blocks of syenite were heaped together; and while their +black shining surface contrasted strongly with the whitish foam of the +torrent, and with the curly waves beating against the rocky barriers--as +if angry at the boundary which they attempted to set to the incensed +element--their dome-shaped summits were adorned with a vegetation at +once rich and interesting. _Heliconias_, _Tillandsias_, _Bromelias_, +_Ferns_, _Pothos_, _Cyrtopodiums_, _Epidendrums_, _Peperomias_, all +appeared to struggle for the place which so small a surface afforded to +them. The lofty mountains, Akaywanna, Comute, or Taquia, and Tuasinki, +recede and form an amphitheatre, affording a highly interesting scene, +and no doubt the most picturesque of that part of the river Essequibo. + +"I was attracted by a number of _Oncidium altissimum_ which covered one +of the rocky piles, and astonished me by their long stems and bright +colour of their flowers, when my attention was more powerfully attracted +by a plant, the appearance of which, although different from the +pseudo-bulbous tribe, proclaimed, nevertheless, that it belonged to that +interesting family, the _Orchideae_. The specimens were numerous; and +clothed almost, with their vivid green, the rugged and dark trunks of +the gigantic trees, which contributed to the majestic scene around me. +It was not long before I discovered one of these plants in flower. It +was as singular as it was new to me;--the sepals and petals of a rich +purple and velvet-like appearance; the helmet, to which form the column +bore the nearest resemblance, of the same colour; the labellum striated +with yellow. + +"In the sequel of my expeditions, I found it generally in the vicinity +of cataracts, where a humid vapour is constantly suspended, and where +the rays of the sun are scarcely admitted through a thick canopy of +foliage. I traced the _Huntleya_ from the sixth parallel of latitude to +the shady mountains of the Acaria chain near the equator; but in its +fullest splendour it appeared at one of the small islands among the +Christmas cataracts in the river Berbice. There is a melancholy +circumstance connected with the plant, which its appearance never fails +to recall to my memory. Their singular beauty at this spot induced my +friend, Mr Reiss, who accompanied me as a volunteer during the +unfortunate expedition up the river Berbice, to draw and paint it on the +spot. He was yet occupied with this task when the last of our canoes was +to descend the dangerous cataract. He arose from his occupation, +desirous to descend with the Indians in the canoe, although against my +wish, but he persisted. The canoe approached the fall; it upset; and, of +thirteen persons who were in it at the time, he was the only one who +paid the rash attempt with his life. He is now buried opposite that +island, the richest vegetable productions of which it was his last +occupation to imitate on paper and in colours."[220] + +We might linger long on these flowers of strange loveliness, but space +compels us to forsake them and to turn to some other examples in the +wide range of Flora's domains. How glorious a sight must be the sheeted +Rhododendrons of the Himalaya peaks, on whose lofty elevations Dr Hooker +found these fine plants in great prominence, "clothing the +mountain-slopes with a deep-green mantle, glowing with bells of +brilliant colours; of the eight or ten species growing here, [on the +Zemir, in Sikkim, twelve thousand feet above the sea,] every bush was +loaded with as great a profusion of blossoms as are their northern +congeners in our English gardens!"[221] + +The noblest of the genus is that which is dedicated to Lady Dalhousie. +It is an epiphyte, being always found growing, like the Orchids, among +mosses and ferns, upon the trunks of large trees, especially oaks and +magnolias, at an elevation of from seven to ten thousand feet. In this +particular, in the fragrance of its noble white blossoms, in its slender +habit, in the whorled arrangement of its branches, and in the length of +time during which it continues in flower in its native regions, viz., +from April to July, it differs from all its fellows of the same genus +that inhabit northern India. + +The flowers are four inches in length and four in diameter, with a broad +trumpet lip. Their colour is pure white, assuming a delicate rosy tinge +as they become old, and sometimes becoming spotted with orange. They +have an odour which resembles that of the lemon. + +Of this and the following species Dr Hooker writes from Dorjiling, seven +thousand feet above the sea:--"On the branches of the immense +purple-flowered magnolia, (_M. Campbellii_,) and those of oaks and +laurels, _Rhododendron Dalhousiae_ grows epiphytally, a slender shrub +bearing from three to six white lemon-scented bells, four and a half +inches long and so many broad, at the end of each branch. In the same +woods the scarlet Rhododendron (_R. arboreum_) is very scarce, and is +outvied by the great _R. argenteum_, which grows as a tree, forty feet +high, with magnificent leaves twelve to fifteen inches long, deep green +wrinkled above and silvery below, while the flowers are as large as +those of _R. Dalhousiae_ and grow more in a cluster. I know nothing of +the kind that exceeds in beauty the flowering branch of _R. argenteum_, +with its wide-spreading foliage and glorious mass of flowers."[222] + +The latter, which is nearly equal to _R. Dalhousiae_ in the size of its +blossoms, and perhaps superior to it in other respects, is another +white-flowered species. It is, as described above, a tree with large +massive leaves of a silvery tint beneath. When young, they are +exquisitely beautiful, being encased in long flesh-coloured cones of +large scales, of very ornamental appearance. The flowers are three +inches long, forming a compact globose head. + +They secrete a large quantity of honey, which is said to be poisonous, +as is also that of _R. Dalhousiae_. + +The grandeur and beauty of the same genus are celebrated by Mr Low, as +he saw the species growing in Borneo, where too their parasitic +character struck him, as it had done Dr Hooker:-- + +"Perhaps the most gorgeous of the native plants are the various species +of the genus _Rhododendron_, which here assume a peculiar form, being +found epiphytal upon the trunks of trees, as the genera of the tribe +_Orchidace{oe}_. This habit, induced probably by the excessive moisture of +the climate, is not, however, confined to the Ericaceous plants, but +also prevails with the genera _Fagria_, _Combretum_, and many others, +usually terrestrial; the roots of the Rhododendrons, instead of being, +as with the species [which are] inhabitants of cold climates, small and +fibrous, become large and fleshy, winding round the trunks of the forest +trees; the most beautiful one is that which I have named in compliment +to Mr Brooke. Its large heads of flowers are produced in the greatest +abundance throughout the year: they much exceed in size those of any +known species, frequently being formed of eighteen flowers, which are of +all shades, from pale and rich yellow to a rich reddish salmon-colour; +in the sun, the flowers sparkle with a brilliancy resembling that of +gold dust. + +"Four other species which I discovered are very gorgeous, but of +different colours, one being crimson and another red, and the third a +rich tint between these two: of the fourth I have not yet seen the +flowers."[223] + +Take an example from another order. The Lightning-tree of Madagascar +rises before us in the graphic pages of Mr Ellis:-- + +"But the most magnificent objects were the fine trees of _Astrapaea +Wallichii_, or _viscosa_. The name of this Malagasy plant was derived +from the word for lightning, on account of the brilliancy of its +flowers; and Sir Joseph Paxton and Dr Lindley have thus spoken of _A. +Wallichii_:--'One of the finest plants ever introduced. And when loaded +with its magnificent flowers, we think nothing can exceed its grandeur.' +I had seen a good-sized plant growing freely at Mauritius, but here it +was in its native home, luxuriating on the banks of the stream, its +trunk a foot in diameter, its broad-leaved branches stretching over the +water, and its large, pink, globular, composite[224] flowers, three or +four inches in diameter, suspended at the end of a fine down-covered +stalk, nine inches or a foot in length. These, hanging by hundreds along +the course of the stream, surpassed anything of the kind I had seen, or +could possibly have imagined. I frequently met with the _Astrapaea_ +afterwards, but always growing near the water, and its branches +frequently stretching over a lake or river."[225] + +The Leguminous or Papilionaceous order presents many plants of striking +beauty, both in foliage, which is often of extreme lightness and +elegance, and also in blossom. They are among the gayest and most +graceful of plants in all regions. The magnificent vegetation of the +Mauritius contains one of notable glory, the Flamboyant, thus noticed by +Ellis:-- + +"Conspicuous beyond all the rest is the stately and gorgeous _Poinciana +regia_, compact-growing and regular in form, but retaining something of +the acacia habit, rising sometimes to the height of forty or fifty feet, +and, between the months of December and April, presenting, amidst its +delicate pea-green pinnated leaves, one vast pyramid of bunches of +bright, dazzling scarlet flowers. Seen sometimes over the tops of the +houses, and at others in an open space, standing forth in truly regal +splendour, this is certainly one of the most magnificent of trees. Its +common name is _mille fleurs_, or _flamboyant_."