Feb. 2 1, 1878] 



NATURE 



329 



hours he spent in their midst, and we quite agree with 

 him that such intelligent birds can't merit that nasty- 

 English word " stupid." 



The accompanying illustration (Fig. 4) will give some 

 slight notion of a nesting station of these interesting birds. 

 At the time of the arrival of the expedition (October) 

 the birds were preparing to hatch ; each pair kept entirely 

 to themselves ; each nest had two eggs, large, nearly 

 round, of a dirty white colour, but marked here and there 

 with a {c:yN russet spots. Both birds partook of the cares 

 attendant on the incubation, and took turn about on the 

 nest. The bird off duty would at once make for the sea, 

 faithfully returning at the appointed time, and never 

 failing to waddle direct to its ovm nest, though no human 

 being could see a difference between the thousands that 

 were strewn about. Sometimes the whole camp of birds 

 would have to be traversed ere the nest sought for would 

 be gained, and a bird trying to make a short cut would be 

 sure to be attacked by those whom it disturbed, for they 

 are not at all tolerant of one another, and in this they also 

 prove that they are not stupid, for surely neither stupid 

 people nor stupid birds ever quarrel. On M. Vclain arriving 

 in their midst, they would one and all set up an immense, 

 and beyond measure stunning cry, but soon they would 

 calm down, and seem not to mind his presence. The 

 incubation lasted for five weeks. The little ones made 

 their appearance covered all over with a fine close down, 

 and looked like balls of fine grey-coloured wool. They soon 

 got tired "of the comforts of their nests, and began to 

 assemble together with their little brothers and sisters of 

 the same colony in large infant schools, which are 

 presided over by some of the sedate old birds. Many 

 times a day, at stated intervals, they are fed, the other 

 portions they spend in sleeping and talking, and a little 

 fighting. Space will not permit us to refer to many curious 

 details about their swimming lessons. 



M. Velain's description of the molluscs of Saint Paul is 

 an important contribution to science ; the new species 

 are well illustrated on four plates. As was to be expected, 

 there are forty species of Gasteropods to but nine of 

 Acephala, and there is but a single Brachiopod ; no land- 

 shells seem to have been found. The cuttle-fish taken are 

 not enumerated, but one gigantic ten-armed species was 

 often alluded to by the fishermen, and at last, as if to prove 

 their assertions true, one morning, after a great storm, 

 a specimen thereof was thrown ashore, and fortunately 

 was at once photographed ; unfortunately only its 

 head, arms, and' pen could be preserved. The generic 

 name of Mouchezis (after the commander of the expe- 

 dition) has been proposed for it. Probably it comes near 

 to Steenstrup's Architeuthis, which it resembles in size, 

 by its having circular-shaped suckers, which were orna- 

 mented by a row of fine horny denticulations and by their 

 arrangement on the arms, but from which it differs by the 

 singularly shortened form of the short arms, which pre- 

 sented quite the appearance of having been abruptly tru n- 

 cated instead of running out to a more or less tapering 

 point as in most cephalopods ; and then the inferior 

 termination of the dorsal ossicle is quite unlike that 

 described by Stecnstrup in his genus. Mouchesia Sancti- 

 Paiili measured from the tip of its longest arms to the 

 end of the body, upwards of twenty-two feet. A species 

 of Ommastrephes swarmed in the adjacent sea and seemed 

 to be the chief food of the penguins. 



E. Perceval Wright 



NOTES 



Systematic botany has lost one of its greatest living names 

 in the death of Elias Magnus Fries, Emeritus Professor of 

 Botany in the University of Upsala, He was born August 15, 

 1794, and died on February 8 inst. His very numerous works, 

 especially on fungi and lichens, give him a position as regards 



those groups of plants only comparable to that of Linaa?us. His 

 services to science were recognised by the Royal Society in his 

 election as a foreign member in 1875. 



TliK funeral service of M. Claude Bernard took place at Paris, 

 at the public expense, on Saturday, February i6, at St. Sulpice, 

 in presence of an immense assembly. The interment took place 

 at Pere-la-Chaise. The chief mourners were MM. Bardoux, 

 the Minister of Public Instruction, Dumas and Bertrand, Per- 

 petual Secretaries of the Academy of Sciences, Fizeau, Presi- 

 dent, Mezieres, Chancellor of the Academy of Sciences, M. 

 Paul Bert, who is filling the chair of Claude Bernard at the 

 Jardin des Plantes, and Laboulaye. These gentlemen delivered 

 addresses at the grave, which will be published in the Comples 

 Rcndus and ofHcial papers. 



From the last report of Dr. Dohrn, the director, we notice 

 that the zoological station at Naples has developed a most re- 

 markable degree of activity, and is becoming a valuable centre 

 of biological research. By the generosity of the Prussian 

 Government it has been provided with a small steamer, and the 

 lUiinterrupted expeditions in this vessel have secured to the 

 laboratories an enormous and most varied stock of material 

 for research. Dr. Dohrn has carefully organised a plan 

 for the systematic examination of the entire fauna of this 

 part of the sea, to be accompanied by exhaustive descrip- 

 tion. The literary portion of the work will consist of elaborate 

 monographs on all the families and species represented in the 

 Gulf of Naples. They will not be prepared by the members of 

 the station only, but it is hoped to procure the assistance of all 

 familiar with this special department, and the contributions can 

 be in English, French, German, or Italian. Two monographs 

 on the Elenophoraj and Balanoglossi will appear during the 

 present year, and arrangements have been made for the speedy 

 preparation of eleven others. These will all be based, in regard 

 to nompnclature and classification, on a work shortly to appear 

 under the title, " Prodromus Fauna;] Mediterranese," which will 

 contain a complete abstract of the literature on this subject up 

 to the present time. The details of anatomical and embryo- 

 logical investigation will form the leading feature of the whole 

 work. . 



The Radicals in the French Chamber cannot be accused of 

 opposition to the claims of science. We notice that in a late 

 session a member of the extreme left proposed an amendment to 

 the budget of instruction, which provided for the appropriation 

 of 30,000 francs for an expedition to California to observe the 

 next transit of Mercury, 40,000 for the continuation of the ex- 

 plorations in Northern Africa, where it has been proposed to 

 admit water from the Mediterranean, and 100,000 to enable the 

 Abbe Debes to make a journey across Africa from Zanzibar to 

 the Congo. As the appropriation was granted, we may hope 

 soon to see the latter portion of it cause the appearance of a 

 new rival of Stanley, for the Abbe has had, like Livingstone, 

 invaluable experiences as a missionary, which will enable him to 

 enter upon the undertaking with great promises of success. 



The Astronomical Section of the French Academy has been 

 summoned by the Minister of Instruction to nominate two can- 

 didates for the vacant position of the late M. Leverrier. 



In Parisian scientific circles Prof. Charles Friedel is mentioned 

 as the probable successor to the place in the Chemical Section 

 of the Academy rendered vacant by the death of Victor 

 Regnault. 



A NEW Archaeological Institution at St. Petersburg was 

 opened on January 27 last. The director and founder of the 

 Institution, M. N. W. Katcholoff, delivered the inaugural 

 address, in which he pointed out the importance of the archaeo- 

 logical investigation of the great Russian empire, and the great 



