Nov, I, 1877] 



NATURE 



1 1 



Occurring, as it did, at a time when thousands were wending 



their way to church, it must have been very generally observed. 



Harrow, October 26 A. W. B. J. 



Singing Mice 



When at school a friend and I used to keep tame mice, and 

 amongst our large stock was one of the so-called singing mice. 

 The mouse in question was not one we bred ourselves, but was 

 bought from a London dealer, so we had no opportunities of 

 knowing whether it had ever been kept near a singing bird or 

 not J but it was not at all averse to performing in broad day- 

 light, and would chirp whilst a knot of boys were standing round 

 it as freely as when the cupboard was closed. 



As M. Brierre describes it (vol. xvi. p. 558), the mouse used 

 to sit with its snout more or less elevated, but not at all to an 

 uncomfortable height, and its throat used to throb like that of 

 a bird whilst singing, the far of the one being ruffled like the 

 feathers of the other ; and the song was something between that 

 of a wren and that of a shrew mouse, and rather pleasing than 

 otherwise. 



At first we were inclined to attribute the noise to disease of the 

 lungs or throat, but were unable to hold that opinion long, as 

 there never seemed to be any pain or gasping connected with it, 

 but the noise was always produced at periods of greatest rest, 

 and chiefly when the mouse came out of its sleeping place to 

 wash its face and paws, at which times it generally chirped at 

 inteivals. It never had the power of imparting the art to others, 

 nor did any of its numerous progeny inherit its powers. Neither 

 was it all short lived, but rather the contrary, and its death 

 was caused by an accident. We were unable to consider the 

 power of emitting the sounds at all the result of weakness or 

 disease. Henry H. Slater 



Sound-Producing Arthropods 



I HAVE read with much interest the brief abstract given in 

 Nature (vol. xvi. p. 567) of Mr. Wood Mason's announce- 

 ment to the Entomological Society of the discovery of stridulating 

 organs in association with scorpions ; reference being made at 

 the same time to his recognition of similar sound-producing 

 .'•tructures among other Arthropoda, including certain Crustacea. 

 In this latter case no mention is made of the particular types with 

 which these sound-organs have been observed, and I therefore 

 hazard the relation of an instance that has recently fallen under 

 my own observation with the chance of its proving a newly- 

 recorded example. 



The crustacean in question, which I have ascertained to possess 

 sound-producing properties to an eminent degree, is a species of 

 Spherovia, belonging to the Isopodous order of the class. I have 

 not as yet ascertained the exact method in which sound is pro- 

 duced nor whether the animal has organs specially adapted for 

 the purpose ; on numerous occasions, however, my attention has 

 been attracted to the glass jar of which, with the exception of 

 microscopic Copepods and Protozoa, a single specimen of the 

 species is the sole animal occupant, by a little sharp tapping 

 sound produced three or four times consecutively with intervals 

 of about one second's duration, and which I can almost exactly 

 imitate by gently striking the side of the jar witti the pointed end 

 of a pipette. On being approached the little creature always 

 endeavours to elude notice by passing to the opposite side of the 

 stalk of seaweed, upon which it usually reposes in the same way 

 that a squirrel dodges round the branch of a tree, and on no 

 occasion so far have I been able to catch the little fellow 

 flagrante delicto, or in the act of producing the sound which it 

 most undoubtedly emits. The character and intensity of the 

 sound produced associated with the small size of the animal, 

 scarcely one quarter of an inch in length, induces me to believe 

 that it is caused by the sudden flexion and extension of the 

 creature's body. A more prolonged observation will no doubt 

 clear up this point, but Mr. Wood Mason may possibly be in a 

 position to throw further light upon the subject by means of the 

 evidence he has collected hi reference to other crustacean types. 



