JUNE 6, 18S84.] 
tion was acted upon; and in the following year (1870) 
Mr. Smillie invented the vertical camera, and with it 
introduced the use of a side-light, which produced 
the same effect as the skylight with the horizontal 
camera. Mr. Smillie also attached to the side of the 
apparatus an endless screw, whereby the distance 
could be readily regulated between the lens and the 
object to be photographed. In 1871, and again in 
1875, a camera of this kind was constructed specially 
for photographing the marine animals taken by the 
U.S. fish-commission at Wood’s Holl, Mass. Its 
advantages were readily seen by Professor Agassiz, 
who asked and obtained Professor Baird’s permis- 
sion to construct for his own work a camera on a 
similar principle. Not less than six thousand nega- 
tives have been taken with the vertical camera by 
Mr. Smillie. _G. Brown GOODE. 
A tailed child. 
The Commercial of this city for the 17th and 18th 
inst. gave accounts of a tailed child recently born 
here. As such eases are of scientific interest, and 
are very rare, a party of four, including a prominent 
doctor and the writer, concluded to investigate the 
case. 
We found a female negro-child, eight weeks old, 
normally formed in all respects, except that slightly 
to the left of the median line, and about an inch 
above the lower end of the spinal column, is a fleshy 
pedunculated protuberance about two and one-half 
inches long. At the base it measures one and one- 
quarter inches in circumference. A quarter of an 
inch from the base it is somewhat larger, and from 
that it tapers gradually to a small blunt point. It 
closely resembles a pig’s tail in shape, but shows no 
signs of bone or cartilage. There seems to bea slight 
mole-like protuberance at the point of attachment. 
The appendage has grown in length about a quarter 
of an inch since the birth of the child. 
The mother, Lucy Clark, is a quadroon, seventeen 
years old, and the father, a negro of twenty, — both 
normally formed. 
In Darwin’s ‘ Descent of man,’ vol. i. p. 28, he 
speaks of a similar case, and refers to an article in 
Revue des cours scientifiques, 1867-68, p. 625. A 
more complete article is that by Dr. Max Bartels, 
in Archiv fiir anthropologie for 1880. He describes 
twenty-one cases of persons born with tails, most of 
them being fleshy protuberances like the one just 
described. H. W. EATON. 
Louisville, Ky., May 24. 
Hibernating mammals. 
In Science, No. 68, Dr. Merriam desires the evi- 
dence upon which my statements concerning the 
hibernation of certain mammals were based to be well 
sifted; and rightly, if it is true that my observations 
upset the well-known (?) laws that govern hiberna- 
tion. Now, these ‘laws’ may be in force in the 
Adirondack region, but they are not in Central New 
Jersey. 
I presume Dr. Merriam will admit that the squirrels 
and Hesperomys occasionally take a nap during the 
winter; that sleep is not wholly ignored by them. 
In my original communication (Science, No. 65), I 
stated very clearly that the Hesperomys slept much 
more during the winter months than at other times; 
that its hibernation consisted of such additional 
slumber, and nothing more. So far as the moles are 
concerned, I have never found evidence of activity 
in winter equal to that characteristic of the summer 
SCIENCE. 673 
months; and specimens kept in captivity hibernated, 
in the strictest sense of that term, although food was 
kept within reach all of the time. Of course, star- 
nosed moles may get out of the reach of freshets; but 
I have never seen evidence of this, and have often 
dug down to their burrows immediately the freshet 
subsided, and found the animals where they were 
when the waters began to rise. Since the appearance 
of Dr. Merriam’s critical remarks, I have thought the 
matter over, and believe it probable that these moles 
may close the openings to their burrows so effectually 
as to shut out the water from the central nest. This, 
it must be borne in mind, is a supposition only. In 
conclusion, I would state that I am not given to ad- 
ducing facts in proof of general statements. Con- 
vinced of their essential correctness, I leave them with 
others to disprove or confirm by their independent 
observations. In the case of the ‘hibernation’ of 
certain mammals, a comparison of my original com- 
munication with the conclusions of my critic will 
show that there is no very marked difference in our 
impressions as to the habits of the animals named; 
and, whether ‘extraordinary or improbable,’ what I 
have said of the Hesperomys and star-nosed mole is 
not simply substantially correct, but absolutely so. 
Cuas. C. ABBOTT, M.D. 
May 25, 
THETROVAL SOCIETY OF CANADA. 
Tue third session of this society was held 
at Ottawa, commencing on the 20th of May, 
and ending on the 23d. Many members and 
delegates were present; among the latter, 
Dr. Persifor Frazer of Philadelphia, who 
represented the American association for the 
advancement of science, and Dr. C. Hart 
Merriam of New York, who represented the 
American ornithological union. 
An address of welcome was presented to 
the new governor-general of the Dominion, the 
Marquis of Landsdowne, inviting him to be- 
come the honorary president of the society, to 
which his Excellency returned a suitable reply. 
The president’s address was delivered by the 
Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, in French, and the 
vice-president’s by Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, in 
English. 
On the 22d of May the members and 
friends of the society were invited by the 
Ottawa field-naturalists’ club to participate in 
an excursion to the King’s Mountain, near 
Chelsea, in the Laurentian country to the 
north of the city, which proved eminently 
successful. 
The following officers were elected for the 
ensuing year: president, Dr. T. Sterry Hunt ; 
vice-president, Dr. Daniel Wilson; treasurer, 
Dr. J. A. Grant (re-elected) ; honorable sec- 
retary, Mr. J. G. Bourinot (re-elected). 
The two scientific sections of the society are 
the third (mathematical, physical, and chemi- 
cal sciences) and the fourth (geological and 