[226] + +I have had the delight of seeing the _Poinciana pulcherrima_ in Jamaica, +where it goes by the name of Flower-feuce, or sometimes, the "Pride of +Barbadoes." It is, when in flower, a gorgeous mass of scarlet and +orange, and it seemed to me the most magnificent thing in its way, that +I had ever seen. It does not, however, attain the dimensions of its +antipode, rarely exceeding those of a large shrub. + +I know not what the Burmese tree is, which is alluded to in the +following extracts from letters which I have received from my esteemed +friend, Captain G. E. Bulger, of the 10th Regiment:-- + +"I shall be exceedingly obliged by your telling me whether you are +familiar with the tree known in the West Indies and South America as the +'Bois Immortel;' and whether you think the leaf herewith sent belongs to +it. + +"During the cool season in Burmah, the forest presents a gorgeous sight, +from the multitude of scarlet blossoms which a large kind of tree puts +forth; and I am strongly inclined to think that this splendid ornament +of the jungles is, at all events, allied to the Bois Immortel of the +Western World. + +"The tree I speak of begins to flower about the middle of December, at +which time the leaves commence to wither and drop off. By the end of +January, when it is in full bloom, there is hardly a leaf remaining, but +it continues one mass of scarlet blossom until March. The flower is +shaped like that of the pea. + +"If you can enlighten me on this point I shall be indeed very much +obliged." + +I was compelled to confess my ignorance even of the South American +beauty, and my friend thus replied:-- + +"I first read of the 'Bois Immortel' in 'Waterton's Wanderings,' and I +subsequently saw a coloured representation of the tree in Mr Gould's +magnificent work on Humming-Birds. I think the specific name was also +given in that work, but it is some time ago, and I have almost forgotten +what it was like. Since I saw these two works, I have heard officers +speak of the splendour of the South American forests during the season +of 'Le Bois Immortel,' and have heard more than one say that they +believed nothing on earth could be more magnificent than 'matchless +Trinidad' when these trees are in full bloom. The autumnal beauty of the +North American woods is, doubtless, familiar to you, and I question very +much whether there is anything richer or more lovely to be found even in +South America." + +Even the humblest orders of plants have the element of beauty bestowed +on them with no niggard hand. Who would have expected, among the +_Chenopodeae_, and, above all, in the lowly little Saltworts, to find +such a glowing scene as Mr Atkinson describes?-- + +"We were now on a heavy sandy steppe--part of the Sackha Desert, which +extends into the Gobi--and vegetation was so very scant, that even the +steppe grass had disappeared. The _Salsola_ was growing in a broad belt +around the small salt lakes, its colour varying from orange to the +deepest crimson. These lakes have a most singular appearance when seen +at a distance. The sparkling of the crystallised salt, which often +reflected the deep crimson around, gave them the appearance of diamonds +and rubies set in a gorgeous framework. I rode round several times, +admiring their beauty, and regretting that it was impossible to stay and +visit a large lake, which I observed, ten or fifteen versts distant, +surrounded with green, orange, and crimson."[227] + +The microscope, too, will bring out beauties in flowers which the +unassisted eye is incompetent fully to recognise. If we take a scarlet +Geranium, or a purple Heartsease, the eye is delighted with the +brilliancy of the colouring; but on placing a petal of either on a slip +of glass, under a pretty high magnifying power, and reflecting the full +rays of the sun through the object, the rich gorgeousness of the hue, +the sparkling gem-like radiance of the surface, and the +exquisitely-regular form of the round cells, with their clear +interstices, form a spectacle of glorious beauty that almost surpasses +the conception of one who has not seen it. + +I shall close this chapter, which might easily have been expanded into a +volume, with a reference to an humble and minute plant, whose fairy +loveliness, combined with an almost unkillable hardiness of +constitution, has won for it a place in every garden, however +unpretending, and however ungenial in its locality,--the London-pride. +This exquisite little Saxifrage, general favourite as it is, requires +the microscope to bring out its beauties to advantage, but under a good +instrument you cannot fail to be charmed with it. I have one before me +at this moment, and will describe what I see. + +First, I notice, on a cursory glance, that the whole plant is clothed +with tiny hairs; I take one of the flower-stalks and examine these with +a power of three hundred diameters. Each now becomes a stem of +glass-like clearness, tapering upwards to a point, where it bears a +richly crimson cup, and in this is seated a globule of colourless +glass, just as an acorn sits in its shell. The multitude of these +organs--glandular hairs, the botanist calls them--standing up side by +side, rising to varying heights, and displaying various degrees of +development, is a very pleasing sight. + +I turn to an unopened bud, putting on a lower power, and viewing it as +an opaque object, with reflected light by the aid of the Lieberkuhn. +Here are the parting sepals of the calyx, painted with rose-pink and +pea-green, and studded all over with the knobbed hairs just noticed; the +coloured surface is rough with granules, but it is the roughness of +glass, for every knob gleams and sparkles with light. The corolla, a +little white ball, displays its petals smoothly folded over each other, +and their surface has the same appearance of granular glass as that of +the calyx. + +But now let me examine this blossom just expanded this morning,--the +very first of the season, by the way. I must have a low power for this, +eighty diameters, or so. Oh, how exquisite! The little saucer of five +oval petals, each of snowy whiteness, bearing its bow of lovely crimson +specks, with a spot of gamboge-yellow for the chord, and the whole +sparkling with glassy points as before. The pale red germen in the +centre, rising into two points of snow, their rosy tips pressed close +together, as if the twins were kissing. The ten stamens, five short +alternating with five long ones, and each bearing its pretty +kidney-shaped anther of pale scarlet. No; all are not kidney-shaped; for +here is one which has burst, and the grains of red pollen are seen +covering its rough purple surface; and here is one stamen from the +point of which the anther has gone, leaving only two or three +pollen-grains adhering. Behind all, I see the sepals of the calyx, +peeping out between the petals, and forming a fine dark background for +them, and for the longer filaments. + +And now I say to my readers, one and all,--you may not have the +opportunity to examine the glorious tropical Orchids, or the gorgeous +Flamboyant, but go and pluck a flower of the London-pride, and you will +have before your eyes such a production of Divine handiwork as may well +excite the admiration and adoration of an angel. + +[203] Rev. v. 11. + +[204] Edwards's _Voyage up the Amazon_, 194. + +[205] _Travels on the Amazon and Negro_, 222. + +[206] _Voy. a la Nouv. Guinee._ + +[207] _Amer. Ornith._ + +[208] Edwards's _Voy. up the Amazon_, 143. + +[209] _Martial_, xiii. 72. + +[210] _Windsor Forest._ + +[211] See _Good Words_ for April 1861. + +[212] _Wordsworth_. + +[213] _Wanderings in N. S. Wales_, &c., ii. 43. + +[214] _Zool._, 3060. + +[215] Low's _Sarawak_, 87. + +[216] Tennent's _Ceylon_, i. 250. + +[217] Ellis's _Visit to Madagascar_, 313. + +[218] _Nat. Voyage_, ch. xviii. + +[219] Poeppig.--_Nov. Gen. et Sp._, i. 54. + +[220] Lindley's _Sertum Orchid._; pi. xxvi. + +[221] _Himal. Journ._, ii. 58. + +[222] _Himal. Journals_, i. 126. + +[223] Low's _Sarawak_, 65. + +[224] The writer by this term doubtless alludes to the panicles or heads +_compounded_ of many individual flowers; for the plant does not belong +to the order _Compositae_, but to _Byttneriaceae_. + +[225] Ellis's _Madagascar_, p. 390. + +[226] Ellis's _Visits to Madagascar_, 57. + +[227] Atkinson's _Siberia_, 472. + + + + +XI. + +PARASITES. + + +Vast as is this round world on which we live, its surface is not nearly +large enough for all the living creatures which are ordained to inhabit +it. Multitudes of animals do not walk on the ground, or swim in the +waters, or fly in the air, but find the scene of their abode on or in +the bodies of other animals. Multitudes of plants do not grow out of the +soil, but attach themselves to other plants, and draw their sustenance +and support thence. Nay, there are parasites upon parasites, and this, +according to Hood, in an infinitely descending series. + + "Great fleas have little fleas + Upon their backs to bite 'em; + And little fleas have lesser fleas; + And so _ad infinitum_." + +Perhaps the poet's imagination ran a little ahead of his science here; +but the idea of an _infinite_ succession of parasites, like nests of +pill-boxes, is surely a funny one. There is nothing funny, however, in +the thought "that even man," who was made in the image of God, "bears +about in his vital organs