220 



NATURE 



{yuly 3, 1879 



found excepting inside the shells of species of Helix, the animal 

 of which it had previously devoured. R. McLachlan 



Lewisham, June 27 



Your correspondent, R. S. Newall, is upon the wrong tack, 

 I think. His glow-worm was probably eating the snail, and not 

 vice versd. 



In Kirby and Spence's " Entomology " I read : " Snails give 

 sustenance to Driltis flavescens, a beetle, and its singular apte- 

 rous female in the larva state, as well as to the lan-a: of glow- 

 worms." Is it not probable that the same food suits the imago 

 state of the insect ? 



I have often found glow-worms in snail shells, and have always 

 considered slugs and snails to be the natural food of the Lainpy- 

 ris nocHluca. R. GREENWOOD Penny 



Bishopsteignton, Devon 



Frogs and Glow-flies 



Mr. Newall may be, perhaps, interested with the following 

 extract from Darwin's "Botanic Garden," Canto iv. p. 149, 

 note : — 



"In Jamaica, in some seasons of the year, the fire-flies are 

 seen in the evenings in great abundance. When they settle on 

 the ground, the bull-frog greedily devours them ; which seems 

 to have given origin to a curious, though cruel method of 

 destroying these animals ; if red-hot pieces of charcoal be thrown 

 towards them in the dusk of the evening, they leap at them, and, 

 hastily swallowing them, are burnt to death." 



I was told a few days ago of a cat which used to search for 

 and eat glow-worms. It was suggested that she took them for 

 lights. George Henslow 



Intellect in Brutes 



The following instance of sagacity in a cat has just been re- 

 lated to me by a friend who knew both the cat and its owner 

 well. The latter, who lived at Ragusa Vecchia, in Dalmatia, 

 was too poor to be able to provide food for the cat ; the animal 

 was therefore obliged to cater for himself, and was well known as 

 a thief in the neighbourhood. One day one of the children was 

 being sent off to school without any breakfast ; the cat, hearing 

 him sobbing for hunger, immediately went off, and returned with 

 a piece of bread he had stolon from a baker hard by, and brought 

 it to the child. The same thing happened another day, and he 

 came back, dragging along a piece of meat bigger than himself. 

 On crossing the threshold a bit of bone caught in a hole, so puss 

 miawed till sjme one came to his help. This same cat, who 

 was constantly catching birds on the roof, slept with some pet 

 birds in a cage without attempting to touch them. 



Ragusa, Austria, June 18 Margaret Evans 



I SEND you the following instance of intelligence in dogs : — 

 Last summer, when on a visit at the chateau of my son-in-law, 

 M. Richard Waddington, Depute, near Rouen, I had taken a 

 walk in the grounds, accompanied by some of the family, and 

 two favourite dogs, named respectively Minos and Rhadaman- 

 thus, followed the party, as usual, throughout the stroll. When 

 Bearing the house, on the return, my young grand-daughter re- 

 marked that Minos had lost his collar. The party came to a 

 halt, debating whether it was worth while to go back on a search- 

 ing expedition, for the pleasure grounds are somewhat exten- 

 sive, and the dogs had been rambling away from the paths among 

 long grass. Both Minos and Rhadamanthus evidently seemed 

 to listen to the debate. It was decided to make the search at a 

 venture, and, without saying a word to the dogs, the party com- 

 menced to retrace their steps. As a rule, these two dogs are 

 inseparable ; wherever the one goes the other goes, and invari- 

 ably the two follow any members of the family when strolling 

 about the place. At this juncture, however, Rhadamanthus, 

 not having lost a collar, and having no special interest in the 

 proposed search, went on her solitary way home to the stables ; 

 but Minos kept with the party, walking on the gravel path — and 

 this for some distance — when suddenly he took to the meadow, 

 commenced running, and presently he was observed to stop and 

 remain fixed with his head pointed downwards, partly buried in 

 the tall grass. Naturally he was followed. The point of his nose 

 was in contact with the collar ! Could any child of man, under 

 similar circumstances, have displayed more thoughtful sagacity 

 than did each of the above dogs on the above occasion ? The 



one thought she was not wanted, and having had enough play, 

 wisely went home, whilst the other, thinking that his presence 

 was requisite, wisely returned with the searching party. 



