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TERNS INLAND.-A correspondent writing from Kelvedon, Essex, informs the readers of SCIENCE GOSSIP for January, that he has "succeeded" in shooting a Tern in that neighbourhood. Surely it would have been a far more estimable feat if he had succeeded in preventing the bird from being shot, so that it might have been seen by other people besides himself. I have constantly visited, the spot and have taken others thither. I believe that most of our large ponds would be ornamented by these most elegant birds, were they allowed to live when they came. In 1865 I saw one skimming over the pond on Wisley Heath, Surrey. It was shot at by the landlord of the "Kut" tavern there (who has already three stuffed specimens in his parlour): although he did not "succeed" in killing it, he so wounded the beautiful creature, that it flew away heavily, soon to be brought down by somebody "successful" than himself. Every naturalist should do all in his power to prevent this cruel and stupid practice of destroying all our most beautiful birds, or at least not himself join in it. Our rural districts would then be enlivened by many species of birds, which now only occasionally come, to be shot.-W. R. Tate, Grove Place, Denmark Hill.

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A CURIOSITY OF NATURE.- A house-wife of Ringmer, Sussex, in breaking eggs for the Christmas pudding, broke one out of which, to her no small astonishment, dropped another completely egg, shelled, and about the size of a wren's egg. This latter she has preserved as a curiosity of nature.Brighton Observer.

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POOR FELLOW!--A squirrel, which I have had for nearly two years, was attacked a few weeks ago with what seemed to me to be a stroke of paralysis -causing him to lose the use of his hind legswhich on Sunday last proved fatal. On looking at the body about an hour after death, I found a number of full-grown gentles issuing from it. Were they the cause of death, and of his losing the use of his limbs some weeks before? If not, what was the cause of the gentles appearing so soon after death, as there was no smell or other sign of decay ?C. L. C.

CAT-FLEAS.-Being desirous of exhibiting the larva of the cat-flea at the Soirée of the Quekett Club, on the 4th January, I proceeded to collect eggs. A cloth was laid for puss to sleep upon late at night, and early in the morning the eggs were gathered. The first night gave 62 eggs, the second 78 eggs, the third 67, and the fourth 77. From these numbers, an idea of some of the troubles which puss experiences may be gained. Fortunately the eggs require very great fostering care to hatch them (our own brood all died two days after the soirée), or the owners of cats would soon find their pets an intolerable nuisance, because the species, to our certain knowledge, will attack man. Probably not a twentieth part of the eggs laid reach their full development.S. J. McIntire.

LEFT NO ADDRESS.-E. A., Chippenham, Wilts, would feel obliged by any reader furnishing him with the address of W. Winter, who, on Feb. 23rd, 1866, was residing at Mulbarton, near Norwich, and who advertised in SCIENCE GOSSIP late in the year 1865, through the medium of his friend H. Balls, Needham, offering to supply subscribers, at one guinea each, with thirty microscopic specimens, to be collected by him in his own and adjoining districts, in the course of the following year.

MICE EATING PUPE.-I have just had twenty fine pupa of Sphingide eaten by mice. Is it generally known that they are to be numbered among the entomologist's foes? I went to put some fresh moss over the box they were buried in, and found the earth scattered about, and not a skin, or a piece of one, left.-Henry Ullyett, Folkestone.

[We have heard and read of such propensities in mice, but cannot remember in what journal recorded. -ED.]

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HYALONEMA.-At the meeting of the Zoological Society, January 18, 1867, an interesting paper was read by Dr. Bowerbank, F.R.S., on Hyalonema mirabile, in which he adduced many arguments in support of his statement, that the whole of this beautiful structure was a true sponge, and that the so-called " polypheads on the crust which surrounds the long "glass whip (as it has been termed), are, in reality analogous to the oscula of some British sponges, specimens of which he exhibited. This opinion has been vigorously disputed by Dr. J. E. Gray. Dr. Carpenter was present, and remarked that, having entered the room free from prejudice, he was convinced by the evidence brought forward by Dr. Bowerbank, that his view of the question was correct. The following amusing lines on the discussion appeared in Land and Water:

