y^me 20, 1872] 



NATURE 



151 



what you might call hands, by means of which it made its way 

 rapidly over tlie coral reef. When placed on the sky-;ight of the 

 steamer, the fish stood up on its four legs, a sight to behold ! It 

 was small, and something like a lizard, but with the body of a 

 fish ! " It is to be hoped that a full and scientific description of 

 this latest marvel of deep-sea dredging may soon be published, 

 as the specimen appears to have been brought back to Mel- 

 bourne. Mr. White, too, of the same Expedition, tells strange 

 tales about the rats. "The little island," he said, "upon which 

 we pitched our tent was overun with them, and what was most 

 extraordinary, they were of every colour from black to yellow, 

 and some tortoise shell ! " 



Among other collections made by Prof. Marsh during his ex- 

 plorations in 1S71 were additional specimens of the pterodactyl, 

 first obtained in 1S70. Portions of five individuals were pro- 

 cured ; and among them nearly all the bones of the right wing 

 of one, which exhibited the pterodactyl structure in its perfection. 

 The teeth found with the other remains were somewhat similar 

 to those of the pterodactyls of the Cretaceous of England, being 

 smooth, compressed, elliptical, and somewhat curved. A second 

 species, still larger than the other, wjs obtained in the Upper 

 Cretaceous, near the Smoky River, in Western Kansas. The ex- 

 panse between the tips of the fully-extended wings was probably 

 as much as twenty-two feet. In all, Prof. Marsh has determined 

 the existence of three species from the same region, which he 

 characterises in the April number of the American yoiiriial 

 of Science. In the same journal Prof. Marsh refers to the in- 

 teresting discovery that the body of mosasauroid reptiles 

 was probably covered with plates, as in some crocodiles, the head 

 itself being smooth. This fact has been ascertained in regard to 

 specimens of all the American genera, so that probably all the 

 species possessed it. 



The second Report of the Geological Survey of Indiana, made 

 during the year 1870, under the direction of Mr. E. T. Cox, State 

 geologist, has just made its appearance, and, like its predecessor, 

 appear to be a work of much scientific value. In addition to 

 the series of reports upon the geology of the counties, it em- 

 braces a paper upon the W'estern coal measures and Indiana 

 coal, and a paper upon palaeozoic zoology, and closes with an 

 extended manual of the botany of Jefferson County, Indiana, 

 prepared by Prof. A. H. Young, of Hanover College. In this 

 the total number of indigenous species is given at 537, those 

 introduced numbering 72. 



Another book of excellent typographical execution has just 

 appeared from the public printing-office of the United States, in 

 the form of the astronomical and meteorological observations 

 made at the United States Naval Observatory during the year 

 1869, imder the direction of the superintendent. Admiral B. F. 

 Sands. This volume, forming a stately quarto of over 900 pages, 

 is prefaced by a detailed account of the transit circle, the meridian 

 transit instrument, the mural circle, and the equatorial of the ob- 

 servatory, and followed by a statement of observations made with 

 these instruments. The volume also contains the meteorological 

 observations for 1869, the positions of the sun, moon, and 

 planets during that year, as made with different instruments, &c. 

 The report of the total eclipse of December 22, 1870, which has 

 already appeared as a separate memoir, is included in this 

 volume, as also an appendix embracing the zones of stars ob- 

 served with the mural circle in the years 1846, 1847, 1848, and 

 1S49. The observatory is now in excellent condition, and in- 

 cludes in its working force some of the best astronomers and 

 mathematicians of the country ; among them Profs. Ncwcomb, 

 Hall, Harkness, Eastman, &c. The completion of the gigantic 

 telescope now in process of constntction by Alvan Clark will 

 constitute an important addition to the means of research, and 

 will doubtless be turned to good advantage. 



ON THE SOUND MADE BY THE DEATH'S 

 HEAD MOTH, "ACHERONTIA ATROPOS" 



"T^ HE singular cry produced by the Death's Head Moth has 

 for a long time been known to naturalists, and the question 

 of the exact method of its production has given rise to much 

 discussion. To judge, however, from the latest writings on the 

 subject, the matter is considered even now as being far from de- 

 finitely elucidated. In the autumn, about six years ago, I was 

 lucky enough to rear over a hundred imagos of Aiherontia atropos 

 from pupa; obtained from potato diggers in the neighbourhood 

 of Bristol, I made then some observations on the production 

 of the sound in question, but I did not consider them as suffi- 

 ciently perfect for publication. I got no more specimens until 

 last autumn, when I obtained a single imago from ten pupae, 

 but on this I made an experiment which I believe to be crucial 

 in the matter. Absence from England, however, on the Govern- 

 ment Eclipse Expedition, has prevented my giving an account 

 of my experiment until now. 



