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SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Sept. 28, 1888. 



Lepidosiren, a very near ally of the Protopterus, irom 

 which it is distinguished by the absence of fringes on 

 its natatory filaments. It inhabits the great rivers of 

 South America, where it was discovered in 1837 by 

 Natterer. Its simultaneous possession of gills and lungs 

 was readily discovered, and the question arose whether 

 this strange vertebrate was to be referred to the 

 Batrachians or the fishes. Natterer, Bischoff, Milne- 

 Edwards, Vogt, and Duvernay placed this animal in the 

 former group, whilst Owen, Muller, Agassiz, and Peters 

 referred it to the second. 



Although this latter view is now generally accepted, we 

 must admit that these ambiguous beings form between 

 the two classes an intimate connecting link, well adapted 

 to show us how artificial are our systematic classifica- 

 tions. It is easy to understand how, by means of this 

 double breathing apparatus (whence the name of Dipnoi is 

 given to the group) the Protopterus, as it may happen to 

 require, may either use its gills or breathe air, being thus 

 amphibious in the absolute sense of the word. 



To induce these animals to resume their active life, we 

 plunged the lumps of clay into water. The result was 

 favourable ; the next morning the survivors, about half 

 of the lot, had abandoned their cells and were swimming 

 freely in the aquarium. 



One of them makes an exception. Since its immer- 

 sion, three weeks ago, it refuses to quit entirely its tube. 

 It is, however, full of life, for its head appears almost 

 always at the aperture, but at the least alarm it hides 

 itself with great rapidity. 



Although this one alone has thus remained in this 

 position, M. Leon Vaillant, from whose memoir in La 

 Nature the above facts are borrowed, is led to believe 

 that it shows us the normal habits of these animals. When 

 they are observed swimming by means of the undulatory 

 movements of their bodies they proceed with difficulty, 

 and their long filamentous fins seem more embarrassing 

 than useful. On the ground they make use of these 

 organs to feel at surrounding bodies, lumps of clay, 

 stones, etc., among which they glide along with a certain 

 agility, after the manner of serpents or eels. On the other 

 hand, being better adapted for attack than defence, in our 

 aquariums they are often mutilated by their companions, 

 who snatch away portions of their tail, skin, etc. — losses 

 which are quickly reproduced. Perhaps the one which 

 remains inside its tube is the most judicious, and may, 

 like certain lower animals, lurk in its cell and snatch at 

 any passing body. 



The size which the Prolopteri reach in their native 

 rivers is considerable. M. de Brazza has found them 

 above a yard in length and of the thickness of a man's 

 arm. The largest of those in the menagerie does not 

 exceed half-a-yard. 



Whether analogous facts may be observed in the other 

 Dipnoi is uncertain, especially whether they can use their 

 double respiration and encase themselves. With the 

 Lepidosiren the anatomical structure and the outer 

 appearance speak in favour of this supposition, though 

 we have no positive proof. With the Ceratodus of 

 Queensland the matter is less probable as its lungs are 

 very imperfect. 



A New Parasite. — Professor Baelz {La Nature), of 

 the University of Tokio, has detected, in the liver of 

 some of the native Japanese, parasitic worms resembling 

 the " flukes " so often found in the livers of sheep. This 

 new species has received the name Distoma Japonicum. 



Its life-history has not yet been studied, but its geo- 

 graphical distribution is most remarkable. It is endemic 

 in the centre of Japan in two very limited regions, where 

 it is a real public calamity. These two regions have a 

 swampy soil, and the inhabitants, who are attacked in 

 the proportion of 20 to 50 per cent., drink an impure 

 and very saline water. In the remainder of Japan this 

 parasite is very rare in man, but it has been found in the 

 liver of cats at Tokio. 



Cuckoo Hatching Her Eggs. — The notion that the 

 cuckoo is incapable of incubating, and that she of neces- 

 sity lays her eggs in the nests of other birds, is incor- 

 rect. Herr Muller, forest-superintendent, of Hohenschied, 

 in Germany, makes the following communication on this 

 subject in the Gartenlaube : — On May 16th he found in 

 the north-eastern portion of his district a cuckoo sitting 

 on three eggs. Of these one was actually hatched. The 

 bird proved a most attentive mother, feeding her young 

 with small green caterpillars. Herr Muller is known as 

 a careful and accurate observer. 



The Origin of the Hottentots. — With reference to 

 the Hottentots now on view at the Jardin d'AccIima- 

 tation M. Zaborowski {La Justice) maintains that this race 

 is a cross between the Caffre and the Buschman. M. 

 Topinard remarks that the Hottentot men have more of 

 the Caffre character, whilst in the women the Buschman 

 type prevails. The Buschmen pronounce six consonants 

 with a peculiar " click," which no adult European can 

 acquire ; the Hottentots click four consonants and the 

 Caffres only three. 



A Vaccination Against Cholera. — M. Pasteur has 

 just read to the Academy of Sciences a communication 

 from Dr. Gamaleia, of Odessa, in which the author 

 expresses his confidence that he has discovered a 

 " vaccine " for Asiatic cholera. Having rendered the 

 cholera bacillus intensely morbific by a passage through 

 guinea-pigs, he finds that inoculation with an ordinary 

 non-virulent culture of cholera renders the subject 

 capable 01 resisting the intensified modification above- 

 mentioned. He finds that this immunity is acquired 

 without danger and without exception. 



Action of the Ultra-violet Rays upon the Growth 

 of Plants. — This subject, according to Humboldt, has 

 recently been studied by Sachs, who cultivated nastur- 

 tiums {Tropceohmi majus) behind glass vessels filled 

 with a solution of sulphate of quinine, which cuts off the 

 ultra-violet rays. The plants developed their leaves im- 

 perfectly, and did not flower. Other plants, grown as a 

 check behind similar vessels, filled with water, grew-, 

 and flowered perfectly. Hence it appears that the solar 

 spectrum has three regions differing in their physiological 

 action : the yellow rays, which decompose carbonic 

 acid, and effect assimilation ; the blue and violet rays, 

 which effect the mechanical processes of vegetation, in 

 as far as these depend on light ; and, lastly, the ultra- 

 violet rays, which effect in the green leaves the forma- 

 tion of those principles which are necessary for the 

 formation of flowers. ., c . ... 



Humble Bees in New Zealand. — According to J. W. 

 Dunning {Transactions of the Entomological Society), in 

 1885 about 100 humble bees were sent to New Zealand 

 in two lots, and set free at Lyttleton. By the next 



