vol.. LXI.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 26/ 



We may frequently observe, in discharging a Leyden vial, that if the two 

 knobs are approached together very slowly, a hissing noise will be perceived be- 

 fore the spark ; which shows, that the fluid begins to flow from one knob to the 

 other, before it passes in the form of a spark; and therefore serves to confirm 

 the truth of the opinion, that the spark is brought about in the gradual manner 

 here described. 



END OF THE SIXTY-FIRST VOLUME OF THE ORIGINAL. 



«l 



J. Technical Description of an Uncommon Bird Jrom Malacca. By James 

 Badenach, M.D. Fol. LXI I, Jnno 1772. p. 1. 



This uncommon species of bird,* Dr. B. met with at Malacca in August 

 1770. The male, female, and two young ones, were purchased at that place 

 from the natives, but died soon afterwards on board, in the passage from that 

 port to China. The character and history of this bird, as they then occurred to 

 him, are as follow. 



Male. (PI. 7> fig. 0> s'z^ of ^ common partridge, body greenish above, 

 blackish beneath; larger wing-feathers grey, tail short and rounded, with black 

 tip; front bare, with a red crest rising from the hind head, and consisting of 

 about 15 downy feathers of about 1^ inch in length, suberect and divaricated; 

 bill convex, short; upper mandible black, arching over the lower, with a red 

 wax-like margin ; nostrils oblong; orbits red, eyes purple; at the base of the bill 

 are some whitish vibrifae or whiskers; thighs half naked, legs long, slender, and 

 red; feet 4 toed, divided, flesh-coloured, and somewhat knotty; hind toe thicker 

 and shorter than the rest, and truncated. Female rather less than the male, 

 without crest, and with the larger wing-feathers and wing-coverts red-ferrugi- 

 nous. Young downy, black, delighting in water. Voice of both male and 

 female a strong and frequent sibilus. Nest among grass and reeds. Food rice, 

 or bread sopped in water. in 



II. Investigation of the Specific Characters luhich Distinguish the Rabbit from, 

 the Hare. By the Hon. Daines Barrington, V. P. R. S. p. 4. 



Ray makes the distinction between the hare and the rabbit to consist in the 

 smaller size of the latter, its property of burrowing, and the greater whiteness of 

 the flesh when dressed: he chiefly relies however on the one being larger 

 than the other; as this is the most material circumstance in which they are 



* This bird is the Columba crisfala or Lesser Croiened Pigeon of Latham. It seems however to be- 

 long to the Partridge tribe, and is described in the Naturalist's Miscellany under the name of Tetrao 

 Porphi/rio or Violaceous Partridge. 



M M 2 