various forms of loathsome creatures, which +riot on his fluids, and consume the very substance of his tissues while +ensconced where no efforts of his can dislodge them, no application +destroy them. So it is; and few physical facts are better calculated to +humble man, and stain the pride of his glory, than to feel that he may +at any moment be nourishing a horrid tape-worm in his alimentary canal, +or that his muscles may be filled with millions of microscopic +_trichinae_. + +I will not dwell on these; though, if I were writing a book of pure +science, there is a wondrous array of facts of the most striking and +interesting character, connected with the structure, the metamorphoses, +and the habits, of the Entozoic Worms, which I might present to my +readers. It is more pleasant to consider other facts, perhaps not less +marvellous, which, as they do not come quite so home to our personal +feelings, will not excite horror and disgust in our minds. + +The _economy_ of creation is remarkable. He who, by His divine +manipulation converted five loaves and two small fishes into a hearty +meal for five thousand men, besides women and children, and who could, +with the same ease have made them a hundred times as much, said, when +the meal was over, "Gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost." And, +when He spread the earth with life, though His resources were infinite, +He ordained that one object, itself healthfully enjoying life, and +fulfilling its own proper ends of being, should be a microcosm, on which +another range of life should find its sphere, and on which it should +disport, as on an independent world. I have often admired, in the +gorgeous tropical forests, what a wilderness of vegetation a single +tree supports; what numbers of orchids and wild pines spring out of the +forks, what creepers and lianes hang and twine about its branches, what +elegant ferns cluster on the horizontal limbs, what snake-like cacti +creep from bough to bough, what mosses, and jungermanniae crowd in every +crevice, what many-coloured lichens stud the rugged bark! And then +animal life is swarming in all this great field of parasitic vegetation. +Reptiles and birds, snails and slugs, insects and millepedes, and +spiders and worms nestle by thousands in such prolific situations, so +that a great old tropical tree, one of the giant figs or cotton-trees, +is a very museum in itself. + +And in my wanderings along the sea-edge here at home how often have I +been amazed at the diverse population, plant and animal, which crowds a +single oar-weed, or tangle! The stem fringed with delicate red-weeds, as +the minute _Rhodymeniae_, and _Polysyphoniae_, and _Callithamnia_; the +tortuous roots studded with Anemones, with _Flustrae_ and _Lepraliae_, and +multitudes of other _Polyzoa_, with tiny Polypes of many kinds, with +Barnacles and Limpets, and sheltering small Crustacea, and Mites, and +Annelids by scores. + +Mr Darwin has an interesting passage on this subject, evoked by the +profusion of parasitic life on the long sea-weed of Cape Horn +(_Macrocystis_). "The number of living creatures" he remarks, "whose +existence intimately depends on the Kelp is wonderful. A great volume +might be written, describing the inhabitants of one of these beds of +sea-weed. Almost all the leaves, excepting those that float on the +surface, are so thickly incrusted with corallines as to be of a white +colour. We find exquisitely delicate structures, some inhabited by +simple hydra-like polypi, others by more organised kinds, and beautiful +compound Ascidiae. On the leaves also, various patelliform shells, +Trochi, uncovered molluscs, and some bivalves are attached. Innumerable +crustacea frequent every part of the plant. On shaking the great +entangled roots, a pile of small fish, shells, cuttle-fish, crabs of all +orders, sea-eggs, star-fish, beautiful Holuthuriae, Planariae, and +crawling nereidous animals of a multitude of forms, all fall out +together. Often as I recurred to a branch of the kelp, I never failed to +discover animals of new and curious structure. In Chiloe, where the kelp +does not thrive very well, the numerous shells, corallines, and +crustacea are absent; but there yet remain a few of the Flustraceae, and +some compound Ascidiae; the latter, however, are of different species +from those in Terra del Fuego: we here see the fucus possessing a wider +range than the animals which use it as an abode. I can only compare +these great aquatic forests of the southern hemisphere, with the +terrestrial ones in the intertropical regions. + +"Yet if in any country a forest was destroyed, I do not believe nearly +so many species of animals would perish as would here, from the +destruction of the kelp. Amidst the leaves of this plant numerous +species of fish live, which nowhere else could find food or shelter: +with their destruction the many cormorants and other fishing birds, the +otters, seals, and porpoises, would soon perish also; and lastly, the +Fuegian savage, the miserable lord of this miserable land, would +redouble his cannibal feast, decrease in numbers, and perhaps cease to +exist." + +I have alluded to the epiphytic plants which are so abundant in the +tropics, and which add so greatly to the gorgeousness of the forests +there. The most remarkable, or, at all events, the best known, of these +are the _Orchideae_, to which, as I have already had occasion more than +once to speak of them, I shall do little more than refer here. These +establish themselves in the forks, upon the greater limbs, and even in +the roughnesses of the bark of the trunk, adhering by their long, +interlaced roots, which look like knotted whip-cord, and forming their +bunches of psuedo-bulbs, whence their succulent, thick, but elegant +leaves project,--a great tuft of verdure; and their fantastic +flower-scapes wave in the air or droop with their weight of gorgeous +bloom. Thus they derive their nourishment from the humid atmosphere +alone, being dependent on the friendly tree only for support and +elevation. Humidity seems essential to the vigour of these and most +other forms of parasitic vegetation. In the deep shady, gloomy forests +of Java, which constitute the zone of vegetation around the base of the +mountains, these plants abound, where the air is heavy and damp with the +vapours that cannot ascend, and where the density of the foliage is +almost frightful; where heat, moisture, and a most extraordinarily deep +and rich vegetable soil combine to produce wood of a fungus-like +softness, and an inconceivable abundance of twining plants and +epiphytes. In those forests, more especially where huge fig-trees +constitute the principal part of the timber, intermingled with the most +tropical forms of vegetation, such as _Sterculiaceae_, _Sapindaceae_, and +_Artocarpeae_, tufts of _Orchideae_ attain a vast size and luxuriance, in +company with Aroideous and Zinziberaceous plants.[228] In Demerara, Mr +Henchman found masses of _Oncidium altissimum_ and _Maxillaria Parkeri_ +of wide dimensions, and so densely growing as to defy any attempt at +intrusion; and on the Spanish main he saw the _Epidendrum_ known as the +"Spread Eagle" clasping enormous trees, and covering them from the top +to the bottom. + +The fig-trees, which are among the most gigantic of the tropical +forest-trees, and which support an immense profusion of epiphytes, are +themselves frequently parasitic and epiphyte in their early condition. +It is not uncommon in Jamaica to see a network of roots partially +embracing the trunk of some great tree, far up its column, and gradually +creeping round and downward. I have seen an old wall so covered, +presenting a very curious spectacle. The roots of a wide-spreading fig +growing out of the summit of the wall, had spread over its perpendicular +surface, down to the earth, all in the same plane, clinging to the wall; +the chief roots were as thick as a man's leg, but subordinate roots had +proceeded from one to another, anastomosing in all directions (if I may +use such a term), so as to make a most elaborate network of a multitude +of meshes of various angular forms and sizes. These cross-roots were _at +each extremity_ united with the larger roots, and looked as if the whole +network had been skilfully carved out of one solid plank of wood, by +cutting out the areas or meshes, and rounding the component bars; the +very bark that covered the whole was continuous, where the roots united, +as if they had been always integrally one. + +The only mode in which I can account for this singular phenomenon is the +following hypothesis:--The seed of the tree was originally deposited on +the summit of the wall, beneath the eaves. As it germinated, the roots +ran down towards the earth, some perpendicularly, some diagonally; but +all creeping along the surface of the wall, no roots having shot out +from its perpendicular. As these roots increased, they sent out side +rootlets, which, still running on the face of the wall, by and by came +in contact with another of the primary roots. Then, instead of creeping +_over_ it, as the roots of other trees would have done, the soft tip of +the rootlet actually united with the substance of the root at the point +of contact, the fibres of the two becoming interlaced, and their united +surfaces gradually becoming covered with a common bark. The repetition +of this process had produced the very curious wooden net which I have +attempted to describe. + +A still more remarkable example of this parasitic