

130 Scientific Intelligence 



" Scapula," " ilium," " rib," &c, were names indicative of parlicular 

 modifications of one and the same vertebral element. Such element, 

 understood and spoken of in a general sense, ought to have a general 

 name. Had Oken stated that the tympanic bone of the bird, for ex- 

 ample, was a u pleurapophysis" (or by any other equivalent term) of 

 the head, his language would not only have been accurate, but intel- 

 ligible, perhaps, to Cuvier. When Oken called it the " scapula of the 

 head," he then unduly extended such special name, and transferred it 

 to a particularly and differently modified pleurapophysis, which equally 

 required to have its own specific name. 



Professor Owen dwelt on the necessity of having clearly-defined 

 terms for distinct ideas, in order to ensure the progress of science; 

 and alluded to the advancement of human anatomy by accurate de- 

 terminations of the general type, of which man's frame was a mod- 

 ification. 



3. On the Minhocao of the Goyanes ; by M. Auguste de Saint 

 Hilaire, (Comptes Rendus, Dec. 28, 1846; Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 

 xix, 140.) — Luiz Antonio da Silva e Souza, whose acquaintance I 

 made during my travels, and to whom we owe the most valuable re- 

 searches on the history and statistics of Goyaz, says, in speaking oi 

 the lake of Padre Aranda, situated in this vast province, that it is inhab- 

 ited by minhocoes ; then he adds that these monsters — it is thus he &' 



presses himself — dwell in the deepest parts of the lake, and have often 

 drawn horses and horned cattle under the water. The industriou 

 Pizarro, who is so well acquainted with all that relates to Brazil, men- 

 tions nearly the same thing, and points out the lake Feia, which is like- 

 wise situated in Goyaz, as also being inhabited by minhocoes. 



I had already heard of these animals several times, and I considered 

 them as fabulous, when the disappearance of horses, mules and cattle, 

 in fording the rivers, was certified by so many persons, that it became 

 impossible for me altogether to doubt it. 



^ When I was at the Rio dos Piloes, I also heard much of the minho- 

 coes ; I was told that there were some in this river, and that at the pe- 

 riod when the waters had risen, they had often dragged in horses and 

 mules whilst swimming across the river. 



The word minhocdo is an augmentative of minhoca, which in Port u * 

 guese signifies earth-worm ; and indeed they state that the monster in 

 question absolutely resembles these worms, with this difference, that i 

 has a visible mouth ; they also add, that it is black, short, and of enor- 

 mous size ; that it does not rise to the surface of the water, but that l 

 causes animals to disappear by seizing them by the belly. 



When, about twenty days after, having left the village and the rive* 

 of Piloes, I was staying with the Governor of Meiapont, M. Joaqu l "j 

 Alvez de Oliveira, I asked him about these minhocoes : he confirms 

 what I had already been told, mentioned several recent accidents cause 

 by these animals, and assured me at the same time, from the report o 

 several fishermen, that the minhocao, notwithstanding its very roun 

 form, was a true fish provided with fins. 



I at first thought that the minhocao might be the Gymnotus carty** 

 which according to Pohl is found in the Rio Vermelho, which is n ea [ 



to the Rio dos Piloes ; but it appears from the Austrian writer that tn 





