608 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



covered that some sixty of the fixed stars appear not to be 

 solid bodies, but composed of transparent gas, Kke a nebula, 

 they showing spectra of bright lines. Most of these gaseous 

 stars are situated in the Milky Way ; but observations made 

 at Arequipa, in Peru, on a part of the skj' only visible in the 

 Southern Hemisphere, show that some others are visible in 

 the Magellanic Clouds, thirty degrees distant from the Milky 

 Way. 



If we turn from the domain of astronomy to that of 

 natural history we may find several new items worthy of note. 

 A very curious variety of ant has been discovered in Northera 

 Australia, near Port Darwin. It is called the magnetic or 

 meridian ant. It is only a variety of the ordinary white ant, 

 but the singularity consists in the arrangement of its nest. 

 This looks like a slab of sandstone put on edge, so that, 

 viewed end on, it resembles a pillar ; but the long axis of the 

 nest is always placed due north and south, so that the builders 

 are properly more meridian ants than magnetic ants. A tra- 

 veller finding one of these ant's nests needs no other compass. 

 The reason of this orientation of the short axis is not yet fully 

 investigated, but it is believed to arise from an effort or in- 

 stinct in the ant to expose as little as possible of its dwelling 

 to the direct rays of the sun. 



Attention has been lately drawn to the curious habit of 

 the Australian " frilled lizard " — namely, that when alarmed 

 on open ground, or at a distance from tree-trunks, it rises 

 on its hind legs and runs like a biped for perhaps thirty 

 or forty yards. It appears strange that in Australia quadru- 

 peds should contract this habit of forsaking the all-fours 

 attitude, and running in an upright position, as the kangaroos 

 and some other marsupials do. It is believed, however, 

 by naturalists that the Dinosaurs, that long-extinct order of 

 reptiles, also moved in a similar way, on the hinder limbs 

 only. While on the subject of reptiles I may mention that it 

 has been adduced as a proof of over-evolution and its draw- 

 backs that the head of the cobra and other hooded snakes 

 often leads to their destruction. These hoods are supposed to 

 be an endowment of the snake for the purpose of terrifying its 

 foes, the sudden and great enlargement of the hood when the 

 creature is about to strike or in times of excitement adding to 

 its formidable appearance. It is now found that the hooded 

 snake, when striking at its foe, often overbalances itself, 

 through the weight of the heavy outstretched hood, and 

 topples forward. Some birds that are snake-killers, and the 

 snake's deadly enemy the mongoose, take instant advantage, 

 and, having tempted the snake to strike and miss, seize it 

 before it can recover, and ripping up the back of the neck kill 

 it at once. 



