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y had been wet, so that the falls had a greater volume of water 
than usual. At that time the sun, as seen from the platform for 
»wing the falls, was ascending just above the ledge of the rock 
er which the water was precipitated, and on looking away from 
it an entire rainbow was visible, excepting that part which was 
caused by the shadow of the lower part of my body ; in conse- 
quence of the spray being all round me, the proximity of the bow 
added brilliancy to the colours, which surpassed anything of the 
kind that could be seen inarainbow. 1 took no measurements. 
Can any of your correspondents give examples of bows being 
en on a cloudless background? Some years ago I saw a rain- 
pow in what seemed a cloudless sky, but the surprising fact that 
rain was lightly falling from this apparently cloudless sky shows 
"that if there were not clouds there were drops of water-fall over 
area, and which formed a background. I am aware of 
G. H. H. 
Mr. Rocematnn’s authority for such a phenomenon, 
_ Birkenhead 
: Elephas Americanus in Canada 
- CapTain Howpen, of Millbrook, Ontario, has lately dis- 
covered remains of this species in a field adjoining his residence. 
They were found in the humus quite near the surface, and with 
- the exception of the molars have been very much broken by the 
Plough. The locality is a deep basin, depressed 100 or 150 feet 
elow the surrounding hills, which may have been the basin of a 
small lake or pond. The elevation is about 490 feet above Lake 
Ontario, and 125 feet above Rice Lake, on the northern slope of 
the drift-ridge which borders Lake Ontario on the north. The 
discovery is interesting as extending the range of this animal in 
- Canada, eastward, along this drift-ridge. 
The remains hereto- 
fore discovered have been confined to the western peninsula, 
above the Silurian escarpment, or to positions so nearly adjacent 
that they may have been washed down from this upper region. 
The present discovery is at an elevation which precludes this, and 
seems to indicate the presence of the living animal in this region. 
Between the ridge and the present lake shore there are at least 
two ancient lake beaches, one about 100 feet above the present 
_ water level, the other a little over 200 feet. Neither of these 
would bring the waters of the lake up to the level of the escarp- 
_ ment ; so that at the time of these higher lake levels, the elephant 
_ may have ranged over the western peninsula of Canada, and also 
eastward over the drift-hills which extend nearly to the lower 
end of Lake Ontario. 
Victoria College, Cobourg, Oct. 4 N. BurwasH 
F Reason or Instinct ? 
CONSIDERATIONS on the nature of Instinct will ever engage 
the attention of the student of Nature, and certainly interest in 
the subject is not likely to flag at a time when psychological 
manifestations and relations are being more and more sought 
amongst the lower animals. Your correspondent of the roth of 
October last touches on their power of enumeration, which, even 
in the case of the sagacious dog, appears to be very limited. 
Nevertheless, I have been assured by a reliable friend, now de- 
ceased, that his wiry terrier would, at his order, run round the 
table once, twice, or thrice, for a suitable reward. 
The idea of alternation, and an example of memory, came 
under my own observation some time ago at the Grotto del Cani, 
near Naples, where I witnessed the somewhat unnecessary expe- 
riment of the deleterious effects of carbonic acid on the unfortu- 
nate dogs kept for that purpose. On walking to the cave, I 
remarked that one of the dogs gambolled round the guide, whilst 
the other followed at his heels with slouched tail and hanging 
ear. The guide assured me that each dog knew when it was his 
turn to be dropped into the heavy stratum of gas on the floor of 
the cave, from whence, after partial suffocation, he is thrown into 
~ the cool lake close by for resuscitation. 
