1888.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 145 



_/ 

 stimulation, and these gradually become dim and disappear with its cessa- 

 tion. The precise manner in which the nervous system causes the light-for- 

 mation is uncertain. Experiments seemed to show the reflector to be the seat 

 of the action, but this was not positively proven. 



o 



Marine biology and the electric light.* — The steamer Hycena was 

 used by the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee in April for a three-days' 

 exploration between Liverpool and the Isle of Man. Besides determining 

 soundings and fauna of the bottom in the area studied, experiments with the 

 electric light were made, which were the most worthy of notice of all events 

 of the cruise. On the first night in Ramsey Bay, Captain Young, who w^as 

 in command of the Hycena^ arranged a 6o-candle power Edison-Swan sub- 

 marine incandescent lamp in the mouth of a tow-net. The illuminated net 

 was carefully let down to a depth of 3 fathoms and allowed to remain there 

 for half an hour. At the same time, another tow-net without any light was 

 let down to the same depth over the opposite side of the ship. When the 

 two nets were hauled in the former had collected an abundant gathering, the 

 latter practically nothing. 



A repetition of the two experiments at a depth of 6 fathoms confirmed the 

 first experiment. On the following night, at another station, both nets 

 were illuminated, and one sunk to the bottom at 5 fathoms and the other used 

 at the surface. This was repeated three times, and each net was found well 

 filled, but the surface collection was found to differ widely from the bottom 

 gathering. The latter contained mainly large Amphipoda and Cumacea, 

 while of the surface forms Copepoda were most abundant. 



o 



The rabbit pest in New Zealand. — The United States consul at Auck- 

 land, in a recent report, describes the extent to which New Zealand has been 

 economically injured by rabbits, and the cost incurred in endeavoring to ex- 

 terminate them. Nothing, he says, could so overrun a country since the 

 locusts of Egypt. The rabbits have so eaten out the ranges that the capacity 

 for maintaining sheep has greatly lessened, and the flocks have fallen oft" in 

 numbers. At the Stock Conference of 1SS6 it was stated that rabbits re- 

 duced by a third the feeding capacity of land, and that the weight of 

 fleeces had decreased by i lb. to i^ lbs. each. The number of lambs de- 

 creased from 30 to 40 per cent., while the death-rate increased from 3 to 13 

 per cent. Since 1883, when the Rabbit Act became law, government has 

 expended £7,000 on crown lands alone, and it is estimated that, during the 

 last eight years, private persons have spent £2,400,000 in extirpating rabbits. 

 The methods generally in favor were fencing, poisoned grain (generally 

 phosphorized oats), and ferrets, weasels, and stoats. Large numbers of 

 men have been hired from time to time to make war upon the rabbits, and it 

 is said that these ' rabbiters ' encourage the vermin in every w^ay, and had 

 been caught killing the stoats and ferrets. The bonus system has been found 

 objectionable and expensive. Notwithstanding all that has been done, in 

 some localities, the rabbits have continually increased and the damage has 

 continued. It is hoped, however, that, as the country becomes more popu- 

 lous, and the large tracts of land are occupied and cultivated, the numerous 

 herds of rabbits which now roam over the land will disappear. — Eng. Meek. 



Amphileptus encysted on Vorticella. — Eighteen years ago I was pay- 

 ing much attention to Vorticella. I was observing, with some pertinacity, 



* From Nature, June 7, 1888. 



