June 1, 1S6S.] 



IIAIIDWICKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



137 



ZOOLOGY. 



Iciineumon and Cobra. — It is so generally 

 believed that the bite of the cobra is fatal to all 

 animals except the ichneumon, or mungoose, which 

 is believed to possess in its blood, or to have some 

 capacity for discovering, au antidote to the poison, 

 that we are glad to find some exact experiments on 

 the point. Surgeon-Major C. E,. Erancis, writing 

 in the Indian Medical Gazette for April, details the 

 resnlts of some very interesting inquiries recently 

 conducted by him. These results show iu the most 

 conclusive manner that the ichneumon is not 

 possessed of any special immunity from the effects 

 of the cobra's poison, and that, since it dies almost 

 immediately after it has been bitten, its supposed 

 instinct for the discovery of an unknown (!) herb is 

 equally a delusion. Surgeon-Major Erancis, who 

 had collected seven lively cobras for experimen- 

 tation, thus describes the results : " Before com- 

 mencing the experiment, the cobra was tested, a 

 supply of fowls and small birds being retained for 

 the purpose. In each case the tested bird died 

 shortly after being bitten in the usual way. It 

 faltered in its gait, limped, sank on the ground, 

 became lethargic, and then fell into convulsions, in 

 which it was carried off. Sufficient time was then 

 allowed for a copious re-secretion of the poison, and 

 the animal to be. bitten was presented to the cobra. 

 As a rule, the latter would not voluntarily bite its 

 victim ; and it became necessary to force the poison- 

 fangs into some fleshy part of the latter. In the 

 case of the mungoose the inner part of the thigh 

 was selected. The operation was most successfully 

 performed in each case by two snake-charmers. 

 Three mungooses were operated upon, and they all 

 died, at intervals varying from fifteen minutes to six 

 hours each, in precisely the same way." A positive 

 result of this kind is worth thousands of negative 

 ones, since it really decides the cpaestion definitively. 

 We may state that two other interesting facts 

 have been arrived at by Surgeon-Major Erancis : 

 (1) that harmless snakes are just as liable to the 

 poisonous effects of the cobra's bite as are other 

 animals ; aud (2) that the cobra itself is the only 

 creature which appears to be uninfluenced by the 

 poison. This last would appear to be demonstrated 

 by an experiment in which two cobras were made 

 to mutually wound each other without any apparent 

 result beyond temporary inconvenience. 



How Musk-rats swim under the Ice. — 

 Musk-rats have a curious method of travelling long 

 distances under the ice. In their winter excursions 

 to their feeding-grounds, which are frequently at 

 great distances from their abodes, they take in 

 breath at the start, and stay under water as long as 

 they can. They can rise to the ice and breath out 



the air in their lungs, which remains in bubbles 

 against the lower surface of the ice. They wait till 

 this air recovers oxygen from the water and ice, and 

 then take it again, and go till the operation has to 

 be repeated. In this way they can travel almost 

 any distance and live any length of time under the ice. 

 The hunter sometimes takes advantage of this habit 

 of the musk-rat in the following manner. When the 

 marshes and ponds where the musk-rats abound are 

 first frozen over, aud the ice is thin and clear, on 

 striking into their houses with his hatchet for the 

 purpose of setting their traps, he frequently sees a 

 whole family plunge into the water and swim away 

 under the ice. Following one of them for some dis- 

 tance, he sees him come up to renew his breath in 

 the manner above described. After the animal has 

 breathed against the ice, and before he has time to 

 take his bubble in again, the hunter strikes with his 

 hatchet directly over him, aud drives him away from 

 Ids breath. In this case he drowns in swimming a 

 few rods, and the hunter, cutting a hole in the ice, 

 takes him out. Mink, otter, and beaver travel under 

 the ice in the same way, and hunters have frequently 

 told me of taking otter in the manner I have 

 described when these animals visit the houses of the 

 musk-rat for prey. — San Francisco Scientific Press, 

 Jan. 25. 



Varieties of Butterflies. — In looking through 

 the back numbers of Science-Gossii 1 , I observe 

 that in the number for October, 1SG7, a correspon- 

 dent makes inquiries about varieties of C. Edasa 

 and A. Paphia. When he says legs of Edusa } 

 does he not mean wings? I have taken such a 

 variety on several occasions, but in each case they 

 were males; I have never yet noticed it in the 

 opposite sex. The so-called " black variety " 

 (Valezina) of Paphia 1 have seen on several 

 occasions in the New Eorest, and taken it once or 

 twice. One season I knew of seven or eight speci- 

 mens having been taken by different entomologists. 

 Unlike Edusa, the variation in this species is en- 

 tirely restricted to the females. One specimen I 

 have has a " lighter patch " on each fore-wing, as 

 described, but another is so entirely dark that the 

 spots are almost hidden. Speaking of varieties of 

 butterflies, I may mention that the variety of the 

 Ringlet (S. Hyperanthus) which is destitute of 

 the markings from which it takes its common 

 name, is often to be met with in the forest, also 

 varieties of A. Galathea with the under side of 

 the hind wings of a brown colour. — G. B. C, 

 liingwood. 



Venom of Toads (p. 114).— Is the toad so 

 poisonous as we are led to infer from a paragraph 

 borrowed from the British Med. Journal ? The 

 names of three Erench chemists are there given 

 in evidence of the fact— if fact it be— that " smaller 