A FIGHT AT THE "ZOO"" ABOUT A ZOO-PHYTE.
WHEN doctors the views of each other deride,
It is often exceedingly hard to decide

On the weight of the arguments offered by each
In support of the doctrines they sev'rally teach.
And whether their difference belong to Geology,
Divinity, Chemistry, Physic, Zoology,

When two masters in science are pleading their cause
(Be they doctors of medicine or doctors of laws),
Outsiders can only be modestly silent,

And judge him in the wrong who appears the most vi'lent.
Men of science well know there has been a contention
"Twixt two eminent men of right honest intention,
As to whether a "thing" in the national collection
Stands nearest allied and in closest connection
With the sponges; or whether it's really no lower
In Nature's great scale than the class Polyzoa;
And this question of "Sponge or Zoophyte new,"
Very nearly occasioned a fight at the "Zoo"
(One of words, of course, only: I hope you'll excuse,
For the sake of the pun, the expression I use).
The "bone of contention" was placed on the table,
Around which were seated some men the most able,
From their ardent devotion to Natural History,
To decide on the point and unravel the mystery.
'Twas Hyalonema mirabile" dictu,

And had long flinty spicules so sharp that they pricked you; (The Chairman pronounced the penultimate long,

I thus use it, although it's decidedly wrong),

These fibres, which looked like spun-glass, formed a core,
Which measured in length fourteen inches, or more.
And around which was gathered a dark-looking crust,
Which Dr. Gray always has taken on trust,
To be what he calls "Polypigerum corium,”-
That is, he believes it to be an emporium
Inhabited, made, and secreted by creatures
Possessing the polyps' distinguishing features.
Dr. Bowerbank soon of this view made a clearance,
And proved to the meeting how, spite of appearance,
The dark-looking crust and the sponge at its base,
With the long flinty spicules which both these encase,
Were all formed by a creature with sponges identical,
And that no part of either had ever borne tentacle,
Demonstrated, in fact-(which has always been my "idee "-
That the whole thing belonged to the genus "Spongiade."
This appears to be settled; but if his opponent
Again of his views should become the exponent,
And the two should once more into argument plunge,
Dr. Bowerbank never need throw up the sponge.

H. L.

* I don't like employing this queer word "emporium," But I can't find another to rhyme well with "corium."

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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS.

ALL communications relative to advertisements, post-office orders, and orders for the supply of this Journal should be addressed to the PUBLISHER. All contributions, books, and pamphlets for the EDITOR should be sent to 192, Piccadilly, London, W. To avoid disappointment, contributions should not be received later than the 15th of each month. No notice whatever can be taken of communications which do not contain the name and address of the writer, not necessarily for publication, if desired to be withheld. We do not undertake to answer any queries not specially connected with Natural History, in accordance with our acceptance of that term; nor can we answer queries which might be solved by the correspondent by an appeal to any elementary book on the subject. We are always prepared to accept queries of a critical nature, and to publish the replies, provided some of our readers, besides the querist, are likely to be interested in them. We cannot undertake to return rejected manuscripts unless sufficient stamps are enclosed to cover the return postage. Neither can we promise to refer to or return any manuscript after one month from the date of its receipt. All microscopical drawings intended for publication should have annexed thereto the powers employed, or the extent of enlargement, indicated in diameters (thus: x 320 diameters). Communications intended for publication should be written on one side of the paper only, and all scientific names, and names of places and individuals should be as legible as possible. Wherever scientific names or technicalities are employed, it is hoped that the common names will accompany them. Lists or tables are inadmissible under any circumstances. Those of the popular names of British plants and animals are retained and registered for publication when sufficiently complete for that purpose, in whatever form may then be decided upon. ADDRESS No. 192, PICCADILLY, LONDON, W.

H. D. C.-The number of microscopists is so great that we fear we could not devote the space required to carry out your suggestion of publishing their names and addresses.

