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diff --git a/44422-0.txt b/44422-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..91c740e --- /dev/null +++ b/44422-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9357 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44422 *** + +[Illustration: KING PENGUINS.] + + + + + ECCENTRICITIES + + OF + + THE ANIMAL CREATION. + + + BY JOHN TIMBS. + + AUTHOR OF "THINGS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN." + + + WITH EIGHT ENGRAVINGS. + + + SEELEY, JACKSON, AND HALLIDAY, 54, FLEET-STREET. + LONDON. MDCCCLXIX. + + _The right of translation is reserved._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + INTRODUCTORY.--CURIOSITIES OF ZOOLOGY. + + Natural History in Scripture, and Egyptian Records, 11.--Origin of + Zoological Gardens, 12.--The Greeks and Romans, 12.--Montezuma's + Zoological Gardens, 13.--Menagerie in the Tower of London, + 14.--Menagerie in St. James's Park, 14.--John Evelyn's Notes, + 15.--Ornithological Society, 15.--Continental Gardens, 16.--Zoological + Society of London instituted, 16; its most remarkable Animals, + 16.--Cost of Wild Animals, 18.--Sale of Animals, 20.--Surrey + Zoological Gardens, 20.--Wild-beast Shows, 21. + + + THE RHINOCEROS IN ENGLAND. + + Ancient History, 22, 23.--One-horned and Two-horned, 25, + 26.--Tractability, 25.--Bruce and Sparmann, 27.--African Rhinoceros in + 1868, 27.--Description of, 29.--Burchell's Rhinoceros, 30.--Horn of + the Rhinoceros, 31, 32. + + + STORIES OF MERMAIDS. + + Sirens of the Ancients, 33.--Classic Pictures of Mermaids, + 34.--Leyden's Ballad, 35.--Ancient Evidence, 36, 37, 38.--Mermaid in + the West Indies, 39.--Mermaids, Seals, and Dugongs, 41.--Mermaids and + Manatee, 42.--Test for a Mermaid, 43.--Mermaid of 1822, 43.--Japanese + Mermaids, 44.--Recent Evidence, 47, 48. + + + IS THE UNICORN FABULOUS? + + Ctesias and Wild Asses, 65.--Aristotle, Herodotus, and Pliny, + 50.--Modern Unicorns, 50.--Ancient Evidence, 51.--Hunting the + Unicorn, 52.--Antelopes, 53, 54.--Cuvier and the Oryx, 54.--Tibetan + Animal, 55.--Klaproth's Evidence, 55.--Rev. John Campbell's Evidence, + 57.--Baikie on, 58.--Factitious Horns in Museums, 59.--Unicorn in the + Royal Arms, 60.--Catching the Unicorn, 60.--Belief in Unicorns, 61. + + + THE MOLE AT HOME. + + Economy of the Mole, 62.--Its Structure, 63.--Fairy Rings; Feeling + of the Mole, 64.--Le Court's Experiments, 62, 65.--Hunting-grounds, + 67.--Loves of the Moles, 68, 69.--Persecution of Moles.--Shrew Mole, + 70.--Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, on Moles, 71. + + + THE GREAT ANT-BEAR. + + The Ant-Bear of 1853, 72, 73.--Mr. Wallace, on the Amazon, describes + the Ant-Bear, 73.--Food of the Ant-Bear, 74.--His Resorts, 75.--Habits + in Captivity, by Professor Owen, 76-80.--Fossil Ant-Bear, 80, + 81.--Tamandua Ant-Bear, 82--Von Sack's Ant-Bear, 83.--Porcupine + Ant-Eater, 84.--Ant-Bears in the Zoological Gardens, 84. + + + CURIOSITIES OF BATS. + + Virgil's Harpies, 85.--Pliny on the Bat, 85.--Rere-mouse and + Flitter-mouse, 86.--Bats, not Birds but Quadrupeds, 87.--Sir Charles + Bell on the Wing of the Bat, 87.--Vampire Bat from Sumatra, 88.--Lord + Byron and Vampire, 89.--Levant Superstition, 89.--Bat described by + Heber, Waterton, and Steadman, 90.--Lesson on Bats, 91.--Bat Fowling + or Folding, 91, 92.--Sowerby's Long-eared Bat, 92, 96.--Wing of + the Bat, 96.--_Nycteris_ Bat, 97.--_Kalong_ Bat of Java, 98.--Bats, + various, 100, 101. + + + THE HEDGEHOG. + + Hedgehog Described, 102.--Habits, 103.--Eating Snakes, 105.--Poisons, + 105, 106.--Battle with a Viper, 105.--Economy of the Hedgehog, 106, + 107. + + + THE HIPPOPOTAMUS IN ENGLAND. + + Living Hippopotamus brought to England in 1850, 108.--Capture and + Conveyance, 111.--Professor Owen's Account, 111-115.--Described + by Naturalists and Travellers, 115-118.--Utility to Man, + 118-119.--Ancient History, 119.--In Scripture, 120.--Alleged + Disappearance, 121.--Fossil, 122. + + + LION-TALK. + + Character, 123.--Reputed Generosity, 125.--Burchell's Account, + 125.--Lion-Tree in the Mantatee Country, 127.--Lion-hunting, + 128.--Disappearance of Lions, 130, 131.--Human Prey, 132.--Maneless + Lions of Guzerat, 134.--A Lion Family in Bengal, 135, 136.--Prickle on + the Lion's Tail, 137-139.--Nineveh Lions, 139.--Lions in the Tower of + London, 140, 141.--Feats with Lions, 142.--Lion-hunting in Algeria, by + Jules Gerard, 144.--The Prudhoe Lions, 144. + + + BIRD-LIFE. + + Rate at which Birds fly, 145, 146.--Air in the Bones of Birds, + 146.--Flight of the Humming-bird, 147.--Colour of Birds, 148.--Song + of Birds, 149.--Beauty in Animals, 150.--Insectivorous Birds, + 151.--Sea-fowl Slaughter, 152.--Hooded Crow in Zetland, 154.--Brain of + Birds, 154.--Danger-signals, 155.--Addison's Love of Nature, 156, 157. + + + BIRDS' EGGS AND NESTS. + + Colours of Eggs, 158.--Bird's-nesting, 159.--Mr. Wolley, the + Ornithologist, 159, 160.--European Birds of Prey, 161.--Large + Eggs, 162, 163, 164.--Baya's Nest, 164.--Oriole and Tailor-bird, + 165, 166.--Australian Bower-bird, 167.--Cape Swallows, 168.--"Bird + Confinement," by Dr. Livingstone. + + + THE EPICURE'S ORTOLAN. + + Origin of the Ortolan, 172; described, 173, 174; Fattening process, + 175, 176.--Prodigal Epicurism, 177, 178. + + + TALK ABOUT TOUCANS. + + Toucan family, 179.--Gould's grand Monograph, 180.--Toucans described, + 180-182; Food, 183; Habits, 184.--Gould's Toucanet, 187. + + + ECCENTRICITIES OF PENGUINS. + + Penguins on Dassent Island, 188.--Patagonian Penguins, 189.--Falkland + Islands, 189.--King Penguins, 190, 191.--Darwin's Account, + 192.--Webster's Account, 193.--Swainson's Account, 194. + + + PELICANS AND CORMORANTS. + + Pelicans described by various Naturalists, 195, 196.--The Pelican + Island, 197.--Popular Error, 199-200.--Cormorants, and Fishing with + Cormorants, 201-204. + + + TALKING BIRDS, INSTINCTS, ETC. + + Sounds by various Birds, 204.--Umbrella Bird, 206.--Bittern, + 207.--Butcher-bird and Parrots, 208.--Wild Swan, Laughing Goose, + Cuckoo, and Nightingale, 209.--Talking Canaries, 210.--Neighing Snipe, + 213.--Trochilos and Crocodiles, 216.--Instinct. Intelligence, and + Reason in Birds, 217-219.--Songs of Birds and Seasons of the Day, 219. + + + OWLS. + + Characteristics of the Owl, 221.--Owl in Poetry, 222.--Bischacho or + Coquimbo, 224.--Waterton on Owls, 225, 226.--Owls. Varieties of, + 227-230. + + + WEATHER-WISE ANIMALS. + + Atmospheric Changes, 231.--Stormy Petrel, 233.--Wild Geese and Ducks, + 235.--Frogs and Snails, 237.--The Mole, 240.--List of Animals, by + Forster, the Meteorologist, 241.--Weatherproof Nests, 247.--"Signs of + Rain," by Darwin, 248.--Shepherd of Banbury, 249. + + + FISH-TALK. + + How Fishes Swim, 250.--Fish Changing Colour, 251.--"Fish Noise," + 252.--Hearing of Fish, 253.--The Carp at Fontainebleau, 254, + 255.--Affection of Fishes, 256.--Cat-fish, Anecdote of, 257.--Great + Number of Fishes, 258.--Little Fishes Eaten by Medusæ, 259.--Migration + of Fishes, 261.--Enormous Grampus, 262.--Bonita and Flying-fish, + 263.--Jaculator Fish of Java, 264.--Port Royal, Jamaica Fish, + 266.--The Shark, 267.--California. Fish of, 268.--Wonderful Fish, + 269.--Vast Sun-fish, 271.--Double Fish, 272.--The Square-browed + Malthe, 274.--Gold Fish, 275.--The Miller's Thumb, 276.--Sea-fish + Observatory, 276.--Herring Question, 278.--Aristotle's History of + Animals, 279-280. + + + FISH IN BRITISH COLOMBIA. + + Salmon-swarming, 281.--Candle-fish, 282.--Octopus, the, 283.--Sturgeon + and Sturgeon Fishing, 283-287. + + + THE TREE-CLIMBING CRAB. + + Locomotion of Fishes, 288.--Climbing Perch, 288.--Crabs in the West + Indies, 289.--Crabs, Varieties of, 289-292.--Robber and Cocoa-nut + Crab, 292-301.--Fish of the China Seas, 301. + + + MUSICAL LIZARDS. + + Lizard from Formosa Isle, 303.--Its Habits, 304-306. + + + CHAMELEONS AND THEIR CHANGES. + + The Chameleon described by Aristotle and Calmet, 307, 308.--Change + of Colour, 309.--Reproduction of, 310, 311.--Tongue, 311.--Lives in + Trees, 312.--Theory of Colours, 313.--The Puzzle Solved, 315.--Mrs. + Belzoni's Chameleons, 317.--Lady Cust's Chameleons, 321.--Chameleon's + Antipathy to Black, 322. + + + RUNNING TOADS. + + Dr. Husenbeth's Toads at Cossey, 327.--Frog and Toad Concerts, 327. + + + SONG OF THE CICADA. + + Greeks' Love for the Song, 329.--Cicada in British Colombia, + 329.--Tennyson and Keats on the Grasshopper, 330. + + + STORIES ABOUT THE BARNACLE GOOSE. + + Baptista Porta's Account, 331.--Max Müller on, 331.--Gerarde's + Account, 332.--Giraldus Cambrensis, 332.--Professor Rolleston. + Drayton's _Poly-olbion_, 333.--Sir Kenelm Digby and Sir J. Emerson + Tennent, 334.--Finding the Barnacle, 334. + + + LEAVES ABOUT BOOKWORMS. + + Bookworms, their Destructiveness, 336, 337.--How to Destroy, 338.--The + Death-watch, 339.--Lines by Swift, 340. + + + BORING MARINE ANIMALS, AND HUMAN ENGINEERS. + + Life and Labours of the Pholas, 341.--Family of the Pholas, + 342.--Curious Controversy, 343.--Boring Apparatus, 342.--Several + Observers, 347, 348.--Boring Annelids, 348. + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + Page + + KING PENGUINS Frontispiece + + THE TWO-HORNED AFRICAN RHINOCEROS 28 + + SEAL AND MERMAID 40 + + THE GREAT ANT-BEAR (ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY'S) 76 + + FRASER'S EAGLE OWL, FROM FERNANDO PO 228 + + SQUARE-BROWED MALTHE AND DOUBLE FISH 274 + + THE TREE-CLIMBING CRAB 288 + + CHAMELEONS 318 + + + + +ECCENTRICITIES + +OF + +THE ANIMAL CREATION. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY.--CURIOSITIES OF ZOOLOGY. + + +Curious creatures of Animal Life have been objects of interest to +mankind in all ages and countries; the universality of which may be +traced to that feeling which "makes the whole world kin." + +It has been remarked with emphatic truth by a popular writer, that "we +have in the Bible and in the engraven and pictorial records the earliest +evidence of the attention paid to Natural History in general. The 'navy +of Tarshish' contributed to the wisdom of him who not only 'spake of the +trees from the cedar of Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth +out of the wall,' but 'also of beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping +things, and of fishes,'[1] to say nothing of numerous other passages +showing the progress that zoological knowledge had already made. The +Egyptian records bear testimony to a familiarity not only with the forms +of a multitude of wild animals, but with their habits and geographical +distribution." + +The collections of living animals, now popularly known as Zoological +Gardens, are of considerable antiquity. We read of such gardens in China +as far back as 2,000 years; but they consisted chiefly of some favourite +animals, such as stags, fish, and tortoises. The Greeks, under Pericles, +introduced peacocks in large numbers from India. The Romans had their +elephants; and the first giraffe in Rome, under Cæsar, was as great an +event in the history of zoological gardens at its time as the arrival in +1849 of the Hippopotamus was in London. The first zoological garden of +which we have any detailed account is that in the reign of the Chinese +Emperor, Wen Wang, founded by him about 1150 A.D., and named by him "The +Park of Intelligence;" it contained mammalia, birds, fish, and amphibia. +The zoological gardens of former times served their masters occasionally +as hunting-grounds. This was constantly the case in Persia; and in +Germany, so late as 1576, the Emperor Maximilian II. kept such a park +for different animals near his castle, Neugebah, in which he frequently +chased. + +Alexander the Great possessed his zoological gardens. We find from Pliny +that Alexander had given orders to the keepers to send all the rare and +curious animals which died in the gardens to Aristotle. + +Splendid must have been the zoological gardens which the Spaniards found +connected with the Palace of Montezuma. The letters of Ferdinand Cortez +and other writings of the time, as well as more recently "The History +of the Indians," by Antonio Herrera, give most interesting and detailed +accounts of the menagerie in Montezuma's park. The buildings belonging +to these gardens were all gorgeous, as became the grandeur of the Indian +prince; they were supported by pillars, each of which was hewn out of +a single piece of some precious stone. Cool, arched galleries led into +the different parts of the garden--to the marine and fresh-water basins, +containing innumerable water-fowl,--to the birds of prey, falcons +and eagles, which latter especially were represented in the greatest +variety,--to the crocodiles, alligators, and serpents, some of them +belonging to the most venomous species. The halls of a large square +building contained the dens of the lions, tigers, leopards, bears, +wolves, and other wild animals. Three hundred slaves were employed in +the gardens tending the animals, upon which great care was bestowed, and +scrupulous attention paid to their cleanliness. To this South American +zoological garden of the sixteenth century no other of its time could be +compared.[2] + +More than six centuries ago, our Plantagenet kings kept in the Tower +of London exotic animals for their recreation. The Lion Tower was built +here by Henry III., who commenced assembling here a menagerie with three +leopards sent to him by the Emperor Frederic II., "in token of his regal +shield of arms, wherein those leopards were pictured." Here, in 1255, +the Sheriffs built a house "for the King's elephant," brought from +France, and the first seen in England. Our early sovereigns had a mews +in the Tower as well as a menagerie:-- + + "Merry Margaret, as Midsomer flowre, + Gentyll as faucon and hawke of the Towre."--_Skelton._ + +In the reign of Charles I., a sort of Royal Menagerie took the place of +the deer with which St. James's Park was stocked in the days of Henry +VIII, and Queen Elizabeth. Charles II. greatly enlarged and improved +the Park; and here he might be seen playing with his dogs and feeding +his ducks. The Bird-cage Walk, on the south side of the Park, had in +Charles's time the cages of an aviary disposed among the trees. Near the +east end of a canal was the Decoy, where water-fowl were kept; and here +was Duck Island, with its salaried Governor. + +Evelyn, in 1664, went to "the Physique Garden in St. James's," where +he first saw "orange trees and other fine trees." He enumerates in +the menagerie, "an ornocratylus, or pelican; a fowle between a storke +and a swan; a melancholy water-fowl, brought from Astracan by the +Russian ambassador; a milk-white raven; two Balearian cranes," one of +which, had a wooden leg "made by a soulder:" there were also "deere of +severall countries, white, spotted like leopards; antelopes, an elk, +red deer, roebucks, staggs, Guinea goates, Arabian sheepe, &c." There +were "withy-potts, or nests, for the wild fowle to lay their eggs in, a +little above y^e surface of y^e water." + +"25 Feb. 1664. This night I walk'd into St. James his Parke, where I saw +many strange creatures, as divers sorts of outlandish deer, Guiny sheep, +a white raven, a great parrot, a storke.... Here are very stately walkes +set with lime trees on both sides, and a fine pallmall."[3] + +Upon the eastern island is the Swiss Cottage of the Ornithological +Society, built in 1841 with a grant of 300l. from the Lords of +the Treasury: it contains a council-room, keepers' apartments, +steam-hatching apparatus; contiguous are feeding-places and decoys; and +the aquatic fowl breed on the island, making their own nests among the +shrubs and grasses. + +The majority of Zoological Gardens now in existence have been founded +in this century, with the exception of the Jardin des Plantes, which, +although founded in 1626, did not receive its first living animals until +the year 1793-1794. Hitherto, it had been a Garden of Plants exclusively. + +We shall not be expected to enumerate the great Continental gardens, +of which that at Berlin, half an hour's drive beyond the Brandenburg +gates, contains the Royal Menagerie; it is open upon the payment of +an admission fee, and generally resembles our garden at the Regent's +Park. Berlin has also its Zoological Collection in its Museum of Natural +History. This collection is one of the richest and most extensive in +Europe, especially in the department of Ornithology: it includes the +birds collected by Pallas and Wildenow, and the fishes of Bloch. The +best specimens are those from Mexico, the Red Sea, and the Cape. The +whole is exceedingly well arranged, and _named_ for the convenience of +students. Still, our Zoological Collection in the British Museum (to be +hereafter removed to South Kensington) is allowed to be the finest in +Europe. + +The Zoological Society of London was instituted in 1826, and occupies +now about seventeen acres of gardens in the Regent's Park. Among the +earliest tenants of the Menagerie were a pair of emues from New Holland; +two Arctic bears and a Russian bear; a herd of kangaroos; Cuban mastiffs +and Thibet watch-dogs; two llamas from Peru; a splendid collection of +eagles, falcons, and owls; a pair of beavers; cranes, spoonbills, and +storks; zebras and Indian cows; Esquimaux dogs; armadilloes; and a +collection of monkeys. To the menagerie have since been added an immense +number of species of _Mammalia_ and _Birds_; in 1849, a collection +of _Reptiles_; and in 1853, a collection of _Fish_, _Mollusca_, +_Zoophytes_, and other _Aquatic Animals_. In 1830, the menagerie +collected by George IV. at Sandpit-gate, Windsor, was removed to the +Society's Gardens; and 1834 the last of the Tower Menagerie was received +here. It is now the finest public Vivarium in Europe. + +The following are some of the more remarkable animals which the Society +have possessed, or are now in the menagerie:-- + + _Antelopes_, the great family of, finely represented. The + beautiful _Elands_ were bequeathed by the late Earl of Derby, and + have bred freely since their arrival in 1851. The Leucoryx is the + first of her race born out of Africa. _Ant-eater. Giant_, brought + to England from Brazil in 1853, was exhibited in Broad-street, + St. Giles's, until purchased by the Zoological Society for 200l. + _Apteryx_, or _Kiwi_ bird, from New Zealand; the first living + specimen brought to England of this rare bird. The _Fish-house_, + built of iron and glass, in 1853, consisting of a series of glass + tanks, in which fish spawn, zoophytes produce young, and algæ + luxuriate; crustacea and mollusca live successfully, and ascidian + polypes are illustrated, together with sea anemones, jelly-fishes, + and star-fishes, rare shell-fishes, &c.: a new world of animal + life is here seen as in the depths of the ocean, with masses of + rock, sand, gravel, corallines, sea-weed, and sea-water; the + animals are in a state of natural restlessness, now quiescent, + now eating and being eaten. _Aurochs_, or _European Bisons_: a + pair presented by the Emperor of Russia, in 1847, from the forest + of Bialowitzca: the male died in 1848, the female in 1849, from + pleuro-pneumonia. _Bears_: the collection is one of the largest + ever made. _Elephants_: including an Indian elephant calf and its + mother. In 1847 died here the great Indian elephant Jack, having + been in the gardens sixteen years. Adjoining the stable is a tank + of water, of a depth nearly equal to the height of a full-grown + elephant. In 1851 the Society possessed a _herd of four elephants_, + besides a hippopotamus, a rhinoceros, and both species of tapir; + being the largest collection of pachydermata ever exhibited in + Europe. _Giraffes_: four received in 1836 cost the Society upwards + of 2,300_l._, including 1,000_l._ for steamboat passage: the female + produced six male fawns here between 1840 and 1851. _Hippopotamus_, + a young male (the first living specimen seen in England), received + from Egypt in May, 1850, when ten months old, seven feet long, + and six and a-half feet in girth; also a female hippopotamus, + received 1854. _Humming-birds_: Mr. Gould's matchless collection + of 2,000 examples was exhibited here in 1851 and 1852. _Iguanas_, + two from Cuba and Carthagena, closely resembling, in everything + but size, the fossil Iguanodon. The _Lions_ number generally from + eight to ten, including a pair of cubs born in the gardens in 1853. + _Orang-utan_ and _Chimpanzee_: the purchase-money of the latter + sometimes exceeds 300_l._ The orang "Darby," brought from Borneo + in 1851, is the finest yet seen in Europe, very intelligent, and + docile as a child. _Parrot-houses_: they sometimes contain from + sixty to seventy species. _Rapacious Birds_: so extensive a series + of eagles and vultures has never yet been seen at one view. _The + Reptile-house_ was fitted up in 1849; the creatures are placed in + large plate-glass cases: here are pythons and a rattle-snake, with + a young one born here; here is also a case of the tree-frogs of + Europe: a yellow snake from Jamaica has produced eight young in the + gardens. _Cobra de Capello_, from India: in 1852, a keeper in the + gardens was killed by the bite of this serpent. _A large Boa_ in + 1850 swallowed a blanket, and disgorged it in thirty-three days. + A _one-horned Rhinoceros_, of continental India, was obtained in + 1834, when it was about four years old, and weighed 26 cwt.; it + died in 1850: it was replaced by a female, about five years old. + _Satin Bower-Birds_, from Sydney: a pair have built here a bower, + or breeding-place. _Tapir_ of the Old World, from Mount Ophir; + the nearest existing form the Paleotherium. _Tigers_: a pair of + magnificent specimens, presented by the Guicoway of Baroda in 1851; + a pair of clouded tigers, 1854. _The Wapiti Deer_ breeds every year + in the Menagerie. + +The animals in the Gardens, although reduced in number, are more +valuable and interesting than when their number was higher. The mission +of the Society's head-keeper, to collect rare animals for the Menagerie, +has been very profitable. The additional houses from time to time, are +very expensive: the new monkey house, fittings, and work cost 4,842_l._; +and in 1864, the sum of 6,604_l._ was laid out in permanent additions to +the establishment. + +Very rare, and consequently expensive, animals are generally purchased. +Thus, the first Rhinoceros cost 1,000_l._; the four Giraffes, 700_l._, +and their carriage an additional 700_l._ The Elephant and calf were +bought in 1851 for 500_l._; and the Hippopotamus, although a gift, was +not brought home and housed at less than 1,000_l._--a sum which he +more than realised in the famous Exhibition season, when the receipts +were 10,000_l._ above the previous year. The Lion Albert was purchased +for 140_l._; a tiger, in 1852, for 200_l._ The value of some of the +smaller birds will appear, however, more startling: thus, the pair +of black-necked Swans were purchased for 80_l._; a pair of crowned +Pigeons and two Maleos, 60_l._; a pair of Victoria Pigeons, 35_l._; +four Mandarin Ducks, 70_l._ Most of these rare birds (now in the great +aviary) came from the Knowsley collection, at the sale of which, +in 1851, purchases were made to the extent of 985_l._ It would be +impossible from these prices, however, to judge of the present value +of the animals. Take the Rhinoceros, for example: the first specimen +cost 1,000_l._; the second, quite as fine a brute, only 350_l._ Lions +range again from 40_l._ to 180_l._, and Tigers from 40_l._ to 200_l._ +The ignorance displayed by some persons as to the value of well-known +objects is something marvellous.--A sea-captain demanded 600_l._ for +a pair of Pythons, and at last took 40_l._! An American offered the +Society a Grisly Bear for 2,000_l._, to be delivered in the United +States; and, more laughable still, a moribund Walrus, which had been fed +for nine weeks on salt pork and meal, was offered for the trifling sum +of 700_l._! + +There is a strange notion that the Zoological Society has proposed a +large reward for a "Tortoiseshell Tom-cat," and one was accordingly +offered to the Society for 250_l._! But male Tortoiseshell Cats may be +had in many quarters.[4] + +The Surrey Zoological Gardens were established in 1831. Thither +Cross removed his menagerie from the King's Mews, where it had been +transferred from Exeter Change. At Walworth a glazed circular +building, 100 feet in diameter, was built for the cages of the +carnivorous animals (Lions, Tigers, Leopards, &c.); and other houses +for Mammalia, Birds, &c. Here, in 1834, was first exhibited a young +Indian one-horned Rhinoceros, for which Cross paid 800_l._ It was the +only specimen brought to England for twenty years. In 1836 were added +three Giraffes, one fifteen feet high. The menagerie was dispersed in +1856. The menagerie at Exeter Change was a poor collection, though the +admission-charge was, at one period, half-a-crown! + +The collections of animals exhibited at fairs have added little to +Zoological information; but we may mention that Wombwell, one of the +most noted of the showfolk, bought a pair of the first Boa Constrictors +imported into England: for these he paid 75_l._, and in three weeks +realised considerably more than that sum by their exhibition. At the +time of his death, in 1850, Wombwell was possessed of three huge +menageries, the cost of maintaining which averaged at least 35_l._ per +day; and he used to estimate that, from mortality and disease, he had +lost, from first to last, from 12,000_l._ to 15,000_l._ + +Our object in the following succession of sketches of the habits and +eccentricities of the more striking animals, and their principal +claims upon our attention, is to present, in narrative, their leading +characteristics, and thus to secure a willing audience from old and +young. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] 1 Kings iv. 10. + +[2] "Athenæum." + +[3] Journal of Mr. E. Browne, son of Sir Thomas Browne. + +[4] In April, 1842, Mr. Batty's collection of animals was sold by +auction, when the undermentioned animals brought--Large red-faced Monkey +(clever), 1_l._ 10_s._; fine Coatimondi, 1_l._ 4_s._; Mandril (the +only one in England), 1_l._ 17_s._; pair of Java Hares, 1_l._ 9_s._; a +Puma, 14_l._; handsome Senegal Lioness, 9_l._; a Hyæna, 7_l._; splendid +Barbary Lioness, 24_l._; handsome Bengal Tigress, 90_l._; brown Bear, +6_l._; the largest Polar Bear in Europe, 37_l._; pair of Esquimaux +Sledge-Dogs, 3_l._ 7_s._; pair of Golden Pheasants, 3_l._ 10_s._; a +blue-and-buff Macaw (clever talker), 2_l._ 10_s._; a horned Owl, from +North America, 3_l._ 10_s._; a magnificent Barbary Lion, trained for +performance, 105 guineas; a Lioness, similarly trained, 90 guineas; +handsome Senegal performing Leopard, 34 guineas; two others, 50 guineas; +Ursine Sloth, 12 guineas; Indian Buffalo, 10 guineas; sagacious male +Elephant, trained for theatrical performances, 350 guineas. The above is +stated to have been the first sale of the kind by public auction in this +country. + + + + +THE RHINOCEROS IN ENGLAND. + + +The intellectual helps to the study of zoology are nowhere more +strikingly evident than in the finest collection of pachyderms +(thick-skinned animals) in the world, now possessed by our Zoological +Society. Here we have a pair of Indian Elephants, a pair of African +Elephants, a pair of Hippopotami, a pair of Indian Rhinoceroses, and an +African or two-horned Rhinoceros. + +The specimens of the Rhinoceros which have been exhibited in Europe +since the revival of literature have been few and far between. The +first was of the one-horned species, sent from India to Emmanuel. King +of Portugal, in the year 1513. The Sovereign made a present of it to +the Pope; but the animal being seized during its passage with a fit of +fury, occasioned the loss of the vessel in which it was transported. A +second Rhinoceros was brought to England in 1685; a third was exhibited +over almost the whole of Europe in 1739; and a fourth, a female, in +1741. A fifth specimen arrived at Versailles in 1771, and it died in +1793, at the age of about twenty-six years. The sixth was a very young +Rhinoceros, which died in this country in the year 1800. The seventh, a +young specimen, was in the possession of Mr. Cross, at Exeter Change, +about 1814; and an eighth specimen was living about the same time in +the Garden of Plants at Paris. In 1834 Mr. Cross received at the Surrey +Gardens, from the Birman empire, a Rhinoceros, a year and a-half old, +as already stated at page 21. In 1851 the Zoological Society purchased +a full-grown female Rhinoceros; and in 1864 they received a male +Rhinoceros from Calcutta. All these specimens were from India, and +_one-horned_; so that the _two-horned_ Rhinoceros had not been brought +to England until the arrival of an African Rhinoceros, _two-horned_, in +September, 1868.[5] + +The ancient history of the Rhinoceros is interesting, but intricate. It +seems to be mentioned in several passages of the Scriptures, in most +of which the animal or animals intended to be designated was or were +the _Rhinoceros unicornis_, or Great Asiatic one-horned Rhinoceros. +M. Lesson expresses a decided opinion to this effect: indeed, the +description in Job (chap. xxxix.) would almost forbid the conclusion +that any animal was in the writer's mind except one of surpassing bulk +and indomitable strength. The impotence of man is finely contrasted +with the might of the Rhinoceros in this description, which would be +overcharged if it applied to the less powerful animals alluded to in the +previous passages. + +It has also been doubted whether accounts of the Indian Wild Ass, given +by Ctesias, were not highly coloured and exaggerated descriptions of +this genus; and whether the Indian Ass of Aristotle was not a Rhinoceros. + +Agatharchides describes the one-horned Rhinoceros by name, and speaks +of its ripping up the belly of the Elephant. This is, probably, the +earliest occurrence of the name _Rhinoceros_. The Rhinoceros which +figured in the celebrated pomps of Ptolemy Philadelphus was an +Ethiopian, and seems to have marched last in the procession of wild +animals, probably on account of its superior rarity, and immediately +after the Cameleopard. + +Dion Cassius speaks of the Rhinoceros killed in the circus with a +Hippopotamus in the show given by Augustus to celebrate his victory over +Cleopatra; he says that the Hippopotamus and this animal were then first +seen and killed at Rome. The Rhinoceros then slain is thought to have +been African, and two-horned. + +The Rhinoceros clearly described by Strabo, as seen by him, was +one-horned. That noticed by Pausanias as "the Bull of Ethiopia," was +two-horned, and he describes the relative position of the horns. + +Wood, in his "Zoography," gives an engraving of the coin of Domitian +(small Roman brass), on the reverse of which is the distinct form of a +two-horned Rhinoceros: its exhibition to the Roman people, probably of +the very animal represented on the coin, is particularly described in +one of the epigrams attributed to Martial, who lived in the reigns of +Titus and Domitian. By the description of the epigram it appears that +a combat between a Rhinoceros and a Bear was intended, but that it was +very difficult to irritate the more unwieldy animal so as to make him +display his usual ferocity; at length, however, he tossed the bear from +his double horn, with as much facility as a bull tosses to the sky the +bundles placed for the purpose of enraging him. Thus far the coin and +the epigram perfectly agree as to the existence of the double horn; but, +unfortunately, commentators and antiquaries were not to be convinced +that a Rhinoceros could have more than one horn, and have at once +displayed their sagacity and incredulity in their explanations on the +subject. + +Two, at least, of the two-horned Rhinoceroses were shown at Rome in the +reign of Domitian. The Emperors Antoninus, Heliogabalus, and Gordian +also exhibited Rhinoceroses. Cosmas speaks expressly of the Ethiopian +Rhinoceros as having two horns, and of its power of moving them. + +The tractability of the Asiatic Rhinoceros has been confirmed by +observers in the native country of the animal. Bishop Heber saw at +Lucknow five or six very large Rhinoceroses, of which he found that +prints and drawings had given him a very imperfect conception. They +were more bulky animals, and of a darker colour than the Bishop +supposed; though the latter difference might be occasioned by oiling +the skin. The folds of their skin also surpassed all which the Bishop +had expected. Those at Lucknow were quiet and gentle animals, except +that one of them had a feud with horses. They had sometimes howdahs, or +chaise-like seats, on their backs, and were once fastened in a carriage, +but only as an experiment, which was not followed up. The Bishop, +however, subsequently saw a Rhinoceros (the present of Lord Amherst to +the Guicwar), which was so tamed as to be ridden by a Mohout quite as +patiently as an elephant. + +No two-horned Rhinoceros seems to have been brought alive to Europe in +modern times. Indeed, up to a comparatively late period, their form +was known only by the horns which were preserved in museums; nor did +voyagers give any sufficient details to impart any clear idea of the +form of the animal. The rude figure given by Aldrovandus, in 1639, +leaves no doubt that, wretched as it is, it must have been taken from a +two-horned Rhinoceros. + +Dr. Parsons endeavoured to show that the one-horned Rhinoceros always +belonged to Asia, and the two-horned Rhinoceros to Africa; but there are +two-horned Rhinoceroses in Asia, as well as in Africa. Flacourt saw one +in the Bay of Soldaque, near the Cape of Good Hope, at a distance. Kolbe +and others always considered the Rhinoceros of the Cape as two-horned; +but Colonel Gordon seems to be the first who entirely detailed the +species with any exactness. Sparrman described the Cape Rhinoceros, +though his figure of the animal is stiff and ill-drawn. At this period +it was well known that the Cape species was not only distinguished by +having two horns from the Indian Rhinoceros then known, but also by an +absence of the folds of the skin so remarkable in the latter. + +We should here notice the carelessness, to call it by the mildest +name, of Bruce, who gave to the world a representation of a two-horned +Rhinoceros from Abyssinia, with a strongly folded skin. The truth +appears to be that the body of the animal figured by Bruce was copied +from that of the one-horned Rhinoceros given by Buffon, to which Bruce +added a second horn. Salt proved that the Abyssinian Rhinoceros is +two-horned, and that it resembles that of the Cape. + +[Illustration: THE TWO-HORNED AFRICAN RHINOCEROS.] + +Sparmann exposes the errors and poetic fancies of Buffon respecting the +impenetrable nature of the skin. He ordered one of his Hottentots to +make a trial of this with his hassagai on a Rhinoceros which had been +shot. Though this weapon was far from being in good order, and had no +other sharpness than that which it had received from the forge, the +Hottentot, at the distance of five or six paces, not only pierced with +it the thick hide of the animal, but buried it half a foot deep in its +body. + +Mr. Tegetmeier has sufficiently described in the "Field" journal the +African Rhinoceros just received at the Zoological Society's menagerie +in the Regent's-park, and which has been sketched by Mr. T. W. Wood +expressly for the present volume. + +It was captured about a year ago in Upper Nubia by the native hunters +in the employment of Mr. Casanova, at Kassala; and was sent, by way of +Alexandria and Trieste, to Mr. Karl Hagenbeck, of Hamburg, a dealer in +wild beasts, who sold it to the Zoological Society. + +"This animal is very distinct from its Asiatic congeners; it differs +strikingly in the number of horns, as well as in the character of its +skin, which is destitute of those large folds, which cause the Indian +species to remind the observer of a gigantic 'hog in armour.' + +"The arrival of this animal will tend to clear up the confusion +that prevails respecting the number of distinct species of African +Rhinoceros. Some writers--as Sir W. C. Harris--admit the existence of +two species only, the dark and the light, or, as they are termed, the +'white' and the 'black.' Others, as Dr. A. Smith, describe three; some, +as the late Mr. Anderssen, write of four; and Mr. Chapman even speaks of +a fifth species or hybrid. + +"Three of these species are very distinctly defined--the ordinary dark +animal, the _Rhinoceros bicornis_, in which the posterior horn is much +shorter than the anterior; the _Rhinoceros keitloa_, in which the two +horns are of equal length; and the 'white' species, _Rhinoceros simus_. +The last, among other characters, is, according to Dr. Smith, +distinguished by the square character of the upper lip, which is not +prehensile. + +"The young animal now (October, 1868) in the Zoological Society's +garden, appears to belong to the first-named species, the largest +specimens of which when full grown reach a height of 6ft., and a length +of 13ft., the tail not included. Its present height is 3-1/2ft., and +length about 6ft. In general appearance the mature animal resembles a +gigantic pig, the limbs being brought under the body. The feet are most +singular in form, being very distinctly three-toed, and the remarkable +trefoil-like _spoors_ that they make in the soil render the animal +easy to track. The horns vary greatly in length in different animals; +the first not unfrequently reaches a length of 2ft., the second being +considerably shorter. These appendages differ very much from ordinary +horns; they are, in fact, more of the nature of agglutinated hair, being +attached to the skin only, and consequently they separate from the skull +when the latter is preserved. + +"The head is not remarkable for comeliness, especially in the mature +animal, in which the skin of the face is deeply wrinkled, and the small +eyes are surrounded with many folds. The upper lip is elongated, and is +used in gathering the food. The adult animals are described by Sir W. C. +Harris, in his 'Illustrations of the Game Animals of South Africa,' as +'swinish, cross-grained, ill-tempered, wallowing brutes.'" + +Mr. Burchell, during his travels in Africa, shot nine Rhinoceroses, +besides a smaller one. The latter he presented to the British Museum. +The animal is, however, becoming every day more and more scarce in +Southern Africa; indeed, it is rarely to be met with in some parts. +It appears that, in one day, two Rhinoceroses were shot by Speelman, +the faithful Hottentot who attended Mr. Burchell. He fired off his gun +but twice, and each time he killed a Rhinoceros! The animal's sense of +hearing is very quick: should he be disturbed, he sometimes becomes +furious, and pursues his enemy; and then, if once he gets sight of the +hunter, it is scarcely possible for him to escape, unless he possesses +extraordinary coolness and presence of mind. Yet, if he will quietly +wait till the enraged animal makes a run at him, and will then spring +suddenly on one side, to let it pass, he may gain time enough for +reloading his gun before the Rhinoceros gets sight of him again, which, +fortunately, owing to its imperfection of sight, it does slowly and with +difficulty. + +Speelman, in shooting a large male Rhinoceros, used bullets cast with +an admixture of tin, to render them harder. They were flattened and +beat out of shape by striking against the bones, but those which were +found lodged in the fleshy parts had preserved their proper form, a fact +which shows how little the hardness of the creature's hide corresponds +with the vulgar opinion of its being impenetrable to a musket-ball. +Mr. Burchell found this Rhinoceros nearly cut up. On each side of the +carcase the Hottentots had made a fire to warm themselves; and round a +third fire were assembled at least twenty-four Bushmen, most of whom +were employed the whole night long in broiling, eating, and talking. +Their appetite seemed insatiable, for no sooner had they broiled and +eaten one slice of meat than they turned to the carcase and cut another. +The meat was excellent, and had much the taste of beef. "The tongue," +says Mr. Burchell, "is a dainty treat, even for an epicure." The hide is +cut into strips, three feet or more in length, rounded to the thickness +of a man's finger, and tapering to the top. This is called a _shambok_, +and is universally used in the colony of the Cape for a horsewhip, and +is much more durable than the whips of European manufacture. The natural +food of the Rhinoceros, till the animal fled before the colonists, was a +pale, bushy shrub, called the Rhinoceros-bush, which burns while green +as freely as the driest fuel, so as readily to make a roadside fire. + +The horn of the Rhinoceros, single or double, has its special history by +the way of popular tradition. From the earliest times this horn has been +supposed to possess preservative virtues and mysterious properties--to +be capable of curing diseases and discovering the presence of poison; +and in all countries where the Rhinoceros exists, but especially in the +East, such is still the opinion respecting it. In the details of the +first voyage of the English to India, in 1591, we find Rhinoceros' horns +monopolised by the native sovereigns on account of their reputed virtues +in detecting the presence of poison. + +Thunberg observes, in his "Journey into Caffraria," that "the horns of +the Rhinoceros were kept by some people, both in town and country, not +only as rarities, but also as useful in diseases, and for the purpose +of detecting poisons. As to the former of these intentions, the fine +shavings were supposed to cure convulsions and spasms in children. With +respect to the latter, it was generally believed that goblets made of +these horns would discover a poisonous draught that was poured into +them, by making the liquor ferment till it ran quite out of the goblet. +Of these horns goblets are made, which are set in gold and silver and +presented to kings, persons of distinction, and particular friends, or +else sold at a high price, sometimes at the rate of fifty rix-dollars +each." Thunberg adds:--"When I tried these horns, both wrought and +unwrought, both old and young horns, with several sorts of poison, weak +as well as strong, I observed not the least motion or effervescence; but +when a solution of corrosive sublimate or other similar substance was +poured into one of these horns, there arose only a few bubbles, produced +by the air which had been enclosed in the pores of the horn and which +were now disengaged." + +Rankin (in his "Wars and Sports") states this mode of using it: a small +quantity of water is put into the concave part of the root, then hold it +with the point downwards and stir the water with the point of an iron +nail till it is discoloured, when the patient is to drink it. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[5] The conveyance of a Rhinoceros over sea is a labour of some risk. In +1814 a full-grown specimen on his voyage from Calcutta to this country +became so furious that he was fastened down to the ship's deck, with +part of a chain-cable round his neck; and even then he succeeded in +destroying a portion of the vessel, till, a heavy storm coming on, the +Rhinoceros was thrown overboard to prevent the serious consequence of +his getting loose in the ship. + + + + +STORIES OF MERMAIDS. + + +Less than half a century ago, a pretended Mermaid was one of the sights +of a London season; to see which credulous persons rushed to pay +half-crowns and shillings with a readiness which seemed to rebuke the +record--that the existence of a Mermaid is an exploded fallacy of two +centuries since. + +Mermaids have had a legendary existence from very early ages, for the +Sirens of the ancients evidently belonged to the same remarkable family. +Shakspeare uses the term Mermaid as synonymous with Siren:-- + + "O train me not, sweet Mermaid, with thy note, + To drown me in thy sister's flood of tears; + Sing, Syren, for thyself."--_Comedy of Errors_, iii. 2. + +Elsewhere, Shakspeare's use of the term is more applicable to the Siren +than to the common idea of a Mermaid; as in the "Midsummer Night's +Dream," where the "Mermaid on a dolphin's back" could not easily have +been so placed. A Merman, the male of this imaginary species, is +mentioned by Taylor, the water-poet:-- + + "A thing turmoyling in the sea we spide, + Like to a Meareman." + +An old writer has this ingenious illustration:--"Mermaids, in Homer, +were witches, and their songs enchantments;" which reminds us of the +invitation in Haydn's Mermaid's Song:-- + + "Come with me, and we will go + Where the rocks of coral grow." + +The orthodox Mermaid is half woman, half fish; and the fishy half is +sometimes depicted as doubly tailed, such as we see in the heraldry of +France and Germany; and in the Basle edition of Ptolemy's "Geography," +dated 1540, a double-tailed Mermaid figures in one of the plates. In the +arms of the Fishmongers' Company of London, the supporters are "a Merman +and maid, first, armed, the latter with a mirror in the left hand, +proper." From this heraldic employment, the Mermaid became a popular +tavern sign; and there was an old dance called the Mermaid. + +Sir Thomas Browne refers to the _picture_ of Mermaids, though he does +not admit their existence. They "are conceived to answer the shape of +the ancient Sirens that attempted upon Ulysses; which, notwithstanding, +were of another description, containing no fishy composure, but made up +of man and bird." Sir Thomas is inclined to refer the Mermaid to Dagon, +the tutelary deity of the Philistines, which, according to the common +opinion, had a human female bust and a fish-like termination; though the +details of this fish idolatry are entirely conjectural. + +Leyden, the Scottish poet, has left a charming ballad, entitled "The +Mermaid," the scene of which is laid at Corrievreckin: the opening of +this poem Sir Walter Scott praised as exhibiting a power of numbers +which, for mere melody of sound, has seldom been excelled in English +poetry:-- + + "On Jura's heath how sweetly swell + The murmurs of the mountain bee! + How softly mourns the writhèd shell + Of Jura's shore its parent sea! + + "But softer floating, o'er the deep, + The Mermaid's sweet sea-soothing lay, + That charmed the dancing waves to sleep + Before the bark of Colonsay." + +The ballad thus describes the wooing of the gallant chieftain:-- + + "Proud swells her heart! she deems at last + To lure him with her silver tongue, + And, as the shelving rocks she passed, + She raised her voice, and sweetly sung. + + "In softer, sweeter strains she sung, + Slow gliding o'er the moonlight bay, + When light to land the chieftain sprung, + To hail the maid of Colonsay. + + "O sad the Mermaid's gay notes fell, + And sadly sink remote at sea! + O sadly mourns the writhèd shell + Of Jura's shore, its parent sea + + "And ever as the year returns, + The charm-bound sailors know the day; + For sadly still the Mermaid mourns + The lovely chief of Colonsay." + +Curious evidences of the existence of Mermaids are to be found in +ancient authors. Pliny says that "the ambassadors to Augustine from Gaul +declared that sea-women were often seen in their neighbourhood." Solinus +and Aulus Gellius also speak of their existence. Some stories are, +however, past credence. It is related in the "Histoire d'Angleterre" +that, in the year 1187, a Merman was "fished up" off the coast of +Suffolk, and kept for six months. It was like a man, but wanted speech, +and at length escaped into the sea! In 1430, in the great tempests which +destroyed the dykes in Holland, some women at Edam, in West Friesland, +saw a Mermaid who had been driven by the waters into the meadows, which +were overflowed. "They took it, dressed it in female attire, and taught +it to spin!" It was taken to Haarlem, where it lived some years! Then we +read of Ceylonese fishermen, in 1560, catching, at one draught, seven +Mermen and Mermaids, which were dissected! In 1531, a Mermaid, caught in +the Baltic, was sent to Sigismund, King of Poland, with whom she lived +three days, and was seen by the whole court! + +In Merollo's "Voyage to Congo," in 1682, Mermaids are said to be +plentiful all along the river Zaire. In the "Aberdeen Almanack" for +1688, it is predicted that "near the place where the famous Dee +payeth his tribute to the German Ocean," on the 1st, 13th, and 29th +of May, and other specified times, curious observers may "undoubtedly +see a pretty company of Mar Maids," and likewise hear their melodious +voices. In another part of Scotland, about the same time, Brand, in his +"Description of Orkney and Shetland," tells us that two fishermen drew +up with a hook a Mermaid, "having face, arm, breast, shoulders, &c., of +a woman, and long hair hanging down the neck, but the nether part, from +below the waist, hidden in the water." One of the fishermen stabbed her +with a knife, and she was seen no more! The evidence went thus:--Brand +was told by a lady and gentleman, who were told by a baillie to whom the +fishing-boat belonged, who was told by the fishers! Valentyn describes a +Mermaid he saw in 1714, on his voyage from Batavia to Europe, "sitting +on the surface of the water," &c. In 1758, a Mermaid is said to have +been exhibited at the fair of St. Germain, in France. It was about two +feet long, and sported about in a vessel of water. It was fed with bread +and fish. It was a female, with negro features. + +In 1775 appeared a very circumstantial account of a Mermaid which was +captured in the Grecian Archipelago in the preceding year, and exhibited +in London. The account is ludicrously minute, and it ends with: "It is +said to have an enchanting voice, which it never exerts except before +a storm." This imposture was craftily made up out of the skin of the +angle shark. In Mr. Morgan's "Tour to Milford Haven in the year 1795," +appears an equally circumstantial account of a Mermaid, said to have +been seen by one Henry Reynolds, a farmer, of Ren-y-hold, in the parish +of Castlemartin, in 1782. It resembled a youth of sixteen or eighteen +years of age, with a very white skin: it was bathing. The evidence +is very roundabout, so that there were abundant means for converting +some peculiar kind of fish into a Merman, without imputing intentional +dishonesty to any one. "Something akin to this kind of evidence is +observable in the account of a Mermaid seen in Caithness in 1809, which +attracted much attention in England as well as in Scotland, and induced +the Philosophical Society of Glasgow to investigate the matter. The +Editor of a newspaper, who inserted the statement, had been told by a +gentleman, who had been shown a letter by Sir John Sinclair, who had +obtained it from Mr. Innes, to whom it had been written by Miss Mackay, +who had heard the story from the persons (two servant girls and a boy) +who had seen the strange animal in the water." (Chambers's "Book of +Days.") + +Then we read of a so-called Mermaid, shown in the year 1794 at No. 7, +Broad-court, Bow-street. Covent-garden, said to have been taken in the +North Seas by Captain Foster. It was of the usual description. + +Much evidence comes from Scotland. Thus, in the year 1797, a +schoolmaster of Thurso affirmed that he had seen a Mermaid, apparently +in the act of combing her hair with her fingers! Twelve years +afterwards, several persons observed near the same place a like +appearance. Dr. Chisholm, in his "Essay on Malignant Fever in the West +Indies," in 1801, relates that, in the year 1797, happening to be at +Governor Van Battenburg's plantation, in Berbice, "the conversation +turned on a singular animal which had been repeatedly seen in Berbice +river, and some smaller rivers. This animal is the famous Mermaid, +hitherto considered as a mere creature of the imagination. It is called +by the Indians _méné_, mamma, or mother of the waters. The description +given of it by the Governor is as follows:--'The upper portion +resembles the human figure, the head smaller in proportion, sometimes +bare, but oftener covered with a copious quantity of long black hair. +The shoulders are broad, and the breasts large and well-formed. The +lower portion resembles the tail of a fish, is of great dimensions, +the tail forked, and not unlike that of the dolphin, as it is usually +represented. The colour of the skin is either black or tawny.' The +animal is held in veneration by the Indians, who imagine that killing +it would be attended with calamitous consequences. It is from this +circumstance that none of these animals have been shot, and consequently +examined but at a distance. They have been generally observed in a +sitting posture in the water, none of the lower extremity being seen +until they are disturbed, when, by plunging, the tail agitates the water +to a considerable distance round. They have been always seen employed in +smoothing their hair, and have thus been frequently taken for Indian +women bathing." In 1811, a young man, named John M'Isaac, of Corphine, +in Kintyre, in Scotland, made oath, on examination at Campbell-town, +that he saw, on the 13th of October in the above year, on a rock on the +sea-coast, an animal which generally corresponded with the form of the +Mermaid--the upper half human shape, the other brindled or reddish grey, +apparently covered with scales; the extremity of the tail greenish red; +head covered with long hair, at times put back on both sides of the +head. This statement was attested by the minister of Campbell-town and +the Chamberlain of Mull. + +In August, 1812, Mr. Toupin, of Exmouth, in a sailing excursion, and +when about a mile south-east of Exmouth Bar, heard a sound like that +of the Æolian harp; and saw, at about one hundred yards distance, a +creature, which was regarded as a Mermaid. The head, from the crown to +the chin, formed a long oval, and the face seemed to resemble that of +the seal, though with more agreeable features. The presumed hair, the +arms, and the hand, with four fingers connected by a membrane, are then +described, and the tail with polished scales. The entire height of the +animal was from five feet to five and a-half feet. In 1819, a creature +approached the coast of Ireland. It was about the size of a child ten +years of age, with prominent bosom, long dark hair, and dark eyes. It +was shot at, when it plunged into the sea with a loud scream. + +[Illustration: SEAL AND MERMAID.] + +In reviewing these stories of Mermaids, it may be remarked that there +is always a fish in each tale--either a living fish of a peculiar +kind, which a fanciful person thinks to bear some resemblance in the +upper part to a human being, or a fish which becomes marvellous in the +progress of its description from mouth to mouth. It is commonly thought +the seals may often have been mistaken for Mermaids. But, of all the +animals of the whale tribe that which approaches the nearest in form to +man is, undoubtedly, the Dugong, which, when its head and breast are +raised above the water, and its pectoral fins, resembling hands, are +visible, might easily be taken by superstitious seamen for a semi-human +being, or a Mermaid. Of this deception a remarkable instance occurred +in 1826. The skeleton of a Mermaid, as it was called, was brought +to Portsmouth, which had been shot in the vicinity of the Island of +Mombass. This was submitted to the members of the Philosophical Society, +when it proved to be the skeleton of a Dugong. To those who came to +the examination with preconceived notions of a fabulous Mermaid, it +presented, as it lay on the lecture-table, a singular appearance. It +was about six feet long; the lower portion, with its broad tail-like +extremity, suggested the idea of a powerful fish-like termination, +whilst the fore-legs presented to the unskilful eye a resemblance to the +bones of a small female arm; the cranium, however, had a brutal form, +which could never have borne the lineaments of "the human face divine." + +The Mermaid has been traced to the Manatee as well as to the Dugong: the +former is an aquatic animal, externally resembling a whale, and named +from its flipper, resembling the human hand, _manus_. Again, the _mammæ_ +(teats) of the Manatees and Dugongs are pectoral; and this conformation, +joined to the adroit use of their flippers (whose five fingers can +easily be distinguished through the inverting membranes, four of them +being terminated by nails) in progression, nursing their young, &c., +have caused them, when seen at a distance with the anterior part of +their body out of the water, to be taken for some creature approaching +to human shape so nearly (especially as their middle is thick set with +hair, giving somewhat of the effect of human hair or a beard), that +there can be little doubt that not a few of the tales of Mermen and +Mermaids have had their origin with these animals as well as with seals +and walruses. Thus the Portuguese and Spaniards give the _Manatee_ a +denomination which signifies Woman-fish; and the Dutch call the Dugong +_Baardanetjee_, or Little-bearded Man. A very little imagination and +a memory for only the marvellous portion of the appearance sufficed, +doubtless, to complete the metamorphosis of this half woman or man, half +fish, into a Siren, a Mermaid, or a Merman; and the wild recital of the +voyager was treasured up by writers who, as Cuvier well observes, have +displayed more learning than judgment. + +The comb and the toilet-glass have already been incidentally mentioned +as accessories in these Mermaid stories; and these, with the +origin of the creature. Sir George Head thus ingeniously attempts +to explain:--"The resemblance of the seal, or sea-calf, to the calf +consists only in the voice, and the voice of the calf is certainly not +dissimilar to that of a man. But the claws of the seal, as well as the +hand, are like a lady's back-hair comb; wherefore, altogether, supposing +the resplendence of sea-water streaming down its polished neck, on a +sunshiny day, the substitute for a looking-glass, we arrive at once at +the fabulous history of the marine maiden or Mermaid, and the appendages +of her toilet." + +The progress of zoological science has long since destroyed the belief +in the existence of the Mermaid. If its upper structure be human, with +lungs resembling our own, how could such a creature live and breathe at +the bottom of the sea, where it is stated to be? for our most expert +divers are unable to stay under water more than half an hour. Suppose it +to be of the cetaceous class, it could only remain under the water two +or three minutes together without rising to the surface to take breath; +and if this were the case with the Mermaid, would it not be oftener seen? + +Half a century has scarcely elapsed since a _manufactured_ Mermaid was +shown in London with all the confidence of its being a natural creature. +In the winter of 1822 there was exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, in +Piccadilly, this pretended Mermaid, which was visited by from 300 to +400 persons daily! The imposture, however, was too gross to last long; +and it was ascertained to be the dried skin of the head and shoulders +of a monkey attached very neatly to the dried skin of a fish of the +salmon kind with the head cut off; the compound figure being stuffed +and highly varnished, the better to deceive the eye. This grotesque +object was taken by a Dutch vessel from on board a native Malacca boat; +and from the reverence shown to it by the sailors it is supposed to +have represented the incarnation of one of the idol gods of the Malacca +Islands. A correspondent of the "Magazine of Natural History," 1829, +however, avers that the above "Mermaid" was brought from the East +Indies; for being at St. Helena in 1813 he saw it on board the ship +which was bringing it to England. The impression on his mind was that +it was an artificial compound of the upper part of a small ape with the +lower half of a fish; and by aid of a powerful glass he ascertained the +point of union between the two parts. He was somewhat staggered to find +that this was so neatly effected that the precise line of junction was +not satisfactorily apparent: the creature was then in its best state of +preservation. + +In a volume of "Manners and Customs of the Japanese," published in +1841, we, however, find the following version of the history of the +above Mermaid:--"A Japanese fisherman seems to have displayed ingenuity +for the mere purpose of making money by his countrymen's passion for +everything odd and strange. He 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 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; yet more productive was the assertion that the half-human +fish, having spoken during the five 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 the possession +of the marine prophet's likeness! The sale of these _pictured Mermaids_ +was immense. Either the composite animal, or another, the offspring of +the success of the first, was sold to 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 year 1822-3, exhibited his +purchase as a real Mermaid to the admiration of the ignorant, the +perplexity of the learned, and the filling of his own purse." + +The Editor of the "Literary Gazette," Mr. Jerdan, was the first +to expose the fabulous creature of the Egyptian Hall. He plainly +said:--"Our opinion is fixed that it is a _composition_; a most +ingenious one, we grant, but still nothing beyond the admirably +put-together members of various animals. The extraordinary skill of +the Chinese and Japanese in executing such deceptions is notorious, +and we have no doubt that the Mermaid is a manufacture from the Indian +Sea, where it has been pretended it was caught. We are not of those who +because they happen not to have had direct proof of the existence of +any extraordinary natural phenomenon, push scepticism to the extreme +and deny its possibility. The depths of the sea, in all probability, +from various chemical and philosophical causes, contain animals unknown +to its surface-waters, rarely if ever seen by human eye. But when a +creature is presented to us having no other organization but that which +is suitable to a medium always open to our observation, it in the first +instance excites suspicion that only one individual of the species +should be discovered and obtained. When knowledge was more limited, the +stories of Mermaids seen in distant quarters might be credited by the +many, and not entirely disbelieved by the few; but now, when European +and especially British commerce fills every corner of the earth with men +of observation and science, the unique becomes the incredible, and we +receive with far greater doubt the apparition of such anomalies as the +present. It is curious that though medical men seem in general to regard +the creature as a possible production of nature, no naturalist of any +ability credits it after five minutes' observation! This may, perhaps, +be accounted for by their acquaintance with the parts of distinct +animals, of which it appears the Mermaid is composed. The cheeks of the +blue-faced ape, the canine teeth, the _simia_ upper body, and the tail +of the fish, are all familiar to them in less complex combinations, +and they pronounce at once that the whole is an imposture. And such +is our settled conviction." Though naturalists and journalists fully +exposed the imposture, this did not affect the exhibition, which for a +considerable time continued as crowded as ever; but the notoriety had +dwindled down to "a penny show," at Bartholomew Fair, by the year 1825. + +After so many exposures of the absurd belief in Mermaids, it could +scarcely be expected that any person could be found in Europe weak +enough to report the existence of one of these creatures to an eminent +scientific Society. Yet, on the 22d of June, 1840, the first Secretary +of the Ottoman Embassy at Paris addressed a note to the Academy of +Sciences, stating that his father, who was in the Admiralty department +at Constantinople, had recently seen a Mermaid while crossing the +Bosphorus, which communication was received with much laughter. + +We have still another recorded instance--and in Scotland. In the year +1857 two fishermen on the Argyleshire coast declared that when on their +way to the fishing-station, Lochindale, in a boat, and when about four +miles south-west from the village of Port Charlotte, about six o'clock +in a June evening, they distinctly saw, at about six yards distance, an +object in the form of a woman, with comely face and fine hair hanging +in ringlets over the neck and shoulders. It was above the surface of +the water gazing at the fishermen