THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 87 



They are not only early in time, but in organisation — a link 

 between lizards and the mammals of Europe. 



They carry what may be called portable nests, with food 

 supplies laid on, being born almost as undeveloped as eggs, 

 and remaining unconscious in the nest (pouch) for weeks. 



Might not the larger of these — the hyena — be allowed a 

 home in an island which is almost useless, except to naturalists; 

 .and for the other zoological oddities a sacred asylum be found at 

 Wilson's Promontory.? 



Walter K. Bissill. 



Belvoir Park, Ravenswood, 23rd August, 1888. 



RATS AND PLANTS. 



To the Editor of the Victorian Naturalist. 



Dear Sir, — I have been extremely annoyed at, and for some 

 time surprised as to the cause of, the destruction of several 

 orchids I have been cultivating. During last season I collected 

 several orchids, and have been looking eagerly for their 

 re-appearance this season. Imagine my feelings when I find 

 that as soon as a green shoot shows above the earth it is eaten 

 •off. At first I attributed the cause to slugs, and spent many an 

 hour in searching for the supposed enemy under the flower- 

 pots, stones, etc. Last week not only was the young shoot of 

 .Spiranthes Australis eaten oif, but the earth was scraped out of 

 the pot and the tubers eaten. This put all idea of slugs out of 

 the question. I then set several snares round the flower-pots. 

 These solved the mystery, and showed the depredators to 

 be rats. They have also eaten off the young fronds of several 

 small ferns. 



This vegetarian taste in rats is something new to me, though 

 I know they have a decided penchant for lead piping. 



Since writing the above they have completely destroyed 

 •several ferns and fuchsias, leaving nothing but bare stalks. 



J. Searle, 

 18th July, 1888. 



The Monkey as a Scientific Investigator. — Under the 

 .heading of " Psychology" the American Naturalist for May has a 

 curious paragraph on " The Monkey as a Scientific Investi- 

 gator." In the interesting little "Zoo" connected with the 

 National Museum at Washington there is a fine male grivet 

 .monkey ( Cercopithecus erythnziis ) , who shares a large cage with 

 four opossums. To human beings he shows himself anything 

 but amiable, but " he takes kindly to his strange companions, 

 .and they have been the best friends from the first." The 



