26 



THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



among wild birds, for, being exposed to damp, and batbing often, they make more 

 use of the oil in the gland, consequently it does not accumulate sufficiently to become 

 inconvenient. This shows the necessity of providing birds, in a state of confinement, 

 with water at all times for bathing, as nothing can be more conducive to their health. 

 Dr Handel recommends that after the gland has been pierced, a little magnesia 

 should be mixed with their drink. 



Mateenal Solicitude. — A Cat, domesticated at a farm-house about a mile from 

 Lanark, had numerous families, which were invariably taken away from her and 

 drowned. At length the creature adopted an expedient for saving at least a portion 

 of her offspring. She took away two or three of the kittens to a farm about half a 

 mile distant, where she secluded them in the byre. As many, if not more, were 

 deliberately left in her usual layer, and these she partially attended to, till they were 

 taken away and drowned as usual. She then devoted the whole of her attention to 

 the few which she had rescued, and thus succeeded in bringing them up. It was evi- 

 dent to the individuals under whose notice the circumstances occurred, that she left 

 tlie few at home as a decoy, in order to lead away attention from the rest, as other- 

 wise a search would have been made, which would probably have proved fatal. 



Wasps. — Lieutenant Holman, in whom the loss of sight has been compensated by a 

 wonderful acuteness of mental vision, relates the following anecdote in the second 

 volume of hia Travels: — "Eight miles from Grandie, the muleteers suddenly called 

 out, * Marambundas ! Marambundas !' which indicated the approach of a host of wasps. 

 In a moment all the animals, whether loaded or otherwise, lay down on their backs, 

 kicking most violently, while the blacks, and all persons not already attacked, ran 

 away in different directions, all being careful, by a wide sweep, to avoid the swarms of 

 tormentors that come forward like a cloud. I never witnessed a panic so sudden and 

 complete, and really believe that the bursting of a water-epout could hardly have pro- 

 duced more commotion. However, it must be confessed that the alarm was not \vith- 

 eut good reason, for so severe is the torture inflicted by these pigmy assailants, that 

 the bravest travellers are not ashamed to fly the instant they perceive the terrific host 

 approaching, which is of no uncommon occurrence on the Campos." 



BOTANY AND HORTICULTURE. 



On the Change iw tiii. Colours or the Floweks of the Hibiscus Muta- 

 EiLis. — The Changing Hibiscus has received this name on account of the remarkable 

 and periodical variations which the colours of the flowers present. White in the 

 morning, they become more or less red or carnation-coloured towards the middle of 

 the day, and terminate in a rose colour when the sun is set. This fact has been long 

 known, but we were totally ignorant of the cause. The following observation may 

 assist to discover it, and give some useful ideas on the colouration of flowers: — M. 

 Ramond de la Sagra remarked, ou the 19th of October, in the Botanic Garden of 

 Havannah, of which he is the director, that this flower remained white all day, and 

 did not commence to redden till the next day towards noon. On consulting the me- 

 teorological tables, which he kept with care, he found, that on this very day, the 19th 

 October, the temperature did not rise above 19*' 6' C, whilst ordinarily it was at least 

 SO**, at the period of inflorescence of this plant. — It would appear, then, that the 

 temperature holds a place of some importance in the colouration of certain flowers. 

 The experiments of Mr Macaire have taught, that it seems to be connected with dif- 

 ferent degrees of oxygenation of the chromule, or colouring matter, contained in the 

 parenchyma. Is this oxygenation altogether, or in part, determined by the temper- 

 ature, and can the colour of certain petals be modified by variations of heat? 



Wars of the Plakts. — All the plants of a given country are at war, one with 

 another. The first, which establish themselves by chance in a particular spot, tend, 

 by the mere occupancy of space, to exclude other species — the greater choke the 

 smaller, the longest livers replace those which last for a shorter period, the more pro- 

 lific gradually make themselves masters of the ground, which species, multiplying 

 more slowly, would otherwise fill. 



