160 



HARDWICKE'S SCI£ N CE-GO S S IP. 



lichens, &c., are to be met with, and the localities 

 for fossil-collecting. The work is accompanied by 

 a capital map, which will help the stranger in no 

 small degree. The book has been well got up, and 

 capitally edited by Mr. Henry Walker, E.G.S. ; 

 and the only thing that has astonished us in it is 

 its price— threepence ! 



The Distinction between Akgynnis Aglaia 

 AXD Adippe. — Tliis is often a source of perplexity 

 to young entomologists. Stainton's "Manual" is 

 slightly misleading, because it states that there 

 are no silvery spots on the undersides of the fore- 

 wings of Adippe, whereas there are generally two 

 rounded spots noticeable, as also in Aglaia; but 

 the latter has, besides, other smaller spots near the 

 tips. The size also is not distinctive; fur though 

 the "Manual" gives measurements to show that 

 Aglaia is the larger of the two, it does not hold 

 good as a rule. The best point of distinction is 

 the irregular row of reddish-brown spots with 

 silver centres just above the marginal row of silver 

 spots on the underside of tlie Iiind-wings, which 

 only occur in Adippe. Anotiier difference, scarcely 

 to be deemed scientific, is, as I fancy, that Adippe 

 is more alert upon the wing and difficult of capture 

 than Aglaia ; and the latter seems partial to places 

 near the coast, even if exposed.—/. R. S. C. 



Viper swallowing its Young. — There are 

 several mysteries in Natural History which require 

 clearing up : sea-serpents, hybernation of swallows, 

 long imprisonment of frogs, and, among many 

 others, tlie power of tlie Adder {Pelius Beriix) to 

 swallow its young in time of danger or surprise. 

 Unfortunately, in most instances, the deed is wit- 

 nessed by an unskilled observer ; but there is a 

 mass of evidence from skilled naturalists, added to 

 the larger mass from sportsmen, gardeners, game- 

 keepers, and those given to rural walks, that it 

 almost convinced me, who am inclined to be a 

 sceptic. With no time for sport or country rambles, 

 I have a local repiitation of being a " curious " 

 man, and so it is my good bap to be referred to in 

 matters of doubt. From early training and profes- 

 sion, I may say that I nm something of a compara- 

 tive anatomist and a skilled observer. But to the 

 fact. On September loth, 1S72, an adder was 

 brought me by a friend, who had killed it by a 

 blow of a lithe stick on the head. It would have 

 been valueless and thrown away, but that 1 noticed 

 its protuberant belly. Willing to know what it had 

 been dining on, I made a post-mortem examination, 

 expecting to find some field-mice or shrews. My 

 surprise was great at finding, on careful incisions^ 

 six young adders lying at length in the stomach. 

 On further examination, I found the oviduct intact. 

 My friend did not witness any swallowing of the 

 young. The mother was 1S;> inches long, and the 



young ones varied from five to six inches in length. 

 —Thomas Q. Conch, F.S.A. 



Zoological Problems.— " At the last meeting 

 of the British Association, the President, Dr. Car- 

 penter, suggested that the reason why the coral- 

 reef animals could not live at a greater depth than 

 twenty-five fathoms, was that the temperature 

 below that depth was not congenial to them. 

 Hence, he made it a question of temperature, not 

 of pressure, as to what depth these lowly-organized 

 creatures might exist at. It follows from this, that 

 in areas where tlie proper temperature extends to a 

 much greater depth than twenty-five fathoms, as in 

 the Bed Sea probably, these reef-building corals 

 ought to be found in the living state. When in the 

 ' Coral Sea,' as it is appropriately called, the Chal- 

 lenger will make experiments, with a view of deter- 

 mining whether it is pressure or temperature which 

 regulates the vertical distribution of these animals. 

 There is little doubt that this part of the voyage 

 will be a prolonged one, for the shallow-water 

 animals cf the shores of New Guinea are to be 

 examined, and compared with those living under 

 similar physical conditions off the opposite coasts 

 of North Australia. By a true comparison of these 

 it will be possible, approximately, to fix the period 

 when New Guinea and Australia were disjoined ; 

 for this rule holds good in geographical zoology, 

 that islands which are separated from adjacent 

 mainlands by shallow seas have invariably the 

 same fauna and flora ; whilst islands separated by 

 deep seas have their indigenous animals and plants 

 dissimilar; the deduction being that deep water 

 indicates a long period of separation, during which 

 the animals and plants have relatively altered ; 

 whilst a shallow sea is equally a proof of a recent 

 zoological change. If we apply this principle to 

 the British islands, and compare our fauna and 

 flora with those of the Continent, we shall find the 

 latter rule holds good ; whilst, if we compare those 

 of the Azores to the African types, we equally 

 prove the applicability of the former rule, the 

 intervening sea sometimes reaching a depth of 

 30,000 feet."— =/. E. Taylor, in '' Cassell's HJaga- 

 zine" for June, 



White Stork in Suffolk. — Mr. Rope, of 

 Leiston, has just published the following: — "For 

 the last day or two we have had a rare visitor on 

 our marslies, in the shape of a white stork {Ciconia 

 alh(i). He is a most conspicuous object, and may 

 be seen from a great distance. We watched him 

 on May tlie 21st for a long time with a good glass. 

 He appears to be in good plumage, and is very 

 wary, not allowing us to get at all near him. When 

 flying, he was followed and mobbed by some pee- 

 wits, who evidently looked on him as a strange 

 intruder. As there happened to be a heron on the 