S. B.-See our reply to D. R. in the December number. J. H. M.-The first complaint of the kind which has reached Our copy for last year was bound at the close of the year, and there is not the least trace of the type "setting off" on the opposite page.

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T. H.-Shere and Abinger for some species. Anywhere for the commonest. A large number of species of mosses mountainous districts alone will furnish.

E. W.-A complete list of British insects has been promised to the public for twelve months, but is not yet published. Rye's "British Beetles" (Reeve & Co., 10s. 6d.) contains the Coleoptera, so also does Waterhouse's "Catalogue of British Coleoptera" (7s. 6d.). The only cheap work, with descrip. tions, is Stephens's "Manual" (about 6s.), now almost out of date.

F. A. A.-Thistles will grow from seed as other plants.

A. G.-The water beetle is Agabus bipunctatus, Fabr., very common throughout the country. The small beetle, Niptus hololeucus, Fald., is also common, and apparently very destructive.-R. G. K.

G. W. F.-Corky development of the bark, very common in the elm and hedge maple.

C. F. W.-Lists of British Mosses, 4d.: Mr. Dixon, Great Ayton, near Stokesley, Yorkshire.

W. B. M.-It is the ordinary commercial seal-skin which is derived from some species of Phoca inhabiting the Arctic

seas.

W. R. T.-Your bog plant is Narthecium ossifragum.—

W. C.

S. M. P.-Your plant is hemp (Cannabis sativa).-W. C. LEPIDOPTERA.-E. wishes for larvæ or pupæ, and will send stamps and address to any one who will assist.

M. C. C.-Tate's "Land and Freshwater Shells," 6s., coloured: R. Hardwicke, 192, Piccadilly.

E. W. The fossils are-1. Ammonites bifer, Quenst. ; 2. Corbis supra-liassicus (n. s.); 3. Vermicularia polygonalis, Low. Send address to R. Tate, Esq., Geological Society, Somerset House, London.

W. H. R.-The query was inserted in our first volume and never answered.

J. C.-The bodies on Sallow-Bark are a Coccus, but what species is not so easy to tell.

H. H. M.-The larva of one of the Bombycidæ (Lepidoptera), but it is impossible to identify it, from the condition in which sent.

W. S. G.-The shell is a purple.coloured Lacuna puteolus. --R. T.

G. D. We really cannot devote a column to answering your queries, which any book on British Birds would do for you.

H. B.-We do not dabble in mesmerism.

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J. J. F.-Did you read the article on Wheat Mildew in our last?

H. R. L.-Of Mr. King, Great Portland-road, London. T. W.-For British Ferns, consult Mrs. Lankester's book; and for a list of Foreign Ferns suitable for cultivation, see Smith's "Ferns, British and Foreign," both published at 192, Piccadilly.

W. W. S.-That subject is undergoing investigation. F. B. W.-A similar instance has already been recorded. W. L. H.-Toynbee's "Hints for Local Museums, &c.," published by R. Hardwicke, 192, Piccadilly, at Is.

J. B. G.-1. We should decline. 2. "Our Reptiles," p. 166. 3. We know of none.

F. HORTON and A. BADGER.-Please send addresses, as letters await you.

EXCHANGES.

BRYUM ROSKUM in fruit for Buxbaumia aphylla.-E. M. Holmes, 2, Arundel crescent, Plymouth.

ORNITHORHYNCHUS PARADOXUS (stuffed) for shells, corals, or other objects of interest.-George Potter, 7, Montpelierroad, Upper Holloway, N.

OVULES OF ORCHIS, showing the embryo, mounted, for other objects.-J. H. Campbell, Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh. PAULONIA IMPERIALIS.-A few seeds for distribution.Stamped envelope to B., care of the Editor, 192. Piccadilly. COWAGE.-Hair from pods of Mucuna pruriens for other good (unmounted) objects.-W. II., Stamp Office, Fordingbridge.

