14 NATURAL SCIENCE. July, 



is preserved, so unconscious are they of the presence of an enemy 

 that they can easily be captured by the hand or net when swimming 

 about. 



Early in the century lions were comparatively abundant in India, 

 but at present they appear to be exclusively confined to the Gir of 

 Kathiawar, where they are preserved by the Government. Two fine 

 specimens are reported to have been recently shot by the Governor 

 of Bombay and a party of sportsmen. 



We have received from Professor Duns a copy of the abstract of 

 his paper on the early history of some Scottish mammals and birds, 

 appearing in the Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, session 1892-93. It is a 

 plea for the more " adequate description of the environment, physical 

 and vital, of the mammals and birds earliest recorded by Scottish 

 observers." The author enumerates the old publications to which 

 reference may be made. 



In reference to the drought, the Gardeners'' Chronicle of June 10 gives 

 statistics showing the unusually early ripening of the first Pea crops. 

 The record (supplied by Messrs. Hurst & Son) extends over ten 

 years, and is as follows: — 1883, June 21 ; 1884, June 26; 1885, June 

 24; 1886, June 24; 1887, June 25; 1888, June 26; 1889, June 16; 

 1890, not given, probably about June 18; 1891, June 27 ; 1892, June 

 15 ; 1893, J^^s 4~6 ^t the latest. 



In the previous week's issue of the same journal the statement is 

 reported that, owing to the drying up of ponds and watercourses, 

 thrushes in the southern counties, especially the dry county of Hamp- 

 shire, have been forced to build their nests without the usual mud 

 lining. The question is put : How many droughty years would be 

 needed to destroy the habit entirely ? 



In reference to Mr. Clarence King's recent ingenious estimate of 

 the age of the Earth (Natural Science, vol. ii., p. 81), the Rev. 

 Osmond Fisher contributes an interesting article to the current 

 number of the American Journal of Science (ser. 3, vol. xlv., pp. 464-468), 

 pointing out that the rigidity of the Earth cannot be relied upon in 

 estimating its age. He considers the supposed fact that the globe is 

 rigid, still remains to be proved ; hence no argument can be founded 

 on it. 



The so-called primaeval fossil, Eozoon canadense, has been subjected 

 to so much destructive criticism that there are now few believers in 

 its organic nature ; but until this month no analogous structure had 



