282 
THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
A writen to tlie Zoologist calls attention to a 
new danger to the fruit crops. Having had h is 
attention attracted to the rapid decrease in the 
number of the ripe goose-berries in his garden 
he set a watch for the purpose of finding out 
the cause. His curiosity was speedily satisfied. 
An old rat was seen to cautiously advance 
towards the bush, and to climb on to the branches, 
after doing which it plucked the berries and drop- 
ped them to his expectant comrades who were 
awaiting below. This continued for some time, 
aucl then another rat ascended the bush and went 
through a similar performance. The writer set 
a trap at the foot of the bush and in three days 
nine of the intruders had to pay with their lives 
for their penchant for gooseberries. 
In experiments on the influence of food and sur- 
roundings on the color of animals, Mr. E. B. Poul- 
ton reared caterpillars of the paper moth under 
different conditions. Those confined among green 
leaves and twigs became green, those having black 
or brown twigs mingled with their food were 
brown or black, and others were turned light 
colored by white paper. With artificial colors red 
and blue tended to produce a dark coloration, 
though, very strangely, painted twigs had not the 
same effect as those with the same natural tints. 
It was shown that the sensory stimulus producing 
the change did not act through the eye, but through 
the skin, and consisted of the formation of a de- 
finite pigment, being therefore slower than in 
the chameleon and frog, and capable cf modify- 
ing the color of a caterpillar only once or twice in 
its lifetime. 
An interesting curiosity, peculiar to the North 
Islands of New Zealand, is the vegetable cater- 
pillar ( Gordyceps Eobertii). This is an ordinary 
caterpillar, into which, at a certain season, the 
almost invisible spores of a fungus enter through 
the breathing pores. These commence to germi- 
nate, when the grub buries itself and is soon 
killed by the growth of fungus inside it, which 
ultimately sprouts from one side of the creature’s 
body, and grows to a height of six to nine inches 
or more. Nearly the entire body of the cater- 
pillar has by that time been converted into ve- 
getable tissue. 
The fish are being driven out of the Volga, in 
consequence, it is believed, of the rapidly increas- 
ing trade in naphtha. This substance i> conveyed 
in badlybuilt barges, and the leakage is cstint ' ed 
to be from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 pounds annually. 
The fish are decreasing in numbers throughout the 
river, and have disappeared from the vicinity of 
the boat landings, while of those still found in 
places some kinds are so strongly flavored with 
naphtha as to be no longer eatable. Not only are 
the fish killed directly, but the infusoria, files, 
mosquitoes, etc., which serve them as food, are 
destroyed. Even the vegetation of the meadows 
is injured, and the natives collect the naphtha for 
domestic use. 
Coal was hardly used at all 350 years ago, 
reflects Mr. J. E. Taylor, F.L.S., yet since then 
Great Britain has consumed nearly half the stock 
deposited by Nature in its coal cellars many 
millions of year- ago. At the present rate of in- 
crease in consumption, what will be the condi- 
tion of those cellars after another 350 years? It 
is clearly indicated that this period will witness 
a marvellous development of economic science. 
Coal, long before that, as a form of oner, y will 
be regarded as a somewhat antique and worked 
out material. The ebbing and flowing tides, the 
shifting winds, the waters running to the ocean, 
perhaps even volcanic and earthquake energy, 
will have taken its place. Indeed, a line of 
enquiry and research now going on may possibly 
affect the commercial interests of the whole 
world within the short space of the next five 
years. This relates to the use of petroleum, al- 
ready being tried on steamers and locomotives 
of the Caspian Sea and vicinity. The coal-fields 
of the world will certainly i>e worked < at within 
an historically brief period, but a distinguished 
Russian chemist finds grounds for believing that 
petroleum is still being formed by the action of 
water on heated metallic deposits, and that the 
supply will be permanent. 
Editor. J. H. Cooke. 15. Sc., E.G.S., Malta. 
q mv 