MOUNTED OBJECTS in exchange for other equally good slides. Send lists to E. G. Towell, 10, Norfolk-street, Strand.. PALATES OF WHELK, mounted, for other objects of interest. -G. E. Q., 109, Long-lane, Southwark.

FLINT FLAKES, Diatomaceous Earth from Toome Bridge, and Rock specimens, for fossils, shells, or microscopic objects. -William Gray, Mount Charles, Belfast.

PHYLLACTIDIUM PULCHELLUM offered for Heliopelta or Actinocyclus undulatus.-R. P. Aylward, 15, Cotham-street, Strangeways, Manchester.

BIRDS' EGGS (British) offered for British Land and Freshwater Snails.-T. Hedworth, Dunston, Gateshead.

QUININE, Santonine, Salicine, &c., offered for monnted Microscopic Fungi.-F. W. C., 36, Hall-street, Birmingham. DIAMOND BEKTLE (mounted) for other objects of interest. -J. R., 172, George-street, Aberdeen.

FERN SCALKS from stem of Curtomium falcatum for other unmounted objects.-W. H. Reid, 12, Bonaccord-lane, Aberdeen.

MANE-HAIR of Lion for other unmounted objects of interest. -E. M, 6, Holford-square, Pentonville, W.C.

ASTRONOMICAL OBJECTIVE, 4 in. diameter, 5 ft. 6 in. focus, and portion of brass mountings, offered for a complete 4 ft. telescope of smaller aperture.-H. Davis, 24, Cornhill, E.C.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

"The Popular Science Review," January, 1867. London: R. Hardwicke.

"The Technologist," No. 6, New Series, January, 1867. London: Kent & Co.

"The Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science," No. XXV., January, 1867. London: Churchill & Sons.

"Intensity Coils, how made and how used." By "Dyer." London: Suter, Alexander, & Co.

"The Distinctive Characters of the principal British Natural Orders of Plants." Arranged in Tables by William A. Tilden, F.C.S. London: 17, Bloomsbury-square.

"The Life of a Salmon." The Autobiography of the late Salmo Salar, Esq., comprising a Narrative of the Life, Personal Adventures, and Death of a Tweed Salmon. Edited by a Fisherman. London: Day & Son (Limited). 1867. "Hooper & Co.'s General Spring Catalogue for 1867." Hooper & Co., Covent Garden Market. 1867.

COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED.-E. M. H.-T. P. B.-M. D. -S. H.-J. H. M.-S. B.-H. B.-G. P.-E. R.-H. W.H. K.-R. T.-W. H. B.-H. S.-H D. C.-F. K.-W.W. G.C. A.-T. H.-E. W.-S. F. C.-W. C. U.-F.W. C.-F. À. A. -W. H. B.-A. B. C.-J. R. B. M-W. M. C.-E. J.-E. W. -W. W. F.-E. G. T.-W. F. H.-L. W. S.-M. A.-W. B. W. -J. B.-B. (Melle).-W. A. G.-W. L. H.-W. B. M.C. L. C.-G. A. W.-J. B. G.-S. J. M. I.-H. B.-J. J. F.P. B-S. M. P.-W. F. H.-D. J.-C. W. F.-W. B. H. C. F. W.-A. B.-H. U.-T. O.-S. U.-H. R. L.-T. W.G. W. F.-W. G.-E. A.-W. R. T.—E. G.—A. F. W. B. W. G.-E. G. Q.-M. C. C.-J. E. P.-T. D.-H. C. W. A. T. J.-H. H. M.-W. B. B.-J. C.-G. A.-W. R. T.-J. R.W. J. D. A.-W. H. R.-J. R.-F. W. C.-T. H.-B. S.-J.W. -H. P. A.-M. M.-A. A.-W. W. F.-H. D.-H. L.— J. W. M.-W. W. S.-A. G. W.-G. D.-F. II. W.-H. C.H. E. E.-T. G. P.

THE RHYTHM OF FLAMES.

A light in sound, a sound-like power in light,
Rhythm in all thought, and joyance everywhere.

COLERIDGE.

