NATURE NOTES 
236 
then projecting the consciousness inward so as to become almost as sensible of 
the structure and function of the various internal organs, as it usually is of the 
outer surface of the body. Of course this is a process which cannot be effectuated 
at once. . . . There is no doubt that many of the Yogis of India attain to 
great skill in it.” Truly there is need of rational science in some quarters. 
The Wanton Mutilation of Animals. By George Fleming, C.B., LL.D. , 
F.R.C.V.S. Printed by permission of the Editor of the Nineteenth Century , for 
the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. George Bell & Sons, 
folio, pp. 24, with 7 whole page plates. Price is. 6d. 
This sumptuous reprint of Dr. Fleming’s article in the Nineteenth Century 
for March, 1895, is practically a supplement to Sir William Flower’s celebrated 
paper on “ Fashion in Deformity,” showing, as it does, that fashion, however 
irrational, decrees barbarous cruelty in the docking of horses’ tails, just as the other 
paper showed its vagaries with regard to human beings, The humanitarian, alas, 
must often be tempted to despair in the apparent fruitlessness of the struggle 
against the insensate hydra of fashion. We almost wish that the barbarism 
represented in Fig. 6 had not even been perpetuated by reproduction here. 
The Animals' Friend , for November, is as beautifully illustrated as ever. The 
portrait of “ Tommy ” alone, is, in our opinion, well worth the price of the 
magazine. 
Knowledge, for November, sustains the reputation of the magazine. Besides 
continuations of Mr. Stebbing’s “ Karkinokosm,” Mr. Wilson’s “ Self-irrigation in 
plants,” and Mr. Vaughan Jennings’ “ Botanical Studies,” it contains an article 
showing that the “ Connagh worm” of Irish superstition is merely the larva of 
the elephant hawk-moth, and another on the smell of earth as due to the 
bacterian Cladolhrix odorifera. 
Essex Naturalist, January — June, 1898, contains a summary of the report of 
the Essex Bird Society for 1897, and some returns from the Epping Forest Bird 
Protection League, an interesting article on fish-hooks of wood still in use on the 
Essex coast, another describing a hybrid between the oxlip and cowslip, and 
many valuable notes on local natural history. 
7 he Victorian Nattiralist, for September, contains a valuable paper on I’re- 
Linnsean Botanists. 
Received. — Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes for January, April and July ; The 
Victorian Naturalist, and The American Monthly Microscopical Journal for 
October ; and The Irish Naturalist, The Naturalist, Science Gossip, Humanity , 
and The Animal World for November. 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES AND QUERIES. 
A Dog 1 Hero. — This is an extract from a letter received by a relative about 
ten days ago, which so interested me that I begged to be allowed to send it to 
Nature Notes. The incident took place at Swansea. Brian is a wire-haired 
terrier, Rollo, a St. Bernard. “ Now I must tell you about Brian and Rollo. 
We took the dogs down for a swim one rough day, and to avoid the breakers 
I sent them in off the point into deep water. At this spot (unknown to me) 
there is a very strong current, which caught poor Rollo and dragged him down. 
Just as he sank, Brian, who was on the rocks some way off, sprang into the 
water and swam as fast as he could to him. Rollo rose to the surface, but sank 
again before Brian got to him, so when Brian got to the spot he went round and 
round looking for him, and presently we saw poor Rollo’s two front paws appear 
and wave wildly in the air. Brian made a dash, dived down and caught Rollo 
by his cheek, pulled his head up and never let go till he had swum to the rocks 
with him, and safely landed him.” M. S. Y. 
The Robin’s Politeness.— -The following, for the truth of which a 
correspondent vouches, may, he thinks, interest the many birddovers who read 
