196 
NATURE NOTES 
they flourish in the woods, the rivers as they flow by their banks, and the hills 
and mountains upon their sides. The study of a flower, a tree, a grain of corn, 
an insect, or a fish, in the light of the Creator’s benevolence, is of more real 
value, as a foundation of knowledge, than all other teaching in the world. We 
are outdoor animals. To enjoy perfect health we must spend a great proportion 
of our time out of doors. All the medical skill in the world cannot restore the 
injury done to the bodies of those who are deprived of their natural food in God’s 
pure air. And if this is true of our bodily health, it is also true of our spiritual 
health.” 
Knowledge for September is an exceptionally interesting number. Besides con- 
tinuations of the “ Karkinokosm,” by the Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing, of Mr. J. R. 
Jackson’s “ Economic Botany,” Mr. Knock’s “ Insect Miners,” and Mr. Vaughan 
Jennings’ “Botanical Studies,” — that of this month being the fern AtpUnium 
Trichomanes — there is a paper interesting to all students of English literature, 
on “ The Astronomy of the ‘ Canterbury Tales,’ ” by Mr. E. W. Maunder, and 
another on “ Repetition and Evolution in Bird-Song,” by Mr. C. A. Witchell, 
which bears directly upon topics recently discussed in Nature Notes. 
Science Gossip for September is true to its title in having many excellent 
notes, such as those on “ How the Hydra stings,” “ The Study of Lichen 
Structures,” and “ Geology at the Crystal Palace.” There is also a sketch, with 
portrait, of the career of Professor Lankester, the newly-appointed Director of 
the British Museum of Natural History. 
Humanity for September contains three powerful protests, one, a continua- 
tion, by Mr. Joseph Collinson, on “ The Slaughter of the Fur Seal,” the second, 
not concluded, on “ Docking,” and the third on “ The Cramming of Strasburg 
Geese.” 
Our Animal Friends for September introduces us to the League of American 
Sportsmen, which we join with our transatlantic contemporary in cordially 
welcoming. Mr. G. O. Shields, the President of the League, finds, after careful 
inquiry, that in thirty States of the Union the birds have, during the last fifteen 
years, been reduced in number by an average of 46 per cent. ! Another article 
on “ The Balance of Nature,” taken mainly from the Scientific American , gives 
the following startling account of the economic result of an accidental interference 
with that balance on the part of a man of science. Some years ago a few gypsy 
moths imported by an entomologist living near Boston escaped. “So injurious 
have they been to vegetation that the State, after spending 450,000 dols. in the 
last four years in a vain attempt to exterminate their descendants, now expects 
that at least 1,575,000 dols. will be required, and that the annual appropriation 
for five years to come will be at least 200,000 dols.” 
The Animal World for September is largely occupied by the account of the 
Annual Meeting of the R.S.P.C.A., at which a very satisfactory report of work 
done was presented. 
Received. — The American Monthly Microscopical Journal for August. — The 
Naturalist for September. 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Rabbits and Belladonna. — I have lately seen by a newspaper report 
that a family has been poisoned by eating wild rabbits which had partaken of 
belladonna. It mentioned in the report that rabbits can partake of belladonna 
without danger to themselves, but that it is fatal for a human being to eat the 
said rabbits. Can you kindly tell me of any means by which a cook can discover 
the poison ? 
9, Nottingham Place , W. Fanny E. Partridge. 
Singing Mice (p. 176). — Many years ago a correspondence on the 
phenomena of musical mice ran through the pages of Ilardwicke’s Science 
Gossip , and I believe that the conclusion arrived at was that the songster was 
suffering from some affection of the bronchial tubes rather than from a diseased 
01* parasite-infested liver. I have only met with one specimen of a singing 
