204 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Aug. 31, i{ 



The neck of the animal is clad with a sort of mane. 

 The rest of the body is covered with hair, shorter than 

 the mane, but longer than that found in many kinds 

 of antelopes, and constantly saturated with a fatty matter. 

 This peculiarity was observed by Laurillard, who pro- 

 posed to give this species the name Antilope iinctuosa. 



The general colour is a light-reddish maroon, passing 

 into a yellowish white on the posterior region and the 

 inner side of the limbs, and into a greyish white on the 

 throat and the cheeks. The lower parts of the limbs are 

 of a dark brown. The tail, relatively thin, ends in a tuft 

 of black hair. The ears, edged with black on the outside, 

 are garnished within with long white hairs, and there are 

 white lines or patches near the hoofs, above the eyes, on 

 the upper lip, and the chin. 



The kobs of Senegambia are found commonly in the 

 Cayor and Upper Senegal, and, according to Gray, on 

 the banks of the Gambia, a region decidedly tropical. 

 Yet these animals, if transported into Europe, do not 

 appear to suffer from the severity of our winters. At 

 the Jardin des Plantes they spend much of their life in 

 the open air, and have no shelter except a shed not 

 heated. Yet they preserve their health and multiply as 

 well as in their native country. No fewer than ten of 

 these antelopes have been born in the gardens. It is 

 thought that this species might exist at large in France. 

 In England its naturalization, if practicable, would not 

 be desirable, as every game bird or beast introduced 

 serves merely as a focus for the contending powers of 

 gamekeepers and poachers, each body suspecting the 

 botanist, the entomologist, the geologist, or the artist of 

 being an ally of its enemy. 



It seems probable that the antelope discovered in 

 Abyssinia by Ruppell, and named by him Antilope 

 defassa, is identical with the kobs or sing-sing of Sene- 

 gambia. Mr. J. Murie (Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society of London) states that some skins of the 

 antelopes in question, brought from the region of the 

 Upper Nile, twenty years ago, by Baron von Harnier, 

 and preserved in the Grand Ducal Museum of Darmstadt, 

 possess neither the unctuous feel nor the long tufty hair 

 of Kobus sing-sing. The skin is also of a colour less 

 reddish and more brown than that of the Senegambian 

 species. The horns, however, are exactly like those of 

 the sing-sing, and the same characters are found in the 

 head of an antelope brought from Uganda by Captain 

 Speke, and belonging, doubtless, to the species which he 

 calls Antilope N'samma. The Antilope Mehedehet, killed 

 by Sir S. Baker on the banks of the Asna, approaches 

 closely to the sing-sing. 



In South Africa there exists another species of Kobus, 

 of a more powerful build, called the " crescent kobus " 

 {Kobus cllipsiprymnus), on account of a white band 

 which descends from the sacrum and terminates in a 

 point on each thigh. The skin is of a yellowish grey, 

 passing to a reddish brown on the forehead and to a 

 white on the throat, the muzzle, and above the eyes. 

 These animals feed along the banks of rivers in small 

 herds, consisting of several females, two or three young 

 males, and a single adult male, who watches over the 

 safety of the band. If alarmed they rush into a marsh, 

 and thus escape their most terrible enemy, the lion. 

 The natives of South Africa do not hunt this species, on 

 account of the intense rankness of its flesh. 



A Luminous Coleopterous I arva from Brazil.— 

 Herr von Jhering (Cosmos, frcm Berlin, Entom, Zeit- 



schrift) states that this larva is distinguished from other 

 luminous insects by its double light, which is fiery red 

 at the head and the posterior extremity, but green at the 

 stigmata. The larva was found accidentally by night on 

 turning over a stone, and was about 2 inches in length. 

 The green light issuing from the stigmata seemed to be 

 continuous and independent of the will of the larva, but 

 the red light at the two extremities was sometimes 

 brighter and sometimes fainter. Unfortunately, the crea- 

 ture escaped before its systematic position could be 

 ascertained. According to Von Jhering it appeared 

 similar to the larva of an Elater (wire-worm). Dubois 

 thinks that the red light at the extremities may obtain its 

 colour by transmission through red chitine. 



The Food of the Sparrow. — The following facts, 

 observed by S. A. Forbes, of Illinois, and recorded in the 

 American Naturalist for 1S81 (p. 393), may, perhaps, con- 

 vey a useful lesson to the advocates of the sparrow. The 

 food found on opening twenty-five sparrows shot in and 

 near Aurora, Illinois, in September, " consisted almost 

 entirely of grain." At a time when 30 per cent, of the 

 food of the (American) robin, 20 per cent of that of the 

 catbird, and 90 per cent, of that of the blue bird con- 

 sisted of insects, no insects were found in the stomachs 

 of these birds, except traces of grasshoppers, making, 

 perhaps, 6 per cent, of the food. 



A Cloud of Bees. — On the 22nd inst. a great num- 

 ber of bees made a descent on the confectionery stalls of 

 Bishop Auckland market, and literally took possession 

 of them. Business was stopped, and the owners of the 

 stalls took to flight. It is presumed that the cold and in- 

 clement season had deprived the insects of their ordinary 

 source of sustenance, and that they were driven by 

 famine from the country into the town. 



Helix Harpa in Switzerland. — According to Hum- 

 boldt, the Belgian naturalist, Alfred Orasen, has found 

 this species upon the Riffel Alp, nearZermatt, at a height 

 of 6,200 feet. Hitherto it has been seen only in Arctic 

 regions and in the north of the United States. It lives 

 under detached pine bark. This is a fact of much 

 interest, as Helix harpa has been found inclosed in amber, 

 and has, therefore, not altered its habits since the 

 amber-age. 



Abnormal Habits of Animals. — A correspondent of 

 the Field, who signs himself " The Doctor," describes 

 certain nocturnal cave-dwelling birds in Trinidad, which, 

 instead of preying on moths, devour the fruit of palm- 

 trees. In another cave in the same island live a colony 

 of bats which have left off insect hunting and live by 

 catching fish ! So little can we judge of the habits of 

 an animal from its structure ! 



Protection for the Sand Grouse. — Baron Von 

 Lucius, the Prussian Minister of Forests, Domains, and 

 Agriculture, recommends that the sand grouse, until 

 further notice, shall be entirely unmolested in all royal 

 forests and domains. 



Remedy for the Coffee Disease. — According to the 

 Medical Press, Dr. Burck, of the Government Botanical 

 Garden, near Batavia (probably Buitenzorg ?) proposes a 

 very dilute solution of chloride of iron as a remedy for 

 the coffee disease, (Hemileia vasiatrix.) 



