HARD WICKE'S S CIENCE- G OS SI P. 



177 



CHOLERA BACILLI. 



A FEW weeks back, I furnished a short note 

 to Science-Gossip, on the discovery of the 

 specific bacillus which Professor Koch believes to 

 be the cause of cholera. Through the kindness of a 

 friend, I am now able to send you a sketch made 

 from a pure cultivation of the specific bacillus, drawn 

 from a preparation mounted by the Professor while 

 in Calcutta, b in the sketch is the cholera-germ ; 

 and for the purpose of comparison I have also drawn 

 a^ a bacillus which presented itself in a solution of 



Fig. 103. — Bacillus of Cholera, 



gelatine in my book-case, and which was wind-sown, 

 ■and I have subjoined a micrometric scale of two 

 one-thousandths of an inch drawn with the eye-piece 

 at the same distance from the paper as a and b, in 

 fact from a scale which simply replaced the above 

 ■objects on the stage without disturbing the microscope. 

 Professor Koch's Sixth Report to the German Govern- 

 ment appears translated in the Indian Medical 

 Gazette for May current, and will be of great interest 

 ■ to mycologists. 



Calcutta. W. J. S. 



NOTES ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 

 OF JERSEY. 



By Edward Lovett. 



SOME time ago I wrote a few chapters in Science- 

 Gossip on this subject, and the present contribu- 

 tion is not intended so much as a continuation of 

 .tliem, as a brief sketch of what use can be made of a 

 very brief visit to a favourable locality. 



My stay was a short one, all too short from a 

 .naturalist's point of view : for every time I revisit my 

 favourite island, I am fortunate enough to find the 

 home of some rare or local form, and become more 

 than ever convinced that the word " rare " is only a 

 term of comparison, and that the rarest species exist 

 .in quantities, if we only knew where to find them. 



I am also convinced that the shores of Jersey are 

 comparatively unworked, and that it would be no light 

 task to investigate their natural history thoroughly, 

 owing to their vast and rugged expanse. 



Although I have done a good deal of dredging 

 about the island, I have not found it yield such good 

 results as shore hunting during a low tide. On this 

 occasion I experienced strong N. E. winds, which 

 made dredging not only unpleasant but dangerous ; 

 still, I obtained fairly good results by going under 

 very easy sail. Our dredge brought up great 

 numbers of Aplysia punctata, several Aphrodita 

 hystrix. Shells, some dead, of Venus verrucosa, 

 Liitraria oblonga, Cardiiim norvcgicuin, Anomia 

 ephippiuiii, Pcctcn maximus, and many others ; in one 

 spot Pecttinculiis glycitncris came up in abundance. 



Of Crustacea I did not obtain much with the 

 dredge ; Pagitnis prideaiixii, P. ciiamiisis, P. bernhar- 

 dus, P. hyiuiiimnni, Stenorhynchus loiigiivstris, 

 Eurynome aspera, Mai a sqidnado, being about all. 

 The common hermit and P. prideaiixii were in shells 

 on the outside of which was Sagartia parasitica, in 

 many instances several animals on one shell. Of 

 small objects, the wind prevented my saving much, 

 for, as soon as we managed to turn the dredge out on 

 our little deck, a good deal of the contents got blown 

 overboard again ; still, I secured the ova of Nassa 

 attached to Zostera, and the curious ova of the 

 Aplysia. I had almost forgotten to mention that I 

 got a few specimens of the star-fishes Cribella and 

 Ophiocoma rosiila. 



Part of the ground dredged was in the course of the 

 steamers, and I was struck with the effect produced 

 by the cinders thrown overboard by them. It is well 

 known what enormous quantities of this material finds 

 its way to the bottom of the sea in the track of 

 steamers, and I have often thought that the effect 

 must be injurious to marine life, but I did not find 

 it so. Our dredge brought up quantities of these 

 cinders at each haul, and they being somewhat porous 

 and rough seemed to offer suitable anchorage for 

 many things. Every specimen of Anomia that I 

 obtained was anchored to a cinder, and many of the 

 best shells and Crustacere were living on and among 

 them ; so that, after all, these cinder banks, as they 

 must become in time, may prove of actual service to 

 the life of our seas. 



Whilst in Jersey the breaming season was in full 

 swing, and I obtained several things which the fisher- 

 men took on their long lines. One morning a fine 

 star-fish {Uraster glacialis), about one foot eight inches 

 in diameter, was brought me, and another {Uraster 

 riibens), about ten inches in diameter and very robust ; 

 this latter, the common star-fish, is called by the 

 fishermen the five-finger Jack. One man brought up 

 on his line two very large Bunodcs crassicornis, 

 attached to good-sized stones ; they had each absorbed 

 a hook baited with a whelk, and I was told that they 

 often came up on the long lines. Octopus was also 



