BIOLOGY. 331 



** I am perfectly certain that these inventions are genuine, and 

 of high vahie." 



Natural Aniline. — IMons. Ziegler, of Muhlhouse, has subjected 

 to a careful examination the red coloring matter which is secreted 

 by a mollusk {Aplysia depilans), generally kn(nvn as the sea-hare, 

 which animal is not rarely found on certain coasts and is espe- 

 cially aljundant on the coast of Portugal after heavy storms. The 

 colorincr matter has a peculiar odor and serves the animal as a 

 defence against its enemies l>y rendering the water turbid and at 

 the same time disagreeably odoriferous. A chemical examination 

 disclosed the fact that the coloring matter is aniline with a slight 

 aihnixtnre of other organic substances, and that it can be easily 

 obtained in a state of purity; but as the pound would cost about 

 60 francs, this new source of aniline is practically without any 

 value. The most interesting part of the article is the suggestion 

 of Mons. Ziegler that the sea-hare and not the murex, as now 

 generally believed, is the animal from which the Phoenicians ob- 

 tained their famous pur})le, and thus it is rendered probable that 

 the priceless purple of Tyre, the only dye thought fit for the im- 

 perial vestments of Ancient Rome, is identical with the cheap 

 coal-tar aniline of modern manufacture. 



Drooping Ears of Animals. — Darwin, in his treatise on animals 

 and plants under domestication, says : — 



" Our domesticated quadrui^eds are all descended, so far as is 

 known, from species having erect ears; yet few kinds can be 

 named, of wdiich at least one race has not drooping ears. Cats 

 in China, horses in parts of Russia, sheep in Italy and elsewhere, 

 the guinea pig in Germany, goats and cattle in India, rabbits, 

 pigs, and dogs in all civilized countries, have dependent ears. 

 With wild animals, which constantly use their ears like funnels to 

 catch every passing sound, and especially to ascertain the direc- 

 tion whence it comes, there is not, as Mr. Blythe has remarked, 

 any species with drooping ears except the elephant. Hence the . 

 incapacity to erect the ears is certainly in some manner the result 

 of domestication ; and this incapacity has been attributed by 

 various authors to disuse, for animals protected by man are not 

 compelled habitually to use their ears. Col. Hamilton Smith 

 states that in ancient eflSgies of the dog, • with the exception of 

 one Egyptian instance, no sculpture of the early Grecian era pro- 

 duces representations of hounds with completely drooping ears; 

 those with them half pendulous are missing in the most ancient, 

 and this character increases, by degrees, in the works of the 

 Roman period.' Godron has also remarked that 'the pigs of the 

 ancient Egyptians had not tlieir ears enlarged and pendent.'' But 

 it is remarkable that the drooping of the ears, though probably 

 the effect of disuse, is not accompanied by any decrease in size. 

 On the contrar}', when we remember that animals so different as 

 fancy rabbits, certain Indian breeds of the goat, our petted span- 

 iels, bloodhounds, and other dogs, have enormously elongated 

 ears, it would appear as if disuse actually caused an increase in 

 length. With rabbits, the drooping of the much elongated ears 

 has effected even the structure of the skull."" 



