574 



NATURE 



[Oct. 12, 1882 



mute, who had never been taught to speak, could never rise 

 higher than a brute, because he cannot picture "justice" or 

 "edibility." But if we recognise the power to abstract the 

 conception of roundness, justice, edibility, &c, then can be felt 

 the want of symbols to represent them ; just as a concrete thing, 

 say, a tree, needs the word " tree " to stand for it. Instead, 

 therefore, of considering abstract ideas as an "attempt to con- 

 ceive a reality-in-thought answering to certain of our symbols," 

 I would completely reverse the process, and make speech itself 

 as the outcome of our power of making abstractions objects of 

 thought, i.e. not only can we be conscious of what is white, as 

 a dog also can, but we, and we alone, can be conscious of 

 whiteness ; and just as the symbol "white" is invented to stand 

 for the concrete, so " whiteness" is the symbol invented to stand 

 for the abstract. George Henslow 



Drayton Hou<e, Ealing 



An Insect Attacking a Worm 



Mr. E. Lawrence's letter in this week's Nature reminds 

 me that, walking, now many years ago, on a very hot and bright 

 summer's day, I saw a huge earthworm crawling across the hard- 

 beaten and sun-baked bighuay. What has brought_j/0« forth at 

 such a time? I a keel, and speedily got my answer. For, coming 

 nearer, I found the larva of some beetle holding on obstinately 

 by the poor worm's tail. I had not leisure to wait the result ; 

 and indeed, although here memory does not help me, 1 may 

 have interfered on behalf of the worm, and so failed to witness 

 anything corresponding to Mr. Lawrence's interesting experi- 

 ences. 



Even although such encounters as that witnessed by him may 

 be but rarely visible, I venture to believe that earthworms very 

 often fall victims to predaceous larva?. Those of the Caribida; 

 and other predacious beetles are common enough, that of the 

 well-known ferocious being, the "rove-beetle" [Staphylinus 

 olens), for example. The singular pointed tail-appendage of its 

 larva, supposed to assist locomotion, may have a more important 

 use. Turned to an acute angle with the body, it may effectually 

 help the larva to hold its place in a worm-hole against the efforts 

 of its prey to escape from its jaws. And only when the captured 

 worm is very powerful may it be able to come to the surface of 

 the ground, dragging its relentle s foe along with it. Such, 

 indeed, nas the worm I saw, which had thriven well in the rich 

 meadow-land bordering the Portobello Road, near Edinburgh, 

 copiously irrigated with town sewage, and famous for its fertility. 

 It was the largest I remember ever to have seen, to the best of 

 my belief at the time not less than afoot long, while its assailant 

 might be about an inch only, more or less William Swan 



Ardchapel, Dumbartonshire, October 6 



Your correspondent, Mr. Edwin Lawrence, is mistaken in 

 supposing that the worms of England enjoy immunity from 

 attacks such as he witnessed at Laqueville. I saw, in North 

 Devonshire, in the last week of July, 1882, an incident precisely 

 like that which he narrates. The insect I should judge from 

 his description was identical. What particularly impressed me 

 was its enormous strength, for the earth-worm, which was a 

 large specimen of its kind, must have had at least twenty times 

 the bulk of its adversary, and yet the insect, seizing upon the 

 middle of the body, dragged it by main force a distance of 

 three or four inches. It was cunning as well as strong ; for 

 when it found that the corpse, dragged loopwise from the 

 middle, met with c nsiderable resistance from the stiff wiry 

 grass, it seized hold of the head, brought it round over the 

 middle, and endeavoured to drag the worm lengthwise between 

 the opposing stalks. I watched the attack for some time, 

 and then removed the insect with my stick to a distance to see 

 if it would find out the worm again, but in doing so I unfor- 

 tunately injured it. When I first saw it the worm could still 

 crawl, though feebly, but at the end of the attack it was quite 

 motionless. Herbert Rix 



Science Club, Savile Row, W. 



