278 



KNOWLEDGE. 



by Dandrieu, and " Le Rappel des Oiseaux," by Ramsau, 

 to mention only a few examples, while many instances 

 might be cited where bird-calls have been introduced in 

 orchestral works. Nevertheless, in these cases, we have a 

 direct artificial imitation of various bird-calls. It is, 

 however, otherwise with a " nuance " lilse the " crescends, ' 

 which, belonging as it does to musical dynamics, would 

 scarcely require to be imitated. Rather may we surmise 

 that this grace in singing would spring spontaneously 

 from those physiological causes, viz., nervous energy and 

 muscular tension, which lie at the root of all musical 

 utterance, for, as pointed out by Herbert Spencer,* " loud- 

 ness of tone, pitch of tone, quality of tone, and change of 

 tone, are severally marks of feeling, and, combined in 

 different ways and proportions, serve to express different 

 amounts and kinds of feelings." W. Alkrei> Park. 



;21, Viadella Scala, Florence. 

 October 22nd, 1898. 



WEASEL AND YOLXO. 

 To the Editors of Knowledge. 



giRs,— The following is somewhat on a par with Mr. 

 Witchell's interesting account of a weasel and her yonng 

 in the November number of Knowledge. I was out with 

 the head-keeper of a well-known shooting in Suffolk, when 

 we came to a stream. He pointed to a jutting-out piece 

 of bank, and said he once saw a rat (probably M. amiihihius) 

 dive from this spot into the water with a young one in its 

 mouth, swim along with it under water, drag it up on to 

 the bank, run round with it to the old spot and dive in 

 again. This was repeated five or six times on exactly the 

 same beat. The keeper, who is a most observant and 

 accurate field-naturalist, thinks the old rat was teaching 

 the young one to dive and swim. 



Perhaps the young weasels mentioned by Mr. Witchell 

 were beintt taught how to run. -Tos. F. Green. 



West Lodge, Blackheath. 



am not a. 

 roughly, 

 sixteen ti 



•'A8TR'^'^■0M^ • 

 To thf 

 Sirs, — Kind' 

 of comment 

 E. \V. Mauni 

 Tales' " in y( 

 frequently Chi 

 and points out 



To the Editors of Knowledge. 

 Sirs, — Referring to the letter in your last issue on a 

 weasel leading her young, I happened recently to be in a 

 hayfield where mowing had been going on. Noticing a 

 bent tuft of grass I turned it up, and saw beneath it seven 

 little stoats laid side by side — heads and tails together. 

 Then looking about me I noticed, some half-dozen yards off, 

 a small round hole which seemed to get larger the deeper it 

 went into the ground. I therefore placed myself at a 

 suitable distance to watch, and very shortly, all being 

 quiet, the mother's head cautiously appeared outside the 

 hole. She then came out and at once began to take hold 

 of each little one in turn very carefully, as a dog will take 

 a puppy, and so lead it towards and down the hole. 



WiLLi.\.M C. Tetley. 



MOOiVS HALO. 

 To the Editors of Knowledok. 

 Sirs, — On the 26th October I was in Oxfordshire, near 

 Wallington, and saw a wonderful double halo round the 

 full moon. The halo immediately surrounding the moon 

 was orange coloured, with a pinkish rim ; and surrounding 

 this inner halo was another of about the same size, of a 

 vivid green, with a somewhat deeper reddish-pink rim. 

 There was a " mackerel sky," but I was surprised that no 

 storm followed the phenomena. I first noticed the halo 

 at 11 p.m., and by 11.15 it had quite disappeared; but I 



* " Principles of Etliics," Vol. I., p. 2t,S. 



rimKH 1 1 »■ - 



•■ ui be &boQt 



.'1. Cl1i1i«IJ4 Lkii.h. 



among the oneducatc 

 scorn and contempt most 

 professors of that art. 



Torquay. 



[I fear that in Mr. Lowe? d ir. 

 with the astrolabe he h- 

 paper. My point was f, 



day, actual r* 



heavenly boi 



question of th. 



the case, and doeu not ii. 



Treatise on the Astrols 



known, but I wu 



unequalled gallery 



of his time, wbicii 



-.11 lie ireatea wiui 

 : pretenaioQB of the 



H. J. Lf.w«. 



to show hi? ftcarialnl&nee 



