184 



KNOWLEDGE 



[August, 1903. 



and classification of marsupials. Too much emphasis, he 

 believes, has been laid on the character of the dentition, 

 and foot-structure is regarded as a surer guide for 

 systematic arrangement. The ancestral forms were 

 probably insectivorous ; and from these evolution pro- 

 ceeded on two lines, one culminating in the herbivorous 

 Ijangaroos, and the other in the carnivorous Tasmanian 

 devil. 



No. 475 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society contains 

 an important communication by Dr. L. Rogers on the 

 action of the poison of the sea-snakes. This venom is 

 found to be much more virulent than cobra-poison, 

 especially in its effects on fislies, -which form the food of 

 these reptiles. It acts by paralysing the nerve-centres, 

 and, unlike cobra-poison, has little or no effect on the 

 coagidating property of the blood. In the symjitoms 

 produced it is, however, very similar to cobra-poison, 

 whence it is inferred that the latter also causes death by 

 acting on the nervous system. 



The same journal also contains a preliminary account of 

 Miss Bates' discovery in the superficial deposits of Cyprus 

 of remains of ]>igmy elephants closely allied to those so 

 long known from Malta. The Cypriot form is regarded 

 as a distinct species, but it may be a question whether it 

 is more than a variety. When fossil elephants w-ere 

 discovered in Malta, it was a practical certainty that they 

 would turn up in the other Mediterranean islands, if only 

 there ivere deposits suitable for the preservation of their 

 remains. 



The various American races of reindeer, or caribou, are 

 admirably described and contrasted in an article contri- 

 buted to the Seventh Annual Report of the New York 

 Zoological Society by Mr. M. Grant, the Secretary. The 

 author is of opinion that all, or nearly all, of the existing 

 Old World reindeer are allied to the American Barren 

 Ground caribou ; but since antlers resembling those of the 

 woodland race are met with in the superficial deposits of 

 S. Europe and Asia, it is considered probable that the 

 latter animal reached America from Asia by way of 

 Bering Strait. 



The May issue of the Quarterly Journal of the Geological 

 Society contains the full account of the remains of 

 mastodons and sabre-toothed tigers recently discovered in 

 a Derbyshire cave of Pliocene age. It appears that this 

 important discovery was made accidentally by a schoolboy, 

 who picked up some mastodon teeth among the debris from 

 a (juarry ; unfortunately many other teeth were buried 

 deep in the talus. This discovery should convince those 

 who argue that the Crag mastodons were not natives of 

 Britain of their error. 



A Indky memoir on the mummified animals of ancient 

 Egypt appears in the eighth volume of the Archives of the 

 Museum at Lyons, liy Messrs. Lortet and Gaillard. An 

 extraordinary large number of species — both wild and 

 domesticated — have been identified from their mummified 

 bodies ; among the latter being the bubal, or lesser harte- 

 beest ( Bubalis boselaphns), and the ami, or North African 

 wild sheep {Ovis lervia). 



The Eaethquake of June ISth. — Three months ago 

 we recorded the occurrence on March 24th of an earth- 

 quake in the west of Derbyshire, strong enough to cause 

 some slight damage to buildings and to disturb an area of 

 about 13,.")00 square miles. This was followed on June 

 19th, at about 10.8 a.m., by a shock which, if it resulted 

 in no loss to property, affected a still wider area. It was 

 felt along the east coast of Ireland and for some distance 

 inland, from Wexford to several miles north of Dublin. 



In the southern half of the Isle of Man it was distinctly 

 perceptible, and was at once recogni-sed as an earthquake 

 shock. On the other siile of the Channel the disturbed 

 area includes the whole of North Wales, and probably the 

 greater part of the principality, although no records are 

 as yet forthcoming from the counties of Pembroke and 

 Glamorgan. In England the shock was noticed as far 

 east as Warrington and at several other places in Lanca- 

 shire. Thus, even if we exclude isolated records from 

 places so far distant as Belfast and Kendal, the disturbed 

 .Trea can hardly have been less than 220 miles long from 

 north-east to south-west and 170 miles wide, and must 

 have contained about 30,000 square miles. The district 

 most strongly shaken was a band embracing the west 

 coast of Carnarvonshire from Nevin to between Carnarvon 

 and Bangor, and the centre was probably not far from 

 Clynnog. though whether under land or sea it is at 

 present diffieult to say. The principal shock appears to 

 have been simple in character and of unusual duration. 

