On the Branchial Currents in the Lamellibranchiata. 177 



each was perfect, and in no way rubbed or injured; the scor- 

 pions appeared healthy, and carried their tails in the usual 

 position. The sepoy asserted that he possessed the juice of a 

 bulbous root, which, when applied to a fresh-caught scorpion, 

 prevents it for the future from stinging; he also mentioned that 

 several of his family possess the same secret, but from the man- 

 ner in which he evaded my questions respecting the bulbous 

 root, I am inclined to doubt that portion of his assertion. 



The domestic animals of Dacca are precisely similar to those 

 found at Barrackpore, with the exception of one solitary animal 

 worthy of attention, and which is called the Dacca Cow ; they 

 are highly prized by natives, and the breed is not known to 

 many. AH that I can gather respecting the history of this 

 domesticated animal is, that it is a breed introduced years ago ; 

 but when, and from what locality, no one knows. The colour 

 is invariably of a pure white, the tail long and bushy at the end ; 

 the animal is of a small size; eyes large, full and dark; skin 

 round the eyes of a pinkish hue, the same colour prevails on the 

 muzzle; they do not give any large quantity of milk, but are 

 prized highly as a breed, by the natives of the higher class. The 

 males are similar to the cow in appearance, both possessing little 

 or no symptoms of a hump. It is very rarely that these cattle 

 are permitted to leave the houses in which they are kept, nor 

 are they ever seen grazing in the fields ; that they are totally 

 different from the cattle of the country is beyond a doubt, and I 

 regret that I could gain no satisfactory information about them. 



The jungles of Dacca abound with insects, nor have I seen a 

 finer field for the naturalist than this part of Bengal presents ; 

 the unhealthiness of the place, however, precludes all pleasure 

 from visiting it as a matter of choice. With these few brief 

 observations I now conclude my observations on the fauna of 

 Dacca, simply mentioning that on my return to Calcutta by 

 water, via the Soonderbunds, I saw great numbers of Blagrus 

 leucogaster and Halcyon amauropterus -, both species were ex- 

 tremely abundant. 



XIX. — A Reply to some Statements of Dr. Williams on the con- 

 troversy respecting the Branchial Currents in the Lamelli- 

 branchiata. By Joshua Alder, Esq. 



To the Editors of the Annals of Natural History. 



Gentlemen, 



I HAVE read with much interest the series of papers " On the 

 Mechanism of Aquatic Respiration in Invertebrate Animals,'' 

 Ann. S^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xiv. 12 