for three or four minutes--and then +vanished! Yet this declaration was officially attested! + +In 1863 Mermaids were supposed to abound in the ponds and ditches of +Suffolk, where careful mothers used them as bugbears to prevent little +children from going too near the water. Children described them as +"nasty things that crome you (hook you) into the water;" others as "a +great big thing like a feesh," probably a pike basking in the shallow +water. + +Sometimes the Mermaid has assumed a picturesqueness in fairy tale; and +her impersonation has been described by Dryden as "a fine woman, with a +fish's tail." And, laying aside her scaly train, she has appeared as a +lovely woman, with sea-green hair; and Crofton Croker relates, in his +"Fairy Legends," a marriage between an Irish fisherman and a "Merrow," +as the Mermaid is called in Ireland. + + + + +IS THE UNICORN FABULOUS? + + +To this question we may reply, in the words of a writer of 1633, +"Concerning the Unicorn, different opinions prevail among authors: +some doubt, others deny, and a third class affirm its existence." The +question has lasted two thousand years, and is every now and then kept +alive by fresh evidences. + +Ctesias, a credulous Greek physician, who appears to have resided at +the Court of Persia, in the time of the younger Cyrus, about 400 years +before the birth of Christ, describes the wild asses of India as equal +to the horse in size, and even larger, with white bodies, red heads, +bluish eyes, and a horn on the forehead a cubit in length; the part +from the forehead entirely white, the middle black, and the extremity +red and pointed. Drinking-vessels were made of it, and those who used +them were subject neither to convulsions, epilepsy, nor poison, provided +that before taking the poison, or after, they drank from these cups +water, wine, or any other liquor. Ctesias describes these animals as +very swift and very strong. Naturally they were not ferocious; but when +they found themselves and their young surrounded by horsemen, they did +not abandon their offspring, but defended themselves by striking with +their horns, kicking, and biting, and so slew many men and horses. This +animal was also shot with arrows and brought down with darts; for it was +impossible to take it alive. Its flesh was too bitter for food, but it +was hunted for its horn and astragalus (ankle-bone), which last Ctesias +declares he saw. Aristotle describes the Indian ass with a single horn. +Herodotus mentions asses having horns; and Strabo refers to Unicorn +horses, with the heads of deers. Oppian notices the Aonian bulls with +undivided hoofs, and a single median horn between their temples. Pliny +notices it as a very ferocious beast, similar in its body to a horse, +with the head of a deer, the feet of an elephant, the tail of a boar, +a deep bellowing voice, and a single black horn standing out in the +middle of its forehead. He adds, that it cannot be taken alive; and some +such excuse may have been necessary in those days for not producing the +living animal upon the arena of the amphitheatre. + +Out of this passage most of the modern Unicorns have been described +and figured. The body of the horse and the head of the deer appear to +be but vague sketches; the feet of the elephant and the tail of the +boar point at once to a pachydermatous (thick-skinned) animal; and the +single black horn, allowing for a little exaggeration as to its length, +well fits the two last-mentioned conditions, and will apply to the +Indian rhinoceros, which, says the sound naturalist, Ogilby, "affords a +remarkable instance of the obstructions which the progress of knowledge +may suffer, and the gross absurdities which not unfrequently result from +the wrong application of a name." Mr. Ogilby then refers to the account +of Ctesias, which we have just quoted, and adds:--"His account, though +mixed up with a great deal of credulous absurdity, contains a very +valuable and perfectly recognisable description of the rhinoceros, under +the ridiculous name, however, of the _Indian Ass_; and, as he attributed +to it a whole hoof like the horse, and a single horn in the forehead, +speculation required but one step further to produce the fabulous +Unicorn." + +The ancient writers who have treated of the Unicorn are too numerous for +us to specify. Some of the moderns may be referred to. Garcias describes +this marvellous creature from one who alleges that he had seen it. The +seer affirmed that it was endowed with a wonderful horn, which it would +sometimes turn to the left and right, at others raise, and then again +depress. Ludovicus Vartomanus writes, that he saw two sent to the Sultan +from Ethiopia, and kept in a repository at Mahomet's tomb in Mecca. +Cardan describes the Unicorn as a rare animal, the size of a horse, with +hair very like that of a weasel, with the head of a deer, on which one +horn grows three cubits in length (a story seldom loses anything in its +progress) from the forehead, ample at its lowest part, and tapering to +a point; with a short neck, a very thin mane, leaning to one side only, +and less on the ear, as those of a young roe. + +In Jonston's "Historia Naturalis," 1657, we see the smooth-horned +solipede, "Wald Esel;" and the digitated and clawed smooth-horned "Meer +Wolff," the latter with his single horn erect in the foreground, but +with it depressed in the background, where he is represented regaling on +serpents. Then there are varieties, with the head, mane, and tail of a +horse; another smooth-horned, with a horse's head and mane, a pig's-tail +and camel-like feet; the "Meer Stenbock, Capricornus Marinus," with +hind webbed feet, and a kind of graduated horn, like an opera-glass +pulled out, in the foreground, and charging the fish most valiantly in +the water in the distance. Then there is another, with a mule's head +and two rhinoceros-like horns, one on his forehead and the other on his +nose; and a horse's tail, with a collar round his neck; a neck entirely +shaggy--and a twisted horn, a shaggy gorget, and curly tail, are among +other peculiarities. + +The Unicorn seems to have been a sad trouble to the hunters, who hardly +knew how to come at so valuable a piece of game. Some described the horn +as moveable at the will of the animal--a kind of small sword, in short, +with which no hunter who was not exceedingly cunning in fence could have +a chance. Others told the poor foresters that all the strength lay in +its horn, and that when pressed by them it would throw itself from the +pinnacle of the highest rock, horn foremost, so as to pitch upon it, and +then quietly march off not a bit the worse! + +Modern zoologists, disgusted as they well may be with fables, such as we +have glanced at, disbelieve, generally, the existence of the Unicorn, +such, at least, as we have referred to; but there is still an opinion +that some land animal bearing a horn on the anterior part of its head, +exists besides the rhinoceros. The nearest approach to a horn in the +middle of the forehead of any terrestrial mammiferous animal known to us +is the bony protuberance on the forehead of the giraffe; and though it +would be presumptuous to deny the existence of a one-horned quadruped +other than the rhinoceros, it may be safely stated that the insertion +of a long and solid horn in the living forehead of a horse-like or +deer-like cranium is as near an impossibility as anything can be. + +Rupell, after a long sojourn in the north-east of Africa, stated that +in Kordofan the Unicorn exists; stated to be the size of a small horse, +of the slender make of the gazelle, and furnished with a long straight +horn in the male, which was wanting in the female. According to the +statements made by various persons, it inhabits the deserts to the south +of Koretofan, is uncommonly fleet, and comes only occasionally to the +Koldagi Heive mountains on the borders of Kordofan. + +Other writers refer the Unicorn to the antelope. The origin of the name +of antelope is traced by Cuvier to the Greek _Anthalops_, applied to a +fabulous animal living on the banks of the Euphrates, with long jagged +horns, with which it sawed down trees of considerable thickness! Others +conjecture this animal to have been the _Oryx_, a species of antelope, +which is fabulously reported to have had only one horn, and to have been +termed _Panthalops_ in the old language of Egypt. + +In his "Revolutions on the Surface of the Globe." Cuvier refers the +idea of the Unicorn to the coarse figures traced by savages on rocks. +Ignorant of perspective, and wishing to present in profile the horned +antelope, they could only give it one horn; and thus originated the +_Oryx_. The oryx of the Egyptian monuments is, most probably, but the +production of a similarly crude style, which the religion of the country +imposed on the artist. Many of the profiles of quadrupeds have only one +leg before and one behind: why, then, should they show two horns? It +is possible that individual animals might be taken in the chase whom +accident had despoiled of one horn, as it often happens to chamois and +the Scythian antelope; and that would suffice to confirm the error which +these pictures originally produced. It is thus, probably, that we find +anew the Unicorn in the mountains of Thibet. + +The _Chiru Antelope_ is the supposed Unicorn of the Bhotians. In form +it approaches the deer; the horns are exceedingly long, are placed +very forward in the head, and may be popularly described as erect and +straight. It is usually found in herds, and is extremely wild, and +unapproachable by man. It is much addicted to salt in summer, when vast +herds are often seen at the rock-salt beds which abound in Tibet. They +are said to advance under the conduct of a leader, and to post sentinels +around the beds before they attempt to feed. + +Major Salter is stated to have obtained information of the existence of +an animal in Tibet closely resembling the Unicorn of the ancients, which +revived the belief of naturalists by adducing testimonies from Oriental +writings. Upon this statement, M. Klaproth remarks, that previous to +Major Salter's Reports, the Catholic missionaries, who returned to +Europe from China by way of Tibet and Nepal, in the seventeenth century, +mentioned that the Unicorn was found in that part of the Great Desert +which bounds China to the west, where they crossed the great wall; that +Captain Turner, when travelling in Tibet, was informed by the Raja of +Boutan that he had one of these animals alive; and that Bell, in his +"Travels to Peking," describes a Unicorn which was found on the southern +front of Siberia. He adds:--"The great 'Tibetan-Mongol Dictionary' +mentions the Unicorn; and the 'Geographical Dictionary of Tibet and +Central Asia,' printed at Peking, where it describes a district in the +province of Kham, in Tibet, named Sera-zeong, explains this name by 'the +River of Unicorns,' because," adds the author, "many of these animals +are found there." + +In the "History of the Mongol-Khans," published and translated at St. +Petersburg, we find the following statement:--Genghiz Khan, having +subjected all Tibet in 1206, commenced his march for Hindustan. As he +ascended Mount Jadanarung, he beheld a beast approaching him of the +deer kind, of the species called _Seron_, which have a single horn at +the top of the head. It fell on its knees thrice before the monarch, as +if to pay respect to him. Every one was astonished at this incident. +The monarch exclaimed. "The Empire of Hindustan is, we are assured, the +country where are born the majestic Buddhas and Bodhisatwas, as well as +the potent Bogdas and princes of antiquity: what can be the meaning, +then, of this animal, incapable of speech, saluting me like a man?" +Upon this, he returned to his own country. "This story," continues M. +Klaproth, "is also related by Mahommedan authors who have written the +life of Genghiz. Something of the kind must, therefore, have taken +place. Possibly, some of the Mongol conqueror's suite may have taken a +Unicorn, which Genghiz thus employed, to gain a pretext for abstaining +from an expedition which promised no success." + +Upon this statement, it was observed in the "Asiatic Register," 1839, +that "when we consider that seventeen years have elapsed since the +account of Major Salter was given, and that, notwithstanding our +increased opportunities of intercourse with Tibet, no fact has since +transpired which supplies a confirmation of that account, except +the obtaining of a supposed horn of the supposed Unicorn, we cannot +participate in these renewed hopes." + +The Rev. John Campbell, in his "Travels in South Africa," describes the +head of another animal, which, as far as the horn is concerned, seems +to approach nearer than the common rhinoceros to the Unicorn of the +ancients. While in the Machow territory, the Hottentots brought to Mr. +Campbell a head differing from that of any rhinoceros that had been +previously killed. "The common African rhinoceros has a crooked horn, +resembling a cock's spur, which rises about nine or ten inches above +the nose, and inclines backward; immediately behind which is a straight +thick horn. But the head brought by the Hottentots had a straight horn +projecting three feet from the forehead, about ten inches above the tip +of the nose. The projection of this great horn very much resembles that +of the fanciful Unicorn in the British arms. It has a small thick horny +substance, eight inches long, immediately behind it, which can hardly +be observed on the animal at the distance of a hundred yards; so that +this species must look like an Unicorn (in the sense 'one-horned') when +running in the field." The author adds:--"This animal is considered +by naturalists, since the arrival of the above skull in London, to be +the Unicorn of the ancients, and the same that is described in Job +xxxix. 9--'Will the Unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy +crib? 10. Canst thou bind the Unicorn with his band in the furrow? or +will he harrow the valleys after thee? 11. Wilt thou trust him because +his strength is great? or wilt thou leave thy labour to him?' Again, +Deuteronomy xxxiii. 17--'His horns are like the horns of Unicorns: with +them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth.'" + +A fragment of the skull, with the horn, is deposited in the Museum of +the London Missionary Society. + +Mr. W. B. Baikie writes to the _Athenæum_ from Bida Núpe, Central +Africa, in 1862, the following suggestions:--"When I ascended the Niger, +now nearly five years ago, I frequently heard allusions to an animal +of this nature, but at that time I set it down as a myth. Since then, +however, the amount of testimony I have received, and the universal +belief of the natives of all the countries which I have hitherto +visited, have partly shaken my scepticism, and at present I simply +hold that its non-existence is not proven. A skull of this animal is +said to be preserved in a town in the country of Bonú, through which +I hope to pass in the course of a few weeks, when I shall make every +possible inquiry. Two among my informants have repeatedly declared to me +that they have seen the bones of this animal, and each made particular +mention of the long, straight, or nearly straight, black horn. In +countries to the east, and south-east, as Márgi and Bagirmi, where the +one-horned rhinoceros is found, the hunters carefully distinguished +between it and the supposed Unicorn, and give them different names. In +the vast forests and boundless wastes which occur over Central Africa, +especially towards the countries south and east of Lake Tsád, Bórnú, +Bagirmi and Adamáwa, are doubtless numerous zoological curiosities as +yet unknown to the man of science, and among them possibly may exist +this much-talked-of, strange, one-horned animal, even though it may not +exactly correspond with our typical English Unicorn." + +The factitious horn has been preserved in various Museums. The "Monocero +Horn," in Tradescant's collection, was, probably, that which ordinarily +has passed for the horn of the Unicorn, namely, the tooth of a narwhal. +Old legends assert that the Unicorn, when he goes to drink, first dips +his horn in the water to purify it, and that other beasts delay to +quench their thirst till the Unicorn has thus sweetened the water. The +narwhal's tooth makes a capital twisted Unicorn's horn, as represented +in the old figures. That in the Repository of St. Denis, at Paris, was +presented by Thevet, and was declared to have been given to him by +the King of Monomotapa, who took him out to hunt Unicorns, which are +frequent in that country. Some have thought that this horn was a carved +elephant's tooth. There is one at Strasburg, some seven or eight feet in +length, and there are several in Venice. + +Great medical virtues were attributed to the so-called horn, and the +price it once bore outdoes everything in the _Tulipomania_. A Florentine +physician has recorded that a pound of it (sixteen ounces) was sold +in the shops for fifteen hundred and thirty-six crowns, when the same +weight in gold would only have brought one hundred and forty-eight +crowns. + +From what source we derive the stories of the animosity between the +lion and the Unicorn is not clearly understood, although this is the +principal medium through which the fabulous creature has been kept in +remembrance by being constantly before us in the Royal Arms, which +were settled at the Accession of George I. We owe the introduction of +the Unicorn, however, to James I., who, as King of Scotland, bore two +Unicorns, and coupled one with the English lion, when the two kingdoms +were united. + +The position of the lion and Unicorn in the arms of our country seems to +have given rise (naturally enough in the mind of one who was ignorant of +heraldic decoration) to a nursery rhyme which most of us remember:-- + + "The Lion and the Unicorn + Were fighting for the crown; + The Lion beat the Unicorn + All round the town," &c. + +unless it alludes to a contest for dominion over the brute creation, +which the "rebellious Unicorn," as Spenser calls it, seems to have waged +with the tawny monarch. + +Spenser, in his "Faerie Queen," gives the following curious way of +catching the Unicorn:-- + + "Like as a lyon, whose imperiall powre, + A prowd rebellious Unicorn defyes, + T'avoide the rash assault and wrathful stowre + Of his fiers foe, him a tree applyes, + And when him rousing in full course he spyes, + + He slips aside; the whiles that furious beast + His precious home, sought of his enemyes, + Strikes in the stocke, ne thence can be releast. + But to the mighty victor yields a bounteous feast." + +Shakspeare, also ("Julius Cæsar," Act ii. scene 1), speaks of the +supposed mode of entrapping them:-- + + "For he loves to hear + That Unicorns may be betrayed with trees, + And bears with glasses, elephants with holes, + Lions with toils, and men with flatterers." + +We have no satisfactory reason for believing that man ever coexisted +with Mastodons; otherwise Professor Owen's discovery of the retention of +a single tusk only by the male gigantic Mastodon, might have afforded +another form of Unicorn. + +Whatever the zoologists may have done towards extirpating the belief +in the existence of the Unicorn, it is ever kept in sight by heraldry, +which, with its animal absurdities, has contributed more to the +propagation of error respecting the natural world than any other species +of misrepresentation. + + + + +THE MOLE AT HOME. + + +The Mole, though generally a despised and persecuted animal, is +nevertheless useful to the husbandman in being the natural drainer of +his land and destroyer of worms. To other inferior animals he is a +sapper and miner, forming for them their safe retreats and well-secured +dormitories. + +The economy of the Mole has been much controverted among naturalists. +It is found throughout the greater part of Europe. We are overrun with +it in most parts of England and Wales; but it does not appear to have +been found in the northern extremity of Scotland, and there is no record +of its having been seen in the Orkney Isles, Zetland, or Ireland. Its +most diligent and instructive historian is Henri Le Court, who, flying +from the terrors that came in the train of the French Revolution, +betook himself to the country, and from being the attendant on a Court, +became the biographer of this humble animal. M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, +the celebrated French naturalist, visited Le Court for the purpose +of testing his observations, and appears to have been charmed by the +facility and ingenuity with which Le Court traced and demonstrated the +subterraneous labours of this obscure worker in the dark. + +We shall first briefly describe the adaptation of its structure to its +habits. The bony framework is set in motion by very powerful muscles, +those of the chest and neck being most vigorous. The wide hand, which is +the great instrument of action, and performs the offices of a pickaxe +and shovel, is sharp-edged on its lower margin, and when clothed with +the integuments the fingers are hardly distinguishable. The muzzle of +the Mole is evidently a delicate organ of touch, as are also the large +and broad hands and feet; and the tail has much sensitiveness to give +notice to the animal of the approach of any attack from behind. Its +taste and smell, especially the latter, are very sensitive. Its sight +is almost rudimentary. The little eye is so hidden in the fur that its +very existence was for a long time doubted. It appears to be designed +for operating only as a warning to the animal on its emerging into the +light; indeed, more acute vision would only have been an encumbrance. +If the sight be imperfect, the sense of hearing is very acute, and the +tympanum very large, though there is no external ear, perhaps because +the earth assists considerably in vibration. The fore-feet are inclined +sideways, so as to answer the use of hands, to scoop out the earth to +form its habitation or pursue its prey, and to fling all the loose soil +behind the animal. The breastbone in shape resembles a ploughshare. +The skin is so tough as only to be cut by a very sharp knife. The hair +is very short and close-set, and softer than the finest silk; colour +black; some spotted and cream-coloured. This hair is yielding; had it +been strong, as in the rat or mouse, it would doubly have retarded the +progress of the creature; first by its resistance, and then acting as a +brush, so as to choke up the galleries, by removing the loose earth from +the sides and ceilings of the galleries. + +It is supposed that the verdant circles so often seen in grass ground, +called by country people _fairy rings_, are owing to the operations of +Moles: at certain seasons they perform their burrowings in circles, +which, loosening the soil, gives the surface a greater fertility and +rankness of grass than the other parts within or without the ring. The +larger mole-hills denote the nests or dens of the Mole beneath. + +The feeling of the Mole is so acute that when casting up the earth, it +is sensible of very gentle pressure; hence mole-catchers tread lightly +when in quest of Moles; and unless this caution is used the Mole ceases +its operation, and instantly retires. Again, so acute is the smell, that +mole-catchers draw the body of a captured Mole through their traps and +the adjoining runs and passages to remove all suspicious odours which +might arise from the touch of their fingers. + +During summer the Mole runs in search of snails and worms in the +night-time among the grass, which pursuit makes it the prey of owls. The +Mole shows great art in skinning a worm, which it always does before it +eats it, by stripping the skin from end to end, and squeezing out the +contents of the body. It is doubtful whether any other animal exists +which is obliged to eat at such short intervals as the Mole, ten or +twelve hours appearing to be the maximum of its fasting; at the end +of that time it dies. Cuvier tells us that if two Moles are shut up +together without food, there will shortly be nothing left of the weakest +but its skin, slit along the belly! Buffon accuses Moles of eating all +the acorns of a newly-set soil. Its voracity makes the Mole a great +drinker: a run is always formed to a pond or ditch as a reservoir; when +it is too distant, the animal sinks little wells, which have sometimes +been seen brimfull. + +We now return to Le Court's experiments with Moles, which are very +interesting. To afford proof of the rapidity with which the Mole will +travel along its passages, Le Court watched his opportunity, and when +the animal was on its feed at one of the most distant points from its +sanctuary or fortress, to which point the Mole's high road leads. Le +Court placed along the course of that road, between the animal and +the fortress, several little camp colours, so to speak, the staff of +each being a straw, and the flag a bit of paper, at certain distances, +the straws penetrating down into the passage. Near the end of this +subterraneous road he inserted a horn, the mouthpiece of which stood +out of the ground. When all was ready, Le Court blew a blast loud enough +to frighten all the Moles within hearing. Down went the little flags in +succession with astonishing velocity, as the terrified Mole, rushing +along towards his sanctuary, came in contact with the flag-straws; and +the spectators affirmed that the Mole's swiftness was equal to the speed +of a horse at a good round trot. + +To test its amount of vision, Le Court took a spare water-pipe, or +gutter, open at both ends. Into this pipe he introduced several Moles +successively. Geoffroy St. Hilaire stood by to watch the result at the +further end of the tube. As long as the spectators stood motionless the +introduced Mole made the best of his way through the pipe and escaped; +but if they moved, or even raised a finger, the Mole stopped, and then +retreated. Several repetitions of this experiment produced the same +results. + +In the domain of the Mole, the principal point is the habitation, or +fortress, constructed under a considerable hillock raised in some secure +place, often at the root of a tree, or under a bank. The dome of the +fortress is of earth, beaten by the Mole-architect into a compact and +solid state. Inside is formed a circular gallery at the base, which +communicates with a smaller upper gallery by means of five passages. +Within the lower gallery is the chamber or dormitory, which has access +to the upper gallery by three passages. From this habitation extends +the high road by which the proprietor reaches the opposite end of +the encampment; the galleries open into this road, which the Mole is +continually carrying out and extending in his search for food; this has +been termed the _hunting-ground_. Another road extends, first downwards, +and then up into the open road of the territory. Some eight or nine +other passages open out from the external circular gallery. From the +habitation a road is carried out, nearly straight, and connected with +the encampment and the alleys leading to the hunting-ground which open +into it on each side. In diameter the road exceeds the body of a Mole, +but its size will not admit of two Moles passing each other. The walls, +from the repeated pressure of the animal's sides, become smooth and +compact. Sometimes a Mole will lay out a second or even a third road; or +several individuals use one road in common, though they never trespass +on each other's hunting-grounds. + +If two Moles should happen to meet in the same road, one must retreat +into the nearest alley, unless they fight, when the weakest is often +slain. In forming this tunnel the Mole's instinct drives it at a +greater or less depth, according to the quality of the soil, or other +circumstances. When it is carried under a road or stream, a foot and +a-half of earth, or sometimes more, is left above it. Then does the +little engineering Mole carry on the subterraneous works necessary for +his support, travelling, and comfort; and his tunnels never fall in. +The quality or humidity of the soils which regulates the abundance of +earth-worms, determines the greater or less depth of the alleys; and +when these are filled with stores of food the Mole works out branch +alleys. + +The main road communicating with the hunting-grounds is of necessity +passed through in the course of the day; and here the mole-catcher sets +his traps to intercept the Mole between his habitation and the alley +where he is carrying on his labours. Some mole-catchers will tell you +the hours when the Moles move are nine and four; others that near the +coast their movements are influenced by the tides. Besides the various +traps which are set for Moles, they are sometimes taken by a man and a +dog; when the latter indicates the presence of a Mole, the man spears +the animal out as it moves in its run. Pointers will stop as steadily as +at game, at the Moles, when they are straying on the surface. + +The Mole is a most voracious animal. Earthworms and the larvæ of insects +are its favourite food; and it will eat mice, lizards, frogs, and even +birds; but it rejects toads, even when pressed by hunger, deterred, +probably, by the acrid secretions of their skin. Moles are essentially +carnivorous; and when fed abundantly on vegetable substances they have +died of hunger. + +During the season of love, at which time fierce battles are fought +between the males, the male pursues the female with ardour through +numerous runs wrought out with great rapidity. The attachment appears +to be very strong in the Moles. Le Court often found a female taken in +his trap and a male lying dead close to her. From four to five is the +general number of young. The nest is distinct, usually distant from the +habitation. It is constructed by enlarging and excavating the point +where three or four passages intersect each other; and the bed of the +nest is formed of a mass of young grass, root fibres, and herbage. In +one nest Geoffroy St. Hilaire and Le Court counted two hundred and four +young wheat-blades. + +M. St. Hilaire describes the pairings, or as he calls it, "the loves of +the Moles." As soon as the Mole has finished the galleries he brings his +mate along with him, and shuts her up in the bridal gallery, taking care +to prevent the entrance of his rivals: in case of a fight they enlarge +the part of the gallery where they are met; and the victory is decided +in favour of him who first wounds his adversary before the ear. The +female, during the fight, is shut up in the bridal gallery, so as to be +unable to escape; for which purpose, however, she uses all her resources +in digging, and attempts to get away by the side passages. Should she +succeed the conqueror hastens to rejoin his faithless mate, and to +bring her back into his galleries. This manoeuvre is repeated as often +as other males enter the lists. At length the conqueror is recognised, +and his mate becomes more docile. The pair work together and finish the +galleries; after which the female digs alone for food. As soon as the +galleries are formed, the male conducts his mate to a certain point, and +from this time the female no longer digs in the solid earth, but towards +the surface, advancing by merely separating the roots of the grass. + +The Mole is a great friend to the farmer; but there are places in which +he is a public enemy. He is not a vegetable feeder, and he never roots +up the growing corn in spring-time, except when he is after grubs, +snails, and wire-worms. It has been calculated that two Moles destroy +20,000 white worms in a year. He is very destructive to under drains; +and where the land is low we are in danger of a deluge from his piercing +holes in the drain-banks. Thus it would be madness not to extirpate +Moles in those places where the waters, in drains or rivers, are above +the level of the lands around, especially when the banks are made of +sand or earth of loose texture. + +The persecution of Moles in cultivated countries amounts almost to a +war of extermination. The numbers annually slaughtered are enormous. +A mole-catcher, who had followed the craft for thirty-five years, +destroyed from forty to fifty thousand Moles. But all Mole exterminators +must yield to Le Court, who, in no large district, took, in five months, +six thousand of them. Moles are good swimmers, and their bite is very +sharp; their attacks are ferocious, and they keep their hold like a +bull-dog. + +The Shrew Mole of North America resembles the European Mole in its +habits. Dr. Goodman describes it as most active early in the morning, +at mid-day, and in the evening; and they are well known in the country +to have the custom of coming daily to the surface _exactly at noon_. +We read of a captive Shrew Mole which ate meat, cooked or raw, drank +freely, and was lively and playful, following the hand of his feeder by +the scent, burrowing for a short distance in the loose earth, and after +making a small circle, returning for more food. In eating he employed +his flexible snout to thrust the food into his mouth, doubling it so as +to force it directly backwards, as described in Dr. Richardson's "North +American Zoology." + +James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, remarks, in his usual impressive +manner:--"The most unnatural persecution that ever was raised in a +country is that against the Mole--that innocent and blessed little +pioneer, who enriches our pastures annually with the first top-dressing, +dug with great pains and labour from the fattest of the soil beneath. +The advantages of this top-dressing are so apparent that it is really +amazing how our countrymen should have persisted, for nearly half a +century, in the most manly and valiant endeavours to exterminate the +Moles! If a hundred men and horses were employed on a pasture farm of +from fifteen hundred to two thousand acres, in raising and driving +manure for a top-dressing of that farm, they would not do it so +effectually, so neatly, or so equally as the natural number of Moles. In +June, July, and August, the Mole-hills are all spread by the crows and +lambs--the former for food, and the latter in the evenings of warm days +after a drought has set in. The late Duke of Buccleuch was the first who +introduced Mole-catching into Scotland." + + + + +THE GREAT ANT-BEAR. + + +A fine living specimen of this comparatively rare animal was first +exhibited in the Zoological Society's gardens, in the Regent's-park, +1853. It is stated to be the first specimen brought alive to England, +and accordingly excited considerable attention. It was one of a pair, +captured near the Rio Negro, in the southern province of Brazil, and +shipped for England by some German travellers. The male died on the +voyage; the female arrived in London in 1853, and was exhibited in +Broad-street, St. Giles's, until purchased by the Zoological Society for +the sum of 200_l._ The advantage of this live specimen to naturalists +has been very great. Hitherto the examples engraved by Buffon and +Shaw were both derived from stuffed specimens, and had the inevitable +defects and shortcomings of such. Sir John Talbot Dillon, in his +"Travels through Spain," published in 1780, states that a specimen of +the Ant-Bear, from Buenos Ayres, was alive at Madrid in 1776: it is now +stuffed and preserved in the Royal Cabinet of Natural History at Madrid. +The persons who brought it from Buenos Ayres say it differs from the +Ant-eater, which only feeds on emmets and other insects, whereas this +would eat flesh, when cut in small pieces, to the amount of four or five +pounds. From the snout to the extremity of the tail this animal is two +yards in length, and his height is about two feet; the head very narrow, +the nose long and slender. The tongue is so singular that it looks like +a worm, and extends above sixteen inches. The body is covered with long +hair of a dark brown, with white stripes on the shoulders; and when he +sleeps, he covers his body with his tail. This account, it will be seen +hereafter, corresponds very accurately with that of the animal purchased +by the Zoological Society. + +[Illustration: THE GREAT ANT-BEAR.] + +Mr. Wallace, who travelled on the Amazon and Rio Negro, about the year +1853, relates:--"The living specimen of this singular animal is a great +rarity, even in its native country. In fact, there is not a city in +Brazil where it would not be considered almost as much a curiosity as +it is here. In the extensive forests of the Amazon the great Ant-eater +is, perhaps, as abundant as in any part of South America; yet, during +a residence there of more than four years, I never had an opportunity +of seeing one. Once only I was nearly in at the death, finding a bunch +of hairs from the tail of a specimen which had been killed (and eaten) +a month previous to my arrival, at a village near the Capiquiare. In +its native forests the creature feeds almost entirely on white ants, +tearing open their nests with its powerful claws, and thrusting in its +long and slender tongue, which, being probably mistaken for a worm, +is immediately seized by scores of the inhabitants, who thus become +an easy prey. The Indians, who also eat white ants, catch them in a +somewhat similar manner, by pushing into the nest a grass-stalk, which +the insects seize and hold on to most tenaciously. It may easily be +conceived that such an animal must range over a considerable extent of +country to obtain a plentiful supply of such food, which circumstance, +as well as its extreme shyness and timidity, causes it to be but rarely +met with, and still more rarely obtained alive." + +We have seen that the Ant-Bear lives exclusively upon ants, to procure +which he tears open the hills, and when the ants flock out to defend +their dwellings, draws over them his long, flexible tongue, covered +with glutinous saliva, to which the ants consequently adhere; and he +is said to repeat this operation twice in a second. "It seems almost +incredible," says Azara, "that so robust and powerful an animal can +procure sufficient sustenance from ants alone; but this circumstance has +nothing strange in it, for those who are acquainted with the tropical +parts of America, and have seen the enormous multitude of these insects, +which swarm in all parts of the country to that degree that their hills +often almost touch one another for miles together." The same author +informs us that domestic Ant-Bears were occasionally kept by different +persons in Paraguay, and that they had even been sent alive to Spain, +being fed upon bread-and-milk mixed with morsels of flesh minced very +small. Like all animals which live upon insects, the Ant-eaters are +capable of sustaining a total deprivation of nourishment for an almost +incredible time. + +The Great Ant-Bear's favourite resorts are low, swampy savannahs, along +the banks of rivers and stagnant ponds; also frequenting humid forests, +but never climbing trees, as falsely reported by Buffon. His pace is +slow and heavy, though, when hard pressed, he increases his rate, yet +his greatest velocity never half equals the ordinary running of a man. +When pressed too hard, or urged to extremity, he turns obstinate, +sits upon his hind-quarters like a bear, and defends himself with his +powerful claws. Like that animal, his usual and only mode of assault is +by seizing his adversary with his fore-paws, wrapping his arms round +him, and endeavouring, by this means, to squeeze him to death. His great +strength and powerful muscles would easily enable him to accomplish his +purpose in this respect, even against the largest animals of his native +forests, were it but guided by ordinary intelligence, or accompanied +with a common degree of activity; but in these qualities there are +few animals indeed who do not greatly surpass the Ant-Bear; so that +the different stories handed down by writers on natural history from +one to another, and copied, without question, into the histories and +descriptions of this animal, may be regarded as pure fictions. "It is +supposed," says Don Felix d'Azara, "that the jaguar himself dares not +attack the Ant-Bear, and that, if pressed by hunger, or under some other +strong excitement, he does so, the Ant-Bear embraces and hugs him so +tightly as very soon to deprive him of life, not even relaxing his hold +for hours after life has been extinguished in his assailant. Such is +the manner in which the Ant-eater defends himself; but it is not to be +believed that his utmost efforts could prevail against the jaguar, who, +by a single bite, or blow of his paw, could kill the Ant-eater before he +was prepared for resistance, so slow are his motions, even in an extreme +case; and, being unable to leap or turn with ordinary rapidity, he is +forced to act solely upon the defensive. The flesh of the Ant-eater is +esteemed a delicacy by the Indians; and, though black, and of a strong +musky flavour, is sometimes even met with at the tables of Europeans." + +The habits of the Great Ant-Bear in captivity have been described +scientifically yet popularly, from the Zoological Society's specimen, +by Professor Owen, who writes:--"When we were introduced to this, the +latest novelty at the noble vivarium in the Regent's-park, we found the +animal busy sucking and licking up--for his feeding is a combination +of the two actions--the contents of a basin of squashed eggs. The +singularly long and slender head, which looks more like a slightly bent +proboscis, or some such appendage to a head, was buried in the basin, +and the end of the lithe or flexible tongue, like a rat's tail, or a +writhing black worm, was ever and anon seen coiling up the sides of +the basin, as it was rapidly protruded and withdrawn. The yellow yolk +was dripping with the abundant ropy saliva secreted during the feeding +process from the exceedingly small terminal mouth; for the jaws are not +slit open, as in the ordinary construction of the mouths of quadrupeds, +and the head, viewed sideways, seems devoid of mouth; but this important +aperture--by some deemed the essential character of an animal--is a +small orifice or slit at the end of the tubular muzzle, just being +enough, apparently, to let the vermiform tongue slip easily in and +out. The tongue, the keeper told us, was sometimes protruded as far as +fourteen inches from the mouth." + +By the Qjuarani Indians the beast is known by a name which is, in +Spanish, "little mouth." The Portuguese and Spanish peons call it by a +name equivalent to "Ant-Bear." In the Zoological Catalogue the animal +is denominated _Myrmocophaga jubata_, or the "Maned Ant-eater." This +appellation would very well suit the animal if, as most spectators +commonly imagine at first sight, its head was where its tail is, +for the tail is that part of the animal on which the hair is most +developed, after the fashion of a mane; whilst the actual head appears +much more like a tail, of a slender, almost naked, stiff, rounded +kind. The body is wholly covered by long, coarse hair, resembling hay, +rapidly lengthening from the neck backwards to six or eight inches, +and extending on the tail from ten to eighteen inches. The colour is +greyish brown, with an oblique black band, bordered with white, on +each shoulder. The animal measures about four feet from the snout +to the root of the tail; and the tail, three feet long, resembles a +large screen of coarse hair. When the animal lies down, it bends its +head between its fore legs, slides these forward, and crosses them in +front of the occiput, sinks its haunches by bending its hind legs and +bringing them close to the fore feet; then, leaning against the wall +of its den, on one side, it lays the broad tail over the other exposed +side of the body, by the side bend of that part, like the movement of +a door or screen. Nothing is now visible of the animal but the long +coarse hair of its _natural and portable blanket_. When it is enjoying +its siesta, you cannot form any conception of its very peculiar shape +and proportions; an oblong heap of a coarse, dry, _greyish thatch_ is +all that is visible. When, however, the keeper enters the den with any +new dainty, as cockroaches, crickets, maggots, or meal-worms, to tempt +the huge insect-devourer, the quick-hearing animal unveils its form by +a sweeping movement of the thatch outwards, the tail that supports it +rotating, as if joined by a kind of door-hinge to the body; the head is +drawn out from between the fore limbs; the limbs are extended, and the +entire figure of this most grotesque of quadrupeds stalks forth. The +limbs are short; the fore limbs grow rather thicker to their stumpy +ends, which look as if the feet had been amputated. The four toes, with +their claws, are bent inwards, and are of very unequal length. This is +the most singular part of the animal: it is also the most formidable +member, and, indeed, bears the sole weapon of defence the beast +possesses. The innermost toe, answering to the thumb on the fore limb of +the neighbouring chimpanzee, is the shortest. A fifth toe seems to be +buried in the outside callosity, on which the animal rests its stumpy +feet while walking. At the back part of the sole, or palm, of the fore +foot, is a second large callosity, which receives the point of the great +claw in its usual state of inward inflection. Against this callosity the +animal presses the claw when it seizes any object therewith; and Azara, +as we have seen, avers that nothing can make the Ant-Bear relax its +grasp of an object so seized. + +With respect to the jaguar being sometimes found dead in the grasp of +the Great Ant-eater, Professor Owen observes that its muscular force +resembles that of the cold-blooded reptiles in the force and endurance +of the contractile action; and, like the reptiles, the Sloths and +Ant-Bears can endure long fasts. + +Woe to the unlucky or heedless aggressor whose arm or leg may be seized +by the Ant-Bear. The strength of the grasp sometimes breaks the bone. +The Ant-Bear never voluntarily lets go, and the limb so grasped can be +with difficulty extricated, even after the animal has been killed. To +put the beast, however, _hors de combat_, no other weapon is needed +than a stout stick. "With this," says Azara. "I have killed many by +dealing them blows on the head, and with the same security as if I had +struck the trunk of a tree. With a mouth so small, and formed as already +described, the Ant-Bear cannot bite; and, if it could, it would be +useless, for it has no teeth." + +"Like a lawyer," says Professor Owen, "the tongue is the chief organ +by which this animal obtains its livelihood in its natural habitat. +The warmer latitudes of South America, to which part of the world the +Ant-Bear is peculiar, abound in forests and luxuriant vegetation; the +insects of the ant and termite tribes that subsist on wood, recent +or decaying, equally abound. With one link in the chain of organic +independencies is interlocked another; and as the surplus vegetation +sustains the surplus insect population, so a peculiar form of mammalian +life finds the requisite conditions of existence in the task of +restraining the undue multiplication of the wood-consuming insects." + +The number of male Ant-eaters is supposed to be considerably smaller +than that of the females, which circumstance favours the inference that +the extinction of the species, like those of the _edentata_ in general, +is determined upon.[6] + +Large as the Ant-Bear is in comparison with the animals on which it +naturally feeds, there appear to have been still larger Ant-Bears in the +old times of South America. Fossil remains of nearly allied quadrupeds +have been detected in both the fresh-water deposits and bone-caves of +the post-pliocene period in Buenos Ayres and Brazil. + +In examining the fossil remains has been found evidence that the nervous +matter destined to put in action the muscular part of the tongue was +equal to half of that nervous matter which influences the whole muscular +system of a man. No other known living animal offers any approximation +to the peculiar proportions of the lingual nerves of the fossil animal +in question except the Great Ant-eater; but the size of the animal +indicated by the fossil was three times that of our Ant-eater. For this +strange monster, thus partially restored from the ruins of a former +world, Professor Owen proposes the name of _Glossotherium_, which +signifies tongue-beast. + +Evidence of such a creature has been given by Dr. Lund, the Danish +naturalist, resident in Brazil: among the fossil remains here (limestone +caves of the province Minas) he discovered traces of the Great +Ant-eater, which, however, are too imperfect to enable us to determine +more accurately its relation to existing species. The fragments indicate +an animal the size of an ox! Were the insect prey of these antediluvian +Ant-eaters correspondingly gigantic? + +Two circumstances very remarkable were observed in the Zoological +Society's Great Ant-eater: the hinge-like manner in which the animal +worked its tail when it had laid itself down, throwing it over the +whole of its body and enveloping itself completely; and the peculiar +vibratory motion of the long vermiform tongue when protruded from the +mouth in search of food. The tongue is not shot forth and retracted, +like that of the chameleon, but protruded gradually, _vibrating_ all the +time, and in the same condition withdrawn into the mouth. + +Another species of Ant-eater is the _Tamandua_, much inferior in size to +the Great Ant-Bear, being scarcely so large as a good sized cat, whilst +the other exceeds the largest greyhound in length. The Tamandua inhabits +the thick primæval forests of tropical America, and is never found on +the ground, but exclusively in trees, where it lives upon termites, +honey, and, according to Azara, even bees, which in those countries +form their hives among the loftiest branches of the forest; and having +no sting, they are more readily despoiled of their honey than their +congeners of our own climate. When about to sleep it hides its muzzle in +the fur of its breast, falls on its belly, letting its fore-feet hang +down on each side, and wrapping the whole tightly round with its tail. +The female, as in the Great Ant-eater, has but two pectoral mammæ, and +produces but a single cub at a birth, which she carries about with her +on her shoulders for the first three or four months. _Tamandua_ is the +Portuguese name; the French and English call it _fourmiller_ and Little +Ant-Bear. + +The latter are the names of a still smaller species, which does not +exceed the size of the European squirrel. Its native country is Guayana +and Brazil. It is called in Surinam _kissing-hand_, as the inhabitants +pretend it will never eat, at least when caught, but that it only licks +its paws in the same manner as the bear; that all trials to make it eat +have proved in vain, and that it soon dies in confinement. Von Sack, in +a voyage to Surinam, had two of these Ant-eaters which would not eat +eggs, honey, meat, or ants; but when a wasps'-nest was brought they +pulled out the nymphæ and ate them eagerly, sitting in the posture of a +squirrel. Von Sack showed this phenomenon to many of the inhabitants of +Surinam, who all assured him that it was the first time they had ever +known that species of animal to take any nourishment. + +Von Sack describes his Ant-eaters as often sleeping all the day long +curled together, and fastened by their prehensile tails to one of the +perches of the cage. When touched they raised themselves on their +hind-legs, and struck with their fore-paws at the object which disturbed +them, like the hammer of a clock striking a bell, with both paws at the +same time, and with a great deal of force. They never attempted to run +away, but were always ready for defence when attacked. + +The discovery of the true nature of the food of this species is +particularly desirable, and may enable us to have the animal brought +alive to this country, a thing which we believe has not been attempted; +and which, if attempted, has certainly never succeeded. To procure or +carry ants during a long sea-voyage is impracticable, but the larvæ of +wasps can be obtained in any quantity, and will keep for months; so that +the most serious difficulty to the introduction of the little Ant-eater +being thus removed, it would only require to be protected from the +effects of a colder climate, which may be as easily done in its case as +in that of other South America mammalia. + +The Porcupine Ant-eater of New Holland, now very uncommon in New South +Wales, is regarded, of its size, the strongest quadruped in existence. +It burrows readily. Its mode of eating is very curious, the tongue being +used sometimes in the manner of that of the chameleon, and at other +times in that in which a mower uses his scythe, the tongue being curved +laterally, and the food, as it were, swept into the mouth. + +The original Great Ant-Bear, received at the Gardens of the Zoological +Society on the 29th of September, 1853, died on the 6th of July, 1854. +There are now two of these animals living in the Gardens, one of which +is a remarkably fine specimen. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[6] Proceedings of the Zoological Society. + + + + +CURIOSITIES OF BATS. + + +These harmless and interesting little animals have not only furnished +objects of superstitious dread to the ignorant, but have proved to the +poet and the painter a fertile source of images of gloom and terror. +The strange combination of character of beast and bird, which they were +believed to possess, is supposed to have given to Virgil the idea of the +Harpies. + +Aristotle says but little about the Bat; and Pliny is considered to +have placed it among the Birds, none of which, he observes, with the +exception of the Bat, have teeth. Again, he notices it as the only +winged animal that suckles its young, and remarks on its embracing its +two little ones, and flying about with them. In this arrangement he was +followed by the older of the more modern naturalists. Belon, doubtingly, +places it at the end of the Night-birds; and the Bat, _Attaleph_ (bird +of darkness), was one of the unclean animals of the Hebrews; and in +Deuteronomy xxv. 18, it is placed among the forbidden birds. + +Even up to a late period Bats were considered as forming a link between +quadrupeds and birds. The common language of our own ancestors, however, +indicates a much nearer approach to the truth in the notions entertained +by the people than can be found in the lucubrations of the learned. +The words _rere-mouse_ and _flitter-mouse_, the old English names for +the Bat--the former derived from the Anglo-Saxon "aræan," to raise, or +rear up, and mus; the latter from the Belgic, signifying "flying or +flittering mouse,"--show that in their minds these animals were always +associated with the idea of quadrupeds. The first of these terms is +still used in English heraldry; though it may have ceased to belong to +the language of the country. "The word _flitter-mouse_," says Mr. Bell, +"sometimes corrupted into _flintymouse_, is the common term for the Bat +in some parts of the kingdom, particularly in that part of the county +of Kent in which the language, as well as the aspect and names of the +inhabitants, retain more of the Saxon character than will be found, +perhaps, in any other part of England. + +Ben Jonson has-- + + "Once a Bat, and ever a Bat! a rere-mouse, + And bird o'twilight, he has broken thrice. + + . . . + + Come, I will see the flicker-mouse, my fly." + + _Play._--_New Inn._ + +The same author uses flitter-mouse also:-- + + "And giddy flitter-mice, with leather wings." + + _Sad Shepherd._ + +Calmet describes the Bat as an animal having the body of a mouse and the +wings of a bird; but he erroneously adds, "It never grows tame." + +Some persons are surprised at Bats being classed by naturalists, not +with birds, but quadrupeds. They have, in fact, no other claim to be +considered as birds than that of their being able to suspend and move +themselves in the air, like some species of fish, but to a greater +degree. They suckle their young, are covered with hair, and have +no wings, but arms and lengthened fingers or toes furnished with a +membrane, by which they are enabled to fly. + +Sir Charles Bell, in his valuable treatise on the "Hand," considers +the skeleton of the Bat as one of the best examples of the moulding +of the bones of the extremity to correspond with the condition of the +animal. Contemplating this extraordinary application of the bones of the +extremity, and comparing them with those of the wing of a bird, we might +say that this is an awkward attempt--"a failure." But, before giving +expression to such an opinion, we must understand the objects required +in this construction. It is not a wing intended merely for flight, but +one which, while it raises the animal, is capable of receiving a new +sensation, or sensations, in that exquisite degree, so as almost to +constitute a new sense. On the fine web of the Bat's wing nerves are +distributed, which enable it to avoid objects in its flight during the +night, when both eyes and ears fail. Could the wing of a bird, covered +with feathers, do this? Here, then, we have another example of the +necessity of taking every circumstance into consideration before we +presume to criticise the ways of nature. It is a lesson of humility. In +this animal the bones are light and delicate; and whilst they are all +marvellously extended, the phalanges of the fingers are elongated so +as hardly to be recognised, obviously for the purpose of sustaining a +membranous web, and to form a wing. + +In 1839 there was received at the Surrey Zoological Gardens, from +Sumatra, a specimen of the Vampire Bat. This was a young male; the body +was black, and the membranous wing, in appearance, resembled fine black +kid. He was rarely seen at the bottom of his cage, but suspended himself +from the roof or bars of the cage, head downwards, his wings wrapped +round his body; when spread, these wings extended nearly two feet. +Although this specimen was the Vampire Bat to which so many bloodthirsty +feats have been attributed, his appearance was by no means ferocious; +he was active, yet docile, and the only peculiarity to favour belief in +his blood-sucking propensity was his long pointed tongue. The species +has popularly been accused of destroying, not only the large mammiferous +animals, but also men, when asleep, by sucking their blood. "The truth," +says Cuvier, in his "Regne Animal," "appears to be, that the Vampire +inflicts only small wounds, which may, probably, become inflammatory and +gangrenous from the influence of climate." In this habit, however, may +have originated the celebrated Vampire superstition. Lord Byron, in his +beautiful poem of "The Giaour," thus symbolises the tortures that await +the "false infidel:"-- + + "First, on earth as Vampire sent, + My corse shall from its tomb be rent; + Then ghastly haunt thy native place, + And suck the blood of all thy race; + There, from thy daughter, sister, wife, + At midnight drain the stream of life; + Yet loathe the banquet which perforce + Must feed thy livid living corse. + Thy victims, ere they yet expire, + Shall know the demon for their sire, + As cursing thee, thou cursing them, + Thy flowers are withered on the stem. + But one that for thy crime must fall, + The youngest, most beloved of all, + Shall bless thee with _a father's_ name-- + That word shall wrap thy heart in flame! + Yet must thou end thy task, and mark + Her cheek's last tinge, her eye's last spark, + And the last glassy glance must view + Which freezes o'er its lifeless blue; + Then with unhallowed hand shall tear + The tresses of her yellow hair, + Of which in life a lock, when shorn, + Affection's fondest pledge was worn, + But now is borne away by thee, + Memorial of thine agony! + Wet with thine one best blood shall drip + Thy gnashing tooth and haggard lip; + Then stalking to thy sullen grave, + Go, and with Gouls and Afrits rave; + Till there in horror shrink away + From spectre more accursed than they!" + +In a note, the noble poet tells us:--"The Vampire superstition is still +general in the Levant." Honest Tournefort tells a long story, which Mr. +Southey, in the notes on "Thalaba," quotes, about these Vardoulacha, +as he calls them. "I recollect a whole family being terrified by the +screams of a child, which they imagined must proceed from such a +visitation. The Greeks never mention the word without horror." + +Bishop Heber describes the Vampire Bat of India as a very harmless +creature, entirely different from the formidable idea entertained of it +in England. "It only eats fruit and vegetables; indeed, its teeth are +not indicative of carnivorous habits; and from blood it turns away when +offered to it. During the daytime it is, of course, inert; but at night +it is lively, affectionate, and playful, knows its keeper, but has no +objection to the approach and touch of others." + +Mr. Westerton, the traveller, when speaking, in his "Wanderings," of the +Vampire of South America, says:--"There are two species in Demerara, +both of which suck living animals; one is rather larger than the common +Bats, the other measures above two feet from wing to wing, extended. So +gently does this nocturnal surgeon draw the blood, that instead of being +roused, the patient is lulled into a profound sleep." The large Vampire +sucks men, commonly attacking the toes; the smaller seems to confine +itself chiefly to birds. + +Captain Stedman, who states that he was bitten by a Bat, thus describes +the operation:--"Knowing by instinct that the person they intend to +attack is in a sound slumber, they generally alight near the feet, +where, while the creature continues fanning with its enormous wings, +which keeps one cool, he bites a piece out of the tip of the great toe, +so very small indeed that the head of a pin would scarcely be received +into the wound, which is, consequently, not painful; yet through this +orifice he continues to suck the blood until he is obliged to disgorge. +He then begins again, and thus continues sucking and disgorging until +he is scarcely able to fly; and the sufferer has been often known to +sleep from time into eternity. Having applied tobacco-ashes as the best +remedy, and washed the gore from myself and my hammock, I observed +several small heaps of congealed blood all round the place where I had +lain upon the ground, on examining which the surgeon judged that I had +lost at least twelve or fourteen ounces during the night." + +Lesson, in 1827, says:--"The single American species of Bat is +celebrated by the fables with which they have accompanied its history. +That Bats suck the blood of animals as well as the juices of succulent +fruits zoologists are agreed. The rough tongue of one genus was, I +suppose, to be employed for abrading the skin, to enable the animal +to suck the part abraded; but zoologists are now agreed that the +supposition is groundless. It is more than probable that the celebrated +Vampire superstition and the blood-sucking qualities attributed to the +Bat have some connection with each other." + +Bat-fowling is mentioned by Shakspeare. This is the mode of taking +Bats in the night-time, while they are at roost, upon perches, trees, +or hedges. They light torches or straw, and then beat the bushes, upon +which the Bats, flying to the flames, are caught, either with nets or +otherwise. + +Bat-fowling, or Bat-folding, is effected by the use of a net, called a +trammel-net, and is practised at night. The net should be made of the +strongest and finest twine, and extended between two poles about ten +feet high, tapering to a point at the top, and meeting at the top of +the net. The larger ends are to be held by the persons who take the +management of the net, and who, by stretching out the arms, keep the net +extended to the utmost, opposite the hedge in which the Bats or birds +are supposed to be. Another of the party carries a lantern upon a pole +at a short distance behind the centre of the net. One or two others +place themselves on the opposite side of the hedge, and by beating it +with sticks disturb the Bats or birds, which, being alarmed, fly towards +the light, but are interrupted in their flight by the net which is +immediately _folded_ upon them, often fifteen or twenty in number. This +sport cannot be followed with much success except when the night is very +dark, or until very late in the autumn, when the trees, having lost +their leaves, the Bats or birds are driven for shelter to the hollies, +yews, hayricks, &c. + +We remember reading, in the "Philosophical Magazine," in 1836, a curious +account of the habits of a long-eared Bat, a living specimen of which +was given to the children of Mr. De Carle Sowerby, the naturalist. "We +constructed," says Mr. Sowerby, "a cage for him, by covering a box with +gauze, and making a round hole in the side, fitted with a phial cork. +When he was awake, we fed him with flies, introduced through this hole, +and thus kept him for several weeks. The animal soon became familiar, +and immediately a fly was presented alive at the hole, he would run or +fly from any part of the cage, and seize it in our fingers; but a dead +or quiet fly he would never touch. At other times, dozens of flies and +grasshoppers were left in his cage, and, waking him by their noise, he +dexterously caught them as they hopped or flew about, but uniformly +disregarded them while they were at rest. The cockroach, hard beetles, +and caterpillars he refused. + +"As we became still more familiar, our new friend was invited to join +in our evening amusements, to which he contributed his full share +by flitting round the room, at times settling upon our persons, and +permitting us to handle and caress him. He announced his being awake +by a shrill chirp, which was more acute than that of the cricket. Now +was the proper time for feeding him. I before stated that he only took +his food alive. It was observed that not only was motion necessary, but +that generally some noise on the part of the fly was required to induce +him to accept it; and this fact was soon discovered by the children, +who were entertained by his taking flies from their fingers as he flew +by them, before he was bold enough to settle upon their hands to +devour his victims. They quickly improved upon this discovery, and, by +imitating the booming of a bee, induced the Bat, directed by the sound, +to settle upon their faces, wrapping his wings round their lips, and +searching for the expected fly. We observed that, if he took a fly while +on the wing, he frequently settled to masticate it; and, when he had +been flying about a long time, he would rest upon a curtain, pricking +his ears, and turning his head in all directions, when, if a fly were +made to buzz, or the sound imitated, he would proceed directly to the +spot, even on the opposite side of the room, guided, it would appear, +entirely by the ear. Sometimes he took his victim in his mouth, even +though it was not flying; at other times he inclosed it in his wings, +with which he formed a kind of bag-net. This was his general plan when +in his cage, or when the fly was held in our fingers, or between our +lips." + +From these observations Mr. Sowerby concludes that many of the movements +of the Bat upon the wing are directed by his exquisite sense of hearing. +May not the sensibility of this organ be naturally greater in these +animals, whose organs of vision are too susceptible to bear daylight, +when those organs, from their nature, would necessarily be of most +service?