NOTES AND QUERIES. 307 



over the moss and noiselessly approaching the reptile. He then witnessed 

 a curious sight. As soon as the Hedgehog was within reach of his prey 

 he seized it by the tail with his teeth, and as quick as thought rolled 

 himself into a ball. The Viper, awakened by the pain, at once turned, and 

 perceiving his enemy made a terrific dart at him. The Hedgehog did 

 not wince. The Viper, infatuated, extends itself, hisses, and twists with 

 fearful contortions. In five minutes it is covered with blood, its mouth is 

 one large wound, and it lies exhausted on the ground. A few more starts, 

 then a last convulsive agony, and it expires. When the Hedgehog 

 perceived that it was quite dead he let go his hold, and quietly unrolled 

 himself. He was just about to begin his meal and devour the reptile, when 

 the sight of my keeper, who had approached during the struggle, alarmed 

 him, and he rolled himself up again until the man had retreated into the 

 wood. The Hedgehog, then, did not exactly kill the Viper, but compelled 

 it to kill itself by darting against his sharp spines." 



Slow-worm attacked by a Missel Thrush.— One day last summer, 

 while driving to Dorchester, I noticed a little cloud of dust rising from the 

 road. On drawing nearer I saw it was caused by a Missel Thrush, Turdus 

 viscivorus, which held a struggling Slow-worm, Anguis fragilis, and was 

 pecking at it with all its might and main. When I got quite close, the 

 Thrush flew away, and the Slow-worm slowly wriggled off. When searching 

 for beetles I have often found Slow-worms under the loose bark of fallen 

 trees.— C. W. Dale (Glanville's Wootton, Sherborne). 



FISHES. 

 Tunny at Penzance.— On July 11th a small Tunny, Orcynus thynnus, 

 Day, was brought to me. It measured two feet six inches over all, and 

 turned the scale at 20 lbs. It was taken by hand embayed in a salt-water 

 pool in the rocks at Newlyn, in this Bay. The stomach was gorged with 

 pilchards. The flesh had all the appearance of dark bull-beef. My friends 

 and myself dressed portions of it by several methods, with the following 

 results: — Stewed, it was delicate and good; broiled, it was coarse, but 

 palatable ; baked in oil and vinegar (" marinated "), it was very good. In 

 every case the taste of the fish was pronounced to be between that of 

 mackerel and salmon, but not so good as either of these fish separately. — 

 Thomas Cornish (Penzance). 



A Man killed by a Swordfish. — The schooner 'Venus' is a small 

 vessel of about twelve tons, owned and commanded by Franklin D. Lanos- 

 ford, of Lanesville, Mass., with a crew of three men, engaged iu the general 

 fisheries off the coast of Massachusetts. On August 9th Capt. Langsford 

 sailed from home in pursuit of Swordfish. About 11 a.m., when eight 

 miles north-east from Halibut Point, in Ipswich Bay, a lish was seen. The 