Mr. Wallace, of Tynron, Dumfriesshire, related to me an 

 incident which he was witness to, a few months ago, so similar 

 to that related by your correspondent, Mr. Lawrence, that I 

 called his attention to the communication of the latter. The 

 worm Mr. Wallace observed, was attacked by the same kind of 

 caterpillar-like animal, the difference being that after much 



twisting and wriggling, about two-thirds of the worm broke away 

 and escaped, leaving one-third in the enemy's po.-session, upon 

 which it seemed to settle down for the purpose of a meal. 



J. Shaw 



Chiasmodon Niger and Notacanthus Rissoanus 

 Ik the " singular fish of a deep black colour, with small eyes, 

 and a most abyssal physiognomy," noticed by Prof. Giglioli 

 (Nature, vol. xxv. p. 535) had been a Chiasmodon, that learned 

 ichthyologist would doubtless have recogni ed it, and not 

 suggested that " it may be allied to MalacosUus." But in addi- 

 tion to the two specimens of Chiasmodon niger referred to by Mr. 

 Johnson (Nature, vol. xxvi. p. 453), it may interest ichthyologists 

 to learn that a third specimen has been found off the New 

 England coast (on the Le Have Bank). Like the others pre- 

 viously known it had engorged a fish s everal times larger than 

 itself. The specimen is now in the U.S. National Museum. 

 Chiasmodon, it may be added, is not at all related to the Gadida;, 

 as has been supposed by Messrs. Giinther and Johnson, but is a 

 true Acanthopterygian fish and the type of a peculiar family — 

 the Chiasmodon tida?. [In Dr. Gitnther's " system " it belongs to 

 the heterogeneous family Tmchinidtz.] 



With respect to the Notacanthus rissoanus, for which a new 

 generic name has been proposed by Prof. Giglioli, permit me to 

 state that prior designations have been suggested. In fact the 

 genus has now received five names, viz. : (1) Cam/y/odon, 

 Giinther, prov. name, 1861 (not of Fabricius, 1878, and not 

 defined) ; (2) Polyacanthonotus, Bleeker, 1875 ; (3) Zanota- 

 canthus, Gill, 1876; (4) Paradoxichthyi, Giglioli, 1882; and (5) 

 Teratichthys, prov. name Giglioli, 1882. Theo. Gill 



Smithsonian Institution, Washington, September 18 



PROFESSOR HA ECKEL IN CEYLON* 

 VI. 

 T N his walks through the Singhalese village, of which he 

 -*■ preserves so many pleasant memories, Prof. Haeckel 

 was particularly struck with the comparative rarity of the 

 weaker sex, especially of girls between 12 and 20 years 

 of age. 



" The greater number of children playing in the streets 

 were boys. Girls are early accustomed to remain inside 

 the huts and employ themselves in household work. 

 Besides this, they develop very young, being often 

 married at 10 or 12 years old, and old women at 20 or 30. 

 Grandmothers of 25 to 30 are very frequent. A further 

 significant fact is the permanent disproportion of male 

 and female births among the Singhalese. The average 

 is 10 boys to 8-9 girls. This fact is connected, to some 

 extent at least, with the curious institution of polyandry. 

 In spite of the efforts made by the English Government 

 to suppress this custom, it maintains its ground, especially 

 in the more remote districts of the Island. It is not un- 

 usual to find two or three brothers with one wife in 

 common, and ladies may be found the happy possessors 

 of 10 or 12 husbands. These complicated family arrange- 

 ments form the theme of many extraordinary stories ; but 

 it is very difficult to distinguish fact from fable on the 

 subject. . . . 



" The Singhalese have a passion for music and dancing, 

 and practise both arts according to a standard of taste 

 very different from our own. Their principal instruments 

 are the drum and the tom-tom, vigorously belaboured 

 with wooden drum-sticks ; besides these, they have reed- 

 pipes, and a very primitive stringed instrument of one 

 string. My evening calm was often broken in upon by 

 the din of these ear-splitting instruments, and if I followed 

 the sound to its source I was sure to find, in front of a fire 

 under a palm tree, a group of ten or a dozen naked brown 

 fellows, gaily painted with white, yellow, or red stripes, 

 and indulging in the most extraordinary antics. A circle 

 of spectators stood round, and followed the grotesque 

 performance with devout attention. 



"At Christmas time (the Buddhist New Year) these 

 evening 'devil-dances' are more frequent, and partake 



1 Continued from p. 503. 



