156 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Feb. 17, I E 



taken place doomed every one of these animals to de- 

 struction, and the sequel showed that the Smithsonian 

 officials were only just in time to snatch a few 

 specimens from the total annihilation that has overtaken 

 millions. Three buffaloes were taken in this expedition, 

 and later on in the year 22 more were killed and pre- 

 served in excellent condition. The series of skins 

 and skeletons thus made are described as being now 

 " of almost priceless value " when the last of the Bos 

 Ainericanns is practically slaughtered. So rapidly are 

 the great game animals of the United States disappear- 

 ing, that " it is a sad certainty that in a very few years 

 the elk, mountain sheep, goat, deer, moose, and other 

 forms will have totally disappeared." 



Fecundity of Pigs. — The natural fecundity of the pig 

 is astonishing. They live and multiply in every country 

 in the world, with the exception of the polar regions. 

 If permitted, their natural life will extend to fifteen or 

 twenty years, and they commence breeding when they 

 are nine or twelve months old. An estimate was once 

 formed of the probable production of a sow during the 

 space of ten years. Only six young ones, male and 

 female, were allowed for each litter. The result was that 

 in eleven years the estimated product of a single sow was 

 6)434>838 pigs. At different times there have occurred 

 many instances of remarkable fecundity. In Leicester- 

 shire a sow produced 355 young pigs in twenty litters, 

 and aftejrwards produced eight litters more. 



The Teredo and its Doings. — In many places 

 where wooden piles have to be used to protect 

 the mouths of harbours, great trouble is experienced 

 in defending them against the attacks of the 

 teredo. This is especially the case at San Francisco, 

 where nearly half the gross income of the Harbour 

 Board appears to be spent in repairing and renewing 

 these structures. A variety of devices have been pro- 

 posed and tried, but so far with but little success. The 

 piles have been saturated with a variety of poisons, 

 including carbon disulphide. They have been coated 

 with various coal-tar and petroleum products with 

 sulphur China clay, gypsum and cements. But these 

 prepared piles have not resisted the enemy better than 

 unprepared wood-work. Eucalyptus piles have failed 

 completely. Cedar wood (that is, we presume, not the 

 true cedar of Lebanon, but a species of juniper known in 

 America as cedar) appears to have given the best 

 results. Next to it seems to come the yellow pine. 

 Teak-wood, which is not relished by insects, does not 

 seem to have been tried. 



^ Formation of Humus by Animal Action. — Herr. C. 

 Keller, during a residence in Madagascar, has studied the 

 formation of vegetable mould by worms. He has dis- 

 covered a new species of earth-worm {Geoplmgus 

 Darwinii), which is particularly active. It presents more 

 the aspect of a snake than of a worm, being nearly an 

 inch in thickness and 32 inches in length. It feeds on 

 fresh and decayed leaves. In the course of half an hour 

 one of these worms passed through its body nearly 4 ozs. 

 of moist earth. Its "casts," which generally take the 

 form of a tower, weigh as much as 5 ozs. Such a heap 

 may reach 2| inches in height. These masses are to be 

 found in the forests of Madagascar, not singly, but so plen- 

 tifully that baskets might be filled with the comminuted 



earth. Thus in tropical climates the movement of the 

 soil effected by worms is incomparably greater than that 

 which tias been observed in England. In the island of 

 Reunion wood-lice join in the work, and on coral-reefs 

 and in the Mangrove districts crabs take an important 

 part in the movement of the .soil. 



Poisonous Butterflies. — Dr. Kappler, in a paper on the 

 Monkeys of Dutch Guiana, states that when the 

 squirrel-apes (C/rrvsoAr^/.t'scmrea) "ate insects, they did not 

 seem to know how to distinguish the poisonous ones ; 

 and three of them died from eating the wrong butterflies." 

 Several species of monkeys feed not only on insects but 

 on birds' eggs, and sometimes on young birds. The 

 author mentions that such broad streams as the Amazon, 

 Orinoco, and Rio Negro seem tomake a separation between 

 mammalian species. 



Wanton Slaughter of Birds. — A correspondent 01 

 the Newcastle Chronicle states that in a Gloucestershire 

 town during Christmas week he saw " bunches of small 

 birds exposed for sale as food. Some were chaffinches, 

 but the great majority of the little victims were young 

 goldfinches of the year." Truly there is need for the 

 activity of the Selborne Society. Strings of starlings 

 have also been seen exposed for sale in a game shop. 

 At Amble a bittern was seen on January 3rd, and was, of 

 course, shot. This bird is useless as food, perfectly 

 harmless, and is slaughtered out of pure wantonness. 



A Nest-Building Fish. — According to M. Vaillant, 

 Antennarhts tnarinoratus, a curious fish studied by 

 Agassiz, builds its nest of seaweed, the different parts 

 being brought together and made fast to each other by 

 means of a pasty substance secreted by the fish. 

 Agassiz thought that separate bits of seaweed were 

 used, but M. Vaillant has shown that it employs the 

 whole of the branches of a single plant. 



Habits of the Blackbird and Starling. — We learn 

 from a northern contemporary that this fine songster is 

 not to be trusted in an aviary. He has been known to peck 

 thrushes to death and scalp them, though it is not stated 

 that he eats any part of the bodies. The same authority 

 states a starling's nest with young ones was found at 

 Ellerton-in-Swale, in the earlier part of January. Accord- 

 ing to the Rev. T. Londsborough, of Kilmarnock, this 

 bird was fifty years ago looked upon as a rarity in 

 Scotland. 



Structure of the Muscles of the Mollusca. — M. 

 H. Fol, in a communication to the French Academy of 

 Science, proves that true transverse striation does not exist 

 in the muscle-fibres of any molluscous animal. In thisclass 

 we meet with only one type of muscle, that with smooth 

 fibre. 



A Phosphorescent Earth-worm. — M. A. Giard has 

 observed at Wimereux, near Boulogne, a true phospho- 

 rescent earth-worm, which seems to be abundant during 

 the months of August and September. Their light is 

 quite as intense as that of the glow-worm {Lampyris), 

 which is well-known to be a beetle. 



Cave Animals of North America. — Professor A. S. 

 Packard enumerates 172 species of blind creatures found 



