Quadrupeds. 3137 



the two brave and adventurous men who first discovered the whale, 

 and ran such risks in his capture, were not sufficiently remunerated as 

 they deserved. Alfred Charles Smith. 



Old Park, Devizes, May 8, 1851. 



Instinct of a Dog. — A certain cattle-dealer in Irvine is frequently in the habit, 

 when visiting Ayr market, on Tuesdays, of leaving his dog behind him. On these oc- 

 casions, upon missing his master, the animal has been frequently known to take the 

 next train to Ayr, visit the cattle-market, and not rinding the object of his search, 

 return again to Irvine. His conduct has often attracted the notice of the guards on 

 the line, and his movements have been watched ; but we have not heard by what class 

 he is accustomed to travel, and at what rate he is charged. — Ayr Observer. 



Curious Capture of a Pair of Polecats, (Mustela Putorius). — In an out-house be- 

 longing to my neighbour, the Rev. E. Rust, there is a large cistern, which formerly 

 was used for malting purposes, and from which there is a communication with the 

 ground outside, by a hole in the wall. About a month ago, one of the servants found 

 this cistern occupied by a couple of polecats, male and female, who, no doubt on mur- 

 derous thought intent, followed each other through the hole in the wall, but were un- 

 able to get back. They were of course slaughtered with sticks and staves, to which 

 performance I believe many hands were summoned. — C. R. Bree ; Stowmarket. 



Remarkable Effect of Training in Cattle. — Spending a few days in the Glenkens, 

 a romantic district in the south of Scotland, and travelling in company with a friend, 

 he directed my attention to a cow grazing in a field close by, partly oats and partly 

 meadow. She was eagerly feeding on the grass by the side of the corn, with nothing 

 to prevent her from eating the latter. Such a thing was quite new to me, and I could 

 not imagine how to account for it. But my friend explained the mystery. " She is," 

 said he, " an Ayrshire cow, and when young had been herded in pastures close by the 

 corn, and kept from eating it, till under this restraint the inclination for it had disap- 

 peared. I have seen," added my friend, " in Ayrshire, the cows with their very horns 

 in the corn while feeding, without injuring it." This is certainly a remarkable result 

 of early training. — Correspondent of the Leeds Mercury. 



Poison from the Blow of a Platypus. — The following notice of poison from the 

 blow of a platypus, will interest the scientific reader. — We have been favoured with 

 the following communication from Mr. Anstey, giving an account of the extraordinary 

 effect of the blow of a platypus. We insert it in the hope that the attention of natu- 

 ralists may be directed to the circumstances, as it would be well worth while, by a se- 

 ries of experiments, to determine the virulence of the poison contained in the spurs of 

 this curious animal. " On Monday morning last, a man named Cooper, employed by 

 Mr. G. C. Clarke, as gatekeeper at Interlachen, discovered a platypus asleep in the 

 small stream connecting Lake Crescent and Sorell. He grasped it by the neck with 

 his left hand, and was instantly struck by the creature's spurs on the upper and under 

 sides of his wrist, the wounds being about an inch in length and skin deep. He suc- 

 ceeded in killing it, and at once proceeded to another establishment of Mr. Clarke's 

 on Lake Sorell, called the * Dog's Head,' distant about four miles from Interlachen. 

 By the time he arrived there his arm had very much swollen, and he complained of 

 great pain all the way up it. Fortunately for him, a party of gentlemen arrived at the 

 IX Y 



