Febkuary 1, 1895.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



41 



No animal in existence, not even careless man, has done 

 more to spread far and wide infectious disease among farm 

 stock than the dog. But a more serious charge has been 

 brought against the dog by \h\ Megnin in a lecture before 

 the Paris Academy of Science. When practising as a 

 veterinary surgeon, previous to taking his degree of medicine, 

 Dr. Megnin frequently had dog patients under his care, 

 suffering from iuiectiou of consumptive tuberculosis. He 

 holds that dogs are not only peculiarly sensitive to such 

 infection, but readily convey it to the human companion. 

 Dr. Megnin traces rabies (hydrophobia, &a.) to filthy 

 feeding. There are many facts in favour of that theory, 

 and against the "heat" now so industriously propagated 

 by panic-imposed muzzling orders, as, for instance, the 

 terrible plague of hydrophobia that raged in Greenland 

 and BafSnland a few years ago. 



One of the effects of the recent terrific gales was to drive 

 on to the north-east and east coasts of Scotland, and the 

 coasts of Northumberland, Yorkshire, and Lincolnshire an 

 extraordinary number of little auks {Mcn/idos alhis), 

 glaucous gulls (Lanis glmict(s), and a few barnacle geese 

 [Bernicla Ifiitopsis), all non-indigenous British birds. 



THE BASS ROCK AND ITS WINGED 

 INHABITANTS. 



By Harry F. Witherby. 



VISIBLE for miles around, and rising abruptly to a 

 height of four hundred and twenty feet above the 

 sea, the Bass Kock with its clear-cut outline and 

 imposing grandeur forms a most striking feature 

 at the mouth of the Firth of Forth. This noble 

 old rock is about a mile in circumference, and is situate 

 three and a quarter miles east-north-east of North Berwick, 

 and some two miles from the shore ; its sides which face 

 the open sea are precipitous, while that side which lies 

 towards the land rises in a long grassy slope. 



Undoubtedly, the x^rincipal interest in the Bass Eock at 

 the present day lies in the fact that it is one of the greatest 

 breeding stations for sea birds round the coasts of Great 

 Britain. In times gone by, however, it was celebrated 

 both as a fortress and a prison. 



The first authentic record of this rock having been 

 inhabited dates back to the beginning of the seventh 

 century, when St. Baldred, a hermit, took up his abode 

 there; and though during many years afterwards the Bass 

 was a fortified place, it is impossible to trace precisely when 

 this change came about. The earliest mention of its 

 being so used was in the year 1405, when Prince James 

 {afterwards .James I. of Scotland) took refuge there, and 

 a few years later it was used as a prison for the Duke of 

 Albany, who had acted as regent for the young prince. 

 The ancient farcily of the Landers are said to have been 

 the first owners of the Bass, and they held possession of it 

 for about five hundred years, until in 1620 it was appro- 

 priated by Charles I. Some few years afterwards, when 

 Scotland was threatened with invasion by Cromwell from 

 England, the public records of the Church of Scotland 

 were sent for security to the Bass Rock ; but Cromwell 

 captured the ISass, as he did all Scotland's other strong- 

 holds, and forwarded the valuable documents to the Tower 

 of London. In 1671 the island, being then in possession 

 of Andrew Ramsey, was purchased by the Government of 

 Charles II. for the purpose of a State prison, after which it 

 became noted as the prison in which the leading Covenanters 

 were confined. 



It is interesting to note that the Bass was the last spot 

 in the British Isles to hold out for James II., but it was 

 captured in 1691, and in 1701 was dismantled of its 

 fortifications by command of William III. Five years after- 

 wards it again became private property, passing into the 

 hands of Sir Hew Dalrymple, and since that time the 

 buildings have been allowed to decay, and the rock has 

 been rented mainly for the sake of the eggs and flesh of 

 the many sea birds which resort there throughout the 

 breeding season. Besides numerous rabbits which thrive 

 on the rich grass growing at the top of the rock, sheep used 

 to be kept there in limited numbers, but being unable to 

 obtain a good supply of water they did not flourish. Bass 



Pig. 1. — Eider Duck ou Xest. 



mutton, however, always commanded a good price, and vve 

 have heard that there was often more "Bass mutton " in 

 the market than was ever on the Bass. 



The most numerous inhabitant of the rock is the solan 

 goose or gannet ; and, hke other dwellers on the islet, 

 it boasts a place in history, for the oldest records of 

 the Bass mention this bird as breeding there in great 

 numbers. 



When the gannet first came to nest on the rocky ledges 

 of the Bass is not known ; but geologists have a theory 

 that this rock of volcanic origin was once in the form of a 

 sloping mound, and that, as the softer covering of debris was 

 worn away by wind and sea, the unyielding rock was left as 

 we now see it. Certainly the birds took up their abode on 

 the Bass after this denuding process was complete, for they 

 could not build their nests were it not for the broad ledges 

 which now rise up in tiers from the bottom to the top of 

 its precipitous sides. 



It was in the month of August that I paid my first visit 

 to the Bass, and grand as the sight then was, it was 

 infinitely more so when I visited it again in the month of 

 May at the height of the breeding season. After a pleasant 

 drive from North Berwick ou a beautiful summer day, our 

 party arrived at Canty Bay, which lies just opposite the 

 rock. Here we found a boat waiting, and even as we were 

 getting on board we could catch a glimpse, as the sun 

 lighted on them, of countless white objects whirling round 

 the rock just two miles to seaward. 



As we rowed out, every now and then a gannet would fly 

 over our heads, seemingly but a few yards above us, and 

 appearing to be quite a small bird, notwithstanding the 

 fact that it measures on the average five feet ten mches 

 across the wings. It is very often the case on a clear day, 

 and especially at sea, that a large bird appears to be very 

 close, when in reality it is a considerable distance away. 

 The nearer we approached the rock the more numerous 

 the bu-ds became. Guillemots, in their beautiful breeding 



