70 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND QUERIES, 



MAMMALIA. 



Number of Dogs in the United Kingdom. — Few people have any 

 idea how many dogs there are in this country. There is no canine census 

 in England, but as the law requires a license of 7s. 6d. per annum to be 

 paid for every dog in the United Kingdom (except puppies, shepherds' dogs, 

 and dogs employed to lead blind persons), the annual revenue received from 

 the dog tax should enable us to calculate how many dogs there are in 

 this country. The total amount paid for dog licenses in 1888 was about 

 £386,000 (more exactly, £386,603). This shows that there were 982,000 

 animals (exactly 982,941) paying duty in that year throughout the British 

 Islands. The number must strike everyone as incredibly small — less than 

 a million dogs in all the United Kingdom. The conclusion that there must 

 be an immense number of animals whose owners habitually evade payment 

 for them is strengthened when we remember that the population of Great 

 Britain is now over 38,000,000. Thus it appears that there is only one dog 

 to every thirty-eight persons in this country. The number of stray and owner- 

 less dogs taken in the streets of the Metropolis is counted by thousands; 

 and this again points to the fact that a large number escape the duty. 

 There can be no question that it is amongst these ownerless and ill-cared- 

 for creatures that rabies is most likely to be developed. The question is, 

 in what way can the Revenue laws, which are now evaded, be best enforced, 

 and our streets and roads kept clear of these useless and dangerous animals. 



Cats' Eyes of different Colours. — With reference to the note which 

 appeared in the last number of 'The Zoologist' (p. 16), on a cat with 

 eyes of different colours, I think this is not a very unusual occurrence, as 

 I have heard of one or two instances in which a similar peculiarity was 

 noticed ; in fact, I once possessed a kitten in which the iris of one eye 

 was of a greenish hue, and the other dark brown. The Editor truly remarks 

 that white cats with blue eyes are nearly always deaf. Some friends of 

 mine had a Persian cat presenting a similar coloration both in eyes and 

 fur, and was stone deaf; so much so, that if you fired a pistol close to 

 its head it seemed hardly conscious of it. Its progeny showed a similar 

 imperfection. Can this peculiarity be accounted for? — Robert Usher 

 (Newcastle-on-Tyne). 



Varieties of the Hare in Ireland.— A variety of the so-called Irish 

 Hare was obtained in the Co. Kildare in December last, having the centre 

 of the back black, shading into blackish grey on the sides, the only parts 

 normally coloured being the sides of the mouth and a small space round 

 the eyes, which arc of the usual dark brown, A sooty-black Hare has been 