mode of growth I have +seen in the same island. By the side of a mountain road was a large +fig-tree, the base of whose trunk was about thirty feet from the +ground. Thence it reared itself up pillar-like towards the heavens, and +spread abroad its vast horizontal array of branches across the road. +From the same point there descended to the earth a hollow cone of roots, +interwoven and anastomosed, especially at the upper parts, in the same +manner as those of the boiling-house wall, but forming towards the +bottom only three or four flattened irregular columns. Into the area +inclosed by this network of roots a person might enter, for it was about +six feet wide, and, looking up, behold the base of the trunk eight or +ten yards above his head. + +The explanation of this curious phenomenon depends upon the tendency +just mentioned. On this site once stood a large tree of some other +species, probably a cotton-tree (_Eriodendron_), or some other +soft-timbered kind. The little scarlet berry of a Fig-tree was carried +by some vagrant Banana-bird or Pigeon to its boughs, and there devoured. +After the little truant had finished his morsel, he perhaps wiped his +beak against the rough bark of the trunk, beside the branch on which he +was seated. Some of the minute seeds, enveloped in mucilage, were thus +left on the tree, which the rain presently washed down into the broad +concavity of the forks, where, among moss and rotten leaves, it soon +germinated and grew. The roots gradually crept down the trunk of the +supporting tree, closely clinging to its bark, and by their +interlacement at length formed a living case, enveloping it on every +side, and penetrating the earth around its base. The growth of these, +and also of the inclosed tree, daily induced a tighter and tighter +pressure on the latter, which at length arrived at such a degree as to +stop the circulation of the sap between the bark and the wood. Death, of +course, was the result, and speedy decay reduced the supporting tree to +a heap of mouldering dust: while the parasite, now able to maintain its +own position by its hollow cone of roots, increased in size and +strength, and overtopped its fellows of the forest;--_a tree standing +upon stilts_. + +A few years ago I was struck with the appearance of an East Indian +species of the same genus in one of the conservatories at Kew. Three +shoots had run up the wall, clinging so close, that the leaves looked as +if they were actually glued to the bricks, one over the other, in the +most regular manner. Yet, on examination, I saw that the leaves did not +adhere at all; the only support was that of the tiny rootlets which +proceeded laterally from each stem, which the leaves concealed. The +appearance of the whole was so curious, with the pale growing bud +peeping out from beneath the topmost leaf, that I was greatly attracted +by it. The base of the plant was in a pot, but the attendant informed me +that this connexion was about to be cut off, by severing each shoot at +the point where it first seized the wall. The leaves above this point, +by their superior size and vigour, shewed that the plant was already +independent of its pot, and that it was capable of supporting itself, +like a proper air-plant, by imbibition from the atmosphere alone, +needing nothing more than support in its upright position, which it +obtained from the wall by its clinging aerial rootlets. + +Every one who has wandered in a primeval forest of the tropics, whether +in the eastern or the western hemisphere, has been struck by the +inconceivable profusion of the climbers and twiners with which the trees +are laced together. They are found from the thickness of a warship's +cable to that of pack-thread; the stronger ones often uncouthly twisted +together, and binding tree to tree. They are of the orders +_Malpighaceae_, _Apocyaneae_, _Asclepiadeae_, _Bignoniaceae_, &c., and often +are adorned with the most brilliant flowers. + +I have before cited descriptions of these wonderful lianes, as they +occur in the forests of South America; my readers may like to peruse Sir +Emerson Tennent's graphic sketch of those of Ceylon:-- + +"It is the trees of older and loftier growth that exhibit the rank +luxuriance of these wonderful epiphytes in the most striking manner. +They are tormented by climbing plants of such extraordinary dimensions +that many of them exceed in diameter the girth of a man; and these +gigantic appendages are to be seen surmounting the tallest trees in the +forest, grasping their stems in firm convolutions, and then flinging +their monstrous tendrils over the larger limbs till they reach the top, +whence they descend to the ground in huge festoons, and, after including +another and another tree in their successive toils, they once more +ascend to the summit, and wind the whole into a maze of living network +as massy as if formed by the cable of a line-of-battle ship. When, by +and by, the trees on which this singular fabric has become suspended +give way under its weight, or sink by their own decay, the fallen trunk +speedily disappears, while the convolutions of climbers continue to grow +on, exhibiting one of the most marvellous and peculiar living mounds of +confusion that it is possible to fancy. Frequently one of these creepers +may be seen holding by one extremity the summit of a tall tree, and +grasping with the other an object at some distance near the earth, +between which it is strained as tight and straight as if hauled over a +block. In all probability the young tendril had been originally fixed in +this position by the wind, and retained in it till it had gained its +maturity, where it has the appearance of having been artificially +arranged as if to support a falling tree."[229] + +Leaving the vegetable world, we may find some very curious examples of +parasitism among Insects. Every one who has paid the slightest attention +to this class of animals is aware that there are slender flies called +_Ichneumons_, whose grubs are hatched and reared in the bodies of other +insects. Many of these have the ovipositor greatly lengthened, and +projecting like a very slender needle from the extremity of the abdomen. +In some species, this needle-like organ is three or four times the +entire length of the body; and this great longitude is intended to reach +the pupae of wasps and similar insects which inhabit deep holes. The +needle itself is well worthy of study. It is not simple, but composed +of two pieces forming a sheath, which open and reveal a central finer +filament, furnished at its tip (in _Pimpla manifestator_, for example) +with saw-like teeth. With this instrument, which possesses great +elasticity and flexibility, the insect works, as a carpenter with his +brad-awl, boring through the clay, with which the wasp has closed up the +hole that contains her grub, until the tip of the ovipositor reaches the +soft body of the insect. Into this it pierces, and deposits an egg, and +is withdrawn. The slight puncture is scarcely felt by the grub, which +continues to eat and grow; the inserted egg, however, presently hatches, +and produces the ichneumon-grub, which begins to feed on the fat of the +wasp-grub, instinctively avoiding the vital parts, until the latter has +attained nearly its full size, and is ready to pass into the pupa state; +when, its vigour being gone, it fails to accomplish the metamorphosis, +the insidious intruder, now also full grown, taking its place, and by +and by issuing from the hole a perfect Ichneumon. + +How often has the enthusiastic young entomologist been subjected to sore +disappointment by the parasitic habits of these _Ichneumonidae_! He has +obtained some fine caterpillar, a great rarity, and by dint of much +searching of his Westwood or his Stainton, feels quite certain that it +is the larva of some much-prized butterfly. He ascertains its leaf-food; +which it eats promisingly; all goes on encouragingly. Surely it cannot +be far from the pupa state now! When some morning he is horrified to +behold, instead of the chrysalis, a host of filthy little grubs eating +their way out of the skin of his beautiful caterpillar, or covering its +remains with their tiny yellow cocoons. + +Some of these parasites are so minute that their young are hatched and +reared in the _eggs_ of other insects. Bonnet found that the egg of a +butterfly, itself no bigger than the head of a minikin pin, was +inhabited by several of the stranger grubs; for out of twenty such eggs, +he says, "a prodigious quantity" of the grubs were evolved. + +A very interesting tribe of insects, so diverse from all other known +forms as to constitute an order among themselves, that of the +_Strepsiptera_, passes its youth in the bodies of certain wild bees. Mr +Kirby's account of his first detection of one of these, though often +quoted, is so interesting that I must cite it afresh. "I had previously +observed," he remarks, "upon bees something that I took to be a kind of +mite (_Acarus_), which appeared to be immovably fixed just at the +inosculations of the dorsal segments of the abdomen. At length, finding +three or four upon an _Andraena nigroaenea_, I determined not to lose the +opportunity of taking one off to examine and describe; but what was my +astonishment when, upon my attempting to disengage it with a pin, I drew +forth from the body of the bee a white fleshy larva, a quarter of an +inch in length, the head of which I had mistaken for an acarus (_bee +louse_)! After I had examined one specimen, I attempted