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N days of old what a beautiful fable would have been added by the poets to the mythology of Paganism in describing the elder and more gentle of the offspring of Fire and Vapour, had they but dreamed of the strong attractive powers of music over flame. In our matter-of-fact days no rival to Orpheus and Eurydice will spring into being, and yet the myths would be so far kindred as proving

That things inanimate have moved, And, as with living souls, have been inform'd

By numbers and persuasive sound. In a recent lecture, delivered by Professor Tyndall at the Royal Institution, on "the rhythm of flames," or, as the more familiar title expresses it, on "sounding and sensible flames," a flame of marvellous sensibility was exhibited, some twenty inches long, which fell down to eight upon the slightest tap on an anvil, placed at a considerable distance, and which responded to every tinkle of a bunch of keys, or a few pence shaken together in the hands. The slightest vibration of sound affected the flame, which gave recognition sensibly when the lecturer walked across the floor, and was set in violent commotion by the creak of his boots, the rustle of a silk dress, or even the crumpling of a bit of paper. In that true London "Cave of Mystery," the laboratories beneath the lecture-room, this flame, said the Professor, "is called the 'Vowel Flame,' because the different vowel sounds affect No. 27.

it differently." Thus, to begin at the wrong end of the "gamut," at U, pronounced, more Germanorum, with open mouth from the throat, and not affectedly like yew, its gentle nature feels no response; so it passes it by, as a vulgar sound, without recognition. At O the flame quivers, and if you give I the Continental sound of our e, it is strongly affected. A, as we pronounce it, is again a dead letter, but let it sound full, like Ah!, and it oscillates violently and convulsively. Then in combined sounds it has its favourites. At the words "boot," "bout," and "beat," uttered in succession, it passes the first by without notice, at the second it gives a start, but at the third, as if conscious of the threatened indignity, it is fairly thrown into violent commotion.

The Professor's heart is evidently bound up in his favourite. How would it respond to Longfellow's definition of love-should he utter it ?

Love is the root of creation: God's essence. World s without number

Lie on His bosom like children: He made them for His purpose only

Only to love and to be loved again. He breathed forth His Spirit

Into the slumbering dust, and upright standing it laid its Hand on its heart, and felt it was warm with a flame out of Heaven.

Quench, O quench not this flame! It is the breath of your being !

For be it known the flame follows the recitation of verse as keenly as a critic, oscillating at intervals more or less violently, according as it picks out sounds to which it can respond. With true feminine instincts it is startled by the plashing of a drop of rain, and sibilation, or even the sound of a sibilant, in however distant part of the lecture-room, throws it immediately into violent convulsions.

It is always difficult fairly to adjust to each pioneer in opening up new sources of scientific investigation his share of the merit and of the gratitude due to him. Trivial discoveries at first,

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often cast aside as soon as brought to light, and contradictions piled up upon no better foundation, are in general the germs of every branch of science; so the world, wisely perhaps, awards to the mastermind that unravels the tangled web and makes all clear, the full title of an original discoverer. The sounding of a hydrogen flame in a glass tube was first noticed by Dr. Higgins, in 1777. Since then the subject has been investigated by Chladni, De la Rive, Faraday, Wheatstone, Kundt, and others. The action of sounds of a definite pitch on flames inclosed in tubes has been investigated by Count Schaffgotsch and Professor Tyndall. Indeed, under the latter, "The Philosophy of Flame" has for years been one of the leading subjects of investigation in the laboratories of the Royal Institution. The jumping of a fish-tail flame in response to musical sounds was accidentally discovered by Professor Lecomte at a musical party in America. In passing a candle with steadily burning flame rapidly through the air, an indented band of light is produced, and a slightly musical vibration indicates the rhythmic character of the motion. The solution of this problem, and of those which follow, is the subject of Professor Tyndall's lecture, and, as like another Columbus, he has broken the egg, by his aid we shall comprehend another of these ideas which cluster round that comprehensive phrase, "the conservation of force," as clearly as he has laid before us "heat as a mode of motion." But to proceed: a gas flame having been introduced into a tube sufficiently long and wide, the current of air passing over the flame produces a vibration, which, by the aid of the tube's resonance, becomes a musical sound. Thus, from a tube three feet long the musical note will be rich; from one six feet long it will be an octave lower; and in a tube fifteen feet long the deep bass vibrations have an intensity of such power that in the lecture-room, filled by an