--such as the cat, who hunts by the ear, and the mole, who, +feeding in the dark recesses of his subterranean abode, is very sensible +of the approach of danger, and expert in avoiding it. In the latter +case, large external ears are not required, because sound is well +conveyed by solids, and along narrow cavities. In the cases of many +Bats, and of owls, the external ears are remarkably developed. Cats +combine a quickness of sight with acute hearing. They hunt by the ear, +but they follow their prey by the eye. Some Bats are said to feed upon +fruits: have they the same delicacy of hearing, feeling, &c., as others? + +Mr. Sowerby has further described the singular mode adopted by the +long-eared Bat in capturing his prey. The flying apparatus is extended +from the hind legs to the tail, forming a large bag or net, not unlike +two segments of an umbrella, the legs and tail being the ribs. The Bat, +having caught the fly, instead of eating it at once, generally covers it +with his body, and, by the aid of his arms, &c., forces it into his bag. +He then puts his head down under his body, withdraws the fly from his +bag, and leisurely devours it. Mr. Sowerby once saw an unwary bluebottle +walk beneath the body of the apparently sleeping Bat into the sensitive +bag, in which it was immediately imprisoned. White, of Selborne, +speaking of a tame Bat, alludes to the above described action, which +he compares to that of a beast of prey, but says nothing respecting +the bag. Bell, in his "British Quadrupeds," says that the interfemoral +membrane of Bats "is probably intended to act as a sort of rudder, in +rapidly changing the course of the animal in the pursuit of its insect +food. In a large group of foreign Bats, which feed on fruit or other +vegetable substances, as well as in some of carnivorous habits, but +whose prey is of a less active character, this part is either wholly +wanting or much circumscribed in extent and power." May it not be, asks +Mr. Sowerby, that they do not require an entomological bag-net? + +The wing of the Bat is commonly spoken of as of leather; that it is an +insensible piece of stuff--the leather of a glove or of a lady's shoe; +but nothing can be further from the truth. If one were to select an +organ of the most exquisite delicacy and sensibility, it would be the +Bat's wing. It is anything but leather, and is, perhaps, the most acute +organ of touch that can be found. + +Bats are supposed to perceive external objects without coming actually +in contact with them, because in their rapid and irregular flight, +amidst various surrounding bodies, they never fly against them; yet, to +some naturalists, it does not appear that the senses of hearing, seeing, +or smelling serve them on these occasions, for they avoid any obstacles +with equal certainty when the eye, ear, and nose are closed: hence has +been ascribed a _sixth sense_ to these animals. The nerves of the wing +are large and numerous, and distributed in a minute network between the +integuments. The impulse of the air against this part may possibly be +so modified by the objects near which the animal passes as to indicate +their situation and nature. The Bat tribe fly by means of the fingers of +the fore feet, the thumb excepted, being, in these animals, longer than +the whole body; and between them is stretched a thin membrane, or web, +for flying. It is probable that, in the action of flight, the air, when +struck by this wing, or very sensitive hand, impresses a sensation of +heat, cold, mobility, and resistance on that organ, which indicates to +the animal the existence or absence of obstacles which would interrupt +its progress. In this manner blind men discover by their hands, and +even by the skin of their faces, the proximity of a wall, door of a +house, or side of a street, even without the assistance of touch, and +merely by the sensation which the difference in the resistance of the +air occasions. Hence they are as little capable of walking on the ground +as apes with their hands, or sloths with their hooked claws, which are +calculated for climbing. + +In a certain kind of Bat, the _Nycteris_, there exists a power of +inflation to such a degree that, when inflated, the animal looks, +according to Geoffroy St. Hilaire, like a _little balloon_ fitted +with wings, a head, and feet. It is filled with air through the +cheek-pouches, which are perforated at the bottom, so as to communicate +with the spaces of the skin to be filled. When the Bat wishes to +inflate, it draws in its breath, closes its nostrils, and transmits the +air through the perforations of the cheek-pouches to the spaces; and the +air is prevented from returning by the action of a muscle which closes +those openings, and by valves of considerable size on the neck and back. + +There was formerly a vulgar opinion that Bats, when down on a flat +surface, could not get on the wing again, by rising with great ease +from the floor; but White saw a Bat run, with more dispatch than he +was aware of, though in a most ridiculous and grotesque manner. The +adroitness with which this Bat sheared off the wings of flies, which +were always rejected, was very amusing. He did not refuse raw flesh when +offered; so that the notion that Bats go down chimneys, and gnaw men's +bacon, seems no improbable story. + +Mr. George Daniell describes a female Bat, who took her food with an +action similar to that of a dog. The animal took considerable pains +in cleaning herself, parting the hair on either side, from head to +tail, and forming a straight line along the middle of the back. The +membrane of the wings was cleaned by forcing the nose through the folds, +and thereby expanding them. This Bat fed freely, and at some times +voraciously, the quantity exceeding half an ounce, although the weight +of the animal itself was not more than ten drams. + +The _Kalong_ Bat of the Javanese is extremely abundant in the lower +parts of Java, and uniformly lives in society. The more elevated +districts are not visited by it. "Numerous individuals," says Dr. +Hornfield, "select a large tree, and, suspending themselves with the +claws of their posterior extremities to the naked branches, often in +companies of several hundreds, afford to a stranger a very singular +spectacle. A species of ficus (fig-tree), resembling the _ficus +religiosa_ of India, affords them a very favourite retreat, and the +extended branches of one of these are sometimes covered by them. They +pass the greater portion of the day in sleep, hanging motionless, ranged +in succession, with the head downwards, the membrane contracted about +the body, and often in close contact. They have little resemblance to +living beings; and, by a person not accustomed to their economy, are +readily mistaken for a part of the tree, or for a fruit of uncommon size +suspended from its branches." + +In general, these societies are silent during the day; but if they are +disturbed, or a contention arises among them, they emit sharp, piercing +shrieks; and their awkward attempts to extricate themselves, when +oppressed by the light of the sun, exhibit a ludicrous spectacle. Soon +after sunset they gradually quit their hold, and pursue their nocturnal +flight in quest of food. They direct their course by an unerring +instinct to the forests, villages, and plantations, attacking and +devouring every kind of fruit, from the abundant and useful cocoa-nut, +which surrounds the dwellings of the meanest peasantry, to the rare and +most delicate productions which are cultivated by princes and chiefs of +distinction. Various methods are employed to protect the orchards and +gardens. Delicate fruits are secured by a loose net or basket, skilfully +constructed of split bamboo, without which precaution little valuable +fruit would escape the ravages of the _Kalong_. There are few situations +in the lower part of Java in which this night wanderer is not constantly +observed. As soon as the light of the sun has retired, one animal is +seen to follow the other at a small but irregular distance, and this +accession continues uninterrupted till dark:-- + + "The night came on apace, + And falling dews bewet around the place; + The bat takes airy rounds, on leathern wings, + And the hoarse owl his woful dirges sings." + + Gay's "_Pastoral III_." + +Bats of the ordinary size are very numerous in Jamaica. They are found +in mills and old houses. They do great mischief in gardens, where they +eat the green peas, opening the pod over each pea, and removing it very +dexterously. + +Gilbert White, of Selborne, first noticed a large species of Bat, which +he named _altivolans_, from its manner of feeding high in the air. In +the extent of its wings it measured 14-1/2 inches; and it weighed, +when entirely full, one ounce and one drachm. It is found in numbers +together, so many as 185 having been taken in one night from the eaves +of Queens' College, Cambridge. In the Northern Zoological Gallery of the +British Museum are representatives of the several species of Bats, all +bearing a family resemblance to each other. In England alone there are +eighteen known species. Here is the curious leaf-nosed Bat, from Brazil, +supposed to excel in the sense of smell; also, the Vampire, or large +blood-sucking Bat, from the same country; and the different kinds of +fruit-eating Bats, found in America and Australia, and sometimes called +flying foxes, on account of their great size. The Bats of temperate +climates remain torpid during the winter. Gay has these lines:-- + + "Where swallows in the winter season keep; + And here the drowsy bat and dormouse sleep." + +Young Bats have been taken, when hovering near the ground, by throwing +handfuls of sand, but they rarely live in confinement: they often die +within a week after their capture. A Bat, taken in Elgin, gave birth to +a young one, which was for two days suckled by its parent. Before she +reached the age of three days the young bat died, and the parent only +survived another day to mourn her loss. Sometimes females, when taken, +have young ones clinging to their breast, in the act of sucking; and the +female can fly with ease, though two little ones are attached to her, +which weigh nearly as much as the parent. + +To return to an exaggeration of a famous old traveller. In "Purchas his +Pilgrimage," the materials for which he borrowed from above thirteen +hundred authors, when speaking of the island of Madura, in the South of +India, he says:--"In these partes are Battes as big as Hennes, which the +people roast and eat." + + + + +THE HEDGEHOG. + + +Of this animal some strange things are recorded. It is placed by Cuvier +at the head of the insect-devouring Mammifera. It is found in Europe, +Africa, and India. Its body is covered with strong and sharp prickles, +and by the help of a muscle it can contract itself into a ball, and so +withdraw its whole underpart, head, belly, and legs, within this thicket +of prickles: + + "Like Hedgehogs, which + Lie tumbling in my barefoot way, and mount + Their pricks at my foot-fall."--Shakspeare's "_Tempest_." + +Sir Thomas Browne, in his "Vulgar Errors," has this odd conceit:--"Few +have belief to swallow, or hope enough to experience, the collyrium of +Albertus; that is, to make one see in the dark: yet thus much, according +to his receipts, will the right eye of an Hedgehog, boiled in oil, and +preserved in a brazen vessel, effect." + +Hedgehog was an old term of reproach; but we have heard a well-set +argument compared to a hedgehog--all points. + +The food of the Hedgehog, which is a nocturnal animal, consists +principally of insects, worms, slugs, and snails. That it will eat +vegetables is shown by White of Selborne, who relates how it eats the +root of the plantain by boring beneath it, leaving the tuft of leaves +untouched. + +The Hedgehog is reputed to supply itself with a winter covering of +leaves. So far as we are aware, it has not been observed in the act of +forming the covering of leaves, though it is supposed to roll itself +about till its spines take up a sufficient number, in the same way as +it is popularly believed (without proof) to do with apples. Blumenbach +states that he was assured, "by three credible witnesses," that +Hedgehogs so gather fruit; but Buffon, who kept several Hedgehogs for +observation, declares they never practise any such habit. + +The voracity of the Hedgehog is very great. A female, with a young one, +was placed in a kitchen, having the run of the beetles at night, besides +having always bread and milk within their reach. One day, however, the +servants heard a mysterious crunching sound in the kitchen, and found, +on examination, that nothing was left of the young Hedgehog but the skin +and prickles--the mother had devoured her little pig! A Hedgehog has +also been known to eat a couple of rabbits which had been confined with +it, and killing others; it has likewise been known to kill hares. + +A Hedgehog was placed in one hamper, a wood-pigeon in another, and two +starlings in a third; the lid of each hamper was tied down with string, +and the hampers were placed in a garden-house, which was fastened in the +evening. Next morning the strings to the hampers were found severed, the +starlings and wood-pigeon dead and eaten, feathers alone remaining in +their hampers, and the Hedgehog alive in the wood-pigeon's hamper. As no +other animal could have got into the garden-house it was concluded that +the Hedgehog had killed and eaten the birds. + +In the "Zoological Journal," vol. ii., is an account by Mr. Broderip of +an experiment made by Professor Buckland proving that in captivity at +least the Hedgehog will devour snakes; but there is no good reason for +supposing that it will not do the same in a state of nature, for frogs, +toads, and other reptiles, and mice, have been recorded as its prey. +From its fondness for insects it is often placed in the London kitchens +to keep down the swarm of cockroaches with which they are infested; and +there are generally Hedgehogs on sale at Covent Garden Market for this +purpose. + +The idle story that the persecuted Hedgehog sucks cows has been thus +quaintly refuted:--"In the case of an animal giving suck, the teat is +embraced round by the mouth of the young one, so that no air can pass +between; a vacuum is made, or the air is exhausted from its throat, +by a power in the lungs; nevertheless the pressure of the air remains +still upon the outside of the dug of the mother, and by these two +causes together the milk is forced in the mouth of the young one. But +a Hedgehog has no such mouth as to be able to contain the teat of a +cow; therefore any vacuum which is caused in its own throat cannot be +communicated to the milk in the dug. And if he is able to procure no +other food but what he can get by sucking cows in the night, there is +likely to be a vacuum in his stomach too." (_New Catalogue of Vulgar +Errors._ By Stephen Fovargue, A.M., 1786.) Yet, according to Sir William +Jardine, the Hedgehog is very fond of eggs; and is consequently very +mischievous in the game-preserve and hen-house. + +One of the most interesting facts in the natural history of the Hedgehog +is that announced in 1831 by M. Lenz, and subsequently confirmed by +Professor Buckland: this is, that the most violent poisons have no +effect upon it; a fact which renders it of peculiar value in forests, +where it appears to destroy a great number of noxious reptiles. M. Lenz +says that he had in his house a female Hedgehog, which he kept in a +large box, and which soon became very mild and familiar. He often put +into the box some adders, which it attacked with avidity, seizing them +indifferently by the head, the body, and the tail, and not appearing +alarmed or embarrassed when they coiled themselves around its body. +On one occasion M. Lenz witnessed a fight between a Hedgehog and a +viper. When the Hedgehog came near and smelled the snake, for with +these animals the sense of sight is very obtuse, she seized it by the +head, and held it fast between her teeth, but without appearing to do +it much harm; for having disengaged its head, it assumed a furious and +menacing attitude, and, hissing vehemently, inflicted severe bites on +the Hedgehog. The animal did not, however, recoil from the bites of +the viper, or indeed seem to care much about them. At last, when the +reptile was fatigued by its efforts, she again seized it by the head, +which she ground beneath her teeth, compressing the fangs and glands of +poison, and then devouring every part of the body. M. Lenz says that +battles of this sort often occurred in the presence of many persons, and +sometimes the Hedgehog received eight or ten wounds on the ears, the +snout, and even on the tongue, without seeming to experience any of the +ordinary symptoms produced by the venom of the viper. Neither herself +nor the young which she was then suckling seemed to suffer from it. This +observation agrees with that of Pallas, who assures us that the Hedgehog +can eat about a hundred Cantharides (Spanish Flies) without experiencing +any of the effects which this insect, taken inwardly, produces on men, +dogs, and cats. A German physician, who made the Hedgehog a particular +object of study, gave it strong doses of prussic acid, of arsenic, of +opium, and of corrosive sublimate, none of which did it any harm. The +Hedgehog in its natural state only feeds on pears, apples, and other +fruits when it can get nothing it likes better. + +The Hedgehog hybernates regularly, and early in the summer brings forth +from two to four young ones at a birth, which, at the time of their +production, are blind, and have the spines white, soft, and flexible. +The nest wherein they are cradled is said to be very artificially +constructed, the roof being rain-proof. + +The flesh of the Hedgehog, when it has been well fed, is sweet and well +flavoured, and is eaten on the Continent in many places. In Britain a +few besides gipsies partake of it. The prickly skin appears to have been +used by the Romans for hackling hemp. + +Gilbert White notes that when the Hedgehog is very young it can draw +its skin down over its face, but is not able to contract itself into a +ball, as the creature does, for the sake of defence when full grown. The +reason, White supposes, is because the curious muscle that enables the +Hedgehog to roll itself up into a ball has not then arrived at its full +tone and firmness. Hedgehogs conceal themselves for the winter in their +warm _hybernaculum_ of leaves and moss; but White could never find that +they stored in any winter provision, as some quadrupeds certainly do. + + + + +THE HIPPOPOTAMUS IN ENGLAND. + + +In the year 1850 there was exhibited in London a living Hippopotamus, +for many centuries the only instance of this extraordinary animal being +seen in Europe. + +There is something irresistibly striking in seeing a living animal, +not one of whose species we have before seen, and especially when +that animal is a large one, as in the instance before us. We had been +wonderstruck at forms of this creature in the old British Museum, where +were two finely-preserved specimens. The Rhinoceros alive was, until of +late years, very rare in England. In 1834 Mr. Cross paid some 1,500_l._ +for a young Indian one-horned Rhinoceros, this being the only one +brought to England for twenty years. He proved attractive, but slightly +so in comparison with the expectation of a living Hippopotamus, never +witnessed before in this country. The circumstances of his acquisition +were as follows:-- + +The Zoological Society of London had long been anxious to obtain +a living Hippopotamus for their menagerie, but without success. An +American agent at Alexandria had offered 5,000_l._ for an animal of +this species, but in vain; no speculator could be induced to encounter +the risk and labour of an expedition to the White Nile for the +purpose of securing the animal. The desire of the Zoological Society +was communicated to the Viceroy of Egypt, who saw the difficulty. +Hasselquist states it to have been impossible to bring the living animal +to Cairo; and the French _savans_, attached to the expedition to Egypt, +who ascended the Nile above Syene, did not meet with one Hippopotamus. +Caillaud, however, asserts that he saw forty Hippopotami in the Upper +Nile, though their resort lay fifteen hundred miles or more from Cairo. +Here they were often shot with rifle-balls, but to take one alive was +another matter. However, by command of the Viceroy, the proper parties +were sent in search of the animal. + +In August, 1849, the hunters having reached the island of Fobaysch, +on the White Nile, about 2,000 miles above Cairo, shot a large female +Hippopotamus in full chase up the river. The wounded creature turned +aside and made towards some bushes on the island bank, but sank dead in +the effort. The hunters, however, kept on towards the bushes, when a +young Hippopotamus, supposed to have been recently brought forth, not +much bigger than a new-born calf, but stouter and lower, rushed down +the bank of the river, was secured by a boatman and lifted into the +boat. The captors started with their charge down the Nile. The food of +their young animal was their next anxiety; he liked neither fish, flesh, +fruit, nor grass. The boat next stopped at a village; their cows were +seized and milked, and the young charge lapped up the produce. A good +milch cow was taken on board, and with this supply the Hippopotamus +reached Cairo. The colour of his skin at this time was a dull reddish +brown. He was shown to the Pasha in due form; the present created +intense wonder and interest in Cairo; gaping crowds filled its narrow +sandy streets, and a whale at London-bridge would scarcely excite half +so much curiosity. + +It being thought safer for the animal to winter in Cairo than to proceed +forthwith on his journey, the Consul had duly prepared to receive the +young stranger, for whom he had engaged a sort of nurse. Hamet Safi +Cannana. An apartment was allotted to the Hippopotamus in the court-yard +of the Consul's house, leading to a warm or tepid bath. His milk-diet, +however, became a troublesome affair, for the new comer never drank less +than from twenty to thirty quarts daily. + +By the next mail after the arrival of the Hippopotamus, the Consul +despatched the glad tidings to the Zoological Society. The animal was +shipped at Alexandria, in the Ripon steamer. On the main deck was built +a house, from which were steps down into an iron tank in the hold, +containing 400 gallons of water, as a bath: it was filled with fresh +water every other day. + +Early in May, the Hippopotamus was conveyed in the canal-boat, with +Hamet Safi Cannana, to Alexandria, where the debarkation was witnessed +by 10,000 spectators. The animal bore the voyage well. He lived +exclusively on milk, of which he consumed daily about forty pints, +yielded by the cows taken on board. He was very tame, and, like a +faithful dog, followed his Arab attendant Hamet, who was seldom away +more than five minutes without being summoned to return by a loud grunt. +Hamet slept in a berth with the Hippopotamus. On May 25 they were landed +at Southampton, and sent by railway to London. On arriving at the +Zoological Society's Gardens, Hamet walked first out of the transport +van, with a bag of dates over his shoulder, and the Hippopotamus trotted +after him. Next morning he greatly enjoyed the bath which had been +prepared for him. Although scarcely twelve months old, his massive +proportions indicated the enormous power to be developed in his maturer +growth; while the grotesque expression of his physiognomy far exceeded +all that could be imagined from the stuffed specimens in museums, and +the figures which had hitherto been published from the reminiscences of +travellers. + +Among the earliest visitors was Professor Owen, who first saw the +Hippopotamus lying on its side in the straw, with its head resting +against the chair in which sat the swarthy attendant. It now and then +grunted softly, and, lazily opening its thick, smooth eyelids, leered +at its keeper with a singular protruding movement of the eyeball from +the prominent socket, showing an unusual proportion of the white. The +retraction of the eyeball was accompanied by a simultaneous rolling +obliquely downwards, or inwards, or forwards. The young animal, then +ten months' old, was seven feet long, and six and a-half in girth at +the middle of the barrel-shaped trunk, supported, clear of the ground, +on very short and thick legs, each terminated by four spreading hoofs, +the two middle ones being the largest, and answering to those in the +hog. The naked hide, covering the broad back and sides, was of a dark, +india-rubber colour, with numerous fine wrinkles crossing each other, +but disposed almost transversely. The beast had just left its bath, when +a glistening secretion gave the hide, in the sunshine, a very peculiar +aspect. When the animal was younger, the secretion had a reddish colour, +and the whole surface of the hide became painted over with it every time +he quitted his bath. + +The ears, which were very short, conical, and fringed with hairs, it +moved about with much vivacity. The skin around them was of a light +reddish-brown colour, and almost flesh-coloured round the eyelids, +which defended the prominent eyes, which had a few short hairs on the +margin of the upper lid. The colour of the iris was of a dark brown. The +nostrils, situated on prominences, which the animal had the power of +raising on the upper part of the broad and massive muzzle, were short +oblique slits, guarded by two valves, which were opened and closed +spontaneously, like the eyelids. The movements of these apertures were +most conspicuous when the beast was in the bath. + +The wide mouth was chiefly remarkable for the upward curve of its angles +towards the eyes, giving a quaintly comic expression to the massive +countenance. The short and small milk-tusks projected a little, and the +minute incisors appeared to be sunk in pits of the thick gums; but the +animal would not permit any close examination of the teeth, withdrawing +his head from the attempt, and then threatening to bite. The muzzle was +beset with short bristles, split into tufts or pencils of hairs; and +fine and short hairs were scattered all over the back and sides. The +tail was not long, rather flattened and tapering to an obtuse point. + +We may here observe that, at certain moments, the whole aspect of the +head suggested to one the idea of what may have been the semblance of +some of the gigantic extinct Batrachians (as sirens), the relics of a +former world, whose fossil bones in the galleries of Palæontology in the +British Museum excite our special wonder. + +After lying about an hour, now and then raising its head, and swivelling +its eyeballs towards the keeper, or playfully opening its huge mouth, +and threatening to bite the leg of the chair on which the keeper sat, +the Hippopotamus rose, and walked very slowly about its room, and +then uttered a loud and short harsh snort four or five times in quick +succession, reminding one of the snort of a horse, and ending with an +explosive sound, like a bark. The keeper understood the language--the +animal desired to return to its bath. + +The Hippopotamus carried its head rather depressed, reminding one of +a large prize hog, but with a breadth of muzzle and other features +peculiarly its own. The keeper opened the door leading into a paddock, +and walked thence to the bath, the Hippopotamus following, like a dog, +close to his heels. On arriving at the bath-room, the animal descended +with some deliberation the flight of low steps leading into the water, +stooped and drank a little, dipped his head under, and then plunged +forwards. The creature seemed inspired with new life and activity. +Sinking to the bottom of the bath, and moving about submerged for a +while, it suddenly rose with a bound almost bodily out of the water. +Splashing back, it commenced swimming and plunging about, rolling from +side to side, taking in mouthfuls of water and spirting them out again, +raising every now and then its huge and grotesque head, and biting the +woodwork of the margin of the bath. The broad rounded back of the animal +being now chiefly in view, it seemed a much larger object than when out +of the water. + +After half an hour spent in this amusement, the Hippopotamus quitted +the water at the call of its keeper, and followed him back to the +sleeping-room, which was well bedded with straw, and where a stuffed +sack was provided for its pillow, of which the animal, having a very +short neck, thicker than the head, availed itself when it slept. When +awake, it was very impatient of any absence of its favourite attendant. +It would rise on its hind legs, and threaten to break down the wooden +fence, by butting and pushing against it in a way very significant of +its great muscular force. The animal appeared to be in perfect health, +and breathed, when at rest, slowly and regularly, from three to four +times in a minute. Its food was now a kind of porridge, of milk and +maize-meat, it being more than half weaned from milk diet. Its appetite +had been in no respect diminished by the confinement and inconvenience +of the sea voyage, or by change of climate. All observers appear to +have agreed that, to see the Hippopotamus rightly, is to see him in +the water. There his activity is only surpassed by that of the otter +or the seal. Such was one of the opportunities afforded to zoologists +for "studying this most remarkable and interesting African mammal, of +which no living specimen had been seen in Europe since the period when +Hippopotami were last exhibited by the third Gordian in the amphitheatre +of imperial Rome."[7] + +It is now time to glance at the general economy of the Hippopotamus, as +he is seen in his native rivers and wilds. In early days, as his Roman +name imports, it was usual to consider him as a species of horse, +inhabiting rivers and marshy grounds, and, in a more especial manner, +the denizen of the Nile. The genus is placed by Linnæus among his +_belluæ_, between _equus_ and _sus_. The skeleton approaches that of the +ox and of the hog, but it presents differences from that of any other +animal. + +The Hippopotamus is found not only in the Nile, but in the rivers of +southern Africa. In the former stream of marvels, Hasselquist relates +that "the oftener the River Horse goes on shore, the better hope have +the Egyptians of a sufficient swelling or increase of the Nile." Again, +they say that the River Horse is an inveterate enemy to the crocodile, +and kills it whenever he meets it; adding that he does much damage to +the Egyptians in those places he frequents. He goes on shore, and, in +a short space of time, destroys an entire field of corn or clover, not +leaving the least verdure, for he is very voracious. + +Yet neither of these stories is so marvellous as that which a sailor +related to Dampier, the old traveller:--"I have seen," says the mariner, +"one of these animals open its jaws, and, seizing a boat between its +teeth, at one bite sink it to the bottom. I have seen it, on another +occasion, place itself under one of our boats, and, rising under it, +overset it with six men who were in it, but who, however, happily +received no other injury." + +Professor Smith and Captain Tuckey, in exploring the Congo River, in +South Africa, saw in a beautiful sandy cove, at the opening of a creek, +behind a long projecting point, an immense number of Hippopotami; +and in the evening a number of alligators were also seen there; an +association hardly consistent with the hostility related by Hasselquist. + +Captain Tuckey observed Hippopotami with their heads above the water, +"snorting in the air." In another part of his narrative he says:--"Many +Hippopotami were visible close to our tents at Condo Yanga. No use +firing at these animals in the water; the only way is to wait till they +come on shore to feed at night." + +Le Vaillant had an opportunity of watching the progress of a +Hippopotamus under water at Great River, which contained many of these +animals. On all sides he could hear them bellow and blow. Anxious to +observe them, he mounted on the top of an elevated rock which advanced +into the river, and he saw one walking at the bottom of the water. Le +Vaillant killed it at the moment when it came to the surface to breathe. +It was a very old female, and many people, in their surprise, and to +express its size, called it the Grandmother of the River. + +The traveller Lander tells us that, on the Niger. Hippopotami are +termed water-elephants. One stormy night, as they were sailing up this +unexplored current, they fell in with great numbers of Hippopotami, who +came plashing, snorting, and plunging all round the canoe. Thinking +to frighten them off, the travellers fired a shot or two at them, but +the noise only called up from the water and out of the fens about as +many more Hippopotami, and they were more closely beset than before. +Lander's people, who had never, in all their lives, been exposed to +such formidable beasts, trembled with fear, and absolutely wept aloud; +whilst peals of thunder rattled over their heads, and the most vivid +lightning showed the terrifying scene. Hippopotami frequently upset +canoes in the river. When the Landers fired, every one of them came +to the surface of the water, and pursued them over to the north bank. +A second firing was followed by a loud roaring noise. However, the +Hippopotami did the travellers no kind of mischief whatever. + +Captain Gordon, when among the Bakalahari, in South Africa, bagged no +fewer than fifteen first-rate Hippopotami; the greater number of them +being bulls. + +In 1828, there was brought to England the head of a Hippopotamus, with +all the flesh about it, in high preservation. The animal was harpooned +while in combat with a crocodile in a lake in the interior of Africa. +The head measured nearly four feet in length, and eight feet in +circumference; the jaws opened two feet, and the cutting teeth, of which +it had four in each jaw, were above a foot long, and four inches in +circumference. + +The utility of this vast pachydermatous, or thick-skinned animal, to man +is considerable. That he can be destructive has already been shown in +his clearance of the cultivated banks of rivers. The enormous ripping, +chisel-like teeth of the lower jaw fit him for uprooting. The ancient +Egyptians held the animal as an emblem of power, though this may have +arisen from his reputed destruction of the crocodile. The flesh is much +esteemed for food, both among the natives and colonists of South Africa. +The blood of the animal is said to have been used by the old Indian +painters in mixing their colours. The skin is extensively employed for +making whips. + +But there is no part of the Hippopotamus more in request than the great +canine teeth, the ivory of which is so highly valued by dentists for +making artificial teeth, on account of its keeping its colour better +than any other kind. This superiority was not unknown to the ancients +Pausanias mentions the statue of Dindymene, whose face was formed of the +teeth of Hippopotami, instead of elephants' ivory. The canine teeth are +imported in great numbers into England, and sell at a very high price. +From the closeness of the ivory, the weight of the teeth, a part only of +which is available for the artificial purpose above mentioned, is great +in proportion to its bulk; and the article has fetched about thirty +shillings per pound. + +The ancient history of the Hippopotamus is extremely curious, and +we have many representations of him in coins, in sculpture, and in +paintings, which prove, beyond question, that the artists, as well as +the writers, had a distinct knowledge of what they intended to represent. + +The earliest notice which occurs in any author, and which has been +considered by many to be a description of the Hippopotamus, is the +celebrated account in the fortieth and forty-first chapter of the Book +of Job of Behemoth and Leviathan. Many learned men have contended that +"Behemoth" really means "Elephant," and thus the Zurich version of the +Bible translates the Hebrew by "Elephas." + +In the edition of the English Bible, printed by Robert Barker, in 1615, +for King James I., and since considered as the authorised version, the +word "Behemoth" is preserved in the text, and the following annotation +is added:--"This beast is thought to bee the Elephant, or some other +which is unknowen." Bochart, Ludolph, and some others, have contended +warmly in favour of the Hippopotamus. Cuvier thinks, that though this +animal is probably intended, yet that the description is too vague for +any one to hold a certain opinion on the subject. The theory started by +Bochart, and in the main supported by Cuvier, is generally supposed the +real one. The description in the Book of Job, though doubtless vague, +and in the highest degree poetical, has yet sufficient marks to render +the identification perfectly easy, while there are certain peculiarities +mentioned, which even a poetical imagination could hardly apply to the +Elephant. Thus, when it is said of him, "He lieth under the shady trees, +in the desert of the reed and fens; ... the willows of the brook compass +him round about," this would seem to be the description of an animal +which frequented the water much more than Elephants are accustomed to +do. Again, in the fuller description of "Leviathan," in the forty-first +chapter, we think it is quite clear that a water animal is intended, +though what is there stated might be held to apply to the crocodile +as well as the Hippopotamus; both are animals remarkable for extreme +toughness of skin, and both are almost equally difficult to kill or to +take alive. + +Of profane authors, Herodotus is the first who notices this animal, +but his account is far from accurate: the size he states as large as +the biggest ox. That the animal was sacred, in some parts at least, +appears from Herodotus, who says:--"Those which are found in the +district of Paprennis are sacred, but in other parts of Egypt they are +not considered in the same light." Aristotle makes it no bigger than +an ass; Diodorus, an elephant; Pliny ascribes to it the tail and teeth +of a boar, adding, that helmets and bucklers are made of the skin. +Hippopotami figured in the triumphal processions of the Roman conquerors +on their return home. M. Scaurus exhibited five crocodiles and an +Hippopotamus; and Augustus one in his triumph over Cleopatra. Antoninus +exhibited Hippopotami, with lions and other animals; Commodus no less +than five, some of which he slew with his own hand. Heliogabalus, and +the third Gordian, also exhibited Hippopotami. + +The Hippopotamus of the London Zoological Society was joined by his +mate, the more juvenile "Adhela," in 1853. Two Hippopotami have lately +been born in Europe; one in the Garden of Plants, at Paris, in 1858; and +another in the Zoological Gardens at Amsterdam, in 1866. + +With regard to the alleged disappearance of the Hippopotamus from Lower +Egypt, Cuvier remarks, that the French savans attached to the Expedition +to Egypt, who ascended the Nile above Syene, did not meet with one. + +In some of the rivers of Liberia, and other parts, perhaps, of Western +Africa, a second species of Hippopotamus exists, and is proved to be a +very distinct animal. + +We have yet to glance at the Hippopotami of a former world. Many +species are recognised in the fossil remains of Europe and Asia as +formerly existing in England and in France. Cuvier detected bones of the +Hippopotamus among the fossil wealth of the Great Kirkdale Cavern in +Yorkshire, in 1821. They have also been found in France, and especially +in the Sewatick Hills in India. + +In the Museum of the London Zoological Society are two skulls of +Hippopotami--one fossil. This measures two feet three inches, and +allowing for skin and lip, two feet six inches. Now, as the head is +about one-fifth the length of the body, without the tail, the full-grown +animal would be little, if any, short of fifteen feet from nose to +tail--a size worthy the description of the Behemoth. + +We may here add, that Burckhardt, in his "Travels in Nubia," describes +the voice of the Hippopotamus as a hard and heavy sound, like the +creaking or groaning of a large wooden door. This noise, he says, is +made when the animal raises his huge head out of the water, and when he +retires into it again. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[7] Professor Owen. + + + + +LION-TALK. + + +The Lion has, within the present century, lost caste, and fallen +considerably from his high estate. He has been stripped of much of his +conventional reputation by the spirit of inquiry into the validity of +olden notions, which characterises the present age; and it appears that +much of his celebrity is founded upon popular error. Nor are these +results the work of stay-at-home travellers; but they are derived from +the observation and experience of those who, amidst scenes of perilous +adventure, seek to enlarge and correct our views of the habit and +character of the overrated Lion. + +Mr. Bennett, in his admirable work, "The Tower Menagerie," has these +very sensible remarks:--"In speaking of the Lion we call up to our +imaginations the splendid picture of might unmingled with ferocity, of +courage undebased by guile, of dignity tempered by grace and ennobled by +generosity. Such is the Lion of Buffon; who, in describing this animal, +as in too many other instances, has suffered himself to be borne along +by the strong tide of popular opinion; but, as the Lion appears in his +native regions, according to the authentic accounts of those travellers +and naturalists who have had the best means of correctly observing his +habits, he is by no means so admirable a creature. Where the timid +antelope and powerless monkey fall his easy and unresisting prey--or +where the elephant and buffalo find their unwieldy bulk and strength no +adequate protection against his impetuous agility--he stalks boldly to +and fro in fearless majesty. But in the neighbourhood of man--even in +that of uncultivated savages--_he skulks in treacherous ambush for his +prey_. Of his forbearance and generosity it can merely be said, that +when free, he destroys only what is sufficient to satiate his hunger or +revenge; and when in captivity--his wants being provided for, and his +feelings not irritated--he suffers smaller animals to live unmolested in +his den, or submits to the control of a keeper by whom he is fed. But +even this limited degree of docility is liable to fearful interruptions +from the calls of hunger, the feelings of revenge--and these he +frequently cherishes for a long period--with various other circumstances +which render it dangerous to approach him in his most domesticated +state, without ascertaining his immediate mood and temper. That an +animal which seldom attacks by open force, but silently approaches his +victim, and when he imagines his prey to be within his reach, bounds +upon it with an overwhelming leap, should ever have been regarded as +the type of courage and the emblem of magnanimity, is indeed most +astonishing!" + +The generosity of disposition so liberally accorded to this powerful +beast has been much and eloquently praised; and it seems hard to +dissipate the glowing vision which Buffon has raised; but, if there is +any dependence to be placed on the observations of those travellers +who have had the best opportunities of judging, and have the highest +character for veracity, we must be compelled to acknowledge that +Buffon's Lion is the Lion of poetry and prejudice, and very unlike the +cautious lurking savage that steals on its comparatively weak prey by +surprise, overwhelms it at once by the terror, the weight, and the +violence of the attack, and is intent only on the gratification of the +appetite. "At the time," says Mr. Burchell, "when men first adopted the +Lion as the emblem of courage, it would seem that they regarded great +size and strength as indicating it; but they were greatly mistaken +in the character they had given of the indolent animal." Indeed, Mr. +Burchell calls the Lion an "indolent skulking animal." The fact of the +Lion sparing the dog that was thrown to him, and making a friend of the +little animal that was destined for his prey, has been much dwelt on; +but these and other such acts of mercy, as they have been called, may +be very easily accounted for. If not pressed by hunger, the Lion will +seldom be at the trouble of killing prey; and the desire for a companion +has created much stronger friendships between animals in confinement +than between a Lion and a little dog. St. Pierre touchingly describes +the Lion of Versailles, who, in 1792, lived most happily with a dog, and +on whose death he became disconsolate and miserable; and in confinement +the "lordly Lion," as Young calls him, has been known to be deeply +afflicted with melancholy at similar losses. + +The Lion is easily tamed, and capable of attachment to man. The story of +Androdas, frequently called Androcles, is too well known to need more +than allusion; but in this and other stories of Lions licking men's +hands without injuring them, there must be a stretch of fancy; for the +Lion's tongue has sharp thorn-points, inclining backwards, so as not to +be able to lick the hand without tearing away the skin, which any one +will understand who has _heard_ the Lion tear the raw meat away from the +bone of his food. + +Still, very different accounts are given by travellers of the cruelty or +generosity of the Lion's nature; which results, in all probability, from +a difference in time or circumstances, or the degree of hunger which the +individual experienced when the respective observations were made upon +him. + +Meanwhile, there are many points in the history of the Lion which are +yet but imperfectly understood; the explanations of which, whilst +they are interesting, add to our correct knowledge of this still +extraordinary animal. + +The Lion has been styled "The King of the Forest," which is not very +applicable to him, seeing that Mr. Burchell at least never met with +but one Lion on the plains; nor did he ever meet with one in any of +the forests where he had been. The low cover that creeps along the +sides of streams, the patches that mark the springs in the rank grass +of the valley, seem to be the shelter which the African Lion, for the +most part, seeks. His strength is extraordinary. To carry off a man +(and there are dismal accounts of this horrible fact, which there is no +reason to doubt) appears a feat of no difficulty to this powerful brute. +A Cape Lion, seizing a heifer in his mouth, has carried her off with the +same ease as a cat does a rat; and has leaped with her over a broad dyke +without the least difficulty. A young Lion, too, has conveyed a horse +about a mile from the spot where he had killed it. + +There seems to be an idea that the Lion preserves human prey; but, be +this as it may, the inhabitants of certain districts have been under the +necessity of resorting to a curious expedient to get out of the Lion's +reach. Ælian, by the way, records the extinction of a Libyan people by +an invasion of Lions. We read of a large tree, in the country of the +Mantatees, which has amidst its limbs fourteen conical huts. These are +used as dormitories, being beyond the reach of the Lions, which, since +the incursions of the Mantatees, when so many thousands of persons +were massacred, have become very numerous in the neighbourhood, and +destructive to human life. The branches of the above trees are supported +by forked sticks or poles, and there are three tiers or platforms +on which the huts are constructed. The lowest is nine feet from the +ground, and holds ten huts; the second, about eight feet high, has +three huts; and the upper story, if it may be so called, contains four. +The ascent to these is made by notches cut in the poles; the huts are +built with twigs, and thatched with straw, and will contain two persons +conveniently. This tree stands at the base of a range of mountains due +east of Kurrichaine, in a place called "Ongorutcie Fountain," about +1,000 miles north-east of Cape Town. Kurrichaine is the Staffordshire as +well as the Birmingham of that part of South Africa. There are likewise +whole villages of huts erected on stakes, about eight feet from the +ground; the inhabitants, it is stated, sit under the shade of these +platforms during the day, and retire to the elevated huts at night. + +Though mortal accidents frequently occur in Lion-hunting, the cool +sportsman seldom fails of using his rifle with effect. Lions, when +roused, it seems, walk off quietly at first, and if no cover is near, +and they are not pursued, they gradually mend their pace to a trot, +till they have reached a good distance, and then they bound away. Their +demeanour is careless, as if they did not want a fray, but if pressed, +are ready to fight it out. If they are pursued closely, they turn and +crouch, generally with their faces to the adversary: then the nerves of +the sportsman are tried. If he is collected, and master of his craft, +the well-directed rifle ends the scene at once; but if, in the flutter +of the moment, the vital parts are missed, or the ball passes by, +leaving the Lion unhurt, the infuriated beast frequently charges on his +enemies, dealing destruction around him. This, however, is not always +the case; and a steady, unshrinking deportment has, in some instances, +saved the life of the hunter. + +There is hardly a book of African travels which does not teem with the +dangers and hair-breadth escapes of the Lion-hunters; and hardly one +that does not include a fatal issue to some engaged in this hazardous +sport. The modes of destruction employed against the powerful beast are +very various--from the poisonous arrow of the Bushman to the rifle of +the colonist. + +The Lion may be safely attacked while sleeping, because of the dullness +of his sense of hearing, the difficulty of awakening him, and his want +of presence of mind if he be so awakened. Thus the Bushmen of Africa +are enabled to keep the country tolerably clear of Lions, without +encountering any great danger. The bone of the Lion's fore-leg is of +remarkable hardness, from its containing a greater quantity of phosphate +of lime than is found in ordinary bones, so that it may resist the +powerful contraction of the muscles. The texture of this bone is so +compact that the substance will strike fire with steel. He has little +sense of taste, his lingual or tongue-nerve not being larger than that +of a middle-sized dog. + +The true Lions belong to the Old World exclusively, and they were +formerly widely and abundantly diffused; but at present they are +confined to Asia and Africa, and they are becoming every day more and +more scarce in those quarters of the globe. That Lions were once found +in Europe there can be no doubt. Thus it is recorded by Herodotus that +the baggage-camels of the army of Xerxes were attacked by Lions in the +country of the Reonians and the Crestonæi on their march from Acanthus +(near the peninsula of Mount Athos) to Therma, afterwards Thessalonica +(now Saloniki); the camels alone, it is stated, were attacked, other +beasts remaining untouched, as well as men. Pausanias copies the above +story, and states, moreover, that Lions often descended into the plains +at the foot of Olympus, which separate Macedonia from Thessaly, and that +Polydamas, a celebrated athlete, slew one of the Lions, although he was +unarmed. + +Nor is Europe the only part of the world from which the form of the Lion +has disappeared. Lions are no longer to be found in Egypt, Palestine, +or Syria, where they once were evidently far from uncommon. The +frequent allusions to the Lion in the Holy Scriptures, and the various +Hebrew terms there used to distinguish the different ages and sex of +the animal, prove a familiarity with the habits of the race. Even in +Asia generally, with the exception of some countries between India and +Persia and some districts of Arabia, these magnificent beasts have, +as Cuvier observes, become comparatively rare, and this is not to be +wondered at. To say nothing of the immense draughts on the race for +the Roman arena,--and they were not inconsiderable, for, as Zimmerman +has shown, there were 1,000 lions killed at Rome in the space of forty +years,--population and civilization have gradually driven them within +narrower limits, and their destruction has been rapidly worked in +modern times, when firearms have been used against them instead of the +bow and the spear. Sylla gave a combat of one hundred Lions at once in +his ædileship; but this exhibition is insignificant when compared with +those of Pompey and Cæsar, the former of whom exhibited a fight of six +hundred, and the latter of four hundred Lions. In Pompey's show three +hundred and fifteen of the six hundred were males. The early Emperors +consumed great numbers, frequently a hundred at a time, to gratify the +people. + +The African Lion is annually retiring before the persecution of man +farther and farther from the Cape. Mr. Bennett says of the Lion:--"His +true country is Africa, in the vast and untrodden wilds of which, from +the immense deserts of the north to the trackless forests of the south, +he reigns supreme and uncontrolled. In the sandy deserts of Arabia, +in some of the wild districts of Persia, and in the vast jungles of +Hindostan, he still maintains a precarious footing; but from the classic +soil of Greece, as well as from the whole of Asia Minor, both of which +were once exposed to his ravages, he has been entirely dislodged and +extirpated." + +Niebuhr places Lions among the animals of Arabia; but their proper +country is Africa, where their size is the largest, their numbers +are greatest, and their rage more tremendous, being inflamed by the +influence of a burning sun upon a most arid soil. Dr. Fryer says that +those of India are feeble and cowardly. In the interior parts, amidst +the scorched and desolate deserts of Zaara or Biledugerid, they reign +the masters; they lord it over every beast, and their courage never +meets with a check where the climate keeps mankind at a distance. The +nearer they approach the habitations of the human race the less their +rage, or rather the greater is their timidity: they have often had +experienced unequal combats, and finding that there exists a being +superior to themselves, commit their ravages with more caution; a cooler +climate, again, has the same effect, but in the burning deserts, where +rivers and springs are denied, they live in a perpetual fever, a sort of +madness fatal to every animal they meet with. + +The watchfulness and tenacity of the Lion for human prey are very +extraordinary. Mr. Barrow relates that a Lion once pursued a Hottentot +from a pool of water, where he was driving his cattle to drink, to an +olive-tree, in which the man remained for twenty-four hours, while the +Lion laid himself at the foot of the tree. The patience of the beast was +at length worn out by his desire to drink, and while he satisfied his +thirst the Hottentot fled to his house, about a mile off. The Lion, +however, returned to the tree, and tracked the man within three hundred +yards of his dwelling. + +Dr. Philip relates a horrible story of a very large Lion recorded at +Cape Town in the year 1705. He was known to have seized a sentry at a +tent, and was pursued and fired at by many persons without effect. Next +morning the Lion walked up a hill _with the man in his mouth_, when +about forty shots were fired at him without hitting him; and it was +perceived by the blood, and a piece of the clothes of the sentry, that +the Lion had taken him away and carried him with him. He was pursued +by a band of Hottentots, one of whom he seized with his claws by the +mantle, when the man stabbed him with an assagai. Other Hottentots +adorned him with their assagais, so that he looked like a porcupine; he +roared and leaped furiously, but was at length shot dead. He had a short +time before carried off a Hottentot and devoured him. + +The Bengal or Asiatic Lion is distinguished from that of Southern Africa +principally by the larger size, the more regular and graceful form, the +generally darker colour, and the less extensive mane than the African. +William Harvey, the graceful artist, drew a portrait of a very fine +Bengal Lion, little more than five years old, and then in the Tower +collection, and called by the keepers "the Old Lion;" the magnificent +development of the mane is very striking in this figure. + +Maneless Lions have been found on the confines of Arabia, and were +known to Aristotle and Pliny; a maneless Lion is also said to be +represented on the monuments of Upper Egypt. The Lion of Arabia has +neither the courage nor the stature, nor even the beauty, of the Lion of +Africa. He uses cunning rather than force; he crouches among the reeds +which border the Tigris and Euphrates, and springs upon all the feeble +animals which come there to quench their thirst; but he dares not attack +the boar, which is very common there, and flies as soon as he perceives +a man, a woman, or even a child. If he catches a sheep he makes off +with his prey; but he abandons it to save himself when an Arab looks +after him. If he is hunted by horsemen, which often happens, he does +not defend himself unless he is wounded, and has no hope of safety by +flight. In such a case he will fly on a man and tear him to pieces with +his claws, for it is courage more than strength that he wants. Achmed, +Pasha of Bagdad from 1724 to 1747, would have been torn by one, after +breaking his lance in a hunt, if his slave Suleiman, who succeeded him +in the Pashalik, had not come promptly to his succour and pierced with a +blow of his yataghan the Lion already wounded by his master. + +In December, 1833, Captain Walter Smee exhibited to the Zoological +Society of London the skins of a Lion and Lioness killed by him in +Guzerat, and distinguished from those previously known by the absence +of a mane; the tail was shorter than that of the ordinary Lion, and +furnished at its tip with a much larger brush or tuft; and in the +tuft of the older Lion was a short horny claw or nail. The colour is +fulvous; which in darker specimens has a tinge of red. A male maneless +Lion, killed by Captain Smee, measured, including the tail, 8 feet +9-1/2 inches in length; the impression of his paw on the sand 6-1/4 +inches across, and his height was 3 feet 6 inches. These maneless Lions +are found in Guzerat, along the banks of the Sombermultee, in low, +bushy-wooded plains, being driven out of the large adjoining tracts of +high grass jungle by the natives annually setting fire to the grass. +Here Captain Smee killed his finest specimens: they were so common in +this district that he killed no fewer than eleven during a residence of +about a month, yet scarcely any of the natives had seen them previously +to his coming amongst them. The cattle were frequently carried off by +these Lions: some natives attributed this to tigers, which, however, +do not exist in this part of the country. Captain Smee could not learn +that men had been attacked by these Lions: when struck by a ball they +exhibited great boldness, standing as if preparing to resist their +pursuers, and then going off slowly, and in a very sullen manner. + +In captivity the Lioness usually turns extremely savage when she becomes +a mother; and, in a state of nature, both parents guard their young +with the greatest jealousy. Early in the year 1823 General Watson, then +on service in Bengal, being out one morning on horseback, armed with +a double-barrelled rifle, was suddenly surprised by a large male Lion, +which bounded out upon him from the thick jungle, at the distance of +only a few yards. He instantly fired, and the shot taking complete +effect, the animal fell almost dead at his feet. No sooner had the Lion +fallen than the Lioness rushed out, which the General also shot at and +wounded severely, so that she retired into the thicket. Thinking that +the den could not be far distant, he traced her to her retreat, and +there despatched her; and in the den were found two beautiful cubs, a +male and a female, apparently not more than three months old. This is a +very touching narrative, even of the Lion family. + +The General brought the cubs away; they were suckled by a goat and +sent to England, where they arrived in September, 1823, as a present +to George IV., and were lodged in the Tower. When young, Lions mew +like a cat; at the age of ten or twelve months the mane begins to +appear in the male; at the age of eighteen months this appendage is +considerably developed, and they begin to roar. The _roar_ of the adult +Lion is terrific, from the larynx or upper part of the wind-pipe being +proportionately greater than in the whale or the elephant, or any other +animal. Mr. Burchell describes the roar on some occasions to resemble +the noise of an earthquake; and this terrific effect is produced by +the Lion laying his head upon the ground and uttering, as it were, a +half-stifled roar or growl, which is conveyed along the earth. + +The natural period of the Lion's life is generally supposed to be twenty +or twenty-two years. Such is Buffon's limitation; but the animal will, +it seems, live much longer. Pompey, the great Lion, which died in 1766, +was said to have been in the Tower above seventy years; and a Lion from +the river Gambia is stated to have since died in the Tower menagerie at +the age of sixty-three. + +There had been for ages a popular belief that the Lion lashes his sides +with his tail to stimulate himself into rage; when, in 1832, there was +exhibited to the Zoological Society a claw obtained from the tip of +the tail of a Barbary Lion, presented to the Society's menagerie by +Sir Thomas Reade. It was detected on the living animal by Mr. Bennett, +and pointed out to the keeper, in whose hands it came off while he +was examining it. Blumenbach quotes Homer, Lucan, and Pliny, among +others who have described the Lion (erroneously) as lashing himself +with his tail, when angry, to provoke his rage. None of these writers, +however, advert to any peculiarity in the Lion's tail to which so +extraordinary a function might, however incorrectly, be attributed. +Didymus Alexandrinus, a commentator on the "Iliad," cited by Blumenbach, +having found a black prickle, like a horn, among the hair of the tail, +immediately conjectured that he had ascertained the true cause of the +stimulus when the animal flourishes his tail in defiance of his enemies, +remarking that, when punctured by this prickle, the Lion became more +irritable from the pain which it occasioned. The subject, however, +appears to have slumbered till 1829, when M. Deshayes announced that +he had found the prickle both of a Lion and Lioness, which had died +in the French menagerie, and described it as a little nail, or horny +production, adhering by its base only to the skin, and not to the last +caudal vertebra. From that period Mr. Wood, the able zoologist, examined +the tail of every Lion, living or dead, to which he could gain access; +but in no instance had he succeeded in finding the prickle till the +above specimen, which was placed in his hands within half an hour after +its removal from the living animal, and while yet soft at its base, +where it had been attached to the skin. Its shape was nearly straight, +then slightly contracted, forming a very obtuse angle, and afterwards +swelling out like the bulb of a bristle, to its termination. It was +laterally flattened throughout its entire length, which did not amount +to quite three-eighths of an inch, of horn colour, and nearly black at +the tip. Its connexion with the skin must have been very slight, which +accounts for its usual absence in stuffed as well as living specimens. +This does not depend upon age, as it was found alike in the Paris Lions, +of considerable size, as well as in the Zoological Society's Lions, +very small and young; nor did it depend upon sex. It appears to be +occasionally present in the Leopard; and, in both Lion and Leopard, it +is seated at the extreme tip of the tail, and is altogether unconnected +with the terminal caudal vertebra; not fitted on like a cap, but rather +inserted into the skin. + +The use of the prickle, however, it still remained difficult to +conjecture; but that its existence was known to the ancients is proved +by the Nimroud sculptures in the British Museum, in an exaggerated +representation of the claw, in support of this curious fact in natural +history. The existence of the claw has been proved by Mr. Bennett; +and "it is no small gratification to be able now to quote in evidence +of the statement of Mr. Bennett, and of his predecessor. Didymus, of +Alexandria, the original and authentic document, on the authority of the +veritable descendants of the renowned hunter Nimroud; which any one may +read who will take the trouble to examine the sculptured slab in the +British Museum."