106 



EECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



of the brain is contained in tKis tuberosity, 

 and is consequently protected from injury 

 cbiefly by the skin and feathers ; the hinder 

 parts of the brain are situated as usual in the 

 cavity of the skull, and as the communication 

 between the posterior cavity and that of the 

 tuberosity is small, the brain necessarily 

 assumes the form of an hour-glass, the front 

 portion being, however, much larger than the 

 hinder. 



This very extraordinary structure, which 

 is developed long before the escape of the 

 chick from the shell, is constantly present in 

 all the fowls of the variety. So remarkable 

 is it, that the celebrated naturalist Pallas re- 

 garded it as being produced by a cross with 

 the Guinea-fowl (a supposition which is alike 

 erroneous and absurd) ; and in the Catalogue 

 of the Museum of the Eoyal College of 

 Surgeons, London, a very old specimen was 

 described by one of the highest of our living 

 scientific authorities as the result of disease, 

 whereas the conformation exists in every 

 fowl of the variety. JSTor is it to be regarded 

 as a recent or mere temporary freak of 

 !N"ature ; on the contrary, it has been per- 

 sistent for centuries, and is hereditary in the 

 race. It was noticed more than two hundred 

 years since by the old anatomist Peter 

 BoreUi, and was described fifty years since 

 by the celebrated Blumenbach. 



That my readers may better understand 

 the remarkable structure that I have endea- 

 voured to describe, two engravings are given j 

 the first being an external view of the skull 

 of a hen of this variety, showing the large 

 globular tuberosity, the membrane closing 

 in the opemngs having been removed ; the 

 second giving a view of a section of the skull 

 of a cock, in this the cavity containing the 

 brain is displayed, and the peculiar shape of 

 that organ may be inferred from it. 



Now, let me ask phrenologists, what 

 alteration in the mental character of these 

 birds ought to result from such an extraordi- 

 nary change in the form of the brain P Surely, 



this is not an unfair question ? I, therefore, 

 pause for a reply ; and if any of my phreno- 

 logical readers will say what ought to be the 

 character of such a bird, I will next month 

 tell them what its instincts really are, and in 

 what manner its mental faculties are affected 

 by its very peculiar conformation. 



W. B. Tegetmeiee. 



AQUATIC ARCHITECTS. 



Entomologists are familiar with the diving- 

 spider, the caddis-fly, and other architects 

 that pursue their ingenious labours under 

 water; but it is not generally known that 

 the larvae of the pretty beetle LepUira 

 micans passes the winter under water. I 

 have often taken them in winter when en- 

 gaged in brook-dragging, and for a time 

 was puzzled to determine what they were. 

 On the submerged roots of water-grasses 

 will often be found attached small, egg- 

 shaped, brown cocoons, nearly as large as 

 the seeds of the smallest kidney-beans. On 

 examining these they will be found to be 

 the water-cases of larvse, containing within 

 them the partially-completed beetle in a state 

 of torpor. As the imago of Leptura micans 

 passes an aerial life, we must not look to the 

 parent as the author of this provision for the 

 safety of its progeny during winter. The 

 probability is that the insect resorts to the 

 water-side, and deposits its eggs on the 

 leaves of aquatic plants, which in due time 

 are hatched, and for awhile lead an aquatic 

 life ; and at last prepare for their final change 

 to winged beetles by constructing a water- 

 tight cocoon, within which they are ulti- 

 mately developed. We know very little yet 

 of the minute economies of insect-life, and 

 every fact that can be added to their history 

 introduces us to a new field of observation. 



H. 



