Notes. 
m 
[July. 
day, but swarms with them at night, especially during those 
hours when mosquitoes bite most freely. He has also described 
the life-history of the Filaria during its development in the body 
of the mosquito. 
Mr. F. Galton, in a paper read before the Anthropological 
Society, described a curious psychological phenomenon. About 
one in every thirty adult males, or fifteen females, whenever they 
think of numerals, see them in a vivid mental picture, and each 
number always occupies the same relative position in their field 
of view. 
The following incident was communicated to the “ Popular 
Science Monthly ” by a valued correspondent : — “ A bull dog and 
a Newfoundland came into collision in Federal Street. The 
Newfoundland took to his heels for safety, and was closely pur- 
sued. Seeing that he was likely to be overtaken he caught up a 
bit of dirt from the street, and at the critical moment dropped it 
as if it were something of value he was obliged to give up. The 
ruse succeeded ; for the bull-dog stopped to pick up the supposed 
tit-bit, and the Newfoundland escaped. The disgust manifested 
by the vicious brute when he found how he had been outwitted 
is said to have been very comical.” 
An “ Anti-Vivisedlionist Conference” was held in Edinburgh 
on the 22nd of May, under the presidency of the Earl of 
Kintore. Balaam’s ass was brought forward as evidence in 
favour of the agitators. 
The “ Medical Press ” reports a fatal case of hydrophobia re- 
sulting from the bite of a cat. No light is thrown upon the 
manner in which the cat became affedted. 
According to the “ Medical Press ” the death-rate in St. Peters- 
burg is 59 per 1000, or more than three times that of London. 
With reference to Dr. Croll’s “ eccentricity theory ” of glacia- 
tion, Mr. A. R. Wallace writes to the “ Geological Magazine ” 
to show that, independent of ocean currents, Europe and.North 
America are subjedt to different climatic conditions, which ex- 
plain why the ice-fields should extend farther south in the western 
continent. The author is about to publish an important modifi- 
cation of Dr. C roll’s theory, which we shall await with much 
interest. 
Mr. P. M. Bose, in a valuable paper on Extindf Carnivora, 
communicated to the “ Geological Magazine,” shows that, start- 
ing from Arctocyon, the most primitive Carnivora known, there 
are two divergent series, one comprisin gPalceonictis, Amphicyon, 
and Cynodon, and the other Proviverra, Hycenodon Pterodon , 
Amblectonus, Oxycena , and probably also Synoplotherium, Meso- 
nyx } Patriofelis, and Sinopa. The former series approach, in 
the form of their teeth, the typical Carnivora of which they were 
