170 Chronicles of Science. | Jan. 
XI. ZOOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 
Prorrssor Owen has made a Report upon the departments of Natural 
History inthe British Museum for the year 1862, which speaks favour- 
ably of the general condition of the collection as to preservation, 
though, as far as the stored animals in the vaults—many thousands in 
number—are concerned, each successive year of such storage increases 
the difficulty of keeping the specimens in a good state. The skins 
of Mammalia and Birds are in good condition, and available for scien- 
tific examination, though exhibiting some signs of the effects of damp. 
The Insects and Crustacea are also easily available, and in good con- 
dition; but the Mollusca in spirits are so crowded, that access to the 
specimens not in the front row is difficult and hazardous, and their 
utility greatly abridged. The exhibited specimens in the various 
galleries are described as showing only the degree of detriment which is 
inevitable from exposure, with the utmost amount of care; but these 
are in general so crowded as to impair their utility. The additions 
to the Zoological department in the yeat 1862, were 13,129 in number, 
including several great rarities and valuable specimens, such as Troglo- 
dytes vellerosus, 2 new anthropoid ape, discovered by Captain Burton 
in the Cameroon mountains of West Tropical Africa; a new tortoise 
(Cyclemys Mouhoitii), from the Lao Mountains in Cochin China; three 
or four new species of crocodiles; 1,911 fishes have also been added, 
many of them new species, and of them 128 have been placed in the 
British Collection. 
M. Thury, Professor in the Academy of Geneva, has made a dis- 
covery, which, if it be corroborated, will be one of the utmost value 
in the farm and homestead. He has arrived at a formula for obtaining 
cattle of either sex at will. The duration, character, and signs con- 
nected with the period of heat in the cow upon which it is proposed 
to experimhent must be first ascertained. These being known, in 
order to ensure a cow-calf congress must be effected on the first ap- 
pearance of the access of this period ; while a bull-calf may be as 
certainly ensured, by making use of the termination of this period. 
It is necessary to exclude from the experiment those animals in which 
the signs of heat are vague and uncertain, as is observed in fat cattle, 
and confined individuals; but healthy cows, and those living in the 
open air, must be used for the purpose. The experiments made upon 
cattle at Montet, appear to have been decisive, if we may judge from 
the following results :—‘“‘ In the first place,” says the breeder, “ in 
twenty-two successive cases I have sought to obtain heifers; my cows 
were of the Schwitz race, and my bull pure Durham blood. I obtained 
the result sought for in every case. Having later purchased a Durham 
cow, I sought to obtain a pure Durham bull-calf, and succeeded, and 
have since obtained six other bulls, crossed between Durham and 
Schwitz. Altogether, I have made twenty-nine experiments, and 
every one has given the result sought.” The importance of such a 
law will be evident,—and especially will such results be valuable in 
