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THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



TEETH OF THE FLYING LEMUR. 



In the accompanying wood-cut, we supply a representation of the curious 

 dental system of the Red Flying Lemur, that singular animal, about the 

 size of a Cat, provided all round with a regular parachute which sup- 

 ports it in the air, and enables it to take immense leaps, though it can- 

 not fly like the Bats. These sketches were supplied by Audebert, in his 

 great work upon the Monkeys, and were taken from a stuffed specimen, 

 in which the whole of the mouth could not be examined- Figure A shows 

 the incisors of the lower jaw, of their natural size. In figure B these are 

 magnified, to show their singular pectinated appearance. The foremost 

 tooth in figure C is a profile view of the last of the incisors of the upper 

 jaw ; the next is regarded as the canine, and the third, very much of the 



same shape, is the first molar, which is followed by four others, of the 

 same general appearance, though somewhat less in size. The teeth are 

 thus in many ways anomalous, as is the strange animal to which they 

 belong. 



The Hippopotamus, (Hippopotamus amphibius.} — This animal 

 abounds in the Limpopo, dividing the empire with its amphibious 

 neighbour the Crocodile. Throughout the night the unwieldy monsters 

 might be heard snorting and blowing during their aquatic gambols, and 

 we not unfrequently detected them in the act of sallying from their reed- 

 grown coverts, to graze by the serene light of the moon ; never, however, 

 venturing to any distance from the river, the stronghold to which they 

 betake themselves on the smallest alarm. Occasionally, during the day, 

 they were to be seen basking on the shore, amid ooze and mud ; but shots 

 were most constantly to be had at their uncouth heads, when protruded 

 from the water to draw breath j and, if killed, the body rose to the surface. 

 Vulnerable only behind the ear, however, or the eye, which is placed in 

 a prominence, so as to resemble the garret window of a Dutch house, 

 they require the perfection of rifle practice, and after a few shots become 

 exceedingly shy, exhibiting the snout only, and as instantly withdrawing 

 it. The flesh is delicious, resembling pork in flavour, and abounding in 

 fat, which in the colony is deservedly esteemed the greatest of delicacies. 

 The hide is upwards of an inch and a half in thickness, and being scarcely 

 flexible, may be dragged from the ribs in strips like the planks from a ship's 

 side. 



Of all the Mammalia, whose portraits, drawn from ill-stuffed specimens, 

 have been foisted upon the world, Behemoth has perhaps been the most 



ludicrously misrepresented. I sought in vain for that colossal head for 



those cavern-like jaws, garnished with elephantine tusk — or those pon- 

 derous feet, with which ' ' the formidable and ferocious quadruped " is 

 wont " to trample down whole fields of corn in a single night ! " Defence- 

 less and inoffensive, his shapeless carcase is but feebly supported upon 

 short and disproportioned legs, and his belly almost trailing upon the 

 ground, he may not inaptly be likened to an overgrown Pig. The colour 

 is pinkish-brown, clouded and freckled with a darker tint. Of many that 



we shot, the largest measured less than five feet at the shoulder Capt. 



Harris' Narrative. 



The African Elephant — Much has been said of the attachment of 

 Elephants to their young, but neither on this, nor any subsequent occa- 

 sion of hunting that animal, did we perceive them evince the smallest 

 concern for their safety; on the contrary, they left them to shift for them- 

 selves Ibid. 



The Ostrich — Miserably mounted as we were, any attempt to over- 



take this gigantic bird would have been vain, but a shot couid always be 

 obtained at arm's length, by galloping to a point in the course it had se- 

 lected, and from which it rarely swerved. The male bird often measures 

 nine feet at the crown of the head, and exceeds 300 lbs. in weight — the 

 thigh being equal in size to the largest leg of mutton. Excepting the 

 costly white plumes, so prized by the fair sex, and which are chiefly ob- 

 tained from the wing, instead of from the tail, as generally imagined, the 

 colour of the body is the deepest black in the male bird, and in the fe- 

 male a dingy brown. While running, the wings are raised above the 

 back ; and the clatter of the feet, which are only provided with two toes, 

 resembles that made by a horse in trotting. The puny Bushman avails 

 himself of the disguise afforded by its skin, to mix with a troop of wild 

 animals, and select his victim. At the twang of his tiny bow, away scours 

 the herd in dire consternation, and, more alarmed than all, off scuds the 

 impostor with them, again propelling a shaft as soon as the panic has sub- 

 sided. The destruction committed in this manner is incredible, — a slen- 

 der reed, only slightly tipped with bone or iron, but imbued with a subtle 

 poison, and launched with unerring dexterity, being sufficient to destroy 

 the most powerful animal Ibid. 



