912 Quadrupeds, fyc. 



Not satisfied with the search I made in such works as were within 

 my reach, I wrote to an eminent entomologist, and stated the circum- 

 stance to him. His* reply was, " I wish it was in my power to throw 

 any light upon the subject concerning which you did me the favour 

 to write. Since I received your letter, I have, I think, consulted 

 every work in my library treating on insects, but can find no account 

 of any that have been observed to feed on mineral substances ; nor 

 did I ever observe any myself. T will, for the future, direct my atten- 

 tion particularly to this part of the history of my little favourites, and 

 if I make any discovery worth communicating, I will not fail to give 

 you early notice of it. Should you meet with anything tending to 

 throw light upon this interesting subject, I shall be much obliged by 

 your informing me of it." 



Here, then, we have two facts, which, if not altogether new, are yet 

 at variance with the assumed formulae of systematic writers on Natu- 

 ral History. Fructivorous animals will sometimes feed on flesh ; and 

 there are animals which will feed on mineral substances. 



Beautiful as are the examples of creative design exhibited in the 

 universe, and admirable as is the adaptation of one part of Nature to 

 another, there is no department of the creation which can be tied down 

 to certain laws and properties, further than is sufficient for the due 

 performance of its destined functions. The infinitely varied works 

 of the great Author of Nature are not to be unerringly scanned by 

 rules of man's contrivance. 



George Munford. 



East Winch, Norfolk, Feb. 8, 1845. 



Ilfracombe — Whale ashore ! The inhabitants of this favoured watering-place were 

 on Wednesday last in a great ferment, by the arrival of one of these monsters of the 

 deep (it being an unusual visitor to the good folks of Ilfracombe) ; it was discovered 

 stranded in a cove to the westward of the town, and by the great exertions of the 

 boatmen during the stormy gales then raging, was secured, and safely moored in the 

 bathing cove, at the back of the tunnels, on Thursday evening. It proved to be one 

 of the sperm species, called by Buffon " the blunt-headed cachalot," one of the most 

 valuable kind, which, by the succession of gales, had been driven on our coasts. This 

 was a young one, presumed to be about three or four years old ; it measured thirty- 

 seven feet in length, from the head to the tail, and about twenty feet in girth. On 

 Friday it was sold by auction, as a- " droit of the Admiralty," by Mr. T. Coats, and 

 purchased by Mr. G. Davis, for £'<). 5s. Thousands availed themselves of seeing the 

 stranger during the day. It is now being melted down, and is expected to produce 

 about two hundred gallons of fine oil.— Cheltenham Examiner. 



