122 
The mediterranean naturalist 
had said sufficient to encourage others to consult 
the published memoirs of the authors whom I 
have mentioned, or if I have aroused sufficient 
interest in the subject to stimulate them to fur 
ther investigations in it. 
(to be continued ). 
NOTES AND NEWS. 
We desire to call our readers attention to the | 
fact that numbers 1, 2, and 3, of the Mediterranean | 
Naturalist are now out of print. The remainder ' 
of the back numbers may still be had. 
Recent statistics show that France has 525 
learned Societies, of which 135 have been officially 
recognized as of national importance. Of the 
total, number, 95 are historical and social ; 95 agri- 
cultural and horticultural; 57 medical and phar- 
maceutical; 45 scientific; 41 artistic; 37 geogra 
phical; and the rest miscellaneous, including pho- 
tographic, statistical and ballooning associations. 
An article on “ Sicreodon Melitensis ” by Mr. 
John H. Cooke, f.g.s., etc., appeared in the cur- 
rent numbei of the Geological Magazine. 
A correspondent writes to know if the little 
Golden Plover, Charadrius Virginiacus is often 
seen in the Maltese Islands, and if so at what 
season of the year. Perhaps some of our readers 
will inform him through our columns. 
During the recent expedition of the Vittor Pi- 
sani extensive collections of animals and plants 
were brought from the Red Sea and the Aegean 
Sea by the officers of the Italian Navy. 
They are now to be placed at the service of all 
who a*-e willing to pursue histological and mor- 
phological researches, and systematic and faunistic 
investigations. 
The last earthquake of note that took place in 
Ma’ta occurred in February 1887. It is a remark- 
able fact that some of the mest destructive earth- 
quakes on record, also took place in the same 
month. The great earthquake of Lisbon in Feb- 
ruary 1531 during which 30, COO people lost their 
lives; that of Aquila in It Jy, in February 1703, j 
during which 5000 persons were d* • royed ; the 
series of earthquake shocks in Southern Italy and j 
Sic' y ' February 1783 that caused the death of 1 
several thousands ; the great earthquake in Cen- 
tral America in February 1797 by which 40,000 
persons lost their lives in one second of time, and 
the recent Chilian earthquake in February. 
Not the least curious of recent applications of 
science is the use of spectacles for the production 
of high stepping horses. The spectacles, designed 
and first made by a London firm of opticians, con- 
sist of eye enclosing frames of stiff leather and 
deep concave glasses of large size. They cause 
the ground in front of the horse to appear raised, 
and he accordingly steps high. Persistence in the 
use of the spectacles on young animals is said to 
give wonderful results. It is suggested that spec- 
tacles are also often desirable for correcting the 
vision of horses, and that certain vice such as 
shying, which is generally due to short sight might 
be cured by means of eye-glasses. 
Many thousands of tons of sulla (clover) and 
wheat are annually grown in the Maltese Islands 
but the latter does not thrive to the same extent 
as does the former. This is probably due to the 
greater adaptibility of the clover to its environ- 
ment, but more especially to that peculiarity which 
it possesses in common with all leguminous plants 
of being able to extract free nitrogen from the 
atmosphere. 
It is a process, the modus operandi of which is 
as yet unknown, and this, too, notwithstanding 
the diligent researches of the most eminent che- 
mists that have lived during the last quarter of a 
century. Twenty two years ago the French Gov- 
ernment offered a prize of £ 10,000 to the chemist 
who solved the problem. 
The reward has not yet been claimed. 
A correspondent of Nature suggests a very sim- 
ple plan for the destruction of that familiar pest 
the mosquito. He tells us that the method was 
tried in the Riviera a few years ago by an English 
gentleman who had some property there. 
The place in question is a peninsula and "or that 
reason it is excep ronally open to separate treat- 
ment. On the Riv'e a fresh -water is a somewhat 
rare commodity, and u lias therefore to be stored 
in tanks and other s nail receptacles. The larvae 
of the mosquito live only in resh water, conse- 
quently the tanks are usi a !i y the only places that 
