Notes and Comments. 325 



wire cutters, made his way through one of the parks to the 

 aviary, cut his way through the wire, caught the two pet ravens, 

 twisted their necks, and then walked into the arms of the 

 police, to whom he stated, ' I am interested in natural history. 

 I am making a collection of the rook family, and I have ob- 

 tained all the species except ravens, which are very difficult to 

 obtain, and I decided to fetch these, not thinking I was doing 

 anything wrong. I was going to measure them, weigh them, 

 sketch them, and then have them stuffed to add to my col- 

 lection.' It was pleaded that he was a ' moral defective,' 

 and ' if he became possessed of a passion for a particular 

 thing, had not the power to resist the impulse.' The justices 

 placed the young man on probation, and ordered him to pay 

 the Hull Corporation £10 damages and costs. It is perhaps 

 as well for some of our Museum friends to bear in mind what 

 a ' moral defective ' is, in case of accidents ! 



COPPER IN CRUSTACEA. 



We notice from the Report of the Scottish Marine Biological 

 Association, that recently ' Mr. R. Elmhirst and Dr. J. H. 

 Paul commenced investigations on the distribution of copper 

 throughout the moulting cycle in the blood and glands (hepatic) 

 of the Decapod Crustacea. It has been found that as moulting 

 approaches, the animal accumulates a considerable amount 

 of the metal in its " liver," and that this is released into 

 the general circulation when the shell is cast. It is also 

 noted that the amount of copper present varies very much 

 throughout the group. Whereas in the Macrura it may repre- 

 sent 5 per cent, of the ash of the gland, in the Brachyura it is 

 only present in traces. In Lithodes, a creature intermediately 

 placed, it is found that the maximum amount is about 2| per 

 cent. 



FOXGLOVES. 



The Transactions and Journal of the Eastbourne Natural 

 History, etc., Society, for July, contains the following note : — ■ 

 ' One of our Hon. Members, Miss E. Bray, the well-known 

 botanist, sends us the following note which well illustrates 

 the proverb that "It is an ill wind that blows nobody any 

 good." One does not expect plant life to break records in a 

 drought ' : — ' With the kindly assistance of Mrs. Green the 

 following measurements were taken of a bed of Foxgloves in 

 Folkington Wood, June 28th, 1921. Length of bed 176 yds. 

 Average breadth 40 yds. One of the highest plants 7 ft. 

 3 ins., with a probability of reaching 8 ft., as 50 blossoms 

 were still to open. The number of flowers grown on this 

 stem was 151. On far the greater part of the ground the 

 plants were closely packed, and even in the few open spaces 

 they were not unrepresented.' 



1921 Oct. 1 