Geographical Distribution of Plants. — The most incurious observer in 

 travelling through a country must be struck with the diff'erent vegetation that prevails 

 in different parts of the country, and with the effect which this difference produces 

 on the manners and on the health of the inhabitants. Thus, in some parts of Eng- 

 land, the Apple and the Pear are seen growing spontaneously in every hedge-row, 

 while in other parts, apple and pear trees will not flourish, even with the utmost care. 

 Some situations are favourable to the Oak, others to the Beech, others to the Elm. 

 Accordingly, these well-known and beautiful trees predominate in some chstricts, al- 

 most to the exclusion of every other, and thus constitute the leading feature in the 

 landscape. These are famihar examples of partial changes among the larger vege- 

 tables of a country ; while the general vegetation is supposed to remain nearly the 

 same. Between such partial change, and the complete establishment of a peculiar 

 vegetation, there exists among different localities every possible shade of diversity. 

 Many of these differences in vegetation are obviously connected with differences in 

 soil and in situation. Thus, some plants will thrive only on a calcareous soil; as a 

 few of the Orchis tribe in our own country, and the Teucrium montanum in Switzer- 

 land. Others, like the Saholas and the SaHcoTniaSy.vjill only grow in salt marshes. 

 Some plants flourish in sea water, some in fresh, while to others again, water, at least 

 in excess, is so prejudicial that they can exist nowhere unless on bare rocks or in 

 arid deserts. Mountainous situations are most favorable to the increase of some 

 plants, while others abound in plains. The larger number of plants prefer sunshine, 

 but some are most vigorous in the shade, and others are so impatient of light, that 

 they are found only where there is absolute darkness. There are besides parasitic 

 plants, like the Misletoe, whose nourishment is derived from the plants to which they 

 are attached. In short, the varieties in the nature of plautc are countless, nor is 

 the enumeration of them requisite. What has been stated is more than enough to 

 show the wonderful arrangements that have been made to ensure the clothing of every 

 part of the earth's surface with vegetable organization. There is not a soil, however 

 barren, nor a rock, however flinty, that has not its appropriate plant, which plant has 

 no less wonderfully found its way to the spot adapted for it, nay, will perish if re- 



moved elsewhere. Saline plants, for instance, will grow only where saline matters 

 are abundant ; plants of the marsh, and of the bog, flourish only in marshy and boggy 

 ground; those of the parched desert, and of the cloudy mountain, each in its fitting 

 locality. Thus the soil and its occupant seem to have been made for each other ; and 

 hence one source of that astonishing variety exhibited in Nature. 



There are still more remarkable deviations among the plants of different countries 

 remote from one another, even where the circumstances of climate and of soil are in 

 every respect alike. The plants of the Cape of Good Hope, for instance, differ ex- 

 ceedingly from those of the south of Europe, though the climate and much of the soil 

 be not dissimilar. Often on the same continent, nay, on the same ridge of moun- 

 tains, the plants on the opposite sides have no resemblance. Thus, in North America, 

 on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, Azalias, Rhododendrons, Magnolias, Vacci- 

 niums, Actsas, and Oaks, form the principal features of the landscape; while, on the 

 western side of the dividing ridge, these genera almost entirely disappear, and no longer, 

 constitute a striking characteristic of the vegetation. 



In general, the plants of America are different from those of the Old World, ex- 

 cept towards the north, where, as it might be expected, from the near approximation 

 of the two continents, many individuals are common to both. The plants of islands^ 

 and those growing in isolated situations, are often quite peculiar. Thus the plants 

 of New Holland, with comparatively few exceptions, differ from those of all the rest 

 of the world; and, *' of sixty-one native species in the little island of St Helena, only 

 two or three are to be found in any other part of the globe." These facts are quite 

 inexplicable upon any known principles, and are calculated to excite a more than or- 

 dinary degree of attention, as being solely referable to the will of the Great Creator, 

 who has chosen to provide infinite diversity where all might have been uniform and 

 monotonous, and has thus rendered more conspicuous his wisdom, his power, and his 

 goodness. — Prout's Bridgeivater Treatise, 



GEOLOGY. 



Eruption of Fishes. — Baron Hiimboldt gives an account of a wonderful eruption 

 of fishes that sometimes takes place from the volcanos of the kingdom of Quito. 