smith would apparently have hammered away to no purpose, was severed in two by a stream of air. This done, no sooner was a whistle sounded than the flame started; a knock on the table caused the separated flames to re-unite and form for an instant a flame of the ordinary shape. In the second experiment, a steady, clear flame, issuing from a circular orifice, four inches in height, was insensible to sound. Raised to ten inches, it responded by a slight quiver to the whistle; at sixteen inches, the increased quivering showed the flame to be on the brink of roaring, and with a little increase of the pressure it roared, shortening itself at the same time to eight inches; reducing the pressure, the flame was again extended to sixteen inches. It did not roar, but was on the point of roaring, standing, as it were, on the brink of a precipice, and the whistle then forced it over, upon which it roared, simultaneously shortening itself, as it did before under the increase of pressure. "And herein," says Professor Tyndall, "is the true explanation of all the phenomena of these 'sounding or sensitive flames,' that the sonorous pulses furnish the supplement of energy or force necessary to produce the roar and shorten the flame:" The pitch of the note chosen to force this flame over the brink of the precipice on which it rests must be equal to the occasion. Four tuning-forks, vibrating respectively 256, 320, 384, and 512 times in a second, produced no effect on a certain flame. But besides these fundamental notes these forks will sound a series of notes of very high pitch, producing 1,600, 2,000, 2,400, and 3,200 vibrations per second; and to each of these the flame jumped in response, but most energetically in response to the highest note.

THE SWALLOWS.

audience of some six hundred persons, pillars, floors, UNDER this heading appeared in a recent

seats, gallery, and audience are all sensibly shaken. The note rises in pitch as the tube diminishes in length, and the intense heat of the sounding column produces a greater number of vibrations than any organ pipe of the same length. The flame in a tube 177 inches long vibrated 459 times in a second, and another in a tube 10 inches long 717 times in a second. These vibrations consist of a series of partial extinctions and revivals of the flame, forming, when viewed in Wheatstone's rotating mirror, a series of flame images of transcendent beauty.

Other equally interesting experiments served to illustrate the subject: one, which recalled the way in which boys teach jackdaws and jays to speak, by splitting their tongues; and another, as more plainly showing the cause of the phenomenon, must, however, suffice. The bright flame of a fish-tail, which appeared perfectly insensible to all sounds, musical or not, and to which Handel's Harmonious Black

number a most interesting letter from E. L. Simmonds, telling us that early in November, 1865, when at the mouth of the river Niger, in West Africa, "innumerable swallows passed for a whole day together over his head from seaward, flying in a northerly direction," and he asks, “could they be coming from America?" Now, as the several habitats of these most interesting birds, and their periodical migrations in the different parts of the world, have engaged my attention for many years past (as indeed the columns of the Field and your own SCIENCE GOSSIP pages will attest), I will condense, in as few lines as I can, all the information which I have been enabled to collect from French and English works, regarding the hirundines of Africa. Now these may be classed geographically as four distinct species-according to what I learn from that Ornithological text-book, the Ibis-and those again may be subdivided latitudinally into north

