470 Queries and Ansrvers. 



Questions y includes also questions on every department of natural history, 

 When we can spare room, we intend to select these, and print them in this 

 Magazine, as a stimulus to readers of leisure in the country. In the mean 

 time, as the pamphlet costs only a shilling, we recommend it to be pro- 

 cured. — Cond. 



Various Queries. — Can you or any of your correspondents inform me 

 which is the best method to keep snails and slugs in confinement, with a 

 view to studying their natural habits ? Which is the best elementary trea- 

 tise on comparative anatomy ? Have any ofyour readers ever seen a living 

 specimen of the great Irish greyhound, the Clnis grains hibernicus of Ray ; 

 and, if so, can they inform me where it is to be seen ? It is mentioned by 

 Buffon and Pennant as " very scarce ;" and it is not noticed in Fleming's 

 British Animals. The breed is at present most probably extinct. Can you or 

 any of your correspondents give me any information respecting the habits of 

 that curious compound of bird and beast, the Ornithorjnchus ? — Perceval 

 Hunter. Waltkamstow, March 19. 1830. 



Natural Hiitory Depot, and Native Ornithology. — Sir, In the Number of 

 your Magazine for March, I observe some valuable hints relative to the 

 establishment of a depot for objects of natural history, by which persons 

 forming collections in different parts of the British Isles (but who, by pro- 

 fessional business or otherwise, are compelled to reside in one place) might 

 be enabled to procure specimens in exchange. In so desirable a scheme I 

 cordially concur, and trust that ere long some zealous person may step 

 forward, and set on foot an undertaking of such general utility. 



Until, however, something of the kind shall be established, I am desirous 

 of knowing if there is any gentleman forming a native ornithological col- 

 lection, who has duplicates he would wish to exchange, and if he could 

 furnish me with a list of them, and also of those specimens which he wishes 

 to have. It is well known that some parts of our islands are much more 

 frequented by different species of birds than others ; and that in one dis- 

 trict a bird may be considered rare, which in another is common. By in- 

 terchanges of specimens both parties are benefited, and by establishing 

 such a correspondence, hints and observations are reciprocally communi- 

 cated, which may tend materially to advance so delightfiil a study as that 

 of ornithology. — Jas. Drummond Marshall. Belfast, May 25. 1830. 



The best Work on Zoology . — Sir, I should be glad to know, which is the 

 best work on zoology, especially on the Mammalia and AVes, to be found in 

 the English language ? Can Cuvier's Animal Kingdom, edited by Griffith, 

 be depended upon, as exhibiting a comprehensive and correct view of the 

 two above-mentioned departments ? Are the plates in that work gene- 

 rally considered faithful delineations of the animals which they are in- 

 tended to represent ? A reply to these questions in your next Number 

 will greatly oblige — A Zoological Student. Bangor, Caernarvonshire, June 1. 

 1830. 



Taking it altogether, we should consider Griffith's Cuvier as the best work 

 in the English language ; but we prefer the French original. Griffith has 

 overlaid Cuvier, and produced much too bulky and dear a book. — Cond. 



The Cause of Goitre. — The remarks of Mr. Aaron, on the cause of goitre, 

 that drinking snow water does not cause it, are certainly correct. At San- 

 tipur, in Bengal, goitre is very prevalent among the Mahommedan popula- 

 tion, and is, I believe, confined to them ; the Hindoos, drinking only the 

 water of the Ganges, while the Mahommedans sink wells within their co7n- 

 pounds, and drink the water, which rises through a bed of sand ; a chemi- 

 cal analysis of the well water at Santipur might possibly throw some light 

 on the subject. Many of the Mahommedans are occupied in embroidering 

 muslins, and sit with the head lowered down, looking on their work. Can 

 such employment affect the muscles, and cause enlargement ? — An Old Ben- 

 gally. April 15. 1830. 



