154 NATURAL HISTORY. 



It provides for a quarter of an ounce of strychnine per diem, for 4 days 

 running. 



But it cured Mr. Hornaday as easy as he ■would have cured a tiger-skin. 

 Colombo, according to our author, is the most beautiful city of the tropics. 

 The only ugly thing about it is the name of an Esplanade. It furnished him with 

 lots of fish and marine invertebrata, and with the curious fact that the Echini of 

 Ceylon and Malayanalose their spines unless soaked in spirits before drying, where- 

 as those of the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and the West Indies can be dried 

 without soaking, and the spines will not fall off. Most or all of our Bombay 

 Echini are certainly the better for the spirit-bath. On the British coasts some can 

 dispense with it. 



The Government of Ceylon charged Mr. Hornaday spirit duty on his methy- 

 lated spirits, and would not refund it, which seems hard. At least it may be confi- 

 dentlv affirmed that no Indian Custom House would charge on such spirits. The 

 other side of the story is not, however, before us. 



Here comes in a digression upon the immunity which Naturalists enjoy, it appears, 

 in the enlightened republic of Venezuela ; where their outfit and supplies are free 

 of dutv, including arms, rum, and salt. This is a very good idea, and we think 

 that this Society might very well address the Government of India with a view to 

 a similar exemption. Doubtless other learned bodies in the other Presidencies 

 would support us ; and natural science will become popular — except with the 

 Commissioner of Customs. By this time, doubtless, every living human being in 

 Venezuela is a Naturalist — more or less. 



Mr. Hornaday travelled pretty nearly all round Ceylon, halting at various 

 uncomfortable places to collect marine animals, chiefly. 



He rejoiced greatly over a specimen of Rhumphobatis (Rhynchobatus) ancylos- 

 tomus, the rare " Mivil" of our coast, called in those seas " Cululava" and " Man- 

 miluva" ; and in preparing it he found L30 spines of small sting-rays sticking about 

 its chops ; each representing, as he concludes with great probability, 

 the last futile remonstrance of the sting-ray against being devoured by its big 

 cousin. He also got a monkey shark (Stegostoma tigrinum he says) over 6 feet 

 long; but the description and plate 'seem to indicate some other fish ; possibly a 

 new species; as any one may see by comparing them with Dr. Day's in our Library, 

 and with our specimens in spirits. Stegostoma is not so rare a fish as 

 Mr. Hornaday seems to have thought. After that he got Urogymnus Asperimus, 

 a fine porcupinish ray, of whose skin some Malayan savage men make shields 

 occasionally, corals, birds, and crocodiles. These last were of our broad-snouted 

 species, the " Mugger," which, in Ceylon, Mr. Hornaday calls Crocodilus palustris, 

 us we do (following Gunther), though in India he calls it C. bombifrons. He 

 remarks on its power of standing with the belly clear of the ground, walking, and 

 even running ; and this he observed in specimens eight feet long. The present 

 writer has seen it in half-grown and young specimens. It is certainly rare 

 amongst the Crocodilia, which is probably the meaning of our author when he 

 says that he " never observed it in other saurians." This taken literally, is 

 nonsense ; and in contradiction with the context. 



He shot 44 flying foxes with five shots ; and skinned them ; and didn't die of 

 it; and he got a Manis pentadactylus ; or as we sometimes call it a "scaly- 



