HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



19 



was none on the previous evening), and placed it in 

 a vessel out of doors. On the 24th, I brought half 

 my collection into a greenhouse, temperature about 

 50 Fahr. On the 30th, the tadpoles in the greenhouse 

 were free of the albumen, while those out of doors, 

 after being several times under ice, were nearly all 

 free on April 7.—R. B. C. ( Ware). 



Cats and Rabbits. — It does occasionally happen 

 for the cat to give suck and bring up rabbits. A few 

 years ago I got three young rabbits, at the time my 

 cat's kittens were destroyed, when the youngsters 

 were put into the basket beside the cat. She, by all 

 appearances, was pleased with the change ; in a short 

 time they were sucking. I kept them about nine 

 months, but had to part with them, owing to their 

 mischievous propensities. Last year a farm servant 

 in the neighbourhood of Kelso got two young rabbits. 

 The cat having kittens at the time, the rabbits were 

 placed as a substitute for the kittens. The cat took 

 well with the change ; the rabbits, when they got 

 older, became so mischievous that they tore every- 

 thing tearable that came in their way. They were 

 taken to a rabbit burrow a considerable distance off, 

 but the old cat succeeded in finding them out and 

 conducting them safely back to their cottage-home. 

 There are authentic cases on the Borders of the fox- 

 terrier taking a liking to kittens, and even beating off 

 their own mothers, and the collie-dog nursing young 

 pigs. — R. R. Fans, Far Is ton. 



Successful Breeding of the Fox Moth 

 (Bombyx Rnbi). — In the months of September and 

 October the abundant number of the caterpillars 

 of this moth has often been observed. What with 

 weather and other causes, few become perfect insects. 

 For a few years back I have often tried to breed 

 them, but was never successful till I took the follow- 

 ing plan. I got a rough heather turf, sheltered it 

 from the north and east winds, made a wood frame 

 covered all over with thin cloth, and put thirty-six 

 caterpillars into it in October, and in June I had the 

 pleasure of seeing thirty-five perfect insects. — R. R. 

 Fans, Earlston. 



Fagus, &c. — The "Fagus" of the Latins could 

 not have been the chestnut, for this tree was known 

 to the Romans by the name of Castanea nuces, 

 it having been first found by them at Castanea, a 

 town of Thessaly, near the mouth of Peneus. — 

 Mrs. Alfred Watney. 



Natterjack Toad. — In reply to your correspond- 

 ent, J. Perrycarp, I have kept a natterjack for a 

 considerable time, and have never found it to emit 

 any odour. Does he not mean the common snake, 

 which, like most snakes, gives forth an offensive odour 

 when irritated or under sexual excitement ? — f. M. 

 Campbell. 



Our British Snakes. — The blind-worm does 

 not " carry its young in a case in its back," the young 

 being hatched shortly before they are brought forth. 

 The adder is also ovo-viviparous, the egg bursting in 

 the act of parturition. The ringed snake, on the 

 other hand, is oviparous, leaving its egg to be hatched 

 by the solar heat. — J. M. Campbell. 



HOW LONG CAN A FlSH LIVE OUT OF WATER ? — 

 I have on more than one occasion had proof of the 

 tenacity of life in some fishes, particularly those of 

 the perch family. Two instances are still fresh in my 

 memory : one where a goldfish which had been taken 

 from an aquarium had been left on a plate from six 

 till twelve o'clock at night, and being again placed in 

 the water swam about as vigorous as ever ; the other, 



a roach, had been kept four hours out of the water, 

 with a like result on being replaced. — J. AT. Campbell. 



Late Swallows. — I find in Letter 21 of Gilbert 

 White's " Selbourne," dated November 28, 1768, that 

 one of his neighbours saw a martin in a sheltered 

 nook, on a fine sunny day, hawking for flies ; he 

 also states he is perfectly satisfied they do not leave 

 this island in the winter. It is singular that in the 

 first week of this month in my garden I have seen 

 several pairs of swallows busily engaged in their 

 favourite pursuit of fly catching, although the nights 

 were very cold ; their numbers, however, dwindled 

 down, and on November 27 last one pair only 

 could I find in the district, and that pair about, my 

 garden. I saw- them every day until the 12th. The 

 night of the 1 1 th was a very cold, frosty one. I 

 found them in the morning sitting very disconsolately 

 on the spouting of the dwelling-house, taking occa- 

 sionally a short flight and returning to the same spot. 

 I have never known the swallow {Ffirundo rustica) 

 so late before. It seems to me that Gilbert White is 

 right in assuming that some of the flights are left 

 behind. — S. Griffin, Salisbury. 



Intelligence in Man and Animals. — From 

 time to time we read in your journal anecdotes of 

 animals, the writers of which suggest that they may 

 be possessed of reason, in the sense that from two 

 premises they draw a conclusion. The great difficulty 

 in the investigation of the minds of animals appears to 

 be that man instinctively and unconsciously, unless 

 checked by reflection, explains their actions, especially 

 in extraordinary cases, by his own modes and laws of 

 thought. The dog, for example, is considered one of 

 the most intelligent of quadrupeds, and numberless 

 are the cases I have seen quoted to prove that he is 

 possessed of reason ; but in every instance it appears 

 to me that though his actions might and would in the 

 case of a man have been dictated by reason as above 

 defined, it does not appear at all certain that such is 

 the true explanation of the phenomena, at any rate it 

 is dangerous, scientifically speaking, to attribute to 

 reasoning powers what may perhaps have another 

 explanation. I purposely refrain from quoting any of 

 these alleged instances of reason in the lower animals, 

 merely wishing to suggest the difficulties in the way 

 of decision. If it could be proved that a dog de- 

 liberately chose one of two courses of action, the 

 case of reason would be established. It is for his 

 fidelity, attachment, and courage in defence of his 

 master that the dog has endeared himself to man. In 

 man's vocabulary these are called moral qualities, but 

 in a dog they are not the result of choice and a dis- 

 tinction between good and evil, but are part of his 

 nature, primal impulses (possibly affected by training) 

 of which we know nothing ; and it is as illogical to 

 praise the dog for their possession as it would be to 

 blame a magpie for secretiveness or a tiger for ferocity. 

 There appears to be an impression that the intelligence 

 of animals differs from man's only in degree. There 

 is a difference between a beggar and a prince, says the 

 old song, but this, however, is but one of degree ; but 

 until clear cases of reasoning are proved, and the 

 numerous mysterious instincts of animals explained, 

 surely are we not warranted in assuming that the 

 intelligence of animals differs from that of man not 

 only in degree but in kind ? — H. D. Barclay. 



The "Chiffonier," or "Ole Clo'" among the 

 Insects. — I was amusing myself this last August in 

 watching the habits of spiders and other creatures in 

 the window, and on the broad window-ledge of an 

 unoccupied apartment in a villa at Bellosguardo, near 

 Florence, and collecting specimens for my microscope, 



