Mar., 1905.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



65 



oblong, cushion-like boss, similarly striated, and stretching 

 across the jaw from one side of the tomium, or cutting edge of 

 the beak, to the other. 



These are evidently crushing pads, and recall the similarly 

 shaped teeth of certain elasmobranch fishes, and of Cyaiiiochis 

 among the Reptiles. So far I have not been able to find any 

 reference to, or description of, these pads. 

 * * » 



The Emperor Penguin. 



Dr. E. .A. Wilson, the .Assistant-Surgeon and Naturalist of 

 the " Discovery " expedition, gave a most interesting account 

 of the life-history of the Emperor Penguin at the Royal In- 

 stitution on Friday. January 27. 



Hitherto nothing was known of the breeding habits of the 

 Emperor Penguin (Aptiiwciytfs forstcri), and consequently all 

 will appreciate the immense amount of trouble and hardship 

 that had to be encountered in order to track this bird to its 

 fastnesses. 



It has been stated more than once that the penguins la}' 

 but one egg, and carry this in a pouch ! Dr. Wilson confirmed 

 the opinions of those who had expressed grave doubts as to 

 the probability of this story, and showed, by means of pictures 

 thrown upon a screen, exactly how the duties of incubation 

 were performed. In the case of the Emperor Penguin, the 

 egg, and, later, the chick, is supported on the upper surface of 

 the feet and overlapped by the feathers of the abdomen. 



The coloration of the young is remarkable, inasmuch as it 

 differs from all other penguins. The upper surface is almost 

 white, the under surface somewhat darker, while the head is 

 velvety black, relieved by a conspicuous white face. 



The position assumed during sleep by these birds goes far 

 to show. Dr. Wilson remarked, that the penguins once possessed 

 the power of flight, since they still thrust the beak down 

 between the now flipper-like wing and the body, though from the 

 peculiarly close-fitting plumage characteristic of these birds, 

 the comfort to be derived from such an attitude at the present 

 day must be a minus quantity ! 



Why is it, the lecturer asked, that these birds choose the 

 coldest part of the Antarctic winter for breeding ? 



Two " rookeries " were visited during the expedition; one 

 at Cape Crozier, and one at King Edward's Land. The latter 

 was by far the larger of the two. and, apparently, the more 

 favourable as a nursery ; for at Cape Crozier he estimated 

 that the mortality among the chicks reached the amazing rate 

 of 77 per cent. ! 



Save at sea, these birds appear to have no enemies, but the 

 hunt for food is attended with many perils, the leopard seal 

 and the killer whale displaying a great fondness for penguin 

 meat. 



Dr. Wilson is preparing a detailed account of his observa- 

 tions for the Royal Society, and on this account we forbear 

 from giving further details of his discourse. 



ZOOLOGICAL. 



By R. LVDEKKER. 



The Speed of AnimaLls. 



Much interest attaches to a note by iMr. Thomp.son Seton oa 

 the speed of certain animals which recently appeared in the 

 Field. The observations were taken by the author himself 

 with a stop-watch, and record the best speed for a mile of the 

 various species. Although the best record for a race-horse is 

 at the rate of nearly 35 miles an hour, Mr. Seton gives the 

 first place to the greyhound, with a rate of 34 miles an hour. 

 Then follow the racehorse with 32, the American prong-horn 

 antelope with 30, the .American "jack-rabbit" with 28, the 

 common fox with 26, the coyote or prairie-wolf with 24. the 

 foxhound with 22, and the American grey wolf wilh 20. A man's 

 best speed works out at the poor figure of 14 miles an hour, 

 while an ordinary runner who can do his mile in five minutes 

 moves only at the rate of 12 miles in the hour. In comment- 

 ing on this note, a second writer considers that the speed of the 

 horse is under-estimated. 



The Stoatts of Jura and Islay. 



To the .1 nnah of Scotthh Natural History for October Captain 

 I?arrett- Hamilton contributes some notes on the stoats of the 

 islands of Jura and Islay. From both islands the stoats, as 

 contrasted with those of the mainland, arc characterised by 

 their inferior size, relatively larger tail and ears, and certain 

 peculiarities in the skull. These features are most marked in 

 the Jura examples, those from Islay being somewhat larger. 

