24 minutes aud 45 seconds. The highest summits 

 of the Himalaya are little more than 28,000 feet, 

 or 4.7 geographical miles above the sea. The sea 

 bottom has therefore depths greatly exceeding the 

 elevation of the highest pinnacle above its surface. 

 The strength of the line, tried before the sounding, 

 was found to be equal to bear 72 lb. in air. The 

 7706 fathoms which ran out, weighed when dry 

 77 lb. exclusive of the plummet. Great care was 

 taken, in the endeavor to bring the plummet again 

 to the surface,to show the nature of the bottom ; 

 but while carefully reeling in, the line broke at 

 140 fathoms below the water line, carrying away 

 the thermometer which had been attached to it at 

 3000 fathoms. This sounding is the deepest that 

 has ever been made. — A Lover of Science. 



On the Larva 3 , of Insects. — Allow me, Mr. Editor, 

 to ask your worthy correspondent, " Cerura," a 

 few questions. How does he set to work to coax 

 his Cossus ligniperda to make his chrysalis ? I 

 have brought up many hundreds, and have rarely 

 failed with them. I am inclined to think, from 

 what he states, that Cossus died in consequence 

 of his having been too soon removed from his 

 quarters in the willow-tree, If " Cerura" could 

 pass a few minutes with Bombyx Pittiocampa, he 

 would never again complain of the irritation pro- 

 duced by caja. Should " Cerura" be so fortunate 

 as to secure some more eggs of the sphinx ( the 

 same as those he secured last year from Hertford- 

 shire), and would let me have a few through the 

 entremise of our Editor, I will engage to return 

 him, through the same entremise, every cater- 

 pillar I might succeed in bringing up. Having 

 reared hundreds and hundreds, it is possible my 

 plan of proceeding may be more successful than 

 his ; and my object would not be to obtain the 

 perfect insect ( which in all probability I possess), 

 but to ascertain what it is ; comparing the proceed- 

 ing with former similar ones. " Cerura" might 

 rely on having the full benefit of my success, 

 should I be successful. With respect to Vinula, 

 " Cerura" may safely drop the query. It admits 

 of no doubt whatever. I can assure him, from pain- 

 ful personal experience, that Vinula not only has 

 the power but very often exercises it, of ejecting an 

 acrid, burning liquid, when irritated; and he is a 

 most unerring marksman, nearly as dead a shot 

 as a Swiss carabinier. He always aims at the eye. 

 I was once examining a colony, which was being 

 brought up ; and I suppose gave offence to one of 

 the party, for he discharged the acrid liquid 

 straight into the corner of my eye, causing a 

 very severe and painful smarting. This I did not 

 lose for three days, although I constantly bathed 

 the eye. Frere Jean (so often mentioned by 

 " Faro," in his autobiography) once received a 

 similar discharge from a Vinula which he was 

 bringing to me, and which I presume he was han- 

 dling rather more roughly than was prudent. The 

 old " Papa des Papillons" ( also mentioned by 

 " Fixo,") has more than once told me of his having 

 received similar discharges, and experienced simi- 

 lar effects. I do not wish " Cerura" to be able, in 

 this instance, to speak from actual experience. No ; 

 he may be content to take my word for it. He may 

 rest assured he will never forget it, if ever he 

 should receive a shot from a Vinula. I suspect 

 his caterpillar of " Ligustri" perished in conse- 



quence of having been struck by some ichneumon. 

 I do not, however, think a flower-pot a very good 

 thing for so large a caterpillar as that of " Ligus- 

 tri." It is too narrow at the bottom ; five or six 

 inches of earth is quite sufficient, and that should 

 be bog earth, and sifted. These remarks are 

 kindly offered, and will, no doubt, be as kindly re- 

 ceived. Let me now, Mr. Editor, congratulate 

 you on the new and greatly improved features of our 

 Journal, both within and without. It is per- 

 fectly unique of its kind ; full of the most varied 

 and interesting information, — the more valuable 

 because simple and true. Nor should the exterior 

 be overlooked. It is chaste and ornamental, 

 showing that our Editor wishes to please even in 

 external trifles. May a long and happy life be 

 his ! — Bombyx Atlas, Tottenham, Feb. 16. 



The African Land Tortoise. — Do ask some 

 of your readers, Mr. Editor, to tell me about the 

 habits and requirements of this little creature. If 

 they require much care and warmth, and how 

 they should be fed and treated during the winter, 

 etc.? — Grace Fondlove, Gloucester. 



Novel hind of Exportation to Australia, — 



u Haws." — A brisk trade has been going on in 



| Lincolnshire in " haws," for exportation to Aus- 



: tralia ; to form the future quickset hedges of that 



country. — James It. 



Horse-hair gifted with Life — a Query. — 

 Permit me. Mr. Editor, to draw your attention 

 to the following very strange story, which I extract 

 from " The Life and Correspondence of Pobert 

 Southey, edited by the Pie v. Charles Cuthbert 

 Southey." It occurs in a letter to Dr. Southey, 

 vol. 4, p. 35.) I am quite at a loss to make any- 

 thing of it. Surely the Laureate, philosopher as 

 he was, must have been deceived ? If he was not — 

 then, in the name of science, what was the cause 

 and meaning of that which he saw? It reminds 

 one of the directions given in the Zoological works 

 of the middle ages, for turning flies into bees ! 

 " You must have heard the vulgar notion that a 

 horse-hair, plucked out by the root and put in 

 water, becomes alive in a few days. The boys at 

 Brathay repeatedly told their mother it was true ; 

 that they had tried it themselves, and seen it tried. 

 Her reply was, ' show it me, and I will believe it.' 

 While we were there, last week, in came Owen, 

 with two of these creatures in a bottle. Words- 

 worth was there ; and, to our utter and unutterable 

 astonishment, did the boys try to convince us that 

 these long, thin, black worms were their own 

 manufacture, by the old receipt ! They laid hold 

 of them by the middle, while they writhed like 

 eels ; and stripping them with their nails, down on 

 each side, actually lay bare the horse-hair in the 

 middle, which seemed to serve as the backbone of 

 the creature, or substratum of living matter which 

 had collected round it. Wordsworth and I, should 

 have supposed that it was a collection of animal- 

 culae round the hair (which, however, would only 

 be changing the nature of the wonder), if we could 

 in any way have accounted for the motion upon 

 this theory. But the motion was that of a snake. 

 We could perceive no head, but something very 

 like the root of the hair ; and, for want of glasses, 

 could distinguish no parts. The creature, or 



