NATURE 263 
with a smaller one growing out from the bottom or root close to 
the sun’slimb. There was another tongue of flamea little to the 
right, which appeared to be detached from the larger flame and 
also from the sun’s limb. a 
On September 20, 1872, I saw a red flame which went up a 
little distance from the sun’s limb and then divided in three. 
Close to this, on the edge of the sun’s disc, was a group of nine 
small spots, and a large space was covered with facule. 
The flame—which was of a deep red colour—did not appear 
to be projected against the sky, but upon a very delicate purple 
background. , 
No coloured glass was used in either of these observations, but 
a sheet of letter paper was held between the eye and the tele- 
scope which was removed the instant the sun was brought into 
the centre of the field of view. R. Lancpon 
The Huemul 
In the number of Narure for July 24, p. 253, I see it is 
stated that ‘‘the Chilian Exploring Expedition has discovered 
a specimen of the Huemul, an animal that has been altogether 
lost sight of.” 
The late Earl of Derby received a female specimen of this 
animal from Port Famine, in the Straits of Magellan, described 
and figured by me in the Proc. Zool. Soc, 1849, p. 64, t. xii., 
as Cervus leucotis, which is now in the Derby Museum at Liver- 
ool. Mr. Bates has sent to the British Museum a male and 
female of the Huemul, which were obtained by Don Enrique 
Simpson in a valley of the Cordilleras, lat. 46S. These speci- 
mens have been described, the horns of the male figured, and 
the history of the animal given in detail by me, under the name 
of Huamela leucotis, in the Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1872, x. 
p- 445; 1873, xi. p. 214, and p. 308. 
The animal, like all the American deer, differs from the stags 
of the Old World in having no tarsal gland. 
British Museum, July 24 J. E. Gray 
Colour of the Emerald, &c. 
In the valuable and important paper given on this subject in 
NATURE (July 24), the writer has not made it quite clear what 
kind of emerald was experimented on. 
Taken in conjunction with the beryl, it may be assumed that 
reference is intended to the green beryl, a silicate of alumina and 
glucina, commonly called emerald, from its colour; but the 
name of emerald is also applied to green varieties of corundum, 
which is crystalline alumina. 
It would be interesting to understand fully the distinction of 
colour constituents. 
» July 25 Ay Hy 
Parasites of the House Fly 
Some of your readers may not be aware that the common 
house fly is at this time frequently found with from one to twenty 
parasites on its body. To such I recommend the observation 
of them as an interesting microscopical study. They are usually 
on the under part of the fly and can be seen with an ordinary 
lens of high power. A. R. 
Regent Street, July 23 
Bees and Aphides 
In his interesting communication respecting the relations sup- 
posed to exist between 7rigona and MJembracis, Dr. H. Miiller 
appears to have overlooked the Abbé Boisier’s observation 
(Kirby and Spence, ‘‘ Introduction to Entomology,” 7th edition, 
p. 384) that hive-bees will collect the honey-dew excreted by 
Aphides. I have also observed the same habit in humble-bees. 
Kilderry, Co. Donegal W. E. Harr 
Flycatcher’s Nest 
Some flycatchers have built their nest zwside a temporary shed 
erected for the masons at present employed upon the rebuilding 
of Llanfrechfa Church. The nest is now full of young ones, 
and the old birds fly in and out of the shed with perfect con- 
fidence, carrying food to them, and quite regardless of the 
carving and sawing going on close to them. 
July 16 ELIZABETH H. MITCHELL 
Relics of the Pyramids 
GLANCING over a number of your periodical I find depicted 
(vol. vii. p. 147) a grey granite ball, recently discovered in the 
Great Pyramid, and surmised to be an ancient Egyptian weight. 
It does not seem to have struck the author of the article that 
this ball could be anything else than a standard weight, but the 
description he gives leads me to assign to it quite a different use. 
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I believe it to be a naturally formed granite pebble, selected 
on account of its nearly spherical form, for a mason’s ‘* plumb- 
bob.” The small white spots of lime found on the ball were 
probably the result of its impact against the narrow cement 
joints whilst the masonry was in progress and the mortar not 
et set. 
: The bronze hook and cedar rod may have formed part of the 
same tool, which possibly resembled the accompanying sketch. 
Mangalore, June 20 E. H. PRINGLE 
FISH DISTINGUISHED BY THEIR ACTION 
S the trained eye of a constant resident in the country 
enables him to recognise the various species of 
birds that cross his path by their flight, irrespective of 
their form and colour, so the observer of fish as they wander 
at will in the tanks of a large aquarium soon learns to 
invest them with an additional marked individuality im- 
parted by their mode of action. In some instances these 
distinctive characters are instructive, as illustrating the 
varied mechanical principles on which locomotion is 
effected, while in others they are highly valuable as 
affording accessory means of discriminating the zoological 
affinities of the ditferent races and species. 
Commencing with the Plagiostomous order, we find in the 
two primary sub-groups, including respectively the Sharks 
and Rays, that progression is effected on very distinct 
principles. With the Sedachozdea, or shark tribe, the fish 
move by the even, powerful swaying from side to side of the 
largely developed and unsymmetrical caudal fin and whole 
posterior part of the body, the other fins remaining quies- 
cent and being merely subservientas balancers. Descend- 
ing to the species we find again that each form exhibits a 
peculiarity of action distinct from its congeners, and one 
which readily enables us to discriminate between them. 
Thus in the Smooth Hound, A/uste/us, the pectoral fins 
are so largely developed that their balancing powers are 
highly augmented ; comparatively slow motion of the 
caudal extremity suffices to propel the fish through the 
water, and the whole body being flexible, it pro- 
ae et © 
