434 



NATURE 



[March 28, 1878 



January number of the Quarterly Journal of Micro- 

 scopical Science. 



Rhizopods in an Apple Tree.— Freshwater rhizo- 

 pods are beginning to be well known, but Prof. Leidy has 

 lately discovered a number in an apple-tree. While wait- 

 ing for a railway train, last December, his attention was 

 attracted to a large-apple tree which had then quite 

 recently been thrown down by a storm, and from the fork 

 of its trunk he collected a small bunch of moss, which, 

 on examining it carefully, he found to contain a number 

 of rhizopods. Of these one was Difflugia cassis j it was 

 abundant. Another, which occurred in smaller number, 

 was D. globularis, and in addition, some specimens of 

 Trinema acinus, Euglypha alveolata, and E. bmnttea, 

 were met with. The moss from which they were washed 

 with filtered water was found at a distance of about eight 

 feet from the ground {Proceedings, Acad. Nat, Scien. 

 Philadelphiaj 1877, p. 321). We hope this hint will not 

 be lost by the investigators of our British or Irish 

 rhizopods. 



The Aeronautic Flight of Spiders. — Many ob- 

 servations have been made on this singular phenomenon, 

 but the Rev. H. C. McCook is pursuing his inquiries with 

 a perseverance that succeeds in detecting many new 

 details in the performance. Recently (October, 1877) he 

 paid attention to groups of young wolf-spiders (Lycosidse), 

 which crowded the tops of railings in a meadow. Their 

 faces were turned in the direction from which the wind was 

 blowing ; the abdomen in each was elevated at an angle 

 of 45°, the claws brought in, and the legs stiffened, thus 

 raising the body. From the spinnerets at the apex of the 

 abdomen a single thread was exuded, and rapidly drawn 

 out to several feet by the breeze. Gradually the foremost 

 pair of legs sank to the level of the post, and the entire 

 attitude became that of intense resistance. Then suddenly 

 and simultaneously the eight claws were unloosed, and 

 the spider mounted with a sharp bound into the air, and 

 went careering across the meadow. As far as could be 

 observed, it appeared that the spider took a voluntary 

 leap at the moment of loosing its hold. One spider, by 

 good hap, was followed through its flight. The position of 

 the body was soon reversed, the head being turned in the 

 same direction as the wind. The legs were spread out, 

 and were united at the claws by delicate filaments of silk. 

 After flying a distance of about eighty feet, the spider 

 gradually settled down upon the meadow. The difficulty 

 of this observation will be understood by entomologists, for 

 it required exact suitability of position as to light, the 

 limitation of the flight to a moderate height, and a com- 

 parative moderation of its speed. {Proc, Acad. Nat. Sci. 

 Philadelphia, 1877, p. 308.) 



Turkoman Greyhounds. — The Jardin d'Acclimata- 

 tion has lately been enriched (we learn from La Nature) 

 with three Turkoman greyhounds of great beauty, the 

 first specimens imported into Europe. The animals 

 are known in the country under the name of Tazi, and 

 are employed in catching hares, like the Sloughi in 

 Algeria and the greyhounds in Persia. They are of noble 

 aspect, and have great strength of muscle ; their head is 

 remarkably long and delicate in form. The hair on the 

 body is short ; but the ears (which are very large) are 

 covered with long silken hair. Their legs are also covered 

 with well-developed hair, and the contrast of this with the 

 upper smooth part of the body is surprising at first sight ; 

 the dogs appearing as if they had large waving pantaloons, 

 or reminding one of some kinds of fowl. One of the three 

 dogs was obtained from the Kirghises of Emba, the two 

 others at Samarkand (and by M. de Ujfalvy). We believe 

 that it is among this breed that, as mentioned by Hamil- 

 ton Smith, the stop greyhound is found so trained, that 

 when a whole pack of them is in pursuit of a doubling 

 hare, a stick thrown before it instantly produces a general 

 halt, and one only is then signalled out to pursue the 

 game. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES 



China. — Mr. E. C. Baber's long-deferred Report on 

 the journey of the Grosvenor Mission through Western 

 Yiinnan, from Tali-fu to Teng-yiieh, contains much matter 

 which is of interest from more than one point of view. 

