444 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[May II, 1 888: 



The Eyra Cat. — The cats are one of the many difficul- 

 ties of the zoologist. Despite much ink shed, it is still un- 

 decided whether the family Felidce contains but the single 

 genus Felis, or whether it comprises several distinct 

 genera such as Felis proper (the tiger, leopard, jaguar, etc.), 

 Leo Cynailiirus (the hunting-leopard), and Lynx, includ- 

 ing a number of short-legged species with long fur and 

 tufted ears. Even if we waive the dispute as to genera, 

 there springs up another on the number of species. It 

 is asked, for instance, whether the leopard, the panther, 

 and the ounce are three distinct species, and are merely 

 local variations of one and the same creature ? Is the 

 jaguar of South America a single form, or do we con- 

 found under this name three distinct cats differing in 

 their markings, which moreover do not associate to- 

 gether, and which "breed true." 



Perhaps the difficulty of distinguishing both species 

 and groups among the Felidce springs from the fact that 

 they are the most recently developed family of carnivo- 

 rous animals, and have not yet had time to become duly 

 differentiated. Perhaps in a thousand centuries, if they 

 have not by that time been " improved off the face of the 

 earth," marked distinctions will have appeared between 

 different groups. Even now we may perceive depar- 

 tures from the normal cat type ; whetner these departures 

 are the surviving remnants of some missing link, or 

 approximations as yet rudimentary, we cannot say. 



Thus the hunting-leopard or cheetah of India and 

 Africa differs from the true cats, and approaches the 

 dogs. Its claws are not retractile, its forehead is more 

 convex, and its disposition and manners are more like 

 those of a dog. 



Another departure from the typical cats is the " Eyra 

 cat " of South America, a specimen of which is now to 

 be seen in the Zoological Gardens. This animal would, 

 at first glance, be taken by most observers for a near 

 kindred of the weasel and the pole-cat. Its head is 

 smaller and more pointed than that of the domestic cat, 

 which it closely approaches in size. Its body and tail 

 are both longer, and it stands lower. Its entire structure 

 seems adapted for climbing and making its way into 

 holes and crannies. Mr. Tegetmeier, writing, in the 

 Field, thinks that the Eyra " might easily be domesti- 

 cated, and would make a graceful addition to our domestic 

 fauna." We should earnestly deprecate its naturalisation, 

 since it is, from all accounts, which the structure of the 

 animal fully corroborates, a better climber and a more 

 eager bird-hunter than even the common cat. In the in- 

 terest of our small birds, as well as of game and poultry, 

 it ought not be tolerated in a state of freedom. 



Opposition to Evolution. — The Courrier de I'Europe 

 remarks that the Paris Academy of Sciences includes in 

 its ranks two obstinate opponents of the doctrine of 

 organic evolution, IMM. de Quatrefages, and Emile 

 Blanchard. The latter savant has just attempted to 

 renew the struggle in a work entitled, " Conditions de la 

 Vic, rOrigine dcs Efrcs." 



Creeping of Gasteropods on Water. — According to 

 Victor Willem, the fresh-water gasteropoda, in order to 

 creep in an inverted position (back downwards) upon, or 

 rather beneath, the surface of water, support themselves 

 at first upon the thin superficial film which always covers 

 the water of ponds. They then creep on the lower side 

 of a thin carpet of mucus which their foot secretes as 

 they proceed. 



Colour Variations of Alpheus. — One species of this 

 prawn, according to Mr. F. H. Herrick {Morphological 

 Notes, John Hopkins University) seems to assume 

 different colours according as it inhabits a brown or 

 green kind of sponge. 1 hose living in the former pro- 

 duce yellow eggs, and have their large claws red, blue, 

 or brown. The form inhabiting the green sponge 

 deposits green eggs, and has its large claws always of an 

 orange red. 



A Month in Pal'awan. — Mr. J. B. Steere, (American 

 Naturalist) having spent a month collecting in Pal'awan, 

 considers that it is much more nearly allied zoologically 

 to Borneo than are the other Philippines. The Bornean 

 look of the birds is quite apparent. The author remarks 

 that tropical species of birds seem much more closely 

 limited to specific kinds of food than are those of colder 

 climates. He collected 120 species of birds, five of 

 mammals, three of amphibians, six of lizards, nine of 

 snakes, thirty of butterflies, a few small and inconspicu- 

 ous beetles, scorpions, and centipedes, ten or twelve 

 corals from the bay, and a number of fine land and 

 tre; shells. 



The Multiplication of Hydroids. — Dr. W.K.Brooks 

 (Morphological Notes of the John Hopkins University) 

 points out that in the hydroids, as in other animals which 

 pass through a metamorphosis but also multiply asexually 

 (e.g. by fission) at any stage of their life-history, the new 

 organisms thus produced do not repeat in their own 

 life-history those stages which the parent organism had 

 already passed. If the life-history of the species from 

 the egg to the adult consists of a series of larval stages 



A, B, C, D, E, and if when the larva has reached C it 

 multiplies asexually, by budding or splitting off, the 

 asexual progeny do not pass through the stages A and 



B. In most cases they begin their life at the stage C, 

 and repeat in their own ontogeny only so much of the 

 life-history as still lies before the parent, that is, the 

 stages C, D, and E. In other cases they outstrip the 

 parent and pass at once to the stnge D or E. 



Local Modifications in the Plumage and Eggs of 

 Birds. — Mr. H. Kerr (Newcastle Weekly Chronicle) is ol 

 opinion that moor-land feeding birds are darker plumaged 

 than those which are bred and fed in the lower and 

 richer grass and arable lands. North-east Lancashire 

 larks are small, dark-plumaged birds ; their eggs are 

 smaller and darker than those of the larks of South 

 Lancashire and Cheshire, where the feeding is more 

 generous. Kentish skylarks' eggs are a good deal larger 

 and lighter in colour than those of the North-east 

 Lancashire skylarks. 



Criminal Biology. — The American Naturalist raises > 

 the following questions : What categories of criminals 

 may we distinguish, and what are the fundamental 

 characteristics, physical and psychical, which they 

 display ? Is there a general bio-pathological constitution 

 which predisposes to the commission of crime ? how does 

 it originate and what form does it assume ? Dees the 

 number of suicides stand in an inverse ratio to the 

 number of homicides ? Epilepsy and moral insanity in 

 prisons and asylums? Utility of a museum cf criminal 

 anthropology ? 