On looking into the literature of the subject, in which task I 

 have been kindly assisted by Prof. Westwood and Prof. Rolles- 

 ton, I found it in its extent far exceeding my expectations. The 

 number of theories which have been invented to account for 

 this apparently simple phenomenon is a=tonishing ; and as the 

 history of the question is really very interesting, I shall com- 

 mence by giving as complete an account of what has been written 

 on the suliject as I have been able to obtain by reference to 

 works in the Radcliffe, Bodleian, and Linnean Society's libraries, 

 and in that of Prof. Westwood. 



The earliest writer on the subject was Reaumur (Memoire 

 pour servir a une Histoire des Insectes, 1734-1742, vol. i. pi. 14), 

 who suggests that the noise is most probably due to the same 

 cause as in certain scarabei, which produce a sound by the rub- 

 bing together of certain of their scaly parts. Later on {loc. cit. 

 vol. ii. p. 24) Reaumur states that he has made further experi- 

 ments, and concludes that the sound is produced by the rubbing 

 of the proboscis against the palps. He held the palps aside from 

 con'act with the trunk, and the sound ceased. But he is of 

 opinion that air may have something to do with the matter, and 

 makes his statement with caution. There is a membrane 

 stretched at the base of the trunk, he says, which may have some- 

 thing to do with it ; and finally, "Je ne me lasserai point de 

 repeter que nous devons nous attendre, que dans les plus petits 

 sujets il res' era toujours quelque chose que nous ignorons." It 

 would hive been well if some of the many subsequent writers or 

 the subject had profited by this sace remark. Tlie next autho- 

 is Roesel (Insecten Bclustigung : Niirnberg, 1755, § 16), whose ob- 

 servations, according to W agner, were very superficial ; and who 

 considers the sound due to friction between the opposed surfaces 

 of the abdomen and thorax. Next comes Rossi (Istoria della 

 Farfalla a testa di Morto, Opuscoli di Milano, Ann. 1782) who is 

 the first to arrive at a correct result, and says the sound is due 

 to expiration of air through the trunk. Schroten (Der Natur- 

 forscher, xxi. Stiick : Halle, 1785) gives as a cause the rubbing of 

 the trunk against the head. Engramelle, as quoted by Passerini, 

 without special reference, makes the sound come from the part of 

 the insect called the spallette. 



There is now a considerable chronological interval, and then 

 Godart and Dupronchel (Hist. Nat. des Lcpidopteres de France, 

 par M. Godart. tom. iii. pp. iS et 19) report a letter from M. 

 Lorey, retired army surgeon-major, who describes a peculiar pair 

 of organs, situate on the sides of the abdomen, sun'ounded by 

 long hairs, which, when the animal squeaks, may be seen to 

 elevate themselves, and form a conical cavity leading to an open- 

 ing. He considers the sound to be produced by the passage of 

 the air through this opening. It will be seen further on that this 

 peculiar pair of organs was subsequently described as a discoveiy 

 by two writers ignorant of the literature of the subject. 



Next comes Passerini, who went to the veiy root of the matter, 

 and explained the whole thing correctly and clearly in a mono- 

 graph entitled, " Osser\-azioni sopra la Sphinx Atropos o P'arfalla 

 a testa di Morto," del Dottore Carlo Passerini : Pisa, 1S2S. He 

 commenced his experiments in 1824. He first disposes of Lorey's 

 theory by showing that his peculiar organs exist only in the 

 mah; insect, vi-hereas both male and female Death's Heads pro- 

 duce the sound ; and further, that the same organs exists in the 

 males of other moths, as Macroglossa stellatanim, and SfJiinx 

 convokuli, which produce no sound. Next he records this 

 startling experiment : — A moth may be divided in two through the 

 middle of the thorax, and the anterior extremities will still continue 



