332 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Socvety. 
In Mr Spry’s notes on the voyage of the “Challenger,” 
he states, as the result of an experiment, that a penguin 
perished on being held under water for a space of one 
and a half minutes.1 To test this statement I repeated the 
experiment, and held a penguin below the surface for the 
space of six minutes. At the end of two minutes, among 
other violent struggles, convulsive pumping of the chest 
occurred, again at the end of four and a half minutes, 
and again immediately before I released the bird. Though 
considerably exhausted, it recovered satisfactorily, and was 
set at liberty half an hour afterwards. To account for this 
discrepancy in the two results, I may say that I carefully 
excluded water from the lungs by compressing the trachea, 
whereas in the experiment mentioned by Mr. Spry the bird 
was simply lowered below the surface in a lobster creel. 
On one occasion (January 5th), in the north of the Erebus 
and Terror Gulf, we had the opportunity of seeing the birds 
swimming in large schools of from 200 to 300, the move- 
ments of the schools being controlled by a single individual 
which followed in the rear, and which appeared to be of 
larger size, though we could not approach close enough to 
determine its character. When first seen, at a distance of 
about 200 yards, the school nearest the ship were leaping or 
diving noisily. Ona croak from the leader this noisy sport 
instantly ceased, and the whole school swam quietly along 
for a short time. In response to another and slightly 
altered croak, the leaping and diving recommenced. On 
a third croak, the whole school disappeared in a prolonged 
dive. On the evening of the same day, we saw on a piece 
of ice about forty black-throated penguins grouped round 
a pair of large penguins of a different species, possibly 
identical with those that had directed the schools. The 
sailors said it reminded them of a marriage ceremony. One 
of the larger penguins was preserved, and proves to be an 
Emperor in young plumage. Among the black-throated 
penguins was one individual a little smaller than the rest, 
with the back and tail of a brown colour, and the bill also 
brown, and apparently shorter and deeper than the others. 
1 The Cruise of H. M.S. ‘‘Challenger,” by W. J. I. Spry, R.N., p. 96. 
