Miscellaneous. 317 



another, obtained in 1839, is in the museum of the Natural History 

 Society here. 



1 have observed that these fishes are generally to be found when- 

 ever mackerel, herrings or pilchards abound on the coast, at which 

 time it is known that the various species of sharks (the companions 

 of the Pilot-fish) are to be met with : this is the first occasion how- 

 ever that I have known of its occurrence in fresh water, the spot, at 

 which it waa taken being a narrow stream rising from Dartmoor, 

 and \\ mile above the highest point of the Plym at which the tide 

 reaches. No doubt this was an accidental deviation from its usual 

 element, which would soon have occasioned its death, as on dissec- 

 tion I found nothing in the stomach but a glairy mucus. 



Your obedient servant, 



Edward Moore, M.D., F.L.S., 

 November 13, 1841. Secretary to the Plymouth Institution. 



[The drawing sent us agrees with the best representations of the 

 fish.— Ed.] 



VITALITY OF SEEDS. 



Gentlemen, — Should the following instance of tenacity of life in 

 the seeds of Sambucus niger be considered interesting and well at- 

 tested, it may be desirable to notice it in the Magazine of Natural 

 History. 



The subjects of remark were derived from the dregs of some elder 

 wine; and were strewn as manure over a flower border, where hun- 

 dreds of them germinated. The plants I saw myself. 



I know intimately the lady with whom it happened, and respect 

 her love of truth : from her 1 learned that they had twice been boiled 

 in making the wine ; had been present during the vinous fermenta- 

 tion ; at the end of which the wine was drawn off, but the dregs re- 

 mained bunged up in the cask* till next wanted, a period of twenty 

 months, and, it would appear, without sustaining any material harm. 



220 Regent Street, November 18th, 1841. W. Hemingway. 



LITTLE AUK. 



A specimen of the Little Auk {Alca Alle) was taken alive in this 

 town on the 14th inst., but died shortly after its capture. 



Thinking the above communication might interest some of your 

 numerous readers, 1 have sent it for insertion if approved of. 



Ipswich, Suffolk, November 15, 1841. Charles T. Townsend. 



BIRDS OF KENT. 



Margate, Sept. 24, 1841. 

 Gentlemen, — I have to record the capture of the Little Ringed 

 Plover, Charadrius minor. This rare bird I shot on the 22nd Septem- 

 ber, at a place called Newgate Gateway, about a mile from Margate ; 

 it was in company with another, which unfortunately I could not 

 procure. On dissection it proved to be a female ; it is a beautiful 

 specimen. I have also captured a specimen of Montague's Harrier, 

 Buteo apivorus, Jenyns ; this is a young female ; also a very fine 

 Hen Harrier, Buteo cyaneus, a young male ; several Pigmy Curlews, 



* It is a common notion that this practice keeps the barrel sweet. 