to extract a +second; and the reader may imagine how greatly my astonishment was +increased, when, after I had drawn it out but a little way, I saw its +skin burst, and a head as black as ink, with large staring eyes and +antennae, consisting of two branches, break forth, and move itself +quickly from side to side. It looked like a little imp of darkness just +emerged from the infernal regions. My eagerness to set free from its +confinement this extraordinary animal may be easily conjectured. Indeed, +I was impatient to become better acquainted with so singular a creature. +When it was completely disengaged, and I had secured it from making its +escape, I set myself to examine it as accurately as possible; and I +found, after a careful inquiry, that I had got a nondescript, whose very +class seemed dubious." + +Mr Newman, in an essay of much value,[230] has shewn that the larvae of +this tribe of insects are born alive, that they attach themselves to the +abdomens of wild bees, nestling among the hair, and that they are thus +introduced into the nest of the bee. Here it is somewhat uncertain how +they are sustained at first, for at this time the bee-grubs are not +hatched; probably they remain without food for some days, or devour a +portion of the pollen and honey stored up. As soon, however, as the +bee-grub is hatched, the Stylops-larva undergoes a metamorphosis, sheds +its six legs, and becomes a footless maggot; it pierces the soft skin of +the bee-grub, and feeds on its juices, till its maturity, as the +Ichneumon on the body of the caterpillar. + +When the perfect bee emerges in the following spring, it bears the +full-grown Stylops, protruding from the rings of its abdomen. The latter +is in pupa, all the organs being distinct and separate, but wrapped +together, and inclosed in separate pellicles; very soon, it emerges, as +described by Kirby, and escapes, leaving a great unsightly cavity in the +body of the bee. This is the male: the female never escapes, but lays +its eggs on the bee in which it has been reared, and then dies. + +In the spring we frequently see among herbage a great uncouth beetle of +a dark blue-black hue, with short wing-cases and long, heavy body, which +discharges drops of yellow fluid when handled, and is therefore called +the Oil-beetle (_Meloee proscarabaeus_). The early stages of this beetle +have much affinity with those of the _Stylops_. The beetle lays a number +of yellow eggs in a hole in the earth; these produce little active +six-footed larvae, resembling lice, which crawl to the summit of +dandelion and other flowers in the sunshine, and await the visit of a +bee. On the arrival of one, the active grub immediately clings to its +body, and is carried to the nest, not, however, to introduce itself +parasitically into the body of the bee-grub, but to feed on the +provision which the parent bee has stored up for its own young. Thus it +becomes very fat, and grows to a size much larger than that of the +full-grown bee-grub, having early dropped its six long clinging legs, +which, having performed their proper function in catching hold of a bee, +are no longer needed. It changes to a perfect beetle in autumn, lies in +the bee's nest all the winter, and emerges in the spring. + +The large jelly-like Medusae which in summer are seen floating around our +coasts, driving themselves along by alternate contractions and +expansions of their umbrella, are frequently infested by little +creatures of widely different organisation, Crustaceans belonging to the +genera _Hyperia and Metoecus_. On the beautiful _Chrysaora_ of the +southern coast I have seen the _Metoecus medusarum_, a little shrimp +about half-an-inch in length, with enormous lustrous green eyes, which +takes up his residence in the cavities of the sub-umbrella,--dwelling in +them as in so many spacious and commodious apartments, of which he takes +possession, evidently without asking leave of the landlord, or paying +him even the compliment of a peppercorn rent. Here he snugly ensconces +himself, and feels so much at home, that he is not afraid to leave his +dwelling now and then, to take a swim in the free water, returning to +his chamber after his exercise; and here he rears his numerous family, +which, in the form of tiny white specks, very much unlike their parents +in shape, stud the membranes of the jelly-fish. + +But, what is stranger still, Mr M'Cready has recently discovered in the +harbour of Charleston in North America, a _Medusa_ which is parasitic +upon another _Medusa_. _Cunina octonaria_ does not swim freely in the +water, but inhabits the cavity of the bell of _Turritopsis nutricula_. +"Not only does the latter furnish a shelter and dwelling-place for the +larvae during their development; it also serves as their nurse, by +allowing the parasites, whilst adhering by their tentacles, to draw +nourishment out of its mouth by means of a large proboscis. In point of +fact, the relation between them is of so unprecedented a nature, that +the author may well be excused for having at first taken the impudent +parasite for the gemmiparous progeny of the sheltering Medusa. The +youngest state of this parasitic Medusa observed by the author formed a +ciliated body of clavate form, adhering to the cavity of the bell by +means of the slender stalk in which it terminated. The first change +consists in the emission, from the thick end, of two slender flexible +tentacles, and in the formation of a central cavity by liquefaction. At +this stage of development, the author frequently observed gemmation +taking place at the thicker end, sometimes frequently repeated. +Subsequently the number of tentacles becomes doubled. These bend +together over the clavate extremity, and are then employed, instead of +the thin end of the body, in adhering to the cavity of the sheltering +Medusa. The thin extremity then acquires a mouth, and may be recognised +as a stomachal peduncle, which is employed, as above indicated, in +obtaining nourishment. The morphological nature of the proboscis becomes +still more distinct when, after the lapse of some little time, an +annular fold makes its appearance immediately under the tentacles, which +is recognisable from its form, and from the formation in it of (eight) +otolithic capsules, as the first indication of the future bell. +Simultaneously with the otolithic capsules, four rudimentary tentacles +make their appearance between the four tentacles. The Medusa remains in +this stage of development for a long time. The bell gradually becomes +more freely developed, and at last, by the reduction and entire +disappearance of the stomachal peduncle, becomes the most essential part +of the Medusa, after it has left its previous dwelling-place in the bell +of the _Turritopsis_. The bell nevertheless retains for some time its +earlier lobed form and unequal tentacles."[231] + +More remarkable even than this association is the fact that certain true +Fishes habitually reside in the stomachs of star-fishes. This +circumstance, which had been observed in the Oriental Archipelago by MM. +Quoy and Gaimard, and by Dr Bleeker, has recently been confirmed by Dr +Doleschall, who has written a very interesting Memoir on it. + +This learned naturalist states that the fact of the connexion between +the fish and the star-fish is well known to most of the fishermen in +Amboyna, and that he was able to obtain a sufficiency of specimens for +examination; but as the star-fishes (and with them the fishes) speedily +died in confinement, he was unable to make continuous observations upon +them in a living state. Of the results of his observations he gives the +following summary:-- + +"The fish stands to the star-fish in a definite relation which cannot be +the object of observation. Why the little fish should always seek the +stomachal cavity of one and the same species of star-fish, and not that +of various species, is a mystery. It is well known that Crustaceans of +the genus _Pagurus_ inhabit the empty shells of Mollusca; but we find +on the shore the same species of _Pagurus_ in the shells of the most +various genera and species. + +"I have never met with _Oxybeles gracilis_, on the contrary, in any +other species of star-fish than _Culcita discoidea_. The fish was +described by Bleeker under the above name in 'Natuurkundig Tijdschrift,' +vii., p. 162. The author proceeds to state that neither he nor any one +else in Amboyna has ever captured the fish under other circumstances, or +while swimming freely in the sea; but upon this Dr Bleeker remarks that +many of his specimens of _Fierasfer Brandesii_, and all those of +_Fierasfer (Oxybeles) gracilis_ and _F. lumbricoides_, were obtained by +him along with other fishes, and were probably taken while swimming +freely in the sea. + +"Upon the habits of _Oxybeles gracilis_ the author goes on to say that +it is certain that this animal passes the greater part of its existence +in the stomach of the star-fish, rarely shewing itself outside of this, +and then probably at night. That it does come out occasionally, appears +from the fact that in two cases the author observed the fish with a +portion of its body outside the cavity of the star-fish, and in the act +of creeping in. + +"The same observations shewed that the fish, in returning to its +concealment, passes along the furrow of the lower surface of one of the +arms leading to the mouth of the star-fish, which is wide enough, when +the tentacles are retracted, to leave room for the passage of the +slender body of