54 



THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



coast of Ireland, and it is even a frequent occurrence in the month of 

 June at Youghal. Here a herd of 75 came ashore a few years ago, of 

 which the average size was from 11 to 18 feet, and one had attained the 

 length of 22 feet. Again, when Mr T. was visiting the south islands of 

 Arran, (oifthe coast of Clare,) in June 1834, accompanied by Mr Ball, 

 a portion of the skeleton of a Delphinus inelas was found by them on the 

 beach. On this latter gentleman revisiting the same islands in the fol- 

 lowing summer, he saw the remains of a herd of these animals lying where 

 they had perished. The inhabitants likewise speak of them as common. 

 A word, before concluding, on the appellation used by Mr Thompson, 

 viz. Delphinus melas, Traill. Deductor is the more characteristic name ; and 

 although melas was first proposed by Dr Traill, yet it was the same dis- 

 tinguished individual who himself suppressed the old name and applied 

 the new, so giving a preference in which he may very properly be indul- 

 ged. It was in Nicolson's Journal the former name was applied, and 

 the latter appeared in Scoresby's Arctic Regions, whence it has natural- 

 ly but unfortunately been inferred that the new name had been applied by 

 the illustrious mariner, though it was really by his friend Dr Traill. We 

 agree with this very intelligent gentleman that this is the preferable spe- 

 cific name : and, with regard to the generic, as the genus Delphinus has 

 become so numerous, amounting to scores, it seems necessary to adopt 

 Lesson's division of Globicephalus, so making this whale the G. de. 

 ductor. 



ON THE SILVERY WHITE-HAIRED GOAT OF ANGORA. 



A communication on the White- Haired Goat ofAngorawas, in the month 

 of January last, read by Lieutenant Conolly to the Asiatic Society, of which 

 we shall now supply a short account. The Angora Goat, peculiar to the 

 Province of Asia Minor of that name, is invariably white, with long silky 

 hair, of one sort only. If taken from the province, they are with diffi- 

 culty kept alive, and always deteriorate, so as to be no longer recognizable. 

 It is remarkable that the cats and dogs of this province have also long 

 silky hair ; the former over the whole body, the latter in the ears and 

 tail only. This may arise from the nature of the country, which is hilly, 

 and composed of chalk, and very dry ; the vegetation, upon the whole, 

 rather scanty, and the trees small. The Angora Goats are clipped an- 

 nually, and yield from one to four pounds. The price of the ordinary 

 sort is about 7d. a-pound, and the picked samples fetch 1 1 d. The skin 

 is exported to Constantinople, where it is dyed of various colours, and 

 used chiefly for Turkish boots and slippers. The hair is exported either 

 in a raw state, or in yarn, or manufactured into those delicate stuffs which 

 are well known in Europe. Some of the fleeces are exported entire to 

 Turkey, where they are used for seats for the religious doctors ; and a 

 few reach Europe, where they are valued as rugs and saddle-cloths. A 

 good skin costs L.l at Angora, and 30s. at Constantinople. The hair is 

 carded by the women, and then spun. In this process it is well mois- 

 tened with saliva before it is drawn from the distaff; and it is stated that 

 in the melon season, the yarn is much better than that spun at any other 

 time, because the melon imparts a mucilaginous quality to the saliva, 

 which softens the hair. Before the yarn is used by the weaver, it is well 

 saturated by chireesh, a liquor made from a root like a radish, brought 

 from the neighbourhood of Konia. The process is a strange one, and was 

 witnessed by Lieutenant Conolly. The yarn is stretched out on wooden 

 frames, like the hempen lines of a rope-walk; and two men, with large 

 bowls of chireesh, take mouthfuls of the liquid, and squirt it dexterously 

 over the yarn in very minute showers ; they are followed by others, who 

 press the moistened yarn together, and then spread it out again, so that 

 all the parts may receive a share of the chireesh. The yarn is made into 

 gloves and socks by women, who knit so finely, that socks are some- 

 times sold at nearly 20s. a-pair. The exportation of the wool is very 

 great, and the province is thereby much enriched. 



description or the white ants (Termes bellicosus.') 



In our last Number, we supplied a description of those most wonderful 

 specimens of insect architecture, the nests or hills of the so-called White 

 Ants ; and we shall now add as condensed an account as we can of the 

 wonderful little creatures themselves. We mentioned that, according to 

 Mr Smeathman, (Phil. Trans, lxxi.) there were three classes in every 

 community, the workers, the soldiers, and their majesties the king and 

 queen. He conceives, moreover, that the workers are larvae, the soldiers 

 nymphse, and the king and queen the perfect insects. In this opinion he 

 coincides with Sparmann and others ; but M. Latreille is inclined to think 

 from what he observed in an European species, (T. hicifugus,) found near 

 Bordeaux, that the soldiers form a distinct race, like the neuters among 

 bees and ants, while the workers are larvae, which, when they become 

 nymphs, are supplied with the rudiments of four wings, which are fully 

 developed in the perfect insect. 