[8] + +In the Nineveh galleries of the British Museum we also see pictured in +stone the employment of the Lion, in the life of Assyria and Babylonia, +three thousand years since; in the events of a succession of dynasties, +recording the sieges of cities, the combats of warriors, the triumphs +of Kings, the processions of victors, the chains and fetters of the +vanquished. To the zoological observer these sculptures present drawings +_ad naturam_ of tableaux of Lions and Lion-hunts; Lions in combat, as +well as in moveable dens and cages, and the ferocity of the chase; and +Lions transfixed with arrows or javelins in the arena. One of the finest +of these sculptures is in the representation of a Lion-hunt, on a long +slab that lined the principal chamber of the most ancient palace at +Nimroud. The King is in his chariot, drawn by three horses, which the +charioteer is urging forward to escape the attack of an infuriated Lion +that has already placed its fore-paws upon the back of the chariot. At +this critical moment, the Royal descendant of the mighty hunter aims a +deadly shaft at the head of the roaring and wounded Lion, the position +of whose tail and limbs is finely indicative of rage and fury. Behind +the Lion are two of the King's attendants, fully armed, and holding +their daggers and shields, ready to defend themselves in case the prey +should escape the arrow of the King. Before the chariot is a wounded +Lion, crawling from under the horses' feet. The cringing agony conveyed +in its entire action is well contrasted with the undaunted fury of the +former. In another slab we have the continuation of the same Lion-hunt, +representing the triumphant return of the King from the chase. At his +feet lies the Lion subdued, but not dead. + +Of the pageantry of the Lion, we read, in Bell's "Travels," that the +monarch of Persia had, on days of audience, two great Lions chained on +each side of the passage to the state-room, led there by keepers in +golden chains. + +Our early English Sovereigns had a menagerie in the Tower from the reign +of Henry III. (1252.) In 1370 (44 Edward III.) are entries of payments +made to "the Keeper of the King's Lions and Leopards" there, at the +rate of 6_d._ a-day for his wages, and 6_d._ a-day for each beast. +The number of beasts varied from four to seven. Two young Lions are +specially mentioned; and "a Lion lately sent by the Lord the Prince, +from Germany to England, to our Lord the King." And we read, in Lord +Burghley's "Diary," 1586, of the grant of the keeping of the Lions in +the Tower, with "the Fine of 12_d._ per diem, and 6_d._ for the Meat of +those Lions." The first menagerie-building was the Lion Tower, to which +was added a semicircular inclosure, where Lions and Bears were baited +with dogs, with which James I. and his court were much delighted. A +Lion was named after the reigning King; and it was popularly believed +that "when the King dies, the Lion of that name dies after him." The +last of the Tower animals were transferred to the Zoological Society's +menagerie, in the Regent's-park, in 1834. The Tower menagerie is well +described in a handsome volume, with woodcut portraits, by William +Harvey. + +The punishment of being _thrown to Lions_ is stated as common among the +Romans of the first century; and numerous tales are extant, in which the +fierce animals became meek and lamb-like before the holy virgins of the +Church. This, indeed, is the origin of the superstition, nowhere more +beautifully expressed than in Lord Byron's "Siege of Corinth":-- + + "'Tis said that a Lion will turn and flee + From a maid in the pride of her purity." + +Every wild beast show almost has its tame Lion, with which the keeper +takes the greatest liberties; liberties which the beast will suffer, +generally speaking, from none but him. Major Smith relates that he +had seen the keeper of a Lioness stand upon the beast, drag her round +the cage by her tail, open her jaws, and thrust his head between her +teeth. Another keeper, at New York, had provided himself with a fur cap, +the novelty of which attracted the notice of the Lion, which, making +a sudden grapple, tore the cap off his head as he passed the cage; +but, perceiving that the keeper was the person whose head he had thus +uncovered, he immediately laid the cap down. Wombwell, in his menagerie, +had a fine Lion, Nero, that allowed _strangers_ to enter his den, and +even put their heads within his jaws. This tameness is not, however, to +be trusted, since the natural ferocity of some Lions is never safely +subdued. Lions which have been sometimes familiar, have, on other +occasions, been known to kill their keepers, and dart at those who have +incautiously approached too near their cage. All these exhibitions have +been entirely eclipsed by the feats of Van Amburgh, in his exercise of +complete control over Lions. The melancholy fate of "the Lion Queen," +however, tells of the fatal result of her confidence. The Lion-killing +feats of Captain Gordon Cumming had a more legitimate object in view--to +render us more familiar with the zoological character of the Lion. + +Colonization has scarcely yet extirpated the Lion in Algeria, where the +French colonists make fine sport of "the King of the Beasts." M. Jules +Gerard, a Nimroud in his way, has been noted for his Lion-killing feats. +We read of his tracking a large old Lion in the Smauls country, one +hundred leagues in ten days, without catching a glimpse of anything but +his foot-prints. At length, accompanied by a native of the country and a +spahi, Gerard took up his quarters at the foot of a tree upon the path +which the old Lion had taken. It was moonlight, and Gerard made out two +Lions sitting about one hundred paces off, and exactly in the shadow of +the tree. The Arab lay snoring ten paces off, in the full light of the +moon, and had, doubtless, attracted the attention of the Lions. Gerard +expressly forbade the spahi to wake the Arab. Our Lion-hunter then got +up the hill to reconnoitre; the boldest of the Lions came up to within +ten paces of Gerard, and fifteen of the Arab: the Lion's eye was fixed +on the latter, and the second Lion placed himself on a level with, and +four or five paces from, the first. They proved to be both full-grown +Lionesses. Gerard took aim at the first as she came rolling and roaring +down to the foot of the tree. The Arab was scarcely awakened, when a +second ball stretched the Lioness dead upon the spot. Gerard then looked +out for the second Lioness, who was standing up within fifteen paces, +looking around her. He fired, and she fell down roaring, and disappeared +in a field of maize; she fell, but was still alive. Next morning at +daybreak, at the spot where the Lioness had fallen, were blood marks, +denoting her track in the direction of a wood. After sending off the +dead Lioness. Gerard returned to his post of the preceding night. A +little after sunset the Lion roared in his lair, and continued roaring +all night. Convinced that the wounded Lioness was there, Gerard sent two +Arabs to explore the cover, but they durst not. He next evening reached +the lair, taking with him a goat, which he left with the Arabs: the +Lioness appeared. Gerard fired, and she fell without a struggle; she was +believed dead, but she got up again as though nothing was the matter, +and showed all her teeth. One of the Arabs, within six paces of her, +seeing her get up, clung to the lower branches of a tree and disappeared +like a squirrel. The Lioness fell dead at the foot of the tree, a second +bullet piercing her heart: the first had passed out of the nape of the +neck without breaking the skull-bone. + +The Lions presented by Lord Prudhoe to the British Museum are the best +sculptured representations of the animal in this country. Although the +Lion is our national hieroglyphic, and there are many statues of him, +yet not one among them all appears without a defect, which makes our +representations of him belong to the class _canis_ instead of _felis_, a +fault not found in any Egyptian sculpture.[9] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] Bonomi; "Nineveh and its Palaces," p. 249. + +[9] Bonomi; "Proc. Royal Soc., Literature." + + + + +BIRD-LIFE. + + "Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they + reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth + them."--Matthew vi. 26. + + "Free tenants of land, air, and ocean, + Their forms all symmetry, their motions grace; + In plumage delicate and beautiful, + Thick without burthen, close as fishes' scales, + Or loose as full-blown poppies on the gales; + With wings that seem as they'd a soul within them, + They bear their owners with such sweet enchantment." + + _James Montgomery._ + + +Birds, as regards structure, are perhaps the most perfectly endowed, +as they are certainly the most beautiful and interesting, of all the +lower animals. In Birds there is an admirable mechanism and adaptation +both for gliding in the air and swimming in the water. They surpass all +other animals in the faculty of continuing their motion without resting, +as well as in its rapidity. The fleetest courser can scarcely ever run +more than a mile in a minute, nor support that speed beyond five or six +such exertions. But the joyous Swallow does this tenfold for pleasure. +In his usual way he flies at the rate of one mile in a minute; and +Wilson, the ornithologist, ascertained that the Swallow is so engaged +for ten hours every day. So can the Blue-bird of America, for a space of +600 miles. Our Carrier-pigeons move with half that celerity: one flew +from Liskeard to London, 220 miles, in six hours. The Golden Eagle is +supposed to dart through the fiercest storm at the rate of 160 miles an +hour; but one of our smallest Birds, the Swift, can even quadruple the +most excited quickness of the race-horse for a distance. Spallanzani +thought that the little Swift travelled at the rate of 250 miles an hour. + +Inquiries into the phenomena of the flight of Birds would lead us +far beyond our limits. The subject is beset with error. Thus, we +read:--"Every one has remarked the manner in which Birds of prey float, +as it were, without any effort, and with steady expanded wings, at great +heights in the atmosphere. This they are enabled to do from the quantity +of air contained in the air-cells of their bodies, which air being taken +in at a low level in the atmosphere, of course rarefies and expands as +the Bird ascends into higher regions. Their rapidity of descent must +be accomplished by the sudden expulsion of this air, aided by their +muscular efforts." + +Now, Dr. Crisp has read to the Zoological Society a paper "On the +Presence or Absence of Air in the Bones of Birds," for the purpose of +showing the prevailing error upon the subject--viz., "that the bones +of the Bird are filled with air." Of fifty-two British Birds recently +dissected by him, only one, the Sparrow-hawk, had the bones generally +perforated for the admission of air. In thirteen others, the humeri only +were hollow, and among these were several Birds of short flight. In the +remaining thirty-eight, neither the _humeri_ nor _femora_ contained +air, although in this list were several Birds of passage and of rapid +flight--Dr. Crisp's conclusion being, that the majority of British Birds +have no air in their bones, and that, with the exception of the Falcons, +but very few British Birds have hollow femora. + +Mr. Gould records a most remarkable instance of rapid and sustained +flight, which he witnessed on his return from North America, whither +he had proceeded for the purpose of studying the habits and manners of +the species of _Trochilus_ (Humming Bird), frequenting that portion +of America. Having remarked that he arrived just prior to the period +of the migration of this Bird from Mexico to the north, and had ample +opportunities for observing it in a state of nature, he noticed that +its actions were very peculiar, and quite different from those of all +other birds: the flight is performed by a motion of the wings so rapid +as to be almost imperceptible; indeed, the muscular power of this little +creature appears to be very great in every respect, as, independently of +its rapid and sustained flight, it grasps the small twigs, flowers, &c., +upon which it alights with the utmost tenacity. It appears to be most +active in the morning and evening, and to pass the middle of the day in +a state of sleepy torpor. Occasionally it occurs in such numbers that +fifty or sixty birds may be seen in a single tree. When captured it so +speedily becomes tame that it will feed from the hand or mouth within +half an hour. Mr. Gould having been successful in keeping a Humming-Bird +alive in a gauze bag attached to his breast button for three days, +during which it readily fed from a bottle filled with a syrup of brown +sugar and water, he determined to make an attempt to bring some living +examples to England, in which he succeeded; but unfortunately they did +not long survive their arrival. + +The adaptation of colour in Birds to their haunts strikingly tends to +their preservation. The small Birds which frequent hedges have backs +of a brownish or brownish-green hue; and their bellies are generally +whitish, or light-coloured, so as to harmonize with the sky. Thus, they +become less visible to the hawk or cat that passes above or below them. +The wayfarer across the fields also treads upon the Skylark before he +sees it warbling to heaven's gate. The Goldfinch or Thistlefinch passes +much of its time among flowers, and is vividly coloured accordingly. +The Partridge can hardly be distinguished from the fallow or stubble +among which it crouches; and it is considered an accomplishment among +sportsmen to have a good eye for finding a Hare sitting. In northern +countries the winter dress of the Hares and Ptarmigans is white, to +prevent detection among the snows of those inclement regions. + +The Song of Birds is popularly explained by the author of a work, +entitled, "The Music of Nature," in which he illustrates the vocal +machinery of Birds as follows:--"It is difficult to account for so small +a creature as a Bird making a tone as loud as some animal a thousand +times its size; but a recent discovery shows that in birds the lungs +have several openings communicating with corresponding air-bags or +cells, which fill the whole cavity of the body from the neck downward, +and into which the air passes and repasses in the progress of breathing. +This is not all. The very bones are hollow, from which air-pipes are +conveyed to the most solid parts of the body, even into the quills and +feathers. The air being rarefied by the heat of their body, adds to +their levity. By forcing the air out of their body, they can dart down +from the greatest heights with astonishing velocity. No doubt the same +machinery forms the basis of their vocal powers, and at once resolves +the mystery into a natural ordering of parts." This is a very pretty +story; but, unfortunately, it is not correct, as already shown. + +A correspondent of the "Athenæum," writing in 1866, says:--"He would be +a bold man who should say that Birds have no delight in their own songs. +I have been led to conclude from experiments which I have made, and from +other observations, that certain animals, especially Birds, have not +only an ear for fine sounds, but also a preference for the things they +see out of respect to fine colours or other pleasing external features. +It is chiefly among Birds, when we consider the case of animals, that +a taste for ornament and for glittering objects, often very startling +and human-like, is to be found. The habits of the Pheasant, Peacock, +Turkey, Bird of Paradise, several Birds of the Pigeon and Crow kind, and +certain Singing Birds, are evidence. The Australian Satin Bower-Bird +is the most remarkable of that class which exhibit taste for beauty or +for glittering objects out of themselves--that is, beauty not directly +personal; collecting, in fact, little museums of shells, gaudy feathers, +shining glass, or bits of coloured cloth or pottery. It will be found +with many Birds that fine plumes, a mirror, and an admirer, are not +altogether objects devoid of interest. + +"Another consideration leading me to the same conclusion, is the fact, +that beauty in animals is placed on prominent parts, or on parts +which by erection or expansion are easily, and at the pairing season, +frequently rendered prominent, such as a crest or tail. A spangle of +ruby or emerald does not exist, for instance, on the side under the +wing, which is seldom raised, of our domestic poultry. Such jewels are +hung where man himself wears his, on the face and forehead, or court +attention, like our own crowns, trains, shoulder-knots, breast-knots, +painted cheeks, or jewelled ears. I cannot account for the existence of +these gaudy ornaments to please man, for nowhere are they more gorgeous +than in Birds which live in the depth of the tropical forest, where man +is rarely a visitor; I cannot account for them on the principle that +they do good to their possessors in the battle for life, because they +rather render them conspicuous to their enemies, or coveted by man." But +the beauty of these beings glows most brightly at the season of their +pairing, and the selection of their mates. + +Baron von Tschudi, the Swiss naturalist, has shown the important +services of Birds in the destruction of insects. Without Birds, no +agriculture or vegetation would be possible. They accomplish in a few +months the profitable work of destruction which millions of human hands +could not do half so well in as many years; and the sage, therefore, +blamed in very severe terms the foolish practice of shooting and +destroying Birds, which prevails more especially in Italy, recommending, +on the contrary, the process of alluring Birds into gardens and +corn-fields. Among the most deserving Birds he counts Swallows, Finches. +Titmice, Redtails, &c. The naturalist then cites numerous instances in +support of his assertion. In a flower-garden of one of his neighbours +three rose-trees had been suddenly covered with about 2,000 tree-lice. +At his recommendation a Marsh-Titmouse was located in the garden, which +in a few hours consumed the whole brood, and left the roses perfectly +clean. A Redtail in a room was observed to catch about 900 flies in an +hour. A couple of Night-Swallows have been known to destroy a whole +swarm of gnats in fifteen minutes. A pair of Golden-crested Wrens +carry insects as food to their nestlings upon an average thirty-six +times in an hour. For the protection of orchards and woods Titmice are +of invaluable service. They consume, in particular, the eggs of the +dangerous pine-spiders. One single female of such spiders frequently +lays from 600 to 800 eggs twice in the summer season, while a Titmouse +with her young ones consume daily several thousands of them. Wrens, +Nuthatches, and Woodpeckers often dexterously fetch from the crevices of +tree-bark numbers of insects for their nestlings. + +Yet, profitless and wanton Bird-murder is common. The cliffs on the +coasts of these islands are the resort of numerous kinds of Sea-Fowl, +and these Fowl, we are told, are slaughtered by thousands, not merely +for the sake of their feathers, but actually for the mere savage +pleasure of killing. What speculation can enter into such a proceeding +it may puzzle the reader to imagine; but it seems that the wing feathers +of the poor White Gull are now inquired for in the plume-trade, and +we are actually told of an order given by a single house for 10,000 +of these unhappy Birds. When these facts were stated at the Meeting +of the British Association, in August, 1868, at Norwich, a lady stood +up boldly in defence of her sex, and declared that they sinned only +through ignorance, and would never willingly wear the feathers of a +Bird destroyed in the act of feeding its young. That part of the case, +therefore, ought to be now in safe hands. In the Isle of Man a law has +been passed, called the "Seagull Preservation Act," protecting these +Birds by heavy penalties, on the ground of their utility in removing +fish offal and guiding fishermen to shoals of fish. At a certain point +of our shores a similar protection has been established. A visitor to +the South Stack Lighthouse, on the coast of Anglesey, may see prodigious +numbers of Sea-Fowl as tame as complete safety can make them. It has +been ascertained that in thick weather, when neither light can be +distinguished nor signal seen, the incessant scream of these Birds gives +the best of all warnings to the mariner of the vicinity of the rock. The +noise they make can be heard at a greater distance than the tolling of +the great bell; and so valuable was this danger-signal considered, that +an order from the Trinity House forbad even the firing of the warning +gun, lest the colony of the Sea-Fowl should be disturbed. The signals of +the bell and the cannon might be neglected or overpowered, but the Birds +were always there and always audible. + +It is inferred that Birds possess some notion of power, and of cause and +effect, from the various actions which they perform. "Thus," relates Dr. +Fleming, "we have seen the Hooded Crow in Zetland, when feeding on small +shell-fish, able to break some of the tenderer kinds by means of its +bill, aided in some cases by beating them against a stone; but, as some +of the larger shells, such as the buckie and the welk, cannot be broken +by such means, the Crow employs another method, by which, in consequence +of applying foreign power, it accomplishes its object. Seizing the +shell with its claws, it mounts up into the air, and then loosing its +hold, causes the shell to fall among stones (in preference to the sand, +the water, or the soil on the ground), that it may be broken, and give +easier access to the contained animal. Should the first attempt fail, +a second or third is tried, with this difference, that the Crow rises +higher in the air, in order to increase the power of the fall, and +more effectually remove the barrier to the contained morsel. On such +occasions we have seen a strong Bird remain an apparently inattentive +spectator of the process of breaking the shell, but coming to the spot +with astonishing keenness when the efforts of its neighbour had been +successful, in order to share the spoil. Pennant mentions similar +operations performed by Crows on mussels." + +The brain of Birds is, in general, large in proportion to the size of +the body, and the instinctive powers are very perfect. A few kinds are +rather dull and stupid; but the Parrot, Magpie, Raven, and many others, +show great vivacity and quickness of intellect. The Raven has a great +deal of humour in him. One, a most amusing and mischievous creature, +would get into a well-stocked flower-garden, go to the beds where the +gardener had sowed a great variety of seeds, with sticks put in the +ground with labels, and then he would amuse himself with pulling up +every stick, and laying them in heaps of ten or twelve on the path. This +used to irritate the old gardener, who drove him away. The Raven knew +that he ought not to do it, or he would not have done it. He would soon +return to his mischief, and when the gardener again chased him (the old +man could not run very fast), the Raven would just keep clear of the +rake or the hoe in his hand, dancing before him, and singing as plainly +as a Raven could. "Tol de rol de rol! tol de rol de rol!" with all kinds +of mimicking gestures. + +The signal of danger among Birds seems to be of universal comprehension; +because the instant it is uttered we hear the whole flock, though +composed of various species, repeat a separate moan, and away they +all scuttle into the bushes for safety. The sentinel Birds give the +signal, but in some cases they are deceived by false appearances. Dr. +Edmonstone, in his "View of the Zetland Isles," relates a very striking +illustration of the neglect of the sentinel, in his remarks on the Shag. +"Great numbers of this species of the Cormorant are sometimes taken +during the night, while asleep on the rocks of easy access; but before +they commit themselves to sleep, one or two of the number are appointed +to watch. Until these sentinels are secured, it is impossible to make a +successful impression on the whole body; to surprise them is, therefore, +the first object. With this view, the leader of the expedition creeps +cautiously and imperceptibly along the rock, until he gets within a +short distance of the watch. He then dips a worsted glove into the sea, +and gently throws water in the face of the guard. The unsuspecting Bird, +either disliking the impression, or fancying, from what he considers to +be a disagreeable state of the weather, that all is quiet and safe, +puts his head under his wing and soon falls asleep. His neck is then +immediately broken, and the party dispatch as many as they choose." + +Addison was a true lover of nature, which he shows in two letters +written by him to the Earl of Warwick (afterwards his son-in-law), +when that nobleman was very young. "My dear Lord," he writes, "I have +employed the whole neighbourhood in looking after Birds'-nests, and +not altogether without success. My man found one last night, but it +proved a hen's, with fifteen eggs in it, covered with an old broody +Duck, which may satisfy your Lordship's curiosity a little; though I +am afraid the eggs will be of little use to us. This morning I have +news brought me of a nest that has abundance of little eggs, streaked +with red and blue veins, that, by the description they give me, must +make a very beautiful figure in a string. My neighbours are very much +divided in their opinions upon them: some say they are a Skylark's; +others will have them to be a Canary-Bird's; but I am much mistaken +in the colour and turn of the eggs if they are not full of Tomtit's." +Again, Addison writes:--"Since I am so near your Lordship, methinks, +after having passed the day amid more severe studies, you may often +take a trip hither and relax yourself with these little curiosities of +nature. I assure you no less a man than Cicero commends the two great +friends of his age, Scipio and Lælius, for entertaining themselves +at their country-house, which stood on the sea-shore, with picking up +cockle-shells, and looking after Birds'-nests." + +In another letter Addison writes:--"The business of this is to invite +you to a concert of music which I have found out in a neighbouring wood. +It begins precisely at six in the evening, and consists of a Blackbird, +a Thrush, a Robin-Redbreast, and a Bullfinch. There is a Lark, that, by +way of overture, sings and mounts till she is almost out of hearing; and +afterwards, falling down leisurely, drops to the ground as soon as she +has ended her song. The whole is concluded by a Nightingale, that has a +much better voice than Mrs. Tofts, and something of the Italian manner +in her divisions. If your Lordship will honour me with your company, I +will promise to entertain you with much better music, and more agreeable +scenes, than you ever met with at the Opera; and will conclude with a +charming description of a Nightingale out of our friend Virgil:-- + + "'So close, in poplar shades, her children gone, + The mother Nightingale laments alone; + Whose nest some prying churl had found, and thence + By stealth convey'd the unfeathered innocence: + But she supplies the night with mournful strains, + And melancholy music fills the plains.'" + + + + +BIRDS' EGGS AND NESTS. + + +The Eggs of Birds are variously tinted and mottled, and hence they +become objects of interest to the collector. In this diversity of +colour nature has, doubtless, some final object in view; and though not +in every instance, yet in many, we can certainly see a design in the +adaptation of the colours to the purpose of concealment, according to +the habits of the various classes of Birds. Thus, as a general rule, the +Eggs of Birds which have their nests in dark holes, or which construct +nests that almost completely exclude the light, are white; as is also +the case with those Birds that constantly sit on their Eggs, or leave +them only for a short time during the night. Eggs of a light blue or +light green tint will also be found in nests that are otherwise well +concealed; while, on the other hand, a great proportion of those nests +that are in exposed situations have Eggs varying in tints and spots in a +remarkable degree, corresponding with the colours of external objects in +their immediate neighbourhood. Thus, a dull green colour is common in +most gallinaceous Birds that form their nests in grass, and in aquatic +Birds among green hedges; a bright green colour is prevalent among Birds +that nestle among trees and bushes; and a brown mottled colour is found +in those Eggs that are deposited among furze, heath, shingle, and grey +rocks and stones. + +Birds'-nesting, we need hardly remark, is a favourite pursuit of +boyhood; but, in some cases, its attractions have induced young +persons to take up more important branches of natural history, or the +collection, systematic arrangement, and comparison of Birds' Eggs, which +is, in scientific study, termed Oology; and as the study of Birds cannot +be considered complete until they are known in every stage, it forms a +branch of Ornithology. In this case Birds'-nesting has an useful object; +but many persons are content to acquire collections of Eggs without +troubling themselves about the Birds which have laid them. + +The late Mr. John Wolley, M.A., was one of the leading authorities +upon the subject of European Ornithology, and was one of a number +of University men, who, about twelve years ago, established the +ornithological journal called "The Ibis," and who visited far-distant +and unexplored regions, where they might hope to discover strange +Birds and unknown Eggs. For several years Algiers and Tunis were their +favourite resorts, and the meeting-places of many of our rarer Birds +were hunted up in these countries, even so far as the Desert of the +Great Sahara. Others preferred the New World as the scene of their +labours, and collected long series of specimens in the highland of +Guatemala, and the tropical forests of Belize. Mr. Wolley, however, +confined his attention principally to the northern parts of Europe--that +region being the breeding-quarters of a large number of Birds which +are only known in this country as winter visitants. In order to be +at his collecting-station at Muonioniska, on the frontier of Finnish +Lapland, at the earliest commencement of the breeding-season, Mr. Wolley +frequently passed the whole winter in that remote region. But the rigour +of the climate under the Arctic Circle contributed to bring on a malady +which terminated fatally in November, 1859. + +Upon the decease of Mr. Wolley, his large collection of Birds' Eggs, +in accordance with his last wishes, became the property of his friend, +Mr. Alfred Newton, who is publishing a Catalogue of Mr. Wolley's Egg +Cabinet, with notes from the deceased naturalist's journals. The first +part contains the Eggs of Birds of Prey (_Accipitres_), recognisable at +once by their strongly-hooked bill, formed to assist them in tearing +their prey, and their large feet and sharpened claws, which aid them to +grasp it. They are divisible into two very distinct groups--the diurnal +Birds of Prey, consisting of the Hawks, Vultures, and Eagles; and the +nocturnal Birds of Prey, or Owls. In the latter the Eggs are invariably +colourless; in the former they are often strongly marked, and present +some of the most beautiful objects in the whole series of Birds' Eggs. + +In the most recently published list of European birds fifty-two species +of birds of prey are given as occurring more or less frequently within +the limits of our continent. Of the three generally-recognised species +of European Vultures two are well represented, as regards their eggs, +in the Wolleyan series. A few years ago the nesting of all these birds +was utterly unknown to naturalists, and it was mainly through the +exertions of Mr. Wolley and his friends that specimens first reached +our collectors' cabinets. Here were found both the Egyptian Vulture +and the Griffon breeding abundantly in the Eastern Atlas in 1857; and +the eyries of these birds have since been visited by other collectors +in the same country. The Eggs of the former of these Vultures are +remarkable for their deep and rich coloration. The productions of the +Griffon are not nearly so handsome, and are occasionally altogether +destitute of markings. Of the Eagles of Europe the series of Eggs is +very full, especially of the two well-known British species--the Golden +Eagle and Sea Eagle. The Golden or Mountain Eagle is even now-a-days +much more common in the remote parts of the British islands than is +usually supposed to be the case. In 1852 Mr. Wolley was acquainted +with five nests of this bird in various parts of Scotland, and there +were undoubtedly at least as many more of which he did not learn the +particulars. The eyrie is usually placed in some mountainous district, +on the ledge of some "warm-looking" rock, well clothed with vegetation, +and often by no means wild or exposed. Not unfrequently, under proper +guidance, one can walk into the nest almost without climbing. Mr. Newton +gives a very entertaining account of the taking of a pair of eggs from +a nest in Argyllshire in 1861, where this seems to have been the case. +In the whole ascent there was only one "ticklish place," where it was +necessary to go sideways on a narrow ledge round some rocks. The Sea +Eagle, on the other hand, generally breeds on the high cliffs upon the +coast, often selecting the most inaccessible position for its eyrie. +Sometimes, however, it will choose an island in the middle of an inland +loch, and in such case places its nest upon the ground or in a tree. + +Mr. Wolley's well-written notes of his adventures in quest of both +these Eagles, as also those relating to the other rapacious birds, will +be read with much interest; as will also the details concerning the +nesting-habits of many of the rarer species of European birds, several +of which, such as the Rough-legged Buzzard and the Lapp Owl, were first +tracked to their breeding-quarters in the remotest wilds of Scandinavia +by this indefatigable naturalist.[10] + +Of large Eggs we are most familiar with those of the Ostrich, of which +Mr. Burchell, when in Africa, found twenty-five Eggs in a hollow +scratched in the sand, six feet in diameter, surrounded by a trench, but +without grass, leaves, or sticks, as in the nests of other birds. In +the trench were nine more Eggs, intended, as the Hottentots observed, +as the first food of the twenty-five young Ostriches. Between sixty and +seventy Eggs have been found in one nest; each is equal to twenty-four +Eggs of the domestic hen, and holds five pints and a quarter of liquid. +The shells are dirty white. The Hottentots string them together as +belts, or garlands, and they are frequently mounted as cups. One Ostrich +Egg is a sufficient meal for three persons. The Egg is cooked over the +fire without either pot or water, the shell answering the purpose of the +first, and the liquid nature of its contents that of the other. + +Less familiar to the reader are the gigantic Eggs of the Epyornis, a +bird which formerly lived in Madagascar. One of these Eggs contains the +substance of 140 hens' Eggs. Mr. Geoffroy St. Hilaire describes some +portions of an Egg of the Epyornis which show the Egg to have been of +such a size as to be capable of containing about ten English quarts; +that in the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes can only contain 8-3/4 +quarts. Mr. Strickland, in some notices of the Dodo and its kindred, +published in 1849, says that in the previous year a Mr. Dumarele, a +French merchant at Bourbon, saw at Port Leven, Madagascar, an enormous +Egg which held "_thirteen wine quart bottles of fluid_." The natives +stated that the Egg was found in the jungle, and "that such Eggs were +_very, very rarely_ met with." + +A word or two about the nests of such gigantic birds. Captain Cook +found, on an island near the north-east coast of New Holland, a nest +"of a most enormous size. It was built with sticks upon the ground, and +was no less than six-and-twenty feet in circumference, and two feet +eight inches high." (Kerr's "Collection of Voyages and Travels," xiii., +318.) Captain Flinders found two similar nests on the south coast of New +Holland, in King George's Bay. In his "Voyage," &c., London, 1818, he +says, "They were built upon the ground, from which they rose above two +feet, and were of vast circumference and great interior capacity; the +branches of trees and other matter of which each nest was composed being +enough to fill a cart." + +Among the varieties of Birds'-nests are some very curious homes, of +which we have but space to notice a few. The pendulous nest of the +Indian Baya-bird is usually formed of the fibres of the palmyra, the +cocoa-nut palm, and wild date of India, sometimes mixed with grass, +neatly interlaced, and very strongly made. It consists of only one +circular chamber, with a long tubular passage leading to it, and is +suspended from a tree, preferred if overhanging water. The natives of +India say the Baya lights up its nest with fire-flies. The bird lays +from four to six white eggs. Bayas are of a very social disposition: +numbers build on the same tree, or neighbouring trees, and singing in +concert during the breeding season. The Baya is very docile, and taught +to fly off the finger and return again; to dart after a ring or small +coin, dropped into a deep well, and catch it before it reaches the +water; to fetch and carry, and perform similar tricks. + +The nest of the brilliant Golden-banded Oriole is a hammock of twisted +fibrous substances, and is suspended in a low shrub, so as to swing to +the breeze. The twine-like fibres of which it is woven are the filaments +of the gigantic palm. The threads break away from the leaf, and hang +like fringe to the magnificent foliage. + +The Tailor-birds are the best nest-builders of all the feathered tribes. +They interweave their nests between the twigs and branches of shrubs, +or suspend the nests from them; and some of these birds have exercised +arts from the creation which man has found of the greatest benefit to +him since he discovered them. These birds, indeed, may be called the +inventors of the several arts of the weaver, the sempstress, and the +tailor; whence some of them have been denominated Weaver and Tailor +Birds. The nests of the latter are, however, most remarkable. India +produces several species of Tailor-birds that sew together leaves for +the protection of their eggs and nestlings from the voracity of serpents +and apes. They generally select the end of a branch or twig, and sew +with cotton, thread, and fibres. Colonel Sykes has seen some in which +the thread was literally knotted at the end. The inside of these nests +is lined usually with down and cotton. + +Tailor-birds are not confined to India or tropical countries. Italy can +boast a species which exercises the same art. Mr. Gould has a specimen +of this bird in his possession, and the Zoological Society have a nest +in their Museum. This little bird, a species of the genus _sylvia_, in +summer and autumn frequents marshes; but in the spring it seeks the +meadows and corn-fields, in which, at that season, the marshes being +bare of the sedges which cover them in summer, it is compelled to +construct its nest in tussocks of grass on the brinks of ditches; but +the leaves of these being weak, easily split, so that it is difficult +for our little sempstresses to unite them, and so form the skeleton +of the fabric. From this and other circumstances, the spring nests of +these birds differ so widely from those made in the autumn that it seems +next to impossible that both should be the work of the same artisan. +The latter are constructed in a thick bunch of sedge or reed: they are +shaped like a pear, being dilated below and narrow above, so as to leave +an aperture sufficient for the ingress and egress of the bird. The +greatest horizontal diameter of the nest is about two inches and a half, +and the vertical is five inches. + +The most wonderful thing in the construction of these nests is the +method to which the little bird has recourse to keep united the living +leaves of which it is composed. The sole in the weaving, more or less +delicate, of the materials, forms the principle adopted by other birds +to bind together the walls of their nests; but this sylvia is no weaver, +for the leaves of the sedges or reeds are united by real stitches. +In the edge of each leaf she makes, probably with her beak, minute +apertures, through which she contrives to pass, perhaps by means of +the same organ, one or more cords formed of spiders' web, particularly +that of their egg-pouches. Those threads are not very long, and are +sufficient to pass two or three times from one leaf to another. They +are of unequal thickness, and have knots here and there, which, in some +places, divide into two or three branches. + +This is the manner in which the exterior of the nest is formed: the +interior consists mainly of down, chiefly from plants, a little +spiders' web being intermixed, which helps to keep the other substances +together. The upper part and sides of the nest, that is, the external +and internal, are in immediate contact; but in the lower part a greater +space intervenes, filled with the slender foliage of grasses, and other +materials, which render soft and warm the bed on which the eggs are to +repose. This little bird feeds on insects. Its flight is rectilinear, +but consists of many curves, with the concavity upwards. These curves +equal in number the strokes of the wing, and at every stroke its whistle +is heard, the intervals of which correspond with the rapidity of its +flight. + +The Australian Bower-bird, as its name implies, builds its nest +like an arbour or bower, with twigs: in the British Museum are two +specimens, each decorated--one with bones and fresh-water shells, and +the other with feathers and land-shells; remarkable instances of taste +for ornament already referred to in a preceding page. The Satin or +Bower-bird is described by settlers in Australia as "a very troublesome +rascal," which besets gardens; if once allowed to make a lodgment there +it is very troublesome to get rid of him; he signalizes his arrival by +pulling up, in his restless fussy way, everything in the garden that he +can tug out of the ground, even to the little sticks to mark the site of +seeds. A settler had formed a garden in the bush; there was no enclosure +of the kind for miles in any direction: a flock of Bower-birds came; he +got his gun and shot two or three; the flock went off, and he never saw +another bird of the kind. + +The Cape Swallows build nests which show extraordinary instinct allied +to reason. A pair of these built their nest on the outside of a house +at Cape Town against the angle formed by the wall and the board which +supported the eaves. The whole of this nest was covered in, and it was +furnished with a long neck or passage, through which the birds passed in +and out. It resembled a longitudinal section of a Florence oil flask. +This nest having crumbled away after the young birds had quitted it, the +same pair, or another of the same species, built on the old foundation +again. But this time an improvement was observable in the plan of it +that can hardly be referred to the dictates of mere instinct. The body +of the nest was of the same shape as before, but instead of a single +passage it was furnished with one at each side, running along the angle +of the roof; and on watching the birds, they were seen invariably to go +in at one passage and come out at the other. Besides saving themselves +the trouble of turning in the nest and disturbing, perhaps, its interior +arrangement, they were guarded by this contrivance against a surprise by +serpents, which frequently creep up along the wall, or descend from the +thatch, and devour both the mother and her brood. + +Dr. Livingstone relates a very curious instance of "Bird Confinement" +under very strange circumstances. In passing through Mopane country, in +South Africa, his men caught a great number of the birds called _Korwé_ +in their breeding-places, which were holes in the mopane trees. They +passed the nest of a Korwé just ready for the female to enter; the +orifice was plastered on both sides, but a space was left of a heart +shape, and exactly the size of the bird's body. The hole in the tree +was in every case found to be prolonged some distance upwards above the +opening, and thither the Korwé always fled to escape being caught. In +another nest that was found, one white egg, much like that of a pigeon, +was laid, and the bird dropped another when captured: she had four +besides in the ovarium. Dr. Livingstone first saw this bird at Kolenbeng +in the forest: he saw a slit only, about half an inch wide and three or +four inches long, in a slight hollow of a tree; a native broke the clay +which surrounded the slit, put his arm into the hole, and brought out a +red-beaked Hornbill, which he killed. He told Dr. Livingstone that when +the female enters her nest she submits to a real confinement. The male +plasters up the entrance, leaving only a narrow slit by which to feed +his mate, and which exactly suits the form of his beak. The female makes +a nest of her own feathers, lays her eggs, hatches them, and remains +with the young till they are fully fledged. During all this time, which +is stated to be two or three months, the male continues to feed her +and the young family. The prisoner generally becomes quite fat, and is +esteemed a very dainty morsel by the natives; while the poor slave of a +husband gets so lean that, on the sudden lowering of the temperature, +which sometimes happens after a fall of rain, he is benumbed, falls +down, and dies. + +Dr. Livingstone, on passing the same tree at Kolenbeng about eight days +afterwards, found the hole plastered up again, as if, in the short time +that had elapsed, the disconsolate bird-husband had procured another +wife. Dr. L. saw a nest with the plastering not quite finished, and +others completed; he also received elsewhere, besides Kolobeng, the same +account that the bird comes forth when the young are fully-fledged, at +the period when the corn is ripe; indeed, her appearance abroad with +her young is one of the signs they have for knowing when it ought to be +so: the time is between two and three months. She is said sometimes to +hatch two eggs, and, when the young of these are full-fledged, the other +two are just out of the egg-shells: she then leaves the nest with the +two elder, the orifice is again plastered up, and both male and female +attend to the wants of the young. + +There is a specimen of a nest in the Gardens of the Zoological Society, +which merits description, besides that of the Bower-bird. Such is the +nest of the Brush Turkey, which appears more like a small haystack than +an ordinary nest, and the methodical manner in which it is constructed +is thus described:--Tracing a circle of considerable radius, the birds +begin to travel round it, continually grasping with their huge feet the +leaves and grasses and dead twigs which are lying about, and flinging +them inwards towards the centre. Each time that they complete their +round, they narrow their circle, so that in a short time they clear away +a circular belt, having in its centre a low irregular mass. By repeating +the same process, however, they decrease the diameter of the mound as +they increase its height, and at last a large and rudely conical mound +is formed. + +In this nest as many as a bushel of eggs are deposited, at regular +intervals, long end downwards. The leaves form a fermenting mass, which +relieves the mother of the necessity of setting upon them. The male, +however, has to regulate the temperature of the mass, which would +otherwise get too hot. This he does by making a central ventilating +shaft, which carries off the superfluous heat; and, lest the temperature +should fall too low, he is constantly engaged in covering and uncovering +the eggs in order to hit the exact temperature to be applied until the +egg is warmed into life. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[10] Abridged from the "Saturday Review." + + + + +THE EPICURE'S ORTOLAN. + + +We have allotted this bird to the epicure, because it is rarely heard +of but in association with his luxurious table. Mr. Beckford describes +the Ortolans among the delicacies which he saw in the kitchen of the +monastery of Batalha as "lumps of celestial fatness." + +Ortolan is the French and English names for a species of _Fringillidæ_ +(Finches). It is the _Hortulanus_ of Gesner and other naturalists; +_Miliaria pinguescens_ of Frisch; _Emberiza Hortulana_ of Linnæus; +_Ortolano_ of the Italians generally; _Tordino Berluccio_ of the +Venetians; _Garton Ammer_ and _Fetammer_ of the Germans; and _Gerste +Keneu_ of the Netherlanders. This wide dispersion on the Continent +bespeaks the pet character of the bird. Montagu terms it the +Green-headed Bunting. + +The French have a fanciful derivation of the name: they say it is from +the Italian word for gardener, which is from the Latin _hortus_, garden; +because, according to Menage, in Italy, where the bird is common, it is +quite at home in the hedges of gardens. + +The male bird has the throat, circle round the eyes, and a narrow band +springing from the angle of the bill, yellow; head and neck grey, with a +tinge of olive, and small brown spots; feathers black, edged with red; +breast, belly, and abdomen, reddish grey, the feathers terminated with +ash-colour; tail blackish, two external feathers, in part white; length +rather more than six inches. There are, also, varieties marked white, +green, blackish, and entirely black. The nest, which is constructed +of fibres of plants and leaves, is frequently found on the ground in +corn-fields, and sometimes in hedges and bushes. + +The Ortolan is not famed for its song, which is, however, soft +and sweet. Like the Nightingale, to which it has other points of +resemblance, the Ortolan sings after, as well as before sunset. It was +this bird that Varro, the lyric poet, called his companion by night and +day. + +The south of Europe may be considered the summer and autumnal +head-quarters of the Ortolan, though it is a summer visitor in the +central and northern parts. In Italy it is said to be common by Temminck +and others. The Prince of Musignano states it to be found in the Sabine +mountains; adding that it rarely flies in the plains of Rome, but is +frequent in Tuscany. Lapland, Russia, Denmark. Sweden, and Norway, +are among the countries visited by it. In the British Isles it seems +only entitled to rank as an autumnal visitor, but it may occur more +frequently than is generally supposed; for, especially to an unpractised +eye, it might be mistaken for the Yellow Hammer, and in some states of +plumage for other Buntings. It has been taken in the neighbourhood of +London. In 1837 there was a live specimen in an aviary of the Zoological +Society in Regent's-park; and many Ortolans are sent alive to the London +market from Prussia. There is, however, some consolation for the rarity +of the Ortolan in England. It is approached in delicacy by our Wheatear, +which is termed the _English Ortolan_. Hence it has been pursued as a +delicate morsel throughout all its island haunts. Bewick captured it at +sea, off the coast of Yorkshire, in May, 1822. Every spring and autumn +it may be observed at Gibraltar, on its migration. Mr. Strickland saw it +at Smyrna in April. North Africa is its winter residence. Colonel Sykes +notes it in his catalogue of the birds of the Deccan. + +Ortolans are solitary birds; they fly in pairs, rarely three together, +and never in flocks. They are taken in traps from March or April to +September, when they are often poor and thin; but if fed with plenty +of millet-seed and other grain, they become sheer lumps of fat, and +delicious morsels. They are fattened thus in large establishments in the +south of Europe; Mr. Gould states this to be effected in Italy, and the +south of France, in dark rooms; and the Prince of Musignano, having +described the process, adds the relishing words. "Carne exquisita." + +The fattening process in Italy is one of great refinement in the manner +of feeding. It is the fat of the Ortolan which is so delicious; but it +has a peculiar habit of feeding which is opposed to the rapid fattening, +this is, it feeds only at the rising of the sun. Yet this peculiarity +has not proved an insurmountable obstacle to the Italian gourmands. +The Ortolans are placed in a dark chamber, perfectly dark, with only +one aperture in the wall. The food is scattered over the floor of the +chamber. At a certain hour in the morning the keeper of the birds places +a lantern in the orifice of the wall; when the dim light thrown from the +lantern on the floor of the apartment induces the Ortolans to believe +that the sun is about to rise, and they greedily consume the food upon +the floor. More food is now scattered over it, and the lantern is +withdrawn. + +The Ortolans, rather surprised at the shortness of the day, think it +their duty to fall asleep, as night has spread her sable mantle round +them. During sleep, little of the food being expended in the production +of force, most of it goes to the formation of muscle and fat. After they +have been allowed to repose for one or two hours, in order to complete +the digestion of the food taken, their keeper again exhibits the lantern +through the aperture. The "rising sun" a second time illumines the +apartment, and the birds, awaking from their slumber, apply themselves +voraciously to the food on the floor; after having discussed which, +they are again enveloped in darkness. Thus the sun is made to shed its +rising rays into the chamber floor four or five times every day, and +as many nights following. The Ortolans thus treated become like little +balls of fat in a few days. This not uninteresting process has been +detailed by Dr. Lyon Playfair to the Royal Agricultural Society. It +may, probably, be applied to purposes with less luxurious objects than +fattening Ortolans. + +Notwithstanding its delicacy, the Ortolan fattens very fast; and it is +this lump of fatness that is its merit, and has sometimes caused it +to be preferred to the Becafico. According to Buffon, the Greeks and +Romans understood fattening the Ortolan upon millet. But a lively French +commentator doubts this statement: he maintains that had the ancients +known the Ortolan, they would have deified it, and built altars to +it upon Mount Hymettus and the Saniculum; adding, did they not deify +the horse of Caligula, which was certainly not worth an Ortolan? and +Caligula himself, who was not worth so much as his horse? However, this +dispute belongs to the "classics of the table." + +The Ortolan is considered sufficiently fat when it is a handful, and +is judged by feeling it, and not by appearance. It should not be +killed with violence, like other birds; this might crush and bruise +the delicate flesh, and spoil the _coup-d'oeil_, to avoid which it is +recommended to plunge the head of the Ortolan into a glass of brandy. +The culinary instruction is as follows: having picked the bird of its +feathers, singe it with the flame of paper or spirits of wine; cut off +the beak and ends of the feet; do not draw it; put it into a paper case +soaked in olive oil, and broil it over a slow fire of slack cinders, +like that required for a pigeon _à la crapaudine_; in a few minutes the +Ortolan will swim in its own fat, and will be cooked. Some gourmands +wrap each bird in a vine-leaf. + +A gourmand will take an Ortolan by the legs and craunch it in delicious +mouthfuls, so as absolutely to lose none of it. More delicate feeders +cut the bird into quarters, and lay aside the gizzard; the rest may be +eaten, even to the bones, which are sufficiently tender for the most +delicate mouth to masticate without inconvenience. + +On the Continent, Ortolans are packed in tin boxes for exportation. +They may be bought in London for half-a-crown a-piece. A few poulterers +import Ortolans in considerable numbers, and some have acquired the art +of fattening these birds.