Chapter X: Part 10

In the autumn of 1868, a pair of Chameleons, in the possession of the Hon. Lady Cust, of Leasowe Castle, Cheshire, produced nine active young ones, like little alligators, less than an inch long. Such a birth has been, it is believed, very rare in this country. It was remarked, in the above case, that the male and female appeared altogether indifferent about their progeny.

Whatever may be the cause, the fact seems to be certain, that the Chameleon has an antipathy to objects of a black colour. One, which Forbes kept, uniformly avoided a black board which was hung up in the chamber; and, what is most remarkable, when the Chameleon was held forcibly before the black board, it trembled violently and assumed a _black colour_.[25]

It may be something of the same kind which makes Bulls and Turkey-cocks dislike the colour of scarlet, a fact of which there can be no doubt.

FOOTNOTES:

[24] The Fables of John Gay. Illustrated. With Original Memoir, Introduction, and Annotations. By Octavius Freire Owen, M.A., F.S.A. 1854.

[25] This, it will be seen by referring to page 307, does not correspond with Calmet's statement.

RUNNING TOADS.

That the Toad, by common repute "ugly and venomous," should be made a parlour pet, is passing strange; yet such is the case, and we find in a letter from Dr. Husenbeth, of Cossey, the following curious instances. Thus he describes a species, there often met with, the eyes of which have the pupil surrounded with bright golden-yellow, whereas in the common toad the circle is red or orange. This remarkable peculiarity Dr. H. has not seen anywhere noticed. The head is like that of the common sort, but much more blunt, and rounded off at the nose and mouth, and the arches over the eyes are more prominent. The most remarkable difference is a line of yellow running all down the back. Also down each side this Toad has a row of red pimples, like small beads, which are tolerably regular, but appear more in some specimens than in others. The general colour is a yellowish-olive, but the animal is beautifully marked with black spots, very regularly disposed, and exactly corresponding on each side of the yellow line down the back. Like all other Toads, this one occasionally changes its colour, becoming more brown, or ash-colour, or reddish at times, probably in certain states of the weather. This species is much more active than the common Toad. It never leaps, and very seldom crawls, but makes a short run, stops a little, and then runs on again. If frightened or pursued, it will run along much quicker than one would suppose.

During the previous summer Dr. H. kept three Toads of this kind in succession. "The first (says Dr. H.) I procured in July; but after a few days, when I let him have a run on the carpet of my parlour, he got into a hole in a corner of the floor, of which I was not aware, and fell, as I suppose, underneath the floor, into the hollow space below. I concluded that he could never get up again, and gave him up to his fate. I then began to keep another Running Toad, which fed well at first, but after three weeks refused food, and evidently wasted; so I turned him out into the garden, and have not met with him since. After more than three weeks, the former Toad reappeared, but how he came up from beneath the floor I never could conceive, or how he had picked up a living in the meantime. He was, however, in good condition, and seemed to have lived well, probably on spiders and woodlice. He had been seen by a servant running about the carpet, but I knew nothing of his having come forth again, till in the evening, when he had got near the door, and it was suddenly opened so as to pass over the poor creature, and crush it terribly. I took it up apparently dead. It showed no sign of life; the eyes were closed, it did not breathe, and the backbone seemed quite broken, and the animal was crushed almost flat. I found a very curious milky secretion exuding from it, where it had been most injured and the skin was most broken. This was perfectly white, and had exactly the appearance of milk thrown over the toad. It did not bleed, though much lacerated; but instead of blood appeared this milky fluid, which had an odour of a most singular kind, different from anything I ever smelt. It is impossible to describe it. It was not fetid, but of a sickly, disgusting, and overpowering character, so that I could not endure to inhale it for a moment. I had read and seen a good deal of the extraordinary powers of revivification in toads, but was not prepared for what I witnessed on this occasion. I laid this poor animal, crushed, flattened, motionless, and to all appearance dead, upon a cold iron plate of the fireplace. He fell over on one side, and showed no sign of life for a full hour. After that he had slightly moved one leg, and so remained for about another half-hour. Then he began to breathe feebly, and gathered up his legs, and his back began to rise up into its usual form. In about two hours from the time of the accident, he had so far recovered as to crawl about, though with difficulty. The milky liquor was reabsorbed, and gradually disappeared as the toad recovered. The next morning it was all gone, and no mark of injury could be seen, except a small hole in his back, which soon closed. He recovered so far as to move about pretty well, but his back appeared to have been broken, and one fore-leg crippled. I therefore thought it best to give him his liberty in the garden. But so wonderful and speedy a recovery I could never have believed without ocular testimony.

