RE VIE I [ 'S A XD EXCHA XGES 
73 
141. Newts. — Folklore teaches that the toad is highly “venomous,” and 
it does indeed .secrete a fluid which causes considerable irritation when it comes 
into contact with a wound, or with peculiarly sensitive skin. 
The frog is usually held to be harmless, but the newt bears almost as bad a 
reputation as the toad. Is there any reason to think that i', also, is provided 
with a defensive fluid to eject? A Folklorist. 
[The coloration of the male newt is much like a warning colour, and the late 
Miss Ormerod personally tested the matter. “ The first effect,” she says, “ was 
a bitter astiingent feeling in the mouth, with irritation of the upper part of the 
throat, numbing of the teeth more immediately holding the animal, and in about 
a minute from the first touch of the newt a strong flow of saliva. This was 
accompanied by much foam and violent spasmodic action, approaching convul- 
sions, but entirely confined to the mouth itself. The experiment was imme- 
diately followed by headache, lasting for some hours, general discomfort of the 
system, and half an hour after by slight shivering fits.” — E d.'A^.A^.] 
142. Spiders. — Do any of the English house-spiders in reality bite ? Some 
few weeks ago a girl who is a member of a very intelligent and observant 
f.rmily of working people told me that she and other girls she knew had been 
bitten by spiders when doing spring-cleaning. The spiders were little, and very 
black, she said, and they lived in houses built in low, damp situations. Their 
bite was sharp, and caused the injured flesh to “ puff up, but not so bad as a 
wasp would do.” She was perfectly sure they were spiders, and nothing else. 
Not long after this recital, a gentleman who has lived all his life in the country, 
mentioned casually in my presence that he had once been bitten by a spider. 
He was opening a door about nine o’clock one evening, when he felt a sharp 
sensation in the hand, which went with a thrill like electricity up his arm. 
Looking down, he saw that the pain was caused by a large spider. 
A Folklorist. 
ASTRONOMICAL NOTES FOR APRIL, 1908. 
Venus is splendidly situated for observation, and will be at her greatest 
apparent distance from the sun on the 26th. This planet sets a few minutes 
before midnight at end of month, and will be near moon and Mars on the 4th. 
Venus will be a brilliant object after sunset. 
Alars is an evening star, setting at about 10.47 P-m- during the month. Near 
moon and Venus on 4th. 
Jupiter is favourably visible in the evenings high in the southern sky. Sets at 
3.43 a.m. on 1st, and 2 a.m. on 28th. Near the moon on 9th. 
Uranus can be well seen in a telescope during the later part of the night near 
the star Pi Sagittarii. 
Neptune is visible in evenings, but only as an 8th magnitude star. 
Meteors may be numerous on April 21. \V. F. D. 
REVIEWS AND EXCHANGES. 
The Age of the Earth and Othir Geological Studies. By Professor W. J. Sollas. 
8j in. X in. Pp. 328. T. Fisher Unwin. Price 6s. net. 
On one point we cannot agree with Professor Sollas. He apologizes for “the 
clumsiness of a geologist, who is more at home with the hammer than with the 
pen.” This apology is wholly unnecessary; for though dealing with some of 
the most abstruse and most controverted questions of the science of which he is 
a master, such as the figure of the earth, the origin of coral-reefs and that of 
flints, he does so in a manner readily comprehensible by the non-geological 
reader. The volume contains ten distinct essays, mostly reprinted from various 
more or less popular periodicals. At the same time the most advanced student 
of geology will find in it much that is suggestive. It is fully illustrated with 
figures in the text. 