the _Oxybeles_. This fact likewise proves that the +_Oxybeles_ does not get into the stomach of the _Culcita_ by accident. + +"If a living _Culcita_ be cut in two, the fish is seen moving freely in +the cavity of its body. If it be taken out, it immediately seeks the +shade. If the two halves of the _Culcita_ (still alive) be placed in the +water, the fish will soon be seen to draw towards them, in order to get +into the cavity of the star-fish. When exposed to the light, it is +uneasy, and its iris contracts excessively. The author never found two +fishes in the same star-fish. + +"In most of the fishes examined by him, the author found the stomach +empty; it was full only in one. The contents of the stomach had the +appearance of a lump of fat, and consisted of half-digested muscle. +Under the microscope, striated muscular fibres could be detected, and +the author thinks that they belonged to the muscles of a fish. This +circumstance proves that _Oxybeles_ does not feed upon the chyle of the +star-fish, but that its nourishment is analogous to that of other +fishes. Whether it seizes upon the fishes taken by the star-fish for its +own nourishment must be determined by further investigations. + +"The author's observations establish-- + +"1. That _Oxybeles gracilis_ is not a true parasite. + +"2. That it passes the greater part of its life in the stomach of +_Culcita discoidea_, as is also indicated by the unusually pale colour +of the fish. + +"3. That, however, it can come out, either to seek nourishment, or for +the purpose of reproduction. + +"4. That it returns to the mouth along the furrow on the ventral surface +of the arms. + +"5. That it is very sensitive to light. + +"6. That it feeds upon other animals. + +"In fresh water the animals live for about half-an-hour. The pigment +upon the peritoneum exhibits under the microscope the most beautiful +stellate forms. The fish possesses a swimming-bladder."[232] + +Some very curious instances of parasitism occur, in which one kind of +creature compels or induces another creature to labour for its special +benefit. Indeed, in all cases, the parasite is benefited by the +functions of the supporter; but, in the cases I refer to, the slavery is +more special and more apparent. + +There is a large species of Crab (_Dromia_) found in the West Indies, +which is invariably found covered with a dense mass of sponge. The +sponge is found to have grown in such a manner as to fit every +prominence and cavity of the crab, exactly as if a plastic material had +been moulded on it, yet it is not adherent to it, but is merely held in +position by the hindmost pair of feet, which in this genus of crabs, are +turned upwards, and apparently serve no other purpose than that of hooks +to hold on the sponge _in situ_. + +On our own shores we are familiar with the Hermit crabs making use of +various kinds of univalve shells as houses to protect their softer +hindparts; but in many of these cases there is a third party in the +transaction, which is made to work for the crab's especial advantage. +The shell of the mollusk is sometimes covered with a sort of fleshy +polype-mass (_Hydractinia echinata_), which is parasitic on the shell. +The shell, however, being tenanted also by the active crab, the polype, +as it grows, moulds itself on the crab's body, and thus extends the +dimensions of its house, so that it has no necessity either to enlarge +its dwelling by the absorption of part of the interior shell-wall, or to +leave this shell and search for one of ampler size, as other +Hermit-crabs are obliged to do who have not the advantage of so +accommodating a fellow-lodger. "One can understand," says Dr Gray, "that +the Crab may have the instinct to search for shells, on which the coral +[polype] has begun to grow; but this will scarcely explain why we never +find the [polype] except on shells in which Hermit-crabs have taken up +their residence."[233] + +Small Annelids and Crustaceans not unfrequently burrow into the stony +walls of corals; but Dr Gray records a much more uncommon case, from the +Guilding collection. "It is an expanded coral, which forms a thin +surface on the top of another coral, and is furnished with a number of +small, depressed, horizontal cases, opening with an oblong mouth. Some +of these contain within them a small, free, crustaceous animal, a +_Cymothoa_, which nearly fits the case; and it is evident that, by their +moving backwards and forwards on the surface, they have caused the +animal of the coral to form one of these cases for the protection of +each specimen."[234] + +The manner in which this result is obtained is thus explained--"The +animals which form their habitation in corals, appear to begin their +domicile in the same way as the barnacles before referred to; they take +advantage of the soft and yielding nature of the animals which form the +corals, &c., and taking up a lodgement in their body, all they have to +do is to keep a clear passage in it, either by the moving backwards and +forwards, the exertion of their limbs, or the ingress or egress of water +to and from their bodies, and in time, as the coral is secreted by the +animal, it will form a wall round them; but if, by any accident, the +parasite animal should not keep a passage from the coral to the surface +of the body of the animal clear, which it must be constantly induced to +do, since by this means it procures food, the coral animal will in a +very short time close over it and bury it alive in the mass of the +coral; and this, from the number of these animals, of all sizes and in +different stages of growth, which are to be found in the substance of +the large and massive corals, must often be occurring. Thus the Italian +romance is often literally fulfilled in nature." + +Certain birds are parasitic, in this sense, that they compel or induce +other birds to perform the labour of incubation and of rearing their +young. The Rhea or Ostrich of South America is parasitical on its own +species; the females laying each several eggs in the nests of several +other females, and the male ostrich taking all the cares of incubation. +More familiar examples, however, occur in our own Cuckoo, and in the +Cowpen birds (_Molothrus_ _pecoris_ and _M. niger_) of North and South +America. "These fasten themselves," as has been remarked by Mr Swainson, +"on another living animal, whose animal heat brings their young into +life, whose food they live upon, and whose death would cause theirs +during the period of infancy." + +The habit, at least in the case of the European Cuckoo, is so well +known, that I need not do more than merely allude to the fact, that the +female seeks for the nests of other insect-eating birds, always much +smaller than itself, and deposits its own eggs,--a single egg in each; +that this stranger egg is hatched by the foster-mother with all care, +and the young bird is nurtured with all tenderness even at the expense +of its own proper eggs and young, which in general are sacrificed in the +course of the process. Every schoolboy knows these facts, but few +perhaps have ever suspected the existence of a romantic feeling of love +and fealty in the little bird towards the cuckoo herself, prompting the +rendering of the service required as a coveted honour. Yet a naturalist +has communicated to Mr Yarrell some facts which certainly look this way; +and because they are indubitably the very romance of natural history, I +cite them, leaving my readers to judge of their value. + +"As you have contributed," writes Mr W. C. Newby of Stockton, "so much +to the information and amusement of the numerous class of readers who +take an interest in subjects of natural history, I consider it my duty +to communicate first to you, what appears to me a new fact in the +habits and character of that general favourite the cuckoo. + +"An egg of this bird was brought to me on the 6th instant, which had +been taken from the nest of the yellow bunting, at a short distance from +this town, and the boy who got the egg gave the following account, +which, I think, may be relied on. When bird-nesting the previous +Saturday, he found a nest of the gold spink (a local name for the yellow +bunting) with the young birds just hatched. On visiting the nest the +following day, he flushed the old bird, having seen her sitting on it, +but the young birds were all excluded, and were lying dead near; and to +his surprise, a single egg--the one he brought to me--occupied the place +of the callow brood. He took away the egg (which is now in my +possession) so that it is impossible to corroborate the statement in any +degree. The above circumstance was first named to me by Tom Green, a +well-known character and naturalist in this town, whom I have always +found to be accurate in his observations on birds, and by him I was +referred to the boy. On my objecting to Green that the accident appeared +incredible, because unnatural, and contrary to strong parental instinct, +he replied, "Ay, sir, but little birds are mightily ta'en up with a +cuckoo; they'll awmost dee out for them;" and he related the following +fact which came under his own observation. When out with his gun, +collecting birds to stuff, (animal-preserving being one of his many +trades), he shot at and wounded a cuckoo, which, after flying some +distance, fell upon a hedge with its wings outstretched: the attendant +bird, which in this case was one of the pipits, continued in the flight +of its patron after the shot, and when Green approached, he found it +sitting on the body of the dead cuckoo.