Oct. 12, 1876] 



NATURE 



527 



differ more than those of two fragments of the same meteorite, 

 while they both differ in their physical aspects from the ordinary 

 type of meteorites, and, in fact, they have few or no parallels in 

 die collections of these bodies." 



Are the above coincidences to be regarded as accidental, or 

 do they indicate an original connection between the two bodies? 

 The former alternative is seen at once to be almost infinitely 

 improbable. But the Meno stone fell in Mecklenburg at noon, 

 October i, 1861, and the Claywater meteorite, in Wisconsin, at 

 9 A. M., March 25, 1865, the interval being nearly three years 

 and a half. How, then, could the bodies have been originally 

 connected ? It will be observed that the two points of orbital 

 intersection are almost diametrically opposite, and n:ay therefore 

 be regarded as the ascending and descending nodes of the same 

 meteoric group. The possibility of an original intimate connec- 

 tion of the two meteorites becomes thus sufficiently obvious. 

 The nodal points correspond approximately to those of the comet 

 of 1264. 



It may here be remarked that a similarity of composition was 

 also found in the aerolites of May 22, 1827, and June 2, 1843, 

 both analysed by Baumhauer. Daniel Kirkwood 



Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A., September 5 



Comatula rosacea 



In Nature, vol. viii., p. 469, is a report of an'excursion by 

 the Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society to 

 Teignmouth, and of the results of its dredging operations in 

 that neighbourhood, in which the following passage occurs : — 

 "By far the most noteworthy capture' was Coffiaiula rosacea, the 

 Feather-star, two individuals of which were taken in the larval 

 pedunculate condition attached near the base of a frond of 

 Laminaria, which was torn off by the dredge. The specimen 

 measured about one-third of an inch in length. Five young 

 Comatulas in a free condition, the largest about an inch across, 

 were also taken. A subsequent haul on the following day 

 brought up from the same locality three adults." A foot-note states 

 that this was in the vicinity of I'orbay, at a depth of 12 fathoms, 

 on a limestone bottom. 



It may perhaps be interesting to the above Society, and to the 

 readers of Nature generally, to know that during the last 

 month Mr. Hunt and myself, in his handy little sailing-vessel, 

 dredging in Torbay, have taken Comatul^^, not by twos and 

 threes, but in the greatest abundance. In one haul off Berry 

 Head there were certainly more than a hundred adults. On this 

 occasion the dredge was brought on board cramfuU of the com- 

 moner genus, Ophiocoma rosula, of which there must have been 

 many thousaPids, the Comatulas forming only a small percentage. 

 This haul was in about 12 fathoms, on a very rocky bottom. 

 We met with pretty similar results close to the Thatched Rock. 

 It is evident that the habitat of Comatula is strictly defined, viz., 

 in comparatively deep water and amongst rocks. We have 

 never taken a single specinien from sandy or shelly bottoms. 



On examining the few pieces of sea-weed and zoophytes 

 brought up at the same time, they were found to be covered with 

 the young stalked state of the Feather-stars, which were princi- 

 pally attached to Btigula flabellata and Salicornariajarciminoides. 

 As I write, I have before me a small bottle of spirit and water, 

 in which is a little spray of the latter zoophyte about 2 inches 

 in height, and to which are attached at least seventy specimens 

 in every stage of growth, from the calcareous bud, with its 

 zoophyte-like tentacles, to the perfect, but stalked, form of the 

 Feather-star, with its five bifurcated arms ; and on a single 

 microscopical glass side and cell I have mounted as many as a 

 dozen specimens, all growing on the same small piece of weed. 



It is generally stated that both Comatula and Ophiocoma, on 

 leaving their native element, break themselves into pieces. My 

 experience does not bear this out. It is true that, as they 

 crawled about the deck in their own peculiar fashion, the Ophio- 

 coma especially left an occasional arm behind, but as a rule I 

 could take either of them up in the palm of my hand without 

 their exhibiting any suicidal propensities. Presuming on this 

 fact, I put about a hundred of the two sorts into a sponge bag, 

 but this was asking too much of them, for on reaching home 

 and emptying them out, I found that both Feather-stars and 

 Brittle-stars had converted theinselves into a mass of mincemeat ! 

