580 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
rhinoceros inhabit the region of Burrnah. He succeeded during his travels 
in that country in confirming the existence of the one-horned Rhinoceros 
Sondicus , and the two horned Rhinoceros Sumatranus, but believes that 
these two insular species are the only ones of the Indo-Chinese region ; 
the third species, Rhinoceros Indicus, appears to be peculiar to the region 
at the foot of the Himalayas, and the province of Assam. 
The Moa. — A letter from Mr. E. L. Layard, Secretary to Sir George 
Grey, Governor of New Zealand, states that two species of this bird have 
been found to maintain a lingering existence in that region. Of one 
species of comparatively small size (about 3| feet high) a specimen has 
actually been killed and eaten by a party of explorers, and fifteen others 
seen. Of the other species, one of the large Moas, the fresh footsteps, 
fifteen inches long, have been traced, as Mr. Layard states, by a party 
who had lost themselves. Both these living species inhabit the little 
explored Middle Island, never thickly peopled, and nearly depopulated 
about thirty years since. It is suggested that although tradition points 
to the recent existence of the Moa, and there are no large animals capable 
of having exterminated it, the prevalence of bush fires may have had that 
effect. The probability, however, is that it still exists in some of the 
untrodden tracts of the Middle Island. 
Pulsations of the Heart in Quadrupeds .• — In a recent lecture at the Royal 
Institution Professor Marshall stated that by an ingeniously contrived 
apparatus, he found the pulsations to increase in frequency as the size of 
the animal diminishes. Thus in the horse they number 55 per minute ; 
in man 72, in the dog 96, in the rabbit 220, and in the squirrel 300. But 
whatever the size, the number of beats required to complete the circula- 
tion throughout the whole body averages 27 ; and the proportion of the 
weight of the blood to that of the whole body is 1 to 12. 
Tootli-hilled Pigeon. — This bird ( Didemculus strigirostris), of so great 
interest as being believed to be the nearest ally of the Dodo, has been 
discovered to be not quite extinct, as was believed. Mr. Williams, Consul 
for the Navigator Islands, after several years of unsuccessful efforts, 
has managed to procure a single living example. A person who visited 
the Navigator Islands in November last ascertained that, although the 
bird is now totally extinct at Upolu, a few are still to be found on the island 
of Sawaii, the largest and most mountainous of the group, and exertions 
are being made to secure a specimen for the gardens of the Zoological 
Society. 
Struggle for Life. — The Royal Commissioners for inquiring into the 
operation of the laws relating to the herring fisheries, state that the take of 
herrings by fishermen within the jurisdiction of the Scotch Fishery Board 
amounted in 1861 to nearly 900 millions. It is very common to find a 
codfish with six or seven herrings undigested in his stomach. If we allow 
a cod only two herrings a-day, and estimate that he feeds on herrings for 
only seven months in the year, he takes 420 as his allowance during that 
time ; and since at least 2,400,000 codfish were caught in 1861, and the 
cod and ling caught were certainly not a tithe of those left behind, the 
destruction of herrings by them alone may be estimated at ten times as 
great as that effected by all the fishermen put together. The Commis- 