BOTANY. 



food from sea-ware. 



A few years ago a Paper, by Mr J. Brown, junior, of Haddington, was 

 read to the Society for the Encouragement of the Useful Arts in Scotland, 

 concerning a vegetable principle, which, it was maintained, could be ex- 

 tracted from the common sea-ware growing so abundantly on the British 

 coasts, and which, by a little ingenuity, might be converted into invalu- 

 able food for cattle and mankind. This proposal created a considerable 

 sensation at the time, and was favourably reported of by a respectable 

 committee of the society ; and, as it must be universally a subject of re- 

 gret, that a really useful prospect should be blighted and forgotten, we 

 shall now endeavour to restore the one in question to popular attention, 

 and promote, if possible, its practical application. 



That these sea- wares (fuci — tangles) luxuriate in the richest abundance 

 in almost every part of our rocky shores, is a fact too generally known to 

 be insisted on ; and it was a circumstance which our ancestors did not fail 

 to improve. From them our soda, chlorine, iodine, and kelp, used formerly 

 to be procured, and from this last article especially, till obtained more 

 readily from other sources, there flowed much wealth to the manufacturer, 

 and large fortunes to the proprietors. Were Mr Brown's anticipations 

 to be realized, our sea-weeds, as they are designated, would yet become 

 more profitable to their owners, and more useful to the community, than 

 they have hitherto been. 



Various circumstances lead to the supposition that the fuci might con- 

 tain the elements of wholesome and substantial food. Our Irish brethren 

 eat their Carrageen, and Scotchmen their Dulce ; and the former of these, 

 F. endevicefolius, is now well known over the country by the name of" Irish 

 Moss," as a nourishing and easily digested food for invalids. As to cattle, 

 again, we are told that in Orkney they are in the habit, of their own ac- 

 cord, of descending to the sea-side for the purpose of devouring them ; 

 and in some parts of our coasts, it is a common practice to mix tangle 

 with their ordinary food. If, improving upon these hints, we appeal to 

 chemical analysis, we are speedily instructed that sea-ware contains, in 

 large quantities, a vegetable principle of deservedly very high estimation. 

 This ingredient by some chemists has been regarded albumen, (a familiar 

 instance of which is exhibited in the white of the egg,) and by others as 

 vegetable jelly, (gelatine ,-) but Mr Brown, following in the footsteps of 

 others, has very successfully shown that these opinions are erroneous, 

 and that the principle is identical with the Mucilage contained in the roots 

 of the marsh-mallow, or the pericarp, or seed-vessel of linseed. Mucilage, 

 we may here remark in passing, is very generally regarded as a mere wa- 

 tery solution of gum-arabic. But this appears to be a mistake, for the so 

 designated mucilage of the chemist and pharmacopolist quickly acidifies 

 and moulds, whilst true mucilage has the valuable property of never doing 

 so. As to the quantity of this principle, Professor John states that one 

 of the tangles, F. vesiculosus, contains 780 parts in every 1000 ; a state- 

 ment Mr Brown considers exaggerated ; whilst, according to his own re- 

 searches, another kind, the F. salmatus, yields, by infusion, about half its 

 weight of the principle in question. Some, it is ascertained, supply more 

 than others ; but such large proportions in so exuberant a production, 

 procurable at a cheap rate, is invaluable. 



As good mucilage suitable for feeding cattle, the food should be prepared 

 on an extensive scale, as follows : — Let the tangle-ware be bruised by some 

 rude machine ; macerate a day or two in water acidulated by vitriol, wash 

 well with cold water, boil some hours in three or four times its own bulk 

 of water ; strain, evaporate the decoction to a thickish ropy consistence ; 

 mix with bran, and put up in cakes. These cakes, after being dried, keep 

 for any length of time, and may be given to cattle in the same way as 

 linseed cakes, broken and mashed with warm water. The decoction 

 might also be evaporated to dryness, and transported, in the form of 