"I then tried my third and last Running Toad. I began to keep him on Sept. 13th. He was a very fine specimen, and larger than the two former. He fed well, and amused me exceedingly. He was very tame, and would sit on my hand quite quiet, and enjoy my stroking him gently down his head and back. Soon after I got him he began to cast his skin. I helped him to get rid of it by stripping it down each side, which he seemed to like much, and sat very quiet during the operation. The new skin was quite beautiful, and shone as if varnished. This Toad lived in a crystal palace, or glass jar, where I had kept all the others before him. He took food freely, and his appetite was so good that in one day he ate seven large flies and three bees without stings. He was particularly fond of woodlice and earwigs, but would take centipedes, moths, and even butterflies. Being more active than common Toads, he often made great efforts to get out of his glass jar. I used to let him run about the room nearly every day for a short time, and often treated him to a run in the garden. Toads make a slight noise sometimes in the evenings, uttering a short sound like 'coo,' but I never heard them croak. Before wet weather, and during its continuance, my Toad was disinclined for food, and took no notice of flies even walking over his nose. He would then burrow and hide himself in the moss at the bottom of his glass palace. Thus I kept him, and found him very tame and amusing. But after about two months he became more impatient of confinement, and refused to take any food. I did not perceive that he fell away, though his feet and toes turned of a dark colour, which I knew was a sign of being out of condition; and, on the 10th of November, I found him dead. I have now tried three of this sort, and have come to the conclusion that the Running Toad will not live in captivity. This I much regret, as its habits are interesting, and its ways very amusing.

"F. C. Husenbeth, D.D."

* * * * *

FROG AND TOAD CONCERTS.

It would be hard to believe the stories of the vocal powers of Frogs and Toads were they not related by trustworthy travellers, who tell of animal concerts,

"Wild as the marsh, and tuneful as the harp."

Mr. Priest, the traveller in America, who was himself a musician, records:--"Prepared as I was to hear something extraordinary from these animals, I confess the first _Frog Concert_ I heard in America was so much beyond anything I could conceive of the power of these musicians, that I was truly astonished. This performance was _al fresco_, and took place on the eighteenth of April, in a large swamp, where there were at least 10,000 performers; and I really believe not two exactly in the same pitch, if the octave can possibly admit of so many divisions, or shades of semitones."

Professor and Mrs. Louis Agassiz, in their recent "Journey in Brazil," record:--"We must not leave Parà without alluding to our evening concerts from the adjoining woods and swamps. When I first heard this strange confusion of sounds, I thought it came from a crowd of men shouting loudly, though at a little distance. To my surprise. I found that the rioters were the frogs and toads in the neighbourhood. I hardly know how to describe this Babel of woodland noises; and, if I could do it justice, I am afraid my account would hardly be believed. At moments it seems like the barking of dogs, then like the calling of many voices on different keys; but all loud, rapid, excited, full of emphasis and variety. I think these frogs, like ours, must be silent at certain seasons of the year, for on our first visit to Parà we were not struck by this singular music, with which the woods now resound at nightfall."

SONG OF THE CICADA.

The Greeks have been scoffed at for rendering in deathless verse the song of so insignificant an insect as the Cicada; and hence it has been asserted that their love for such slender music must have been either exaggerated or simulated. It is pleasant, however, to hear an independent observer in the other hemisphere confirm their testimony. Mr. Lord tells us that in British Colombia there is one sound or song which is clearer, shriller, and _more singularly tuneful than any other_. It never appears to cease, and it comes from everywhere--from the tops of the trees, from the trembling leaves of the cotton-wood, from the stunted under-brush, from the flowers, the grass, the rocks and boulders--nay, the very stream itself seems vocal with hidden minstrels, all chanting the same refrain.