[11] Alexis Soyer put into the hundred guinea +dish which he prepared for the royal table at the grand banquet at York, +in 1850, five pounds worth of Ortolans, which were obtained from Belgium. + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[11] The Ortolan figures in a curious anecdote of individual epicurism +in the last century. A gentleman of Gloucestershire had one son, whom he +sent abroad to make the grand tour of the Continent, where he paid more +attention to the cookery of nations, and luxurious living, than anything +else. Before his return his father died and left him a large fortune. +He now looked over his note-book to discover where the most exquisite +dishes were to be had, and the best cooks obtained. Every servant in his +house was a cook; his butler, footman, coachman, and grooms--all were +cooks. He had also three Italian cooks--one from Florence, another from +Vienna, and another from Viterbo--for dressing one Florentine dish. He +had a messenger constantly on the road between Brittany and London to +bring the eggs of a certain kind of plover found in the former country. +This prodigal was known to eat a single dinner at the expense of 70_l._, +though there were but two dishes. In nine years he found himself +getting poor, and this made him melancholy. When totally ruined, having +spent 150,000_l._, a friend one day gave him a guinea to keep him from +starving, and he was found in a garret next day _broiling an Ortolan_, +for which he had paid a portion of the alms. + + + + +TALK ABOUT TOUCANS. + + +The Toucans, a family of climbing-birds of tropical America, appear to +have been known in Europe by the length and great size of their bills, +long before the birds themselves found their way to England. Belon, +in 1555, described the bill of one of the family as half a foot long, +large as a child's arm, pointed, and black at the tip, white elsewhere, +notched on the edges, hollow within, and so finely delicate as to be +transparent and thin as parchment; and its beauty caused it to be kept +in the cabinets of the curious. For more than a century after Belon's +work, the birds themselves had not been seen in England; for, in the +_Museum Tradescantianum_, the standard collection of the time, and +which, from the list of contributors, appears to have been the great +receptacle for all curiosities, we read of an "Azacari (or Toucan) of +Brazil; has his beak four inches long, almost two thick, like a Turk's +sword" (A.D. 1656). From this description Tradescant knew the nature of +the bird, if he had not seen it. + +Mr. Swainson states, that the enormous bills give to these birds a most +singular and uncouth appearance. Their feet are formed like those of +the parrot, more for grasping than climbing; and as they live among +trees, and proceed by hopping from branch to branch, their grasping +feature is particularly adapted for such habits. They live retired in +the deep forests, mostly in small companies. Their flight is strait and +laborious, but not graceful; while their movements, as they glide rather +than hop from branch to branch, are elegant. + +Mr. Gould, in his grand Monograph of the Toucans, or _Ramphastidæ_, +remarks, that it was only within a few years of the time of Linnæus that +actual specimens of the Toucan had been received in Europe. The beaks, +however, of these birds, regarded as curiosities, had occasionally found +their way to our shores, and had occasioned some curious conjectures. +The earliest shape resembled a Turkish scimitar. + +The Toucans (a word derived from their Brazilian name, _Taca, Tucà_) +received from Linnæus the title of _Ramphastos_, in allusion to +the great volume of the beak ([Greek: ramphos]--Ramphos), a family +(_Ramphastidæ_). In some respects, indeed, they resemble the Hornbills +in the development of the beak. The Toucans may be said to represent +in America the Hornbills in India and Africa. Large as is the beak of +the Toucan compared with the size of the body, it is in reality very +light. Its outer sheathing is somewhat elastic, very thin, smooth, and +semi-transparent; and the interior consists of a maze of delicate cells, +throughout which the olfactory nerves are multitudinously distributed. +The nostrils are basal, the edges of each mandible are serrated, and +the colouring of the whole beak is bright, rich, and often relieved by +contrasted markings. But these tints begin to fade after death, and +become ultimately dissipated. The eyes are surrounded by a considerable +space of naked skin, often very richly tinted. The tongue is very long, +slender, horizontally flattened, pointed, and, except at its base, +horny; it is fringed or feathered along each side. The wings are short, +concave, and comparatively feeble. + +The tail is variable, equal and squared; it is remarkable for the +facility with which it can be retroverted or turned up, so as to lie +upon the back. This peculiarity results from a modification of structure +in the caudal vertebræ, which enables the tail to turn with a jerk by +the action of certain muscles, as if it were fixed on a hinge put into +action by means of a spring. When the retroversion is accomplished, the +muscles which caused it become passive, and offer no resistance to their +antagonists, which restore the tail to its ordinary direction. When they +sleep they puff out their plumage, they retrovert the tail over the +back, draw the head between the shoulders; the bill begins to turn over +the right shoulder, and becomes at last buried in the plumage of the +back; at the same time the pinions of the wings droop, and conceal the +feet. The bird now resembles an oval ball of puffed-up feathers, and is +well protected against the cold. + +Toucans utter, from time to time, harsh, clattering, and discordant +cries. "Some," says Mr. Gould, "frequent the humid woods of the +temperate regions, while others resort to comparatively colder +districts, and dwell at an elevation of from six to ten thousand +feet. Those inhabiting the lofty regions are generically different +from those residing in the low lands, and are clothed in a more thick +and sombre-coloured plumage. All the members of the Hill-Toucans are +distinguished by their bills being strong, heavy, and hard, when +compared with those of the true Toucans and Araçaris, all of which +have their bills of a more delicate structure, and in several species +so thin and elastic on the sides as to be compressible between the +fingers." Their food in a state of nature consists of fruit, eggs, and +nestling birds; to which, in domestication, are added small birds, mice, +caterpillars, and raw flesh. They incubate in the hollows of gigantic +trees. + +Faber was told by Fryer, Alaysa, and other Spaniards who had lived +long in America, and also by the Indians, that the Toucan even hews +out holes in trees, in which to nidify; and Oviedo adds, that it is +from this habit of chipping the trees that the bird is called by the +Spaniards _Carpintero_, and by the Brazilians _Tacataca_, in imitation, +apparently, of the sound it thus makes. + +The larger feed upon bananas and other succulent plants; the smaller +upon the smaller fruits and berries. Prince Maximilian de Wied states, +that in Brazil he found only the remains of fruits in their stomachs, +and adds, that they make sad havoc among plantations of fruit-trees. He +was informed, however, that they steal and eat birds, but never himself +saw them in the act. They abound in the vast forests, and are killed +in great number in the cooler season in the year for the purposes of +the table. In their manners the Toucans resemble the Crow tribe, and +especially the Magpies: like them, they are very troublesome to the +birds of prey, particularly to the Owls, which they surround, making a +great noise, all the while jerking their tails upwards and downwards. +Their feathers, especially from their yellow breasts, are used by the +Indians for personal decoration. + +Azara states that they attack even the solid nests of the white ants, +when the clay of which their nests are formed becomes moistened with the +rain; they break them up with their beaks, so as to obtain the young +ants and their eggs; and during the breeding season the Toucan feeds +upon nothing else; during the rest of the year he subsists upon fruit, +insects, and the buds of trees. + +Edwards, in his voyage up the Amazon, observes, that when a party of +Toucans alight on a tree, one usually acts the part of a sentinel, +uttering the loud cry of "Tucano," whence they derive their name; the +others disperse over the branches in search of fruit. While feeding +they keep up a hoarse chattering, and at intervals unite with the noisy +sentry, and scream a concert that may be heard a mile. Having appeased +their appetites, they seek the depths of a forest, and there quietly +doze away the noon. In early morning a few of them may be seen sitting +quietly upon the branches of some dead tree, apparently awaiting the +coming sunlight before starting for their feeding-trees. + +Some species of Toucans have been seen quarrelling with monkeys over a +nest of eggs. Their carnivorous propensity has been strikingly shown +in the specimens which have been kept in England. On the approach of +any small bird the Toucan becomes highly excited, raises itself up, +erects its feathers, and utters a hollow clattering sound, the irides +of the eyes expand, and the Toucan is ready to dart on its prey. A +Toucan, exhibited in St. Martin's-lane in 1824, seized and devoured a +canary-bird. Next day Mr. Broderip tried him with a live goldfinch. The +Toucan seized it with the beak, and the poor little victim uttered a +short weak cry, for within a second it was dead, killed by the powerful +compression of the mandibles. The Toucan now placed the dead bird firmly +between its foot and the perch, stripped off the feathers with its bill, +and then broke the bones of the wings and legs, by strongly wrenching +them, the bird being still secured by the Toucan's foot. He then +continued to work with great dexterity till he had reduced the goldfinch +to a shapeless mass. This he devoured piece by piece with great gusto, +not even leaving the legs or the beak of his prey: to each morsel he +applied his tongue as he masticated it, chattering and shivering with +delight. He never used his foot, but his bill, for conveying his food to +his mouth by the sides of the bill. + +Mr. Swainson remarks:--"The apparent disproportion of the bill is one of +the innumerable instances of that beautiful adaptation of structure to +use which the book of nature everywhere reveals. The food of these birds +consists principally of the eggs and young of others, to discover which +nature has given them the most exquisite powers of smell." Again, the +nests in which the Toucan finds its food are often very deep and dark, +and its bill, covered with branches of nerves, enables the bird to feel +its way as accurately as the finest and most delicate finger could. From +its feeding on eggs found in other birds' nests, it has been called the +Egg-sucker. Probably there is no bird which secures her young offspring +better from the monkeys, which are very noisome to the young of most +birds. For when she perceives the approach of these enemies she so +settles herself in her nest as to put her bill out at the hole, and give +the monkeys such a welcome therewith that they presently break away, and +are glad to escape. + +Professor Owen, in his minute examination of the mandibles, remarks +that the principle of the cylinder is introduced into the elaborate +structure; the smallest of the supporting pillars of the mandibles are +seen to be hollow or tubular when examined with the microscope. + +Light and almost diaphonous as is the bill of the Toucan, its strength +and the power of the muscles, which act upon the mandibles, are evident +in the wrenching and masticatory processes. When taking fruit, the +Toucan generally holds it for a short time at the extremity of his bill, +applying to it, with apparent delight, the pointed tip of the slender +tongue: the bird then throws it, with a sudden upward jerk, to the +throat, where it is caught and instantly swallowed. + +Mr. Gould divides the Toucans into six genera. 1. The true Toucans, with +large and gaily-coloured bills, plumage black. 2. The Araçaris, with +smaller beaks, plumage green, yellow, and red. 3. The Banded Aracauris, +an Amazonian genus, proposed by Prince C. L. Bonaparte. 4. Toucanets, +small, with crescent of yellow on the back, and brilliant orange and +yellow ear-coverts. 5. Hill Toucans of the Andes. 6. Groove-bills, +grass-green plumage. + +A very fine true Toucan, figured by Mr. Gould, is remarkable for the +splendour and size of the bill, of a fine orange-red, with a large black +patch on each side. Powder-flasks are made of large and finely-coloured +bills. The naked skin round the eye is bright orange. The chest is +white, with a tinge of sulphur below, and a slight scarlet margin. +Upper tail-coverts, white; under tail-coverts, scarlet; the rest of the +plumage, black. Several specimens of this beautiful bird lived both in +the menagerie of the late Earl of Derby, at Knowsley, and in the gardens +of the Zoological Society. It is a native of Cayenne, Paraguay, &c. + +Toucans in their manners are gentle and confident, exhibiting no alarm +at strangers, and are as playful as magpies or jackdaws; travellers +assure us that they may be taught tricks and feats like parrots; and +although they cannot imitate the human voice, they show considerable +intelligence. One of the Toucanets is named from Mr. Gould, the plates +in whose _monograph_, from their size, beauty, and accuracy, have all +the air of portraits. + + + + +ECCENTRICITIES OF PENGUINS. + + +This group of amphibious birds, though powerless in the wing as an organ +of flight, are assisted by it as a species of fin in their rapid divings +and evolutions under water, and even as a kind of anterior of extremity +when progressing on the land. Their lot has been wisely cast on those +desolate southern islands and shores where man rarely intrudes, and +in many instances where a churlish climate or a barren soil offers no +temptations to him to invade their territory. + +Le Vaillant, when on Dassen Island, found that the smaller crevices +of the rocks served as places of retreat for Penguins, which swarmed +there. "This bird," says Le Vaillant, which is about two feet in length, +"does not carry its body in the same manner as others: it stands +perpendicularly on its two feet, which gives it an air of gravity, so +much the more ridiculous as its wings, which have no feathers, hang +carelessly down on each side; it never uses them but in swimming. As we +advanced towards the middle of the island we met innumerable troops +of them. Standing firm and erect on their legs, these animals never +deranged themselves in the least to let us pass; they more particularly +surrounded the mausoleum, and seemed as if determined to prevent us from +approaching it. All the environs were entirely beset with them. Nature +had done more for the plain tomb of the poor Danish captain than what +proceeds from the imaginations of poets or the chisels of our artists. +The hideous owl, however well sculptured in our churches, has not half +so dead and melancholy an air as the Penguin. The mournful cries of this +animal, mixed with those of the sea-calf, impressed on my mind a kind of +gloom which much disposed me to tender sensations of sadness. My eyes +were sometime fixed on the last abode of the unfortunate traveller, and +I gave his manes the tribute of a sigh." + +Sir John Narborough says of the Patagonian Penguins that their erect +attitude and bluish-black backs, contrasted with their white bellies, +might cause them to be taken at a distance for young children with white +pinafores on. A line of them is engraved in Webster's "Voyage of the +Chanticleer," and reminds us of one of the woodcuts in Hood's "Comic +Annual." + +The "towns, camps, and rookeries," as they have been called, of Penguins +have been often described. At the Falkland Islands are assemblies of +Penguins, which give a dreary desolation to the place, in the utter +absence of the human race. In some of the towns voyagers describe a +general stillness, and when the intruders walked among the feathered +population to provide themselves with eggs, they were regarded with +side-long glances, but they seemed to carry no terror with them. In many +places the shores are covered with these birds, and three hundred have +been taken within an hour; for they generally make no effort to escape, +but stand quietly by whilst their companions are knocked down with +sticks, till it comes to their turn. + +The rookeries are described as designed with the utmost order and +regularity, though they are the resort of several different species. +A regular camp, often covering three or four acres, is laid out +and levelled, and the ground disposed in squares for the nests, as +accurately as if a surveyor had been employed. Their marchings and +countermarchings are said to remind the observer of the manoeuvres of +soldiers on parade. In the midst of this apparent order there appears +to be not very good government, for the stronger species steal the +eggs of the weaker if they are left unguarded; and the King Penguin +is the greatest thief of all. Three species are found in the Falkland +Islands. Two, the _Kings_ and the _Macaroni_, deposit their eggs in +these rookeries. The _Jackass_, which is the third, obtained its English +name from its brayings at night. It makes its nests in burrows on downs +and sandy plains; and Forster describes the ground as everywhere so +much bored, that a person, in walking, often sinks up to the knees; and +if the Penguin chance to be in her hole, she revenges herself on the +passenger by fastening on his legs, which she bites very hard. + +But these rookeries are insignificant when compared with a settlement of +King Penguins, which Mr. G. Bennett saw at the north end of Macquarrie +Island, in the South Pacific Ocean--a colony of these birds, which +covered some thirty or forty acres. Here, during the whole of the day +and night, 30,000 or 40,000 Penguins are continually landing, and an +equal number going to sea. They are ranged, when on shore, in as regular +ranks as a regiment of soldiers, and are classed, the young birds in one +situation, the moulting birds in another, the sitting hens in a third, +the clean birds in a fourth, &c.; and so strictly do birds in a similar +condition congregate, that, should a moulting bird intrude itself among +those which are clean, it is immediately ejected from them. The females, +if approached during incubation, move away, carrying their eggs with +them. At this time the male bird goes to sea, and collects food for the +female, which becomes very fat. + +Captain Fitzroy describes, at Noir Island, multitudes of Penguins +swarming among the bushes and tussac-grass near the shore, for moulting +and rearing their young. They were very valiant in self-defence, and +ran open-mouthed by dozens at any one who invaded their territory. The +manner of feeding their young is amusing. The old bird gets on a little +eminence and makes a loud noise, between quacking and braying, holding +its head up as if haranguing the Penguinnery, the young one standing +close to it, but a little lower. The old bird then puts down its head, +and opens its mouth widely, into which the young one thrusts its head, +and then appears to suck from the throat of its mother; after which the +clatter is repeated, and the young one is again fed: this continues for +about ten minutes. + +Mr. Darwin, having placed himself between a Penguin, on the Falkland +Islands, and the water, was much amused by watching its habits. "It +was a brown bird," says Mr. Darwin, "and, till reaching the sea, it +regularly fought and drove me backwards. Nothing less than heavy blows +would have stopped him: every inch gained, he firmly kept standing close +before me, erect and determined. When thus opposed, he continually +rolled his head from side to side in a very odd manner. While at sea, +and undisturbed, this bird's note is very deep and solemn, and is often +heard in the night time. In diving, its little plumeless wings are used +as fins, but on the land as front legs. When crawling (it may be said +on four legs) through the tussacks, or on the side of a grassy cliff, +it moved so very quickly that it might readily have been mistaken +for a quadruped. When at sea, and fishing, it comes to the surface +for the purpose of breathing with such a spring, and dives again so +instantaneously, that I defy any one, at first sight, to be sure that it +is not a fish leaping for sport." + +Bougainville endeavoured to bring home a Penguin alive. It became so +tame that it followed the person who fed it; it ate bread, flesh, or +fish; but it fell away and died. The four-footed Duck of Gesner might +have owed its origin to an ill-preserved Penguin. The notion of its +being four-footed might have been fortified by some voyager who had seen +the bird making progress as Mr. Darwin has above described. + +Mr. Webster describes the feathers of Penguins as very different from +those of other birds, being short, very rigid, and the roots deeply +embedded in fat. They are, in general, flat, and bent backwards, those +on the breast being of a satin or silky white, and those on the flippers +so short and small as to approach the nature of scales, overlaying each +other very closely. The skins are loaded with fat. Their feet are not +regularly webbed, but present a broad, fleshy surface, more adapted for +walking than swimming. Mr. Webster saw great numbers of Penguins on +Staten Island. They are the only genus of the feathered race that are +there, and live in the water, like seals. He saw them at the distance of +200 miles from the land, swimming with the rapidity of the dolphin, the +swiftest of fishes. When they come up to the surface for fresh breath, +they make a croaking noise, dip their beaks frequently in the water, and +play and dive about near the surface, like the bonita. Penguins have +great powers of abstinence, and are able to live four or five months +without food. Stones have been occasionally found in their stomachs, +but they generally live on shrimps and crustacea, gorging themselves +sometimes to excess. The sensations of these curious birds do not seem +to be very acute. Sparrman stumbled over a sleeping one, and kicked it +some yards, without disturbing its rest; and Forster left a number of +Penguins apparently lifeless, while he went in pursuit of others, but +they afterwards got up and marched off with their usual gravity. + +The bird is named from the Welsh word, _Pengwyn_. White head (_pen_, +head; _gwyn_, white), and is thought to have been given to the +bird by some Welsh sailors, on seeing its white breast. Davis, who +discovered, in 1585, the straits which are named after him, was of +Welsh parents. Might he not have given the name _Pengwyn_ to the bird? +Swainson considers the Penguins, on the whole, as the most singular +of all aquatic birds; and he states that they clearly point out that +nature is about to pass from the birds to the fishes. Others consider +Penguins more satisfactorily to represent some of the aquatic reptiles, +especially the marine _testudinata_. + + + + +PELICANS AND CORMORANTS. + + +Pelicans are described as a large, voracious, and wandering tribe of +birds, living for the most part on the ocean, and seldom approaching +land but at the season of incubation. They fly with ease, and even with +swiftness. Their bill is long, and armed at the end with an abrupt +hook; the width of the gape is excessive; the face is generally bare +of feathers, and the skin of the throat sometimes so extensible as to +hang down like a bag; it will occasionally contain ten quarts. "By this +curious organization," observes Swainson, "the Pelicans are able to +swallow fish of a very large size; and the whole family may be termed +_oceanic vultures_." + +The neighbourhood of rivers, lakes, and the sea-coast, is the haunt of +the Pelican, and they are rarely seen more than twenty leagues from +the land. Le Vaillant, upon visiting Dassen Island, at the entrance +of Saldanha Bay, beheld, as he says, after wading through the surf, +and clambering up the rocks, such a spectacle as never, perhaps, +appeared to the eye of mortal. "All of a sudden there arose from the +whole surface of the island an impenetrable cloud, which formed, at the +distance of forty feet above our heads, an immense canopy, or, rather, a +sky, composed of birds of every species and of all colours--cormorants, +sea-gulls, sand-swallows, and, I believe, the whole winged tribe of this +part of Africa, were here assembled." The same traveller found on the +Klein-Brak river, whilst waiting for the ebb-tide, thousands of Pelicans +and Flamingoes, the deep rose-colour of the one strongly contrasting +with the white of the other. + +Mr. Gould says the bird is remarkable for longevity and the long period +requisite for the completion of its plumage. The first year's dress is +wholly brown, then fine white. The rosy tints are only acquired as the +bird advances in age, and five years are required before the Pelican +becomes fully mature. The expanse of wings is from twelve to thirteen +feet. Although the bird perches on trees, it prefers rocky shores. It is +found in the Oriental countries of Europe; and is common on the rivers +and lakes of Hungary and Russia, and on the Danube. That the species +exists in Asia there is no doubt. Belon, who refers to Leviticus xi. +18, where the bird is noted as unclean, says that it is frequent on +the lakes of Egypt and Judæa. "When he was passing the plain of Roma, +which is only half a day's journey from Jerusalem, he saw them flying +in pairs, like swans, as well as in a large flock. Hasselquist saw the +Pelican at Damietta, in Egypt. "In flying, they form an acute angle, +like the common wild geese when they migrate. They appear in some of the +Egyptian drawings."--(_Rossellini._) + +Von Siebold saw the Pelican in Japan. "Pelicans," says Dr. Richardson, +"are numerous in the interior of the fur countries, but they seldom +come within two hundred miles of Hudson's Bay. They deposit their eggs +usually on small rocky islands, on the brink of cascades, where they can +scarcely be approached; but they are otherwise by no means shy birds. +They haunt eddies under waterfalls, and devour great quantities of carp +and other fish. When gorged with food they doze on the water, and may be +easily captured, as they have great difficulty in taking wing at such +times, particularly if their pouches be loaded with fish." + +The bird builds on rocky and desert shores: hence we read of "the +Pelican of the wilderness," alluded to in these beautiful lines:-- + + "Like the Pelicans + On that lone island where they built their nests, + Nourish'd their young, and then lay down to die." + +The bird lives on fish, which it darts upon from a considerable height. +James Montgomery thus describes this mode of taking their prey:-- + + "Eager for food, their searching eyes they fix'd + On Ocean's unroll'd volume, from a height + That brought immensity within their scope; + Yet with such power of vision look'd they down, + As though they watch'd the shell-fish slowly gliding + O'er sunken rocks, or climbing trees of coral, + On indefatigable wing upheld, + Breath, pulse, existence, seem'd suspended in them; + They were as pictures painted on the sky; + Till suddenly, aslant, away they shot, + Like meteors chang'd from stars in gleams of lightning. + And struck upon the deep; where, in wild play, + Their quarry flounder'd, unsuspecting harm. + With terrible voracity they plunged + Their heads among the affrighted shoals, and beat + A tempest on the surges with their wings, + Till flashing clouds of foam and spray conceal'd them. + Nimbly they seized and secreted their prey, + Alive and wriggling, in th' elastic net + Which Nature hung beneath their grasping beaks; + Till, swoll'n with captures, th' unwieldy burthen + Clogg'd their slow flight, as heavily to land + These mighty hunters of the deep return'd. + There on the cragged cliffs they perched at ease, + Gorging their hapless victims one by one; + Then, full and weary, side by side they slept, + Till evening roused them to the chase again." + + _Pelican Island._ + +Great numbers of Pelicans are killed for their pouches, which are +converted by the native Americans into purses, &c. When carefully +prepared, the membrane is as soft as silk, and sometimes embroidered by +Spanish ladies for work-bags, &c. It is used in Egypt by the sailors, +whilst attached to the two under chaps, for holding or baling water. + +With the Pelican has been associated an old popular error, which has not +long disappeared from books of information: it is that of the Pelican +feeding her young with her blood. In reference to the actual economy +of the Pelican, we find that, in feeding the nestlings--and the male +is said to supply the wants of the female, when sitting, in the same +manner--the under mandible is pressed against the neck and breast, to +assist the bird in disgorging the contents of the capacious pouch; and +during this action the red nail of the upper mandible would appear to +come in contact with the breast, thus laying the foundation, in all +probability, for the fable that the Pelican nourishes her young with her +blood, and for the attitude in which the imagination of painters has +placed the bird in books of emblems, &c., with the blood spirting from +the wounds made by the terminating nail of the upper mandible into the +gaping mouths of her offspring. + +Sir Thomas Browne, in his "Vulgar Errors," says:--"In every place we +meet with the picture of the Pelican opening her breast with her bill, +and feeding her young ones with the blood distilling from her. Thus it +is set forth, not only in common signs, but in the crest and scutcheon +of many noble families; hath been asserted by many holy writers, and +was an hieroglyphic of piety and pity among the Egyptians; on which +consideration they spared them at their tables." + +Sir Thomas refers this popular error to an exaggerated description of +the Pelican's fondness for her young, and is inclined to accept it as an +emblem "in coat-armour," though with great doubt. + +In "A Choice of Emblems and other Devices," by Geoffrey Whitney, are +these lines:-- + + "The Pelican, for to revive her younge, + Doth pierce her breste, and geve them of her blood. + Then searche your breste, and as you have with tonge, + With penne procede to do your countrie good: + Your zeal is great, your learning is profounde; + Then help our wantes with that you do abound." + +In George Wither's "Emblems," 1634, we find:-- + + "Our Pelican, by bleeding thus, + Fulfill'd the law, and cured us." + +Shakspeare, in "Hamlet," thus alludes to the popular notion:-- + + "To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms; + And like the kind, life-rendering Pelican, + Repast them with my blood." + +In a holier light, this symbol signifies the Saviour giving Himself up +for the redemption of mankind. In Lord Lindsay's "Christian Art," vols. +i., xx., xxi., we find in the text, "God the Son (is symbolized) by a +Pelican--'I am like a Pelican of the wilderness.' (Psalm cii. 6.)" To +which is added the following note:--"The mediæval interpretation of this +symbol is given by Sir David Lindsay, of the Mount, Lion King, nephew of +the poet, in his MS. 'Collectanea,' preserved in the Advocates' Library. +Edinburgh." + +Sir Thomas Browne hints at the probability of the Pelican occasionally +nibbling or biting itself on the itching part of its breast, upon +fulness or acrimony of blood, so as to tinge the feathers in that part. +Such an instance is recorded by Mr. G. Bennett of a Pelican living at +Dulwich, which wounded itself just above the breast; but no such act has +been observed among the Pelicans kept in the menagerie of the Zoological +Society or elsewhere; and the instance just recorded was probably caused +by local irritation. + +Of the same genus as the _Pelican_ is the _Cormorant_, an inhabitant +of Europe generally and of America. It swims very deep in the water; +even in the sea very little more than the neck and head are visible +above the surface. It is a most expert diver, pursuing the fish which +forms its food with great activity under water; it is said to be very +fond of eels. It perches on trees, where it occasionally builds its +nests, but it mostly selects rocky shores and islands. Upon the Fern +Islands its nest is composed of a mass of sea-weed, frequently heaped +up to the height of two feet. The species is easily domesticated; and +its docility is shown by the use often made of Cormorants in fishing. +Willughby, quoting Faber, says:--"They are wont in England to train up +Cormorants to fishing. When they carry them out of the room where they +are kept they take off their hoods, and having tied a leather thong +round the lower part of their necks, that they may not swallow down the +fish they catch, they throw them into the river. They presently dive +under water, and there for a long time, with wonderful swiftness, pursue +the fish, and when they have caught them they arise presently to the +top of the water, and pressing the fish tightly with the bills, they +swallow them, till each bird hath after this manner devoured five or six +fishes. Then their keepers call them to the fish, to which they readily +fly, and little by little, one after another, vomit up all the fish, a +little bruised with the nip they gave them with their bills." When they +have done fishing they loosen the string from the birds' necks, and for +their reward they throw them part of the prey they have caught, to each, +perchance, one or two fishes, which they catch most dexterously in their +mouths as they are falling in the air. Pennant quotes Whitelock, who +said that he had a cast of them, manned like hawks, and which would come +to hand. He took much pleasure in them, and relates that the best he +had was one presented him by Mr. Wood, master of the corvorants (as the +older name was) to Charles I. Pennant adds, it is well known that the +Chinese make great use of a congenerous sort in fishing, and that not +for amusement but profit. + +Sir George Staunton, in his account of his Embassy to China, describes +the place where the _Leu-tze_, or famed fishing-bird of China, is bred +and instructed in the art and practice of supplying his owner with fish +in great abundance. The bird, a Cormorant, is figured in Sir George's +work, with two Chinese fishermen carrying their light boat, around the +gunnel of which their Cormorants are perched by a pole resting on their +shoulders between them. On a large lake are thousands of small boats +and rafts built entirely for this species of fishery. On each boat or +raft are ten or a dozen birds, which, on a signal from the owner, plunge +into the water; and it is astonishing to see the enormous size of fish +with which they return grasped between their bills. They appeared to be +so well trained that it did not require either ring or cord about their +throats to prevent them from swallowing any portion of their prey except +what the master was pleased to return to them for encouragement and +food. The boat used by these fishermen is remarkably light, and is often +carried to the lake, together with the fishing-birds, by the men who are +there to be supported by it. + +Belon gives an amusing account of the chase of this bird during calms, +especially in the neighbourhood of Venice: the hunt is carried on in +very light boats, each of which being rowed by five or six men, darts +along the sea like the bolt from an arbalest, till the poor Cormorant, +who is shot at with bows as soon as he puts his head above water, and +cannot take flight after diving to suffocation, is taken quite tired out +by his pursuers. + +Cormorant fishing has occasionally been reintroduced upon our rivers. +In 1848 there were brought from Holland four tame Cormorants, which had +been trained to the Chinese mode of fishing. Upon one occasion they +fished three miles on a river, and caught a pannier-full of trout and +eels. A ring placed round their necks to prevent them from swallowing +large fish, but which leaves them at liberty to gulp down anything not +exceeding the size of a gudgeon. The birds on these occasions are put +into such parts of the river as are known to be favourite haunts of +fish; and their activity under water in pursuit of fish can be compared +to nothing so appropriate as a swallow darting after a fly. + +Blumenbach tells us the Cormorant occasionally increases in a few years +to many thousands on coasts where it was previously unknown. It varies +much both in size and colour. The late Joshua Brookes, the surgeon, +possessed a Cormorant, which he presented to the Zoological Society. + +The Cormorant has a small sabre-shaped bone at the back of its vertex; +which bone may serve as a lever in throwing back the head, when the +animal tosses the fishes into the air and catches them in its open +mouth. The same motion is, however, performed by some piscivorous birds, +which are not provided with this particular bone. + +Aubrey, in his "Natural History of Wilts," quotes the following weather +presage from May's "Virgil's Georgics":-- + + "The seas are ill to sailors evermore + When Cormorants fly crying to the shore." + + + + +TALKING BIRDS, ETC. + + +Certain birds are known to utter strange sounds, the origin of which +has much puzzled the ornithologists. The Brown Owl which hoots, is +hence called the Screech Owl: a musical friend of Gilbert White tried +all the Owls that were his near neighbours with a pitch-pipe set at a +concert pitch, and found they all hooted in B flat; and he subsequently +found that neither Owls nor Cuckoos keep to one note. The Whidah Bird, +one of the most costly of cage-birds, rattles its tail-feathers with a +noise somewhat resembling that made by the rattle-snake. The Chinese +Starling, in China called _Longuoy_, in captivity is very teachable, +imitating words, and even whistling tunes: we all remember Sterne's +Starling. The Piping Crow, to be seen in troops in the Blue Mountains, +is named from its ready mimicry of other birds: its imitation of the +chucking and cackling of a hen and the crowing of a cock, as well as +its whistling of tunes, are described as very perfect: its native note +is said to be a loud whistle. The Blue Jay turns his imitative faculty +to treacherous account: he so closely imitates the St. Domingo Falcon +as to deceive even those acquainted with both birds; and the Falcon no +sooner appears in their neighbourhood than the jays swarm around him and +insult him with their imitative cries; for which they frequently fall +victims to his appetite. The Bullfinch, according to Blumenbach, learns +to whistle tunes, to sing in parts, and even to pronounce words. The +note of the Crowned Crane has been compared by Buffon to the hoarseness +of a trumpet; it also clucks like a hen. Mr. Wallace, in his "Travels on +the Amazon," saw a bird about the size and colour of the Raven, which +uttered a loud, hoarse cry, like some deep musical instrument, whence +its Indian name, _Ueramioube_, Trumpet Bird: it inhabits the flooded +islands of the Rio Negro and the Solimoes, never appearing on the +mainland.[12] The only sound produced by Storks is by snapping their +bills. The Night Heron is called the Qua Bird; from its note _Qua_. + +The Bittern, the English provincial names of which are the Mire-drum, +Bull of the Bog, &c., is so called for the bellowing or drumming noise +or booming for which the bird is so famous. This deep note of the +"hollow-sounding Bittern" is exerted on the ground at the breeding +season, about February or March. As the day declines he leaves his +haunt, and, rising spirally, soars to a great height in the twilight. +Willughby says that it performs this last-mentioned feat in the autumn, +"making a singular kind of noise, nothing like to lowing." Bewick +says that it soars as above described when it changes its haunts. +Ordinarily it flies heavily, like the Heron, uttering from time to time +a resounding cry, not bellowing; and then Willughby, who well describes +the bellowing noise of the breeding season, supposes it to be the Night +Raven, at whose "deadly voice" the superstitious wayfarer of the night +turned pale and trembled. "This, without doubt," writes Willughby, "is +that bird our common people call the Night Raven, and have such a dread +of, imagining its cry portends no less than their death or the death of +some of their near relations; for it flies in the night, answers their +description of being like a flagging collar, and hath such a kind of +hooping cry as they talk of." Others, with some reason, consider the +Qua Bird already mentioned (which utters a loud and most disagreeable +noise when on the wing, conveying the idea of the agonies of a person +attempting to vomit) to be the true Night Raven. The Bittern was well +known to the ancients, and Aristotle mentions the fable of its origin +from staves metamorphosed into birds. The long claw of the hind toe is +much prized as a toothpick, and in the olden times it was thought to +have the property of preserving the teeth. + +The Greater-billed Butcher Bird, from New Holland, has extraordinary +powers of voice: it is trained for catching small birds, and it is said +to imitate the notes of some other birds by way of decoying them to +their destruction. + +The mere imitative sounds of Parrots are of little interest compared +with the instances of instinct, apparently allied to reason, which are +related of individuals. Of this tribe the distinguishing characteristics +are a hooked bill, the upper mandible of which is moveable as well as +the lower, and not in one piece with the skull, as in most other birds, +but joined to the head by a strong membrane, with which the bird lifts +it or lets it fall at pleasure. The bill is also round on the outside +and hollow within, and has, in some degree, the capacity of a mouth, +allowing the tongue, which is thick and fleshy, to play freely; while +the sound, striking against the circular border of the lower mandible, +reflects it like a palate: hence the animal does not utter a whistling +sound, but a full articulation. The tongue, which modulates all sounds, +is proportionally larger than in man. + +The Wild Swan has a very loud call, and utters a melancholy cry when one +of the flock is killed; hence it was said by the poets to sing its own +dying dirge. Such was the popular belief in olden times; and, looking to +the anatomical characteristics of the species, it was, in some degree, +supported by the more inflated wind-pipe of the wild when compared +with that of the tame species. The _Song of the Swan_ is, however, +irreconcileable with sober belief, the only noise of the Wild Swan of +our times being unmelodious, and an unpleasing monotony. + +The Laughing Goose is named from its note having some resemblance to the +laugh of man; and not, as Wilson supposes, from the grinning appearance +of its mandibles. The Indians imitate its cry by moving the hand quickly +against the lips, whilst they repeat the syllable _wah_. + +The Cuckoo may be said to have done much for musical science, because +from that bird has been derived the _minor scale_, the origin of which +has puzzled so many; the Cuckoo's couplet being the _minor third_ sung +downwards. + +The Germans are the finest appreciators of the Nightingale; and it is a +fact, that when the Prussian authorities, under pecuniary pressure, were +about to cut down certain trees near Cologne, which were frequented by +Nightingales, the alarmed citizens purchased the trees in order to save +the birds and keep their music. Yet one would think the music hardly +worth having, if it really sounded as it looks upon paper, transcribed +thus by Bechstein, from whom it is quoted by Broderip:-- + + Zozozozozozozozozozozozo zirrhading + Hezezezezezezezezezezezezezezeze cowar ho dze hoi + Higaigaigaigaigaigaigaigaigaigai, guaiagai coricor dzio dzio pi.[13] + +M. Wichterich, of Bonn, remarks:--"It is a vulgar error to suppose that +the song of the Nightingale is melancholy, and that it only sings by +night. There are two varieties of the Nightingale; one which sings both +in the night and the day, and one which sings in the day only." + +In the year 1858, Mr. Leigh Sotheby, in a letter to Dr. Gray, of the +British Museum, described a marvellous little specimen of the feathered +tribe--a Talking Canary. Its parents had previously and successfully +reared many young ones, but three years before they hatched only _one_ +out of four eggs, the which they immediately neglected, by commencing +the rebuilding of a nest on the top of it. Upon this discovery, the +unfledged and forsaken bird, all but dead, was taken away and placed in +flannel by the fire, when, after much attention, it was restored, and +then brought up by hand. Thus treated, and away from all other birds, it +became familiarised only with those who fed it; consequently, its first +singing notes were of a character totally different to those usual with +the Canary. + +Constantly being talked to, the bird, when about three months old, +astonished its mistress by repeating the endearing terms used in talking +to it, such as "Kissie, kissie," with its significant sounds. This +went on, and from time to time the little bird repeated other words; +and then, for hours together, except during the moulting season, it +astonished by _ringing the changes_, according to its own fancy, and as +plainly as any human voice could articulate them, on the several words, +"Dear sweet Titchie" (its name), "kiss Minnie," "Kiss me, then, dear +Minnie." "Sweet pretty little Titchie," "Kissie, kissie, kissie." "Dear +Titchie," "Titchie wee, gee, gee, gee, Titchie. Titchie." + +The usual singing-notes of the bird were more of the character of the +Nightingale, mingled occasionally with the sound of the dog-whistle used +about the house. It is hardly necessary to add, that the bird was by +nature remarkably tame. + +In 1839, a Canary-bird, capable of distinct articulation, was exhibited +in Regent-street. The following were some of its sentences:--"Sweet +pretty dear," "Sweet pretty dear Dicky," "Mary," "Sweet pretty little +Dicky dear;" and often in the course of the day, "Sweet pretty Queen." +The bird also imitated the jarring of a wire, the ringing of a bell; it +was three years old, and was reared by a lady who never allowed it to +be in the company of other birds. This Canary died in October, 1839; it +was, it is believed, the only other talking instance publicly known. + +We read of some experiments made in the rearing of birds at Kendal +by a bird-fancier, the result of which was, that upwards of 20 +birds--Canaries. Greenfinches, Linnets, Chaffinches, Titlarks, +and Whitethroats--were reared in one cage by a pair of Canaries. +The experiments were continued until the extraordinary number of +thirty-eight birds had been brought up within two months by the +Canaries. It may be worth while to enumerate them. + +In the month of June the Canaries--the male green, and the female +piebald--were caged for the purpose of breeding. The female laid five +eggs, and while she was sitting a Greenfinch egg was introduced into +the nest. All of these were hatched, and the day after incubation was +completed five Grey Linnets, also newly hatched, were put into the cage, +in their own nest. Next day a newly-hatched nest of four Chaffinches was +also introduced; and afterwards five different nests, consisting of six +Titlarks, six Whitethroats, three Skylarks, three Winchars, and three +Blackcaps. While rearing the last of these nests, the female Canary +again laid and hatched four eggs, thus making thirty-eight young birds +brought up by the pair of Canaries. It will be noticed that most of +these birds are soft-billed, whose natural food is small insects; but +they took quite kindly to the seeds upon which they were fed by their +step-parents. The pair of Canaries fed at one time twenty-one young +birds, and never had less than sixteen making demands upon their care; +and while the female was hatching her second nest she continued to feed +the birds that occupied the other nest. + +Of the origin of the _neighing sound_ which accompanies the single +Snipe's play-flight during pairing-time, opinions are various. Bechstein +thought it was produced by means of the beak; Naumann and others, again, +that it originated in powerful strokes of the wing. Pratt, in Hanover, +observing that the bird makes heard its well-known song or cry, which he +expresses with the words, "gick jack, gick jack!" at the same time with +the _neighing sound_, it seemed to be settled that the latter is not +produced through the throat. In the meantime, M. Meves, of Stockholm, +remarked with surprise, that the humming sound could never be observed +whilst the bird was flying upwards, at which time the tail is closed; +but only when it was casting itself downwards in a slanting direction, +with the tail strongly spread out. + +M. Meves has written for the Zoological Society a paper upon the origin +of this sound, which all the field-naturalists and sportsmen of England +and other countries had, for the previous century, been trying to make +out, but had failed to discover. Of this paper the following is an +abstract:-- + + The peculiar form of the tail-feathers in some foreign + species nearly allied to our Snipe encouraged the notion that the + tail conduced to the production of the sound. M. Meves found the + tail-feathers of our common Snipe, in the first feather especially, + very peculiarly constructed; the shaft uncommonly stiff and + sabre-shaped; the rays of the web strongly bound together and very + long, the longest reaching nearly three-fourths of the whole length + of the web, these rays lying along or spanning from end to end of + the curve of the shaft, _like the strings of a musical instrument_. + If you blow from the outer side upon the broad web, it comes into + vibration, and a sound is heard, which, though fainter, resembles + very closely the well-known _neighing_. + + But to convince yourself fully that it is the first feather + which produces the peculiar sound, it is only necessary carefully + to pluck out such an one, to fasten its shaft with fine thread to + a piece of steel wire a tenth of an inch in diameter, and a foot + long, and then to fix this at the end of a four-foot stick. If + now you draw the feather, with this outer side forward, sharply + through the air, at the same time making some short movements or + shakings of the arm, so as to represent the shivering motion of the + wings during flight, you produce the neighing sound with the most + astonishing exactness. + + If you wish to hear the humming of both feathers at once, as + must be the case from the flying bird, this also can be managed by + a simple contrivance. Take a small stick, and fasten at the side of + the smaller end a piece of burnt steel wire in the form of a fork; + bind to each point a side tail-feather; bend the wire so that the + feathers receive the same direction which they do in the spreading + of the tail as the bird sinks itself in flight; and then, with this + apparatus, draw the feathers through the air as before. Such a + sound, but in another tone, is produced when we experiment with the + tail-feathers of other kinds of Snipe. + + Since in both sexes these feathers have the same form, it is + clear that both can produce the same humming noise; but as the + feathers of the hen are generally less than those of the cock-bird, + the noise made by them is not so deep as in the other case. + + Besides the significance which these tail-feathers have as a + kind of musical instrument, their form may give a weighty character + in the determination of a species standing very near one another, + which have been looked upon as varieties. + +This interesting discovery was first announced by M. Meves in an account +of the birds observed by himself during a visit to the Island of +Gottland, in the summer of the year 1856, which narrative was published +at Stockholm in the following winter. In the succeeding summer, M. Meves +showed his experiments to Mr. Wolley, whose services to Ornithology +we have already noticed. The mysterious noise of the wilderness was +reproduced in a little room in the middle of Stockholm: first, the deep +bleat, now shown to proceed from the male Snipe, and then the fainter +bleat of the female, both most strikingly true to nature, neither +producible with any other feathers than the outer ones of the tail. + +Mr. Wolley inquired of Mr. Meves how, issuing forth from the town on +a summer ramble, he came to discover what had puzzled the wits and +strained the eyes of so many observers. He freely explained how, in a +number of "Naumannia," an accidental misprint of the word representing +tail-feathers instead of wing-feathers,--a mistake which another author +ridiculed--first led him to think on the subject. He subsequently +examined in the Museum at Stockholm the tail-feathers of various species +of Snipe, remarked their structure, and reasoned upon it. Then he +blew upon them, and fixed them on levers that he might wave them with +greater force through the air; and at the same time he made more careful +observation than he had hitherto done in the living birds. In short, +in him the obscure hint was thrown upon fruitful ground, whilst in a +hundred other minds it had failed to come to light. + +Dr. Walsh saw at Constantinople a Woodpecker, about the size of a +Thrush, which was very active in devouring flies, and tapped woodwork +with his bill with a noise _as loud as that of a hammer_, to disturb the +insects concealed therein, so as to seize upon them when they appeared. + +Among remarkable bird services should not be forgotten those of the +Trochilos to the Crocodile. "When the Crocodile," says Herodotus, "feeds +in the Nile, the inside of his mouth is always covered with _bdella_ +(a term which the translators have rendered by that of _leech_). All +birds, _except one_, fly from the Crocodile; but this one bird, the +_Trochilos_, on the contrary, flies towards him with the greatest +eagerness, and renders him a very great service; for every time that the +Crocodile comes to the land to sleep, and when he lies stretched out +with his jaws open, the Trochilos enters and establishes himself in his +mouth, and frees him from the bdella which he finds there. The Crocodile +is grateful, and never does any harm to the little bird who performs for +him this office." + +This passage was long looked upon as a pleasant story, and nothing more; +until M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, during his long residence in Egypt, +ascertained the story of Herodotus to be correct in substance, but +inexact in details. It is perfectly true that a little bird does exist, +which flies incessantly from place to place, searching everywhere, even +in the Crocodile's mouth, for the insects which form the principal +part of its nourishment. This bird is seen everywhere on the banks of +the Nile, and M. Geoffroy has proved it to be of a species already +described by Hasselquist, and very like the small winged Plover. If +the Trochilos be in reality the little Plover, the bdella cannot be +leeches, (which do not exist in the running waters of the Nile) but the +small insects known as _gnats_ in Europe. Myriads of these insects dance +upon the Nile: they attack the Crocodile upon the inner surface of his +palate, and sting the orifice of the glands, which are numerous in the +Crocodile's mouth. Then the little Plover, who follows him everywhere, +delivers him from these troublesome enemies; and that without any danger +to himself, for the Crocodile is always careful, when he is going to +shut his mouth, to make some motion which warns the little bird to fly +away. At St. Domingo there is a Crocodile which very nearly resembles +that of Egypt. This Crocodile is attacked by gnats, from which he would +have no means of delivering himself (his tongue, like that of the +Crocodile, being fixed) if a bird of a particular species did not give +him the same assistance that the Crocodile of the Nile receives from +the little Plover. These facts explain the passage in Herodotus, and +demonstrate that the animal, there called bdella, is not a leech, but a +flying insect similar to our gnat. + +Exemplifications of instinct, intelligence, and reason in Birds are by +no means rare, but this distinction must be made: instinctive actions +are dependent on the nerves, intelligence on the brain; but that which +constitutes peculiar qualities of the mind in man has no material +organ. The Rev. Mr. Statham has referred to the theory of the facial +angle as indicative of the amount of sagacity observable in the animal +race, but has expressed his opinion that the theory is utterly at +fault in the case of Birds; many of these having a very acute facial +angle being considerably more intelligent than others having scarcely +any facial angle at all. Size also seems to present another anomaly +between the two races of Beasts and Birds; for while the Elephant and +the Horse are among the most distinguished of quadrupeds for sagacity +and instinct, the larger Birds seem scarcely comparable to the smaller +ones in the possession of these attributes. The writer instances this +by comparing the Ostrich and the Goose with the Wren, the Robin, the +Canary, the Pigeon, and the Crow; and amusingly alludes to the holding +of parliaments or convocations of birds of the last species, while the +Ostrich is characterised in Scripture as the type of folly. + +The author then refers to the poisoning of two young Blackbirds by the +parent birds, when they found that they could neither liberate them +nor permanently share their captivity. The two fledglings had been +taken from a Blackbirds' nest in Surrey-square, and had been placed in +a room looking over a garden, in a wicker cage. For some time the old +birds attended to their wants, visited them regularly, and fed them +with appropriate food; but, at last, getting wearied of the task, or +despairing of effecting their liberation, they appear to have poisoned +them. They were both found suddenly dead one morning, shortly after +having been seen in good health; and on opening their bodies a small +leaf, supposed to be that of _Solanum Nigrum_, was found in the stomach +of each. The old birds immediately deserted the spot, as though aware of +the nefarious deed befitting their name. + +As an exemplification of instinct Dr. Horner states that Rooks built +on the Infirmary trees at Hull, but never over the street. One year, +however, a young couple ventured to build here: for eight mornings in +succession the old Rooks proceeded to destroy the nest, when at last the +young ones chose a more fitting place. + +Mr. A. Strickland, having referred to the tendency of birds to build +their nests of materials of a colour resembling that around such nests, +relates an instance in which the Fly-catcher built in a red brick wall, +and used for the nest mahogany shavings. Referring to the meeting of +Rooks for judicial purposes. Mr. Strickland states that he once saw a +Rook tried in this way, and ultimately killed by the rest. + + +SONGS OF BIRDS AND SEASONS OF THE DAY. + +Although nearly half a century has elapsed since the following +observations were communicated to the Royal Society by Dr. Jenner, their +expressive character is as charming as ever, and their accuracy as +valuable:-- + + "There is a beautiful propriety in the order in which Singing + Birds fill up the day with their pleasing harmony. The accordance + between their songs, and the aspect of nature at the successive + periods of the day at which they sing, is so remarkable that one + cannot but suppose it to be the result of benevolent design. + + "From the _Robin_ (not the _Lark_, as has been generally + imagined), as soon as twilight has drawn its imperceptible line + between night and day, begins his artless song. How sweetly does + this harmonize with the soft dawning of the day! He goes on till + the twinkling sunbeams begin to tell him that his notes no longer + accord with the rising sun. Up starts the _Lark_, and with him a + variety of sprightly songsters, whose lively notes are in perfect + correspondence with the gaiety of the morning. The general warbling + continues, with now and then an interruption by the transient croak + of the _Raven_, the scream of the _Jay_, or the pert chattering of + the _Daw_. The _Nightingale_, unwearied by the vocal exertions of + the night, joins his inferiors in sound in the general harmony. The + _Thrush_ is wisely placed on the summit of some lofty tree, that + its piercing notes may be softened by distance before it reaches + the ear, while the mellow _Blackbird_ seeks the lower branches. + + "Should the sun, having been eclipsed by a cloud, shine forth + with fresh effulgence, how frequently we see the _Goldfinch_ perch + on some blossomed bough, and hear his song poured forth in a strain + peculiarly energetic; while the sun, full shining on his beautiful + plumes, displays his golden wings and crimson crest to charming + advantage. Indeed, a burst of sunshine in a cloudy day, or after a + heavy shower, seems always to wake up a new gladness in the little + musicians, and invite them to an answering burst of minstrelsy. + + "As evening advances, the performers gradually retire, and the + concert softly dies away. At sunset the _Robin_ again sends up his + twilight song, till the still more serene hour of night sends him + to his bower of rest. And now, in unison with the darkened earth + and sky, no sooner is the voice of the _Robin_ hushed, than the + _Owl_ sends forth his slow and solemn tones, well adapted to the + serious hour." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] The popular name of this bird is the _Umbrella Bird_. On its head +it bears a crest, different from that of any other bird. It is formed +of feathers more than two inches long, very thickly set, and with hairy +plumes curving over at the end. These can be laid back so as to be +hardly visible, or can be erected and spread out on every side, forming +a dome completely covering the head, and even reaching beyond the point +of the beak; the individual feathers then stand out something like the +down-bearing seeds of the dandelion. Besides this, there is another +ornamental appendage on the breast, formed by a fleshy tubercle, as +thick as a quill and an inch and a-half long, which hangs down from +the neck, and is thickly covered with glossy feathers, forming a large +pendent plume or tassel. This, also, the bird can either press to its +breast, so as to be scarcely visible, or can swell out so as almost to +conceal the forepart of its body. + +[13] "Athenæum," No. 1467. + + + + +OWLS. + + +These nocturnal birds of prey have large heads and great projecting +eyes, directing forwards, and surrounded with a circle of loose and +delicate feathers, more or less developed, according to the nocturnal or +comparatively diurnal habits of the species. The position of the eyes, +giving a particular fulness and breadth to the head, has gained for the +Owl the intellectual character so universally awarded to it. The concave +facial disc of feathers with which they are surrounded materially aids +vision by concentrating the rays of light to an intensity better suited +to the opacity of the medium in which power is required to be exercised. +"They may be compared," says Mr. Yarrell, "to a person near-sighted, +who sees objects with superior magnitude and brilliancy when within the +prescribed limits of his natural powers of vision, from the increased +angle these objects subtend." Their beaks are completely curved, +or raptorial; they have the power of turning the outer toe either +backwards or forwards; they fly weakly, and near the ground; but, from +their soft plumage, stealthily, stretching out their hind legs that they +may balance their large and heavy heads. Their sense of hearing is very +acute: they not only look, but listen for prey. + +The Owl is a bird of mystery and gloom, and a special favourite with +plaintive poets. We find him with Ariel:-- + + "There I couch when Owls do cry." + +He figures in the nursery rhyme of "Cock Robin." In reply to "Who dug +his grave?"-- + + "I, says the Owl, with my little shovel-- + I dug his grave." + +He hoots over graves, and his dismal note adds to the terror of +darkness:-- + + "'Tis the middle of night by the castle clock, + And the Owls have awakened the crowing cock; + Tu-whit! tu-whoo! + And hark again the crowing cock, + How drowsily it crew. + + . . . . . . . . . + + "When blood is nipt, and ways be foul, + Then nightly sings the staring Owl, + Tu-whoo! + Tu-whit! tu-whoo! _a merry note_, + While greasy Joan doth keel the pot!" + +Titania sings of + + "The clamorous Owl, that nightly hoots and wonders + At our quaint spirits." + +Bishop Hall has this "Occasional Meditation" upon the sight of an Owl in +the twilight:--"What a strange melancholic life doth this creature lead; +to hide her head all the day long in an ivy-bush, and at night, when all +other birds are at rest, to fly abroad and vent her harsh notes. I know +not why the ancients have _sacred_ this bird to wisdom, except it be for +her safe closeness and singular perspicuity; that when other domestrial +and airy creatures are blind, she only hath insured light to discern the +least objects for her own advantage." We may here note that Linnæus, +with many other naturalists and antiquaries, have supposed the Horned +Owl to have been the bird of Minerva; but Blumenbach has shown, from +the ancient works of Grecian art, that it was not this, but rather some +smooth-headed species, probably the _Passerina_, or Little Owl. + +The divine has, in the above passage, overstated the melancholy of the +Owl; as has also the poet, who sings:-- + + "From yonder ivy-mantled tower + The moping Owl does to the moon complain + Of such as, wandering near her secret bower, + Molest her ancient solitary reign." + +Shakspeare more accurately terms her "the mousing Owl," for her nights +are spent in barns, or in hunting and devouring sparrows in the +churchyard elms. "Moping, indeed!" says a pleasing observer. "So far +from this, she is a sprightly, active ranger of the night, who had as +lief sit on a grave as a rose-bush; who is as valiant a hunter as +Nimroud, chasing all sorts of game, from the dormouse to the hare and +the young lamb, and devouring them, while her mate hoots to her from +some picturesque ruin, and invites her, when supper is over, to return +to him and her babes." + +But the tricks of the Owl by night render her the terror of all other +birds, great and small. In Northern Italy, persons in rustic districts +which are well wooded, catch and tame an Owl, put a light chain upon her +legs, and then place her on a small cross-bar on the top of a high pole, +which is fixed in the earth. Half-blinded by the light, the defenceless +captive has to endure patiently the jeers and insults of the dastardly +tribes from the surrounding groves and thickets, who issue in clouds +to scream, chirp, and flit about their enemy. Some, trusting to the +swiftness of their wings, sweep close by, and peck at her feathers as +they pass, and are sometimes punished by the Owl with her formidable +beak for their audacity. Meanwhile, from darkened windows, sportsmen, +with fowling-pieces well charged with shot, fire at the hosts of birds, +wheeling, shrieking, screaming, and thickening around the Owl. All the +guns are fired at once, and the grass is strewn for many yards round +with the slain; while the Owl, whom they have been careful not to hit, +utters a joyous whoo! whoo! at the fate of her persecutors. + +Major Head thus describes the _Biscacho_, or Coquimbo, a curious species +of Owl, found all over the pampas of South America:--"Like rabbits, +they live in holes, which are in groups in every direction. These +animals are never seen in the day, but as soon as the lower limb of +the sun reaches the horizon, they are seen issuing from the holes. The +Biscachos, when full-grown, are nearly as big as badgers, but their +head resembles a rabbit's, except that they have large bushy whiskers. +In the evening they sit outside the holes, and they all appear to be +moralizing. They are the most serious-looking animals I ever saw; +and even the young ones are grey-headed, wear moustachios, and look +thoughtful and grave. In the daytime their holes are guarded by two +little owls, which are never an instant away from their posts. As one +gallops by these owls, they always stand looking at the stranger, and +then at each other, moving their old-fashioned heads in a manner which +is quite ridiculous, until one rushes by them, when they get the better +of their dignified looks, and they both run into the Biscacho's hole." + +Of all birds of prey, Owls are the most useful to man, by protecting his +corn-fields, or granaried provision, from mice and numberless vermin. +Yet, prejudice has perverted these birds into objects of superstition +and consequent hate. The kind-hearted Mr. Waterton says:--"I wish that +any little thing I could write or say might cause this bird to stand +better with the world at large than it has hitherto done; but I have +slender hope on this score, because old and deep-rooted prejudices are +seldom overcome; and when I look back into annals of remote antiquity, +I see too clearly that defamation has done its worst to ruin the whole +family, in all its branches, of this poor, harmless, useful friend of +mine." + +The Barn Owl is common throughout Europe, known in Tartary, and rare in +the United States of America. In England it is called the Barn Owl, the +Church Owl, Gillihowlet, and Screech Owl; the last name is improperly +applied, as it is believed not to hoot, though Sir William Jardine +asserts that he has shot it in the act of hooting. To the screech +superstition has annexed ideas of fatal portent; "but," says Charlotte +Smith, "it has, of course, no more foreknowledge of approaching evil to +man than the Lark: its cry is a signal to its absent mate." + +"If," says Mr. Waterton, "this useful bird caught its food by day +instead of hunting for it by night, mankind would have ocular +demonstration of its utility in thinning the country of mice; and it +would be protected and encouraged everywhere. It would be with us what +the Ibis was with the Egyptians. When it has young, it will bring a +mouse to the nest every twelve or fifteen minutes." Mr. Waterton saw his +Barn Owl fly away with a rat which he had just shot; he also saw her +drop perpendicularly into the water, and presently rise out of it with a +fish in her claws, which she took to her nest. + +Birds and quadrupeds, and even fish, are the food of Owls, according to +the size of the species. Hares, partridges, grouse, and even the turkey, +are attacked by the larger Horned Owls of Europe and America; while +mice, shrews, small birds, and crabs suffice for the inferior strength +of the smaller Owls. Mr. Yarrell states that the Short-eared Owl is the +only bird of prey in which he ever found the remains of a bat. + +William Bullock reports that a large Snowy Owl, wounded on the Isle of +Baltoc, disgorged a young rabbit; and that one in his possession had in +its stomach a sandpiper with its feathers entire. It preys on lemmings, +hares, and birds, particularly the willow-grouse and ptarmigan. It is +a dexterous fisher, grasping the fish with an instantaneous stroke of +the foot as it sails along near the surface of the water, or sits on +a stone in a shallow stream. It has been seen on the wing pursuing an +American hare, making repeated strokes at the animal with its foot. In +winter, when this Owl is fat, the Indians and white residents in the Fur +Countries esteem it to be good eating; its flesh is delicately white. +Small snakes are the common prey of this Owl during the daytime. And to +show on what various kinds of food Owls subsist, Mr. Darwin states that +a species that was killed among the islets of the Chonos Archipelago had +its stomach full of good-sized crabs. Such are a few of the facts which +attest the almost omnivorous appetite of the Owl. + +The flight of the Snowy Owl is stronger and swifter than any other +bird of the family; its ears are very large; its voice (says Pennant) +adds horror even to the regions of Greenland by its hideous cries, +resembling those of a man in deep distress. The eye is very curious, +being immovably fixed in its socket, so that the bird, to view different +objects, must always turn its head; and so excellently is the neck +adapted to this purpose, that it can with ease turn the head round +in almost a complete circle, without moving the body. The Virginian +Eagle-Owl, amidst the forests of Indiana, utters a loud and sudden +_Wough O! wough O!