34 



THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



watching their pursuers or looking for their prey. When catching In- 

 sects on the wing, they hide themselves among the dwarf palm, and ge- 

 nerally endeavour to catch their prey with a long spring, in which the 

 length of their hinder-feet is of great service. During the hot months, and 

 in rainy days, they disappear ; and the best time to procure them is spring 

 and autumn. The soldiers found the very small young of this Long-snouted 

 Mouse in the month of February, consequently the pairing-time must be 

 the winter. When imprisoned, they give out a very peculiar and strong 

 exhalation. A single individual, which had been confined for some days 

 in a large case, left an odour which the box retained for several weeks. 

 Among themselves they are very mild, and not quarrelsome, and are not 



observed to fight even about their food Ann. of Nat. Hist. 



Aerial Voyages of Spiders The power of certain Spiders to make 



long aerial voyages must be pretty generally known, but seldom has it been 

 more strikingly illustrated than in the following interesting narrative of a 

 recent intelligent traveller. " One day," says Dr Darwin, " the weather 

 having been fine and clear, the air was full of patches of the flocculent 

 gossamer web, as on an autumnal day in England. The ship was 60 

 leagues distant from the land, in the direction of a steady though light 

 breeze. Vast numbers of a small Spider, about one-tenth of an inch in 

 length, and of a dusky red colour, were attached to the webs. There 

 must have been, I should suppose, some thousands on the ship. The 

 little Spider, when first coming in contact with the rigging, was al- 

 ways seated on a single thread, and not on the flocculent mass. This 

 latter seems merely to be produced by the entanglement of the single 

 threads. The Spiders were all of one species, but of both sexes, together 

 with young ones. The little aeronaut, as soon as it arrived on board, 

 was very active, running about ; sometimes letting itself fall, and then re- 

 ascending the same thread ; sometimes employing itself in making a small 

 and very irregular mesh between the ropes. It could run with facility 

 on the surface of the water. When disturbed, it lifted up its fore-legs 

 in the attitude of attention. On its first arrival it appeared very thirsty, 

 and with exserted mamillse drank eagerly of the fluid. Its stock of web 

 seemed inexhaustible. While watching some that were suspended by a 

 single thread, I several times observed that the slightest breath of the air 

 bore them away out of sight in a horizontal line. On another occasion, 

 under similar circumstances, I repeatedly observed the same kind of small 

 Spider, either when placed, or having crawled, on some little eminence, 

 elevate its abdomen, send forth a thread, and then sail away in a lateral 

 course, but with a rapidity which was quite unaccountable." — Voyages of 

 the Adventure and JSeaele. 



CRANIDM OF THE DINOTHERIUM GIGANTEOM. 



The accompanying engraving, (which is an accurate copy of one in a late 

 volume of the Magazin de Zoologie,) representing the cranium of what 

 has been called the Dinotherium giganteum, belongs to one of the most ex- 

 traordinary extinct animals with which we have been made acquainted 

 by the discoveries offossil Zoology, and well merits attentive examination. 



This great mass is between three and four feet long. 

 It seems to have belonged to the pachydermous or thick- 

 hided animals, the fossil remains of most of which, ac- 

 cording to M. Jacquemin, are found in the ancient ter- 

 tiary strata of our globe. The great tusks of this enor- 

 mous head, which, with the jaw, measure four feet, re- 

 call to our recollection those of the gigantic Elephant 

 and Walrus ; but they possess this remarkable pecu- 

 liarity, that, instead of starting from the upper jaw, as in 

 these last named animals, they proceed in what appears 

 a far more anomalous manner from the lower, the tusks 



and their sockets describing a complete semicircle as the shaft is prolonged 

 downwards, No disposition similar to this is found in any of the existing 

 races of animals, nor, so far as we are informed, in the extinct. Many 

 other remains of this animal have at different times and places been dis- 

 covered, so that a complete conception has been formed, not only of its 

 skeleton, but also of its softer covering and general lineaments. These we 

 may on a future occasion represent, when it will be seen that, furnished 

 with a great proboscis, it must have possessed a general resemblance to 

 the Elephant of the present day, and still more to the larger Mastodon of 

 a former period. 



