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NATURE 
[Fd 8, 1883 
Kamtschatka. He gives a single instance, which, he says, 
**the natives speak of as a well-known fact, and that is, the 
stratagem they (the bears) have recourse to in order to catch the 
bareins, which are considerably too swift of foot for them. 
These animals keep together in large herds, and love to browse 
at the feet of rocks and precipices. The bear hunts them by 
scent till he comes in sight, when he advances warily, keeping 
above them, and concealing himself among the rocks as he 
makes his approaches, till he gets immediately over them, and 
nigh enough for his purpose. He then begins to push down 
with his paws pieces of rock among the herd below. This 
manceuvre is not followed by any attempt to pursue, until he 
has maimed one of the flock, upon which a course immediately 
ensues, that proves successful, or otherwise, according to the 
hurt the barein receives. I cannot conclude this digression 
without observing that the Kamtschadales very thankfully 
acknowledge their obligations to the bears for what little 
advancement they have hitherto made either in the sciences or 
polite arts. They confess that they owe to them all their skill 
in physic and surgery ; that by remarking with what herbs these 
annnals rub the wounds they have received, aad what they have 
recourse to when sick and languid, they have become acquainted 
with most of the simples in use among them, either in the way 
of internal medicine or external application.” 
After this we are not surprised when we are told that the 
Kamtschadales receive instruction from the bears even in the 
‘*polite arts,” and imitate in their dances the various attitudes 
and gestures of these animals. It seems that in the 7d/es of 
master and pupil the proverbial Savoyard and dancing bear 
would find matters reversed in Kamtschatka. 
Millbrook, Tuam, February 3 J. BIRMINGHAM 
Electric Railways 
Pror. AYRTON speaks as to the advantages obtainable from 
an electric system of railways, He says:—‘‘The mass of the 
locomotive adds at least 50 per cent. to the horse-power abso- 
lutely necessary to propel the carriages along” (NATURE, vol. 
xxvii. p. 255). In short, he speaks of the weight of the ordi- 
nary locomotive as superfluous, and considers that ‘‘a far larger 
number of passengers may travel at a greater speed and with less 
fear of danger than at present.” Now, speaking practically, it 
is difficult to conceive of a train of carriages running sixty miles 
per hour without any massive locomotive in front. It would be 
easy enough to get up the requisite speed, but the train would 
certainly leave the road, there being nothing tending to keep the 
carriages steady, unless they were very heavy. The grip on the 
rails is directly as the weight of rolling stock, and it is generally 
found that the light coaches leave the road more readily than the 
modern heavy carriages. Of course the cant of the rails must 
not be neglected. I wish that Prof. Ayrton would favour 
NATURE with a few remarks on these points. We 
The Channel Tunnel 
WILL you allow me to correct an unfortunate slip of the pen 
in my article on ‘‘ The Silver Streak and the Channel Tunnel ” 
in the current number of the Covtemporary Review ? The rate 
of the progress of the French Channel Tunnel from the little 
village of Sangatte towards the English shores was, in November 
last, 18 yards per day and not ‘‘ per week.” At the present time 
the Beaumont and English boring machine is cutting the 7-foot 
driftway at the rate of more than 20 metres per day, and has not 
arrived at the limit of its capacity. W. Boyp DAWKINS 
Owens College, Manchester 
The Great Comet of 1882 
THE comet not having been visible to my naked eye during 
the last lunation, I was astonished to find last night that (doubt- 
less owing to its increasing altitude, and the clear, dark sky) its 
tail is still so visible, quite distinctly, though very faint. 1 saw 
it best with a pair of field-glasses, aperture 2°05 inches, power 4; 
with which it reached to y® Canis Majoris, and was therefore 
53° long; unless part was really a wisp of the Milky Way: 
undoubtedly the greater part was the comet, Its axis (which 
was nearer the north than the south ede) was straight for 3°, 
and then appeared to curve southwards somewhat. Its south 
edge was straight, but its north edge, which was more definite, 
was convex. Its width was nearly 2°. I could not detect any 
of the definite features which were so remarkable formerly. 
