Scientific Memoranda. 191 



SCIENTIFIC MEMORANDA. 

 Herds of frozen Elephants, Rhinoceros, ^c. ^c. — In No. VII. of 

 *' Bulletin de la Societe Imperiale des Naturalistes de Moscou," 

 there is a letter from M. Hedenstrom, to whom the Russian 

 government had intrusted an expedition for the purpose of trac- 

 ing geometrically the coasts of the Icy sea, from Lena toColyma, 

 and of making a description of the isles of the north. He was 

 three years in these remarkable countries, and discovered a new 

 Island, which he named J^ew Siberia, because its general appear- 

 ance is much more savage than that of the old Siberia. In the 

 unchangeable icy crusts of these countries there were found 

 buried thousands of the mammout, (commonly called mammoth,) 

 rhinoceros, bufFaloe, and other antediluvian animals. New Siberia 

 is indeed a country full of wonders, but which naturalists can 

 only admire, for it is impossible to study nature there. The 

 ground, frozen and hard as the rock, cannot be dug into ; and 

 the summer is too short for the necessary researches. 



Mag. of Nat. His. May, 1831,j3a^e 253. 



Voice of Fishes. — It appears that fishes, like many diffident 

 young persons, " don't sing, but will try to do their best." In 

 Loudon's Magazine of Natural History, it is stated by a Mr. 

 Thompson, that " some tench, which I caught in ponds, made a 

 croaking like a frog, for a full half hour, whilst in the basket at 

 my shoulder." Mr. Murray also observes, " when the herring is 

 just caught in the net, and brought into the boat, it utters a shrill 

 cry like the mouse ; and I have often heard the long continued 

 * grunting' or croaking, of the gurnard, after being freed from 

 the hook." 



Easy method of destroying Insects, intended for cabinet specimens. — 

 Put a quantity of sal. volatile, or common smelling salts, into 

 a wide mouthed bottle; the insects will die soon after being intro- 

 duced into it. For the larger moths, it is recommended, first ta 

 make a solution of crystallized oxalic acid with a little water; 

 then holding the moth gently on the under side, between the 

 wings, with the finger and thumb of your left hand, dip a sharp 

 pointed quill, without a split, in the solution, run it into the in- 

 sect between the first pair of legs, and after one or two applica- 

 tions, the moth will be dead. 



if 

 * 1 



