NATURE 



[Sept. 2i, 1882 



phius, Amsterdam, 1705, p. 61) states that the animal crawls 

 sometimes into the hoop nets set for fish or "bobbers." For a 

 long time I have been unable to discover the meaning of the 

 word "bobbers." It occurs in no Dutch dictionary. I in- 

 quired from several Dutch friends without success, and an appeal 

 to Nola and Queries was similarly without result. On visiting 

 Leiden this summer I asked again about the woH, and my friend, 

 Prof. Serrurier, promised to find out about it for me. He now 

 writes that "bobber" is a Dutch mutilation of the Malay word 

 boeboe, meaning a hoop- net, so that Rumphius merely adds the 

 Malay term for the hoop-net to his statement, and does not 

 mention some other kind of trap besides this, in which nautilus 

 is to be caught as I had expected. This matter may ;eem 

 scarcely worth troubling the readers of Nature with, but 

 Nautilus is so important a form, so little is known about its 

 habits, and naturalists so eagerly look forward to the day when 

 it shall be caught somewhere in numbers, and its developmental 

 history worked out, that every statement as to possible modes of 

 trapping it is of importance. It is just possible that suitably 

 baited lobster pots or hoop-nets, Used in depths of loo fathoms 

 or thereabouts, might be found efficacious. 



H. N. Moseley 



PROFESSOR HAECKEL IN CEYLON " 

 V. 



"THE long account of his six week's stay in Belligam 

 ■*• (or Bella Gemma, " schoner Edelstein " as, in de- 

 fiance of etymology he delights to call it) contributed by 

 Professor Haeckel to the September number of the 

 Deutsche Rundschau will be disappointing only to those 

 who imagine that the theoretical and scientific results of 

 such a visit can be analysed, combined and presented to 

 the public within the compass of an article and in a 

 sufficiently popular form to interest the readers of a 

 magazine devoted to general literature. 



All, whether scientific or not, will find interest in the 

 graphic and spirited account of Belligam, its Rest-House, 

 its inhabitants, and the surrounding nature, animate and 

 inanimate, which is here presented to us. The Rest- 

 House keeper with an unpronounceable Singhalese name 

 Prof. Haeckel christened" Socrates," from his striking re- 

 semblance to the bust of that great philosopher, heightened 

 by the sententious maxims with which he flavoured his 

 somewhat long-winded discourses. The Professor's de- 

 voted attendant, a handsome Rodiya boy, whose Singhalese 

 name, Gama-!*Ieda, was classicised by him into " Gany- 

 mede," is described in detail with an affection that 

 rises into poetical fervour. The picture presented by 

 this poor outcast, the springs of whose heart were first 

 opened by the kind-hearted foreigner whom it became 

 the delight of his life to serve, is charming. " Who so 

 happy as Ganymede when summoned for an expedition 

 to the woods or the shore for painting and collecting, 

 hunting and shooting? When, on such occasions, I 

 allowed him to carry the paint-box or the photographic 

 camera, or to sling the gun or the botanical case over his 

 shoulder, he would stride after me, his face aglow with 

 delight, looking proudly around on the wondering vil- 

 lagers, to whom such favour shown to a Rodiya was 

 utterly incomprehensible. 



" To Ganymede' s unwearied skill and zeal I owe the 

 most highly prized objects of my collection. With the 

 sharp eye, the cunning hand, and the flexible agility of all 

 Singhalese youths, he could catch the fish as it swam, the 

 butterfly as it flew, and would bound into the thickest 

 jungle, or climb the loftiest trees like a cat, in search of 

 the prey that had fallen to my gun." 



Another pleasant figure, standing out sharp and clear 

 among Professor Haeckel's memories of Belligam, is that 

 of the second chief, or headman of the village, the Arachy 

 Abayawira. His superior character and acquirements 

 were known to the government agent of the southern 

 province, who had given the Professor a special introduc- 

 tion to him. 



' Continued from p. 390. 



" I found the Arachy," he says, " an unusually intelli- 

 gent and enlightened man, of about forty years of age, 

 with a circle of interests and an amount of knowledge far 

 beyond those of his fellow-countrymen in general. The 

 prevailing stupidity, laziness, and indifference of the 

 Singhalese gave place in him to a lively interest in educa- 

 tion, and a genuine wish to extend its advantages to all 

 within the range of his influence. He spoke English 

 fairly well, and expressed himself with a natural good 

 sense, and a clearness of judgment which often surprised 

 me. 



" Indeed, the Arachy might claim the title of a philo- 

 sopher, in a higher sense than that of old Socrates at the 

 Rest House, and I recall with lively pleasure our many 

 and earnest conversations on subjects the most varied 

 and comprehensive. He was free from the superstition 

 and fear of evil spirits which universally prevail among 

 his Buddhist fellow-countrymen, and with open eyes for 

 the wonders of Nature and their explanation by natural 

 laws ; he had worked his own way to the position of a 

 free-thinker, prepared to receive with delight the explana- 

 tions of many of the riddles of Nature which my better 

 knowledge enabled me to give him. I seem to see him 

 still, a fine, dignified, bronze-coloured figure, with regular 

 expressive features, and an eye that lighted up with intel- 

 ligence as I instructed him on some of the phenomena of 

 Nature ; and 1 seem still to hear his gentle, vibrating 

 voice, as he modestly and respectfully asked my explana- 

 tion of this or that problem which had puzzled him. The 

 highest and most amiable qualities of the Singhalese 

 national character, a gentle and impressionable temper, 

 and a natural intelligence were developed in the Arachy 

 in the most attractive degree ; and when, looking back, I 

 seek to repeople my verdant Paradise with the slender 

 bronze figures of its inhabitants, the images of the Arachy 

 and Ganymede rise before me as their ideal types." 



The section of his article headed by the Professor "A 

 Zoological Laboratory in Ceylon," will be read by his 

 fellow collectors, and, indeed, by all who appreciate per- 

 severance in spite of obstacles, and entire devotion to a 

 scientific object, with feelings of lively sympathy mingled 

 with admiration. The difficulties arising from want ot 

 furniture and appliances, from the absence of all skilled 

 assistance, from destructive insects, and above all, from 

 the climate of Ceylon, were such as would have daunted 

 any less ardent believer in the cause for which he laboured. 

 We wish that we had space to extract at length for the 

 benefit of youthful experimenters the Professor's account 

 of his improvised tables, cabinets, and shelves, and of the 

 semi-despairing resignation with which, after a long day's 

 collecting, he would empty the contents of his jars and 

 glasses to find nine-tenths of his treasures dead before 

 their time from the heat and moisture of the air, and use- 

 less as specimens. Another infliction which he seems to 

 have borne with admirable patience consisted in the 

 intrusive curiosity of the natives, who crowded uninvited 

 into his work-room, or thronged round him on his return 

 from a fishing expedition, often causing him to lose the 

 precious minutes which would have saved some of his 

 half dead specimens. The Arachy's explanation that all 

 the white sand and queer little fishes contained in the 

 glasses and jars were to be used to increase knowledge in 

 the world was received with derision by the villagers, the 

 more simple of whom believed that the stranger was 

 inventing a new dish of curry, while the wise-heads looked 

 upon him as a European madman. The want of glass 

 windows was another serious drawback to the preservation 

 of the collection when once safely housed. The green 

 wooden jalousies, which are universal in Ceylon, kept the 

 room too dark for work with the microscope, while admit- 

 ting an amount of wind and dust (not to mention the 

 more serious incursion of hosts of insects) very detri- 

 mental to the specimens and instruments. All these hin- 

 drances and others notwithstanding, Prof. Haeckel 



