2408 Quadrupeds. 



enemy. It is a formidable weapon, but I do not know its exact length. The A'nasa 

 is found not far from here (Melpes), towards the S.S.W. I have seen it often in the 

 wild grounds, where the negroes kill it, and carry it home to make shields from its 

 skin. — N.B. This man was well acquainted with the rhinoceros, which he distinguished 

 under the name of Fertit from the A'nasa. On June 14 I was at Kursi, also in Kor- 

 dofan, and met there a slave merchant who was not acquainted with my first informer, 

 and gave me spontaneously the same description of the A'nasa, adding that he had 

 killed and eaten one not long before, and that its flesh was well flavoured.' ' Herr 

 Ruppell and M. Fresnel,' adds M. d'Abbadie, ' have already spoken of a one-homed 

 African quadruped ; and I have also some notes which tend to establish the existence 

 of perhaps two different kinds.' " — ' Athenceum.' 



[I recollect a similar story, gravely told, of the rhinoceros. — E. Newman.'] 



Occurrence of the Wild Cat in Lancashire. — A wild cat, measuring 4 feet from tail 

 to snout, and weighing 9 i~bs., was recently taken in a vermin-trap, by the gamekeeper 

 of Joseph Bushell, Esq., of Bulk, on that gentleman's estate in Lancashire. — Com- 

 municated by J. C. Garth. 



Notes on the Bat and Shrew. — Mr. Tomes (Zool. 2370) expresses his surprise that 

 not more than two species of bat have been found in this neighbourhood ; and I too 

 have felt surprised at such a circumstance, since for more than twenty years I have 

 pursued this with the same eagerness as other branches of Natural History. Glover, 

 our county historian, enumerates only three species as inhabiting the whole of Derby- 

 shire, but I have never been able to obtain from this district individuals of more than 

 two species. Others have undoubtedly been described to me, and by apparently intel- 

 ligent persons, but still the specimens have never been produced ; and I always con- 

 sidered that the value of my Fauna would depend upon the amount of information 

 which I had proved to be correct, and the number of species which I had an oppor- 

 tunity of examining myself. On this account, therefore, I have purposely omitted 

 many species of animals, because, although they were killed or observed by observant 

 persons, those persons had not made Natural History their peculiar study, and con- 

 sequently were liable to be deceived. I beg to acknowledge myself much indebted 

 to Mr. Tomes for his interesting and instructive communication upon the preservation 

 of Mammalia; and I have no doubt that had I been versed in the method he 

 describes, I should have succeeded in adding a new animal to the British catalogue. 

 — John Joseph Briggs ; King's Newton, Melbourne, Derbyshire, March, 1849. 



Anecdote of Rats. — The following circumstance, communicated to me by a friend, 

 seems so extraordinary that I think it worth recording. It occurred at Battel about 

 a month ago. My brother's groom had set a pair of clams to catch rats, in a stable 

 belonging to the house, and one morning he found a pair caught together by the hind 

 legs. The clams were reset : in a day or two another pair were caught in a similar 

 manner. Again were the clams set, and in a day or two more a third pair were 

 caught as before. Had I not been well acquainted with the parties, I should almost 

 have doubted the fact. The clams were not set in any particular run, but in the 

 open space. — J. B. Ellman ; Rye, February 21, 1849. 