 The most important of his surveys is that of the route from 

 Tali-fu to Teng-yiieh, as it connects Garnier's explorations 

 with the work of Sladen's expedition, and thus puts Bhamo 

 in topographical communication with Shanghai and 

 Saigon. The survey next, but not much inferior, in im- 

 portance, is the route from Yiinnan-fu to Tali-fu, in which 

 the track followed was different to Garnier's. Mr. Baber 

 has also prepared a running survey of his route across 

 China from Hankow to Teng-yiieh. His remarks on the 

 native races are interesting, especially in regard to the 

 Kutung people. What or where Kutung is he was unable 

 to ascertain ; he describes the men as of a dark reddish 

 complexion, with rather prominent features, above the 

 average height and well-proportioned, dressed in close- 

 fitting woollen garmentSj which in some cases were neatly 

 cut and handsomely embroidered. The women seen 

 would have been considered handsome anywhere ; paler 

 in colour than the men, their oval intelligent faces re- 

 minded the observer of the so-called Caucasian type, 

 and in every step and movement there was a decision 

 and exactness very different from the motion of a 

 Chinese. One of the women, too, was particularly remark- 

 able for a peculiarity of her long hair, which was 

 naturally wavy, a feature never met with among the 

 Chinese. Mr. Baber was fortunate in seeing the quarterly 

 fair at Tali-fu, at which some 5,000 people were present, 

 many of them being Lolos, Shans, Thibetans, &;c. At 

 this stage of his journey he propounds a not improbable 

 explanation of the term " golden teeth," as applied to 

 the inhabitants, viz., that it arose from the discoloration 

 of the teeth produced by chewing betel with lime. Mr. 

 Baber's observations on the extent of the poppy cultiva- 

 tion will hardly be found encouraging by those who desire 

 to see the consumption of opium put an end to, for he 

 says that his party walked some hundreds of miles 

 through poppies ; and a similar remark applies to his 

 account of the trade-route into Yiinnan from Burmah. 

 The valleys, or rather abysses, he says, of the Salwen 

 and Mekong must long remain insuperable difficulties, 

 not to mention other obstacles between Yiinnan-fu and 

 Teng-yiieh. The members of Col. Sladen's expedition 

 appear to have assumed that, when the latter place is 

 reached, the obstacles to a highway into Yiinnan have 

 teen surmounted, whereas the fact is that the difficulties 

 begin at that place. Loth as most Englishmen are to 

 admit it, Mr. Baber adds, the simple and evident ap- 

 proach to Eastern Yiinnan is from the Gulf of Tonquin, 

 but it by no means follows that the same holds true of 

 the western part of the province. In conclusion we may 

 mention that an interesting feature in Mr. Baber's report 

 is his comparison of Marco Polo's narrative with his own 

 experiences, and his verification in many respects of the 

 Venetian's information respecting a country almost 

 entirely unknown to Europeans. 



Prjwalsky's Journey to Lob-Nor. — In the Isvestia 

 of the Russian Geographical Society, and as Supplement 

 53 to Petermann's Mittheilungen, the narrative of 

 Prjwalsky's journey from Kuldja to Lob-Nor and the 

 Altyn-Dagh, is now published, with maps showing the 

 route and the discoveries made. We have already 

 referred to the results of this important journey between 

 August, 1876, and July, 1877, a journey which the enthu- 

 siastic Dr. Petermann regards as the crown of Central 

 Asiatic exploration, and as equal in importance to Stan- 

 ley's journey down the Congo, or even the attainment of 

 the Pole. Prjwalsky gives ample details as to what he 

 saw along the route, and his observations will be of 

 special value to the ethnologist as containing important 



