376 NATURAL SCIENCE [June 189* 



its return an institution for the preparation of lymph twice a 

 year was established. The progress which has since been made 

 in the preparation of lymph in Japan is due chiefly to Dr Kitasato. 

 This is a wonderful advance on the old days, not so old either, when 

 the almost universal remedy for all ills was the mode of cauterization 

 known as the ' moxa.' 



The Moco 



In a Note that appeared in our May number, and was headed 

 " Geology at Oxford," we used the phrase " when the mocos have 

 gathered round Mr Sollas' head." 



It is strange that several of our readers should have been 

 puzzled by this, and should have exposed their ignorance by writing 

 to ask the meaning of 'moco.' One correspondent, who thought 

 that we meant to say ' mokes,' irately protested against the applica- 

 tion of such a term to the students of Professor Sollas. 



The moco is an animal perfectly well known to all serious 

 zoologists. It is sometimes called tlie rock-cavy, the Indian name 

 is Hoke, while Moko, the original form of the word, is Portuguese. 

 The correct scientific appellation is Kerodon rv.iJcstris. The species, 

 which is larger than most other cavies, inhabits the interior of 

 Brazil, and, according to Prince Maximilian who first described it 

 in 1820, "it is confined to rocky districts, where it seeks its retreat 

 in holes amongst the fragments of the rocks." As an adaptation to 

 this habitat, it has thick soles, with short blunt nails. The appro- 

 priateness of our allusion in connection with a geologist will not be 

 contested. Moreover, the moco is found near rivers, but always in 

 the higlier parts of their course ; and its tiesli is of a pleasant flavour. 

 It is remarkable among cavies for its dense and soft fur. It has a 

 large nail on the inner toe of the hind foot, and this, G, R. Water- 

 house imagines, is used by the animal to clean its fur. 



This explanation seemed necessary, for otherwise some readers 

 might have suggested that ' mocos ' was a misprint for * snows.' 



The Australian Snipe 



This bird has been known to science for nearly a century under the 

 name Gallinago australis. From the middle of August to the 

 middle of the following March the bird is to be seen in Victoria, 

 but during the intervening months it migrates to the northern 

 hemisphere, and in consequence its nest and eggs remained un- 

 known until last year. They have been found at last on the slopes 

 of Fuji-yama, the sacred mountain of Japan, about 2500 feet above 

 sea-level. The finder is Mr Alan Owston of Yokohama, but he 

 appears to have been put up to it by Mr A. J. Campbell of 

 Melbourne, as we learn from a report in the Victorian Naturalist 

 for March 1898. 



