Notes. 
348 
of bydily organs, why may not the will of other animals do like- 
wise ? Possibly we have here the explanation of the so-called 
fascination of serpents. 
H. van Wielowiejski (“ Zeitsch. Wissen. Zoologie ”) has made 
a thorough anatomical and physiological study of the Lampy- 
ridas. All the species examined have in their mature state a 
very imperfedt development, containing organs otherwise peculiar 
to larvae. The luminosity cannot have the objedt of sexual at- 
traction, as it is shared by larvae immediately on leaving the egg. 
The luminous organs are homologous with the fatty bodies in 
other insects. 
Mr. W. B. Cooper (“ American Naturalist ”) makes some in- 
teresting suggestions on the possibility of teaching brutes the 
use of letters. 
According to the “ New Hampshire Gazette ” a toad, having 
observed that flies were attracted by moistened meal which was 
given as food to a brood of chickens, contrived to roll himself in 
the saucer, and thus became a living and very efficient fly-trap. 
The “ American Naturalist ” quotes, from an essay by the late 
Chauncy Wright, the following passage: — “According to Mr. 
Spencer’s views the first strata, had they been preserved, would 
have contained the remains of Protozoa and Protophytes ; but 
for aught we dare guess they might have contained the foot- 
prints of archangels.” Our contemporary adds in comment : — 
“ Truth is stranger than fidtion. What else can be the Carson 
foot-prints ? ” 
Prof. Mallet, in an official report on the chief processes used 
in the chemical analysis of drinking water, concludes that “ it is 
not possible to decide as to the sanitary quality of a water by 
the mere use of a process for the estimation of organic matter 
and its constituents.” 
The spider crab of Japan ( Macrocheira Camperi) has been 
known to reach the lengths of 10, 11, and even 15 feet. 
ERRATUM 
Page 86, line 13, for Pinchceta read Pevichoeta. 