This cranium was discovered under the auspices of Dr Kaup, keeper 

 of the Museum at Dramstadt, by a gentleman named Klipstein, whilst 

 making a drain on his property near Eppelsheim, a small town on the left 

 bank of the Rhine, in the grand duchy of Hesse. It was raised from a depth 

 of 18 feet, where it lay imbedded in marly clay, and required no small care lest 

 it should be injured. It was cautiously freed from the surrounding soil, 

 and all beneath was removed save ten columns, which were allowed to 

 remain, and on which it reposed. For these natural columns, artificial 

 ones of gypsum were substituted, and finally it was made to rest upon 

 a firm slab of this gypsum ; beneath this bars of iron, terminating in 

 strong rings, were placed, and a dozen of men elevated it by pulleys 

 safely to the surface, amid the acclamations of a crowd of curious spec- 

 tators : it was then carefully conveyed in a carriage to Dramstadt, a dis- 

 tance of 40 miles. 



Dr Kaup conceives that the Dinotherium was a terrestrial animal which 

 frequented the banks of rivers, and fed upon the roots, &c. which grew 

 upon its banks, uptearing them with its tusks, and conveying them to its 

 mouth with its trunk ; and M. de Blainville states, that he considers that 

 this animal of the ancient world is a lost link intermediate between the 

 Elephants and herbivorous Cete, including the Dugong, Manatus, &c. 

 This opinion is favoured by Dr Buckland's remark that the cranium has 

 a strong resemblance to those of the order Cetacea. 



ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. 



We derive the following particulars concerning this interesting expedition 

 from a correspondent of the " Literary Gazette," who accompanied it at 

 starting. " The Erebus, Captain James C. Ross, and Terror, Captain 

 Crozier, seem to be twin ships, alike in build, in colours, in masts, and 

 rigging, and, indeed, in every external appearance. An inexperienced eye 

 could not tell the one from the other. The Erebus is about 370 tons, the 

 Terror 340. In each the full complement of officers and men is 64 — 128 

 in all. Nothing that the art of the shipwright could accomplish has 

 been omitted to fit them for their perilous undertaking. * * « They 

 are victualled with fresh provisions for three years ; and pemmacan and 

 prepared meats in cases are stowed away in the least possible compass. 

 The provision of scientific instruments, under the superintendence of the 

 Royal Society, is very complete ; and double sets, to supply the loss of 

 any which may be broken or rendered useless, seem almost to furnish the 

 commander's cabin. In this respect the Admiralty has been most liberal ; 

 and indeed we may say, that, after the first official difficulties were got 

 over, the Government has taken up the expedition with the most com- 

 mendable spirit, and done every thing that can contribute to its successful 

 issue. The phenomena of terrestrial magnetism will be independently 

 observed throughout the voyage, and also in connection with the new 

 observatories about to be established at St Helena, the Cape, Van Diemen's 

 Land, &c. The declination, inclination, and intensity of the magnet will 

 thus form tables of the utmost importance towards solving this grand 

 problem ; there are besides dip circles, transits with azimuth circles, and 

 chronometers of the most approved construction. There are also pen- 

 dulums for ascertaining the true figure of the earth, thermometers for de- 

 termining the temperature of the sea at given depths ; photometric sensi- 

 tive paper for experiments on light ; barometers ; glasses for sideral ob- 

 servations ; drawing utensils ; repositories for geological, botanical, and 

 natural history specimens ; hygometers ; and, in short, such means to em- 

 ploy, and so much to be done, that there will be no great leisure for our 

 enterprising countrymen when all these instruments are put in requisition, 

 and their results are regularly chronicled for the information of the world. 

 The earlier proceedings of the voyages will lead them to St Helena, 

 where Lieutenant E. Wilmot, Royal Engineers, will be left in charge of 

 the new observatory. Next, at the Cape, another officer will be landed 

 for a like purpose. The vessels then make their way across the ocean, 

 touching at and examining Kerguelin's Land, Amsterdam, and other 

 islands. Arrived at Van Diemen's Land, the instruments, &c. for the ob- 

 servatory will be sent ashore, and, whilst it is erecting, they will cruise 

 to various points where the scientific pursuits of the expedition are most 

 likely to be advanced. On their return they will start de novo in a direct 

 southern course, towards the antarctic pole. How far they will pene- 

 trate is in the hands of Providence. They will afterwards circumnavigate 

 the pole, and try in every quarter to reach the highest point, whether 



