THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
281 
unfortunately find himself the wrong side of the 
barrier, he would be compelled to put up with 
such accomodation as is to be got in the “fondas” 
of Linea, whose insect denizens would no doubt 
exact ample vengeance for the slaughter of their 
fellow creatures during the day. 
NOTES AND NEWS. 
If you study Nature in books; when you go out 
of doors you will not find her.— Agassiz. 
The streets of Paris have 87,655 trees, each 
representing a cost to the city of 35 dollars. 
Nature informs us that in consecpience of the 
great ravages of insect pests among the agricultu- 
ral produce of New South Wales, the legislative 
council have passed a code of laws having for its 
special object the protection of the insectivorous 
birds of the colony. 
A hybrid between the black currant and the 
gooseberry has been produced by an English gar- 
dener. Its fruit resembles the black currant in 
size and a red goosebery in color; it has a hairy 
covering, aud is seedless. The flavor partakes of 
both the black currant and the gooseberry, being, 
in the opinion of the originator, superior to either. 
A striking reminder of the gaps yet to be filled 
in our .maps of the earth’s surface is Dr. O. Bau- 
mann’s discovery in eastern Africa of a hitherto 
unknown lake 80 miles long. This great lake to 
be called Eliasi — is between the Manyara Salt 
Lake and the Victoria Nyanza, and receives the 
Wambere River, supposed by Stanley to be the 
southernmost tributary of the Nile. 
In Nature for October 6th appeared an interest- 
ing illustrated article on the late “Eruption of 
Etna” written by Mr. G. Platania, and translated 
from the Italian by that well know vulcanologist 
Dr. Johnston Lavis of Naples. 
We desire to direct the special attention of our 
subscribers to the notice on page 6 of the covers. 
At the recent Botanical Congress /which was 
hold at Genoa, Dr. Caruana Gatto read a paper 
on “The present state of our knowledge of the 
Maltese Flora.” It will appear in due course in the 
“Proceedings” of the Congress. We hope to be 
able to give our readers a resume of it in an early 
number. 
In the course of an article on the “Progress of 
the Cholera” contributed to the Scientific American 
considerable stress is laid upon the work done 
and the opinions expressed by the worthy head of 
the health department of these islands, Professor 
Pisaui, and by his staff. 
We would strongly recommend the perusal of 
the article to every medical man in the island. 
Photography is marvellously widening our field 
of vision. It has shown us millions of stars hitherto 
unknown, it has revealed astonishing details of an- 
imal locomotion and caught the rifle bullet in its 
flight, and it is now being made to record the 
movements of the growing parts of plants. Es- 
pecially curious are the results with certain clim- 
bers, such as the hop-convolvulus, ipoinoea, etc.' 
The young stems move in a succession of irregu- 
lar circular or elliptical curves, which vary every 
moment, even in direction, and are due to irre- 
gular growth in different parts of the stem. During 
the sleep of plants, movements do not cease, but 
consist of alternate upward and downward vi- 
brations. 
In his latest book, Mr. W. Hudson corrects a 
common error concerning the puma, by stating 
that on the South American pampas this powerful 
animal never attacks man except in self-defence, 
and that even an unprotected child may sleep on 
the plain in security, Mr. T. B. Comstock, of 
Tucson, Ariz, confirms the statement, adding that 
many other animals of reputed ferocity — including 
the grizzly and cinnamon bears — interfere with 
man only under strong provocation. He finds the 
same to be true of venomous reptiles and insects— 
as the rattlesnake, “Gila Monster,” tarantula, 
scorpion, etc. — which bite only when escape seems 
to be impossible. Even the Brazilian boa constric- 
tor does not seek human victims, and natives 
about tropical rivers declare that the alligator 
harms only drunken men, 
