54 



NATURE 



[November 21, 1895 



that even the name of Rothamsted is misspelt, both in 

 the text and in the index. That Wolffs work, in EngHsh 

 dress, will serve to increase the fame of its author cannot 

 for a moment be doubted, and it is much to be hoped 

 that many of the intelligent readers into whose hands it 

 may fall will be qualified to read the volume critically. 



Do^ Stories from the " Spectator^'' With an Introduc- 

 tion by J. St. Loe Strachey. Pp. 264. (London : T. 

 Fisher Unwin, 1895.) 

 A FEW of these stories record reasonable and well- 

 observed instances of intelligent and deliberate acts of 

 dogs, but most of them are anecdotes in which a modicum 

 of fact is lost in a plenum of anthropomorphic fancies. 



When an animal does anything remarkable, the average 

 man (and more so the average woman) conceives that it 

 is guided to its action by a train of human reasoning. 

 It must, of course, be granted that dogs often behave 

 with exceptional intelligence, and perform acts with dis- 

 tinct ends in view ; we do not, indeed, venture to doubt 

 any of these stories from the correspondence columns of 

 the Spectator. But few people seem to be able to separate 

 the " what " from the " why " when writing of animals' 

 actions. Well-authenticated and trustworthy notes on 

 canine intelligence are valuable ; but when the narrators 

 essay to explain the dog's motives, they get out of their 

 depth. Here is the gist of a story of this kind : A 

 dog jumped into a carriage at one of the stations on the 

 District Railway ; it remained under a seat of the com- 

 partment when the train stopped at two stations 

 while the carriage door was opened, but when the door 

 was opened the third time, the dog jumped out and slunk 

 away. There is no evidence whatever that the dog's 

 act was deliberate ; and unless there were proofs to the 

 contrary, it must be assumed that it was simply the re- 

 sult of impulse. Yet the anecdote fills nearly two pages 

 of the book, the writer assuming that the dog recognised 

 the station at which it alighted, and concluding with the 

 words : " I suppose that he had been transferred to a new 

 home, which had proved uncongenial, and was slipping 

 away, in fear and trembling, to his old quarters." This 

 is a fair example of the sentimental type of dog story— 

 a type which predominates in the collection before us. 

 A man who knows how to observe in a scientific manner, 

 has no patience with the crude statements and un- 

 supported assertions which make up most of these 

 epistles ; he will put his finger on weak points in 

 nearly every page of this book. Many of the facts are 

 the results of coincidences, but here and there among the 

 chaff will be found grains of information of real import- 

 ance to students of the instincts and habits of animals. 

 The value of the stories is largely discounted from the 

 scientific point of view, by the fact that the writers are 

 often anonymous. 



Science Readers. By Vincent T. Murche. Books v. 



and vi. (London : Macmillan and Co., 1895.) 

 These books are intended to be read by pupils in ele- 

 mentary schools, in conjunction with "object-lessons" 

 given by the teacher. The text has been so carefully 

 prepared, that juvenile readers will have no difficulty in 

 understanding it, while the profuse illustrations add to 

 its attractiveness. The apparently indiscriminate dis- 

 tribution of the subjects of the reading lessons is not one 

 that commends itself to those who regard the orderly 

 statement of facts as the cardinal principle of scientific 

 instruction ; but it must be remembered that pupils have 

 to be interested as well as instructed, and Mr. Murche's 

 practical knowledge of what interests the young people 

 for whom he writes, has led him to depart from a strictly 

 scientific arrangement. Putting this aside, however, the 

 books contain a large amount of useful information, 

 which the elementary scholars who read them will easily 

 acquire. 



NO. 1360, VOL. 53] 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



{The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 

 to return^ or to correspond with the writers of rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. 

 No notice is taken of anonytnous communications. ] 



The November Meteors. 



From various observations it would appear that the Leonids 

 have not presented any unusual activity this year. The weather 

 was tolerably favourable on the nights of November 12, 13 and 

 14, though there were occasional clouds and showers of rain ; 

 meteors were not, however, particularly numerous at any time. 



At Bridgwater, on November 12, Mr. Corder watched the 

 sky during the period from I4h. 5m. to i6h. 30m. , and observed 

 eighteen meteors, of which three or four only were Leonids. 



At Bristol, on November 13, the writer counted ten meteors- 

 between iih. and I3h. 30m., of which two only were Leonids. 

 The sky was, however, partly overcast. At Bridgwater Mr. 

 Corder maintained a look-out between I4h. and i6h. lom., and 

 recorded twenty-six /'s, including eleven Leonids with a well- 

 defined radiant at 1 52° + 23°. 



At Bristol, on November 14, the writer saw very few meteors, 

 and no Leonids before midnight. The observations were, 

 therefore, relinquished as not likely to be productive. 



During the nights following the 12th and 13th, and on the early 

 part of that of the 14th, it is certain, from the above notes, that 

 the Leonids were not numerously visible. If, therefore, the 

 earth passed through a region of the stream much denser than 

 usual, the rencontre must have occurred during daylight on the 

 14th. Observations in America will probably allow this point 

 to be determined. 



One of the best of the mid-November meteor showers has its- 

 radiant in Taurus, and it is a stream which furnishes an unusual 

 proportion of fireballs. Several of them have been observed in 

 the present year. About ten Taurids were seen at Bristol on 

 the nights of the 13th and 14th, and Mr. Corder says that on 

 the 1 2th and 13th he found them rather active and diverging 

 from an accurately marked centre at 58° -h 22^°. 



Fireballs appeared on November 9 at about 8h. and loh. 45m. 

 p.m., and on November 11 at 6h. 2m. p.m. Several con- 

 spicuous meteors were also remarked on the early evening of 

 November 14. W. F. Denning. 



Bristol, November 17. 



P.S. — A communication just received from Dr. A. Riggen- 

 bach. Professor of Astronomy at the University of Basle, 

 Switzerland, contains the following : — " On November 13, after 

 heavy rains the sky cleared up, and during the hours from 

 9h. 40m. to I3h. I perceived fourteen meteors, but only two of 

 them appeared to be in connection with the Leonid swarm. 

 From ih. in the morning of the 14th, clouds impeded the 

 observations. On November 14-15 the sky was overcast." 

 Dr. Riggenbach's experience would therefore appear to corro- 

 borate the meagre results obtained at Bridgwater and Bristol. — 

 W. F. D. 



A Remarkable Daylight Meteor. 



Just before five in the afternoon of Wednesday, the 13th inst., 

 a meteor of rare brilliancy, evidently one of the Leonids, was 

 seen here. It was as large as Venus at its best. When flashing 

 into view it lighted up the landscape with startling effect, though 

 daylight had not faded. The meteor was followed by a dazzling 

 golden-coloured train, which lasted for several seconds. The 

 colour of the meteor by the waning daylight was of a peculiar 

 greenish-blue tint. 



Owing to the large size and intense brilliancy of the meteor, I 

 expected that its grand appearance would have been observed in 

 some other locality and noted in Nature. Here this season the 

 stream of the Leonids has been little in evidence. 



Worcester. J. Lloyd Bozward. 



The Feeding-Ground of the Herring. 



In your issue of October 24, Mr. Alexander Turbyne takes 

 exception to the belief that copepodsare most abundant between 

 the Laminarian zone and the 20-fathom line. He gives his 

 experience to prove that they congregate chiefly " in the deep 

 water over the mud," and his contention is that herrings found 

 with great numbers of copepods in their stomachs feed, for the 