The tail was nearly as long with the naked eye. Its head and 
two neighbouring stars were plainly visible to the naked eye as 
one star. One of these stars (Lalande 12,056) was decidedly 
brighter than the comet’s head, which would be about of the 
7th mag. 
With a 4}-inch refractor the head continues elongated. With 
a power of 20, its major axis (which was in the direction of the 
tail) was 16’ long, and its minor axis 11’. With a power of 38 
it was 13/ by 8}. TuHos. WM. BACKHOUSE 
Sunderland, January 31 
Meteor of November 17 
Ir is perhaps rather late to revert to the auroral cloud of 
November 17, but I am away from home, and have only now 
gained the requisite information. The path which I ventured to 
assign for it in your issue of November 30, from a digest of the 
printed reports, as compared with my own observations at 
Clevedon, proves to have been substantially correct. The cloud 
passed in the zenith at Brussels, as witnessed by M. Montigny, 
an eminent Belgian savant; and at Laon it was seen to the 
northward, as it were, gliding round the upper edge of the great 
main arch of the aurora. The actual elevation above the surface 
of the earth may therefore, without much risk of error, be con- 
sidered as between forty and forty-five miles. 
Montreux, February 3 STEPHEN H. SAxBy 
The Sea Serpent 
LIKE your correspondent, Mr. Sidebotham (in NATURE, vol. 
xxvii. p. 315), I have frequently seen a shoal of porpoises in 
Llandudno Bay, as well as in other places, and on the occasion 
referred to by Mr. Mott, in NATURE, vol. xxvii. p. 293, the 
idea of porpoises was at first starled but immediately aban- 
doned. Iwill venture to suggest that no one has seen a shoal 
of these creatures travel at the rate of from twenty-five to thirty 
miles an hour. I have seen whales in the ocean, and large 
flocks of sea-birds, such as those of the eider duck, skimming 
its surface ; but the strange appearance seen at Llandudno on 
September 3 was not to be accounted for by porpoises, whales, 
birds, or breakers, an opinion which was shared by all present. 
: WILLIAM BARFOOT 
Welford Place, Leicester, February 2 
In the summer of 1881 I was staying for some weeks at 
Veulettes, on the coast of Normandy. While there, on several 
occasions, several members of my party, as well as myself, saw, 
at a distance of three or four miles out at sea, what had the 
appearance of a huge serpent. Its length was many times that 
of the largest steamer that ever passed, and its velocity equally 
exceeded that of theswiftest. What seemed its head was lifted 
and lowered, and sometimes appeared to show signs of an open 
mouth. The general appearance of the monster was almost 
exactly similar to that of the figure in your correspondent’s letter 
published on the 25th ult. Not the slightest appearance of 
discontinuity in its structure could be perceived by the eye, 
although it seemed incredible that any muscular mechanism could 
really drive such an enormous mass through the water with such 
a prodigious velocity. I carefully watched all that any of us 
caught sight of, and one day, just as one of these serpent forms 
was nearly opposite our hotel, it instantaneously turned through 
a right angle, but instead of going forward in the new direction 
of its length, proceeded with the same velocity broadside for- 
ward. With the same movement it resolved itself into a flock 
of birds. 
We often saw the sea-serpent again without this resolution 
being effected, and, knowing what it was, could with difficulty 
still perceive that it was not a continuous body; thus having a 
new illustration of Herschel’s remark, that it is easier to see 
what has been once discovered than to discover what is un- 
known. Possibly this experience may afford the solution of 
your correspondent’s difficulty. W. STEADMAN ALDIS 
College of Physical Science, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Feb, 3 
Natural Enemies of Butterflies 
Ir would be very interesting to ascertain what testimony can 
be b:ought forward to show that the Rhopalocera are commonly 
the prey of insect-eating birds. ‘Ihe return of a gentleman who 
has been collecting butterflies and studying their transformations 