 It would have been difficult to find a single portion of an arm a 

 quarter of an inch long. 



The microscopic study of the structure of the various genera 

 and their organs of locomotion is most interesting, but is beyond 

 th? scope of this communication, which is merely intended to 



show that Comatula rosacea and its young stalked state is not so 

 uncommon as is generally supposed, but can be obtained in con- 

 siderable numbers, especially if one is so fortunate as to have as 

 a companion such an experienced dredger as my friend, Mr. 

 Hunt. Fred. H. Lang 



Influence of Islands on Colour of Animals 



The September number of Blackwood's Magazine contains a 

 narrative by Mrs. Frances Wordsworth and her son, Mr. C. F. 

 Wordsworth, of six months and twenty-two days spent by the 

 survivors of the unfortunate Strathmore upon one of the rocks 

 of the Twelve Apostles, an island in the Crozet group. 



If I venture to draw attention to the following extracts from 

 their story, it is because they seem to illustrate in a rather re- 

 markable manner some observations upon the influence of islands 

 in determining paleness of colour in animals, which occur in 

 Mr. A. R. Wallace's opening address to the Biological Section 

 of the British Association at Glasgow. 



The Strathmore was wrecked on July I, 1875, and speaking 

 of a period four months later, when penguin's eggs had begun to 

 furnish the castaways with ample food, Mr. Wordsworth says : 

 "The eggs did everyone a great deal of good ; those who had 

 been haggard and miserable got quite plump and fresh ; some of 

 them ate about thirty at a meal, and we now saw each other 

 with clean faces, for we used the eggs as soap ; while a most re- 

 markable thing was that every one had fair skins and light hair, 

 dark faces and hair being quite changed, black hair turning 

 brown or red, and fairer people quite flaxen. As for myself my 

 complexion was pink and white, like a girl's " (this after four 

 months' constant exposure to the weather) "with white eye- 

 brows, yellow hair and moustache." 



The survivors were rescued on Jan. 21, 1876, and on Feb. 18, 

 Mrs. Wordsworth writes, " Charlie looks well and firm now ; 

 his hair had got quite flaxen, which did not suit him at all, but 

 now it has nearly recovered its original colour. " 



With regard to animal life on the rock, Mr. Wordsworth 

 says : "I had almost forgotten to mention the real owners of the 

 soil. The only unwebbed footed birds on the island, and con- 

 stant residents, were what we called 'little white thieves,' ' white 

 pigeon?, ' or • white crows. ' They possessed many of the quali- 

 ties of our jackdaw, being very inquisitive, mischievous, and 

 hardy, and not to be daunted by trifles." D. PiDGEON 



Holmwood, Putney Hill, September 27 



ARE WE DRYING UP f 



SUCH is the title of a paper in the September number 

 of the American Naturalist, by Prof. J. D. Whitney, 

 the object of which is to bring together some of the 

 more striking facts in regard to the desiccation of the 

 earth's surface — or at least of a considerable portion of it 

 — which has taken place in the most recent geological 

 period, and to suggest the inquiry whether we have any 

 proof that this desiccation has been and is continued 

 into the historical period : in short, Are we drying up ? 



There is a prevailing popular impression that the 

 countries around the Mediterranean are drier than they 

 were two or three thousand years ago, and that this 

 change is due in part, if not wholly, to the cutting down 

 of the forests which are assumed to have once existed 

 there. Yet, when this matter comes to be investigated, 

 it would appear that there is little if any evidence either 

 that there has been any such wholesale stripping of the 

 wooded lands, or that there has been any considerable 

 change in the climate of that region. It appears to be 

 true, at all events, that exact observations with the rain- 

 gauge have not yet anywhere been kept up for a sufficient 

 time to enable us to speak with certainty with regard to 

 the existence of any secular change in the amoimt of rain 

 falling at any one place. 



We have, however, abundant evidence of a great 

 change over at least a considerable part of the earth's 

 surface in the amount of water distributed in the lakes or 

 running in the rivers, and it can be shown, beyond a 

 doubt, that this change has been taking place within a 

 very recent period, speaking geologicadly. Some im- 

 portant evidence can also be adduced to the effect that 

 this change has been continued in the historical epoch, 