[235] + +"It has been supposed by some, that small birds follow the cuckoo for +the sake of annoyance, mistaking it for a sparrow-hawk, to give public +notice of a pirate abroad, and to warn all peaceful subjects of the air +against a common danger. But this is clearly not so, for the flight and +cries clearly distinguish the feelings in the two cases. The attendance +on the cuckoo is at a distance, silent and respectful; but in the other +we have a sort of hue and cry raised, as it were, against a felon, and +which is kept up from place to place, if not to the shame, at least to +the discomfiture of the culprit. + +"The cuckoo is certainly a favourite with them; as Green says, 'they, +(the lesser birds,) are mightily ta'en up with it;' but to what it owes +its influence with its parasites I leave to you and other philosophical +naturalists to determine: I am content to relate, in simple terms, an +interesting fact." + +There is so much analogy with these cuckoo-proceedings in the habits of +Ants, that, although these cannot correctly be designated as parasites, +the details of their manners will not be wholly out of place, in winding +up this chapter. I refer to the propensity manifested by certain species +of ants to make slaves of the workers of another species, leading them +into captivity and compelling them to labour for the benefit of the +marauders. Strangely enough, the parallel between the human and the +formican slave-trade holds to this further extent that, so far as we +know, the kidnappers are red or pale-coloured ants, and the slaves, like +true _niggers_, are black. + +The slave-hunting expeditions are planned and executed with the utmost +skill and courage. "When the red ants are about to sally forth on a +marauding expedition, they send scouts to ascertain the exact position +in which a colony of negroes may be found; these scouts, having +discovered the object of their search, return to the nest, and report +their success. Shortly afterwards the army of red ants marches forth, +headed by a vanguard which is perpetually changing; the individuals +which constitute it, when they have advanced a little before the main +body, halting, falling into the rear, and being replaced by others: this +vanguard consists of eight or ten ants only. + +"When they have arrived near the negro colony, they disperse, wandering +through the herbage and hunting about, as if aware of the propinquity of +the object of their search, yet ignorant of its exact position. At last +they discover the settlement, and the foremost of the invaders rushing +impetuously to the attack, are met, grappled with, and frequently killed +by the negroes on guard; the alarm is quickly communicated to the +interior of the nest; the negroes sally forth by thousands, and the red +ants rushing to the rescue, a desperate conflict ensues, which, however, +always terminates in the defeat of the negroes, who retire to the inmost +recesses of their habitation. Now follows the scene of pillage; the red +ants, with their powerful mandibles, tear open the sides of the negro +ant-hill, and rush into the heart of the citadel. In a few minutes each +of the invaders emerges, carrying in its mouth the pupa of a worker +negro, which it has obtained in spite of the vigilance and valour of its +natural guardians. The red ants return in perfect order to their nest, +bearing with them their living burdens. On reaching the nest the pupae +appear to be treated precisely as their own, and the workers, when they +emerge, perform the various duties of the community with the greatest +energy and apparent good will; they repair the nest, excavate passages, +collect food, feed the larvae, take the pupae into the sun-shine, and +perform every office which the welfare of the colony seems to require; +in fact, they conduct themselves entirely as if fulfilling their +original destination."[236] + +[228] Reinwardt. + +[229] Tennent's _Ceylon_, i. 104. + +[230] "Affinities of the Stylopites," in _Zool._, 1792. + +[231] Wiegmann's _Archiv._, 1860, _Bericht_, p. 169. + +[232] _Ann. Nat. Hist._ for April, 1861. + +[233] _Zool._, 204. + +[234] _Ibid._, 205. + +[235] _Zool._, 2589. + +[236] Newman, _Hist. of Insects_, 50. + + + + +APPENDIX. + +ON THE SEA-SERPENT. + + +Since the publication of my former volume, which concluded with an +examination of the evidence for the existence of this unrecognised +animal, two other important testimonies have been brought under my +notice. The first of these is that of an officer of high literary +reputation, the Consular representative of Great Britain lately residing +at Boston, in the United States, who thus gives his personal testimony +and that of his lady to the appearance of the monster:-- + +"On a Sunday afternoon in the middle of August, above a hundred persons, +at that time in and about the hotel, were called on to observe an +extraordinary appearance in the sea, at no great distance from the +shore. Large shoals of small fish were rushing landwards in great +commotion, leaping from the water, crowding on each other, and shewing +all the common symptoms of flight from the pursuit of some wicked enemy. +I had already more than once remarked this appearance from the rocks, +but in a minor degree; and on these occasions I could always distinguish +the shark, whose ravages among the "manhaidens" was the cause of such +alarm. But the particular case in question was far different from those. +The pursuer of the fugitive shoals soon became visible; and that it was +a huge marine monster, stretching to a length quite beyond the +dimensions of an ordinary fish, was evident to all the observers. No +one, in short, had any doubt as to its being the sea-serpent, or one of +the species to which the animal or animals so frequently before seen +belonged. The distance at which this one was, for ten minutes or a +quarter of an hour, visible, made it impossible to give a description of +its apparent dimensions so accurate as to carry conviction to the +sceptical. For us who witnessed it, it was enough to be convinced that +the thing was a reality. But one of the spectators, Dr Amos Binney, a +gentleman of scientific attainments, drew up a minute account of it, +which is deposited in the archives of one of the Philosophical Societies +of Boston. I was and am quite satisfied that on this occasion I had a +partial and indistinct but positive view of this celebrated nondescript. +But had the least doubt rested on my mind, it would have been entirely +removed by the event of the day following the one just recorded. On that +day, a little before noon, my wife was sitting, as was her wont, reading +on the upper piazza of the hotel. She was alone. The gentlemen, +including myself and my son, were, as usual, absent at Boston, and the +ladies were scattered about in various directions. She was startled by a +cry from the house of "The sea-serpent! The sea-serpent!" But this had +been so frequent, by the way of joke, since the event of the preceding +day, and was so like "The wolf, the wolf!" of the fable, that it did not +attract her particular attention for a moment or two, until she observed +two women belonging to the family of the hotel-keeper running along the +piazza towards the corner nearest the sea, with wonder in their eyes, +and the cry of "The serpent, the serpent! He is turning, he is turning!" +spontaneously bursting from their lips. Then my wife did fix her looks +in the direction they ran; and sure enough she saw, apparently quite +close beyond the line formed by the rising ground above the rocks, a +huge serpent, gliding gracefully through the waves, having evidently +performed the action of turning round. In an instant it was in a +straight line, moving rapidly on; and after coasting for a couple of +minutes the north-west front of the hotel, and (as accurately as the +astonished observer could calculate) looking as it stretched at full +length in the water about the length of the piazza, that is to say, +about ninety feet; it sank quietly beneath the surface, and was seen no +more. + +"The person who was thus so lucky as to get this unobstructed view, is +one so little liable to be led astray by any imaginary impulse, that I +reckon on her statement with entirely as much confidence as if my own +eyes had demonstrated its truth."--_Grattan's Civilised America_, p. 39. + + * * * * * + +The second testimony is contained in the following communication with +which I have been favoured by Mr Cave:-- + + 35, WILTON PLACE, _April 29, 1861_. + +SIR,--On reading your interesting "Romance of Natural History" it +occurred to me that I could supply some corroborative evidence of the +existence of the sea serpent. On looking up my old journals, I found it +was slighter than I imagined; but, such as it is, I give it almost +verbatim from my diary. + +I was in Jamaica the year after you were, and have often regretted that +we were not there together, as I might have shewn you parts of the +island which you missed, and have been, perhaps, the cause of a few more +pages to your very pleasant journal of a naturalist there.--Believe me, +faithfully, yours, + + STEPHEN CAVE, + M.P. for Shoreham. + + Philip H. Gosse, Esq. + + +_Extract from a Journal written during a Voyage to the West Indies in +1846._ + +_Thursday, Dec. 10._--Off Madeira, on board R.M.S. "Thames."