 These fiehes are ejected in the intervals of the igneous eruptions in such quantities as- 

 to occasion putrid fevers by the miasmata they produce. They sometimes issued from 

 the crater of the volcano, and sometimes from lateral clefts, but constantly at the ele- 

 vation of between two and three thousand toises above the level of the sea. In a few 

 hours, millions are seen to descend from Cotopaxi with great masses of cold and fresh 

 water. As they do not appear to be disfigured or mutilated, they cannot be exposed 

 to the action of great heat. Humboldt thought they were identical with fishes that 

 were found in the rivulets at the foot of the volcanos, and to which he assigns the 

 name of Pimelodus Cyclopum. 



GENERAL SCIENCE. 



On the Colour or the Sea — Persons who have spent their lives in the inte- 

 rior of great continents, and have only been accustomed to observe the flow of brooks 

 and shallow rivers, the source of clear fountains, or the roll of muddy currents, must 

 view with some emotion the first sight of the sea, with its waters of sparkling green— 

 a colour which appears peculiar to itself. When we pour a portion of its water into 

 a vessel, we are struck at its perfect limpidity, and its colourless appearance. So 

 great is the transparency of the ocean, in situations where it is not subjected to the 

 contamination of rivers or of impure substances, that the sand in the bottom of its bed, 

 even at a considerable depth, can be distinctly seen, while stones and small shells are 

 quite perceptible through the medium, and shine with resplendent brightnesB. Marine 

 plants and corallines beam with dazzling splendour, exhibiting their varied tints, 

 while immersed in the water ; but no sooner are they removed from it than their beauty 

 vanishes. The Iridea and Alcyonia, which there possess all the varied tints of the 

 rainbow, or wear a garb of glittering purple or orange, soon change their vivid lustre 

 when cast upon the strand, and become black, yellow, or of a dingy violet, from their 

 exposure to atmospheric air. When we enjoy an aquatic excursion during a cloud- 

 less day, on the smooth, unruffled bosom of the sea, and behold the sunbeams pene- 

 trate the abyss of waters, the deepness of its green impresses us with the idea of a 

 verdant and liquid meadow. In proportion as we recede from the shore, and the water 

 deepens around, the tint changes into a blue ; and when we have reached the open sea, 

 where the depth exceeds fifty or sixty fathoms, the water assumes a tint of the finest 

 azure blue. The green shade usually indicates danger, or an approach to shallow 

 water ; but along those coasts which are interspersed with peaks or mountains, and 

 near which the sounding line descends to great depths, the azure blue invariably 

 appears, and assumes a more lively hue, as the depth becomes more considerable. 

 This blue, which is generally considered as a characteristic of the ocean, and which 

 appearance is accounted for by the rays of the sun becoming more decomposed as 

 they penetrate into the depths of the waters, is not, however, pecuhar to it, as every 

 deep bed of water presents the same appearance under similar circumstances. Deep 

 fresh-water lakes, especially in mountainous regions, exhibit the azure blue tint, which 

 even extends itself to the beds of torrents. At the bottom of the torrent where the 

 water fills the hollow cavity of a rock, the serene sky produces, in a modified degree, 

 this beautiful colouring effect upon the water. 



Sir Isaac Newton has demonstrated that the colours of all bodies arise from their 

 power of reflecting or transmitting to the eye certain rays of which white hght is 

 composed; and of stopping or absorbing the remaining rays. This followed from his 

 observing that bodies, of whatever colour they may appear, exhibit this colour only 

 in white light. Every thing appears red in red light; and the leaf of the rose then 

 presents the same hue as its flower. Even the most transparent bodies in Nature 

 possess this absorbing power when in large masses. Thus, the air which appears 

 perfectly colourless when seen from one end of an apartment to the other, tinges 

 with a soft blueish gray the distant hills; and at length, when we look into the deep 

 and cloudless expanse of the heavens, it deepens into a bright and azure blue. If we 

 deccend in a diving bell to a considerable depth below the surface of the sea, the sun 

 appears of a bright red. In great depths of water objects become nearly invisible; 