An especial feature of the Cicada's song is, that it increases in intensity when the sun is hottest; and one of the later Latin poets mentions the time when its music is at its highest, as an alternative expression for noon. Mr. Tennyson, inadvertently, speaks in "Ænone" of the Grasshopper being silent in the grass, and of the Cicada sleeping when the noonday quiet holds the hill. Keats sings more truly:--

"When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead:
That is the Grasshopper's."

Then the Greek poets show us how intimately the song of the Cicada is associated with the hottest hours of the day. Aristophanes describes it as mad for the love of the sun; and Theocritus, as scorched by the sun. When all things are parched with the heat (says Alcæus), then from among the leaves issues the song of the sweet Cicada. His shrill melody is heard in the full glow of noontide, and the vertical rays of a torrid sun fire him to sing. Over and over again Mr. Lord met with allusions to the same peculiarity.

Cicadæ are regularly sold for food in the markets of South America. They are not eaten now, like they were at Athens, as a whet to the appetite; but they are dried in the sun, powdered, and made into a cake.

STORIES ABOUT THE BARNACLE GOOSE.

"As barnacles turn Poland geese
In th' islands of the Orcades."--_Hudibras._

One of the earliest references to this popular error is in the "Natural Magic" of Baptista Porta, who says:--"Late writers report that not only in Scotland, but also in the river of Thames by London, there is a kind of shell-fish in a two-leaved shell, that hath a foot full of plaits and wrinkles.... They commonly stick to the keel of some old ship. Some say they come of worms, some of the boughs of trees which fall into the sea; if any of them be cast upon shore, they die; but they which are swallowed still into the sea, live and get out of their shells, and grow to be ducks, or such-like birds."

Professor Max Müller, in a learned lecture, enters fully into the origin of the different stories about the Barnacle Goose. He quotes from the "Philosophical Transactions" of 1678 a full account by Sir Robert Moray, who declared that he had seen within the barnacle shell, as through a concave or diminishing glass, the bill, eyes, head, neck, breast, wings, tail, feet, and feathers of the Barnacle Goose. The next witness was John Gerarde, Master in Chirurgerie, who, in 1597, declared that he had seen the actual metamorphosis of the muscle into the bird, describing how--

"The shell gapeth open, and the first thing that appeareth is the fore said lace or string; next come the leg of the birde hanging out, and as it groweth greater, it openeth the shell by degrees, till at length it is all come forth, and hangeth only by the bill, and falleth into the sea, when it gathereth feathers and groweth to a foule, bigger than a mallart; for the truth hereof, if any doubt, may it please them to repair unto me, and I shall satisfie them by the testimonies of good witnesses."

As far back as the thirteenth century, the same story is traced in the writings of Giraldus Cambrensis. This great divine does not deny the truth of the miraculous origin of the Barnacle Geese, but he warns the Irish priests against dining off them during Lent on the plea that they were not flesh, but fish. For, he writes, "If a man during Lent were to dine off a leg of Adam, who was not born of flesh either, we should not consider him innocent of having eaten what is flesh." This modern myth, which, in spite of the protests of such men as Albertus Magnus, Æneas Sylvius, and others, maintained its ground for many centuries, and was defended, as late as 1629, in a book by Count Maier, "De volucri arborea," with arguments, physical, metaphysical, and theological, owed its origin to a play of words. The muscle shells are called _Bernaculæ_ from the Latin _perna_, the mediæval Latin _berna_; the birds are called _Hibernicæ_ or _Hiberniculæ_, abbreviated to _Berniculæ_. As their names seem one, the creatures are supposed to be one, and everything conspires to confirm the first mistake, and to invest what was originally a good Irish story--a mere _canard_--with all the dignity of scientific, and all the solemnity of theological truth. The myth continued to live until the age of Newton. Specimens of _Lepadidæ_, prepared by Professor Rolleston of Oxford, show how the outward appearance of the _Anatifera_ could have supported the popular superstition which derived the _Bernicla_, the goose, from the _Bernicula_, the shell.