_ sufficient to alarm a whole garrison; another of its +nocturnal cries resembles the half-suppressed screams of a person being +suffocated or throttled. + +The Javanese Owl is found in the closest forests, and occasionally near +villages and dwellings. Dr. Horsfield says:--"It is not, however, a +favourite with the natives; various superstitious notions are also in +Java associated with its visits; and it is considered in many parts of +the island as portending evil." One of this species never visits the +villages, but resides in the dense forests, which are the usual resort +of the tiger. The natives even assert that the _Wowo-wiwi_ approaches +the animal with the same familiarity with which the jallack approaches +the buffalo, and that it has no dread to alight on the tiger's back. Dr. +Horsfield adds, that it has never been seen in confinement. + +The Boobook Owl has the native name of Buck-buck, and it may be heard +in Australia every night during winter, uttering a cry corresponding +with that word. The note is somewhat similar to that of the European +_Cuckoo_, and the colonists have given it that name. The lower order of +settlers in New South Wales are led away by the idea that everything +is the reverse in that country to what it is in England; and the +_Cuckoo_, as they call this bird, singing by night, is one of the +instances which they point out. + +Tame Owls are described as nearly as playful, and quite as affectionate, +as kittens; they will perch upon your wrist, touch your lips with their +beak, and hoot to order; and they are less inclined to leave their +friends than other tame birds. A writer in "Chambers's Journal" relates, +that a friend lost his favourite Owl, which flew away, and was absent +many days. In time, however, he came back, and resumed his habits and +duties, which, for a while, went on uninterruptedly. At length, one +severe autumn, he disappeared; weeks, months passed, and he returned +not. One snowy night, however, as his master sat by the blazing fire, +some heavy thing came bump against the shutters. "Whoo, whoo, whoo." +The window was opened, and in flew the Owl, shaking the thick snow from +his wings, and settling lovingly on his master's wrist, the bird's eyes +dilating with delight. + +The Owls at Arundel Castle have a sort of historic interest; they +are kept within the circuit of the keep-tower, the most ancient and +picturesque portion of the castle. Among the Australian Owls here we +read of one larger than a turkey, measuring four feet across the wings +when expanded. The Owl named "Lord Thurlow," from his resemblance to +that Judge, is a striking specimen. + +The accompanying illustration shows a fine specimen of Fraser's +Eagle-Owl, brought from Fernando Po. It is the size of an ordinary +fowl; colour, very dark reddish-brown mottling; back and wings passing +through all shades of the same colour into nearly white on the under +parts, where the feathers are barred; bill, pale greenish; eyes, nearly +black. + +[Illustration: FRASER'S EAGLE-OWL, FROM FERNANDO PO.] + +Among the Owls but recently described is the Masked Owl of New Holland, +named from the markings of the disk of the face, somewhat grotesque; +the colours are brown variegated with white. A fine specimen of the +Abyssinian Owl is possessed by Mr. R. Good, of Yeovil: the bird, +although quite young, is of immense size. + +Lastly, the Owl is thought to be of the same sympathy or kindred likings +as the Cat: a young Owl will feed well, and thrive upon fish. Cats, too, +it is well known, like fish. Both the Cat and the Owl, too, feed upon +mice. The sight of Owls, also, similar to that of Cats, appears to serve +them best in the dark. + + + + +WEATHER-WISE ANIMALS. + + +Whatever may be the worth of weather prognostications, it is from the +animal kingdom that we obtain the majority. How these creatures become +so acutely sensible of the approach of particular kinds of weather is +not at present well understood. That in many cases the appearance of +the heavens is not the source from which their information is derived +is proved by the signs of uneasiness frequently expressed by them when, +as yet, the most attentive observer can detect no signs of change, +and even when they are placed in such circumstances as preclude the +possibility of any instruction from this quarter. For instance. Dogs, +closely confined in a room, often become very drowsy and stupid before +rain; and a leech, confined in a glass of water, has been found, by +its rapid motions or its quiescence, to indicate the approach of wet +or the return of fair weather. Probably the altered condition of the +atmosphere with regard to its electricity, which generally accompanies +change of weather, may so affect their constitution as to excite in +them pleasurable or uneasy sensations; though man is far from insensible +to atmospheric changes, as the feelings of utter listlessness which +many persons experience before rain, and the aggravated severity of +toothache, headache, and rheumatism abundantly testify. The Cat licking +itself is a special influence of the above electric influence, which +denotes the approach of rain. + +Birds, as "denizens of the air," are the surest indicators of weather +changes. Thus, when swallows fly high, fine weather is to be expected +or continued; but when they fly low, or close to the ground, rain is +almost surely approaching; for swallows follow the flies and gnats, +which delight in warm strata of air. Now, as warm air is lighter, and +usually moister than cold air, when the warm strata of air are high +there is less chance of moisture being thrown down from them by their +mixture with cold air; but when the warm and moist air is close to the +surface, it is almost certain that, as the cold air flows down into it, +a deposition of water will take place. + +When Seagulls assemble on the land, very stormy and rainy weather is +approaching. The cause of this migration to the land is the security of +these birds finding food; and they may be observed at this time feeding +greedily on the earth-worms and larvæ driven out of the ground by severe +floods; whilst the fish on which they prey in fine weather in the sea, +leave the surface, and go deeper in storms. The search after food is +the principal cause why animals change their places. The different +tribes of the wading birds always migrate when rain is about to take +place. + +There is a bird which takes its name from its apparent agency in +tempests. Such is the Stormy Petrel, which name Hawkesworth, in his +"Voyages," mentions the sailors give to the bird, but explains no +further. Navigators meet with the Little Petrel, or Storm Finch, in +every part of the ocean, diving, running on foot, or skimming over the +highest waves. It seems to foresee the coming storm long ere the seamen +can discover any signs of its approach. The Petrels make this known by +congregating together under the wake of the vessel, as if to shelter +themselves, and they thus warn the mariner of the coming danger. At +night they set up a piercing cry. This usefulness of the bird to the +sailor is the obvious cause of the latter having such an objection to +their being killed. + +Mr. Knapp, the naturalist, thus pictures gulls, describing the Petrel's +action:--"They seem to repose in a common breeze, but upon the approach +or during the continuation of a gale, they surround the ship, and catch +up the small animals which the agitated ocean brings near the surface, +or any food that may be dropped from the vessel. Whisking like an arrow +through the deep valleys of the abyss, and darting away over the foaming +crest of some mountain-wave, they attend the labouring barque in all +her perilous course. When the storm subsides they retire to rest, and +are seen no more." + +Our sailors have, from very early times, called these birds "Mother +Carey's Chickens," originally bestowed on them, Mr. Yarrell tells us, by +Captain Cartaret's sailors, probably from some celebrated ideal hag of +the above name. Mr. Yarrell adds:--"As these birds are supposed to be +seen only before stormy weather, they are not welcome visitors," a view +at variance with that already suggested. + +The Editor of "Notes and Queries" considers the Petrels to have been +called _chickens_ from their diminutive size. The largest sort, "the +Giant Petrel," is "Mother Carey's _Goose_;" its length is forty +inches, and it expands seven feet. The common kind are about the size +of a swallow, and weigh something over an ounce; length, six inches; +expansion, thirteen inches; these are Mother Carey's _chickens_ +(_Latham_). It should be borne in mind that our language does not +restrict the term chickens to young birds of the gallinaceous class. + +The Missel-bird is another bird of this kind: in Hampshire and Sussex +it is called the _Storm Cock_, because it sings early in the spring, in +blowing, showery weather. + +Petrels, by the way, are used by the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands as +lamps: they pass a wick through their bodies which, when lighted, burns +a long time from the quantity of fat they contain. + +The Fulmar Petrel, in Boothia, follows the whale-ships, availing itself +of the labours of the fishermen by feeding on the carcases of the +whales when stripped of their blubber. In return the bird is exceedingly +useful to the whalers by guiding them to the places where whales are +most numerous, and crowding to the spots where they first appear on the +surface of the water. + +Wild Geese and Ducks are unquestionably weather-wise, for their early +arrival from the north in the winter portends that a severe season is +approaching; because their early appearance is most likely caused by +severe frost having already set in at their usual summer residence. The +Rev. F. O. Morris, the well-known writer on natural history, records +from Nunburnholme, Yorkshire. December 5, 1864:--"This season, for the +first time I have lived here, I have missed seeing the flocks of Wild +Geese which in the autumnal months have heretofore wended their way +overhead, year after year, as regularly as the dusk of the evening came +on. Almost to the minute, and almost in the same exact course, they +have flown over aloft from the feeding-places on the Wolds to their +resting-places for the night; some, perhaps, to extensive commons, while +others have turned off to the mud-banks of the Humber, whence they have +returned with equal regularity in the morning. + +"But this year I have seen not only not a single flock, but not even +a single bird. One evening one of my daughters did indeed see a small +flock of six, but even that small number only once. Whether it portends +a very hard winter, or what the cause of it may be, I am utterly at a +loss to know or even to guess. I quite miss this year the well-known +cackle of the old gander as he has led the van of the flock that has +followed him; now in a wide, now in a narrow, now in a short, now in a +long wedge, over head, diverging just from the father of the family, or +separating from time to time further back in the line. + +"I may add, as a possible prognostication of future weather, that +fieldfares have, I think, been unusually numerous this year, as last +year they were the contrary. I have also remarked that swallows took +their departure this year more than ordinarily in a body, very few +stragglers being subsequently seen." + +It will be sufficient to state that the mean temperature of January and +February was below that of the same month in the preceding year, and +that of March had not been so low for twenty years. + +The opinion that sea-birds come to land in order to avoid an approaching +storm is stated to be erroneous; and the cause assigned is, that as the +fish upon which the birds prey go deep into the water during storms, the +birds come to land merely on account of the greater certainty of finding +food there than out at sea. + +We add a few notes on Bird naturalists. The Redbreast has been called +_the Naturalist's Barometer_. When on a summer evening, though it be +unsettled and rainy, he sings cheerfully and sweetly on a lofty twig or +housetop, it is an unerring promise of succeeding fine days. Sometimes, +though the atmosphere be dry and warm, he may be seen melancholy +chirping and brooding in a bush or low in a hedge; this promises the +reverse. In the luxuriant forests of Brazil the Toucan may be heard +rattling with his large hollow beak, as he sits on the outermost +branches, calling in plaintive notes for rain. + +When Mr. Loudon was at Schwetzingen, Rhenish Bavaria, in 1829, he +witnessed in the post-house there for the first time what he afterwards +frequently saw--an amusing application of zoological knowledge for the +purpose of prognosticating the weather. Two tree-frogs were kept in +a crystal jar about eighteen inches high and six inches in diameter, +with a depth of three or four inches of water at the bottom, and a +small ladder reaching to the top of the jar. On the approach of dry +weather the frogs mounted the ladder, but when moisture was expected +they descended into the water. These animals are of a bright green, and +in their wild state climb the trees in search of insects, and make a +peculiar singing noise before rain. In the jar they got no other food +than now and then a fly; one of which, Mr. Loudon was assured, would +serve a frog for a week, though it would eat from six to twelve flies in +a day if it could get them. In catching the flies put alive into the jar +the frogs displayed great adroitness. + +Snails are extraordinary indicators of changes in the weather. +Several years ago, Mr. Thomas, of Cincinnati, known as an accredited +observer of natural phenomena, published some interesting accounts +of Weather-wise Snails. They do not drink (he observes), but imbibe +moisture in their bodies during rain, and exude it at regular periods +afterwards. Then a certain snail first exudes the pure liquid; when +this is exhausted, a light red succeeds, then a deep red, next yellow, +and lastly a dark brown. The snail is very careful not to exude more +of its moisture than is necessary. It is never seen abroad _except +before rain_, when we find it ascending the bark of trees and getting +on the leaves. The tree-snail is also seen ascending the stems of +plants _two days before rain_: if it be a long and hard rain they get +on the sheltered side of the leaf, but if a short rain the outside +of the leaf. Another snail has the same habits, but differs only in +colour: before rain it is yellow, and after it blue. Others show signs +of rain, not only by means of exuding fluids, but by means of pores and +protuberances; and the bodies of some snails have large tubercles rising +from them _before rain_. These tubercles commence showing themselves +ten days previous to the fall of rain they indicate; at the end of each +of these tubercles is a pore; and at the time of the fall of rain these +tubercles, with their pores opened, are stretched to their utmost to +receive the water. In another kind of snail, a few days before rain +appears a large and deep indentation, beginning at the head between +the horns, and ending with the jointure at the shells. Other snails, +a few days before the rain, crawl to the most exposed hill-side, +where, if they arrive before the rain descends, they seek some crevice +in the rocks, and then close the aperture of the shell with glutinous +substance; this, when the rain approaches, they dissolve, and are then +seen crawling about. + +Our Cincinnati observer mentions three kinds of snails which move along +at the rate of a mile in forty-four hours; they inhabit the most dense +forests, and it is regarded as a sure indication of rain to observe them +moving towards an exposed situation. Others indicate the weather not +only by exuding fluids, but by the colour of the animal. After rain the +snail has a very dark appearance, but it grows of a bright colour as +the water is expended; whilst just before rain it is of yellowish white +colour, also just before rain streaks appear from the point of the head +to the jointure of the shell. These snails move at the rate of a mile in +fourteen days and sixteen hours. If they are observed ascending a cliff +it is a sure indication of rain: they live in the cavities of the sides +of cliffs. There is also a snail which is brown, tinged with blue on the +edges before rain, but black after rain: a few days before appears an +indentation, which grows deeper as the rain approaches. + +The leaves of trees are even good barometers: most of them for a short, +light rain, will turn up so as to receive their fill of water; but for +a long rain they are doubled, so as to conduct the water away. The +Frog and Toad are sure indicators of rain; for, as they do not drink +water but absorb it into their bodies, they are sure to be found out +at the time they expect rain. The Locust and Grasshopper are also good +indicators of a storm; a few hours before rain they are to be found +under the leaves of trees and in the hollow trunks. + +The Mole has long been recorded as a prognosticator of change of +weather, before which it becomes very active. The temperature or dryness +of the air governs its motions as to the depth at which it lives or +works. This is partly from its inability to bear cold or thirst, but +chiefly from its being necessitated to follow its natural food, the +earth-worm, which always descends as the cold or drought increases. +In frosty weather both worms and moles are deeper in the ground than +at other times; and both seem to be sensible of an approaching change +to warmer weather before there are any perceptible signs of it in the +atmosphere. When it is observed, therefore, that Moles are casting hills +through openings in the frozen turf or through a thin covering of snow, +a change to open weather may be shortly expected. The cause of this +appears to be--the natural heat of the earth being for a time pent in +by the frozen surface accumulates below it; first incites to action the +animals, thaws the frozen surface, and at length escapes into the air, +which is warm, and softens; and if not counterbalanced by a greater +degree of cold in the atmosphere brings about a change, such as from +frosty to mild weather. The Mole is most active and casts up most earth +immediately before rain, and in the winter before a thaw, because at +those times the worms and insects begin to be in motion, and approach +the surface. + +Forster, the indefatigable meteorologist, has assembled some curious +observations on certain animals, who, by some peculiar sensibility to +electrical or other atmospheric influence, often indicate changes of the +weather by their peculiar motions and habits. Thus:-- + +_Ants._--An universal bustle and activity observed in ant-hills may be +generally regarded as a sign of rain: the Ants frequently appear all in +motion together, and carry their eggs about from place to place. This is +remarked by Virgil, Pliny, and others. + +_Asses._--When donkeys bray more than ordinarily, especially should +they shake their ears, as if uneasy, it is said to predict rain, and +particularly showers. Forster noticed that in showery weather a donkey +brayed before every shower, and generally some minutes before the rain +fell, as if some electrical influence, produced by the concentrating +power of the approaching rain-cloud, caused a tickling in the wind-pipe +of the animal just before the shower came on. Whatever this electric +state of the air preceding a shower may be, it seems to be the same +that causes in other animals some peculiar sensations, which makes the +peacock squall, the pintado call "come back," &c. An expressive adage +says:-- + + "When that the ass begins to bray, + Be sure we shall have rain that day." + +Haymakers may derive useful admonitions from the braying of the ass: +thus the proverb:-- + + "Be sure to cock your hay and corn + When the old donkey blows his horn." + +_Bats_ flitting about late in the evening in spring and autumn foretel a +fine day on the morrow; as do Dorbeetles and some other insects. On the +contrary, when Bats return soon to their hiding-places, and send forth +loud cries, bad weather may be expected. + +_Beetles_ flying about late in the evening often foretel a fine day on +the morrow. + +_Butterflies_, when they appear early, are sometimes forerunners of fine +weather. Moths and Sphinxes also foretel fine weather when they are +common in the evening. + +_Cats_, when they "wash their faces," or when they seem sleepy and dull, +foretel rain. + +_Chickens_, when they pick up small stones and pebbles, and are more +noisy than usual, afford a sign of rain; as do fowls rubbing in the +dust, and clapping their wings; but this applies to several kinds of +fowls, as well as to the gallinaceous kinds. Cocks, when they crow at +unwonted hours, often foretel rain; when they crow all day, in summer +particularly, a change to rain frequently follows. + +_Cranes_ were said of old to foretel rain when they retreated to the +valleys, and returned from their aërial flight. The high flight of +cranes in silence indicates fine weather. + +_Dolphins_ as well as _Porpoises_, when they come about a ship, and +sport and gambol on the surface of the water, betoken a storm. + +_Dogs_, before rain, grow sleepy and dull, lie drowsily before the fire, +and are not easily aroused. They also often eat grass, which indicates +that their stomachs, like ours, are apt to be disturbed before change +of weather. It is also said to be a sign of change of weather when Dogs +howl and bark much in the night. Dogs also dig in the earth with their +feet before rain, and often make deep holes in the ground. + +_Ducks._--The loud and clamorous quacking of Ducks, Geese, and other +water-fowl, is a sign of rain; as also when they wash themselves, and +flutter about in the water more than usual. Virgil has well described +all these habits of aquatic birds. + +_Fieldfares_, when they arrive early, and in great numbers, in autumn, +foreshow a hard winter, which has probably set in in the regions from +which they have come. + +_Fishes_, when they bite more readily, and gambol near the surface of +streams or pools, foreshow rain. + +_Flies_, and various sorts of insects, become more troublesome, and +sting and bite more than usual, before, as well as in the intervals of +rainy weather, particularly in autumn. + +_Frogs_, by their clamorous croaking, indicate rainy weather, as does +likewise their coming about in great numbers in the evening; but this +last sign applies more obviously to toads. + +_Geese_ washing, or taking wing with a clamorous noise, and flying to +the water, portend rain. + +_Gnats_ afford several indications. When they fly in a vortex in the +beams of the setting sun they forebode fair weather; when they frisk +about more widely in the open air at eventide they foreshow heat; and +when they assemble under trees, and bite more than usual, they indicate +rain. + +_Hogs_, when they shake the stalks of corn, and spoil them, often +indicate rain. When they run squeaking about, and jerk up their heads, +windy weather is about to commence; hence the Wiltshire proverb, that +"Pigs can see the wind." + +_Horses_ foretel the coming of rain by starting more than ordinarily, +and by restlessness on the road. + +_Jackdaws_ are unusually clamorous before rain, as are also _Starlings_. +Sometimes before change of weather the daws make a great noise in the +chamber wherein they build. + +_Kine_ (cattle) are said to foreshow rain when they lick their +fore-feet, or lie on their right side. Some say oxen licking themselves +against the hair is a sign of wet. + +_Kites_, when they soar very high in the air, denote fair weather, as do +also _Larks_. + +_Magpies_, in windy weather, often fly in small flocks of three or four +together, uttering a strong harsh cry. + +_Mice_ when they squeak much, and gambol in the house, foretel a change +of weather, and often rain. + +_Owls._--When an owl hoots or screeches, sitting on the top of a house, +or by the side of a window, it is said to foretel death. "The fact," +says Forster, "seems to be this: the Owl, as Virgil justly observes, +is more noisy at the change of weather, and as it often happens that +patients with lingering diseases die at the change of weather, so the +Owl seems, by a mistaken association of ideas, to forebode the calamity." + +_Peacocks_ squalling by night often foretel a rainy day. Forster adds, +"This prognostic does not often fail; and the indication is made more +certain by the crowing of Cocks all day, the braying of the Donkey, the +low flight of Swallows, the aching of rheumatic persons, and by the +frequent appearance of spiders on the walls of the house." + +_Pigeons._--It is a sign of rain when Pigeons return slowly to the +dove-houses before the usual time of day. + +_Ravens_, when observed early in the morning, at a great height in the +air, soaring round and round, and uttering a hoarse, croaking sound, +indicate that the day will be fine. On the contrary, this bird affords +us a sign of coming rain by another sort of cry; the difference between +these two voices being more easily learned from nature than described. +The Raven frequenting the shore and dipping himself in the water is also +a sign of rain. + +_Redbreasts_, when they, with more than usual familiarity, lodge on our +window-frames, and peck against the glass with their bills, indicate +severe weather, of which they have a presentiment, which brings them +nearer to the habitations of man. + +_Rooks_ gathering together, and returning home from their pastures +early, and at unwonted hours, forebode rain. When Rooks whirl round in +the air rapidly, and come down in small flocks, making a roaring noise +with their wings, rough weather invariably follows. On the contrary, +when Rooks are very noisy about their trees, and fly about as if +rejoicing, Virgil assures us they foresee a return of fine weather, and +an end of the showers. + +_Spiders_, when seen crawling on the walls more than usual, indicate +rain. "This prognostic," says Forster, "seldom fails, I have noticed it +for many years, particularly in winter, but more or less at all times of +the year. In summer the quantity of webs of the garden spiders denote +fair weather." + +_Swallows_, in fine and settled weather, fly higher in the air than they +do just before or during a showery or rainy time. Then, also, Swallows +flying low, and skimming over the surface of a meadow where there is +tolerably long grass, frequently stop, and hang about the blades, as if +they were gathering insects lodged there. + +_Swans_, when they fly against the wind, portend rain, a sign frequently +fulfilled. + +_Toads_, when they come from their holes in an unusual number in the +evening, although the ground be still dry, foreshow the coming rain, +which will generally fall more or less during the night. + +_Urchins of the Sea_, a sort of fish, when they thrust themselves into +the mud, and try to cover their bodies with sand, foreshow a storm. + +_Vultures_, when they scent carrion at a great distance, indicate that +state of the atmosphere which is favourable to the perception of smells, +and this often forebodes rain. + +_Willow Wrens_ are frequently seen, in mild and still rainy weather, +flitting about the willows, pines, and other trees, in quest of insects. + +_Woodcocks_ appear in autumn earlier, and in greater numbers, previous +to severe winters; as do Snipes and other winter birds. + +_Worms_ come forth more abundantly before rain, as do snails, slugs, and +almost all limaceous animals. + +Some birds build their nests weather-proof, as ascertained by careful +observation of Mr. M. W. B. Thomas, of Cincinnati, Ohio. Thus, when a +pair of migratory birds have arrived in the spring, they prepare to +build their nest, making a careful reconnaissance of the place, and +observing the character of the season. If it be a windy one, they thatch +the straw and leaves on the inside of the nest, between the twigs and +the lining; if it be very windy, they get pliant twigs, and bind the +nest firmly to the limb of the tree, securing all the small twigs with +their saliva. If they fear the approach of a rainy season, they build +their nests so as to be sheltered from the weather; but if a pleasant +one, they build in a fair open place, without taking any of these extra +precautions. + +Of all writers, Dr. Darwin has given us the most correct account of +the "Signs of Rain," in a poetical description of the approach of foul +weather, as follows. This passage has been often quoted, but, perhaps, +never exceeded in the accuracy of its phenomenal observation:-- + + "The hollow winds begin to blow; + The clouds look black, the glass is low; + The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep; + And spiders from their cobwebs peep. + Last night the sun went pale to bed; + The moon in haloes hid her head; + The boding shepherd heaves a sigh, + For, see, a rainbow spans the sky. + The walls are damp, the ditches smell, + Clos'd is the light red pimpernel. + Hark! how the chairs and tables crack, + Old Betty's joints are on the rack; + Her corns with shooting pains torment her, + And to her bed untimely send her. + Loud quack the ducks, the sea-fowls cry, + The distant hills are looking nigh. + How restless are the snorting swine! + The busy flies disturb the kine. + Low o'er the grass the swallow wings, + The cricket, too, how sharp he sings! + Puss on the hearth, with velvet paws, + Sits wiping o'er her whisker'd jaws. + The smoke from chimneys right ascends; + Then spreading back, to earth it bends. + The wind unsteady veers around, + Or settling in the South is found. + Through the clear stream the fishes rise, + And nimbly catch th' incautious flies. + The glowworms num'rous, clear, and bright, + Illum'd the dewy hill last night. + At dusk, the squalid toad was seen, + Like quadruped, stalk o'er the green. + The whirling wind the dust obeys, + And in the rapid eddy plays. + The frog has chang'd his yellow vest, + And in a russet coat is drest. + The sky is green, the air is still, + The mellow blackbird's voice is shrill. + The dog, so altered is his taste, + Quits mutton-bones on grass to feast. + Behold the rooks, how odd their flight, + They imitate the gliding kite, + And seem precipitate to fall, + As if they felt the piercing ball. + The tender colts on banks do lie, + Nor heed the traveller passing by. + In fiery red the sun doth rise, + Then wades through clouds to mount the skies. + ''Twill surely rain, we see 't with sorrow, + No working in the fields to-morrow.'" + +The Shepherd of Banbury says:--"The surest and most certain sign of +rain is taken from Bees, which are more incommoded by rain than almost +any other creatures; and, therefore, as soon as the air begins to +grow heavy, and the vapours to condense, they will not fly from their +hives, but either remain in them all day, or else fly but to a small +distance." Yet Bees are not always right in their prognostics, for +Réaumur witnessed a swarm which, after leaving the hive at half-past one +o'clock, were overtaken by a heavy shower at three. + + + + +FISH-TALK. + + +"Man favours wonders;" and this delight is almost endlessly exemplified +in the stories of strange Fishes--of preternatural size and odd forms, +which are to be found in their early history. In our present Talk we do +not aim at re-assembling these olden tales, but propose rather to glance +at recent accessions to our acquaintance with the study of Fish-life, +and a few modern instances of the class of wonders. + +Fishes, like all other animals, have a very delicate sense of the +equilibrial position of their bodies. They endeavour to counteract all +change in their position by means of movements partly voluntary and +partly instinctive. These latter appear in a very remarkable manner in +the eye; and they are so constant and evident in fishes while alive, +that their absence is sufficient to indicate the death of the animal. +The equilibrium of the fish, its horizontal position, with the back +upwards, depends solely on the action of the fins, and principally +that of the vertical fins. The swimming-bladder may enable a fish +to increase or diminish its specific gravity. By compressing the air +contained in it, the fish descends in the water; it rises by releasing +the muscles which produced the compression. By compressing more or +less the posterior or anterior portion of the bladder, the animal, at +pleasure, can make the anterior or posterior half of its body lighter; +it can also assume an oblique position, which permits an ascending or +descending movement in the water. + +There is a small fish found in the rivers of the Burmese Empire, which, +on being taken out of the water, has the power of blowing itself up to +the shape of a small round ball, but its original shape is resumed as +soon as it is returned to the river. + +Mr. St. John, in his "Tour in Eastern Lanarkshire," gives some curious +instances of fish changing colour, which takes place with surprising +rapidity. Put a living black burn Trout into a white basin of water, +and it becomes, within half an hour, of a light colour. Keep the fish +living in a white jar for some days, and it becomes absolutely white; +but put it into a dark-coloured or black vessel, and although on first +being placed there the white-coloured fish shows most conspicuously on +the black ground, in a quarter of an hour it becomes as dark-coloured +as the bottom of the jar, and consequently difficult to be seen. No +doubt this facility of adapting its colour to the bottom of the water +in which it lives, is of the greatest service to the fish in protecting +it from its numerous enemies. All anglers must have observed, that in +every stream the Trout are very much of the same colour as the gravel or +sand on which they live: whether this change of colour is a voluntary or +involuntary act on the part of the fish, the scientific must determine. + +Anglers of our time have proved that Tench croak like frogs; Herrings +cry like mice; Gurnards grunt like hogs; and some say the Gurnard makes +a noise like a cuckoo, from which he takes one of his country names. The +Maigre, a large sea-fish, when swimming in shoals, utters a grunting or +piercing noise, that may be heard from a depth of twenty fathoms. + +M. Dufossé asserts that facts prove that nature has not refused to all +fishes the power of expressing their instinctive sensations by sounds, +but has not conferred on them the unity of mechanism in the formation +of sonorous vibrations as in other classes of vertebrated animals. +Some fishes, he says, are able to emit musical tones, engendered by a +mechanism in which the muscular vibration is the principal motive power; +others possess the faculty of making blowing sounds, like those of +certain reptiles; and others can produce the creaking noise resembling +that of many insects. These phenomena M. Dufossé has named "Fish-noise." + +The River Plate swarms with fish, and is the _habitat_ of one possessed +of a very sonorous voice, like that found in the River Borneo--the +account of which is quoted by Dr. Buist from the Journal of the +Samarang; and there is similar testimony of a loud piscatory chorus +being heard on board H.M.S. Eagle, anchored, in 1845-6, about three +miles from Monte Video, during the night. + +That fishes hear has been doubted, although John Hunter was of this +opinion, and has been followed by many observers. When standing beside +a person angling, how often is the request made not to make a noise, +as that would _alarm_ the fish. On the other hand, the Chinese drive +the fish up to that part of the river where their nets are ready to +capture them by loud yells and shouts, and the sound of gongs; but old +Æsop writes of a fisherman who caught no fish because he alarmed them +by playing on his flute while fishing. In Germany the Shad is taken +by means of nets, to which bows of wood, hung with a number of little +bells, are attached in such a manner as to chime in harmony when the +nets are moved. The Shad, when once attracted by the sound, will not +attempt to escape while the bells continue to ring. Ælian says the +Shad is allured by castanets. Macdiarmid, who declares that fishes +hear as well as see, relates that an old Codfish, the patriarch of the +celebrated fish-pond at Logan, "answered to his name; and not only +drew near, but turned up his snout most beseechingly when he heard the +monosyllable 'Tom;' and that he evidently could distinguish the voice of +the fisherman who superintended the pond, and fed the fish, from that +of any other fisherman." In the "Kaleidoscope" mention is made of three +Trout in a pond near the powder-mills at Faversham, who were so tame +as to come at the call of the person accustomed to feed them. Izaak +Walton tells of a Carp coming to a certain part of a pond to be fed "at +the ringing of a bell, or the beating of a drum;" and Sir John Hawkins +was assured by a clergyman, a friend of his, that at the Abbey of St. +Bernard, near Antwerp, he saw a Carp come to the edge of the water to be +fed, at the whistle of the person who fed it. The Carp at Fontainebleau, +inhabiting the lake adjoining the Imperial Palace, are of great size, +and manifest a curious instinct. A Correspondent of the "Athenæum" +remarks:-- + + "Enjoying entire immunity from all angling arts and lures, the + Fontainebleau Carp live a life of great enjoyment, marred only, we + imagine, by their immense numbers causing the supply of food to be + somewhat below their requirements. It is not, however, very easy to + define what a Carp's requirements in the form of pabulum are, as he + is a voracious member of the ichthyological family, eating whenever + he has an opportunity until absolutely surfeited. His favourite + food consists of vegetable substances masticated by means of flat + striated teeth, which work with a millstone kind of motion against + a singular process of the lower part of the skull covered with + horny plates. When this fish obtains an abundant supply of food it + grows to an enormous size. Several continental rivers and lakes + are very congenial to Carp, and especially the Oder, where this + fish occasionally attains the enormous weight of 60 lb. It is not + probable that any Carp in the lake at Fontainebleau are so large as + this; but there are certainly many weighing 50 lb., patriarchs of + their kind, which, though olive-hued in their tender years, are now + white with age. That the great size of these fish is due to ample + feeding is, we think, evident, and, as we shall see presently, it + is the large fish that are the best fed. During many years the + feeding of the Carp at Fontainebleau has been a favourite Court + pastime. But it is from the visitors who frequent Fontainebleau + during a great part of the year that the Carp receive their + most bountiful rations. For big Carp have an enormous swallow, + soft penny rolls being mere mouthfuls, bolted with ostrich-like + celerity. So to prevent the immediate disappearance of these + _bonnes bouches_, bread, in the form of larger balls than the most + capacious Carp can take into his gullet, is baked until it becomes + as hard as biscuit, and with these balls the Carp are regailed. + Throw one into the lake, and you will quickly have an idea of the + enormous Carp population it contains. For no sooner does the bread + touch the water than it is surrounded by hundreds of these fish, + which dart to it from all sides. And now, if you look attentively, + you will witness a curious display of instinct, which might almost + take a higher name. Conscious, apparently, of their inability to + crush these extremely hard balls, the Carp combine with surprising + unanimity to push them to that part of the lake with their noses + where it is bounded by a wall, and when there they butt at them, + until at last their repeated blows and the softening effect of the + water causes them to yield and open. And now you will see another + curious sight. While shoals of Carp have been pounding away at + the bread-balls, preparing them for being swallowed, some dozen + monsters hover round, indifferent, apparently, to what is passing. + But not so, for no sooner is the bread ready for eating, than two + or three of these giants, but more generally one--the tyrant, + probably, of the lake--rush to the prize, cleaving the shoals of + smaller Carp, and shouldering them to the right and left, seize the + bread with open jaws, between which it quickly disappears." + +Some of the finest and oldest Carp are found in the windings of the +Spree, in the tavern-gardens of Charlottenburg, the great resort of +strollers from Berlin. Visitors are in the habit of feeding them with +bread, and collect them together by ringing a bell, at the sound of +which shoals of the fish may be seen popping their noses upwards from +the water. + +The affection of fishes has only been properly understood of late years. +It might be supposed that little natural affection existed in this +cold-blooded race; and, in fact, fishes constantly devour their own +eggs, and, at a later period, their own young, without compunction or +discrimination. Some few species bear their eggs about with them until +hatched. This was long thought to be the utmost extent of care which +fishes lavished on their young; but Dr. Hancock has stepped in to rescue +at least one species from this unmerited charge. "It is asserted," he +says, "by naturalists, that no fishes are known to take any care of +their offspring. Both species of _Hassar_ mentioned below, however, make +a regular nest, in which they lay their eggs in a flattened cluster, +and cover them over most carefully. Their care does not end here; they +remain by the side of the nest till the spawn is hatched, with as much +solicitude as a hen guards her eggs, both the male and female Hassar, +for they are monogamous, steadily watching the spawn and courageously +attacking the assailant. Hence the negroes frequently take them by +putting their hands into the water close to the nest, on agitating which +the male Hassar springs furiously at them, and is thus captured. The +_roundhead_ forms its nest of grass, the _flathead_ of leaves. Both, +at certain seasons, burrow in the bank. They lay their eggs only in +wet weather. I have been surprised to observe the sudden appearance of +numerous nests in a morning after rain occurs, the spot being indicated +by a bunch of froth which appears on the surface of the water over +the nest. Below this are the eggs, placed on a bunch of fallen leaves +or grass, which they cut and collect together. By what means this is +effected seems rather mysterious, as the species are destitute of +cutting-teeth. It may, possibly, be by the use of their arms, which form +the first ray of the pectoral fin." + +There is another operation by fishes, which seems to require almost +equal experience. Professor Agassiz, while collecting insects along the +shores of Lake Sebago, in Maine, observed a couple of Cat-fish, which, +at his approach, left the shore suddenly, and returned to the deeper +water. Examining the place which the fishes had left, he discovered +a _nest_ among the water-plants, with a number of little tadpoles. +In a few moments the two fishes returned, looking anxiously towards +the nest, and approached within six or eight feet of where Professor +Agassiz stood. They were evidently not in search of food, and he became +convinced that they were seeking the protection of their young. Large +stones, thrown repeatedly into the middle of the nest after the fishes +had returned to it, only frightened them away for a brief period, and +they returned to the spot within ten or fifteen minutes. This was +repeated four or five times with the same result. This negatives the +assertion made by some naturalists--that no fishes are known to take any +care of their offspring. + +But affection is scarcely to be looked for where the offspring is so +very numerous as to put all attempts at even recognising them out of +the question. How could the fondest mother love 100,000 little ones at +once? Yet the number is far exceeded by some of the matrons of the deep. +Petit found 300,000 eggs in a single carp; Lenwenhoeck 9,000,000 in a +single cod; Mr. Harmer found in a sole 100,000; in a tench 300,000; +in a mackerel 500,000; and in a flounder 1,357,000.[14] M. Rousseau +disburthened a pike of 160,000, and a sturgeon of 1,567,000, while from +this latter class has been gotten 119 pounds weight of eggs, which, at +the rate of 7 to a grain, would give a total amount of 7,653,200 eggs! +If all these came to maturity the world would be in a short time nothing +but fish: means, however, amply sufficient to keep down this unwelcome +superabundance have been provided. Fish themselves, men, birds, other +marine animals, to say nothing of the dispersions produced by storms +and currents, the destruction consequent on their being thrown on the +beach and left there to dry up, all combine to diminish this excessive +supply over demand. Yet, on the other hand (so wonderfully are all +the contrivances of nature so harmonized and balanced), one of these +apparent modes of destruction becomes an actual means of extending the +species. The eggs of the pike, barbel, and many other fish, says M. +Virey, are rendered indigestible by an acid oil which they contain, and +in consequence of which they are passed in the same condition as they +were swallowed; the result of which is, that being taken in by ducks, +grebes, or other water-fowls, they are thus transported to situations, +such as inland lakes, which otherwise they could never have attained; +and in this way only can we account for the fact, now well ascertained, +that several lakes in the Alps, formed by the thawing of the glaciers, +are now abundantly stocked with excellent fish. + +Little fishes are ordinarily the food of larger marine animals; but a +remarkable exception occurs in the case of the larger Medusæ, which +are stated in various works to prey upon fishes for sustenance. Mr. +Peach, the naturalist, has, however, by observations at Peterhead, in +Aberdeenshire, thus corrected this statement. He observed several small +fishes playing round the larger Medusæ in the harbour and bay. When +alarmed, they would rush under the umbrella, and remain sheltered in +its large folds till the danger had passed, when they would emerge, +and sport and play about their sheltering friend. When beneath the +umbrella they lay so close that they were frequently taken into a bucket +with the Medusæ. They proved to be young whitings, varying from 1-1/2 +to 2 inches long. These little creatures, so far from becoming the +prey of the Medusæ, experienced from them protection; and, moreover, +they preferred the _stinging_ one. In no instance did Mr. Peach see a +fish in the stomach of the Medusæ, but all could liberate themselves +when they pleased. In one case, Mr. Peach witnessed a small whiting, +in the first instance chased by a single young pollack, whose assault +the little fellow easily evaded by dodging about; but the chaser being +joined by others, the whiting was driven from its imperfect shelter, and +after being much bitten and dashed about by its assailants, became at +length completely exhausted, and lay to all appearance dead. Recovering, +however, after action, it swam slowly to the Medusæ, and took refuge as +before; but its movements being soon observed, it was again attacked, +after a very brief respite, driven into open water, and speedily +despatched. + +Fishes appear to execute annually two great migrations. By one of these +shiftings they forsake the deep water for a time, and approach the +shallow shores, and by the other they return to their more concealed +haunts. These movements are connected with the purposes of spawning, +the fry requiring to come into life, and to spend a certain portion +of their youth in situations different from those which are suited +to the period of maturity. It is in obedience to these arrangements +that the Cod and Haddock, the Mackerel, and others, annually leave +the deeper and less accessible parts of the ocean, the region of the +zoophytic tribes, and deposit their spawn within that zone of marine +vegetation which fringes our coasts, extending from near the high-water +mark of neap-tides to a short distance beyond the low-water mark of +spring-tides. Amidst the shelter in this region afforded by the groves +of arborescent fuci, the young fish were wont in comfort to spend +their infancy, but since these plants have been so frequently cut down +to procure materials for the manufacture of kelp, and the requisite +protection withdrawn, the fisheries have greatly suffered. Many species +of fish, as the Salmon, Smelt, and others, in forsaking the deep water, +and approaching a suitable spawning station, leave the sea altogether +for a time, ascend the rivers and their tributary streams, and, having +deposited their eggs, return again to their usual haunts. Even a certain +species of fish, inhabiting lakes, as the Roach, betake themselves to +the tributary streams, as the most suitable places for spawning. + +The Goramy, of India, are stated by General Hardwicke to watch most +actively the margins of the spot which they select and prepare for +depositing their spawn, driving away with violence every other fish +which approaches their cover. The General adds that from the time he +first noticed this circumstance about one month had elapsed, when one +day he saw numerous minute fishes close to the margin of the grass, on +the outer side of which the parent fishes continued to pass to and fro. + +There is a species of Grampus from two to three tons weight, and about +sixteen feet in length, that amuses itself with jumping, or rather +springing its ponderous body entirely out of the water, in a vertical +position, and falling upon its back. This effort of so large a fish is +almost incredible, and informs us how surprisingly great the power of +muscle must be in this class of animal. A Correspondent writes to the +"United Service Journal":--"I have seen them spring out of the water +within ten yards of the ship's side, generally in the evening, after +having swam all the former part of the day in the ship's wake, or on +either quarter. When several of these fish take it into their heads to +'dance a hornpipe,' as the sailors term their gambols, at the distance +of half a mile, they, especially at or just after sundown, may easily +be mistaken for the sharp points of rocks sticking up out of the water, +and the splashing and foam they make and produce have the appearance +of the action of waves upon rocks. An officer of the navy informed me +that, after sunset, when near the equator, he was not a little alarmed +and surprised at the cry of 'rocks on the starboard bow!' Looking +forward, he indistinctly saw objects which he and all on board took +to be pinnacles of several rocks of a black and white colour. In a +short time, however, he discovered this formidable danger to be nothing +more than a company of dancing Grampuses with white bellies. As one +disappeared, another rose; so that there were at least five or six +constantly above the surface." + +Captain Owen relates that "the Bonita has the power of throwing itself +out of the water to an almost incredible distance when in pursuit of +its prey, the Flying Fish; and, the day previous to our arrival at +Mozambique, one of these fish rose close under our bow, and passed under +the vessel's side, and struck with such force against the poop, that, +had any one received the blow, it must have been fatal. Stunned by the +violence of the contact, it fell motionless at the helmsman's feet; but, +soon recovering, its struggles were so furious that it became necessary +to inflict several blows with an axe before it could be approached +with safety. The greatest elevation it attained above the surface of +water was eighteen feet, and the length of the leap, had no opposition +occurred, would have exceeded 180." + +Of winged or Flying Fish we find this extravagant account in a +philosophical romance, entitled, "Telliamed," by M. Maillet, an +ingenious Frenchman, of the days of Louis XV.:-- + + He believed, like Lamarck, that the whole family of birds had + existed one time as fishes, which, on being thrown ashore by the + waves, had got feathers by accident; and that men themselves are + but the descendants of a tribe of sea-monsters, who, tiring of + their proper element, crawled upon the beach one sunny morning, + and, taking a fancy to the land, forgot to return. The account + is as amusing as a fairy tale. "Winged or Flying Fish," says + Maillet, "stimulated by the desire of prey, or the fear of death, + or pushed near the shore by the billows, have fallen among the + reeds or herbage, whence it was not possible for them to resume + their flight to the sea, by means of which they had contracted + their first facility of flying. Then their fins, being no longer + bathed in the sea-water, were split and became warped by their + dryness. While they found among the reeds and herbage among which + they fell many aliments to support them, the vessels of their fins + being separated, were lengthened, or clothed with beards, or, to + speak more justly, the membranes which before kept them adherent + to each other were metamorphosed. The beard formed of these warped + membranes was lengthened. The skin of these animals was insensibly + covered with a down of the same colour with the skin, and this + down gradually increased. The little wings they had under their + belly, and which, like their wings, helped them to walk into the + sea, became feet, and helped them to walk on the land. There were + also other small changes in their figure. The beak and neck of some + were lengthened, and of others shortened. The conformity, however, + of the first figure subsists in the whole, and it will be always + easy to know it. Examine all the species of fowl, even those of the + Indies, those which are tufted or not, those whose feathers are + reversed--such as we see at Damietta, that is to say, whose plumage + runs from the tail to the head--and you will see fine species + of fish quite similar, scaly or without scales. All species of + Parrots, whose plumages are different, the rarest and most singular + marked birds, are, conformable to fact, painted, like them, black, + brown, grey, yellow, green, red, violet colour, and those of gold + and azure; and all this precisely in the same parts, where the + plumages of these birds are diversified in so curious a manner." + +The Jaculator Fish, of Java, has been called "a sporting fish," from the +precision with which it takes aim at its prey. In 1828 Mr. Mitchell +saw several of these fishes in the possession of a Javanese chief; and +here is the account of the curious manner in which these Jaculators were +employed. They were placed in a small circular pond, from the centre +of which projected a pole upwards of two feet in height. At the top of +the pole were inserted small pieces of wood, sharp-pointed, and on each +of these were placed insects of the beetle tribe. When the slaves had +placed the beetles, the fish came out of their holes, and swam round the +pond. One of them came to the surface of the water, rested there, and +after steadily fixing its eyes for some time on an insect, it discharged +from its mouth a small quantity of watery fluid, with such force, and +precision of aim, as to strike it off the twig into the water, and in +an instant swallowed it. After this, another fish came, and performed +a similar feat, and was followed by the others, until they had secured +all the insects. If a fish failed in bringing down its prey at the first +shot, it swam round the pond till it came opposite the same object, and +fired again. In one instance, a fish returned three times to the attack +before it secured its prey; but in general the fish seemed very expert +gunners, bringing down the beetle at the first shot. The fish, in a +state of nature, frequents the shores and sides of the rivers in search +of food. When it spies a fly sitting on the plants that grow on shallow +water, it swims on to the distance of five or six feet from them, and +then, with surprising dexterity, it ejects out of its tubular mouth a +single drop of water, which rarely fails to strike the fly into the +sea, where it soon becomes its prey. + +Curious fish, in great numbers, may be seen in the Harbour of Port +Royal, Jamaica, on the surface of the water, and are ranked among the +peculiarities of the place. They are the Guardo, or Guard-Fish; the Jack +(Sword-Fish); and the Ballahou. The Jack is the largest, and appears to +be always at war with the two others; it is armed with formidable teeth; +it basks on the surface of the water during the heat of the day, in a +sort of indolent, unguarded state; but this is assumed, the better to +ensnare the other fish, and to catch the floating bodies that may happen +to pass near it; for the moment anything is thrown into the sea from +the ship, the Jack darts with the rapidity of lightning upon it, and +seizing it as quickly, retreats. This Warrior-fish possesses a foresight +or instinctive quality which we see sometimes exemplified in different +animals, almost amounting to second reason, such as the sagacity it +displays in avoiding the hook when baited; although extremely voracious, +it seems aware of the lure held out for its destruction, and avoids +it with as much cunning as the generality of fishes show eagerness to +devour it. The situation it takes, immediately in the wake of the ship +at anchor, is another instance of its sagacity; as whatever is thrown +overboard passes astern, where the fish is ever on the alert for the +articles thrown over. No other fish of equal size dare approach. The +Jack is, however, sometimes enticed with the bait; but he is more +frequently struck with a barbed lance, or entrapped in a net. The +Guardo has similar habits with the Jack, but is generally beaten by +him; yet the former tyrannizes with unrelenting rigour over the weaker +associate, the Ballahou. + +The tiger of the ocean, the Shark, is often cruising about Port Royal, +but rarely injures human life. At Kingston, however, such distressing +events often occur. There was a pet Shark known as "Old Tom of Port +Royal;" it was fed whenever it approached any of the ships, but was at +last killed by the father of a child which it had devoured. Whilst it +remained here, no other of the Shark tribe dare venture on his domain; +he reigned lord paramount in his watery empire, and never committed any +depredation but that for which he suffered. + +Attending the Shark is seen the beautiful little Pilot Fish, who, first +approaching the bait, returns as if to give notice, when, immediately +after, the Shark approaches to seize it. It is a curious circumstance, +that this elegant little fish is seen in attendance only upon the Shark. +After the Shark is hooked, the Pilot Fish still swims about, and for +some time after he has been hauled on deck; it then swims very near the +surface of the water. When the Shark has been hooked, and afterwards +escapes, he generally returns, and renews the attack with increased +ferocity, irritated often by the wound he has received. + +Sharks appear to have become of late years much more numerous in Faroe, +as they have also in other parts of the North Seas, especially on the +coast of Norway. + +The reader may, probably, have found on the sea-shore certain cases, +which are fancifully called sea-purses, Mermaids' purses, &c. Now, +some Sharks bring forth their young alive, whilst others are enclosed +in oblong semi-transparent, horny cases, at each extremity of which +are two long tendrils. These cases are the above _purses_, which the +parent Shark deposits near the shore in the winter months. The twisting +tendrils hang to sea-weed, or other fixed bodies, to prevent the cases +being washed away into deep water. Two fissures, one at each end, allow +the admission of sea-water; and here the young Shark remains until it +has acquired the power of taking food by the mouth, when it leaves what +resembles its cradle. The young fish ultimately escapes by an opening at +the end, near which the head is situated. + +California has yielded an extraordinary novelty in fish history. In 1854 +Mr. Jackson, while fishing in San Salita Bay, caught with a hook and +line a fish of the perch family _containing living young_. These were +supposed to be the prey which the fish had swallowed, but on opening +the belly was found next to the back of the fish, and slightly attached +to it, a long very light violet bag, so clear and transparent that +there could already be distinguished through it the shape, colour, and +formation of a multitude of small fish (all facsimiles of each other), +with which the bag was filled. They were in all respects like the +mother, and like each other; and there cannot remain a single doubt that +these young were the offspring of the fish from whose body they were +taken; and that this species of fish gives birth to her young alive +and perfectly formed, and adapted to seek its own livelihood in the +water. Professor Agassiz has confirmed the truth of this extraordinary +statement by a careful examination of the specimens, and has ascertained +that there are two very distinct species of this remarkable type of +fishes. + +Tales of "Wonderful Fish" are common in the works of the old +naturalists, whence they are quoted from generation to generation. +Sir John Richardson has lately demolished one queer fish, which was +as certain to reappear whenever opportunity offered, as the elephant +pricked with the tailor's needle does in books of stories of the animal +world. We allude to that monstrous myth, the great Manheim Pike, with +a collar round his neck, put into a lake by the Emperor Frederick II. +in the year 1230; and taken out in the 276th year of his age, the 17th +foot of his length, and the 350th pound of his weight. M. Valenciennes, +a naturalist of repute, has entered into a critical history of this +monster, and has found him to be apocryphal. The creature was, at any +rate, taken in several places at once, the legends written on his +brass collar do not agree, and his alleged skeleton has been found +to be made up of various bones of various fishes; while the vertebræ +are, unfortunately, so many, that Professor Owen would order him out +of Court in an instant as a rank impostor. Probably some specimen of +the _Mecho_, the monstrous fish of the Danube--which has even now been +scarcely described, and which has only recently been identified as one +of the salmon tribe--having been called a pike, may be at the bottom of +the legend of the great Manheim fish. But Sir John Richardson produces +another big pike, killed by an intrepid "angler seventy years of age, +with a single rod and bait"--an observation which leads to the inquiry +of the possibility of catching a single fish with more than one rod +and bait--"that weighed seventy-eight pounds." This is stated to have +happened in the county of Clare; the angler's name was O'Flanagan. + +Here is another wonderful story:--The Bohemians have a proverb--"Every +fish has another for prey:" that named the Wels has them all. This is +the largest fresh-water fish found in the rivers of Europe, except the +sturgeon; it often reaches five or six feet in length. It destroys many +aquatic birds, and we are assured that it does not spare the human +species. On the 3d of July, 1700, a peasant took one near Thorn, that +had an infant entire in its stomach! They tell in Hungary of children +and young girls being devoured on going to draw water; and they even +relate that, on the frontiers of Turkey, a poor fisherman took one that +had in its stomach the body of a woman, her purse full of gold, and +a _ring_! The fish is even reported to have been taken sixteen feet +long. The old stories of rings found in the stomachs of fishes will be +remembered; as well as here and there a _book_ found in the stomach of a +fish! + +The Sun-fish is exceedingly rare. A large specimen was captured off +Start Point in 1864. Attention was first drawn to a huge dark object on +the water. On a boat being sent out, it was soon discovered to be the +back fin of a very large fish, apparently asleep. A very exciting chase +commenced, extending over an hour, the crew meanwhile battling with +harpoons, boat-hooks, &c.; the fish trying several times to upset the +boat by getting his back under it. At length a line was thrown over its +head, and the fish, being weakened by the struggle, was towed alongside +the yacht, hoisted on board, and slaughtered. Yarrell, in his work on +British Fishes, states the largest Sun-fish to be about 3 cwt., but the +above specimen weighed nearly 6 cwt. Sun-fish are found occasionally in +the tropical seas of large dimensions, but those found in the Channel +seldom if ever exceed from 1 cwt. to 2 cwt. The peculiarities in regard +to this fish are, that it has no bones, but the whole of the formation +is of cartilage, which can easily be cut with a knife. The skin is +cartilage of about an inch and a-half thick, under which there is no +backbone or ribs. This specimen was of extraordinary dimensions--5 ft. +10 in. in length, and 7 ft. from the tip of the dorsal to the point of +the anal fin. + +The "Courrier de Sagon" brings, as a contribution to Natural History, +the not very credible-sounding description of a fish called "Ca-oug" +in the Anamite tongue, which is said to have saved the lives already +of several Anamites; for which reason the King of Anam has invested it +with the name of "Nam hai dui bnong gnan" (Great General of the South +Sea). This fish is said to swim round ships near the coast, and, when it +sees a man in the water, to seize him with his mouth, and to carry him +ashore. A skeleton of this singular inhabitant of the deep is to be seen +at Wung-tau, near Cape St. James. It is reported to be thirty-five feet +in length, to have tusks "almost like an elephant," very large eyes, a +black and smooth skin, a tail like a lobster, and two "wings" on its +back.