HAEDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



267 



Farm Insects, these birds pick out the larvae in corn 

 and turnip fields ; and when it is remembered that 

 the almost incredible number contained at one time 

 in the stomach only makes a single meal, the extent 

 of their services may in some measure be estimated. 



During the last few years various artificial foods for 

 pheasants have been introduced, and consequently 

 birds of larger size and finer flavour have been reared. 

 The quantity of pheasants reared and killed during the 

 season at battues, &c. in various parts of the kingdom 

 is something enormous. Dr. Wynter in his " Curi- 

 osities of Civilization," has a paper on the London 

 Commissariat, in which he states that 70,000 pheasants 

 and 125,000 partridges were annually sent to the 

 London market. As Dr. Wynter's book appeared 

 in i860, no doubt the number sent to the metropolis 

 has greatly increased since then. To these must be 

 added the large quantity sold by poulterers in other 

 cities and towns all over the kingdom. This will give 

 us some idea of the number of " head " reared for the 

 gratification of the sportsmen and the luxuiy of the 

 table. 



Blair, in his Encyclopcedia, says, avoid killing a hen 

 pheasant, except on some very particular occasions. 

 The principal one is the increase of the hen birds to 

 such a degree as to outnumber the cocks : as this does 

 happen occasionally, then to thin them assists the 

 general stock ; but we fear that this excuse is some- 

 times made when it ought not to be. It was a very 

 excellent conventional understanding, that a fine of 

 half-a-guinea should be paid to the keeper of the 

 manor whenever a hen bird was killed. It is, how- 

 ever, often evaded, and, from the novice it is not 

 exacted sometimes, when we think it ought to be. 

 The size of the cock, the length of his tail, and his 

 occasional call to his mates, when all of them are 

 absent, are sufficient guides for the most inexperienced, 

 therefore never excuse the fine. What says the poet 



Pye ? 



But when the hen, to thy discerning view. 

 Her sable pinion spreads, of duskier hue. 

 The attendant keeper's prudent warning hear 

 And spare the offspring of the future year ; 

 Else shall the /ine which custom laid of old. 

 Avenge her slaughter by the forfeit — gold ! ; 



Our limits will not allow us to gossip further, but 

 much interesting matter may be found respecting this 

 bird in the works already mentioned in this paper, and 

 books on natural history by various authors. 



Hampden G. Glasspoole. 



The " Albertian" is the title of a magazine issued 

 at Framlingham College, Suffolk. It is better than 

 the usual run of school magazines, although we are 

 pleased to see that in all these praiseworthy literary 

 productions, science is made one of the most promi- 

 nent features. Such a fact is significant of the future. 

 "The Butterflies of the District " is a very creditable 

 paper in the "Albertian." 



CHAPTERS ON FOSSIL SHARKS AND 

 RAYS. 



By Arthur Smith Woodward. 



III. 



Hybudontid.-e. 



THE Hybodonts form a large Selachian family of 

 very great palteontological interest and im- 

 portance, and appear to have come into existence in 

 early Carboniferous times, attaining their maximum 

 development in the Jurassic, and dying out again at 

 the close of the Cretaceous epoch. While, however, 

 their remains are conspicuous among the fossil faunas 

 of these different periods, individuals and species 

 being both abundant, the number of genera is com- 

 paratively few, and the type-genus, Hybodiis, has an 

 exceedingly wide range. CioiacantJnis {Cladodus) 

 and Tristych'ms are found throughout the Carboni- 

 ferous formations ; Pristidadodus and Carcharopsis, 

 probably belonging to the same family, are character- 

 istic of the Lower Carboniferous ; and species of 

 ITybodus occur in most marine and estuarine strata 

 from the Muschelkalk to the Upper Chalk. 



Although long suspected* to be parts of the same 

 fish, it is only recentlyf that the dorsal fin-spine known 

 as CtenacantJms has been definitely proved to be 

 generically identical with the teeth termed Cladodus. 

 A specimen from the well-known Calciferous Sand- 

 stone of Eskdale has decided the question, and 

 affords interesting information regarding the sharks 

 that have left so many of their spines and teeth in 

 nearly all regions where the Carboniferous rocks- 

 are developed. The Eskdale fossil exhibits two 

 dorsal fins, each armed with a spine in front, the first 

 of these being slightly longer and more arched than 

 the second ; it shows, further, that the fish was 

 covered with shagreen granules, that the notochord 

 was persistent, and that there were no anterior spines 

 to either pectoral or ventral fins; and, though not 

 well seen, there are distinct indications of the dentition 

 being of the Cladodont type. The length of the 

 specimen is about 30 inches, and the anterior spine 

 measures nearly 5 ; consequently, if other species of 

 the same genus had approximately the same pro- 

 portions, the largest individuals must have attained a 

 length of about nine or ten feet, the spines known as 

 C. major, from the Carboniferous Limestone of Ar- 

 magh and Bristol, occasionally measuring 18 inches 

 from base to summit. The spine of CtcnacaiitJuis 

 is easily recognised, being somewhat laterally com- 

 pressed, having the sides of the exposed portion 

 ornamented with longitudinal, more or less denticu- 

 lated ribs and furrows, and possessing a double series 



Trail 



* James Thomson, ^' On Ctciiacanthtcs hyl>odoi(ies,'E,zsxtQn," 



Vans. Geol. Soc, Glasgow, Vol. IV, pp. 59-62: Hancock 



& Atthey, "Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist.," Vol. IX, Set. 4, 1872, 



^'1 °' On a New Fossil Shark," by Dr. Traquair, F.R.S., in 

 " Geol. Mag.," Jan. 1884. 



N 2 