--"Made +acquaintance with a Captain Christmas of the Danish navy, a proprietor +in Santa Cruz, and holding some office about the Danish Court. He told +me he once saw a sea-serpent between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. He +was lying-to in a gale of wind, in a frigate of which he had the +command, when an immense shoal of porpoises rushed by the ship, as if +pursued; and, lo and behold! a creature with a neck moving like that of +a swan, about the thickness of a man's waist, with a head like a horse, +raised itself slowly and gracefully from the deep, and seeing the ship +it immediately disappeared again, head foremost, like a duck diving. He +only saw it for a few seconds; the part above the water seemed about 18 +feet in length. He is a singularly intelligent man, and by no means one +to allow his imagination to run away with him." + + +THE END. + + + + +INDEX. + + +AEpyornis, 38. + +America, early condition of, 8, 32. + +Ant-eaters, 9. + +Antidotes to poison, 268, 272, 276, 298, 300. + +Ants, slave-hunting, 384. + +Apteryx, egg of, 38. + +Argus pheasant, 323. + +Auk, great, 82. + +Australia, early condition of, 12. + +Aye-aye, 78. + + +Bamboo, elegance of, 340. + +Bananas in Tahiti, 342. + +Barbadoes Pride, 353. + +Bats, immured, 183, 185. + +Bear, black, 70. + +Bear, cave, 15, 69. + +Beauty, Divine appreciation of, 302 + --in quadrupeds, 304 + --in birds, 306 + --in beetles, 329 + --in butterflies, 331 + --in plants, 338 + --in flowers, 344. + +Beaver in Britain, 72. + +Beetles, splendour of, 329, 337. + +Birds, colossal, of Australia, 13, 34. + +Bison of Europe, 68. + +Blood rain, 98, 102 + --waters, 99, 103 + --snow, 100. + +Bois Immortel, 354. + +Britain, early condition of, 13, 44. + +Butterflies, splendour of, 331. + +Bruce on serpent-charming, 266, 277. + + +Cave in Skye, 134. + +Changeable colours, 315. + +Climbers of tropical forests, 368. + +Climbing perch, 123. + +Cock of the rock, 307. + +Corals, parasitic, 380. + +Corncrake, torpidity of, 198. + +Cowpen bird, 381. + +Crabs, parasitic habits of, 379. + +Crane-fly, luminous, 231. + +Creation progressive, 89. + +Cuckoo, habits of, 381. + + +Deer, elegance of, 304. + +Deposition, rate of geologic, 47. + +Dinothere, 5, 14. + +Dodo, 74. + +Drift, remains in, 44. + + +Eagle fascinates rabbit, 259. + +Eel, wanderings of, 122. + +Eggs, fossil, 37, 38. + +Elephant of Siberia, 6, 20. + +Elk, Irish, 14, 49-57, 61. + +Entozoic worms, 360. + +Europe, early condition of, 3. + +Extinction of species, 1, 81, 88. + + +Fascination in serpents, 242 + --in lizards, 255 + --in scorpion, 256 + --in stoats, 257 + --in fox, 258 + --in eagle, 259. + +Fig-trees, parasitic, 364. + +Fire attracts insects, 260 + --birds, 261 + --toads, 262. + +Fishes, showers of, 109-117 + --torpidity of, 118 + --travelling, 121 + --parasitic, 376. + +Flamboyant, 353. + +Fleas _ad infinitum_, 359. + +Flints, fossil, 44. + +Fox of Falkland, 86 + --fascinating poultry, 258. + +Frogs, showers of, 108. + + +Galeodes, account of, 237. + +Goatsuckers, 307. + +Grouse, 95. + +Guiana, scenery in, 346. + + +Hand-tree of Mexico, 87. + +Hasselquist on serpent charming, 279. + +Hedgehog, immunity of, 277. + +Hyena, cave, 16. + +Humming birds, elegance of, 312 + --mango, 313 + --long-tail, 314 + --fiery topaz, 317 + --comet, 318, 321. + + +Ibis, scarlet, 306. + +Ichneumon-flies, 369. + +Impeyan, scaly, 323. + +Ireland, animals of, 57. + + +Kangaroo, giant, 13. + +Kaureke, 42. + + +Lantern-fly, 227. + +Lepidosiren, 119. + +Lightning-tree of Madagascar, 352. + +Lizard swallowing its young, 224 + --fascinates butterfly, 255. + +London-pride, microscopic beauty of, 356. + +Luminosity of fulgora, 227 + --of mole-cricket, 230 + --of crane-fly, 231 + --of caterpillars, 232. + + +Machairode, 15. + +Macrauchen, 11, 33. + +Mammoth, 6, 14, 20. + +Man, fossil relics of, 44. + +Mangouste and snake, 275. + +Manu-mea, 79. + +Marvels, vulgar love of, 96. + +Mastodon, 7, 14, 26, 30. + +Medusae, parasites of, 374 + --parasitic, 374. + +Megathere, 9, 33. + +Mermaids, 125 + --zoological necessity of, 126 + --exhibitions of, 129 + --Norse legends of, 132 + --narratives of, 136, 139, 141, 142. + +Moa, 34. + +Mole-cricket luminous, 230. + +Music, power of, on Serpents, 284. + +Musk-ox, 86. + +Mylodon, 9, 32. + + +Nestor Parrot, 80. + +Nile valley, geology of, 46. + +Norfolk Island, parrot of, 80. + +Notornis, capture of, 41. + + +Oil-beetle, habits of, 373. + +Orchideae, beauty of, 344 + --parasitic habits of, 363. + +Ostrich, American, 381. + +Oxen, ancient, of Ireland, 63 + --of Britain, 65, 67 + --of Scania, 66. + + +Paradise-birds, 326. + +Parasitic vegetation, 361 + --insects, 369 + --medusae, 374 + --fish, 376 + --crabs, 379 + --polype, 380 + --birds, 381. + +Parrakeet, Carolina, 306. + +Parrot, long-beaked, 80. + +Peacock, 325. + +Perch, climbing, 123. + +Pheasants, 322. + +Plants, alexipharmic, 268, 272, 276, 298, 300. + +Plume-birds, 309. + +Polyplectrons, 324. + +Potosi, scenery of, 319. + +Psylli, 265. + + +Rhinoceros of Siberia, 6, 19. + +Rhododendrons of India, 349 + --of Borneo, 351. + +Rifle-bird, 308. + +Rio Negro, scenery of, 316. + + +Saltwort, beauty of, 355. + +Scelidothere, 9, 32. + +Scenery, remarkable, in Jamaica, 213. + +Scorpion fascinates fly, 256. + +Sea-serpent, Mr Grattan's evidence, 387 + --Mr Cave's evidence, 389. + +Serpent-charming, 263-294. + +Serpent, crested, 211 + --fascinating powers of, 242. + +Serpents of Peru, 270. + +Showers of blood, 98 + --snails, 106 + --frogs, 107 + --fishes, 109. + +Sivathere, 5. + +Snails, showers of, 106. + +Snake-stones, 294. + +Snow, red, 100. + +Species, extinction of, 1. + +Spiders, bird-eating, 233 + --webs of, 236, 238 + --beauty of, 336. + +Spoonbill, 306. + +Star-fish, parasite of, 376. + +Stelleria, 78. + +Stoats fascinating rabbits, 257. + +Strepsiptera, 371. + +Stylops, habits of, 371. + +Sun-birds, 311. + +Swallows, torpidity of, 191-202 + --submersion of, 192 + --winter appearance of, 202-209. + + +Tahiti, scenery in, 342. + +Tartary, scenery in, 355. + +Tertiary geography, 3, 12, 14. + +Tiger, beauty of, 305. + +Toads, showers of, 107 + --in stones, 146, 190 + --in trees, 148, 153 + --in mortar, 161, 178, 179 + --experiments on, 165, 179 + --attracted by fire, 262. + +Tortoise, colossal, 6, 17. + +Toxodon, 12, 32. + +Travelling fishes, 121. + +Trogon, resplendent, 308. + + +Urus, 64. + + +Venom of serpents, experiments on, 249. + +Viper swallowing its young, 220. + + +Wasps, sleep of, 180. + +Wolf, 71. + + +Zebra, beauty of, 305. + + + + +BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. + + + + +By the same Author. + + +First Series. Third Edition, post 8vo, 7s. 6d. cloth, + +THE ROMANCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY WOLF. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +I. TIMES AND SEASONS. + +II. HARMONIES. + +III. DISCREPANCIES. + +IV. MULTUM E PARVO. + +V. THE VAST. + +VI. THE MINUTE. + +VII. THE MEMORABLE. + +VIII. THE RECLUSE. + +IX. THE WILD. + +X. THE TERRIBLE. + +XI. THE UNKNOWN. + +XII. THE GREAT UNKNOWN. + + +"This is a charming book.... Every lover of nature, every lover of the +marvellous, every lover of the beautiful, every soul that can feel the +charm of true poetry, must be deeply grateful to Mr Gosse for an +intellectual treat of the highest order.... This 'Romance of Natural +History' will be one of the best gift-books which can be procured for +the season of Christmas and the New Year."--_Daily News._ + + + + +Crown 8vo, 5s. cloth, + +LIFE IN ITS LOWER, INTERMEDIATE, AND HIGHER FORMS: + +OR, MANIFESTATIONS OF THE DIVINE WISDOM IN THE NATURAL HISTORY OF +ANIMALS. + +BY P. H. GOSSE, F.R.S. + + +Complete in 4 vols., crown 8vo, 16s. cloth gilt, + +OUR CHRISTIAN CLASSICS: + +READINGS FROM THE BEST DIVINES. + +By JAMES HAMILTON, D.D. + +DEDICATED TO THE LORD BISHOP OF LONDON. + + +Extending from the Reformation to the close of the eighteenth century, +it is the object of this series to give the reader a comprehensive view +of that very various and noble Christian literature by which our country +has been signalised above all others, with biographical and critical +notices of the more distinguished authors. + + + + +Complete in 6 vols., crown 8vo, price L1, 4s. in cloth, + +EXCELSIOR: + +HELPS TO PROGRESS IN RELIGION, SCIENCE, AND LITERATURE. + +ILLUSTRATED BY CAREFUL DRAWINGS ON WOOD. + + +As, besides continuous papers on such subjects as Zoology, Meteorology, +British Mining, the Fine Arts, the Human Frame, Church History, English +Letter-Writers, &c., these volumes contain numerous contributions in the +departments of Biography, Adventures and Incidents of Travel, the Useful +Arts, Tales, Poetry, Literary Criticism, Scriptural Evidences, and +Christian Ethics, it is believed that they will be found a welcome +acquisition amongst those who, in their search for amusement, do not +lose sight of instruction. More especially is it respectfully submitted +that, combining so much sound information with the liveliness of a +miscellany, they would find an appropriate place in the bookcase of the +Schoolroom and in the Village Library, as well as on the shelf beside +the Parlour-fire. + + +LONDON: JAMES NISBET & CO., BERNERS STREET. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Romance of Natural History, Second +Series, by Philip Henry Gosse + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NATURAL HISTORY *** + +***** This file should be named 32800.txt or 32800.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/8/0/32800/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Odessa Paige Turner, Bill +Tozier and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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