The worker is less than one-fourth of an inch in length, delicate and 

 slender, having a distinct head, chest, and abdomen, with six legs, and is 

 wholly of a brownish colour. The soldiers are much larger, being half an 



inch long, and equal in bulk to 15 labourers. There is, moreover, a re- 

 markable difference in the form of the head and mouth ; for in the worker 

 the mouth is evidently calculated for gnawing, whilst in the other, the jaws 

 are shaped like two very sharp awls, somewhat jagged, the head at the 

 same time being larger than all the rest of the body put together, and quite 

 horny, having jaws like crab's claws, so that they are incapable of any 

 thing else than piercing or wounding. In the perfect stale the insect va- 

 ries in form still more than ever. The head, thorax, and abdomen, differ 

 almost •entirely from the same parts in the other two classes ; and, be- 

 sides, the creature is now furnished with four large transparent wings, 

 with which, at the time of emigration, it isjto wend its way in search of a 

 new settlement. In the winged state they alter their size as much as 

 their form. Their bodies now measure between six and seven lines, 

 and their wings two and a half inches from tip to tip, and they are equal 

 in bulk to about 30 labourers, or two soldiers. They are now also fur- 

 nished with two large eyes, placed on each side of the head ; whilst in the 

 others they are not easily distinguished. It is in this form the animal comes 

 abroad, with the first showers of the rainy season, which usually occur at 

 night, and if the rain continues, the quantities which cover the surface of 

 the earth, and particularly the waters, are astonishing ; for their wings are 

 persistent only for a few hours, and after the rising of the sun, not one 

 in a thousand is to be found with four wings, and probably not a pair in 

 many millions get into a place of safety, to fulfil the first law of nature, 

 and lay the foundation of a new community. 



The dangers of these insects areimmensely increased by their almost innu- 

 merable foes, for all kinds of ants, and many other insects, as well as reptiles 

 and birds, and man himself, are their implacable foe, devouring them, quite 

 resistless, with the keenest relish. A few, however, do escape ; and be- 

 ing found by some of the labourers, are elected the monarchs of new states : 

 they are immediately inclosed in the royal chamber formerly described. 

 After this, the work of propagation soon commences, and the labourers 

 constructing the required nurseries carry the eggs, and lodge them safely 

 on obtaining them from the queen. 



It is about this time that the most extraordinary change commences hi 

 the appearance of the queen. The abdomen gradually extends, and en- 

 larges to such an enormous size, that in an old queen it is increased to 

 1500 or 2000 times the bulk of the rest of her body, and 20,000 or 30,000 

 times the size of a labourer. When about two years old, the abdomen is 

 about three inches in length, and sometimes it is found twice that size. 

 It has now become one vast matrix full of eggs, and has a peristaltic mo- 

 tion, resembling the undulation of the waves, which continues incessantly, 

 without any apparent effort of the animal, protruding eggs to the amount 

 of 60 in a minute, or 80,000 and upwards in a day. These eggs are im- 

 mediately removed from her body by the attendants, and are carried to 

 the nurseries, some four or five feet distant, in a straight line, and con- 

 sequently much farther by their winding galleries. Here, on being 

 hatched, the young are attended, and provided with every necessary, till 

 they are able to shift for themselves, and take their proper share in the 

 ordinary labours of the innumerable community. 



The Fruit Crows and Summer Birds The beautiful birds which are 



represented in the 2d Plate of this Number are inhabitants of South America, 

 and most of them of the Province of Brazil. Here the Red-breasted Fruit 

 Crow abounds, and although the Royal one is transmitted from its principal 

 ports, yet it must be exceedingly rare, as few or no travellers have discovered 

 it in its haunts : Hence, probably, it is only brought into these parts, and most 

 likely from Peru or Chili. These birds are about the same dimensions as our 

 own Crows, though more richly attired and ornamented. The Royal Fruit 

 Crow has not only a splendid crest on its head, but a flaming beard of elegant 

 feathers ; whereby it is distinguished from all known birds. The Araponga 

 Summer-bird was discovered by the Prince of Neuwied during his Travels in 

 Brazil, where it is often perched upon the extremity of a dead branch, and is 

 well known by its peculiar voice, not unlike the stroke of a hammer upon an 

 anvil, or that of some not very harmonious bell. 



BOTANY AND HORTICULTURE. 



INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF OPIUMi 



The injurious effect of eating and smoking Opium is unfortunately no 

 longer a practice of some semi-barbarous people to which we can listen 

 with indifference, but is one which is rapidly forcing itself upon atten- 

 tion from the results it is producing in the heart of our own popula- 

 tion. We noticed some months ago, that Dr James Johnson mentioned 

 in one of the Metropolitan Societies, that whatever diminution or ab- 

 stinence in the abuse of ardent spirits was being effected in this country 

 by the effects of Temperance Societies, was more than counterbalanced 

 by the increasing indulgence in the use of Opium ; and this not only 

 amongst the most degraded of our people, but also among the wealthier 

 classes, so that the attention of the various! Assurance Companies was espe- 

 cially required to the point as affecting their prosperity and well-being. 

 No warning of these fearful consequences can be more striking than that 

 which is casually introduced by Mr Bruce, in his able Report on the Cul- 