[15] + +The Grouper must be a voracious fish, for we read of a specimen being +caught off the coast of Queensland, which is thus described:--"It was +7 ft. long, 6 ft. in circumference at its thickest part, and its head +weighed 80 lb. When opened, there were found in its stomach two broken +bottles, a quart pot, a preserved milk tin, seven medium-sized crabs; a +piece of earthenware, triangular in shape, and three inches in length, +incrusted with oyster shells, a sheep's head, some mutton and beef +bones, and some loose oyster shells. The spine of a skate was imbedded +in the Grouper's liver." + +The Double-fish, here represented, is a pair of Cat-fish, which were +taken alive in a shrimp-net, at the mouth of Cape Fear River, near +Fort Johnston. North Carolina, in 1833, and presented to Professor +Silliman. One of them is three and a-half, and the other two and a-half +inches long, including the tail--the smallest emaciated, and of sickly +appearance. They are connected in the manner of the Siamese Twins, by +the skin at the breast, which is marked by a dark streak at the line of +union. The texture and colour otherwise of this skin is the same as that +of the belly. The mouth, viscera, &c., were entire and perfect in each +fish; but, on withdrawing the entrails, through an incision made on one +side of the abdomen, the connecting integument was found to be hollow. +A flexible probe was passed through from one to the other, with the +tender and soft end of a spear of grass, drawn from a green plant. But +there was no appearance of the entrails of one having come in contact +with those of the other, for the integument was less than one-tenth of +an inch in its whole thickness; in length, from the body or trunk of +one fish to the other, it was three-tenths; and in the water, when the +largest fish was in its natural position, the small one could, by the +length and pliancy of this skin, swim in nearly the same position. When +these fish came into existence it is probable they were of almost equal +size and strength, but one "born to better fortune," or exercising more +ingenuity and industry than the other, gained a trifling ascendency, +which he improved to increase the disparity, and, by pushing his +extended mouth in advance of the other, seized the choicest and most of +the food for himself. + +From the northern parts of British America we have received +extraordinary contributions to our fish collections. One of these is +the Square-browed Malthe, obtained in one of the land expeditions under +the command of Captain Sir John Franklin. R.N. It was taken on the +Labrador coast, and then belonged to a species hitherto undescribed. +Its intestines were filled with small crabs and univalve shells. The +extreme length of the fish is 7 inches 11 lines. The upper surface +is greyish white, with brown blotches, and the fins are whitish. The +head is much depressed and greatly widened; the eyes far forward; the +snout projecting like a small horn. Most of the fish of this family +can live long out of water, in consequence of the smallness of their +gill-openings; indeed, those of one of the genera are able, even in warm +countries, to pass two or three days in creeping over the land. All the +family conceal themselves in the mud or sand, and lie in wait to take +their prey by surprise. The accompanying engraving is from the very +able work of Dr. Richardson, F.R.S., published by the munificence of +Government. + +[Illustration: SQUARE-BROWED MALTHE AND DOUBLE FISH.] + +Gold Fish (of the Carp family) have been made to distinguish a +particular sound made by those from whom they receive their food; they +recognise their footsteps at a distance, and come at their call. Captain +Brown says Gold Fish, when kept in ponds, are "frequently taught to rise +to the surface of the water at the sound of a bell to be fed;" and Mr. +Jesse was assured that Gold Fish evince much pleasure on being whistled +to. Hakewill, in his "Apology for God's Power and Providence," cites +Pliny to show that a certain emperor had ponds containing fish, which, +when called by their respective _names_ that were bestowed upon them, +came to the spot whence the voice proceeded. Bernier, in his "History +of Hindustan," states a like circumstance of the fish belonging to the +Great Mogul. The old poet, Martial, also mentions fish coming at the +call, as will be seen by the following translation from one of his +epigrams:-- + + "Angler! could'st thou be guiltless? Then forbear: + For these are sacred fishes that swim here; + Who know their Sovereign, and will lick his hand. + Than which none's greater in the world's command; + Nay, more; they've names, and when they called are. + Do to their several owners' call repair." + +Who, after reading so many instances, can doubt that fish hear? + +It has been found that the water from steam-engines, which is thrown +into dams or ponds for the purpose of being cooled, conduces much to +the nutriment of Gold Fish. In these dams, the average temperature +of which is about eighty degrees, it is common to keep Gold Fish; in +which situation they multiply much more rapidly than in ponds of lower +temperature exposed to variations of the climate. Three pair of fish +were put into one of these dams, where they increased so rapidly that at +the end of three years their progeny, which was accidentally poisoned +by verdigris mixed with the refuse tallow from the engine, were taken +out by wheel-barrow-fuls. Gold Fish are by no means useless inhabitants +of these dams, as they consume the refuse grease which would otherwise +impede the cooling of the water by accumulating on its surface. It is +not improbable that this unusual supply of aliment may co-operate with +increase of temperature in promoting the fecundity of the fishes. + +Most of our readers have heard of the fish popularly known as the +Miller's Thumb, the origin of the name of which Mr. Yarrell has thus +explained:--"It is well known that all the science and tact of a miller +is directed so to regulate the machinery of his mill that the meal +produced shall be of the most valuable description that the operation +of grinding will permit, when performed under the most advantageous +circumstances. His ear is constantly directed to the note made by the +running stone in its circular course over the bedstone, the exact +parallelism of their two surfaces, indicated by a particular sound, +being a matter of the first consequence; and his hand is constantly +placed under the meal-spout to ascertain, by actual contact, the +character and quality of the meal produced, which he does by a +particular movement of his thumb in spreading the sample over his +fingers. By this incessant action of the miller's thumb, a peculiarity +in its shape is produced, which is said to resemble exactly the shape of +the _river bull-head_, a fish constantly found in the mill-stream, and +which has obtained for it the name of the Miller's Thumb." + +M. Coste has constructed a kind of marine observatory at Concarneau +(Finisterre) for the purpose of studying the habits and instincts of +various Sea-fish. A terrace has been formed on the top of a house on the +quay, with reservoirs arranged like a flight of steps. The sea-water is +pumped up to the topmost reservoir, and thence flows down slowly, after +the manner of a rivulet. The length is divided into 95 cells by wire +net partitions, which, allowing free passage to the water, yet prevent +the different species of fish from mingling together. By this ingenious +contrivance each kind lives separate, enjoying its peculiar food and +habits, unconscious of its state of captivity. Some species, such as the +Mullet, the Stickleback, &c., grow perfectly tame, will follow the hand +that offers them food, and will even allow themselves to be taken out of +the water. The Goby and Bull-head are less familiar. The Turbot, which +looks so unintelligent, will, nevertheless, take food from the hand; +it changes colour when irritated, the spots with which it is covered +growing pale or dark, according to the emotions excited in it. But +the most curious circumstance concerning it is, that it swallows fish +of a much larger size than would appear compatible with the apparent +smallness of its mouth. Thus, a young Turbot, not more than ten inches +in length, has been seen to swallow Pilchards of the largest size. The +Pipe-Fish has two peculiarities. These fish form groups, entwining their +tails together, and remaining immoveable in a vertical position, with +their heads upwards. When food is offered them, they perform a curious +evolution--they turn round on their backs to receive it. This is owing +to the peculiar position of the mouth, which is placed under a kind of +beak, and perpendicular to its axis. + +The crustaceous tribes have also furnished much matter of observation. +The Prawn and Crab, for instance, exercises the virtue of conjugal +fidelity to the highest degree; for the male takes hold of his mate, +and never lets her go; he swims with her, crawls about with her, and if +she is forcibly taken away from him, he seizes hold of her again. The +metamorphoses to which various crustaceous tribes are subject have also +been studied with much attention.[16] + +Much as the nature and habits of fish have been studied of late years, +the economy of some is to this day involved in obscurity. The Herring +is one of these fishes. The Swedish Herring Fisheries were, at one +time, the largest in Europe, but at present, during the temporary +disappearance of the fish, they have dwindled away. The causes which +influence the movements of the Herring--one of the most capricious of +fish--are a puzzle which naturalists have as yet failed to solve. They +are not migratory, as was at one time believed--that is, they seldom +wander far from the place where they were bred; but they are influenced +by certain hidden and unexplained causes at one time to remain for years +in the deep sea, and at another to come close in to land in enormous +numbers. During the first half of the sixteenth century, Herrings +entirely deserted the Swedish coasts. In 1556 they reappeared, and +remained for thirty-one years in the shallow waters. Throughout this +period they were taken in incalculable numbers; "thousands of ships came +annually from Denmark, Germany, Friesland, Holland, England, and France, +to purchase the fish, of which sufficient were always found for them +to carry away to their own or other countries.... From the small town +of Marstrand alone some two million four hundred thousand bushels were +yearly exported." In 1587 the Herrings disappeared, and remained absent +for seventy-three years, till 1660. In 1727 they returned, and again in +1747, remaining till 1808, and during this last period the fisheries +were prosecuted with extraordinary zeal, industry, and success. The +Government gave every encouragement to settlers, and it was computed +that during some years as many as fifty thousand strangers took part +in them. In 1808 the Herrings once more disappeared, and have never +returned since. The cause must still be considered as quite unknown; but +we may fairly assume, according to historical precedents, that after a +certain period of absence, the Herrings will again return.[17] + +Aristotle, in his "History of Animals," makes some extremely curious +observations on Fish and Cetaceous Animals, as might be expected from +the variety of these animals in the Grecian seas. In Spratt and Forbes's +"Travels in Syria" the account of the habits and structure of the +Cuttle-fish in Aristotle's work is ranked amongst the most admirable +natural history essays ever written. It is, moreover, remarkable for its +anticipation. + +Dr. Osborne, in 1840, read to the Royal Society a short analysis of +this work, in which he showed that Aristotle anticipated Dr. Jenner's +researches respecting the cuckoo; as also some discoveries respecting +the incubated egg, which were published as new in the above year. +Aristotle describes the economy of bees as we have it at present; but +mistakes the sex of the queen. The various organs are described as +modified throughout the different classes of animals (beginning with +man) in nearly the same order as that afterwards adopted by Cuvier. + +The chief value of this body of knowledge, which has been buried for +above 2,000 years, is, that it is a collection of facts observed under +peculiar advantages, such as never since occurred, and that _it is at +the present day to be consulted for new discoveries_. + +According to Pliny, for the above work some thousands of men were placed +at Aristotle's disposal throughout Greece and Asia, comprising persons +connected with hunting and fishing, or who had the care of cattle, +fish-ponds, and apiaries, in order that he might obtain information from +all quarters, _ne quid usquam gentium ignoretur ab eo_. According to +Athenæus, Aristotle received from the prince, on account of the expenses +of the work, 800 talents, or upwards of 79,000_l._ + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[14] A tench was brought to Mr. Harmer so full of spawn that the skin +was burst by a slight knock, and many thousands of the eggs were lost; +yet even after this misfortune he found the remainder to amount to +383,252! Of other marine animals, which he includes under the general +term fish, the fecundity, though sufficiently great, is by no means +enormous. A lobster yielded 7,227 eggs; a prawn 3,806; and a shrimp +3,057. See Mr. Harmer's paper, "Philosophical Transactions," 1767. + +[15] "Athenæum." + +[16] See "The Tree-climbing Crab," pp. 282-302. + +[17] "Saturday Review." + + + + +FISH IN BRITISH COLOMBIA. + + +In this bitterly cold country, where the snow lies deep six months out +of the twelve, the natives subsist principally on fish, of which there +is an extraordinary abundance generally, and of salmon particularly. +Salmon swarm in such numbers that the rivers cannot hold them. In June +and July every rivulet, no matter how shallow, is so crammed with salmon +that, from sheer want of room, they push one another high and dry upon +the pebbles; and Mr. Lord[18] tells us that each salmon, with its head +up, struggles, fights, and scuffles for precedence. With one's hands +only, or more easily by employing a gaff or a crook-stick, tons of +salmon have been procured by the simple process of hooking them out. +Once started on their journey, the salmon never turn back. As fast as +those in front die, fresh arrivals crowd on to take their places, and +share their fate. "It is a strange and novel sight to see three moving +lines of fish--the dead and dying in the eddies and slack water along +the bank, the living breasting the current in the centre, blindly +pressing on to perish like their kindred." For two months this great +_salmon army_ proceeds on its way up stream, furnishing a supply of food +without which the Indians must perish miserably. The winters are too +severe for them to venture out in search of food, even if there was any +to be obtained. From being destitute of salt, they are unable to cure +meat in the summer for winter provisions, and hence for six months in +the year they depend upon salmon, which they preserve by drying in the +sun. + +But the Indian has another source of provision for the winter, fully +as important as the salmon. The Candle-fish supplies him at once with +light, butter, and oil.[19] When dried, and perforated with a rush, +or strip of cypress-bark, it can be lighted, and burns steadily until +consumed. Strung up, and hung for a time in the smoke of a wood fire, +it is preserved as a fatty morsel to warm him when pinched with cold; +and, by heat and pressure, it is easily converted into liquid oil, and +drunk with avidity. That nothing may be wanting, the hollow stalk of the +sea-wrack, which at the root is expanded into a complete flask, makes an +admirable bottle; and so, when the Indian buries himself for long dreary +months in his winter quarters, neither his larder nor his cellar are +empty, and he has a lamp to lighten the darkness. The steamers have, +however, frightened away the Candle-fish and the Indian from their old +haunts, and they have both retreated to the north of the Colombia River. + +Amongst the other inhabitants of the salt and fresh waters of these +regions are the Halibut and the Sturgeon, both of which attain to an +immense size. The bays and inlets along the coast abound with marine +wonders. There feasts and fattens the Clam, a bivalve so gigantic that +no oyster-knife can force an entrance, and only when his shell is almost +red-hot will he be at last constrained to open his dwelling. + +And there lies in wait the awful Octopus, a monster of insatiable +voracity, of untameable ferocity, and of consummate craft; of sleepless +vigilance, shrouded amidst the forest of sea-weed, and from the touch of +whose terrible arms no living thing escapes. It attains to an enormous +size in those seas, the arms being sometimes five feet in length, and as +thick at the base as a man's wrist. No bather would have a chance if he +once got within the grasp of such a monster, nor could a canoe resist +the strength of its pull; but the Indian, who devours the Octopus with +great relish, has all the cunning created by necessity, and takes care +that none of the eight sucker-dotted arms ever gain a hold on his frail +bark. + +Professor Owen has figured a species of Octopus, the Eight-armed Cuttle +of the European seas, representing it in the act of creeping on shore, +its body being carried vertically in the reverse position, with its head +downwards, and its back being turned towards the spectator, upon whom it +is supposed to be advancing. This animal is said to be luminous in the +dark. Linnæus quotes Bartholinus for the statement that one gave so much +light that when the candle was taken away, it illuminated the room. + +The Sturgeon is one of the finest fishes of the country, and Mr. Lord's +account of the Indian mode of taking them is a very graphic picture of +this river sport. + + "The spearman stands in the bow, armed with a most formidable + spear. The handle, from seventy to eighty feet long, is made of + white pine-wood; fitted on the spear-haft is a barbed point, + in shape very much like a shuttlecock, supposing each feather + represented by a piece of bone, thickly barbed, and very sharp + at the end. This is so contrived that it can be easily detached + from the long handle by a sharp, dexterous jerk. To this barbed + contrivance a long line is made fast, which is carefully coiled + away close to the spearman, like a harpoon-line in a whale-boat. + The four canoes, alike equipped, are paddled into the centre of + the stream, and side by side drift slowly down with the current, + each spearman carefully feeling along the bottom with his spear, + constant practice having taught the crafty savages to know a + Sturgeon's back when the spear comes in contact with it. The + spear-head touches the drowsy fish; a sharp plunge, and the + redskin sends the notched points through armour and cartilage, + deep into the leather-like muscles. A skilful jerk frees the long + handle from the barbed end, which remains inextricably fixed in + the fish; the handle is thrown aside, the line seized, and the + struggle begins. The first impulse is to resist this objectionable + intrusion, so the angry Sturgeon comes up to see what it all + means. This curiosity is generally repaid by having a second spear + sent crashing into him. He then takes a header, seeking safety in + flight, and the real excitement commences. With might and main the + bowman plies the paddle, and the spearman pays out the line, the + canoe flying through the water. The slightest tangle, the least + hitch, and over it goes; it becomes, in fact, a sheer trial of + paddle _versus_ fin. Twist and turn as the Sturgeon may, all the + canoes are with him. He flings himself out of the water, dashes + through it, under it, and skims along the surface; but all is in + vain, the canoes and their dusky oarsmen follow all his efforts + to escape, as a cat follows a mouse. Gradually the Sturgeon + grows sulky and tired, obstinately floating on the surface. The + savage knows he is not vanquished, but only biding a chance for + revenge; so he shortens up the line, and gathers quietly on him + to get another spear in. It is done,--and down viciously dives + the Sturgeon; but pain and weariness begin to tell, the struggles + grow weaker and weaker as life ebbs slowly away, until the mighty + armour-plated monarch of the river yields himself a captive to the + dusky native in his frail canoe." + +There is a very rare Spoonbill Sturgeon found in the western waters +of North America: its popular name is Paddle-fish. One, five feet in +length, weighed forty pounds; the nose, resembling a spatula, was +thirteen inches in length. It was of a light slate colour, spotted with +black; belly white; skin smooth, like an eel; the flesh compact and +firm, and hard when boiled--not very enticing to the epicure. The jaws +are without teeth, but the fauces are lined with several tissues of the +most beautiful network, evidently for the purpose of collecting its food +from the water by straining, or passing it through these membranes in +the same manner as practised by the spermaceti whale. Near the top of +the head are two small holes, through which it is possible the Sturgeon +may discharge water in the manner practised by cetaceous animals. It is +conjectured that the long "Spoonbill" nose of this fish is for digging +up or moving the soft mud in the bottom of the river, and when the water +is fully saturated, draw it through the filamentory strainers in search +of food. + +Sturgeons resemble sharks in their general form, but their bodies are +defended by bony shields, disposed in longitudinal rows; and their head +is also well curiassed externally. The Sturgeons of North America are of +little benefit to the natives. A few speared in the summer-time suffice +for the temporary support of some Indian hordes; but none are preserved +for winter use, and the roe and sounds are utterly wasted. + +The northern limit of the Sturgeon in America is probably between the +55th and 56th parallels of latitude. Dr. Richardson did not meet with +any account of its existence to the north of Stewart's Lake, on the west +side of the Rocky Mountains; and on the east side it does not go higher +than the Saskatchewan and its tributaries. It is not found in Churchill +River, nor in any of the branches of the Mackenzie or other streams that +fall into the Arctic Seas--a remarkable circumstance when we consider +that some species swarm in the Asiatic rivers which flow into the Icy +Sea. Sturgeons occur in all the great lakes communicating with the +St. Lawrence, and also along the whole Atlantic coast of the United +States down to Florida. Peculiar species inhabit the Mississippi; it is, +therefore, probable that the range of the genus extends to the Gulf of +Mexico. + +The great rapid which forms the discharge of the Saskatchewan into Lake +Winnipeg appears quite alive with these fish in the month of June; and +some families of the natives resort thither at that time to spear them +with a harpoon, or grapple them with a strong hook tied to a pole. +Notwithstanding the great muscular power of the Sturgeon, it is timid; +and Dr. Richardson saw one so frightened at the paddling of a canoe, +that it ran its nose into a muddy bank, and was taken by a _voyageur_, +who leaped upon its back. + +In Colombia River, a small species of Sturgeon attains eleven feet in +length, and a weight of six hundred pounds.[20] It is caught as high up +as Fort Colville, notwithstanding the numerous intervening cataracts and +rapids which seem to be insuperable barriers to a fish so sluggish in +its movements. + +The Sturgeon is styled a Royal Fish in England, because, by a statute +of Edward II. it is enacted, "the King shall have Sturgeon taken in the +sea, or elsewhere, within the realm." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[18] "The Naturalist in Vancouver Island and British Columbia." By John +Keast Lord, F.Z.S., Naturalist to the British North American Boundary +Commission. + +[19] The Petrel is similarly used in the Faroe Islands. (See _ante_, p. +234.) It may, therefore, be called the Candle Bird. + +[20] Dr. Richardson. The _Huro_ is reported by Pallas to attain a weight +of nearly three thousand pounds, and a length exceeding thirty feet. + + + + +THE TREE-CLIMBING CRAB. + + +The transition from the ordinary mode of the locomotion of fishes by +swimming to that of climbing has been ably illustrated by the Rev. Dr. +Buckland, who showed, in a communication to the Ashmolean Society, in +1843, that the fins in certain genera perform the functions of feet +and wings. Thus, "fishing-frogs" have the fins converted into feet, or +paddles, by means of which they have the power of crawling or hopping +on sand and mud; and another species can live three days out of the +water, and walk upon dry land. The climbing perch of the Indian rivers +is known to live a long time in the air, and to climb up the stems of +palm-trees in pursuit of flies, by means of spinous projections on its +gill-covers. Fishes of the _silurus_ family have a bony enlargement of +the first ray of the pectoral fin, which is also armed with spines; +and this is not only an offensive and defensive weapon, but enables +the fish to walk along the bottom of the fresh waters which it +inhabits. The flying-fishes are notorious examples of the conversion +of fins into an organ of movement in the air. M. Deslongchamps has +published, in the "Transactions of the Linnæan Society of Normandy," +1842, a curious account of the movements of the gurnard at the bottom of +the sea. In 1839, he observed these movements in one of the artificial +fishing-ponds, or fishing-traps, surrounded by nets, on the shore of +Normandy. He saw a score of gurnards closing their fins against their +sides, like the wing of a fly in repose, and without any movement of +their tails, walking along the bottom by means of six free rays, three +on each pectoral fin, which they placed successively on the ground. +They moved rapidly forwards, backwards, to the right and left, groping +in all directions with these rays, as if in search of small crabs. +Their great heads and bodies seemed to throw hardly any weight on the +slender rays, or feet, being suspended in water, and having their weight +further diminished by their swimming-bladder. During these movements the +gurnards resembled insects moving along the sand. When M. Deslongchamps +moved in the water, the fish swam away rapidly to the extremity of the +pond; when he stood still, they resumed their ambulatory movement, and +came between his legs. On dissection, we find these three anterior rays +of the pectoral fins to be supported each with strong muscular apparatus +to direct their movements, apart from the muscles that are connected +with the smaller rays of the pectoral fin. + +Dr. Buckland states that Miss Potts, of Chester, had sent to him a +flagstone from a coalshaft at Mostyn, bearing impressions which he +supposed to be the trackway of some fish crawling along the bottom +by means of the anterior rays of its pectoral fins. There were no +indications of feet, but only scratches, symmetrically disposed on each +side of a space that may have been covered by the body of the fish +whilst making progress, by pressing its fin-bones on the bottom. As yet, +no footsteps of reptiles, or of any animals more highly organized than +fishes, have been found in strata older than those which belong to the +new red sandstone. The abundant remains of fossil fishes, armed with +strong bony spines, and of other fishes allied to the gurnard, in strata +of the carboniferous and old red sandstone series, would lead us to +expect the frequent occurrence of impressions made by their locomotive +organs on the bottoms of the ancient waters in which they lived. Dr. +Buckland proposed to designate these petrified traces or trackways of +ancient fishes by the term of fish-tracks. + +Crabs and Lobsters are strange creatures: strange in their +configurations; strange in the transmutations which they exhibit from +the egg to maturity; strange in the process they undergo of casting off, +not only their shell, but the covering of their eyes, of their long +horns, and even the lining of their tooth-furnished stomach; strange, +also, are they in their manners and habits. Many a reader, in wandering +along the sea-shore, may have disturbed little colonies of Crabs +quietly nestling in fancied security amidst banks of slimy sea-weed; and +in the nooks and recesses of the coast, the shallows, and strips of land +left dry at ebb-tide, may be seen numbers of little, or perchance large, +Crabs, some concealed in snug lurking-places, others tripping, with a +quick _side-long_ movement, over the beach, alarmed by the advance of an +unwelcome intruder. Some are exclusively tenants of the water, have feet +formed like paddles for swimming, and never venture on land; others seem +to love the air and sunshine, and enjoy an excursion, not without hopes +of finding an acceptable repast, over the oozy sands; some, equally fond +of the shore and shallow water, appropriate to themselves the shells of +periwinkles, whelks, &c., and there live in a sort of castle, which they +drag about with them on their excursions, changing it for a larger as +they increase in measure of growth. They vary in size from microscopic +animalcules to the gigantic King Crab:[21] to the former, the luminosity +of the ocean, or of the foam before the prows of vessels, is, to a +great extent, attributable, each minute creature glowing with phosphoric +light. + +The Bernhard Crab has been proved to have the power of dissolving +shells, it not being unusual to find the long fusiform shells which are +inhabited by these animals with the inner lip, and the greater part of +the pillar on the inside of the mouth, destroyed, so as to render the +aperture much larger than usual. Dr. Gray is quite convinced that these +Crabs have the above power, some to a much greater degree than others. + +Certain Crabs, especially in the West Indies, are almost exclusively +terrestrial, visiting the sea only at given periods, for the deposition +of their eggs. These Crabs carry in their gill-chambers sufficient water +for the purpose of respiration; they live in burrows, and traverse +considerable tracts of land in the performance of their migratory +journeys. Of these, some, as the Violet Crab, are exquisite delicacies. + +Of a great Crab migration we find these details in the "Jamaica Royal +Gazette:"--In 1811 there was a very extraordinary production of Black +Crabs in the eastern part of Jamaica. In June or July the whole district +of Manchidneed was covered with countless numbers, swarming from the sea +to the mountains. Of this the writer was an eye-witness. On ascending +Over Hill from the vale of Plantain Garden River, the road appeared of a +reddish colour, as if strewed with brick-dust. It was owing to myriads +of young Black Crabs, about the size of the nail of a man's finger, +moving at a pretty quick pace, direct for the mountains. "I rode along +the coast," says the writer, "a distance of about fifteen miles, and +found it nearly the same the whole way. Returning the following day, I +found the road still covered with them, the same as the day before. How +have they been produced, and where do they come from? were questions +everybody asked, and nobody could answer. It is well known that Crabs +deposit their eggs once a year, in May; but, except on this occasion, +though living on the coast, I had never seen above a dozen young Crabs +together; and here were myriads. No unusual number of old Crabs had been +observed in that season; and it is worthy of note, that they were moving +from a rock-bound coast of inaccessible cliffs, the abode of sea-birds, +and exposed to the constant influence of the trade winds. No person, as +far as I know, ever saw the like, except on that occasion; and I have +understood that since 1811 Black Crabs have been more abundant further +in to the interior of the island than they were ever known before." + +Cuvier describes the Burrowing Crab as displaying wonderful +instinct:--"The animal closes the entrance of its burrow, which is +situated near the margin of the sea, or in marshy grounds, with its +largest claw. These burrows are cylindrical, oblique, very deep, and +very close to each other; but generally each burrow is the exclusive +habitation of a single individual. The habit which these crabs have of +holding their large claw elevated in advance of the body, as if making a +sign of beckoning to some one, has obtained for them the name of Calling +Crabs. There is a species observed by Mr. Bosc in South Carolina, +which passes the three months of the winter in its retreat without +once quitting it, and which never goes to the sea except at the epoch +of egg-laying." The same observations apply to the Chevalier Crabs (so +called from the celerity with which they traverse the ground). These are +found in Africa, and along the borders of the Mediterranean. + +Some Crabs, truly aquatic, as the Vaulted Crab of the Moluccas, have +the power of drawing back their limbs, and concealing them in a furrow, +which they closely fit; and thus, in imitation of a tortoise, which +retracts its feet and head within its shell, they secure themselves, +when alarmed. Other aquatic species have their limbs adapted for +clinging to weeds and other marine objects. Of these some have the +two or four hind pairs of limbs so placed as to appear to spring from +the back; they terminate in a sharp hook, by means of which the Crab +attaches itself to the valves of shells, fragments of coral, &c., +which it draws over its body, and thus lurks in concealment. Allied, +in some respects, to the Hermit or Soldier Crabs, which tenant empty +shells, is one which, from its manners and habits, is one of the most +extraordinary of its race. The Hermit Crabs are voracious, and feed +on animal substances. The Hermit, or Bernhard Crab, is so called from +its habit of taking up its solitary residence in deserted shells, thus +seeking a protection for its tail, which is long and naked. It is found +in shells of different dimensions, and from time to time leaves its +abode, as it feels a necessity, for a more commodious dwelling. It is +said to present, on such occasions, an amusing instinct as it inserts +the tail successively into several empty shells until one is found to +fit. We learn from Professor Bell, however, that it does not always wait +until the home is vacant, but occasionally rejects the rightful occupant +with some violence. On the contrary, the Crab, or rather Lobster-Crab +(for it takes an intermediate place between them), is more delicate in +its appetite, and feeds upon fruits, to obtain which it is said to climb +up certain trees, at the feet of which it makes a burrow. This species +is the Purse Crab, or Robber Crab, of Amboyna and other islands in the +South Pacific Ocean. + +"According to popular belief among the Indians," says Cuvier, "the +Robber Crab feeds on the nuts of the cocoa-tree, and it makes its +excursions during the night; its places of retreat are fissures in the +rocks, or holes in the ground." The accounts of the early writers and +travellers, as well as of the natives, were disbelieved; but their truth +has since been abundantly confirmed. MM. Quoy and Guimard assure us that +several Robber Crabs were fed by them for many months on cocoa-nuts +alone; and a specimen of this Crab was submitted to the Zoological +Society, with additional information from Mr. Cuming, in whose fine +collection from the islands of the South Pacific several specimens were +preserved. Mr. Cuming states these Crabs to be found in great numbers in +Lord Hood's Island, in the Pacific. He there frequently met with them on +the road. On being disturbed, the Crabs instantly assumed a defensive +attitude, making a loud snapping with their powerful claws, or pincers, +which continued as they retreated backwards. They climb a species of +palm to gather a small kind of cocoa-nut that grows thereon. They live +at the roots of trees, and not in the holes of rocks; and they form a +favourite food among the natives. Such is the substance of Mr. Cuming's +account. Mr. Darwin, in his "Researches in Geology and Natural History," +saw several of these Crabs in the Keeling Islands, or Cocos Islands, in +the Indian Ocean, about 600 miles distant from the coast of Sumatra. In +these islands, of coral formation, the cocoa-nut tree is so abundant as +to appear, at first glance, to compose the whole wood of the islands. + +Here the great Purse Crab is abundant. Mr. Darwin describes it as a Crab +which lives on the cocoa-nut, is common on all parts of the dry land, +and grows to a monstrous size. This Crab has its front pair of legs +terminated by very strong and heavy pincers, and the last pair by others +which are narrow and weak. It would at first be thought quite impossible +for a Crab to open a strong cocoa-nut, covered with the husk; but Mr. +Liesk assures me that he has repeatedly seen the operation effected. +The Crab begins by tearing away the husk, fibre by fibre, and always +from that end under which the three eye-holes are situated. When this +is completed the Crab commences hammering with its heavy claws on one +of these eye-holes till an opening is made. Then, turning its body, by +the aid of its posterior and narrow pair of pincers, it extracts the +white albuminous substance. I think this as curious a case as I ever +heard of, and likewise of adaptation in structure between two objects +apparently so remote from each other in the scheme of nature as a Crab +and a cocoa-nut tree. The Crab is diurnal in its habits; but it is said +to pay every night a visit to the sea for the purpose of moistening its +gills. These gills are very peculiar, and scarcely fill up more than a +tenth of the chamber in which they are placed: it doubtless acts as a +reservoir for water, to serve the Crab in its passage over the dry and +heated land. The young are hatched and live for some time on the coast; +at this period of existence we cannot suppose that cocoa-nuts form any +part of their diet; most probably soft saccharine grasses, fruits, and +certain animal matters, serve as their food until they attain a certain +size and strength. + +The adult Crabs, Mr. Darwin tells us, inhabit deep burrows, which they +excavate beneath the roots of trees; and here they accumulate great +quantities of the picked fibres of the cocoa-nut husk, on which they +rest as on a bed. The Malays sometimes take advantage of the labours of +the Crab by collecting the coarse fibrous substance, and using it as +junk. These Crabs are very good to eat; moreover, under the tail of the +larger ones there is a great mass of fat, which, when melted, yields as +much as a quart bottleful of limpid oil. + +The Crab's means of obtaining the cocoa-nuts have, however, been much +disputed. It is stated by some authors to crawl up the trees for the +purpose of stealing the nuts. This is doubted; though in the kind of +palm to which Mr. Cuming refers as being ascended by this Crab, the +task would be much easier. Now, Mr. Darwin states, that in the Keeling +Islands the Crab lives only on the nuts which fall to the ground. It +may thus appear that Mr. Cuming's and Mr. Darwin's respective accounts +of the _non-climbing_ of this Crab on the one side, and its _actually +climbing trees_ on the other, are contradictory. The height of the stem +of the cocoa-nut tree, its circumference, and comparative external +smoothness, would prove insurmountable, or at least very serious +obstacles, to the most greedy Crab, however large and strong it might +be. But these difficulties are by no means so formidable in the tree +specified by Mr. Cuming: this is arborescent, or bushy, with long, thin, +rigid, sword-shaped leaves, resembling those of the pineapple, usually +arranged spirally, so that they are commonly called Screw Pines. They +are of the genus _Pandanus_, a word derived from the Malay _Pandang_. +The ascent of these arborescent plants, having the stem furnished +with a rigging of cord-like roots, and bearing a multitude of firm, +long, and spirally-arranged leaves, would be by no means a work of +difficulty, as would necessarily be that of the tall feathery-topped +cocoa-tree, destitute of all available points of aid or support. Hence +the contradiction in the two accounts referred to is seeming, and not +real, and the two statements are reconciled. + +To sum up, Mr. Cuming fully testifies to the Crab climbing the Screw +Pines; and he has told Professor Owen that he has actually seen the Crab +climbing the cocoa-nut tree. The Crab has been kept on cocoa-nuts for +months; and is universally reported by the natives to climb the trees at +night. + +[Illustration: THE TREE-CLIMBING CRAB.] + +We may here, too, observe, that fine specimens of the Climbing Crab are +to be seen in the British Museum. Here, too, arranged in cases, are +Spider Crabs; Crabs with oysters growing on their backs, thus showing +that Crabs do not shed their shells every year, or that the oyster +increases very rapidly in bulk; Oval-bodied Crabs; and Fin-footed or +Swimming Crabs. Here are also Telescope, or Long-eyed Crabs, and Land +Crabs, found in India 4,000 feet above the sea-level; another of similar +habits in the plains of the Deccan, that may be seen swarming in the +fields, some cutting and nipping the green rice-stalks, and others +waddling off backwards with sheaves bigger than themselves. To these +may be added Square-bodied Crabs, Crested Crabs; Porcelain Crabs, with +delicate, china-like shells; and Death's-head Crabs, which usually form +cases for themselves from pieces of sponge and shells. + +Certain species of Crabs are remarkably tenacious of life, and have been +known to live for weeks buried, and without food. It is in the Crab +tribe that the fact of the metamorphosis of _crustacea_ has been most +distinctly perceived; a small, peculiar crustacean animal, that had +long passed for a distinct species, under the name of _Zoea_, having at +length been identified with the young of the common Crab before it had +attained its full development. + +That among the Crab tribes a tree-climbing species is to be found is +certainly curious, but it is not without a parallel among fishes. Many +of the latter leave the water, some even for a long time, and perform +overland journeys, aided in their progress by the structure of their +fins. In these fishes the gills and gill-chambers are constructed for +the retention of water for a considerable time, so as to suffice for the +necessary degree of respiration. In our country, we may mention the eel, +which often voluntarily quits the river or lake, and wanders during the +night over the adjacent meadows, probably in quest of dew-worms. But the +marshes of India and China present us with fishes much more decidedly +terrestrial, and some of which were known to the ancients. Among these +are several fishes of a snake-like form: they have an elongated, +cylindrical body, and creep on land to great distances from their native +waters. The boatmen of India often keep these fishes for a long time +out of water, for the sake of diverting themselves and others by their +terrestrial movements, and children may often be seen enjoying this +sport. + +Of these land-haunting fishes, the most remarkable is the tree-climber, +so called in Tranquebar. This fish inhabits India, the Indian islands, +and various parts of China, as Chusan, &c., living in marshes, and +feeding on aquatic insects, worms, &c. According to Daldorf, a Danish +gentleman, who, in 1797, communicated an account of the habits of this +fish to the Linnæan Society, it _mounts up_ the bushes or low palms +to some elevation. This gentleman states that he had himself observed +it in the act of ascending palm-trees near the marshes, and had taken +it at a height of no less than five feet, measured from the level of +the adjacent water. It effects its ascent by means of its pectoral and +under fins, aided by the action of the tail and the spines which border +the gill covers. It is by the same agency that it traverses the land. +The statement of M. Daldorf is corroborated by M. John, also a Danish +observer, to whom we are indebted for the knowledge of its name in +Tranquebar, which alludes to its arboreal proceedings. + +It is true that many other naturalists who have observed the habits +of this fish in its native regions, while they concur in describing +its terrestrial journeys, and its living for a long time out of water, +either omit to mention, or mention with doubt, its reputed attempts at +_tree-climbing_. + +The habits and instincts of certain Crawfishes are very extraordinary. +Thus, the _Astaci_ are migratory, and in their travels are capable of +doing much damage to dams and embankments. On the Little Genesee River +they have, within a few years, compelled the owner of a dam to rebuild +it. The former dam was built after the manner of dykes, _i.e._, with +upright posts, supporting sleepers, laid inclining up the stream. On +these were laid planks, and the planks were covered with dirt. The +_Astacus_ proceeding up the stream would burrow under the planks where +they rested on the bottom of the stream, removing bushels of dirt and +gravel in the course of a night. They travel over the dam in their +migrations, _often climbing posts_ two or three feet high to gain the +pond above.[22] + +We have to add a new and eccentric variety of nature--the Pill-making +Crab, which abounds at Labuan, Singapore, and Lahore, and is described +in Mr. Collingwood's "Rambles of a Naturalist." When the tide is down, +this little creature, if stealthily watched, may be seen creeping up +a hole in the sandy shore, taking up rapidly particles of the loose +powdery sand in its claws, and depositing them in a groove beneath the +thorax. A little ball of sand, about the size of a filbert, is forthwith +projected, though whether it passes actually through the mouth is not +made clear. Pill after pill is seized with one claw, and laid aside, +until the beach is covered with these queer little pellets. This is +evidently the creature's mode of extracting particles of food from the +sand. + +Mr. Collingwood also describes, as met with on the shores and waters of +the China seas, Glass Crabs, whose flat, transparent, leaf-like bodies +seem made of fine plates of mica. The dredge brings up many a rich +haul of sponges, corals, and gorgoniæ, of the most splendid colours, +certain of the sponges harbouring within their cells minute crabs of a +new genus. Between Aden and Galle the sea is of a pinkish colour, owing +to the immense accumulation of minute kinds of medusæ, in solid masses +of red jelly. Over Fiery Cross Reef, the mirror-like sea reveals, at +the depth of sixty or seventy feet, this wealth of natural treasures. +"Glorious masses of living coral strew the bottom: immense globular +madrepores--vast overhanging mushroom-shaped expansions, complicated +ramifications of interweaving branches, mingled with smaller and more +delicate species--round, finger-shaped, horn-like and umbrella-form--lie +in wondrous confusion. Here and there is a large clam-shell, wedged +in between masses of coral, the gaping, zigzag mouth covered with the +projecting mantle of the deepest Prussian blue; beds of dark purple, +long-spined Echini, and the thick black bodies of sea-cucumbers vary the +aspect of the sea bottom."[23] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[21] This Crab has an elongated spine-like tail, the use of which was +long misunderstood. Dr. J. Gray was shown at the Liverpool Museum some +living King Crabs, and the use they made of the tail-like appendages. +When turned over on their backs, he saw them bend down the tail until +they could reach some point of resistance, and then employ it to +elevate the body, and regain their normal position. Dr. Gray states +that they never have been seen to use this tail for the purpose which +has been often assigned to it--that is, for leaping from place to place +by bending it under the body, like the toy called a "spring-jack," or +"leaping frog." + +[22] American Journal of Science and Art. + +[23] W. C. Linnæus Martin, F.L.S. + + + + +MUSICAL LIZARDS. + + +A small Lizard, lately brought home from the Isle of Formosa by Mr. +Swinhoe, is decided to be a new species by Dr. Günther, of the British +Museum. Mr. Swinhoe found the eggs of this Gecko, or Lizard, in holes of +walls or among mortar rubbish. They are round, and usually lie several +together, resembling eggs of ordinary Lizards. The young, when first +hatched, keep much under stones in dark cellars, where they remain +until they attain about two-thirds of the adult size, when they begin +to appear in public to catch insects, but evincing great shyness of +their seniors. Mr. Swinhoe states that on the plaster-washed sides of +his bedroom, close to the angle of the roof, every evening when the lamp +was placed on the table below, four little Musical Lizards used to make +their appearance and watch patiently for insects attracted by the light. +A sphinx or a beetle buzzing into the room would put them into great +excitement, and they would run with celerity from one part of the wall +to the other after the deluded insect as it fluttered in vain, buffeting +its head, up and down the wall. Two or three would run after the same +insect, but as soon as one had succeeded in securing it, the rest would +prudently draw aloof. In running over the perpendicular face of the wall +they keep so close, and their movements are made so quickly, with one +leg in advance of the other, that they have the appearance at a distance +of gliding rather than running. The tail is somewhat writhed as the body +is jerked along, and much so when the animal is alarmed and doing its +utmost to escape; but its progress even then is in short runs, stopping +at intervals and raising its head to look about. If a fly perch on the +wall it cautiously approaches to within a short distance, then suddenly +darts forwards, and with its quickly-protruded, glutinous tongue, fixes +it. Apart from watching its curious manoeuvres after its insect-food, +the attention of the most listless would be attracted by the singular +series of loud notes these creatures utter at all hours of the day and +night, more especially during cloudy and rainy weather. These notes +resemble the syllables "chuck-chuck," several times repeated; and, from +their more frequent occurrence during July and August, they are thought +to be the call notes of the male to the female. + +During the greater part of the day, the little creature lies quiescent +in some cranny among the beams of the roof or in the wall of the house, +where, however, it is ever watchful for the incautious fly that +approaches its den, upon whom it darts forth with but little notice. But +it is by no means confined to the habitations of men. Every old wall, +and almost every tree, possesses a tenant or two of this species. It is +excessively lively, and even when found quietly ensconced in a hole, +generally manages to escape--its glittering little eyes (black, with +yellow ochre iris) appearing to know no sleep; and an attempt to capture +the runaway seldom results in more than the seizure of an animated tail, +wrenched off with a jerk by the little fellow as it slips away, without +loss of blood. The younger individuals are much darker than the larger +and older animals, which are sometimes almost albinoes. In ordinary +fly-catching habits, as they stick to the sides of a lamp, there is much +similarity between this gecko and the little papehoo, or wall-lizard +of China; but this is decidedly a larger and much more active animal, +and often engages in a struggle with insects of very large size. The +Chinese colonists of Formosa greatly respect the geckos, in consequence +of a legend which attributes to them the honour of having once poisoned +the supplies of an invading rebellious army, which was thereby totally +cut to pieces. The geckos were raised to the rank of generals by the +grateful Emperor of China; which honour, the legend states, they greatly +appreciated, and henceforth devoted their energies to the extermination +of mosquitoes and other injurious insects. + + + + +CHAMELEONS, AND THEIR CHANGES. + + "Nil fuit unquam + Sic impar sibi."--_Horat._ + + "Sure such a various creature ne'er was seen." + + _Francis, in imit._ + + +The Chameleon tribe is a well-defined family of lizard-like reptiles, +whose characters may be summed up as existing in the form of their feet; +the toes, which are joined together or bound up together in two packets +or bundles, opposed to each other; in their shagreen-like skin; in their +prehensile tail; and in their extensile and retractile vermiform tongue. + +That the Chameleon was known to the ancients there is no doubt. Its +name we derive directly from the _Chamelæo_ of the Latins. Aristotle's +history of the animal proves the acute observation of that great +zoologist--the absence of a sternum, the disposition of the ribs, the +mechanism of the tail, the motion of the eyes, the toes bound up in +opposable bundles, &c.--though he is not entirely correct on some +points. Pliny mentions it, but his account is for the most part a +compilation from Aristotle. + +Calmet's description of the Chameleon is curiously minute:--"It has +four feet, and on each foot three claws. Its tail is long: with this, +as well as with his feet, it fastens itself to the branches of trees. +Its tail is flat, its nose long, ending in an obtuse point; its back is +sharp, its skin plaited, and jagged like a saw, from the neck to the +last joint of the tail, and upon its head it has something like a comb; +like a fish, it has no neck. Some have asserted that it lives only upon +air, but it has been observed to feed on flies, catched with its tongue, +which is about ten inches long and three thick, made of white flesh, +round, but flat at the end, or hollow and open, resembling an elephant's +trunk. It also shrinks, and grows longer. This animal is said to assume +the colour of those things to which it is applied; but our modern +observers assure us that its natural colour, when at rest, and in the +shade, is a bluish-grey; though some are yellow, others green, but both +of a smaller kind. When it is exposed to the sun, the grey changes into +a darker grey, inclining to a dun colour, and its parts which have least +of the light upon them are changed into spots of different colours. +Sometimes, when it is handled, it seems speckled with dark spots, +inclining to green. If it be put upon a black hat, it appears to be of a +violet colour; and sometimes, if it be wrapped up in linen, it is white; +but it changes colour only in some parts of the body." + +Its changes of colour have been commemorated by the poets. Shakspeare +has-- + + "I can add colours ev'n to the Chameleon: + Change shapes with Proteus, for advantage." + +Dryden has-- + + "The thin Chameleon, fed with air, receives + The colour of the thing to which it cleaves." + +Prior has-- + + "As the Chameleon, which is known + To have no colours of his own, + But borrows from his neighbour's hue + His white or black, his green or blue." + +Gay, in his charming fable of the Spaniel and the Chameleon, "scarce +distinguished from the green," makes the latter thus reply to the taunts +of the pampered spaniel:-- + + "'Sir,' says the sycophant, 'like you, + Of old, politer life I knew: + Like you, a courtier born and bred, + Kings lean'd their ear to what I said: + My whisper always met success; + The ladies prais'd me for address; + I knew to hit each courtier's passion, + And flatter'd every vice in fashion: + But Jove, who hates the liar's ways, + At once cut short my prosperous days, + And, sentenced to retain my nature, + Transform'd me to this crawling creature. + Doom'd to a life obscure and mean, + I wander'd in the silvan scene: + For Jove the heart alone regards; + He punishes what man rewards. + How different is thy case and mine! + With men at least you sup and dine; + While I, condemned to thinnest fare, + Like those I flatter'd, fed on air.'" + +Upon this fable a commentator acutely notes:--"The raillery at court +sycophants naturally pervades our poet's writings, who had suffered so +much from them. Here, however, he intimates something more, namely, the +apposite dispensations to man's acts, even in this world. The crafty is +taken in by his own guile, the courtier falls by his own arts, and the +ladder of ambition only prepares for the aspirant a further fall."[24] + +With respect to the air-food of the Chameleon. Cuvier observes that +its lung is so large that, when it is filled with air, it imparts a +transparency to the body, which made the ancients say that it lived +upon air; and he inclines to think that to its size the Chameleon owes +the property of changing its colour; but, with regard to this last +speculation, he was wrong, as we shall presently see. + +It was long thought that the Chameleon, like most of the lizard tribe, +was produced from an egg. The little animal is, however, most clearly +viviparous, and not oviparous, although the tales told of the lizard +tribe in the story books are most perplexing. To name a few of them:--1. +The crocodile, which is the largest of the lizard tribe, and has even +attained the size of 18-1/2 ft. in length, is confidently stated as +laying eggs, which she covers with sand and leaves, to be hatched by the +sun; and these have been met with in the rivers Nile, Niger, and Ganges. +2. _Lacerta Gangetica_, unknown to Linnæus, but brought to this country +from Bengal in 1747 by the late Dr. Mead, is said to be furnished +with a false belly, like the opossum, where the young can be received +for protection in time of danger. In this case the egg must have been +hatched in the belly of the animal, like the viper. 3. The alligator, +or American crocodile, lays a vast quantity of eggs in the sand, near +the banks of lakes and rivers, and leaves them to be hatched by the sun; +and the young are seldom seen. 4. The cayman, or Antilles crocodile, has +furnished its eggs to many collections. 