Quadrupeds, 5057 



Remarkable Act in a Fox. — A short time since, on a Sunday evening, a farmer 

 living in the parish of Lansallos, in the County of Cornwall, left his home with his 

 family to attend the religious services of a chapel in the neighbourhood, and omitted 

 to fasten his ducks in their usual place of safety, a circumstance which a fox from the 

 neighbouring cliff did not fail to take advantage of, by appropriating seven of the in to 

 his own purposes. No other traces of them could be discovered, besides some scattered 

 feathers, until the following Friday, when some were found in a neighbouring field, 

 dead, and carefully covered over with earth and leaves. Of another of those unfortu- 

 nate ducks, however, the case was singular. The poor bird was found buried in the 

 earth, all but its head, which showed some signs of life. It was, therefore, du»- up 

 carefully; and by the tender nursing of the farmer's daughters, who fed it with milk, 

 it was restored to health and strength. After the double escape, first from the jaws of 

 a fox, to which its companions had fallen victims, and afterwards from premature in- 

 terment, the kind-hearted farmer declares that this, after all, fortunate duck, shall be 

 suffered to live on to the full extent of its natural life. — Jonathan Couch ; February, 

 1856. 



Deer feeding on Horse-chestnuts. — As some excuse for ignorance of what appears 

 to be a well-known fact, I may plead that I never in my whole life, now verging to- 

 ward man's usual term, resided in the vicinity of a deer park, and in the casual passing 

 by or through such places the opportunities of observation are very limited. In Bell's 

 * British Quadrupeds' I find no allusion to the food of deer, whether red or fallow. 

 With regard to Mr. Bree's question, "Is the origin of the name horse-chestnut correct? 

 and will our English horses eat the nuts?'' (Zool. 4993), I can only reply, that having 

 seen the statement in print somewhere I quoted it as in the 'Zoologist,' 4913, but in- 

 tentionally as a rumour merely until substantiated by evidence. My own opinion of 

 the origin of the name "Aorse-chestnut" has always agreed with Mr. Bree's. I may, 

 however, add that in Vol. xii. of 'Notes and Queries,' p. 407, it is asked "Why is a 

 horse-chestnut tree called a horse-chestnut tree?" To which is appended the editorial 

 answer, that it " is so called from the similitude of the fruit to that of the chestnut, 

 and from its being given to horses." To the last clause of this sentence, which I have 

 emphasised, I would reply in the words of Touchstone to Corin ('As you Like it,' 

 Act 1, Scene 2), "Instance briefly; come instance." — Arthur Hussey ; Roltingdean, 

 February, 1856. 



Origin of the name Horse-chestnut. — The question has been twice mooted of late, 

 in the pages of the 'Zoologist' (Zool. 4913 and 4993), whether the term "horse- 

 chestnut" is derived from the partiality supposed to be evinced by horses for the fruit 

 of that tree. May I be allowed to express my conviction that the opinion of your 

 last correspondent (Mr. Bree) is the correct one, and that it is so called from the 

 coarseness of the fruit in comparison with its congeners. The prefix of the word 

 " horse," intended to express size, is exceedingly common in our language : thus a 

 loud boisterous laugh is denominated a " horse laugh ; " the large coarse species of 

 leech is called the " horse leech ;" a strong pungent root is called the " horse radish," 

 &c. So in like manner, and with the same signification, we find the word "bull" 

 prefixed to many words denoting size, coarseness, bulk, as " bull-rush," " bull-finch," 

 " bull-frog," he. Thus again " cob" is frequently used as a distinctive mark of bulk: 

 "cob-loaf" was the largest loaf of the batch; "cob-apples," "cob-nuts," &c, were 

 respectively the largest apples, nuts, &c, of the crop ; " cob-coals " were large pit 

 coals; "cob-stones," large stones; a "cob-swan" was simply a swan of the largest 

 XIV. s 