 The occurrence of a stunted race of stoats in these islands 

 with relatively large ears might, according to the author, be 

 readily .accounted for if food were scarce and good hearing an 

 important aid in the capture of scanty prey. The increased 

 length of tail is, however, less easy to explain. Although 

 Captain Hamilton believes these stoats to indicate a distinct 

 local race of the species, he has not yet proposed a special 

 name for them. •::- -:; ~.- 



The Musk-Ox in Engla.nd> 



Among the numerous species of large mannuals whose bones 

 are to be met with in a sub-fossilized condition in the gravels 

 and other superficial deposits of this country is the musk-ox 

 (Ovibns moschatus), an animal now confined to Greenland and 

 the barren grounds of Arctic America, but which had a wide 

 range in the northern part of the Old World during the 

 Pleistocene Age. The musk-ox was first added to the extinct 

 British fauna in 1875 by Messrs. J. Lubbock (now Lord Ave- 

 bury) and C. Kingsley, on the evidence of a portion of a skull 

 dug up in a gravel-pit near Maidenhead ; and only six or seven 

 other occurrences of remains of the same animalfrom British 

 formations have been subsequently recorded. Recently, how- 

 ever. Dr. C. W. Andrews exhibited before the Zoological 

 Society the hinder part of the skull of an old bull nmsk-ox, 

 showing the characteristic bases of the horn-cores, which had 

 been obtained from a gravel-bed at Frampton-'on-Severn, 

 'Gloucestershire ; and he also referred to a few bones of the 

 same species, comprising the second vertebra of the neck and 

 portions of the radius and femur, from the brick-earths of 

 Plumstead. The remains of the Pleistocene musk-ox indicate 

 a larger animal than its living representative, although, in the 

 opinion of Dr. Andrews, the difference is not sufficiently great 

 to render it advisable to regard the former as a race apart. 

 If this opinion should be reversed, the name Ovibos moschatus 

 pallcisi is available for the Pleistocene animal. 



A White Annerica.n Bear. 



Hitherto the polar bear {L'rsus iiiaritimus), which differs 

 very markedly from its kindred in the characters of its skull 

 and teeth, has been supposed to be the only pure white 

 member of the group. Mr. W. T. Hornaday, in the Report of 

 the New York Zoological Society, has, however, recently 

 described four skins, together with portions of the skull, from 

 British Columbia, which indicate a bear nearly related to the 

 common American black bear (Ursiis ainericanus), bat creamy- 

 white in colour. As this small white bear seems to be fairly 

 common in one part of British Columbia. Mr. Hornaday (who 

 cannot believe that it is a mere family of albinoes) regards it 

 as a new species, with the name of I'rsns kcrinodci. 



Papers R^ead. 



In our last month's issue the name of Mr. H. D. Imms is 

 misprinted Jenner, the writer not having had an opportunity 

 of revising the proofs. At the meeting of the Zoological 

 Society on January 17, in addition to the papers recorded 

 in the issue just referred to. Dr. C. W. Andrews, exhibited 

 and described the fossil musk-ox skull from Gloucestershire, 

 mentioned in an earlier paragraph; while Mr. H. E. Dresser 

 brought to the notice of the fellows three new species of birds 

 obtained during the Lhasa expedition. The papers read 

 at the meeting of I'eliruary 7, included one by Mr. N. 

 Annandale, on abnormal tadpoles from India ; a second by 

 Mr. G. A. Boulenger. on East African fishes : a third by Dr. 

 R. Broom, on some points in the anatomy of the extinct reptile 

 Diadiinodon ; and a fourth by Mr. G. L. Bates, on the mammals 

 of the Southern Cameroons and the Benito district. Mr. 

 Bethune-Baker also described a collection of Heterocerca 

 from Fiji, Mr. Beddard discussed the arteries in the brains of 

 birds, while Mr. Yearsley discoursed on the function of the 

 antenna of insects. .At the meeting of the Linnean Society 

 held on February 2, a paper by Dr. H. J. Hansen, was read on 

 European Cirolanina (Isopoda.) 



