HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



235 



case. The slender form of lliis snake, and its 

 beautiful green and yellow colours, have led to the 

 opinion that it is of arboreal or bush-loving habits. 

 It never exhibited such in confinement, however, 

 and instead of climbing over the caladia, ferns, &c., 

 it lived mostly under-ground. It had a curious 

 habit of projecting its head and two inches of its 

 body above the ground, and holding them rigidly in 

 a fixed attitude. In this position it resembled very 

 closely a sprout or shoot of some green succulent 

 plant, and might readily be mistaken for such by 

 small animals." 



^A New Zoophyte.— Dr. J. E. Gray has described 

 a new genus of Escharidae from Natal, under the 

 name [of FlustramorpJia. _It includes two species, 

 marginata and jlahellaris. 



New Eishes.— Dr. Giinther has also described 

 two new fishes from Tasmania. One genus is new, 

 and allied to the Percoids, called Lanioperca mordax. 

 It goes by the name of " Pike " and " Jack " among 

 the colonists. The other species is Chilodactylus 

 Allporti, named after Mr. Morton Allport, in whose 

 collection both were found. 



GEOLOGY. 



The Dowaud Caves.— The Cotteswold Natu- 

 ralists' Eielu Club had an interesting excursion 

 to these caves on the 19th of August. Their bone 

 breccia has been carefully worked by the llev. W. S. 

 Symonds, E.G.S., who was with the party, and he, 

 as well as Dr. Wright, the Vice-President, gave a 

 most interesting description of their contents. In 

 one cave, called " Baunerman's Cave," remains of 

 the Cave Lion, Hhinoceros, Mammoth, Irish Elk, 

 E.eindeer, and Horse were disentombed. In " King 

 Arthur's Cave " were the bones of the long-faced 

 Cow {Bos longifrom), as well as those of the 

 Marmot, Beaver, Badger, Wolf, Otter, &c. A layer 

 of stalagmite was found beneath these deposits, and 

 lower still was another bed, in which remains of the 

 Cave Lion, Cave Bear, Cave Ilyseua, Rhinoceros, 

 Elephant, Reindeer, Irish Elk, &c., were met with. 

 In the same stratum flint flakes were also found, 

 although no remains of man. The latter cave is 

 285 feet, and the former 350 feet, above the river 

 Wye. 



Gigantic Elying Lizards. — The extensive col- 

 ection of fossil remains recently made during an 

 expedition to the western parts of the United States 

 are now yielding, in the hands of Professor Marsh, 

 very interesting results. Eive specimens of the new 

 species, among the largest known, of PterodacUjlus 

 occidentals, were found. This belonged to the 

 short-tailed group, and its spread of wing must 

 have been from eighteen to twenty feet, whilst its 



large teeth clearly indicate its carnivorous habits. 

 Another species, P. ingens, exceeded this in size, 

 having an expanse of wing of at least twenty-two 

 feet. These are the first remains of flying reptiles 

 found in America. 



Cretaceous Birds.— Professor Marsh has re- 

 cently published a very elaborate memoir on the 

 large fossil bird named llesperornis regalis, which 

 was a large swimming bird, having its nearest allies 

 in the Colymhidce, but differing in many respects 

 from them, and indeed from all known birds. Three 

 other species of fossil birds, allied to the Cormo- 

 rants, and named Graculavus, have also been dis- 

 covered in tlie cretaceous Green-sand of New 

 Jersey, United States. Tlie species are relatively 

 velox, pumiliis, and anceps. The same beds have 

 yielded the remains of a new cretaceous wading 

 bird, called Paleeotringa vagans. 



New Cretaceous Reptiles.— The same geolo- 

 gist has also discovered, among the rich collection 

 in the Yale Museum, several new reptilian forms, of 

 Cretaceous age, belonging to the Mososaurus group. 

 Two new genera have been established, and named 

 Lestosaurus and RJiinosaurus, under the former of 

 which no fewer than four new species have been in- 

 cluded. Professor Marsh shows that the necks of 

 all the reptiles of the Mososaurus family were very 

 short. 



Model op the Wealden. — During the meeting 

 of the British Association, considerable interest 

 was manifested in the Geological section by a geo- 

 logical model of the south-east of England and 

 part of Erauce, including the whole of the Wealden 

 area. It was constructed by Mr. James B. Jordan, 

 of the Mining Record ofiice, from data supplied by 

 Mr. W. Topley, E.G.S., of the Geological Survey. 

 The model is one of the most beautiful we have 

 ever seen, and we are glad to find it is about to be 

 published, the constructor allowing a considerable 

 discount to members of the British Association. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



Swallows and Martiks in 1873 (p. 189).— 

 I fancy that "E. M. P." is partly right in his 

 conjecture. Swallows are decidedly scarce, if not 

 altogether lacking, in many localities near London, 

 On the theory still advocated by some as to their 

 liybernation under water, it might be supposed 

 that during the wet winter of 1871-72, the birds 

 got too much water through the floods which were 

 out in various districts, and were so completely 

 submerged that they could not extricate themselves. 

 I have not, however, noticed that martins were 

 below the average in point of numbers ; indeed, in 

 Kent, about Gravesend, they were very conspicuous 

 on the wing in IMay and June. On one occasion, 

 a luckless individual entered a Gravesend church 

 just before service, and, in spite of all efforts to 

 bring him down by means of umbrellas, coats, &c. 



