Scientific Intelligence. -^Zoohgy. 197 



or species of beaver, the differences pointed out by M. Cuvier 

 can scarcely be said to exist. \st. The skull is considerably 

 larger than the Canadian variety ; but this is not any specific 

 difference. 94^ The 'profiles very nearly correspond. 3^/, The 

 sagittal crest is strongest in the Canadian skull ; the occipital 

 strongest in the Scottish, ^th. The nasal bones differ conside- 

 rably, and the observation of M. Cuvier is quite correct in this 

 respect. — R. Knox. 



26. On the Culture of Bees in Forests^ by M. Buttner. — 

 It has been a custom in Livonia, from time immemorial, to make 

 cavities in the trees of a forest, for the purpose of receiving and 

 rearing the swarms of bees. Some of the proprietors have hun- 

 dreds, and even thousands, of bee trees. Those which are cho- 

 sen for this purpose are large oaks, firs, pines, alders, &c. It has 

 been objected to this system, that it destroys the forests and di- 

 minishes the quantity of building wood ; but M. Buttner ob- 

 serves, that it is not necessary to choose the finest trunks, and 

 that stunted trees are equally serviceable for this purpose, if they 

 have sufficient size. He states also, that a bee tree is worth 

 more than if sold for wood ; that the old hollow trees, which 

 will serve for an age or two, spread seed around, and cause the 

 production of young seedlings, which would be obtained with dif- 

 ficulty, by destroying the old trunks. He adds, that the pure 

 air of the higher regions agrees better with the bees than the air 

 inclosed in hives, which receive the exhalations of the earth, and 

 in which contagious diseases sometimes make great ravages. 

 The proof he offers is, that, when garden bees swarm, they arc 

 directed instinctively towards the woods, whilst the bees of the 

 wood never swarm towards the gardens. — Bull. Univ. D. vii. 34. 



27. Peculiar Cases of the Use of Milk as Food. — The giraffe 

 which was sent to the king of France by the Pacha of Egypt, 

 was observed never to drink the smallest quantity of water, but 

 only milk. This odd circumstance is explained by the person 

 who describes its habits and manners, as resiilting from the cir- 

 cumstance, that, being taken whilst young, it was, probably, 

 supplied with milk, which, not having been discontinued, has 

 occasioned this permanent inclination in the animal. It appears 

 very probable, that animals which drink but little naturally, 

 will not drink water, if a sufficient quantity of milk be supplied 