Drayton (1613), in his "Poly-olbion," iii., in connexion with the river Lee, speaks of

"Th' anatomised fish and fowls from planchers sprung;"

to which a note is appended in Southey's edition, p. 609, that such fowls were "Barnacles, a bird breeding upon old ships." A bunch of the shells attached to the ship, or to a piece of floating timber, at a distance appears like flowers in bloom; the foot of the animal has a similitude to the stalk of a plant growing from the ship's sides, the shell resembles a calyx, and the flower consists of the tentacula, or fingers, of the shell-fish. The ancient error was to mistake the foot for the neck of a goose, the shell for its head, and the tentacula for feathers. As to the body, _non est inventus_.

Sir Kenelm Digby was soundly laughed at for relating to a party at the castle of the Governor of Calais, that "the Barnacle, a bird in Jersey, was first a shell-fish to appearance, and, from that striking upon old wood, became in time a bird." In 1807, there was exhibited in Spring-gardens, London, a "Wonderful natural curiosity, called the Goose Tree, Barnacle Tree, or Tree bearing Geese," taken up at sea on January 12th, and more than twenty men could raise out of the water.[26]

Sir J. Emerson Tennent asks whether the ready acceptance and general credence given to so obvious a fable may not have been derived from giving too literal a construction to the text of the passage in the first chapter of Genesis:--

"And God said, Let the _waters bring forth abundantly_ the
moving creature that hath life, and the _fowl_ that may fly in the
open firmament of heaven."

The Barnacle Goose is a well-known bird, and is eaten on fast-days in France, by virtue of this old belief in its marine origin. The belief in the barnacle origin of the bird still prevails on the west coast of Ireland, and in the Western Highlands of Scotland.

The finding of the Barnacle is thus described by Mr. Sidebotham, to the Microscopical and Natural History Section of the Literary and Philosophical Society:--"In September, I was at Lytham with my family. The day was very stormy, and the previous night there had been a strong south-west wind, and evidences of a very stormy sea outside the banks. Two of my children came running to tell me of a very strange creature that had been washed up on the shore. They had seen it from the pier, and pointed it out to a sailor, thinking it was a large dog with long hair. On reaching the shore I found a fine mass of Barnacles, _Pentalasinus anatifera_, attached to some staves of a cask, the whole being between four and five feet long. Several sailors had secured the prize, and were getting it on a truck to carry it away. The appearance was most remarkable, the hundreds of long tubes with their curious shells looking like what one would fancy the fabled Gorgon's head with its snaky locks. The curiosity was carried to a yard where it was to be exhibited, and the bellman went round to announce it under the name of the sea-lioness, or the great sea-serpent. Another mass of Barnacles was washed up at Lytham, and also one at Blackpool, the same day or the day following. This mass of Barnacles was evidently just such a one as that seen by Gerard at the Pile of Foulders. It is rare to have such a specimen on our coasts. The sailors at Lytham had never seen anything like it, although some of them were old men who had spent all their lives on the coast."

FOOTNOTE:

[26] "Notes and Queries," No. 201.

LEAVES ABOUT BOOKWORMS.

On paper, leather, and parchment are found various animals, popularly known as "Bookworms." Johnson describes it as a worm or mite that eats holes in books, chiefly when damp; and in the "Guardian" we find this reference to its habits:--"My lion, like a moth or bookworm, feeds upon nothing but paper."

Many years ago an experienced keeper of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford collected these interesting details of Bookworms:--"The larvæ of _Crambus pinguinalis_ will establish themselves upon the binding of a book, and spinning a robe will do it little injury. A mite, _Acarus eruditus_, eats the paste that fastens the paper over the edges of the binding and so loosens it. The caterpillar of another little moth takes its station in damp old books, between the leaves, and there commits great ravages. The little boring wood-beetle, who attacks books and will even bore through several volumes. An instance is mentioned of twenty-seven folio volumes being perforated in a straight line, by the same insect, in such a manner that by passing a cord through the perfect round hole made by it the twenty-seven volumes could be raised at once. The wood-beetle also destroys prints and drawings, whether framed or kept in a portfolio."

