June 1, 18C9.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



135 



winter residences, the bee (which I have now under 

 my dissecting knives) must have spent seven months 

 in its solitary home. This may afford some clue to 

 the solution of the fourth question put by Mr. 

 Hall. As to the objection of these being merely 

 instances of involuntary imprisonment, I think the 

 three cases now noticed are sufficient evidences to 

 the contrary. Why should we be greatly surprised 

 to find that the bee can hybernate so long deprived 

 of air and food ? Contrast its former existence with 

 its present torpid state, i.e., a continuous round of 

 muscular activity, Avith perfect quiescence. The 

 waste of tissue, consequent upon active exertion, 

 bears to it, as we know, a constant ratio, and may be 

 expressed by the amount of carbonic acid excreted 

 (in the insect tube). Dr. Carpenter writes : — "A 

 humble bee has been found to produce one-third of 

 a cubic inch of carbonic acid in the course of a single 

 hour, during which its whole body was in a state of 

 continual agitation from the excitement consequent 

 on its capture, and yet during the whole twenty- 

 four hours of the succeeding day, which it passed 

 in a state of comparative rest, the quantity of car- 

 bonic acid generated by it was absolutely less." 

 What, then, must the waste of tissue be, during 

 hybernation, but an infinitesimal amount? The 

 definitive processes being thus so little required, 

 respiration is naturally at a low point ; yet, still, the 

 nutritive functions, though reduced to a compara- 

 tively low scale, suffer little from imperfect aeration 

 of the fluids. 



W. Bevan Lewis, L.R.C.P. (Lond.) 



PROTEUS ANGUINUS. 



I HAVE had in my possession for the last thir- 

 teen months a living specimen of this most 

 singular brute, of the peculiarities of which I would 

 gladly give some account to the readers of Science- 

 Gossip, but unfortunately it leads so secluded and 

 monotonous an existence, that there is really very 

 little to say about it. We all remember the ancient 

 Joe Miller — of the young aspirant for diplomatic 

 honours being called upon to give a precis of " the 

 habits and manners " of some xifriean nation, and 

 of his gravely recording that "their habits were 

 beastly, and as for manners, they had none." Now 

 I must own, with regard to Proteus, that though 

 his habits are particularly cleanly, his manners are 

 by no means striking ; they are, in fact, of rather a 

 negative order. He never closes his eyes in sleep, 

 for he has none to close ; rarely moves about, and 

 still more rarely eats ; and never seems to be dis- 

 turbed by any passions or feelings whatever. More- 

 over, as he is kept covered over by a thick cloth to 

 prevent the light from penetrating and injuring his 

 delicate system, it would be very difficult to make any 

 observations, were there anything worth recording. 

 A short description, however, may be of interest. 



Proteus (or Hypocthon)* anguinus, the sole re- 

 presentative of its genus, is a Batrachian of the 

 second, or " tailed " family, with a body of an eel- 

 like appearance, about eight or nine inches in length, 

 and of a pinkish, nearly white, hue. The head is 

 long and fiat, the legs very short, the anterior pair 

 with three, the posterior pair with two, very weak 

 toes. The animal breathes both by external gills 

 and internal lungs, so that it is strictly an amphi- 

 bian. The gills are not unlike those of the tadpole, 

 on a larger scale, and far more transparent. It is 

 easy to see from their colour, whether pale or 

 blood-red, whether the animal is in a satisfactory 

 condition ; the latter being "the hue of health." 



But the strangest part of its organization is the 

 fact of its being entirely without any means of see- 

 ing. Living as it does in a subterranean lake deep 

 in the Adelsberg caverns of Carinthia, it is plain 

 that this strange reptile has no need of eyes. The 

 organs of sight are, therefore, obsolete, but repre- 

 sented by two black specks, which, as the most 

 superficial observation shows, are planted under the 

 epiderm.t At the same time it is singular how 

 quickly and intensely the animal is affected by the 

 light. No sooner is the cover removed from its 

 bowl than it tries hard to creep behind a stone, or 

 in some way to shroud itself in its much-loved 

 obscurity. Although, however, so carefully shun- 

 ning the light, and in spite of its habitat 

 being situated in an ice-cold lake, it is appa- 

 rently by no means averse to warmth. There 

 is a constant fire in the room in which it is 

 kept ; and if I chance to remove the cover of the 

 bowl when the mid-day sun is shining on it, I have 

 frequently noticed the animal with its head and 

 body raised up and pressed against the side of 

 its prison in the direction of the solar rays.' 



What it may live on in a wild state I know not 

 (Professor Lennis says on mollusks), but it is well 

 known that in captivity it rarely, if ever, touches 

 anything. My Proteus has consumed two tadpoles 

 since it came into my possession— it was brought 

 me straight from Vienna. At least I placed them 

 in the fish-bowl last May, and never were they seen 

 again. They could not possibly have got out, and 

 no remains were ever found, so I presume they were 

 consumed by their near relative. He has never had 

 the chance of eating any since, but his body looks 

 as plump as so greyhound like a barrel well can. 



The water, I may observe, has not been changed 

 since last October: the less it is changed the 

 better ; it is perfectly sweet and clear. 



lichen Abbas. W. W. Spicer. 



* Dr. Jos. Laurenti gave the name of " Proteus " just a 

 century ago. But as it was ascertained (1820) that the 

 animal, unlike most other members of its family, undergoes 

 no transformations, the name appeared so pre-eminently 

 absurd, that Dr. Bl. Merrem re-christened it " Hypocthon, 

 the Subterranean." 



t 1 have specimens in spirits of wine of fish and crusta- 

 ceans from the great Kentucky caves, which are also eyeless. 



