Reptiles.. — Fishes. 



5959 



Discovery of a living Frog in the solid Rock. — There is at present to be seen, at 

 Messrs. Sanderson and Sons, George Street, Edinburgh, an extraordinary specimen 

 of Natural History, — a frog which had been discovered alive in freestone rock. A few 

 months ago, while some colliers in the employ of Mr. James Nasmyth (lessee of Dun- 

 donald Colliery, in Fife, the property of R. B. Wardlow Ramsay, Esq., of Whitehill) 

 were engaged in taking out the pavement of the seam of coal, which was freestone, 

 they discovered a cavity in which a frog was lying. On touching it the frog jumped 

 about for some time, and a bucket of water being procured it was put into it, and 

 taken to the surface. On reaching it the animal was found to be dead. It was at the 

 depth of forty-five fathoms, or ninety yards from the surface, in a perpendicular line 

 of strata, consisting of alternate layers of coal and freestone, with ironstone, and about 

 four hundred yards from the out crop surface. The frog seems to have much of the 

 same character as the present species. It is very attenuated, which cannot be won- 

 dered at considering its domicile for so many ages, its original existence being of course 

 considered contemporaneous with the formation of the freestone rock in which it was 

 contained. — Caledonian Mercury. [Ne nimiura crede Mercurio. — Ed.'] 



Capture of Notidanus griseus, a Shark new to Britain, at Banff. — It is a pretty 

 well-known fact that the people of this country endeavour to have something extra on 

 their table on New Year's Day, a sort of dainty or rarity as it were. Now, T have 

 something of this sort myself to-day, and with your leave, kind reader, and our 

 esteemed friend Mr. Newman's indulgence, I will just tell you what it is ; not that I 

 wish you to tell me what you dine off to-day or any other day : I wish just 

 to show you how I in some measure fare as regards food for the mind ; and I dare 

 say when you read my bill you will think, as I do myself, that it is not every one that 

 can boast of such novelties. Well, then, at one corner of the table there is a pretty 

 large basin full of fish-stomachs, some of which appear to be well stuffed with shrimps, 

 whilst from others the fore legs of Gebia deltura, Calocaris M'Andreae, and some spe- 

 cies of Galathea are protruding. In another corner is a basket containing a quan- 

 tity of old shells, fresh from the sea, and covered with all sorts of stuff', mostly of 

 a marine character, and from the jerking and snapping amongst them I can easily 

 perceive that there are hermits in some of the univalves. In the third corner lies as 

 pretty and as splendid a Homelyn ray {Rata miraletus) as ever an ichthyologist set 

 eyes on ; this species is said to be rare on the east coast ; the present one was taken at 

 Macduff yesterday, and brought here about an hour ago. At the other and last cor- 

 ner sits just as strange and as curious a fish as there exists anywhere out of the sea, 

 namely, myself, scribbling away here. We now come to the centre of the table, and 

 here lies the chief dainty, or king of the feast, weighing nearly four hundred pounds, 

 — a pretty good dish, you will be thinking, for a Lord Mayor's feast ; doubtless it 

 would lunch half-a-dozen aldermen ; I am sorry to say, however, that it is neither a 

 baron of beef, a mountain of roasted turkeys, nor a pyramid of plum-pudding, but a 

 rather hideous and terrific.looking and somewhat rare monster from the deep, of the 

 shark family. Now, reader, such are the viands that crowd my humble board on 

 New Year's Day. Would you like to dine with me ? I dare say not, unless you are 

 an out-and-out naturalist, and then I have no doubt you would find many of my good 



