Al'RlL I 2, 1S94] 



NA TURE 



555 



dt-posits <.f one and the same river. Neither are they Miocene, 

 if the evidence of fossils is to be trusted ; and we have no other 

 guides in this case tiut the liihology and palaeont' logy, since 

 the iciemifiable and most characteristic fossils are als > found in 

 the Middle Bagshots of Bournemouth, in a precisely similar 

 matrix, and in the same state of preservation. In determming 

 the age of the deposits, great stress was laid on the supp >sed 

 identiiy of the Stquoia Cotittsiit of Bovey with that of the Ham- 

 stead beds ; but by visiting Bovey not long smce, and obiainiiig 

 perfect specimens of ;he cines, I satisfied myself that the Bovey 

 plant is a true Stquoia, with ^cale-; growing at right angles from 

 the axis, and witli compressed winged seeds; while even more 

 perfect specimens from Hamstead, obtained soon alter, showed 

 the scales inserted at the base, and the seeds wingless, falling 

 thus more properly into A'hrotaxis. The foliage growth is 

 nlso entirely different, though the leaves are smdlar. The p .int 

 is of some importance, yet the mistake havmg been made by 

 such "heroes of geology" as Heer and Pengelly, is extremtly 

 hard to eradicate. J. Starkie Gardner. 



A Rejected Address. 



Conscious that the protestant is a weak-kneed iirochs, I ask 

 permission ti protest by implication against a com uon trivial 

 mistakf. How long will people go on wrilirg about " political 

 meteorol"gy " and the like, meaning, by this, haphazard predic- 

 tion .' The uieieorob gist is as near a cousin to the local 

 "weather-prophet " as Helmholtz to the artisan who is making 

 a. spectacle-case ; or, to use an illustration lent me by a lady, as 

 the astronomer is to the astrologer. Nubes. 



April 9. 



THE LIMBS OF LEPIDOSIREN PARADOXA. 



"pvR GUNTHER, in his valuable work, " The Study 

 -*-^ of Fishes," says of Natterer's Lepidosiren from 

 the Amazons, " It is one of the greatest desiderata of 



Lepidosiren. Whether tactile or respiratory, they form a 

 most remarkable feature, and it seens worth w-hile to 

 place a brief notice of them at once in the hands of 

 naturalists. 



Natterer's figure of Lepidosiren (which has often 

 been copied) is not good. It does not give a fair idea of 

 the proportions of the animal. 1 hope soon to publish 

 a careful drawing of life-size. Lepidosiren is distinctly 



^^»^^.^. 



^^^. 



ANT. 



POST 



Fig. 



longer in proportion to breadth than is Protopterus, and 

 there is a greater distance between the pectoral and pelvic 

 fins in Lepidosiren (in proportion to total length) than in 

 Protopterus. The median fin is not so deep in Lepido- 

 siren as in Protopterus. 



The woodcuts are as follows : — 



Fig. I represents the left pectoral fin and opercular 

 opening. 



Fig. 2 shows the left pelvic fin, drawn to the same 

 scale, in its natural po?ition of rest ; the long axis nearly 

 parallel with the long axis of the body. 



Fig. 3 shows the s.ime pelvic fin turned forward (a 

 position which the animal can give it in life), exposing the 

 dorso-mediad face of the fin with its numerous " villi." 



ANT 



Fig. -x. 



POST. 



natural history collections." In fact, only seven years 

 ago the opinion was current that Natterer had been 

 deceived by specimens of Protopterus imported from 

 -Africa, or that in some way African specimens had been 

 mixed with his American collections. 



1 was therefore greatly pleased to obtain recently for 

 the Oxford University Museum, by purchase from 

 a London dealer, specimens of the Lepidosiren of 

 the Amazon well preserved in spirit. I immediately 

 noticed a peculiarity about the pelvic fins, which it is 

 the object of the present note to make known. These 

 fins, whilst more robust than the pectorals, were remark- 

 able for exhibiting upon their dorso mediad surface a 

 clothing of well-developed "villi," the appearance of 

 which is best gathered from the accompanying sketches 

 (Figs. 2 and 3). 



As many as four " villi" were in some cases united at 

 the base, or mounted on a short trunk. 



No such " villi -■■ are known in the African Protopterus, 

 nor in Ceratodus. 



The specimen figured by Natterer showed no trace of 

 these " villi." This was a female, whilst the specimens 

 recently imported which exhibit the " villi " are males. 



I am at present engaged in an examination of the 

 minute structure of these " villi " of the pelvic limbs of 



NO. 1276, VOL, 49] 



The lifting of the fin has also exposed the anus, which 

 lies on the left side of the median line of the body. 



E. Ray Laxkester. 

 March 20. 



BEES AND DEAD CARCASES? 



■p^U RING the last two hundred years our knowledge 

 ^-^ of natural and physical science has advanced by 

 leaps and bounds, until, in most departments, it has 

 risen to a level far exceeding anything which has been 

 recorded during historic times. Hence, in dealing with 

 improbable or impossible statements which have come 

 down to us from classical or mediaeval times, we are 

 perhaps too apt to forget the old proverb that " there is 

 no smoke without fire," and to dismiss them at once as 

 vulgar superstitions, instead of seeking for the substratum 

 of truth which will often be found to underlie them. 

 Even so plain and simple a statement as that ants store 

 up food was long discredited ; for, as the ants of Northern 

 Europe do not possess this habit, it was supposed to 



I " On the so-called Biigonia of the Ancients, and lis Relation to Eristalis 

 tenax. aTwowinget Insect." By Haron C. R. Oiten Sacken. Reprinted 

 fromthi B dletino delta Societa Entomologica Italiana. Anno .xxv. 1893. 



