234 
THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
The cause of our oi l friend the sparrow 
is now given up by so high an authority as 
Miss Ormerod, the entomologist, who, in a 
letter to Earl Cathcart, has declared herself 
unequivocally on the side of the Sparrow 
Clubs. Among farmers there has never ; 
been much hesitation on this subject. As : 
to the depredations of rooks they are pretty j 
equally divided. Miss Ormerod is of opi- 
nion that in the case of the corvidae much 
depends on weather, state of land, and ! 
crops, but as regards the much-vexed ques- ! 
tion of the sparrow she declares that, what- j 
ever it may eat in town, it is in the 
country, to her personal knowledge, a cause 
of fearful loss. This is not only by its 
raids on the cornfields, but by driving away 
the swallows and martins, which are 
amongst the first-class of our insect pro- 
tectors. “Should the matter” (says Miss 
Ormerod) “be brought forward, I have a 
large amount of evidence in my hands as to 
the absolute curse that this bird is (in its 
fostered condition) to British agriculture.” 
The enormous mortality every year 
among the native population of India from 
snakebites has led the authorities to se- 
riously consider the-advisability of adopting 
means wherelv the evil may be mitigated. 
A new and improved snake house to 
contain specimens of the principal poison- 
ous reptiles of the country has been estab- 
lished in the Calcutta Zoological Cardans, 
and it is proposed to add a laboratory for 
inquiries bearing upon the pathology of 
snake-bites, and related subjects, and for 
experimental tests of alleged remedies. 
As the close of the word’s most wonder- 
ful century draws near, speculative minds 
naturally wonder how long our civilization 
can continue, and whither it is tending. 
Much of our boasted progress is lamentable 
extravagance, a mode of living gained at a 
frightful expenditure of resources. Fuel is 
our dependence, and its consuption is acce- 
lerating so rapidly through our eagerness 
to move fast that the supply stored in past 
10 AUG 
ages must inevitably be exhausted in a few 
generations. What then? Ic is quite possi- 
ble that some way of utilizing the sun’s 
wasted energy may be found, and may 
give ample power and heat for innumerable 
prodigal generations to come. Or it may 
be that humanity is destined soon to return 
to early primitive conditions. In any event 
as Sir Robert Ball declares, to future histo- 
rians “the few centuries through which we 
are now T passing will stand out prominently 
as the coal-burning period.” 
In a recent number of Petermann s Mit- 
tilungen, Dr. A. Supan points out that the 
old hypothesis that the various seas of Eu- 
rope are situated at different levels is no 
longer tenable. From statistics that have 
been collected at 38 stations in the Adriatic, 
Mediterranean, Atlantic, North Sea, and 
Baltic the heights differ but slightly from 
those at Marseilles, so that, for practical 
purposes, the sea-level around Europe may 
be considered as being the same 
To Correspondents : — 
Gitris :— See the “Mediterranean Naturalist” 
Nrs. 6, 11, and 12. Yol. I. Soap and 
water sprayed over the leaves is an ex- 
cellent preventive. 
Am:— Your grapes are evidently affected 
by the Erinosa. Sprinkle the leaves 
with powdered sulphur. 
Petrel : — We can take no notice of anony- 
mous communications. 
Wanted to exchange : — 
I wish to exchange Minerals and Curiosi- 
ties from the United States for Minerals and 
Curiosities from Europe and other Foreign 
countries. Correspondence in English, 
German, and Yolapuk. Write me what you 
have, and what j'ou wish. Address B. W. 
Kumler, Parker. Turner County, South 
Dakota, U.S.A. 
Editor. J. H. Cooke. B.Se., F.G.S.. Malta. 
