1896 NOTES AND COMMENTS. 369 



speaking of the remarkable termite that always places its nest with the 

 same orientation, Mr. Froggatt terms it the magnetic termite. This 

 is an unfortunate name, and was not used by Mr. Le Soeuf (quoted by 

 Mr. Froggatt), who called this species the meridian termite, the 

 appellation that has also been used by Mr, J. J. Walker and others. 

 We hope Mr. Froggatt will not be discouraged by the difficulties he 

 will have to overcome, and that he will receive assistance from every 

 one able to give it. 



The Search for Water in Queensland. 

 A year ago (vol. vi., p. 364, and p. 82 antea) we gave some account of 

 the investigations being made by the Geological Survey of Queensland 

 in search of artesian water. A paper recently read by Mr. Jack, the 

 Government Geologist, before the Royal Society of Queensland gives 

 further details regarding the progress of this work. Under ordinary 

 circumstances it would be cheering to read of " a number of 

 unsuccessful bores having been put down in the north-western 

 portion of the colony," but in the present connection the information 

 is rather disappointing. The experience, however, indicates that 

 artesian water must not be sought for north of a line that extends 

 from the boundary of the colony, by the Tropic of Capricorn, to the 

 Georgina River, and thence north-eastward (perhaps not in a straight 

 line) to the head of the Warburton River. North of this line are 

 none of the water-bearing Cretaceous rocks, but their place is taken 

 by metamorphic rocks whose age may be either Archaean, Cambrian, 

 or Silurian, or one or other or all of these. Some hopes had been 

 raised by the references of the earlier explorers to " rolling downs " 

 and "Mitchell grass" up the Georgina River, but, as Mr. Jack points 

 out, limestone of any age is likely enough to furnish open, rolling, 

 and well-grassed " downs " country. 



Science " Written Up." 



We are well aware that our contributors are devoid of the lurid 



craft of the reporter, and that we cannot trick out our cold facts in 



the meretricious charms of the popular Press. We are indebted to 



Dr. Herbert Hurst for sending us a delightful specimen of how 



science should be written. It is apparently a perversion of Mr. 



Pycraft's account of Opisthocomiis which appeared some short time ago 



in our columns (Natural Science, vol. v., p. 358). We did not 



induce the Manchester City Neivs to copy directly from us, but Science 



Siftings fetched it with the following paragraph. Our compliments 



to the Editor of Science Siftings : — 



" A Four-Legged Bird. 



" Science Siftings says : Nothing in the realm of natural history 

 in late years excels in interest the announcement we are able to make 

 of the discovery in British Guiana of a bird with four legs. The 

 Crested Hoatzin {Opisthccomus cvistatus), the only survivor of a race of 



