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HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



weapons are not unfrequently abnormally developed 

 in fertile females of certain species of Capreolus and 

 Cariacus, and giving reasons forbelieving that in the 

 ancestral forms of deer, they were probably common 

 to both sexes. 



The Death of the Manatee. — Mr. Reeves 

 Smith, of the Brighton Aquarium, writes : " Will 

 you allow me to supplement the interesting observa- 

 tions which have already appeared in your contem- 

 poraries on the above subject with the following facts ? 

 The sirens were formerly no strangers to the shores 

 of Britain, for the near relative of the manatee, the 

 halitherium, occurs as a fossil in the red crag forma- 

 tion of Suffolk. The fossils, though found in the 

 Red Crag of Suffolk, are yet generally considered by 

 geologists as derived from much earlier beds of the 

 Miocene age, which once occupied a large area of 

 what is now the German Ocean, whence they have 

 been washed out and redeposited, on the coast of 

 Suffolk. Similar remains are also found in the 

 miocene of Belgium and Germany. The discovery 

 of the British species formed the subject of a paper 

 by Professor W. H. Flower, F.R.S., Hunterian Pro- 

 fessor of the Royal College of Surgeons, and now 

 President of the Zoological Society, published in the 

 quarterly journal of the Geological Society for 

 February (vol. xxx.), in which further details will be 

 found." Two skulls of this fossil Sirenian (called 

 Halitherium Canhami) are known, one of which (that 

 described by Professor Flower) is in the Ipswich 

 Museum. 



Mistakes made by Instinct. — In answer to 

 J. E. Taylor's suggestion under this heading I send 

 the following instances of mistakes on the part of 

 the humming-bird hawkmoth. While staying at 

 Aigle one summer, I occupied a room hung with a 

 light paper on which dark green diamonds of about 

 an inch square frequently occurred. I observed a 

 humming-bird moth apparently attempt to strike its 

 proboscis into a number of these squares in succession, 

 and as far as I could see choosing the centre of each 

 for its attack. I may mention a similar occurrence 

 which I noticed last winter at Mentone, but in this 

 case the pattern of the paper was wreaths of flowers, 

 but curious to say the moth selected one flower of 

 rather a dark colour, and hovered from one example 

 of it to another without apparently observing the 

 intervening patterns. I may mention that this moth 

 is called in the south of France "good news," as it 

 is supposed to be an omen of future happiness. — Ebba, 

 Cot/ord, Sidmoutk. 



Zeus Aper, or Boar-fish. — A specimen of 

 this rare visitant of British waters was obtained from 

 a French trawler at Exmouth, on the 19th ultimo. 

 It was caught in the Channel, off the Devonshire 

 coast, and was still alive when brought ashore. 

 Although common in the Mediterranean, Yarrell in 



his "■ History of British Fishes " (vol. i. pp. 169-170) 

 mentions only two instances of this fish being caught 

 on the English coast, one in October, 1825, in Mount's 

 Bay, and another (locality of capture not stated) 

 obtained in Bridge water fish-market in April, 1833. 

 Probably others may have since been captured. The 

 Exmouth specimen measured exactly 5J inches in 

 length, and corresponded in almost every particular 

 with the excellent description and figure given by 

 Yarrell. No transverse bands, however, were ob- 

 servable on the sides. A lateral line was distinctly 

 visible when the fish was first seen, but in a few days 

 thereafter it had entirely disappeared. The foregoing 

 notes had just been written when another specimen 

 was brought to me this afternoon. It had been 

 caught in the morning in the Channel, about sixteen 

 miles off the coast, and was landed at Budleigh- 

 Salterton. It was nearly an inch longer than the 

 Exmouth specimen, and the transverse bands, al- 

 though faint, could be distinctly made out. This 

 specimen was forwarded to the Editor of Science- 

 Gossip. — D. S., Exmouth. 



[We have received one of these specimens of Zeus 

 aper, in excellent condition from D. S., and beg to 

 thank him for it very sincerely. — Ed. S.-G.] 



Boar-fish {Zeus aper). — Six or seven specimens 

 of the boar- fish have been washed on shore here 

 during the last fortnight, only two having been seen 

 before within the last twenty years. I can only 

 account for their appearance by supposing that the 

 prevalence of north-east winds has driven them in 

 from some station in deep water, such as Couch 

 mentions off the Runnel Stone. These same winds 

 have driven on shore still more unusual visitors in 

 the shape of three large vessels, one of them the 

 celebrated American frigate "Constitution." — Julia 

 Colson, Swauage, Dorset. 



Marine Zoology. — I feel certain that much 

 valuable information in reference to marine dredging 

 might accrue if the various readers of Science- 

 Gossip would give their local knowledge and experi- 

 ence for the benefit of other naturalists. Dredging, 

 as a rule, is not successful, unless the locality is 

 thoroughly well known and familiar ; indeed, at many 

 places along our coast, if the dredge is not placed 

 over the exact spot, the haul would be profitless in 

 its results. Whilst on a dredging cruise last year, I 

 always made notes of those places where the dredge 

 had been used, so that at any future time I could 

 return to the same locality. I did this by roughly 

 marking the position on the chart, and where it was 

 possible I made use of land marks, such as, for instance, 

 a church or a windmill in a line with a large tree 

 bearing N.E. A side mark, or, technically speaking, 

 a thwart-mark was then noted, such as the headland 

 just clearing the light-house ; this object should be at 

 a right angle to the first observation, or as much so 

 as is practicable. In returning to the same position, 