With reference to the gwasi-reasoning in adaptation of means 
to an end, under exceptional circumstances, I adduce the fol- 
lowing :— 
Many caterpillars of Pieris rape have, during this autumn, fed 
below my windows. On searching for suitable positions for pass- 
ing into chrysalides, some eight or ten individuals, in their direct 
_ march upwards, encountered the plate-glass panes of my windows ; 
~ on these they appeared to be unable to stand. Accordingly, in 
every case they made silken ladders, some of them five feet long, 
each ladder being formed of a single continuous thread, woven in 
3 elegant loops from side to side. The method here adopted is 
similar in kind to that employed by the glacier climber, who cuts 
S. M. Drach writes at p. 204. 
tion derived from the 19-year cycle is called the Molad or 
Moon-birth,” and I wish to ascertain how this so-called “‘mean 
conjunction ” is arrived at. 
foot-holes with his hatchet to enable him to mount the icy preci- 
pices which impede him. 
In the case of the above caterpillars, however, reasoning seems 
to be but narrow, for one ladder was constructed parallel to the 
window-frame for nearly three feet, on which secure footing could 
be had by simply diverting the track twoinches. Some of these 
insects have now passed into pupz, and are curiously supported or 
slung by their well-known silken band across the thorax, under 
the drip-stone of the window. Such facts, though simple, should 
warn us against dogmatically fixing the points in the animal king- 
dom at which instinct ends and reason begins. 
overlap? 
Do they not 
G. B, BuckTon 
Weycombe, Haslemere 
Lunar Calendars 
In a communication addressed to NATURE for 1871, Mr. 
“The true mean conjunc- 
T have before me the twonew Almanacks published by Vallen- 
tine and by Abrahams, by which I find the ‘‘ moon-birth 4; 
generally put down at about six hours after the time quoted in 
the “Nautical Almanack” for 1873. From facts that have 
reached me, I conclude that the data for these publications are 
derived from a skeleton almanack printed by German Jews at 
Altona, containing the necessary particulars for fifty and eighty 
years in advance; and no doubt correctly calculated for that 
locality. 
by Jews in all countries, or whether they are at liberty to calcu- 
late the time of new moon for their own meridian ? 
I ask whether the data there given are to be accepted 
I may take this opportunity to point out the following dis- 
crepancy :— 
True New Moon, Thursday, Nov. 20, 1873, 3.36 A.M. 
Moeled Kisley, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 1873, 1.14. 1 A.M., 
according to Vallentine, but marked P.M. in Abrahams. Both 
the latter must be in error, because in advance of true time. 
Myors 
Early Eclipses 
IN looking through some back numbers of NaTuRE, I came 
onapaper by Mr. Hind, in which he examines whether any 
great eclipse took place at the time of the Crucifixion of Christ. 
He says that ‘‘although a great total eclipse was visible at Jeru- 
salem in A.D. 29, yet, in the year 33 no eclipse of importance 
took place.” * Mr. Hind seems to have forgotten that in the 
opinion of most divines, Christ was born four years before the 
vulgar era, so that in the year 29 He would have been 33 years 
old. Remembering this point, it seems highly probable that the 
account of how “the sun was turned into darkness, and the moon 
into blood” may be a correct account, not only of the occurrence 
of an eclipse, but of an early observation of the now famous red 
prominences. G, 
Cambridge 
Water-beetles 
I HAVE to thank Mr. Buchanan White (NATURE, Sept. 12) 
for the statement that ‘‘ many water-beetles are not only winged 
but use their wings.”? My error as to fact, however, has no 
effect on the argument of my letter (NATURE, Sept. 5), which 
was, that although it is probable the first insects emerged from 
the water with their wings formed, yet the existing aquatic in- 
sects throw no light on the origin of the class, 
JosEerH JoHN MurrHy 
Old Forge, Dunmurry, County Antrim 
= = 
PHOSPHORESCENCE IN FISH 
iG two recent numbers of NATURE, Nos. 153 and 154, 
and more particularly the former one, attention is 
drawn to the question of phosphoric phenomena connec- 
ted with living fish ; but while it has been proved beyond 
dispute that certain fish, Cyclopterus lumpus, for instance, 
do possess highly luminous properties, the two cases in 
point may, I think, be referred rather to the combined 
effects of the microscopic Voctiluce. 
he z quote from memory, and therefore perhaps not quite in Mr. Hind’s 
words, 
