156 EXTRACTS FROM FOREIGN PERIODICALS. 



a state of repose, it throws its tail back, but the small species keeps it in front, 

 and between the legs. 



2. Monograph of the Arvicules of Liege. — These little animals are in- 

 volved in considerable obscurity. M. Selys-Longchamps has endeavoured to 

 disembrangle the history of the Arvicules, and has found five species in Belgium, 

 of which three are already recorded as belonging to France or Germany, and two 

 of them are entirely new. He has not discovered the Sckermaus met with in the 

 neighbourhood of Strasbourg. The number of Arvicules found in central and 

 western Europe will then be six. The following are the five Belgian species :— 



Arvicola fulvus, Desmarest. — Length of the body three inches and two lines ; 

 that of the tail, eleven lines ; ears almost invisible. 



Arvicola amphibius, Desm. (Mus amphibius, Linn.) — Length of the body, 

 six inches and three lines ; of the tail, three inches and four lines. 



Arvicola arvalis, D. S. L. (Mus arvalis, Linn.) — Length of the body, three 

 inches and nine lines ; of the tail, one inch and one line ; ears of moderate size. 



Arvicola subterraneus, D. S. L. — Length of the body, two inches and nine 

 lines ; ears of moderate size ; tail black above, and whitish beneath ; eyes very 

 small. 



Arvicola ru/escens, D. S. L. — Length of the body, two inches and nine lines ; 

 of the tail, one inch and four lines and a half; ears rather long; tail black above, 

 and whitish underneath ; eyes prominent. 



The memoir of M. Selys-Longchamp3 is accompanied by four plates, repre- 

 senting Arvicola fulvus, A. arvalis, A. ru/escens, and A. amphibius of the natural 

 size, and coloured, and the skulls of A. fulvus and A. rufescens. 



3. New Instance of a Shower of Toads. — M. Pontus, a professor of 

 Cahors, has communicated to the Academic des Sciences de Paris a recent fact, 

 confirming the truth of the showers of Toads which have already frequently en- 

 gaged the attention of the Academy. 



" In August, 1834," writes M. Pontus, " I was in the diligence from Alby to 

 Toulouse, the weather being fine and clear. Towards four o'clock in the evening, 

 at three leagues from Toulouse, a dense fog suddenly covered the horizon, and 

 loud claps of thunder were heard. This mist burst in upon the road, about 120 

 yards (GO toises) from the place where we were. Two horsemen who were re- 

 turning from Toulouse, whither we were going, and who were exposed to the 

 storm, were obliged to put on their cloaks ; but what was their surprise and 

 alarm when they were assailed by a shower of Toads ! They quickened their 

 pace, and pressed on, when they met the vehicle, to relate to us what had hap- 

 pened. I saw small Toads still remaining on their cloaks. When the diligence 

 reached the spot where the mist broke in, we saw the whole road and the fields on 

 both sides covered with Toads, the smallest of which was at least an inch in length, 



