Quadrupeds. 3167 



in the case before related (Zool. 2891), only one Volvox out of a con- 

 siderable number was found to be affected. 



2. This peculiar kind of " parasitism " seems to bear some resem- 

 blance to that of Rotifer vulgaris in the cells of Sphagnum and the 

 filaments of Vaucheria. Robt. C. Douglas. 



Forebridge, Stafford, June 5, 1851. 



Notes on Observations in Natural History during a Tour in Norway. 

 By the Rev. Alfred Charles Smith, M.A. 



(Continued from page 3134). 



The Ermine [Mustela Erminea). I shot several of these pretty little 

 creatures in the stony fjelds. They frequent those parts which are 

 composed of broken rocks and mountains of loose stones ; on this ac- 

 count their Norwegian name is "Ros-kat," or weasel inhabiting a 

 heap of stones, the word "Ros" signifying a "stone heap." It was 

 curious to see them dive in among these stones, and in a minute 

 emerge again twenty or thirty yards distant from the spot where 

 they went in : it was like the diving of the black guillemot ; they ap- 

 peared where you least expected them, and must have rushed along 

 their passages under the rocks as quickly as they could above them. 

 Though on the highest fjelds, and surrounded by perpetual snow, they 

 were in summer costume, a light chocolate colour above, and faint 

 yellow below, the black tips of their tails alone remaining unchanged 

 in summer and winter dress. 



The Lemming, (Mus Lemmus). Perhaps there is no living crea- 

 ture, not even the kraken (always supposing such an animal to exist), 

 which has caused more wonder and speculation, and given rise to more 

 fabulous tales among the wonder-loving and credulous Northmen, than 

 the pretty little animal of which I am now writing, — the lemming, 

 called in Norsk " Leman." It is about the size of our common rat ; 

 but in colour, markings, and general appearance, and almost total ab- 

 sence of tail, is very like the Guinea-pig. Like the ermine, to which 

 it often falls a prey, it inhabits those fjelds which seem composed of 

 boundless tracts of stone. Here these little creatures may sometimes 

 be met with in such countless numbers that the whole mountain seems 

 alive with them, darting in and out among the loose stones which com- 

 pose their territory ; now sitting up on their hind legs, showing their 

 teeth, and squeaking in the violence of their excitement and rage, as 



