H 
NATURE NOTES 
say, Mr. Kearton is not only a trifle too much like Mr. Barlow in his didacticism, 
but is also rather too prone to use long words, which may require to be para- 
phrased. The type is nevertheless large and clear enough for the juvenile 
reader. 
Norwood Natural Science Society. Notes and Comments for October and November. 
This modest record of many interesting observations is the organ of another 
small local body affiliated to our Society. In the November number, however, 
one paper is not quite up to date. The Mimulus of our ponds and streams is by 
no means confined to our southern counties : it is not the Chilian ^ 1 /. luteus, but 
M. Langsdorffii, a native of Western North America ; and it is a pity to speak of 
the lobes of its stigma as “ leaves ” or “ leaflets,” terms likely to mislead the 
young morphologist. 
The Parent’s Review for December contains, inter alia, a very sensible paper 
upon Nature Study. 
In the American Botanist for October we see that the Editor, whose 
experience of the generally closed condition of Sundew blossoms differs from 
our own, takes exception to our application to them of the term “ cleisiogene,” 
on the ground that that term commonly connotes reduction in parts. That 
the two things often go together we cannot deny ; but ‘‘ cleistogene ” etymo- 
logically means simply “ produced closed,” and technically is merely the 
expression of a simple structural fact, important as necessitating self-pollination. 
As the Editor suggests, such a merely closed flower may well be followed at 
a later stage of evolution by a reduction in the floral organs, especially in the 
petals, number of stamens and amount of pollen. 
Received : 7 he Plant World for September and October ; Our Animal 
Friends for October ; The Victorian Naturalist for November ; Bird Lore for 
November and December ; and The Natilralist, The Irish Naturalist, Nature 
Study (Lockwood), The Animal World, The Animals’ Friend, The Humani- 
tarian, The Agricultural Economist, The Estate Magazine, and the Commonwealth 
for December. 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 
203. Late Bats. — The Pipistrelle, or Common Bat, as is well known, is 
generally the last of all the British species to hibernate, and its sleep is generally 
far more interrupted than that of its congeners. This year, however, I have had 
the opportunity of observing that this bat is more indifferent to cold weather than 
I had previously imagined, for although it is frequently known to make its appear- 
ance on a mild winter day, I was very surprised to see two individuals flying 
about near Halstead, Essex, on the bitterly cold evening of November 22, when 
the snow lay on the ground. I had observed that the pipistrelle appeared every 
evening up to that date, though I have not seen one since. 
December %, 1904. W. R. D. 
204. Dog and Weasel. — Early one morning my attention was attr.acted 
to the continued barking of a dog in front of the house. On opening the door to 
investigate the cause of the same, I saw a full grown collie near a young chestnut 
tree, but nothing whatever visible at that distance to cause the evident excitement 
of the dog. I presently, however, heard the unmistakable whistling noise of a 
weasel (I have kept a weasel, so am well acquainted with the sound), but could 
not yet see it, it being quite hid by the grass. On approaching nearer I saw the 
little creature, which was being kept at bay by the dog, and as the latter kept 
circling round the tree and incessantly barking, so his diminutive foe kept dodg- 
ing from the other side. I watched this performance for several minutes, the 
dog seeming as much surprised at the appearance of the little animal as at the 
sound it produced, but evidently afraid to tackle it, as he never approached nearer 
than two or three feet. When I at last went to get a still closer view, the dog 
skulked quietly away and the weasel ran off in the opposite direction and escaped 
under a fence. 
Wolverhampton, JOilN IlORNE. 
December 7, 1 904 
