Februaey 1, 1898.J 



KNOWLEDGE 



:]5 



caterpillars as a race. But just as " what is one man's | 

 meat is another man's poison," so it seems that there are 

 some birds that are prepared to eat even the caterpillar of 

 the mullein moth, notwithstanding its taste, for Mr. H. 

 D'Orville records that, according to his own observations, 

 some birds in a state of nature do eat this larva, picking 

 it ofl from its food-plant, the black mullein, on which it 

 feeds exposed and conspicuous. 



A very curious instance has been recorded by Weismann. 

 The caterpillar of the cinnabar moth {F.tuhclui jaroheiT) is 

 of a deep orange colour, banded with black, and is 

 apparently distasteful, as might be expected of an insect 

 feeding upon ragwort. At any rate, Weismann found that 

 it was invariably rejected by lizards. Now it so happens 

 that there is another caterpillar which, when young, is also 

 orange banded with black, but which, as befits a creature 

 feeding upon heather, does not appear to be impalatable. 

 This is the larva of the fox moth {Lmmampo nihi), which, 

 in its more advanced stages, when it is plain reddish- brown, 

 we have already mentioned as ha\nng on one occasion, not- 

 withstanding its hairiness, formed the staple food of a par- 

 ticular bee-eater. This caterpOlar, in its juvenile clothing 

 of orange and black, Weismann also offered to a lizard. 

 The reptOe at first seemed doubtful about it, applying its 

 tongue to it, biit not venturing to do more. After retiring 

 for a short time, however, it returned to the attack and 

 swallowed the caterpillar. This was a piece of education 

 to its reptilian mind, apparently teaching it that tl'.ere 

 might be caterpillars banded with black and yellow which 

 were palatable, as well as distasteful ones. After this 

 experience, therefore, it sometimes went sa far as to taste 

 the cinnabar caterpillars, as if to assure itself that they 

 were really disagreeable, and that it was not losing the 

 enjoyment of a tit-bit through prejudice. In such cases, 

 however, it invariably rejected the morsel after tasting, 

 thus plainly showing that while the coloration served as a 

 warning, there was underlying that a real inedibility 

 which justified the avoidance of the caterpillar. 



We have already seen that hairy caterpillars are very 

 commonly though not universally rejected by insectivorous 

 vertebrates. Mr. Jenner Weir, experimenting with the 

 same birds as before upon the caterpillars of the tiger moth 

 (Arctid caja), the small egger [Eriiyaster latwstris}, the 

 gold tail {I'ortJusia aun'riuu), and the vapourer ((Jr(iyia 

 antiqua), found that they were all rejected, and were not 

 even casually examined, the merest glance seeming to be 

 sufficient to settle the matter. That the objection 

 depended not simply uj^on the hairs, unless they them- 

 selves, as in the case of the gold tail, produced irritation, 

 seems e^•ident from the facts that some hairy larva- are 

 eaten by birds, and that young and comparatively hairless 

 larvse of species which become densely hairy when older 

 were tasted by certain birds, but were found disagreeable, 

 and so finally left alone. Hence, there seems to be some 

 justification for the idea that these larv* are actually dis- 

 agreeable to the tdste, and that the hairs serve as a warning 

 just as do the bright colours mentioned above. It must 

 be confessed, however, that much more evidence is 

 desirable before the exact relations between edibility, 

 brilliant coloration, and hairiness in larva?, and the 

 influence of these upon insectivorous vertebrates, can be 

 stated with the comprehensiveness of a general law. If 

 any of our readers have opportunities of making such 

 observations, they would materially contribute towards 

 the sohition of the problem by preserving minute and 

 accurate records of the facts observed, and of all circum- 

 stances that appear to have any bearing, however remote, 

 upon them. 



(To hi' continued. \ 



THE ASTRONOMY OF SHAKSPEARE. 



By Lieut.-Col. E. E. Markwrk, F.R.A.S. 



IN the enormous amount of literature which has come 

 forth in connection with Shakspeare, most probably 

 every special science or profession touched on in his 

 writings has been taken up by someone or otlier, 

 and all the passages bearing on the subject brought 

 together ?nd collated, thus gi^^ng an idea how far the 

 great master was acquainted with it. 



Without pretending to any special knowledge of what 

 has been written to elucidate the plays of Shakspeare, I 

 thought it would be interesting to note all passages in the 

 dramas touching on astronomy or the heavenly bodies. 

 Before entering upon a discussion of these, it wiU be well 

 to note the state of popular astronomy in Shakspeare's 

 time. 



Taking 1608 as about the date when he was in the full 

 enjoyment of his splendid powers as a dramatist, it will 

 be remembered that Copernicus had then been dead some 

 sixty-five years, but his ideas had gained but few adherents. 

 Tycho Brahe died at the beginning of the seventeenth 

 century, and possibly Shakspeare may have heard of him in 

 connection with that wonderful star which appeared in 1572, 

 and which is sometimes called Tycho's star. GaHleo, born 

 in 1504, was in 1610 making discoveries of planetary 

 wonders with the newly-invented telescope. Kepler, bora 

 in 1571, was at the period of our poet's zenith commencing 

 his researches into the motions of the planets, which 

 ultimately resulted in the announcement of his celebrated 

 three laws. We know that Kepler particularly directed 

 his attention to the planet Mars, which as it were became 

 the criterion for the other planets. Now in ILiinj VI., 

 Part I., Act I., Scene II., we find Charles observing — 



•■ JIars his true moving, even as in the heavens, 

 So in the earth, to this day is not knovi-n." 



Is it possible that Shakspeare, through his mouthpiece, 

 may here be alluding to Kepler's studies in connection 

 with the planet ? or has the passage only reference to the 

 then generally incomplete knowledge of the cause of the 

 movements of the planets ? 



Public or national observatories had not yet been 

 established, unless, perhaps, we except the magnificent 

 building called Uraniburg, in which Tycho was installed 

 on the island of Huenna, in the Baltic. It was here that 

 James the First of England paid a visit of eight days to 

 Tvcho, " when he went to Denmark to complete his 

 marriage with a Danish princess." Monarchs of the 

 present day would be few and far between who would be 

 sufficiently smitten v.ith the charms of Urania to sojourn 

 for a week with a professional astronomer ; neither would 

 the means of the latter be sumptuous enough to enable 

 him to entertain royalty. 



The general knowledge of astronomy in those days was 

 probablv confined to an acquaintance with a few of the 

 constellations, and being able to detect the planet or 

 planets of the season. What was known was simply the 

 result of naked ej'e observation. It was not yet the day 

 of the modern " amateur astronomer." In fact, at the 

 time of which we are speaking, astronomy proper was 

 merely a handmaid to astrology. The former simply gave 

 the necessary data for ascertaining the positions of the 

 heavenly bodies at any time, to enable a nativity or 

 horoscope to be cast. Astrology, at least in the popular 

 eye, was the profession, and no doubt a lucrative one to 

 anyone who had made a name at this sort of work. Every 

 person of any importance, rank, or position had his or her 

 horoscope cast, and the belief in the influence of the planets 



