Feb. 3, 1881] 



NA TURE 



319 



but some sixteen months ago Dr. F. Leydig of Bonn pub- 

 lished an excellent account of it in Wiegmann's Archiv, 

 in which he gives a short account of Ur. Joseph Waltl, 

 who first discovered Pleurodeles, and of the gallant Dr. 

 Michahelles, who called it after his friend, its discoverer 

 (1830). Among the specimens sent to Bonn, one was 

 living, and in it could be easily seen the tips of some of 

 the ribs sticking through the skin ; and that " this pene- 

 tration " of the skin of the sides was not in the first 

 instance caused by or through the transport, the ac- 

 companying note from the kind sender proved. 

 •'You will remark that in the Pleurodeles the ribs 



pierce the integuments, and that if this be an 

 accident, it is in some sort a physiological one." The 

 habits of the Pleurodeles seem to be more or less 

 like that of our native Tritons. During the procreative 

 season they remain upright in the water ; later they 

 leave it and hide themselves in damp places under stones. 

 Like the Water Newts, they possess a sort of cry ; when 

 frightened, as on being suddenly seized, they emit a low, 

 short, almost squeaking sound, generally repeated several 

 times. This seemed to come not so much from the throat 

 as to be caused by a rapid expulsion of air through the 

 openings of the nose— in fact, to be a sort of snort. 



tiG ■•—PUHroUkt tt 



It had a tendency to crawl vigorously backward when 

 uneasy, by prising the ends of the ribs against the skin : 

 this snake-like progression no doubt causing the skin 

 openings. Prof. Leydig's specimen lived on slugs of 

 small size, which it took eagerly as well as worms, indeed 

 preferring these latter. The skin surface was rather dry 

 than clammy. The colour changes through the chromato- 

 phores were clearly to be noticed ; during cold weather it 

 was of a tolerably uniform dark, when warmer the colour 

 became lighter, numerous dark spots standing out from a 

 light gray ground colour. On very warm days it would 

 lie for hours motionless on the surface of the water. 



It would almost seem worth one's while to pay a visit 

 to those .^ndalusian tanks, and by their semi-limpid sides 

 and under the shelter of their surrounding fig and olive- 

 trees work out the complete history of this interesting little 

 form. 



These woodcuts will show that in pomt of illustration 

 this volume keeps up with both its predecessors in effect ; 

 while we have gently hinted at a few blemishes, the work 

 deserves a very considerable mead of praise, and we 

 heartily recommend it as an excellent volume to be 

 placed in the hands of all interested in the animal 

 kingdom. 



NOTES 



The Akhbar published a programme of the excursions which 

 have been arranged for the next session of the French Associa- 

 tion at Algiers on April 14. The excursions are very numerous, 

 and are classified according to the lerglh of time required fcr 

 their completion. One of the most attractive in the vicinity of 

 Algiers is the tomb of the Kinjs of Mauritania ; Laghouat and 

 the desert is one of the most protracted, and requires eight days 

 for its completion. The travellers will enjoy unexampled 

 facilities for visiting the country. The seat of the French 

 Association is 76, rue de Rennes, Paris. Applications are to be 

 made to M. Gariel, Professor of Physics to the Ecole de Medi- 

 cine, permanent secretary. A reduction of 50 per cent, has been 

 granted by the railway companies ; the arran gements made for 

 the sea passage will be published in proper time. An influential 



local committee ha^ been established in Algiers. M. Chauveau, 

 Professor to the Veterinary School of Lyons, has been appointed 

 president of the session ; the vice-president is M. Janssen. 



MlNERALOGlC.^L science has suffered a gi-eat loss by the early 

 death, on January 27, of Prof. Br. Emanuel Boricky, who was 

 well known by his microscopical researches in petrography. 

 Boricky was bjrn at Milin, near Pribram (Bohemia) in the year 

 1S40, and he had therefore just completed his fortieth year. In 

 1865 he became an assistant of the mineralogical section of the 

 Bohemian Museum, and in 1866 he was named Assistant Pro- 

 fessor of Mineralogy at the University of Prague. Having 

 attained the degree of a Doctor of Philosophy, he became a 

 teacher of mineralogy at one of the colleges of Prague in 1868, 

 and in 1869 he was promoted to the post of a custos of the 

 mineraloo-ical collections at the museum. Since 1871 he ha 



