the blast was somewhat diminished. 
A Strange Phenomenon 
On February 18 this part of Scotland was visited by a furious 
gale of wind, rain, sleet, and hail. The gale subsided consider- 
ably about five o’clock in the afternoon. At eight o’clock the 
sky was fairly clear, when a black cloud sprang up in the north, 
and the night became suddenly intensely dark. With the dark- 
ness came a tremendous shower of hail. All at once I was 
startled by a vivid flash of lightning close at hand, but without 
thunder. At the same instant I found myself enveloped in a 
sheet of pale flickering white light. It seemed to proceed from 
every part of my clothes, especially on the side least exposed to 
the hail, and more particularly and brightly from my arm, 
shoulder, and head. ‘Though I turned about pretty smartly, aud 
shifted my position, I found it impossible to shake off the 
flickering flames. When I walked on they continued with me 
for two or three minutes, disappearing only when the violence of 
I felt no unusual sensation 
beyond the stinging of the hail, and no sound except that of the 
storm, Then and since I have puzzled myself to account for the 
strange phenomenon, and can only imagine it to have been a 
peculiar manifestation of St. Elmo’s Fire, so well known to 
sailors during thunderstorms within the Tropics. Some of your 
readers may, perhaps, be able to give instances of a similar 
occurrence, unique both in my experience and reading: 
JAMEs Morr 
Schoolhouse, Savoch, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, N.B., Feb. 12 
Intelligence in Birds 
As it appears to me that in the correspondence to NATURE on 
this subject no instance has been given of reasoning power in 
birds, more notable than that afforded by Miss Bird ia ‘‘ Un- | 
beaten Tracks in Japan,” I venture to submit the following 
quotation. 
February 15 
**T have not said anything about the crows, which are a 
feature of Yezo, and one which the colonists would willingly 
dispense with. ‘There are millions of them, and in many places 
they break the silence of the silent land with a Babel of noisy 
discords. ‘They are everywhere, and have attained a degree of 
most unpardonable impertioence, mingled with a cunning and 
sagacity which almost put them on a level with man in some 
circumstances, Five of them were so impudent as to alight on 
two of my horses, and so be ferried across the Yurapugawa. 
In the inn-garden at Mori I saw a dog eating a piece of earrion 
in the presence of several of these covetous birds. They evi- 
dently said a good deal to each other on the subject, and now 
and then one or two of them tried to pull the meat away from 
him, which he resented. At last a biz strong crow succeeded in 
tearinz off a piece, with which he returned to the pine where 
the others were congregated, and after much earnest speech they 
all surrounded the dog, and the leading bird dexterously dropped 
the small piece of meat within reach of his mouth, when he 
immediately snapped at it, letting go the big piece unwisely for 
a second, on which two of the crows flew away with it to the 
pine, and with much fluttering and hilarity they all ate, or rather 
gorged it, the deceived dog loo .ing vacant and bewildered for a 
moment, after which he sat under the tree and barked at them 
inanely, A gentleman told me that he sawadog holding a piece 
of meat in like manner in the presence of three crows, which 
also vainly tried to tear it from him, and after a consultation 
they separated, two going as near as they dared to toe meat, 
while the third gave the tail a bite sharp enough to make the 
dog turn round with a squeal, on which the other villains seized 
the meat, and the three fed triumphantly upon it on the top of a 
wall. In many places they are so aggressive as to destroy crops, 
unless they are protected by netting. They assemble on the 
sore backs of horses and pick them iato holes, and are mischie- 
yous in many ways. ‘They are very late in going to roost, and 
are early astir in the morning, and are so bold that they often 
came ‘with many a stately flirt and flutter’ into the verandah 
where I was sitting. I never watched an assemblage of them 
for any length of time without being convinced that there was a 
Nestor among them to lead their movements. Along the sea- 
shore they are very amusing, for they ‘take the air’ in the 
evening, seated on sandbanks facing the wind, with their mouths 
open. They are threatening to devuur the settlers, and a crusade 
is just now being waged ayainst them, but their name is Legion.” 
(‘‘ Unbeaten Tracks in Japan,” vol. ii. p. 149.) 
ae [March 2, 18 
A System of Meteorological Observations in the 
China Seas 
“In Nature (vol. xxv. p. 368) you give information about a 
system of observations and storm-warnings about to be started in 
the China seas. The scheme itself is excellent, and the choice 
of Zi-ka-wei (not Siccawei) is also good, only I may express a 
doubt as to the succe:s of the storm-warnings till a greater 
area is included. As to the winter-storms, some stations in the 
north-west of China are necessary, and even Kiakhta and Irkutsk 
would be more useful than Vladivostok, for example, as depres- 
sions coming from the west will be earlier felt there than in 
China. As to the ¢yphoons, as they certainly originate east from 
China, and first travel to the west, telegraphic warnings from 
Formosa and the Liu-kiu islands would be necessary, otherwise 
they are apt to reach the coast of China too suddenly. With a 
chain of stations on these islands between China and Japan it 
would be possible to observe typhoons at or very near to their 
origin, to follow them step by step, and save an immense 
quantity of life and property. A telegraph line uniting these 
islands to China and Japan is certainly a large undertaking, but 
as the Japanese will derive great benefit from it, they will 
probably take part of the expenses. A. WOEIKOF 
St. Petersburg, February 23 
New Red Star 
The following is a rather noteworthy case of fine red colour 
in a very small star. It was observed February 7 and 8 as 
follows :— 
R.A, 4h. 59m. 41s. ; Dec, — 22° 3’ (880) mag. 9'5. 
It is 29’ north and 41s. west of e Leporis. 
Epwarp S. HOLDEN 
Washburn Observatory, University of Wisconsin, 
Madison, Wisconsin, February 8 
Purification of Sewage 
In the purification of sewage by the methods of irrigation and 
filtration it is said that filtration through a depth of ten inches 
of soil suffices to get rid of the phosphates, may I ask if it is 
known through what depth of soil it is necessary to filter to 
eliminate the nitrates ? : 
February 14 
THE INTERNATIONAL FISHERIES EXHI- 
BITION 
At 
last the great International Fisheries Exhibition, 
to be held in London, and to which we have occa- 
sionally referred during the past few months, has taken 
definite shape. The influential meeting which was held 
on Monday under the presidency of the Prince of Wales, 
gives promise that the Exhibition will be one of the 
most interesting and practically important which have 
been held in the country. The Berlin exhibition last year 
was a brilliant success, and the Norwich Exhibition of last 
spring did much good. Her Majesty the Queen has 
bestowed her name as patron on the proposed Exhibition ; 
the Prince of Wales is president, and on the long list of 
Vice-presidents are many nobles, politicians of both 
parties, well-known representatives of science, and men 
eminent in various departments. Of the General Com- 
mittee, the Duke of Richmond is Chairman, and on it 
are such names as those of Prof. Huxley, Mr. Spencer 
Walpole, Mr. Francis Francis; while among the Vice- 
presidents are the names of Mr. W. Spottiswoode, P.R.S., 
Dr. Giinther, Sir John Lubbock, Mr. Mundella. Thus it 
will be seen that science is amply represented, and 
especially the science of the subject; and it is fortunate 
that we have at present as one of H.M. Inspectors 
of Fisheries so eminent a representative of science as 
Prof. Huxley. 
The project of holding an International Fisheries Ex- 
hibition in London is, in a great measure, the result of the 
success of the National Fisheries Exhibition held in 
April, 1881, at Norwich, under the patronage of H.R.H. 
ne 
——. 