5. A salamander was opened by M. +Maupertuis, and its belly was found full of eggs; but in "Les Mémoires +de l'Académie Royale des Sciences" it is stated that, after a similar +operation of the kind, "fifty young ones, resembling the parent animal, +were found in its womb all alive, and actively running about the room." + +The tongue is the chief organ for taking the insects on which the +Chameleon lives. By a curious mechanism, of which the tongue-bone is a +principal agent, the Chameleon can protrude this cylindrical tongue, +which has its tip covered with a glutinous secretion from the sheath +at the lower part of the mouth, to the length of six inches. When the +Chameleon is about to seize an insect, it rolls round its extraordinary +eyeballs so as to bring them to bear on the doomed object; as soon +as it arrives within the range of the tongue, that organ is projected +with unerring precision, and returns into the mouth with the prey +adhering to the viscous tip. The wonderful activity with which this +feat is performed, forms a strong contrast to the almost ridiculously +slow motions of the animal. Their operation of taking meal-worms, of +which they are fond, though comparatively rapid, is not remarkable for +its quickness, but done with an act of deliberation, and so that the +projection and retraction of the tongue can be very distinctly followed +with the eye. + +The eyes of the Chameleon are remarkable objects; large, projecting, and +almost entirely covered with the shagreen-like skin, with the exception +of a small aperture opposite the pupil; their motions are completely +independent of each other. It adds to the strange and grotesque +appearance of this creature to see it roll one of its eye-globes +backwards, while the other is directed forwards, as if making two +distinct surveys at one time. Its sight must be acute, from the unerring +certainty with which it marks and strikes its prey. + +The Chameleons spend their lives in trees, for clinging to the branches +of which their organization is admirably adapted. There they lie in +wait for the insects which may come within their reach; and it has been +thought that, in such situations, their faculty of changing colour +becomes highly important in aiding them to conceal themselves. The +powers of abstinence possessed by this singular race are very great; +and hence, most probably, arose the old fable of their _living on +air_, which was for a long time considered to be "the Chameleon's +dish." One has been known to fast upwards of six weeks without taking +any sustenance, though meat-food and insects were procured for it. +Notwithstanding this fast, it did not appear to fall away much. It would +fix itself by the feet and tail to the bars of the fender, and there +remain motionless, enjoying the warmth of the fire for hours together. +Hasselquist describes one, that he kept for nearly a month, as climbing +up and down the bars of its cage in a very lively manner. + +The power of the Chameleon's changing colour long exercised the +ingenuity of the old naturalists. Hasselquist thought that the changes +of colour depended on a kind of disease, more especially a sort of +jaundice, to which the animal was subject, particularly when it was put +in a rage. M. D'Obsonville thought that he had discovered the secret in +the blood, and that the change of colour depended upon a mixture of blue +and yellow, whence the different shades of green were derived; and these +colours he obtains from the blood and the blood-vessels. Thus he says +that the blood is of a violet hue, and will retain its colour on linen +or paper for some minutes if previously steeped in a solution of alum, +and that the coats of the vessels are yellow; consequently, he argues, +that the mixture of the two will produce green. He further traces the +change of colour to the passions of the animal. Thus, when a healthy +Chameleon is provoked, the circulation is accelerated, the vessels that +are spread over the skin are distended, and a superficial blue-green +colour is produced. When, on the contrary, the animal is imprisoned, +impoverished, and deprived of free air, the circulation becomes languid, +the vessels are not filled, the colour of their coats prevails, and the +Chameleon changes to a yellow-green, which lasts during its confinement. + +Barrow, in his "Travels in Africa," declares that previously to the +Chameleon's assuming a change of colour, it makes a long inspiration, +the body swelling out to twice its usual size; and as the inflation +subsides, the change of colour gradually takes place, the only permanent +marks being two small dark lines passing along the sides. Mr. Wood +conceives from this account that the animal is principally indebted for +these varied tints to the influence of oxygen. Mr. Spittal also regards +these changes as connected with the state of the lungs; and Mr. Houston +considers this phenomenon as dependent on the turgescency of the skin. +Dr. Weissenborn thinks it not unlikely that the nervous currents may +directly co-operate in effecting the changes of colour in the Chameleon. + +Mr. H. N. Turner, writing from personal observation of the phenomenon +in a live Chameleon in his possession, says:--"It has been generally +imagined that the purpose of the singular faculty accorded to the +Chameleon is to enable it to accommodate its appearance to that of +surrounding objects." Mr. Turner's observations do not, however, favour +the idea, but seem rather to negative it. The box in which Mr. Turner's +Chameleon was kept was of deal, with glass at the top, and a piece of +flannel laid at the bottom, a small branching stick being placed there +by way of a perch. He introduced, at various times, pieces of coloured +paper, covering the bottom of the box, of blue, yellow, and scarlet, +but without the slightest effect upon the appearance of the animal. +Considering that these primary colours were not such as it would be +likely to be placed in contact with in a state of nature, he next tried +a piece of green calico, but equally without result. The animal went +through all its usual changes without their being in any way modified by +the colour placed underneath it. The general tint approximated, as may +be readily observed, to those of the branches of trees, just as those of +most animals do to the places in which they dwell; but Mr. Turner did +not observe the faculty of changing called into play with any apparent +object. It is only when the light is removed that the animal assumes a +colour which absorbs but little of it. + +Not to go further into the numerous treatises which have been published +on this intricate subject without arriving at a just conclusion, we +refer to the able and interesting paper of Mr. Milne Edwards, for whose +acuteness the solution of this puzzling phenomenon was reserved. The +steps by which he first overthrew the received theories on the subject, +and then arrived at the cause of the change of colour, is shown in the +following results, derived from observing two Chameleons living, and +researches after the animals had died, on the structure of their skin, +and the parts immediately beneath it. + +1. That the change in the colour of the Chameleon does not depend +essentially either on the more or less considerable swelling of their +bodies, or the changes which might hence result to the condition of +their blood or circulation; nor does it depend on the greater or less +distance which may exist between the several cutaneous tubercles; +although it is not to be denied that these circumstances probably +exercise some influence upon the phenomenon. + +2. That there exist in the skin of these animals two layers of +membranous pigment, placed the one above the other, but disposed in such +a way as to appear simultaneously under the cuticle, and sometimes in +such a manner that the one may hide the other. + +3. That everything remarkable in the changes of colour in the Chameleon +may be explained by the appearance of the pigment of the deeper layer to +an extent more or less considerable, in the midst of the pigment of the +superficial layer, or from its disappearance beneath this layer. + +4. That these displacements of the deeper pigment do in reality occur; +and it is a probable consequence that the Chameleon's colour changes +during life, and may continue to change even after death. + +5. That there exists a close analogy between the mechanism by the help +of which the change of colour appears to take place in these reptiles, +and that which determines the successive appearance and disappearance of +coloured spots in the mantles of several of the cephalopods. + +Chameleons are found in warm climates of the old world, South of Spain, +Africa, East Indies. Isles of Sechelles, Bourbon, France, Moluccas. +Madagascar (where it is said there are seven of the species which belong +to Africa), Fernando Po, and New South Wales. In the year 1860, a new +and curiously formed species of Chameleon was brought from the interior +of the Old Calabar district of West Africa, by one of the natives. It is +characterised by three horny processes on the head. Many Lizards have +singular spiny projections on all parts of the body; but this very well +marked species had not been hitherto recorded. + +Mrs. Belzoni, the wife of the celebrated traveller in the East, made +some careful observations upon the habits of Chameleons, which are worth +quoting. The Arabs in Lower Egypt catch Chameleons by jumping upon them, +flinging stones at them, or striking them with sticks, which hurts them +very much. The Nubians lay them down gently on the ground, and when +they come down from the date-trees, they catch hold of the tail of the +animal, and fix a string to it; therefore the body does not get injured. +Mrs. Belzoni had some Chameleons for several months in her house, and +her observations are as follows:-- + +"In the first place they are very inveterate towards each other, and +must not be shut up together, else they will bite each other's tails and +legs off. + +[Illustration: CHAMELEONS.] + +"There are three species of Chameleons, whose colours are peculiar +to themselves: for instance, the commonest sort are those which are +generally green, that is to say, the body all green, and, when content, +beautifully marked on each side regularly on the green with black and +yellow, not in a confused manner, but as if drawn. This kind is in great +plenty; they never have any other colour except a light green when they +sleep, and when ill, a very pale yellow. Out of near forty I had the +first year when in Nubia, I had but one, and that a very small one of +the second sort, which had red marks. One Chameleon lived with me eight +months, and most of that time I had it fixed to the button of my coat: +it used to rest on my shoulder or on my head. I have observed, when I +have kept it shut up in a room for some time, that on bringing it out +in the air it would begin drawing the air in, and on putting it on some +marjorum it has had a wonderful effect on it immediately: its colour +became most brilliant. I believe it will puzzle a good many to say what +cause it proceeds from. If they did not change when shut up in a house, +but only on taking them in a garden, it might be supposed the change +of the colours was in consequence of the smell of the plants; but when +in a house, if it is watched, it will change every ten minutes: some +moments a plain green, at others all its beautiful colours will come +out, and when in a passion it becomes of a deep black, and will swell +itself up like a balloon, and, from being one of the most beautiful +animals, it becomes one of the most ugly. It is true that Chameleons +are extremely fond of the fresh air, and on taking them to a window +when there is nothing to be seen, it is easy to observe the pleasure +they certainly take in it: they begin to gulp down the air, and their +colour becomes brighter. I think it proceeds, in a great degree, from +the temper they are in: a little thing will put them in a bad humour: if +in crossing a table, for instance, you stop them, and attempt to turn +them another road, they will not stir, and are extremely obstinate: on +opening the mouth at them, it will set them in a passion: they begin to +arm themselves by swelling and turning black, and will sometimes hiss a +little, but not much. + +"The third I brought from Jerusalem was the most singular of all the +Chameleons I ever had: its temper, if it can be so called, was extremely +sagacious and cunning. This one was not of the order of the green kind, +but a disagreeable drab, and it never once varied in its colour in two +months. On my arrival in Cairo. I used to let it crawl about the room on +the furniture. Sometimes it would get down, if it could, and hide itself +away from me, but in a place where it could see me; and sometimes, +on my leaving the room and on entering it, would draw itself so thin +as to make itself nearly on a level with whatever it might be on, so +that I might not see it. It had often deceived me so. One day having +missed it for some time, I concluded it was hid about the room; after +looking for it in vain, I thought it had got out of the room and made +its escape: in the course of the evening, after the candle was lighted, +I went to a basket that had got a handle across it: I saw my Chameleon, +but its colour entirely changed, and different to any I ever had seen +before: the whole body, head and tail, a brown with black spots, and +beautiful deep orange-coloured spots round the black. I certainly was +much gratified. On being disturbed, its colours vanished, unlike the +others; but after this I used to observe it the first thing in the +morning, when it would have the same colours. Some time after, it made +its escape out of my room, and I suppose got into the garden close by. +I was much vexed, and would have given twenty dollars to have recovered +it again, though it only cost me threepence, knowing I could not get +another like it; for, afterwards being in Rosetta, I had between fifty +and sixty; but all those were green, yellow, and black; and the Arabs, +in catching them, had bruised them so much, that after a month or six +weeks they died. It is an animal extremely hard to die. I had prepared +two cages with separate divisions, with the intention of bringing them +to England; but though I desired the Arabs that used to get them for me +to catch them by the tail, they used to hurt them much with their hands; +and if once the body is squeezed, it will never live longer than two +months. When they used to sleep at night, it was easy to see where they +had been bruised; for being of a very light colour when sleeping, the +part that had been bruised, either on the body or the head, which was +bone, was extremely black, though when green it would not show itself so +clear. Their chief food was flies: the fly does not die immediately on +being swallowed, for upon taking the Chameleon up in my hands, it was +easy to feel the fly buzzing, chiefly on account of the air they draw in +their inside: they swell much, and particularly when they want to fling +themselves off a great height, by filling themselves up like a balloon: +on falling, they get no hurt, except on the mouth, which they bruise a +little, as that comes first to the ground. Sometimes they will not drink +for three or four days, and when they begin they are about half an hour +drinking. I have held a glass in one hand while the Chameleon rested its +two fore-paws on the edge of it, the two hind ones resting on my other +hand. It stood upright while drinking, holding its head up like a fowl. +By flinging its tongue out of its mouth the length of its body, and +instantaneously catching the fly, it would go back like a spring. They +will drink mutton broth: how I came to know this was, one day having a +plate of broth and rice on the table where it was: it went to the plate +and got half into it, and began drinking, and trying to take up some of +the rice, by pushing it with its mouth towards the side of the plate, +which kept it from moving, and in a very awkward way taking it into its +mouth." + +In the autumn of 1868, a pair of Chameleons, in the possession of the +Hon. Lady Cust, of Leasowe Castle, Cheshire, produced nine active young +ones, like little alligators, less than an inch long. Such a birth has +been, it is believed, very rare in this country. It was remarked, in the +above case, that the male and female appeared altogether indifferent +about their progeny. + +Whatever may be the cause, the fact seems to be certain, that the +Chameleon has an antipathy to objects of a black colour. One, which +Forbes kept, uniformly avoided a black board which was hung up in the +chamber; and, what is most remarkable, when the Chameleon was held +forcibly before the black board, it trembled violently and assumed a +_black colour_.[25] + +It may be something of the same kind which makes Bulls and Turkey-cocks +dislike the colour of scarlet, a fact of which there can be no doubt. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[24] The Fables of John Gay. Illustrated. With Original Memoir, +Introduction, and Annotations. By Octavius Freire Owen, M.A., F.S.A. +1854. + +[25] This, it will be seen by referring to page 307, does not correspond +with Calmet's statement. + + + + +RUNNING TOADS. + + +That the Toad, by common repute "ugly and venomous," should be made a +parlour pet, is passing strange; yet such is the case, and we find in a +letter from Dr. Husenbeth, of Cossey, the following curious instances. +Thus he describes a species, there often met with, the eyes of which +have the pupil surrounded with bright golden-yellow, whereas in the +common toad the circle is red or orange. This remarkable peculiarity +Dr. H. has not seen anywhere noticed. The head is like that of the +common sort, but much more blunt, and rounded off at the nose and mouth, +and the arches over the eyes are more prominent. The most remarkable +difference is a line of yellow running all down the back. Also down each +side this Toad has a row of red pimples, like small beads, which are +tolerably regular, but appear more in some specimens than in others. +The general colour is a yellowish-olive, but the animal is beautifully +marked with black spots, very regularly disposed, and exactly +corresponding on each side of the yellow line down the back. Like all +other Toads, this one occasionally changes its colour, becoming more +brown, or ash-colour, or reddish at times, probably in certain states +of the weather. This species is much more active than the common Toad. +It never leaps, and very seldom crawls, but makes a short run, stops a +little, and then runs on again. If frightened or pursued, it will run +along much quicker than one would suppose. + +During the previous summer Dr. H. kept three Toads of this kind in +succession. "The first (says Dr. H.) I procured in July; but after a +few days, when I let him have a run on the carpet of my parlour, he +got into a hole in a corner of the floor, of which I was not aware, +and fell, as I suppose, underneath the floor, into the hollow space +below. I concluded that he could never get up again, and gave him up to +his fate. I then began to keep another Running Toad, which fed well at +first, but after three weeks refused food, and evidently wasted; so I +turned him out into the garden, and have not met with him since. After +more than three weeks, the former Toad reappeared, but how he came up +from beneath the floor I never could conceive, or how he had picked +up a living in the meantime. He was, however, in good condition, and +seemed to have lived well, probably on spiders and woodlice. He had been +seen by a servant running about the carpet, but I knew nothing of his +having come forth again, till in the evening, when he had got near the +door, and it was suddenly opened so as to pass over the poor creature, +and crush it terribly. I took it up apparently dead. It showed no sign +of life; the eyes were closed, it did not breathe, and the backbone +seemed quite broken, and the animal was crushed almost flat. I found a +very curious milky secretion exuding from it, where it had been most +injured and the skin was most broken. This was perfectly white, and had +exactly the appearance of milk thrown over the toad. It did not bleed, +though much lacerated; but instead of blood appeared this milky fluid, +which had an odour of a most singular kind, different from anything I +ever smelt. It is impossible to describe it. It was not fetid, but of +a sickly, disgusting, and overpowering character, so that I could not +endure to inhale it for a moment. I had read and seen a good deal of the +extraordinary powers of revivification in toads, but was not prepared +for what I witnessed on this occasion. I laid this poor animal, crushed, +flattened, motionless, and to all appearance dead, upon a cold iron +plate of the fireplace. He fell over on one side, and showed no sign of +life for a full hour. After that he had slightly moved one leg, and so +remained for about another half-hour. Then he began to breathe feebly, +and gathered up his legs, and his back began to rise up into its usual +form. In about two hours from the time of the accident, he had so far +recovered as to crawl about, though with difficulty. The milky liquor +was reabsorbed, and gradually disappeared as the toad recovered. The +next morning it was all gone, and no mark of injury could be seen, +except a small hole in his back, which soon closed. He recovered so far +as to move about pretty well, but his back appeared to have been broken, +and one fore-leg crippled. I therefore thought it best to give him his +liberty in the garden. But so wonderful and speedy a recovery I could +never have believed without ocular testimony. + +"I then tried my third and last Running Toad. I began to keep him on +Sept. 13th. He was a very fine specimen, and larger than the two former. +He fed well, and amused me exceedingly. He was very tame, and would sit +on my hand quite quiet, and enjoy my stroking him gently down his head +and back. Soon after I got him he began to cast his skin. I helped him +to get rid of it by stripping it down each side, which he seemed to +like much, and sat very quiet during the operation. The new skin was +quite beautiful, and shone as if varnished. This Toad lived in a crystal +palace, or glass jar, where I had kept all the others before him. He +took food freely, and his appetite was so good that in one day he ate +seven large flies and three bees without stings. He was particularly +fond of woodlice and earwigs, but would take centipedes, moths, and +even butterflies. Being more active than common Toads, he often made +great efforts to get out of his glass jar. I used to let him run about +the room nearly every day for a short time, and often treated him to a +run in the garden. Toads make a slight noise sometimes in the evenings, +uttering a short sound like 'coo,' but I never heard them croak. Before +wet weather, and during its continuance, my Toad was disinclined for +food, and took no notice of flies even walking over his nose. He would +then burrow and hide himself in the moss at the bottom of his glass +palace. Thus I kept him, and found him very tame and amusing. But after +about two months he became more impatient of confinement, and refused +to take any food. I did not perceive that he fell away, though his feet +and toes turned of a dark colour, which I knew was a sign of being out +of condition; and, on the 10th of November, I found him dead. I have +now tried three of this sort, and have come to the conclusion that the +Running Toad will not live in captivity. This I much regret, as its +habits are interesting, and its ways very amusing. + + "F. C. Husenbeth, D.D." + + * * * * * + +FROG AND TOAD CONCERTS. + +It would be hard to believe the stories of the vocal powers of Frogs +and Toads were they not related by trustworthy travellers, who tell of +animal concerts, + + "Wild as the marsh, and tuneful as the harp." + +Mr. Priest, the traveller in America, who was himself a musician, +records:--"Prepared as I was to hear something extraordinary from these +animals, I confess the first _Frog Concert_ I heard in America was so +much beyond anything I could conceive of the power of these musicians, +that I was truly astonished. This performance was _al fresco_, and took +place on the eighteenth of April, in a large swamp, where there were at +least 10,000 performers; and I really believe not two exactly in the +same pitch, if the octave can possibly admit of so many divisions, or +shades of semitones." + +Professor and Mrs. Louis Agassiz, in their recent "Journey in Brazil," +record:--"We must not leave Parà without alluding to our evening +concerts from the adjoining woods and swamps. When I first heard this +strange confusion of sounds, I thought it came from a crowd of men +shouting loudly, though at a little distance. To my surprise. I found +that the rioters were the frogs and toads in the neighbourhood. I hardly +know how to describe this Babel of woodland noises; and, if I could do +it justice, I am afraid my account would hardly be believed. At moments +it seems like the barking of dogs, then like the calling of many voices +on different keys; but all loud, rapid, excited, full of emphasis and +variety. I think these frogs, like ours, must be silent at certain +seasons of the year, for on our first visit to Parà we were not struck +by this singular music, with which the woods now resound at nightfall." + + + + +SONG OF THE CICADA. + + +The Greeks have been scoffed at for rendering in deathless verse the +song of so insignificant an insect as the Cicada; and hence it has +been asserted that their love for such slender music must have been +either exaggerated or simulated. It is pleasant, however, to hear an +independent observer in the other hemisphere confirm their testimony. +Mr. Lord tells us that in British Colombia there is one sound or song +which is clearer, shriller, and _more singularly tuneful than any +other_. It never appears to cease, and it comes from everywhere--from +the tops of the trees, from the trembling leaves of the cotton-wood, +from the stunted under-brush, from the flowers, the grass, the rocks and +boulders--nay, the very stream itself seems vocal with hidden minstrels, +all chanting the same refrain. + +An especial feature of the Cicada's song is, that it increases in +intensity when the sun is hottest; and one of the later Latin poets +mentions the time when its music is at its highest, as an alternative +expression for noon. Mr. Tennyson, inadvertently, speaks in "Ænone" of +the Grasshopper being silent in the grass, and of the Cicada sleeping +when the noonday quiet holds the hill. Keats sings more truly:-- + + "When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, + And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run + From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead: + That is the Grasshopper's." + +Then the Greek poets show us how intimately the song of the Cicada is +associated with the hottest hours of the day. Aristophanes describes it +as mad for the love of the sun; and Theocritus, as scorched by the sun. +When all things are parched with the heat (says Alcæus), then from among +the leaves issues the song of the sweet Cicada. His shrill melody is +heard in the full glow of noontide, and the vertical rays of a torrid +sun fire him to sing. Over and over again Mr. Lord met with allusions to +the same peculiarity. + +Cicadæ are regularly sold for food in the markets of South America. They +are not eaten now, like they were at Athens, as a whet to the appetite; +but they are dried in the sun, powdered, and made into a cake. + + + + +STORIES ABOUT THE BARNACLE GOOSE. + + "As barnacles turn Poland geese + In th' islands of the Orcades."--_Hudibras._ + + +One of the earliest references to this popular error is in the "Natural +Magic" of Baptista Porta, who says:--"Late writers report that not only +in Scotland, but also in the river of Thames by London, there is a kind +of shell-fish in a two-leaved shell, that hath a foot full of plaits +and wrinkles.... They commonly stick to the keel of some old ship. Some +say they come of worms, some of the boughs of trees which fall into the +sea; if any of them be cast upon shore, they die; but they which are +swallowed still into the sea, live and get out of their shells, and grow +to be ducks, or such-like birds." + +Professor Max Müller, in a learned lecture, enters fully into the origin +of the different stories about the Barnacle Goose. He quotes from the +"Philosophical Transactions" of 1678 a full account by Sir Robert Moray, +who declared that he had seen within the barnacle shell, as through a +concave or diminishing glass, the bill, eyes, head, neck, breast, wings, +tail, feet, and feathers of the Barnacle Goose. The next witness was +John Gerarde, Master in Chirurgerie, who, in 1597, declared that he had +seen the actual metamorphosis of the muscle into the bird, describing +how-- + +"The shell gapeth open, and the first thing that appeareth is the fore +said lace or string; next come the leg of the birde hanging out, and +as it groweth greater, it openeth the shell by degrees, till at length +it is all come forth, and hangeth only by the bill, and falleth into +the sea, when it gathereth feathers and groweth to a foule, bigger than +a mallart; for the truth hereof, if any doubt, may it please them to +repair unto me, and I shall satisfie them by the testimonies of good +witnesses." + +As far back as the thirteenth century, the same story is traced in the +writings of Giraldus Cambrensis. This great divine does not deny the +truth of the miraculous origin of the Barnacle Geese, but he warns the +Irish priests against dining off them during Lent on the plea that they +were not flesh, but fish. For, he writes, "If a man during Lent were +to dine off a leg of Adam, who was not born of flesh either, we should +not consider him innocent of having eaten what is flesh." This modern +myth, which, in spite of the protests of such men as Albertus Magnus, +Æneas Sylvius, and others, maintained its ground for many centuries, and +was defended, as late as 1629, in a book by Count Maier, "De volucri +arborea," with arguments, physical, metaphysical, and theological, owed +its origin to a play of words. The muscle shells are called _Bernaculæ_ +from the Latin _perna_, the mediæval Latin _berna_; the birds are called +_Hibernicæ_ or _Hiberniculæ_, abbreviated to _Berniculæ_. As their names +seem one, the creatures are supposed to be one, and everything conspires +to confirm the first mistake, and to invest what was originally a good +Irish story--a mere _canard_--with all the dignity of scientific, and +all the solemnity of theological truth. The myth continued to live +until the age of Newton. Specimens of _Lepadidæ_, prepared by Professor +Rolleston of Oxford, show how the outward appearance of the _Anatifera_ +could have supported the popular superstition which derived the +_Bernicla_, the goose, from the _Bernicula_, the shell. + +Drayton (1613), in his "Poly-olbion," iii., in connexion with the river +Lee, speaks of + + "Th' anatomised fish and fowls from planchers sprung;" + +to which a note is appended in Southey's edition, p. 609, that such +fowls were "Barnacles, a bird breeding upon old ships." A bunch of the +shells attached to the ship, or to a piece of floating timber, at a +distance appears like flowers in bloom; the foot of the animal has a +similitude to the stalk of a plant growing from the ship's sides, the +shell resembles a calyx, and the flower consists of the tentacula, or +fingers, of the shell-fish. The ancient error was to mistake the foot +for the neck of a goose, the shell for its head, and the tentacula for +feathers. As to the body, _non est inventus_. + +Sir Kenelm Digby was soundly laughed at for relating to a party at +the castle of the Governor of Calais, that "the Barnacle, a bird in +Jersey, was first a shell-fish to appearance, and, from that striking +upon old wood, became in time a bird." In 1807, there was exhibited in +Spring-gardens, London, a "Wonderful natural curiosity, called the Goose +Tree, Barnacle Tree, or Tree bearing Geese," taken up at sea on January +12th, and more than twenty men could raise out of the water.[26] + +Sir J. Emerson Tennent asks whether the ready acceptance and general +credence given to so obvious a fable may not have been derived from +giving too literal a construction to the text of the passage in the +first chapter of Genesis:-- + + "And God said, Let the _waters bring forth abundantly_ the + moving creature that hath life, and the _fowl_ that may fly in the + open firmament of heaven." + +The Barnacle Goose is a well-known bird, and is eaten on fast-days in +France, by virtue of this old belief in its marine origin. The belief +in the barnacle origin of the bird still prevails on the west coast of +Ireland, and in the Western Highlands of Scotland. + +The finding of the Barnacle is thus described by Mr. Sidebotham, to +the Microscopical and Natural History Section of the Literary and +Philosophical Society:--"In September, I was at Lytham with my family. +The day was very stormy, and the previous night there had been a strong +south-west wind, and evidences of a very stormy sea outside the +banks. Two of my children came running to tell me of a very strange +creature that had been washed up on the shore. They had seen it from +the pier, and pointed it out to a sailor, thinking it was a large dog +with long hair. On reaching the shore I found a fine mass of Barnacles, +_Pentalasinus anatifera_, attached to some staves of a cask, the whole +being between four and five feet long. Several sailors had secured the +prize, and were getting it on a truck to carry it away. The appearance +was most remarkable, the hundreds of long tubes with their curious +shells looking like what one would fancy the fabled Gorgon's head with +its snaky locks. The curiosity was carried to a yard where it was to be +exhibited, and the bellman went round to announce it under the name of +the sea-lioness, or the great sea-serpent. Another mass of Barnacles +was washed up at Lytham, and also one at Blackpool, the same day or the +day following. This mass of Barnacles was evidently just such a one as +that seen by Gerard at the Pile of Foulders. It is rare to have such a +specimen on our coasts. The sailors at Lytham had never seen anything +like it, although some of them were old men who had spent all their +lives on the coast." + + +FOOTNOTE: + +[26] "Notes and Queries," No. 201. + + + + +LEAVES ABOUT BOOKWORMS. + + +On paper, leather, and parchment are found various animals, popularly +known as "Bookworms." Johnson describes it as a worm or mite that eats +holes in books, chiefly when damp; and in the "Guardian" we find this +reference to its habits:--"My lion, like a moth or bookworm, feeds upon +nothing but paper." + +Many years ago an experienced keeper of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford +collected these interesting details of Bookworms:--"The larvæ of +_Crambus pinguinalis_ will establish themselves upon the binding of a +book, and spinning a robe will do it little injury. A mite, _Acarus +eruditus_, eats the paste that fastens the paper over the edges of the +binding and so loosens it. The caterpillar of another little moth takes +its station in damp old books, between the leaves, and there commits +great ravages. The little boring wood-beetle, who attacks books and +will even bore through several volumes. An instance is mentioned of +twenty-seven folio volumes being perforated in a straight line, by the +same insect, in such a manner that by passing a cord through the perfect +round hole made by it the twenty-seven volumes could be raised at once. +The wood-beetle also destroys prints and drawings, whether framed or +kept in a portfolio." + +There is another "Bookworm," which is often confounded with the +Death-watch of the vulgar; but is smaller, and instead of beating +at intervals, as does the Death-watch, continues its noise for a +considerable length of time without intermission. It is usually found +in old wood, decayed furniture, museums, and neglected books. The +female lays her eggs, which are exceedingly small, in dry, dusty +places, where they are least likely to meet with disturbance. They are +generally hatched about the beginning of March, a little sooner or +later, according to the weather. After leaving the eggs, the insects are +so small as to be scarcely discerned without the use of a glass. They +remain in this state about two months, somewhat resembling in appearance +the mites in cheese, after which they undergo their change into the +perfect insect. They feed on dead flies and other insects; and often, +from their numbers and voracity, very much deface cabinets of natural +history. They subsist on various other substances, and may often be +observed carefully hunting for nutritious particles amongst the dust in +which they are found, turning it over with their heads, and searching +about in the manner of swine. Many live through the winter buried deep +in the dust to avoid the frost. + +The best mode of destroying the insects which infest books and MSS. +has often occupied the attention of the possessors of valuable +libraries. Sir Thomas Phillips found the wood of his book-case attacked, +particularly where beech had been introduced, and appeared to think +that the insect was much attracted by the paste employed in binding. +He recommended as preservatives against their attacks spirits of +turpentine and a solution of corrosive sublimate, and also the latter +substance mixed with paste. In some instances he found the produce of +a single impregnated female sufficient to destroy a book. Turpentine +and spirit of tar are also recommended for their destruction; but the +method pursued in the collections of the British Museum is an abundant +supply of camphor, with attention to keeping the rooms dry, warm, and +ventilated. Mr. Macleay states it is the _acari_ only which feed on the +paste employed in binding books, and the larvæ of the Coleoptera only +which pierce the boards and leaves. + +The ravages of the Bookworm would be much more destructive had there +not been a sort of guardian to the literary treasures in the shape of +a spider, who, when examined through a microscope, resembles a knight +in armour. This champion of the library follows the Worm into the +book-case, discovers the pit he has digged, rushes on his victim, which +is about his own size, and devours him. His repast finished, he rests +for about a fortnight, and when his digestion is completed, he sets out +to break another lance with the enemy. + +The Death-watch, already referred to, and which must be acquitted of +destroying books, is chiefly known by the noise which he makes behind +the wainscoting, where he ticks like a clock or watch. How so loud +a noise is produced by so small an insect has never been properly +explained; and the ticking has led to many legends. The naturalist +Degeer relates that one night, in the autumn of 1809, during an +entomological excursion in Brittany, where travellers were scarce and +accommodation bad, he sought hospitality at the house of a friend. He +was from home, and Degeer found a great deal of trouble in gaining +admittance; but at last the peasant who had charge of the house told +Degeer that he would give him "the chamber of death," if he liked. As +Degeer was much fatigued, he accepted the offer. "The bed is there," +said the man, "but no one has slept in it for some time. Every night the +spirit of the officer, who was surprised and killed in this room by some +chouans, comes back. When the officer was dead, the peasants divided +what he had about him, and the officer's watch fell to my uncle, who was +delighted with the prize, and brought it home to examine it. However, +he soon found out that the watch was broken, and would not go. He then +placed it under his pillow, and went to sleep; he awoke in the night, +and to his terror heard the ticking of a watch. In vain he sold the +watch, and gave the money for masses to be said for the officer's soul, +the ticking continued, and has never ceased." Degeer said that he would +exorcise the chamber, and the peasant left him, after making the sign of +the cross. The naturalist at once guessed the riddle, and, accustomed to +the pursuit of insects, soon had a couple of Death-watches shut up in a +tin case, and the ticking was reproduced. + +Swift has prescribed this destructive remedy by way of ridicule:-- + + "A Wood-worm + That lies in old wood, like a hare in her form: + With teeth or with claws it will bite, or will scratch; + And chambermaids christen this worm a Death-watch, + Because like a watch it always cries click: + Then woe be to those in the house that are sick! + For, sure as a gun, they will give up the ghost + If the maggot cries click when it scratches the post. + But a kettle of scalding hot water ejected, + Infallibly cures the timber affected: + The omen is broken, the danger is over; + The maggot will die, the sick will recover." + + + + +BORING MARINE ANIMALS, AND HUMAN ENGINEERS. + + +Were a young naturalist asked to exemplify what man has learned from the +lower animals, he could scarcely adduce a more striking instance than +that of a submarine shelly worker teaching him how to execute some of +his noblest works. This we have learned from the life and labours of the +_Pholas_, of which it has been emphatically said:--"Numerous accounts +have been published during the last fourteen years in every civilized +country and language of the boring process of the _Pholas_; and machines +formed on the model of its mechanism have for years been tunnelling Mont +Cenis." + +In the Eastern Zoological Gallery of the British Museum, cases 35 and +36, as well as in the Museum of Economic Geology in Piccadilly, may be +seen specimens of the above very curious order of _Conchifers_, most +of the members of which are distinguished by their habits of boring or +digging, a process in which they are assisted by the peculiar formation +of the foot, from which they derive their name. Of these ten families +one of the most characteristic is that of the Razor-shells, which, +when the valves are shut, are of a long, flattened, cylindrical shape, +and open at both ends. Projecting its strong pointed foot at one of +these ends, the _solen_ can work itself down into the sand with great +rapidity, while at the upper end its respiratory tubes are shot out to +bring the water to its gills. Of the _Pholadæ_, the shells of which +are sometimes called multivalve, because, in addition to the two chief +portions, they have a number of smaller accessory pieces, some bore +in hard mud, others in wood, and others in rocks. They fix themselves +firmly by the powerful foot, and then make the shell revolve; the sharp +edges of this commence the perforation, which is afterwards enlarged by +the rasp-like action of the rough exterior; and though the shell must +be constantly worn down, yet it is replaced by a new formation from the +animal, so as never to be unfit for its purpose. The typical bivalve of +this family is the _Pholas_, which bores into limestone-rock and other +hard material, and commits ravages on the piers, breakwaters, &c., that +it selects for a home. + +In the same family as the above Dr. Gray ranks the _Teredo_,[27] or +wood-boring mollusc, whose ravages on ships, piles, wooden piers, &c., +at sea resemble those of the white ant on furniture, joints of houses, +&c., on shore. Perforating the timber by exactly the same process as +that by which the Pholas perforates the stones, the Teredo advances +continually, eating out a contorted tube or gallery, which it lines +behind it with calcareous matter, and through which it continues to +breathe the water. + +The priority of the demonstration of the Pholas and its "boring habits" +has been much disputed. The evidence is full of curious details. It +appears that Mr. Harper, of Edinburgh, author of "The Sea-side and +Aquarium," having claimed the lead. Mr. Robertson, of Brighton, writes +to dispute the originality; adding that he publicly exhibited Pholades +in the Pavilion at Brighton in July, 1851, perforating chalk rocks by +the raspings of their valves and squirtings of their syphons. Professor +Flourens (says Mr. Robertson) taught my observations to his class in +Paris in 1853; I published them in 1851, and again more fully in the +"Journal de Conchyliologie," in 1853; and M. Emile Blanchard illustrated +them in the same year in his "Organisation du Règne Animal." I published +a popular account of the perforating processes in "Household Words" +in 1856. After obtaining the suffrages of the French authorities, I +have been recently honoured with those of the British naturalist. (See +Woodward's "Recent and Fossil Shells," p. 327. Family, Pholadidæ.) On +returning to England last autumn I exhibited perforating Pholades to +all the naturalists who cared to watch them. An intelligent lady whom I +supplied with Pholades has made a really new and original observation, +which I may take this opportunity of communicating to the public. She +observed two Pholades whose perforations were bringing them nearer and +nearer to each other. Their mutual raspings were wearing away the thin +partition which separated their crypts. She was curious to know what +they would do when they met, and watched them closely. When the two +perforating shell-fish met and found themselves in each other's way, the +stronger just bored right through the weaker Pholas.[28] + +Mr. Robertson has communicated to "Jameson's Journal," No. 101, the +results of his opportunities of studying the Pholas, during six months, +to discover how this mollusc makes its hole or crypt in the chalk: by +a chemical solvent? by absorption? by ciliary currents? or by rotatory +motions? Between twenty and thirty of these creatures were at work +in lumps of chalk, in sea-water, in a finger-glass, and open for +three months; and by watching their operations. Mr. Robertson became +convinced that the Pholas makes its hole by grating the chalk with its +rasp-like valves, licking it up when pulverized with its foot, forcing +it up through its principal orbrambial syphon, and squirting it out in +oblong nodules. The crypt protects the Pholas from _confervæ_, which, +when they get at it, grow not merely outside, but even with the lips +of the valves, preventing the action of the syphons. In the foot there +is a gelatinous spring or style, which, even when taken out, has great +elasticity, and which seems the mainspring of the motions of the Pholas. + +Upon this Dr. James Stark, of Edinburgh, writes: + +--"Mr. Robertson, of Brighton, claims the merit of teaching that +Pholades perforate rocks by 'the rasping of their valves and the +squirting of their syphons.' His observations only appear to reach +back to 1851. But the late Mr. John Stark, of Edinburgh, author of the +'Elements of Natural History,' read a paper before the Royal Society of +Edinburgh, in 1826, which was printed in the Society's 'Transactions' +of that year, in which he demonstrated that the Pholades perforate the +shale rocks in which they occur on this coast, by means of the rasping +of their valves, and not by acids or other secretions. From also finding +that their shells scratched limestone without injury to the fine rasping +rugosities, he inferred that it was by the same agency they perforated +the hard limestone rocks." + +To this Mr. Robertson replies, that Mr. Osler also, in 1826, +demonstrated that the Pholades "perforate the shale rocks by means of +the rasping of their valves; and more, for he actually witnessed a +rotatory movement. But Réaumur and Poli had done as much as this in the +eighteenth and Sibbald in the seventeenth century: and yet I found the +solvent hypothesis in the ascendant among naturalists in 1835, when I +first interested myself in the controversy. What I did in 1851 was, I +exhibited Pholades at work perforating rocks, and explained how they did +it. What I have done is, I have made future controversy impossible, by +exhibiting the animals at work, and by discovering the anatomy and the +physiology of the perforating instruments. In the words of M. Flourens, +'I made the animals work before my eyes,' and I 'made known their +mechanism.' The discovery of the function of the hyaline stylet is not +merely a new discovery, it is the discovery of a kind of instrument as +yet unique in physiology." + +Mr. Harper having termed the boring organ of the Pholas the "hyaline +stylet," found it to have puzzled some of the disputants, whereupon Mr. +Harper writes:--"Its use up to the present time has been a mystery, +but the general opinion of authors seems to be, that it is the gizzard +of the Pholas. This I very much doubt, for it is my belief that the +presence of such an important muscle is solely for the purpose of +aiding the animal's boring operations. Being situated in the centre +of the foot, we can readily conceive the great increase of strength +thus conveyed to the latter member, which is made to act as a powerful +fulcrum, by the exercise of which the animal rotates--and at the same +time presses its shell against and rasps the surface of the rock. +The question being asked, 'How can the stylet be procured to satisfy +curiosity?' I answer, by adopting the following extremely simple plan. +Having disentombed a specimen, with the point of a sharp instrument +cut a slit in the base of its foot, and the object of your search will +be distinctly visible in the shape of, if I may so term it, an opal +cylinder. Sometimes I have seen the point of this organ spring out +beyond the incision, made as above described." + +Lastly, Mr. Harper presented the Editor of the "Athenæum" with a +piece of bored rock, of which he has several specimens. He adds, "On +examination, you will perceive that the larger Pholas must have bored +through its smaller and weaker neighbour (how suggestive!), the shell of +the latter, most fortunately, remaining in its own cavity." + +Now, Mr. Robertson claimed for his observation of this phenomenon +novelty and originality; but Mr. Harper stoutly maintained it to be +"as common to the eye of the practised geologist as rain or sunshine." +The details are curious; though some impatient, and not very grateful +reader, may imagine himself in the condition of the shell of the smaller +Pholas, and will be, as he deserves to remain, in the minority.[29] + +It may be interesting to sum up a few of the opinions of the mode by +which these boring operations are performed. Professor Forbes states +the mode by which Molluscs bore into wood and other materials is as +follows:--"Some of the Gauterspods have tongues covered with silica to +enable them to bore, and it was probably by some process of this kind +that all the Molluscs bored." + +Mr. Peach never observed the species of Pholas to turn round in their +holes, as stated by some observers, although he had watched them with +great attention. Mr. Charlesworth refers to the fact that, in one +species of shell, not only does the hole in the rock which the animal +occupies increase in size, but also the hole through which it projects +its syphons. + +Professor John Phillips, alluding to the theories which have been +given of the mode in which Molluscs bore into the rocks in which they +live, believes that an exclusively mechanical theory will not account +for the phenomenon; and he is inclined to adopt the view of Dr. T. +Williams--that the boring of the Pholades can only be explained on the +principle which involves a chemical as well as a mechanical agency. + +Mr. E. Ray Lankester notices that the boring of Annelids seems quite +unknown; and he mentions two cases, one by a worm called Leucadore, the +other by a Sabella. Leucadore is very abundant on some shores, where +boulders and pebbles may be found worm-eaten and riddled by them. Only +stones composed of carbonate of lime are bored by them. On coasts where +such stones are rare, they are selected, and others are left. The worms +are _quite soft_, and armed only with horny bristles. _How, then, do +they bore?_ Mr. Lankester maintains that it is by carbonic acid and +other acid excretions of their bodies, _aided_ by the mechanical action +of their bristles. The selection of a material soluble in these acids +is most noticeable, since the softest chalk and the hardest limestone +are bored with the same facility. This can only be by chemical action. +If, then, we have a case of chemical boring in these worms, is it not +probable that many Molluscs are similarly assisted in their excavations? + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[27] How Brunel took his construction of the Thames Tunnel from +observing the bore of the _Teredo navalis_ in the keel of a ship, in +1814, is well known. + +[28] "Athenæum," No. 1640. + +[29] See also "Life in the Sea," in "Strange Stories of the Animal +World," by the author of the present volume. Second Edition. 1868. + + + + +INDEX. + + + ANCIENT Zoological Gardens, 12 + + Animals, Rare, of London Zoological Society, 16, 17, 18 + + Annelids, boring, 348 + + Annelids and Molluscs, Boring Habits of, 348 + + Ant-Bear in captivity, 76 + + Ant-Bear, the Great, 72 + + Ant-Bear at Madrid, 72 + + Ant-Bear described, 77 + + Ant-Bear, Domestic, in Paraguay, 75 + + Ant-Bear, Economy of, 76 + + Ant-Bear and its Food, 74 + + Ant-Bears, Fossil, 80, 81 + + Ant-Bear, Muscular Force of, 79 + + Ant-Bear, Wallace's Account of, 73 + + Ant-Bear, Zoological Society's, 76, 82, 84 + + Ant-Eater, Porcupine, 84 + + Ant-Bear, Professor Owen on, 80 + + Ant-Eaters, scarcity of, 80 + + Ant-Eater, Tamandua, 82 + + Ant-Eaters, Von Saek's Account of, 83 + + Aristotle's History of Animals, 279, 280 + + + BARNACLE GEESE, finding of the, 334 + + Barnacle Goose, Gerarde on, 332 + + Barnacle Goose, Giraldus Cambrensis on, 332 + + Barnacle Goose, Max Müller on, 331 + + Barnacle Goose, name of, 332 + + Barnacle Goose, Sir E. Tennent on, 334 + + Barnacle Goose, Sir Kenelm Digby on, 334 + + Barnacle Goose, Sir R. Moray on, 331 + + Barnacle Goose, Stories of the, 331-335 + + Barnacles breeding upon old ships, 333 + + Barnacle Geese in the Thames, 331 + + Bat, altivolans, by Gilbert White, 100 + + Bat, American, by Lesson, 91 + + Bat, Aristotle on, 85 + + Bat, Mr. Bell on, 86 + + Bats, Curiosities of, 85 + + Bat, described by Calmet, 87 + + Bat, Flight and Wing of, 96 + + Bats, in England, 100 + + Bat, Heber, Stedman, and Waterton on, 91 + + Bats in Jamaica, 100 + + Bat, Kalong, of Java, 98 + + Bat, Long-Eared, by Sowerby, 92, 93-96 + + Bat, Nycteris, 97 + + Bat, Rere-mouse and Flitter-mouse, 86 + + Bat Skeleton, Sir C. Bell on, 87 + + Bat in Scripture, 85 + + Bat, Vampire, from Sumatra, 88 + + Bat, Vampire, Lines on, by Byron, 89 + + Bat, vulgar errors respecting, 97 + + Bat-Fowling or Bat-Folding, 92 + + Berlin Zoological Gardens and Museum, 16 + + Bible Natural History, 11 + + Birds, Addison on their Nests and Music, 156, 157 + + Bird, Australian Bower, Nest of, 167 + + Bird, Baya, Indian, Nest of, 164 + + Birds and Animals, Beauty in, 150 + + Birds, Brain of, 154 + + Birds, Characteristics of, 145 + + Birds, Colour of, 148 + + Bird Confinement, Dr. Livingstone on, 169 + + Birds' Eggs, large, 162 + + Birds' Eggs, Colours of, 158 + + Birds' Eggs and Nests, 158 + + Birds, European, list of, 161 + + Birds, Flight of, 146, 147 + + Birds, Insectivorous, 151; + Instinct, Intelligence, and Reason, 217 + + Bird-Life, 145 + + Bird-Murder, wanton, 152 + + Birds' Nesting, 159 + + Birds' Nests--Cape Swallows, 168 + + Birds' Nests--Brush Turkey, 171 + + Birds' Nests, large, 164 + + Birds' Eggs--Ostrich and Epyornis, 162, 163 + + Birds' Nests--Tailor Birds, 165-167 + + Birds, Rapid Flight of, 147 + + Birds, Signal of Danger among, 155 + + Birds, Song of, 149 + + Birds, Mr. Wolley's Collections, 159, 160 + + Bookworms, Leaves about, 336 + + Bookworms and Death-watch, 337 + + Boring Marine Animals, and Human Engineers, 341 + + + CHAMELEON of the Ancients, 306 + + Chameleon's antipathy to black, 322 + + Chameleons, Mrs. Belzoni's, 316-320 + + Chameleons, Birth of, in England, 321 + + Chameleon changing Colour, 311, 316 + + Chameleon, Cuvier on, 309 + + Chameleon, described by Calmet, 307 + + Chameleon Family, 307 + + Chameleon, Air-food of, 309 + + Chameleon, Milne Edwards on its Change of Colour, 314-316 + + Chameleons, Native Countries of, 316 + + Chameleon of the Poets, 308 + + Chameleons, Reproduction of, 309 + + Chameleon, Tongue and Eyes of, 310, 311 + + Chinese Zoological Gardens, 12 + + Cicada, Song of the, 329 + + Cormorant's Bone, curious, 204 + + Cormorants, Chase of, 203 + + Cormorant Fishery in China, 202 + + Cormorant, Habits of the, 201 + + Cormorant trained for Fishing, 201 + + Curiosities of Zoology, 11 + + + ECCENTRICITIES of Penguins, 188: + Darwin, Mr., his account of Falkland Islands Penguin, 192; + Dassent Island Penguins, 188; + Death-watch and Bookworm, 337, 338; + Falkland Islands Penguins, 189; + King Penguins, 191; + Patagonian Penguins, 189; + Penguin, the name, 194; + Webster, Mr., his Account of Penguins, 193 + + Epicure's Ortolan, the, 172 + + Epicurism Extravagant, 177 + + Evelyn and St. James's Physique Garden, 15 + + + FISH in British Colombia, 280: + Candle-fish, 282; + Octopus, 283; + Salmon Army, 281; + Spoonbill Sturgeon, 285; + Sturgeons, and Sturgeon Fishing, 284-287 + + Fish-Talk, 250: + Affection of Fishes, 256; + Bohemian Wels Fish, 270; + Bonita and Flying Fish, 263; + Californian Fish, 268; + Carp at Fontainebleau, 254; + Cat-fish, curious Account of, 257; + Double Fish, 272; + Fish changing Colour, 251; + Fish Noise, 252; + Gold Fish, 274; + Grampus, gambols of, 262; + Great General of the South Sea, 272; + Grouper, the, 272; + Hassar, the, 256; + Hearing of Fishes, 253; + Herring Puzzle, 278; + Jaculator Fish of Java, 264; + Jamaica, Curious Fish at, 266; + Little Fishes the Food of Larger, 259; + Marine Observatory, 276; + Mecho of the Danube, 270; + Migration of Fishes, 260; + Miller's Thumb, 276; + Numbers, vast, of Fishes, 258; + Pike, Wonderful, 269; + Pilot Fish, 267; + Sharks, 267; + Singing Fish,252; + Square-browed Malthe, 274; + Strange Fishes, 251; + Sun-fish, 271; + Swimming of Fishes, 250; + Sword-fish, 266; + Warrior Fish, 266 + + Frog and Toad Concerts, 327 + + + HEDGEHOG, the, 102 + + Hedgehog devouring Snakes, 104 + + Hedgehog, Food of, 103 + + Hedgehogs, Gilbert White on, 107 + + Hedgehog and Poisons, 105 + + Hedgehogs, Sir T. Browne on, 102 + + Hedgehog Sucking Cows, 104 + + Hedgehog and Viper, Fight between, 106, 107 + + Hedgehog, Voracity of, 103 + + Hippopotamus, Ancient History of, 119 + + Hippopotamus, described by Aristotle and Herodotus, 121 + + Hippopotamus, Economy of the, 115 + + Hippopotamus, the, in England, 108 + + Hippopotami, Fossil, 122 + + Hippopotami on the Niger, 117 + + Hippopotamus, Professor Owen's Description of, 111-115 + + Hippopotamus and River Horse, 116 + + Hippopotamus in Scripture, 120 + + Hippopotamus, Utility of, 118 + + Hippopotamus from the White Nile, 109 + + Hippopotamus, Zoological Society's, in 1850, 108-111 + + + LEAVES about Bookworms, 336 + + Lions in Algeria, and Jules Gerard, 143 + + Lion, African, 131 + + Lion, Bengal, 133 + + Lion described by Bennett, 123 + + Lion described by Buffon, 123-125 + + Lion described by Burchell, 125 + + Lion, disappearance of, 130 + + Lion and Hottentots, 132, 133-136 + + Lion-hunting Feats, 128 + + Lion, "King of the Forest," 126 + + Lion, Longevity of, 137 + + Lion, Maneless, 133-135 + + Lion, Niebuhr on, 131 + + Lion in the Nineveh Sculptures, 139, 140 + + Lions, the Drudhoe, 144 + + Lions, Popular Errors respecting, 123 + + Lion, Prickle or Claw in the Tail, 137-139 + + Lion, Roar of, 136 + + Lions in the Tower of London, 140 + + "Lion Tree" in the Mantatee Country, 127 + + Lion Stories of the Shows, 142 + + Lion-Talk, 123 + + Lioness and her Young, 135 + + + MERMAID of 1822, 43-47 + + Mermaid in Berbice, 39 + + Mermaid in the Bosphorus, 47 + + Mermaid and Dugong, 41 + + Mermaids, Evidences of, 36 + + Mermaid at Exmouth, 40 + + Mermaid, Leyden's Ballad, 35 + + Mermaid and Manatee, 42 + + Mermaid at Milford Haven, 37 + + Mermaid, Japanese, 44 + + Mermaid, Scottish, 36, 38 + + Mermaids and Sirens, 33 + + Mermaid's Song, Haydn's, 34 + + Mermaids, Stories of, 33 + + Mermaid, Structure of, 43 + + Mermaids in Suffolk, 48 + + Mole, its Economy controverted, 62 + + Mole, the Ettrick Shepherd on, 71 + + Mole, Le Court on, 62, 65 + + Mole and Fairy Rings, 64 + + Mole and Farming, 70 + + Mole, Feeling of, 64 + + Mole at Home, 62 + + Mole, its Hunting-ground, 67 + + Moles, Loves of the, 68 + + Mole, structure of the, 63 + + Mole, St. Hilaire on, 69 + + Mole, Shrew, of North America, 70 + + Mole, Voracity of, 68 + + Montezuma's Zoological Gardens, 13 + + Musical Lizard, 303: + Climbing Walls, 303, 304; + Formosa Isle, 303; + Gecko ennobled, 306 + + + ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 15 + + Ortolan described, 172, 173 + + Ortolans, how fattened, 174 + + Ortolan, Mr. Gould on, 174, 175 + + Owls, 221: + Abyssinian Owl, 230; + Barn Owl, 226; + Bischaco, or Coquimbo, 224; + Boobook Owl, 228; + Cats and Owls, 230; + Fraser's Eagle Owl, from Fernando Po, 229; + Food of Owls, 226; + Javanese Owl, 228; + Snowy Owl, 227; + Tricks by Night, 224; + Utility of, 225; + Waterton on the Owl, 225 + + + PELICANS and Cormorants, 195 + + Pelicans described by Gould, 195 + + Pelican in Japan, 197 + + Pelican Popular Error, 198, 199 + + Pelican Pouches, 198 + + Pelican Symbol, 200 + + "Pelican of the wilderness," 197 + + Pholas, Life and Labours of, 341 + + Pholades, Charlesworth and Peach on, 347 + + Pholades, Harper on, 346 + + Pholades, Robertson on, 343 + + + RHINOCEROS in England, 22: + African Rhinoceros in 1858, 27; + Ancient History, 23; + Bruce and Sparmann, 27; + Burchell's shooting, 30; + Horn of the Rhinoceros, 31, 32; + Indian Wild Ass, 24; + One-horned and Two-horned, 23-26; + Scripture, Rhinoceros of, 23; + Speehnan's Rhinoceros Shooting, 30; + Tegetmeir describes the African Rhinoceros, 27; + Tractability, 25; + Varieties of Rhinoceros, 22; + Zoological Society's Rhinoceros, 23, 29 + + + SALE of Wild Animals, 20 + + Sentinel Birds, 183 + + Song of the Cicada, 329 + + Songs of Birds and Seasons of the Day, 219 + + St. James's Park Menagerie, 14 + + Stories of the Barnacle Goose, 331-335 + + Stories of Mermaids, 33 + + Surrey Zoological Gardens, 20 + + + TALKING birds, 205: + Bittern and Night Raven, 207; + Blue Jay, 206; + Canaries, Talking, 210-212; + Chinese Starling, 205; + Crowned Crane, 206; + Cuckoo, 209; + Laughing Goose, 209; + Nightingale, 209; + Piping Crow, 205; + Snipe, Neighing, 213; + Trochilos and Crocodile, 216; + Umbrella Bird, 206; + Whidaw Bird, 205; + Wild Swan, 209; + Woodpecker at Constantinople, 215 + + Talk about Toucans, 179: + Bills of Toucans, 180; + Carnivorous propensity, 184; + Economy of, 182; + Food of, 183; + Gould, Mr., his Grand Monograph, 180, 186; + Owen, Professor, on the Mandibles, 185; + Swainson, Mr., on Toucans, 185 + Toucan Family, 179, 180; + White Ants' Nests, 183; + Toucanet, Gould's, 184 + + Toad and Frog Concerts, 327-328 + + Toads, Running, Dr. Husenbeth's, 323-327 + + Tower of London Menagerie, 14 + + Tree-climbing Crab, the, 288: + Bernhard, Hermit, and Soldier Crab, 291; + Climbing Perch, 288; + Crab, Burrowing, 290; + Crab Migration in Jamaica, 292; + Fishing-frogs, 288; + Glass Crabs, 301; + Pill-making Crabs, 301; + Purse Crab feeding on Cocoa-nuts, 296; + Robber Crab, 292; + Screw-pines, Crab climbing, 298; + Vaulted Crab of the Moluccas, 291 + + + UNICORNS, ancient, 51 + + Unicorn and Antelope, 53 + + Unicorn in Central Africa, 58 + + Unicorn described by Ctesias, 49, 50 + + Unicorn, Cuvier on, 54 + + Unicorn, Is it Fabulous? 49 + + Unicorn, Klaproth on, 55 + + Unicorn in Kordofan, 53 + + Unicorn and its Horn, 53, 59 + + Unicorn, modern, 50 + + Unicorn, Ogilby on, 51 + + Unicorn, Rev. J. Campbell on, 57 + + Unicorn in the Royal Arms, 60 + + + WEATHER-WISE ANIMALS, 231: + Ants, Asses, 241; + Darwin's Signs of Rain, 248; + Frogs and Snails, 237-240; + List of Animals, 241-247; + Mole, 240; + Mother Carey's Chickens and Goose, 234; + Redbreast, 236; + Seagulls, 232; + Signs of Rain, 232; + Stormy Petrels, 233; + Shepherd of Banbury, 249; + Toucans, 237; + Weatherproof Birds' Nests, 247; + Wild Geese and Ducks, 235 + + Wild Animals, Cost of, 19 + + Wild Beast Shows, 21 + + + ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, Origin of, 12 + + Zoological Society of London, 16 + + Zoology, Curiosities of, 11 + + + + +C. A. Macintosh, Printer, Great New-street, London. + + + + + +----------------------------------------------------------------- + + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired. | + | Word combinations that appeared with and without hyphens | + | were changed to the predominant hyphenated form. | + | Original spelling and its variations were not standardized. | + | | + | Corrections in the spelling of names were made when those | + | could be verified. Otherwise the variations were left as they | + | were. | + | | + | Page 18: "Parrot-houses, the, sometimes...." changed to | + | "Parrot-houses: they sometimes contain...." | + | | + | Page 170 and others: Kolobeng and Kolenbeng. Both spellings were | + | retained. | + | | + | Page 191 and others: Tussa, tussack and tussock. All spellings | + | were retained. | + | | + | Page 276: Finisterre changed to Finistère. | + | | + | Page 333: cennexion changed to connexion "... in connexion with | + | the river Lee...." | + | | + | Page 352: Screw-pines, Crab climbing, 295; pagination changed | + | to 298. | + | | + | The name of Shakespeare appears with varying spellings. All | + | variants were kept. | + | | + | Some index entries are not in alphabetical order. They were not | + | corrected. | + | | + | Footnotes were moved to the ends of the chapters in which they | + | belonged and numbered in one continuous sequence. The | + | pagination in index entries which referred to these footnotes | + | was not changed to match their new locations and is therefore | + | incorrect. | + +----------------------------------------------------------------- + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Eccentricities of the Animal Creation., by +John Timbs + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44422 *** |