 At Birmingham it was registered very clearly by a hori- 

 zontal pendulum designed by the distinguished Japanese 

 seismologist Prof. Omori. The last earthquake of any 

 consequence originating in this district was one that 

 occurred on November 9th, 1852, and disturbed an area 

 of about 70,000 square miles, including parts of all four 

 kingdoms. 



JSntist) C^rniti^olojSical Notes. 



Conducted by Harry F. Witherby, f.z.s., m.b.o.u. 



Black-winged J'raHncole CQlareola melanopieraj in Kent. — At 

 tlie June meeting of the British Ornithologists' Chib, Dr. N. F. 

 Ticehuret exhibited a male specimen of this Pratincole. The bird was 

 shot by Mr. F. Mills, in Romney Marsh, in May last. This species of 

 Pratincole lias not been recorded before from the British Islands. It 

 differs from the Collared Pratincole in having black instead of 

 chestnut under-iWng coverts and axillaries. 



Collared Pratincole fOlareola pratincola) in Kent. — At the same 

 meeting, Dr. Ticehurst exhibited a male specimen of this Pratincole, 

 whicli had been shot very near the same place as the above, on May 

 30tli, by Mr. Southerden. This bird breeds commonly in southern 

 Europe and North Africa, and occurs now and again in Great Britain, 

 but it has not been recorded before for Kent. 



Blue-headed Wagtail ('Motaeilta flaoaj hreeding in Sussex. — In 

 1901, Jlr. Ruskin Butterfield recorded that a pair of these birds had 

 nested in Sussex {see Kxowlkdge, 1901, p. 281). At the June 

 meeting of the British Ornithologists' Club, Dr. Ticehurst exhibited 

 a nest and eggs of this species, taken on May 21st last, within twenty 

 yards of the spot where the 1901 nest was taken. With these two 

 records, and the evidence of a regular migration of these birds on the 

 coasts of Kent and Sussex {see Knowledge, January, 1903, p. 12), 

 the Blue-headed Wagtail has become more than a chance visitor to 

 our shores. 



White Wagtail in the West of Ireland. — The White Wagtail has 

 been observed to visit Co. Mayo in the month of May for six years in 

 succession, and a further proof of the migration of this species up the 

 west coast of Ireland is afforded by Mr. R. M. Barrington, who now 

 records the presence of these birds on the coast of Donegal last May. 



J^arly Arrival of Swallows in Ireland. {Irish Naturalist, 1903, 

 July, p. 198.) — Mr. R. J. Ussher remarks that Swallows are seldom 

 observed in Ireland before April, but that this year they appeared 

 over a wide area in March. 



Woodchat Shrike in Yorkshire. {The Naturalist, 1903, July, 

 p. 262.) ^Mr. C G. Danford records that he saw a Wocxlchat Shrike 

 on May 9th at Speeton. The Woodchat rarely visits England. 



ITaicflnch in North Dumfriesshire. {Annals Scot. Nat. Bist., 

 1903, July, p. 181.) — An adult male Hawfinch was picked up dead 

 near Kinnelhead on April 6th last. The bird is rare in Scotland. 



Qreif-headed Wagtail (Motacilla viridis, Gmel^ in Yorkshire 

 and in Sussejc. — At the May meeting of the British Ornithologists' 

 Club, three adult male specimens of this Wagtail were exhibited. 

 One was caught in a lark net at IlaUfai, Yorkshire, in the spring of 

 1901, and was exhibited by Mr. W. E. de Winton on behalf of Mr. W. 

 Eagle Clarke. The two other specimens were shot near Willingdon, 



