NATURE NOTES IN THE MAGAZINES. 19 1 
ranged over a large part of the American continent ” is now 
practically extinct. “In the Yellowstone National Park, pro- 
tected from destruction by United States troops, are the only 
wild Buffalo which exist within the borders of the United States. 
These are mountain Buffalo, and from their habit of living in 
the thick timber and on the rough mountain sides, they are only 
now and then seen by visitors to the Park.” The actual num- 
ber existing is estimated at from three to four hundred. “ In 
the far North-west, in the Ranee River district, there may still 
be found a few wood Buffalo ” — the estimate of their number 
varies from five hundred to fifteen hundred. “ Apart from man, 
the Buffalo had but few natural enemies,” and Mr. Grinnell 
gives full and painfully interesting details of the way in which 
the war of extermination has been carried on. 
In the Contemporary Review Mr. A. E. P. R. Dowling has a 
very interesting paper entitled “ Flora Sacra,” in which he 
treats of the numerous flowers dedicated to the saints, or asso- 
ciated with religious feasts, customs, and observances. Mr. 
Dowling’s article differs from almost every other contribution 
written on this subject in the carefulness with which the wheat 
is separated from the chaff. He gives a long list of books which 
have copied, one from the other, statements based on no trust- 
worthy authority, and traces to their source the various 
“spurious antiques” of Thomas Forster, and the supposed 
dedications of Hone. We think the English Dialect Society’s 
Dictionary of English Plant Names might well have received a 
somewhat fuller recognition, and we- regret that Mr. Dowling’s 
paper is by no means free from misprints in the Latin names 
cited ; we can assure him, for e.xample, that we do not “ say 
now, or try to remember, Briza medium ” (sic). The attack on 
scientific names is not supported by common sense ; and it is 
not just to imply that there is no “ lesson worth the learning ” 
in Latin commemorative titles. The paper on the whole, 
although exception may be taken to certain details, is inter- 
esting and accurate. 
In the Nuieteenth Century the Rev. B. G. Johns discusses what 
is known as ‘ mimicry ’ or ‘ protective resemblance ’ in a very read- 
able paper on “The Protective Colour in Animals.” Beginning 
with examples selected from Mr. Bates’s Naturalist on the Amazons, 
he proceeds to show that “like and kindred marvels may be 
found here at home among the fields and woods of England.” 
His instances, chosen from animals, birds, reptiles, fishes and 
insects, all observed “ in a lonely nook among the Hampshire 
woods ” are both interesting and instructive ; but they “ leave 
[him] in the midst of a crowd of mysteries, contradictions and 
anomalies, out of which [he] cannot see [his] way.” “ If some 
certain birds, insects, and caterpillars, and fish have or assume 
a protective colour, how is it that others, equally abundant, and 
equally thriving, set all this regime at defiance ? If the peacock 
and tortoiseshell butterfly pick out the nettle for their dingy 
