420 
MISCELLANEA. 
on the part of the defendant, in the exercise of his calling as 
a veterinary surgeon, which would render him liable. 
The Jury, without retiring, found a verdict for the defen- 
dant. 
MISCELLANEA. 
ALIMENTATION OF BIRDS. 
M. Florent Prevost, naturalist to the Museum of Natural 
History, Paris, has made a careful study of the alimentation 
of birds ; in the course of which he has obtained and pre- 
served the stomachs of a large number of species, taken at all 
periods of the year, and at various ages. He concludes that 
their services in the destruction of noxious larvae and insects 
far counterbalance any injury to the crops, and that all are 
more useful than injurious to mankind. He deprecates 
strongly the war which is commonly w 7 aged among many 
species. — - Lancet . 
LIGHT OF THE GLOW-WORM. 
As the results of recent anatomical and experimental inves- 
tigation, Professor Kolliker comes to the conclusion that the 
illuminating power of the glow-worm does not depend upon 
phosphorous deposition, illuminated by the access of oxygen ; 
but that it is produced by a nervous apparatus having some 
analogy to electrical organs. The light is generated just in 
proportion as the nerves influence the organ. Whatever sti- 
mulates nervous action increases the light, and vice versa. 
The proximate cause of the light may be due to electrical or 
chemical action, and he believes most probably to the latter. 
He is about to follow out the subject more completely. — 
Wurzburg ferhandl . , Band viii. p. 217. 
THE LATE MEETING OF THE PROFESSION. 
In the toast of ( The Schools and the Professors/ drank at 
the last annual dinner of the profession, as reported in our 
number for June, the name of Professor Varnell was acci- 
dentally omitted. “ Honour to whom honour is due.” 
ERRATA, No. 366. 
Page 299, line 19.. for “request 5 ’ read “refusal.” 
