AND OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES. 



That fierce monarch of the pool, the Pike, is here abundant, and often 

 attains a large size. When about a foot or so in length, it is often beau- 

 tifully variegated in a manner not presented by the fish when of larger size, 

 and its colours are seen to much advantage in a bright sun-shine. The 

 Gudgeon, a fish nearly allied to the Pike, is every where common, lying 

 near the bottom where there is mud. Eels are also numerous, and by 

 the process of " bobbing'' I have seen a man in a fair way to fill a small 

 fishing coble with them. The larger ones are caught by means of a long 

 spear like a trident, which the fisher thrusts down into the mud. 



The Perch is very common, but still more so is the Roach, which may 

 be sometimes seen in shoals of many hundreds. Though a very insipid 

 fish, it is much sought for, especially by juvenile anglers. The Dace is 

 also common, and in my opinion resembles much in its habits the common 

 Trout. It is generally found in clear water, and in shallows, especially 

 where there is a sandy bottom. Besides these mentioned, various other 

 kinds of fish are met with, especially the Bream, which is found in great 

 plenty on some of the broads upon the Yare. Some of the largest are 

 nearly as deep as long, and an angler of my acquaintance insists on their 

 similarity to a pair of bellows. 



The neighbourhood of Norwich is peculiarly rich in Entomological 

 treasures, and affords to the Insect-hunter an abundant supply wherewith 

 to gratify his love of collecting. 



The splendid Calosoma Sycophanta has been repeatedly taken in the 

 neighbourhood, and I believe no where else in Britain. Carabus Monilis is 

 very common about gardens, &c. I mention it as being very rare in Scot- 

 land. Odacantha melanura, a rare insect, is not unfrequently met within 

 Norfolk. The numerous pools and marshes, as well as the sluggish streams 

 with which the country abounds, give birth to a vast number of species of 

 water beetles, especially Dytiscidce. Hydrous piceus, one of our largest 

 coleoptera, is found in the ditches about the city. Acilius canaliculatus is 

 common. 



A large species of Priomts was found last summer in Lord Stafford's 

 garden at Costessay by the gardener, who showed it to me. The very 

 first insect I took in Norfolk was at once the rarest and most valuable of 

 my captures there. It is the Blistering-fly, Cantharis vesicatoria, so com- 

 mon in the South of France, and so rare in this country. I found it un- 

 der an ash-tree. I also got several specimens of Leptura quadrifasciata, and 

 Saperda cylindrica. 



The roses in the hedges and lanes have their blossoms almost covered 

 with a profusion of the Phyllopertha hurt/cola ; and a species of Cock- 

 chaffer, Melolontha solstitialis, is extremely abundant, flying about in the 

 evening. 



Among the Neuroptera, many species of Libellulida;, or Dragon-flies, 

 are very common, and among others I may mention Libellula depressa and 

 quadrimaculata. 



Dipterous insects are exceedingly plentiful, and I collected upwards of 

 a hundred species. As I am not much conversant with this department 

 of Entomology, I shall not mention any names, with the exception of Oes- 

 trus Equi. 



Of Hymenoptera, I shall allude only to Sirex Juvencus, and four species 

 of Ammophila. 



The Purple Emperor, Apatura Iris, I observed in a wood near the 

 city flying at a great height, and meandering among the top branches of a 

 lofty oak. The beautiful, though common. Peacock Butterfly, and the 

 Red Admiral, are both of frequent occurrence. The Skippers or Hes- 

 peridce are pretty common about Norwich, on sunny banks and in wood- 

 land glades, along with MelitcEa Euphrosyne and Argyunis Aglaia. The 

 Hesperida taken are four in number. 



1 also found Ino Statices, Sphinx Ligustri, and Imerinthus ocellatus, the 

 two latter in the larva state. The /. ligustri, or Privet Moth, is common 

 in its Caterpillar state, in gardens about Norwich, feeding on the Lilac, 

 Syringa vulgaris. I have also seen it on the Asparagus. 



The Dobchick, Podiceps minor, Waterhen, Gallinula Chloropus, to- 

 gether with the Coot, Fulica alra, and perhaps two or three others, in- 

 habit those lonely meres 



Where water-lilies lie afloat, 

 Each anchored like a fairy boat 

 Amid some fabled elfin lake : 



and the Reed Warbler, Salicaria arundinacea, together with its fellow 

 the Sedge Warbler, are to be seen wherever there is a piece of water 

 fringed with alders and sedges, and it is indeed pleasant to see them 



flit to and fro 

 Along the dark green reedy edge. 



The whole family of the Sylviadce, or Warblers, is very abundant 

 about Norwich, and among others the Lesser White-throat, one of which 

 I caught in an Insect net. The Nightingale is said to be occasionally 

 found in a wood belonging to Mrs Martineau near the city, a spot which 

 affords a delightful retreat to many of the smaller birds. 



