Zoology. 459 



It comes nearest in character to a species of snake, Coluber austriacus 

 lAnn.^ which is common in France and Germany, and which has smooth 

 dorsal scales, like the Dunifries snake. The latter also, if the figure pub- 

 lished by Sowerby be correct, has large scales on the head, which proves that 

 it cannot be the young of the common viper, which, however, has also 

 ridged scales. — J.R. 



Hearing of Fish. — Independent of the story of Arion and the dolphin, 

 we have the evidence both of modern experiment and dissection, to demon- 

 strate the fact of the hearing of fish. The following verses, by the Bishop 

 of Dunkeld, furnish a curious specimen of reasoning in opposition to this 

 undoubted fact : — 



" Violent din the air brekis and dears, i 

 Sine great motion of the water steirs, 2 — 

 The water steirit, fishes for feardness flies. 

 But out of doubt no fish in water hears. 

 For, as we see, right few of them have ears ; 

 And eke, forsooth, but ^ if wise clerkis lies. 

 There is no air in with waters nor seas. 

 But ^ whilk 5 no thing might hear, as wise men lears, ^ 

 Like as but * light there is nothing that sees." 



Gawin DouglaSy Palice of Honour, i. 28. 



Spiders live and grow without Food — Out of fifty spiders produced on 

 the last day of August, and which were kept entirely without food, three 

 lived to the 8th of February following, and even visibly increased in bulk. 

 Was it from the effluvia arising from the dead bodies of their companions 

 that they lived so long ? Other spiders were kept in glass vessels without 

 food from the 15th of July till the end of January. During that time they 

 cast their skins more than once, as if they had been well fed. {Rediy Gene- 

 rat. Insect. y p. 160.) 



I enclosed a packet of spiders* eggs in a pasteboard box, which were 

 soon hatched but afterwards forgotten and neglected for about two months, 

 when they were all found dead but two, which had cast their skins, and in- 

 creased in size, but, though I fed them with flies and gnats, they soon died. — 

 J.R. 



Cimex. — This extensive genus comprehends upwards of eight hundred 

 species inhabiting plants as various as the shapes and hues of the insects 

 themselves, some of which possess colours brilliant beyond description. In 

 their larva state they are very active, and only differ from the perfect insect 

 in wanting wings. They overrun the plants, grow, and change into chry- 

 salides or pupae, without appearing to undergo any material alteration. They 

 have, indeed, only the rudiments of wings, which their last transformation 

 unfolds, and the insect is then perfect. In their first two stages they are 

 unable to propagate their species. In the perfect state, the fecundated fe- 

 male lays a great number of eggs, which are often found placed side by side 

 upon plants. Muny of these, when viewed through a magnifier, present 

 singular varieties of conformation. Some are crowned with a row of small 

 hairs, others have a circular fillet, and most of them have a cap, which the 

 larva pushes off" when it forces open the egg. Released froni their prison, 

 they overrun the plant, and feed on its juices. {Carpenter in GiWs Tech. 

 and Micr. Rep.) 



Swarming of Bees. — The ingenious President of the Horticultural So- 

 ciety, Mr. T. A. Knight, has been led from repeated observation to infer, that, 

 in the swarming of bees, not a single labourer emigrates without previously 



1 Injures. 2 Stirs, s Unless. ■* Without. & Which, « Learns. 



H H 2 



