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HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



or less mixed with fragments of vegetable matter ; 

 the only form of the latter distinguishable was an 

 alga, Bulbochceta setlgem. The trout of this loch 

 differ from the fish found ia other lochs iu Islay, in 

 the form of their heads and caudal iins. In other 

 respects they possess the usual characteristics of 

 loch trout. In colour they are yellowish-brown, 

 with red and dark brown spots iaterspersed over 

 the body and dorsal fins. The ventrals and anals 

 are formed as in other trout, and are perfect to the 

 apex, the rays tapering off to the most delicate 

 film. The pectorals are in no way eroded or effaced. 

 The caudal fins, however, are not bifurcated, but 

 are all more or less rounded. Some varieties are 

 acuminate in the centre (fig. 60), the rays mea- 

 suring only I- of an inch from thek base to the 

 apex. The variety whose caudal fins are rounded 

 (fig. 61), terminate more abruptly than the acumi- 

 nate form, and are covered at the apex with 

 a thick succulent skin. Some naturalists have 

 suggested the possibility of friction having pro- 

 duced these abnormal forms of the 'caudal fins. 

 This opinion I cannot for a moment entertain, for, 

 if friction had produced it, we should expect that 

 the rays of the pectoral, ventral, and anal fins 

 would aJl be more or less worn as well. This, how- 

 ever, in no instance have I found ; all are perfectly 

 preserved, and, as before stated, are seen tapering 

 to the most delicate point. Further, if friction 

 was the cause, we should naturally expect to find 

 similar forms in some of the lochs iu the innnediate 

 neighbourhood. This, however, has in no instance 

 been done. Mr. McKinzie, a keen sportsman, has 

 fished the lochs in this part of the island for thirty 

 years,' and has in no instance found a single fish 

 formed like those found in this particular loch. 

 During that time he has never found a single fish 

 in Loch-Na-Maorichen whose caudal fius were not 

 of this abnormal shape. This variety being restricted 

 to this particular loch, and the physical conditions 

 being similar to some of the other lochs in the 

 district, I cannot «ee how friction could be the 

 producing cause. These fish difler also in the form 

 of the head, which is shorter, and more especially in 

 the proportion from the orbits to the point of the 

 snout, which is more obtuse than in the ordinary 

 trout. It more resembles the buU-irout, and seems 

 to form "an interesting variety of Salmo erio.r, or 

 " bull-trout," I would suggest as a fitting name for 

 this variety, Salmo Islayensis. I leave to others the 

 interesting task of accounting for the origin of such 

 a distinct variety of fisii, whose abnormally-marked 

 variations must be advantageous, or it could not 

 have excluded the ordinary form, and maintained 

 possession of this isolated sheet of water. 



" Humboldt relates, that on the banks of the 

 Orinoco he saw a parroquet a hundred years old, 

 which spoke in an unknown and extinct tongue." 



B A T S. 



TN " G. M. M.'s " notes on these interesting 

 -*- little mammals on page 18, he says, " Who can 

 tell where they hide themselves during the day and 

 throughout the winter ? " Both of these questions 

 I can readily answer. During the puUing-dowu of 

 part of these premises several years back, many bats 

 were found hid away in all sorts of holes and cran- 

 nies. Bats also retire after their nocturnal flights 

 to chimneys, old masonry, caves, and hollow trees. 

 The eaves of large buildings are also a favourite ren- 

 dezvous for all kinds of bats. In an old work on 

 quadrupeds I have at my elbow, mention is made 

 of a bat-hunt during three successive days under 

 the eaves of Queen's College, Cambridge. The first 

 day one hundred and eighty. five were taken, the 

 second sixty-three, and the third two. They were 

 all of the high-flying species known as the Noctule 

 or Great Bat (Nodulina ultivolans), and each 

 measured fifteen inches iu extent of wing. Have 

 any readers of Science-Gossip noticed with what 

 adroitness a caged bat will make its escape through 

 any couveuient crevice, and how easily it manages to 

 squeeze itself through almost impossible apertures ? 

 Last September, when about retiring to rest, word 

 was brought me that one of these ghostly creatures 

 had taken possession of a bedroom intended for a 

 coupleof individuals higherinthe scale of beings than 

 the intruder ; and would I kindly assist in return- 

 ing the latter to the "realms of air"? I went, and 

 there sure enough was the terrible, hobgobliu-like 

 creature flitting round the room like a departed spirit, 

 and flapping its leathern wings in appalling proximity 

 to the four-poster. What was to be done ? It was 

 highly absurd to think of occupying the room while 

 this dreadful "spectre was flapping its ghostly wings 

 above the bed. Various likely and unlikely means 

 of induciug the creature to make its exit were tried, 

 but all with the same success, — that is, none. At 

 length the fertile imagination of the humble penner 

 of these lines suggested an attempt to net him with 

 his companion in many a long entomological ramble 

 — to wit, a butterfly-net. The net was brought, 

 adjusted on the stick, and a valiant charge made at 

 the ill-omened intruder. After spinning round and 

 round like a teetotum for some time, and making vain 

 dives at the apparition, a dexterous turn uf the 

 wrist brought the opening of the net in a line with 

 Plecotus communis, and the game was triumphantly 

 bagged. I put my member of the cheiroptera into 

 an old birdcage, stuffed up every likely means of 

 egress, and left it for the night. I went early next 

 morning to look at my prisoner ; but he had/' broke 

 the jug" a la Jack Shcppard, and skedaddled no 

 one knows where, for 1 have never popped eyes on 

 my midnight visitor since. He must have squeezed 

 himself through wires not half an inch apart. 

 Several others of my bat-pets have evaporated iu 



