l62 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



contributed bv g. k, gude, f.z.s. 



Bulletin de la Societe Zoologique de 

 Franxe (Paris : July, 1896). The question of the 



domestication of the African Elephant is considered 

 by M. Edouard Blanc. In view of the probable 

 extinction, in the near future, of this much-perse- 

 cuted animal, this subject has come prominently 

 before the public, since the European nations have 

 divided the tropical zone of the Black Continent. 

 In Germany the subject appears to have taken a 

 practical turn, inasmuch that a committee for the 

 domestication of the African Elephant has been 

 formed in Berlin. The Government of the Belgian 

 Congo has likewise made some efforts in the same 

 direction. In France, 'M. Bourdarie has taken up 

 the question, particularly v.dth regard to the French 

 Congo, and he has made some important communi- 

 cations on the subject to several learned societies, 

 before lea\dng for West Africa, where he proposes 

 to make direct attempts in this direction. That the 

 African elephant has been domesticated in the past 

 is af&rmed by some, but denied by others. The 

 undisputed fact of the use made by the Cartha- 

 ginians, in their wars, of elephants, is, however, 

 no proof in support of the theorj', as these animals 

 were, in all probability, obtained from Syria, vrhere, 

 at that period, they were used in combat. To attri- 

 bute an African origin to the elephants of Carthage, 

 it becomes necessary to suppose that a now extinct 

 species existed at that time. In support of this 

 view, the famous inscription of Adulis, now de- 

 stro5'ed, but the text of which has been preser^-ed, 

 is cited. In it Ptolemy Evergetus relates the 

 capture in this region of Ethiopian elephants to be 

 drilled for war, and that v.dth their aid he has 

 overcome the Indian elephants sent against him in 

 Syria and Asia 3.Iinor. In this inscription mention 

 is also made of Troglodyte elephants, and it is 

 supposed that this represents the native animal, 

 v,-hich must have differed in its habits from its 

 sur\-i-ving relatives, as the dry, rocky, mountainous 

 region of the Atlas and Abyssinia could never have 

 presented the same physical conditions of the 

 fertile and humid plains in which the two now- 

 li\-ing species exist. It has, therefore, been sup- 

 posed that Elephas troglodytes must have approxi- 

 mated in habit to the other extinct species, such as 

 E. priscus, E. antiquus, and E. mditensis, and that 

 it lived, if not actually in caves, at least in rocky, 

 mountainous and comparatively drj' regions. The 

 specific character of this hypothetic species can 

 only be guessed at, as hitherto not a vestige of 

 bones has been found in Algeria. The author, 

 however, thinks that the inscription of Adulis 

 authorizes the assumption that the animal ex- 

 tended to Ab5-ssinia, and he hopes that researches 

 in that region will lead to better results in the 

 future. 



Proceedings of the Academy of Natural 

 SciEXCES fPhiladelphia, 1896). — Mr. H. A. Pilsbry, 

 in conjunction with Mr. E. G. Vanatta, contributes 

 a catalogue of the species of Cerion, vdth descrip- 

 tion of new forms. The genus Cerion, or, as it is 



commonly known, Strophia, as the authors inform 



us, is one of the most characteristic forms of West 

 Indian molluscan life. With two exceptions the 

 species are all insular ; the two exceptions referred 

 to are C. incanum, from South Florida Keys, and C. 

 antonii, from Guiana. The Greater Antilles, Cuba, 

 Hayti and Porto Rico, \\-ith the Virgin Islands and 

 the entire group of the Bahamas, are inhabited by 

 numerous species, with a multitude of local races. 

 South of the larger islands named, if the faunally 

 dependent Cayman Group and the Isle of Pines are 

 included v.dth Cuba, but one single species is found, 

 C. tiva of Curacoa, singularly isolated in charac- 

 ters as well as geographically. Jamaica is without 

 a species, and the genus fails also in the Caribbean 

 chain. Generall}' speaking, each species is confined 

 to some single island, or to a series of adjacent 

 ke^-s or islets ; there are, however, numerous ex- 

 ceptions, and some forms, undoubtedly conspecific, 

 are found on several islands separated by con- 

 siderable distances. The species are stated to be 

 subject to a remarkable range of indi\ddual and 

 local variation, many varjdng from strongly and 

 conspicuously ribbed to entirely ribless and smooth, 

 while colour is equally variable, pure white forms 

 varying to heavily brown-mottled in many cases. 

 Absolute size of adults is stated to be almost as 

 mutable as in Cypraea, and occasionalh' individuals 

 are abnormally shortened by the premature 

 assumption of the features of maturity, giving them 

 a stunted appearance. All these considerations 

 render the study of the species one of unusual 

 difficult}', especially as the older authors, being 

 unacquainted with the protean nature of the 

 species, as %vell as with the usuall)^ restricted range 

 of each, often failed to properly discriminate them. 

 ^Ir. C. J. ^laynard, an American writer on natural 

 history, was the first to drav\- attention to these 

 facts, and he found that the aperture-armature or 

 teeth of the Cerions are variouslj' arranged, and 

 furnished a basis for dividing the genus into sub- 

 genera. He further discovered and described a 

 large number of most interesting species and 

 varieties, especially in the Caj-man Island group. 

 The present authors, however, consider that he 

 has unduly multiplied species and sub-species, 

 basing them on characters which they hold to be 

 slight and inconstant. The catalogue presented 

 by the authors is the result of the careful examina- 

 tion and study of a very large collection of shells, 

 and their object has been primarily to place before 

 students a moderate estimate of the species of 

 the group, specific values being held neither in 

 extremely narrow nor ver)- wide limits, but practi- 

 cally in conformity with the ^dews represented by 

 the leading English and American conchological 

 authors of to-day. Of the anatomy of the soft parts 

 little is known as yet ; our authors add, however, to 

 this subject by an illustration of the anatomy of 

 a new species. Thej' then divide the genus into 

 four groups of sub-generic value, i.e. Eostrophia, 

 Cerion, s.s., Stropliiops and Diacerion. After 

 enumerating the known species with the synonymy 

 and some references to bibliography, they describe a 

 number of new forms which are illustrated b}^ a 

 plate of thirty - one figures. The same authors 

 also contribute a " Re\dsion of the North American 

 Slugs, Ariolimax and Aphallarion." The latter is 

 a new genus proposed for a new, species, perhaps 

 the largest American slug. The anatomy of these 

 two genera is investigated and compared with that 

 of Avion. A key is given to the species of 

 Ariclimax, and all the species dealt vAth in the 

 paper are illustrated by a plate of sixteen figures. 



