i892. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 329 



the males, and more easily caught, so much so that the proportion is 

 ten males to one female, though ten females are hatched for every male. 

 The males hght desperately in the breeding season, to the great 

 advantage of the sharks, which as they are too small to eat a big 

 turtle, eat only the fins, head, and tail, though one specimen caught 

 by Mr. Spurs had a turtle inside of the weight of 30 lbs. The female 

 turtle lays three times in each season, each time about 125 eggs. 

 When hatched, the young fall a prey to land crabs, grallics, and 

 frigate birds, and when they reach the sea, they allow themselves to 

 be carried out by the currents into deep water, for there they are 

 better able to escape the grasp of the fish. Mr. Spurs complains of 

 the recklessness of the harpooners, who throw at great and small 

 indiscriminately, and states that the protective laws were made by 

 those ignorant of the habits of the turtles. He predicts that if not 

 amended and enforced, turtles will be extinct in the Seychelles in ten 

 years. 



In a short supplementary letter from T. Risley Griffiths, the 

 administrator, it is pointed out that the natural difficulties of the country 

 and the seclusive habits of the land tortoises render their extinction 

 unlikely, and while not exactly agreeing with the possible extinction 

 of the turtles, shows that the enforcement of laws against fishermen 

 in the open sea or uninhabited land is almost impossible. This letter 

 also points out that the seas around the Aldabra group contain large 

 ■quantities of beche-de-mer (the trepang of the Malays), and that 

 Mr. Spurs has taken some Chinese, who are experts at preparing this 

 article of diet, to Aldabra, and hopes to open up a new branch 

 of trade with the Chinese markets. Mr. Spurs told Mr. Griffiths 

 that he also expected to secure some 12,000 green turtles a year, the 

 meat of which he proposes to dry and ship. 



The Revival of Dried Seedlings. 



In the Revue Generale de Botanique, M. Gaston Bonnier gives an 

 account of some interesting experiments on the revival of dried 

 rseedlings of wheat, bean, haricot bean, pea, and maize. 



Eight lots of wheat of the last year's harvest, each containing 

 fifty grains, and as comparable as possible, were soaked in water for 

 a day. These lots were designated A, A^ B, B', C, C', and D, D' 

 respectively, and subjected to different treatment. A and A' were 

 dried for two days, A at 35° C, A^ at 85° ; at the end of the time they 

 had not lost weight. The rest were set to germinate on sawdust 

 under a bell-glass. After two days B, B' were taken up and dried 

 for two days, B at 35° C, B' at 85° C. The radicle of the seedlings 

 was showing. 



At the end of the third day, when three roots were visible, C and 

 ■C' were removed, and dried for two days at 35^ C. and '^^° C. 

 respectively. 



