OBITUARY. 



767 



thrown to a flock of the birds near by. 

 One of them swallowed the whole of it at 

 a gulp, and our student in comparative 

 anatomy thought his game secure. But, 

 though closely watched for three hours, not 

 the slightest sign of uneasiness was mani- 

 fested, and at the end of this time the creat- 

 ure flew away with its fellows, apparently 

 as well as the best of them. The accus- 

 tomed haunts of the flock were afterward 

 carefully searched, but no trace could be 

 found of the dead body wanted ; and it was 

 concluded that, unlike other gormands, this 

 one was not to be easily got at through his 

 stomach. 



Purpose of the Rattlcsaake's Rattle. 



In the American Naturalist, for February, 

 Prof. Samuel Aughey gives the results 

 of his observations upon the use made 

 of their rattles by the rattlesnake. It is 

 the vulgar opinion that the reptile sounds 

 his rattle for the purpose of enticing birds, 

 and some naturalists even are disposed to 

 find here a mimicry of the sound made by 

 the so-called locust, or cicada. Prof. Aughey 

 does not undertake to explain all the pur- 

 poses served by the rattle, but he fully agrees 

 with Mr. F. W. Putnam in rejecting this mi- 

 metic theory. Does the rattle, then, serve 

 any useful purpose ? In reply to this ques- 

 tion, the author tells us what he has him- 

 self observed. In July, 1869, he was in 

 "Wayne County, Nebraska, and, as he was 

 one day investigating the natural history 

 of that district, he heard the familiar rattle 

 of the snake. The sound was repeated at 

 intervals, and proceeded from a rattlesnake 

 that was calling its mate, which soon came 

 in answer to the summons. Prof. Aughey 

 had a similar experience the following year, 

 and from these facts he is disposed to think 

 that the purpose served by the rattle is to 

 call the sexes together. 



Another purpose may be to paralyze its 

 victims with fright, and to inspire its natural 

 enemies with terror. As an illustration of 

 the use of the rattle for the former purpose, 

 the author says that, as he followed through 

 the woods of Dakota County, Nebraska, a 

 Baltimore oriole, he heard a rattle, and at 

 once saw the bird as it were paralyzed with 

 fear, and ready to fall a prey to the serpent. 

 The writer shot the rattlesnake. He adds 



that he once witnessed an attack of seven 

 hogs on a rattlesnake. Soon after the bat- 

 tle opened, the snake rattled, and three 

 others came to his aid. But the hogs were 

 victorious in a few minutes. 



OBITUARY. 



Professor Matthew Fontaine Maury, 

 whose scientific labors in the Hydrographi- 

 cal Office, Washington, earned for him emi- 

 nent rank among savants, and were of in- 

 estimable benefit to the commerce of the 

 world, died at Lexington, Va., February 1st, 

 aged 6*7 years. At the time of his death 

 he was Professor of Physics in the Virginia 

 Military Institute. He was author of a 

 " Treatise on Navigation," of a " Physical 

 Geography of the Seas," of " Letters on 

 the Amazon and Atlantic Slopes of South 

 America," and other works. 



Tiie eminent French naturalist Felix 

 Archimede Pouchet died December 6, 1872, 

 at Rouen, in the 73d year of his age. He is 

 best known to fame by his researches into 

 the question of spontaneous generation, on 

 which he held the affirmative side. He was 

 a very voluminous writer, his principal 

 works being on "Spontaneous Ovulation," 

 and " The Organs of Digestion, Circulation, 

 and Respiration." He was educated for a 

 physician, and was for a long time profess- 

 or in the Rouen School of Medicine. 



The Rev. Adam Sedgwick, LL. D., F. R. S., 



F. G. S., Professor of Geology in the Univer- 

 sity of Cambridge, England, died January 

 27th, aged about 90 years. He long stood 

 in the foremost rank of men of science in 

 England, and was, both alone and with the 

 assistance of Sir R. Murchison, the author 

 of several works on geology. His first ac- 

 knowledged publication appeared in 1822, 

 and treated of the physical structure of the 

 Devonshire and Cornish formations. In 

 1851 he was awarded the Wollaston Palla- 

 dium Medal for researches into the geologi- 

 cal structure of the British Isles, the Alps, 

 and the Rhenish provinces. Two years 

 before his death he resigned his professor- 

 ship at Cambridge, but to the last took a 

 warm interest in the progress of science. 



