238 



HARD WICKE 'S SCIENCE - G OS SI P. 



exhibiting at the Royal Aquarium may interest some 

 of the readers of Science-Gossip, as it is beheved 

 to be the only living specimen ever shown in Europe 

 as such, though it is stated that an example once 

 figured in an English travelling menagerie under the 

 title of Chimpanzee, being duly appreciated, like 

 many of the genus Homo, only after its death. Soon 

 after taking a front seat at one of Mr. Pongo's public 

 receptions he was carried in by an attendant and 

 placed in a chair, where, with his obese body and 

 short tucked-up legs, he looked not unlike a Hindoo 

 idol, contrasting with the lighter form of a chimpanzee 

 brought in at the same time. One could not help 

 regretting that an orang outang was not also present 

 to complete a trio of anthropoid apes. The animals 

 are exhibited on an earth-covered platform surrounded 

 with a light framework of iron, the bars, sufficiently 

 wide apart to allow the attendants to pass in and 

 out with ease ; but the gorilla and his companion 

 seemed little inclined to go beyond the boundaiy. 

 Ropes dangled from the ceiling, and a strong ladder 

 was reared against the bars, at an angle of about 45°, 

 up which the gorilla would occasionally go with a slow 

 and careful movement, always descending by grasping 

 the two sides of the ladder and sliding down head 

 foremost. This would appear to be an acquired 

 movement, as a tree could hardly be descended in 

 such fashion. He frequently seized one of the 

 hanging ropes and gave himself a slight swing, but 

 never to clear the ground, while the chimpanzee 

 would often climb nimbly up a rope to a considerable 

 height and pass from one rope to another. The 

 difference in the activity of the two animals was 

 marked. In one of his restless excursions aloft, the 

 chimpanzee dislodged a heavy brass gas sconce which 

 nan-owly escaped one of the spectators in its fall. 

 The gorilla seems incapable of advancing on the 

 hinder feet alone, always assisting himself along by 

 the knuckles of his fore limbs, but the arms are so 

 much longer than the legs that the back is not nearly 

 so horizontal as it would be in a man progressing in 

 a similar manner. He would shuffle along in this way 

 at a pretty good pace, sometimes dodging his keeper 

 round a chair for some while before being causrht. 

 His dog Flock seemed to suit him better as a play- 

 mate than the chimpanzee, and an amusing struggle 

 took place when a piece of rag was thrown down 

 and carried off by the dog, clumsily pursued by the 

 gorilla. When the latter grasped it, a tug of war 

 ensued, the dog of course holding on by its teeth but 

 Pongo using his hands. Flock could drag his oppo- 

 nent along on his three limbs, but when the gorilla 

 lay down, his dead weight proved victorious. Once 

 or twice the attendant placed his own hat on Pongo's 

 head, of course bonneting him completely, when the 

 latter would gravely remove it, and placing it in front of 

 him, commence drumming on the crown with his 

 fists with a vigour that threatened destruction to the 

 article if it were not snatched away quickly. Some- 

 times, apparently when pleased, Pongo claps his hands 

 so naturally that one almost expects to hear him cry 

 " encore ! " A mug of some drink was brought to 

 the gorilla and a bottle to the chimpanzee, and both 

 creatui^es held the vessels to their mouths, but ap- 

 peared to imbibe the contents with some difficulty. 

 Soon after his introduction the attendant set Pongo 

 on a chair among the audience, whence he quickly 

 escaped and climbing along the backs of the seats 

 caused some commotion among the ladies. When, 

 however, his peaceable nature was recognized, he 

 became a general favourite, and one young lady went 

 out and procured him some grapes, but he seemed 

 to care little about them, though she placed tliem 

 in his mouth, an orange being more to his taste. 



He evidently possesses considerable strength as 

 though his height cannot much exceed three 'fe^^t' 

 he repeatedly turned over the heavy ladder with ease'. 

 His weight was said to be about 42 pounds, which I 

 should fancy an under-statement. Though seemingly 

 mild and docile, the attendant said he would not bear 

 correction, and that he had been known to snap ; at 

 present, however, he appears to be a very gentle 

 example of the terrible gorilla, reputed to be un- 

 tamable and ferocious in the extreme. How it may 

 be if he lives to attain his full stature and strength 

 is another matter. These disjointed notes of what 

 v/as^bbserved at one of Pongo's receptions may amuse 

 some who have not been able to have a personal 

 interview with one of the greatest zoological rarities 

 of the day. He is the sole representative of his race 

 in Europe, and it may be a lifetime before we see 

 another. — G. Gityoii. 



Arsenicated Wall-paper. — I should be very 

 much obliged if you would tell me whether you know 

 of any solution that, on being applied to a wall-paper 

 containing arsenic, would render it harmless. I have 

 just taken a house in which the hall, corridors, and 

 passages are all papered with a green marble-paper 

 containing arsenic, and as I have a large family of 

 young children, I am anxious to know whether any 

 harm is likely to result. No bed-rooms or sitting- 

 rooms are papered with the paper, or in fact any green 

 paper at all. — Gerion. 



Query as to Watercress. — In the " Genie du 

 Christianisme," by Chateaubriand, I find the fol- 

 lowing passage : — On nous a montre au bord de I'Yar, 

 petite riviere du comte de Suffolk, en Angleterre^ 

 une espfece de cresson fort curieux : il change de place, 

 et s'avance comme par bonds et par sauts. II porte 

 plusieurs chevelus dans ses cimes ; lorsque ceux qui 

 se trouvent a I'une des extremites de la masse sont 

 assez longs pour atteindre au fond de I'eau, ils 

 y prennent racine. Tirees par Taction de la plante 

 qui s'abaisse sur son nouveau pied, les griffes du 

 cote oppose lachent prise, et la cressonniere, tournant 

 sur son pivot, se deplace de toute la longueur de son 

 banc. Le lendemain on cherche la plante dans 

 I'endroit ou on I'a laissee la veille, et on I'aper^oit 

 plus haut ou plus bas sur le ours de I'onde, " &c. &c. 

 Does this refer to the common watercress? Is it a 

 correct description of its habits ? I have never 

 noticed these strange motions myself nor ever heard 

 them referred to by any botanist. The plant, like all 

 creepers, throws out adventitious roots which be- 

 come new centres of life ; the older portions of the 

 plant gradually die, and thus the plant moves slowly 

 from its original seat. But surely the graphic state- 

 ment that it ' ' s'avance comme par bonds . et par 

 sauts" is somewhat overdrawn. Perhaps some Suffolk 

 correspondent can throw a little light on this pas- 

 sage. — J. Hepworth. 



White Birds. — In 1871, while on a visit to 

 Norton, a village eight miles from Lincoln, I noticed 

 a perfectly snowy-white bird fly past and alight on 

 the ground before me : it was in size and shape like a 

 sparrow ; it hopped and flew on, and I traced it for 

 some time, till it flew into a barn-yard, and did not 

 reappear. I never saw it again during my three 

 weeks' sojourn at the Rectory, but I inquired some 

 months after, when revisiting Norton, if such a bird 

 was known to be about the park and Rectory grounds 

 adjoining, when I was told that there had been a nest 

 of them ; and from the schoolmaster I have gained 

 the perfect information, as detailed to me, but which 

 I could not remember with sufficient accuracy with- 

 out reference to the first authority. — C. M. V. 