When in Bute, some years ago, I heard from a gentleman, 

 perfectly trustworthy, that a large Newfoundland dog, belonging 

 to a friend of his, was observed one night by its owner lying 

 concealed under his bed— a strange circumstance, because the 

 dog was forbidden to enter the house at night. The owner, 

 being struck by this singular occurrence, resolved not to disturb 

 the creature, and, getting into bed, kept himself awake to watch 

 events. It was not long before a sound was heard in the pas- 

 sage, a faint light was seen through the key-hole, the door 

 opened, and instantly the dog flew from under the bed, and, 

 springing forward, brought a man to the ground, the gentleman's 

 own servant, who, accompanied by another fellow, was there 

 for the purpose of robbery. Chas. Popham Miles 



Vicarage, Monkwearniouth 



Having read Mr. Peach's letter on "Intellect in Brutes," as 

 shown by the sagacity he witnessed in his dog, I have been 

 asked to send a similar anecdote, which I have often told to 

 friends. Many years ago my husband had his portrait taken by 

 T. Phillips, sen., R.A., and subsequently went to India, leaving 

 the portrait in London to be finished and framed. When it was 

 sent home about two years after it was taken, it was placed on 

 the floor against the sofa, preparatory to being hung on the wall. 

 We had then a very handsome large black and tan setter, which 

 was a great pet in the house. As soon as the dog came into the 

 room he recognised his master, though he had not seen him for 

 two years, and went up to the picture and licked the face. When 

 this anecdote was told to Phillips, he said it was the highest 

 compliment that had ever been paid to him. X. 



Some years ago a fine arts exhibition was held at Derby. A 

 portrait of a Derby artist, Wright, was thus signalised : "The 

 artist's pet dog distinguished this, from a lot of pictures upon 

 the floor of the studio, by licking the face of the portrait." 



Derby Henry Clark 



Butterfly Swarms 



With reference to the swarms of butterflies referred to by M. 

 Forel, in NATURE, vol. xx. p. 197, it may be interesting to 

 mention that Vanessa canlui is this year very common in the 

 south of England. This butterfly is known to all English 

 lepidopterists to be " periodical " — in some seasons it occurs in 

 great numbers, in others — perhaps for several years in succession 

 — not one specimen is to be seen. 



Last season (1878) I saw no specimens, nor did I hear of any 

 about here. It seems, therefore — in such a bad season for 

 insects as the present — impossible to consider the abundance of 

 the species in England to be the result of "local fecundity." 

 Whence, therefore, come these specimens ? and is the periodical 

 abundance of the species in Britain due to local causes or 

 migration? J. H. A. Jekner 



4, East Street, Lewes, July i 



THE K I LB URN SHOW 



IT is difficult to estimate the disadvantages with which 

 the Agricultural Exhibition at Kilburn has had to 

 contend. So large a show must always be somewhat 

 unwieldy, however skilfully planned, but the melancholy 

 wet season has enormously increased the difficulties of 

 arrangement, and we may add that fairly to study the 

 implements and miscellaneous exhibits was quite impos- 

 sible up to the time of our going to press. A few jottings 

 set down at random concerning such instruments, opera- 

 tions, and specimens as drew our attention while in the 

 yard on Monday must suffice on the present occasion. 

 Visitors were supposed to view the exhibits from the 

 avenues between the long rows of sheds ; but Ithese 

 avenues, once grass, were transformed into roads of mud, 

 in every condition of matter between the solid and liquid 

 states. There were no paths across the sheds, and as 

 most of the implements and other exhibits were not so 

 arranged as to be approachable on more than one side, 

 the difficulty of examining objects of interest was fre- 

 quently insurmountable. 



