52 Notes . [January, 
of the Micro-Lepidoptera, and insists upon a more general and 
careful study of the neuration of the wings. 
In South Africa a bitter hostility prevails between the dogs 
belonging to the Aborigines and those of the European settlers, 
whether Dutch or English. If a straggler of either kind falls in 
with a number of the other he rarely escapes with his life. 
Now the question of “ thought-reading” is receiving the atten- 
tion of many thinkers, the following incident recorded in “ Men 
of the Time” may be worth notice: — “As Louis Blanc was 
returning home one evening in October, 1839, he was suddenly 
assailed from behind by some ruffian, who inflicted a violent 
blow with a stick on his right eye. The author of this cowardly 
attempt — which was made the day after M. Louis Blanc had 
published a review of Louis Bonaparte’s work, ‘ Les Idees Napo- 
leoniennes ’ — -was never discovered. M. Louis Blanc had a 
brother one year younger than himself, who was at that time at 
Rodez, in the department of l’Aveyron, and who entertained so 
strong a conviction that his brother was being assaulted at the 
precise moment when it really occurred that he was induced to 
write at once for information to Paris. This incident was the 
origin of M. Dumas’s ‘ Corsican Brothers,’ the main subjeCt of 
which is the preternatural sympathy between two brothers.” It 
may be mentioned that the death of Louis Blanc followed that of 
his brother with very little interval. 
The Bishop of Manchester in a harvest thanksgiving sermon, 
is reported to have said: — “There was a progress of science 
which was causing very serious apprehensions in the minds of 
many, and not altogether without cause, for as yet the tendency 
of science could hardly be said to be determined, and we did not 
know whether it was going to take up a direCt antagonistic 
position to religion and morality or not ? Was science going to 
be atheistic ? Some of its professors, no doubt, assutned that 
attitude. It was distinctly assumed by Haeckel and Biichner, 
and perhaps by a few nearer home, and he was sorry to see that 
hasty letter of Charles Darwin, written when he was ill, and, 
perhaps, hardly capable of fixing his mind on the question, which 
might seem to shake men’s faith in a revelation and a life beyond 
the grave.” 
According to “Les Mondes,” English soldiers rank among the 
worst fed in Europe. The daily ration of a Swiss soldier is 
1062 grms. of solid food ; that of a Russian, 1019 grms. About 
the middle of the scale comes Belgium, 770 grms. Then follow 
England, 672 grms. ; France, 661 grms., and Italy, 637 grms. ! 
According to Prof. F. Bauher (Vienna Academy of Sciences), 
the thorax of the Hymenoptera is composed of three ordinary 
rings. In the Diptera the dorsal side of the first abdominal ring 
is reduced to one-half, and is attached to the second abdominal 
