NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 
115 
“White, Rev. Gilbert (1720-93); b. Selborne, Hants, 18 July, 1720; d. 
Selborne, 26 June, 1793 ; bur. Selborne Churchyard. M.A.Oxon., 1746. Marked 
Selborne pi. in a copy of Hudson’s Kl. Angl. ‘Natural History of Selborne,’ 
1789. ‘Naturalist’s Calendar,’ 1795- Jacks. 213. Journ. Bot., 1893, 289: 
Alunin. 0.\on.” 
It is plain that there is no room for sentiment here. “The lives of great 
men alt remind us ” when written in this capital style that half the scandals of 
history would have been buried had the method been invented sooner. To be 
serious and to the point, it would be impossible in any notice to give an adeejuate 
idea of the immense labour and research expended by the authors on this useful 
and admirable work. The original index and this present supplement should be 
in the library of every working botanist. George Murray. 
Highways, Byways, and IFa/erways of East Anglia. By William A. Dutt. 
Lowestoft : Dotesio and Todd ; London : Simpkin, Marshall and Co. 
Price IS. net. 
This is a pleasantly written collection of “ prose pastorals,” in part reprinted 
from the Globe and the Pall Mall Gazette, by a resident of Lowestoft — several 
articles from whose pen have already appeared in our pages. We have little 
doubt that the quiet contemplative tone of these papers will commend them to 
the taste of our readers. 
Received. — Knowledge, Science Gossip, Our Animal Friends, The Animals' 
Friend, Humanity, The Naturalist, The Irish Naturalist, attd Agricultural 
Economist for May ; The Victorian Naturalist for March, 1899. 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
A Study in Black and White. — A friend has just shown me a curiosity 
in the shape of a mouse’s nest made entirely of bristles, taken partly from a 
blacking brush and partly from a white scrubbing-brush, and so arranged as to 
form quite a pattern in black and white. The bristles are so cleverly interwoven 
that the nest can be taken up in the hand without falling to pieces, though at first 
sight it looks as if it could not hold together. A small heap of wool nibbled from 
the carpet lay close by, apparently for the purpose of lining the nest, but further 
operations were disturljed by the finder, who discovered it on the top of the meat- 
safe, the mice evidently thinking that they would make sure of their larder to 
start with, and make use of the first materials at hand for nest building. 
April 10, 1899. A. F. Curtis. 
Cannibal Dormice. — Having read with great interest Mr. Dighton’s 
account of his dormice, may I be permitted to relate an occurrence which came 
under my observation some twelve years ago ? Two full-grown dormice had 
during several months inhabited in perfect harmony a spacious, closely-wired 
cage, one end of which was partitioned off by wood to form a sleeping box. One 
night in July, soon after 10 o’clock, I looked at them as usual before going to bed 
and found them all right, feeding contentedly. About 3 a. m. I woke to hear 
the sound of squeaking and scuffling issuing from the cage, the wires of which 
on investigation were found smeared with blood. The combatants had retired 
to the sleeping-hox. I opened it, removed the whole of the contents, and then 
saw that one of the mice lacked quite half its tail, the stump of which was bleed- 
ing ; not after the most careful and thorough examination of cage and bedding 
was the missing portion anywhere to be found. To make quite sure on this 
point, I pulled the hay bedding asunder, shred by shred, then, and again some 
hours later, but found not the slightest fragment of the missing member. Had 
only the outer covering of skin and fur been absent from the tail I should not have 
been so much surprised, as it comes off very easily if pulled ; but the bone was gone 
too, and had evidently been bitten right through. As the uninjured mouse looked 
extremely and unwontedly fat next day, I suspected it of having devoured its 