Two species of Sand-piper, the Pectoral and Broad-hilled, have been 



added to the British Fauna of late years from Yarmouth, near Norwich, 

 and not long ago there was procured in the same vicinity a specimen of 

 the Western Duck, now in a state of beautiful preservation in the Nor- 

 wich Museum, where I saw it. 



The above sketch must necessarily be very defective, especially as re- 

 gards the Botanical and Entomological part, as a residence of many years 

 is required to enable a person to form anything like a complete local 

 fauna, but as such I do not consider it ; and in conclusion I may state, 

 that if it has served to give a general idea of the productions of a county 

 in every way so interesting, my object has been attained J. M. 



BOTANY. 



Flora of London From a Paper read to the Botanical Society of 



London, by Mr Daniel Cooper, being " Remarks on the Distribution of 

 Plants in the Vicinity of London," it appears, that of the 104 natural or- 

 ders, 536 genera, and 1452 species, mentioned in Dr Lindley's Synopsis 

 of the British Flora, there have been found 82 natural orders, 351 genera, 

 804 species, — a number greater than recorded in any other local Flora of 

 Great Britain, which is attributed to the great diversity of soil in the 

 neighbourhood of the metropolis. 



Cotton. — At a meeting of the Asiatic Society on the 5th January, 

 Professor Royle read a letter from the Horticultural Society of Bengal, 

 which accompanied a small bale of Cotton, the growth of India, from 

 American seed, requesting the opinion of competent judges in England 

 as to its staple and price, compared with Indian and American Cottons. 

 It stated, that although the culture of American Cotton had not been 

 established in India on an extensive scale, it was hoped that the natives 

 would be induced, by the steady perseverance of the society, and the ex- 

 ample of several influential persons, to spread it extensively over all the 

 districts favourable to the growth of Cotton. Dr Royle also read a letter 

 from Mr Malcolmson, on the Cotton grown near Paestum, in the kingdom 

 of Naples, a small quantity of the seed of which he had forwarded, with 

 a request that it should be sent to the Horticultural Society of Bengal. 

 It was stated that two kinds of Cotton were cultivated in the kingdom 

 of Naples, the best of which was grown at Castellamare. Dr Royle 

 stated that he had received a note from the Hon. Fox Strangways, con- 

 taining an extract from a paper of Professor Tenore, on the Cotton spoken 

 of by Mr Malcolmson. It showed that the usual Cotton grown in the 

 kingdom was the Gossypium Iicrbaccum ; but that the Cotton of Castella- 

 mare, which had been cultivated from time immemorial in Calabria, was 

 very probably the same as the American Cotton described in the Orto 

 Romano. For the cultivation of this Cotton in Castellamare, they were 

 indebted to the French, who had brought it from Calabria. Dr Royle 

 observed that it was most probably Gossypium hirsulum, or upland 

 Georgia Cotton. 



Viola Lactea. — John Nicholson, Esq., of Lincoln, has found a very 

 remarkable state of Viola lactea at Boulthane Lane, in the neighbourhood 

 of that city. Except at the base, the stems are quite erect, and many of 

 the specimens from a foot to eighteen inches tall, with the leaves and pe- 

 duncles very remote from each other, and many of the flowers apetalous. 

 , — Annals of 2?at. Hist. 



GEOLOGY. 



Earthquakes in Chile A number of observations relative to the 



earthquakes of Chile have been collected by M. Dumoulin, an engineer, 

 and transmitted by him to M. Arago. From them it appears, that, con- 

 trary to the general opinion, they do not occur more frequently in one 

 season than another. There can be no doubt as to their elevating the 

 surface. The little river Tabul, which, at 22 or 23 leagues from Talca- 

 puano, was navigable for brigs in 1834, became fordable after the earth- 

 quake of 1835, and throughout the neighbourhood the beds of the streams 

 were elevated. In one year, Captain Costa, master of a whaler, found 

 the bottom of the sea, at the Island of St Mary, raised nine feet, and 

 rocks which were not uncovered even at low tide, were entirely out of 

 water, and not even covered by the sea when it was highest. 



ON THE MEANS OF PREVENTING THE INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING. 

 BY M. ARAGO. 



In an Essay on Lightning, published in the Annuaire du Bureau des Lon- 

 gitudes, and of part of which a translation appears in the last number of 

 the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, M. Arago gives an account of the 

 facts recorded relative to this meteor, and of the inferences that may be 

 legitimately deduced from them. His section on the dangers arising from 

 lightning, and the means of obviating them, is here abridged. 



Is the danger of being struck by lightning so great, that we ought rea- 

 sonably to attach importance to the means of guarding against it? In the 