and South African hirundines, as respects the equator (their divisional line of habitat demarcation). Now swallows, like all migrant birds, regulate their yearly emigrations and immigrations by that conservative instinct which impels them to seek ever for the most genial climate, and to escape from the extremes of the different atmospheric conditions of cold and heat, rain and drought. Now these conditional states of the atmosphere are reversed yearly in Africa, according to the sun's position in the ecliptic; and the monsoon rains are regulated by the solar declination, according as that luminary is north and south of the equator; whilst that equatorial belt of perpetual condensation, 300 or 400 miles broad (as described by Captain Maury in his great work on physical phenomena), and which vibrates latitudinally, agreeable to the sun's position, between latitude 5° south and latitude 15° north, is ruled by the same influence. What then are these climate repellents, and how do they operate locally, as regards the great African peninsula? Why thus. On April 13th, the sun is yearly vertical to Sierra Leone, Katunga on the Niger, and the southern uplands of Abyssinia; and what is the result of the sun's declination being then at nine degrees over this belt of Africa, from west to east? Why, that the deluging monsoon rains, following the sun as they do, inundate the countries south of latitude 9° to the extent of 500 miles, and 300 miles to the north thereof-embracing thus to the southward, Fernando Po, the Cameron Mountains, the mouths of the Niger River, the Gold, Slave, and Ivory Coasts; to the westward, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia Settlements; to the northward, the mountain sources of the rivers Gambia and Niger, and the affluents of Lake Tchad, with the vicinity south of Timbuctoo; and to the eastward, on the other side of Africa, Magadoxo, Afan, Somanli, Gallas, Abyssinia, and Nubia, collectively. Now this solar movement regulates all the hirundines that hybernate north of the equator, and which emigrate yearly to Europe, and Asia, and the Azores, in April, earlier or later, according as the monsoon rains set in.

Now what occurs six months afterwards, namely, on 13th October, when the sun having re-crossed the line, and become vertical to those parts or Southern Africa that lie north and south of latitude. 9° south? Why this! The same advancing climatic foe (the sun's attendant ever), the deluging rains which drove the swallows to the north, as he moved towards the tropic of Cancer in April, now chases them to the south, when that luminary is moving in October, towards the opposite tropic of Capricorn. And thus the migratory movements of the African hirundines are reversed geographically; for when the sun is advancing northward in April, the Senegambian and Abyssinian swallows seek their temperate, food-abounding countries, Europe and Asia,

for comfort and nidification; whilst the swallows of the Cape, Natal, and the Mozambique Coast, are driven to the south, for their temperate climate and generative purposes, in October or thereabouts, yearly; which accords, indeed, with Dr. Livingstone's narrative, and the accounts of Le Valliant and other naturalist observers and writers. Now, I have always assumed that the equatorial calm belt of constant precipitation, as referred to above, divides permanently the North African from the South African swallow as to migratory movements, and the periods of moulting and incubation, and all I have read on the subject confirms this my conviction; for, as the climatic conditions of North and South Africa are reversed, so are the animal phenomena depending thereon (as it is in India, Australia, and the two American continents). Whence then were the swallows seen by E. L. Simmonds coming, and whither proceeding, in November, 1865? Why-selon moi-they were the hirundines of Lower Guinea, the same as Dr. Livingstone speaks of in 1855, as seen at Loanda in June (but not those he saw in migratory transit at Kuruma in December, 1852; for these last were Cape of Good Hope swallows); and as the S.W. monsoonwhich blows on the coast of Upper Guinea, and into the Gulf of Guinea-is over about the end of October, these birds were returning thither for their winter hybernation, south of the mountains of Kong, as the European swallows do to the north and north-east of that chain, but 500 miles and more to the northward. H. E. AUSTEN, Lieutenant-Colonel and M.B.M.S.

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THE

ATROPOS.

HE insertion, in the last number of SCIENCE GOSSIP, of an extract from my Monograph of the British Psocida ("Ent. Month. Mag."), wherein I avow myself a sceptic as to the ability of Atropos to produce an audible sound, following Mr. Chaney's article in which he distinctly claims for the insect the attribute of causing a ticking, induces me to say a few words on the subject. Without wishing to call in question Mr. Chaney's powers of observation, I still think that some error has occurred, and shall remain an unbeliever until I catch Atropos, flagrante delicto. I shall be only too glad if Mr. Chaney will forward to me living examples of the insect which have been seen and heard in the act of "ticking." Having been as a boy brought up in a then wild part of Essex, which, though actually not twenty miles

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