Among the higher Decapodous crustacean order one species, 

 Alpheus ruber, frequently collected by me in Guernsey, produces 

 a snapping noise beneath the water by the sudden extension of 

 the terminal joint of its larger claw that can be heard at a con- 

 siderable distance, and that at once betrays its lurking place to a 

 practised ear. The large sea crayfish {Palinurus quadricornis) 

 agam, often emits when handled what may be filly described as 

 a shrill squeaking sound by the rubbing to,^ether of the spinous 



! abdominal segments. It would seem indeed that a closer study 

 of the life habits of the aquatic Arthropoda is hkely to reveal 

 among its members as infinite a variety of sound-producers as has 

 hitherto been determined to exist among their more familiar 

 terrestrial congeners. W. Saville Kent 



St. Heliers, Jersey, October 27 



Insects and Flowers 



In reference to the question whether insects are most attracted 

 to flowers by scent or colour, may I mention that while staying 

 at the hotel at Cettinge lately I was amused by the behaviour of 

 some humming-bird sphinx moths. My room was roughly 

 stencilled with a "spotty" pattern of purplish brown on the dull 

 white plaster. Every morning these moths, with their probosces 

 extended, used toattack the dabsof colour, hovering before therr, 

 just as though they were real flowers, but starting back with 

 apparent amazement on finding that they were not. This seems 

 the more remarkable because the wonderfully abundant aro- 

 matic herbs of that region, which must have supplied their usual 

 food, have all, so far as I know, very inconspicuous flowers 



Notting Hill, October 27 A. J. H. 



FRANCIS VON ROSTHORN 



PRANCIS VON ROSTHORN, who died June 17, 

 ^ 1877, was the son of Matthew Rosthorn, of 

 Lancashire, who went to Vienna in 1765, at the invita- 

 tion of the Empress Maria Theresa, to establish the 

 manufacture of metal buttons. He constructed the first 

 rolling-mills in Austria ; one at Vienna, another (in 1792) 

 at Fahrafeld, in Lower Austria. Matthew von Rosthorn 

 was ennobled by the Emperor Joseph II. in 1790, and died 

 at Vienna January 3, 1805, leaving five sons. The 

 youngest of these, born April 18, 1796, at Vienna, is 

 the subject of this notice. These five brothers joined in 

 creating extensive metallurgic establishments ; the first 

 (1817J at Oedj and another (1823) in Carinthia, for 

 smelting zinc (then high in price) out of the Raibl and 

 Bleyberg ores, by means of brown coal. Having pur- 

 chased (1826) the state demesne of Wolfsberg, in 

 Carinthia, with extensive metallurgical works, they con- 

 structed there a large rolling-mill, together with a puddling 

 furnace. Francis von Rosthorn, having prepared him- 

 self for his practical career by attending the Mining 

 Academy of Schemnitz, in Hungary (1814 to 1818), soon 

 became acquainted with several eminent geologists, and 

 obtained the patronage of the late Archduke John. He 

 made several scientific tours in Carinthia, Carniolia, 

 Styria, Salzburg, and the Hungarian border; in 1827 

 with Prof. Keferstein, in 1828 with Archduke John, in 

 1829 with Escher and Schrotter, and in 1832 with Dr. 

 Boud. His annual visits to Archduke John at Gastein 

 (1829 to 1836) were always connected with Alpine explo- 

 ration. His later travels (1842 to 1847) were chiefly 

 southward. In 1832 he communicated the results thus 

 obtained to the Meeting of German Naturalists at Vienna ; 

 and in 1836 to the meeting at Freiburg. In 1848 he was 

 elected into the Legislative Assembly ("Landtag") of 

 Carinthia ; and from 1852 to 1870 held the office of 

 President of the Commercial and Industrial Board of 

 that province. Francis von Rosthorn's constitution was 

 exceptionally robust, so that up to his seventy-sixth year 

 he was able to undertake arduous Alpine ascents. 

 His conversation with persons of any social station was 

 unaffectedly amiable ; but he could be sarcastic when he 

 met with affectation or baseless pretensions. 



SPECTRUM OF AURORA AUSTRALIS 



AS I believe no account of spectroscopic observations 

 of the Aurora Australis have as yet been published, 

 I venture to send this description of two aurorae observed 

 during the stay of H.M.S. Chaltenger in high southern 



' Obituary Notice by Prof. E. Suess (" Report of the Imperial Geological 

 Institute, Vienna/' August si> 1877). 



