478 Notes and Memoranda. 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.— Dec. 12. 



The Gtulati Pouch of the Gkeat Bustard. — Mr. Mower, the 

 curator of the College of Surgeons, exhibited a beautifully dissected 

 specimen of the gular pouch of the great bustard, the Otis tarda 

 of Linna3us. This pouch, which is capable of holding several pints 

 of fluid, is situated under the skin in front of the neck, and com- 

 municates with the cavity of the mouth by an opening beneath the 

 tongue. The use of this singular structure is very problematical, it 

 has been stated that it is employed by the male bird for the purpose 

 of conveying water to the female during the period of incubation, 

 but as the males entirely desert the females at this period the ex- 

 planation is evidently erroneous. In addition to the uncertainty 

 respecting its use, the pouch of the bustard possesses a peculiar 

 interest from the circumstance that its very existence has been 

 denied by many naturalists, even after having been figured in 

 many of the olden books, such as Daniel's 'Rural Sports, and even in 

 Yarrell's British Birds. Messrs. Mitchell, Newton/and even Mr. 

 Yarrell himself, in a communication made to the Royal Society, 

 denied that such a structure existed in the specimen they dissected. 

 It is difficult to reconcile these contradictions. It may be supposed 

 that the pouch only is developed at certain seasons of the year, but 

 this supposition appears untenable. Dr. Gray suggested that two 

 distinct species had been confounded together under the same name, 

 one possessing the pouch and the other destitute of this singular 

 appendage. 



NOTES AND MEMORANDA. 



Effects of Freezings Animals. — M. Pouchet has sent a paper to the French 

 Academy on the effects of freezing animals. He finds that no animal really 

 frozen is susceptible of revivification, as freezing disorganizes the blood. The 

 temperature at which the death of insects, grubs, and snails becomes inevitable, is 

 far below the freezing point (from 7° F. to — 2° F). Animals may be surrounded 

 by ice without themselves being frozen, unless the temperature is very low. M. 

 Poiichet states, that when an animal is frozen, the capillaries contract so as to 

 prevent the passage of the blood, and the nuclei of the blood corpuscles escape 

 from the envelopes, and become more opaque than in a normal state. 



Animal Grafts. — M. Paul Bert informs the French Academy of fresh 

 experiments in grafting the tails of rats upon other rats. He finds that his 

 curious process has succeeded after certain tails have been removed from the 

 animals to which they belonged, and placed under the following conditions : 1. 

 Exposed to the action of air m a closed tube for 72 hours, at a temperature of 44° 

 to 46 3 F. 2. After exposure to a humid heat of 135° F. 3. After exposure to 

 a temperature of 3° F. 4. After complete desiccation. 5. After complete 

 desiccation, and exposure to dry beat of 212° F. The so-called " complete 

 desiccation " was effected in vacuo. 



Course of Hail Storms. — M. Becquerel has a paper in Comptes llendus on a 

 chart of the hail storms in the departments of Loiret and Loire-et-Chcr. The 

 storms seem to be of two kinds, periodical and irregular, the latter being the most 

 violent. These storms, and especially the periodical ones, follow the course of 

 rivers and valleys, usually avoiding forests. 



Temperature of Polar Sea.— M. Charles Martins details in Comples Mcndus 



