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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ural history, which has been published in 

 pamphlet form at Port Louis. Landing at 

 Mahe, he penetrated inland, and found upon 

 the slopes of the hills groves of the jamrosa 

 and the guava-tree. 



The jamrosa is the favorite food of the 

 curious leaf-fly [Pliyllium siccifolium). 



The peculiar dress of this insect enables 

 it to elude the pursuit of the uninitiated. In 

 form they imitate various leaves, and the 

 resemblance is the more striking from the 

 peculiar veining of their wings. They are 

 sometimes over three inches in length, and 

 their legs have curious leaf-like expansions. 

 They hide on the under surface of leaves, 

 and, when disturbed, double themselves up, 

 so as to closely resemble crumpled leaflets. 

 Probably no more perfect illustration of 

 protective resemblance and mimicry is af- 

 forded by the animal kingdom, than by this 

 little insect. 



Scorpions abound on the islands, but 

 are less dangerous and dreaded than a large 

 spider of the genus Phyrrms. The female 

 of the species, so plenty on the islands, is 

 one-third larger than the male, being about 

 fourteen lines long. 



The many-jointed forelegs are of exceed- 

 ing tenuity, and measure five inches in 

 length. 



These spiders attack by springing on 

 their victim, and their bite causes inflam- 

 mation, sometimes cramp, vomiting and 

 swelling of the whole body. Ammonia is 

 used by the natives as an antidote for their 

 poison. 



A species of mason wasp swarms on the 

 islands, and intrudes everywhere. It builds 

 in houses upon suspended strings, in caves, 

 and in every accessible nook. 



It is of a bright-brown color and about 

 one and a quarter inch long. Their cells 

 are about half an inch in length, and built 

 of red mud. Like many species of their class 

 in other parts of the world, they have a 

 curious instinct for preparing food for their 

 young, when in the larva state. After the 

 egg is deposited in the cell, it is carefully 

 filled with small spiders, and closed. The 

 spiders are probably paralyzed by being 

 stung. They continue fresh for several weeks, 

 even retaining their natural colors, and af- 

 ford the necessary food for the young larva. 



The author gives a most interesting ac- 



count of the wonderful palm-tree, the coca 

 de mer. A century ago it was abundant on 

 these islands, now it has nearly disappeared. 

 For one of the nuts of this tree, it is said 

 that the Emperor Rudolph offered 4,000 

 florins. 



These nuts resemble the cocoa-nut in 

 some respects, but are two-lobed, and four 

 or five times larger. 



A fine specimen forwarded by Consul 

 Pike to the Long Island Historical Society 

 of Brooklyn, N. Y., is now in its Museum 

 of Natural History. 



The tree grows sometimes a hundred 

 feet high, with a slender stem and a ragged 

 head of green and withered leaves. When 

 the young plant attains the age of 20 or 25 

 years, and before fructification commences, 

 the leaves have attained their greatest size 

 and luxuriance. The stem then begins to 

 rise. 



It is nine months after planting before 

 the germ begins to shoot ; then, instead of 

 rising directly, it shoots away like a root 15 

 or 20 feet, when it rises above the surface. 

 Each leaf requires a year's elaboration in 

 sun and air before the next appears. The 

 early Dutch and Portuguese explorers found 

 the immense nuts of this palm floating in 

 the sea, and supposed it to be an ocean 

 product, hence its name coco de mer. 



Elevation of Lagoon Islands in the Pa- 

 cific. At a meeting of the Geological Soci- 

 ety of London, held May 8th, Mr. D. Forbes 

 is reported to have said that, " when in 1859 

 he spent some months in the Pacific, he had 

 been requested by Mr. Darwin to examine 

 into the evidence as to the origin of atolls 

 by elevation, and had found that the assert- 

 ed cases of the existence of masses of coral 

 at a considerable elevation above the sea 

 merely arose from blocks having been trans- 

 ported inland by the natives." 



He, however, thought it possible that ele- 

 vations had taken place in some instances. 



The report, which is given in Nature for 

 May 23d, undoubtedly fails, on account of 

 its brevity, to express clearly the remarks 

 and meaning of that eminent naturalist. 



It is, we believe, conceded that the ob- 

 servations of Prof. Dana among the coral- 

 islands of the Pacific are thorough and ac- 

 curate. On pages 345 and 346 of his re- 