There is another "Bookworm," which is often confounded with the Death-watch of the vulgar; but is smaller, and instead of beating at intervals, as does the Death-watch, continues its noise for a considerable length of time without intermission. It is usually found in old wood, decayed furniture, museums, and neglected books. The female lays her eggs, which are exceedingly small, in dry, dusty places, where they are least likely to meet with disturbance. They are generally hatched about the beginning of March, a little sooner or later, according to the weather. After leaving the eggs, the insects are so small as to be scarcely discerned without the use of a glass. They remain in this state about two months, somewhat resembling in appearance the mites in cheese, after which they undergo their change into the perfect insect. They feed on dead flies and other insects; and often, from their numbers and voracity, very much deface cabinets of natural history. They subsist on various other substances, and may often be observed carefully hunting for nutritious particles amongst the dust in which they are found, turning it over with their heads, and searching about in the manner of swine. Many live through the winter buried deep in the dust to avoid the frost.

The best mode of destroying the insects which infest books and MSS. has often occupied the attention of the possessors of valuable libraries. Sir Thomas Phillips found the wood of his book-case attacked, particularly where beech had been introduced, and appeared to think that the insect was much attracted by the paste employed in binding. He recommended as preservatives against their attacks spirits of turpentine and a solution of corrosive sublimate, and also the latter substance mixed with paste. In some instances he found the produce of a single impregnated female sufficient to destroy a book. Turpentine and spirit of tar are also recommended for their destruction; but the method pursued in the collections of the British Museum is an abundant supply of camphor, with attention to keeping the rooms dry, warm, and ventilated. Mr. Macleay states it is the _acari_ only which feed on the paste employed in binding books, and the larvæ of the Coleoptera only which pierce the boards and leaves.

The ravages of the Bookworm would be much more destructive had there not been a sort of guardian to the literary treasures in the shape of a spider, who, when examined through a microscope, resembles a knight in armour. This champion of the library follows the Worm into the book-case, discovers the pit he has digged, rushes on his victim, which is about his own size, and devours him. His repast finished, he rests for about a fortnight, and when his digestion is completed, he sets out to break another lance with the enemy.

The Death-watch, already referred to, and which must be acquitted of destroying books, is chiefly known by the noise which he makes behind the wainscoting, where he ticks like a clock or watch. How so loud a noise is produced by so small an insect has never been properly explained; and the ticking has led to many legends. The naturalist Degeer relates that one night, in the autumn of 1809, during an entomological excursion in Brittany, where travellers were scarce and accommodation bad, he sought hospitality at the house of a friend. He was from home, and Degeer found a great deal of trouble in gaining admittance; but at last the peasant who had charge of the house told Degeer that he would give him "the chamber of death," if he liked. As Degeer was much fatigued, he accepted the offer. "The bed is there," said the man, "but no one has slept in it for some time. Every night the spirit of the officer, who was surprised and killed in this room by some chouans, comes back. When the officer was dead, the peasants divided what he had about him, and the officer's watch fell to my uncle, who was delighted with the prize, and brought it home to examine it. However, he soon found out that the watch was broken, and would not go. He then placed it under his pillow, and went to sleep; he awoke in the night, and to his terror heard the ticking of a watch. In vain he sold the watch, and gave the money for masses to be said for the officer's soul, the ticking continued, and has never ceased." Degeer said that he would exorcise the chamber, and the peasant left him, after making the sign of the cross. The naturalist at once guessed the riddle, and, accustomed to the pursuit of insects, soon had a couple of Death-watches shut up in a tin case, and the ticking was reproduced.

Swift has prescribed this destructive remedy by way of ridicule:--

"A Wood-worm
That lies in old wood, like a hare in her form:
With teeth or with claws it will bite, or will scratch;
And chambermaids christen this worm a Death-watch,
Because like a watch it always cries click:
Then woe be to those in the house that are sick!
For, sure as a gun, they will give up the ghost
If the maggot cries click when it scratches the post.
But a kettle of scalding hot water ejected,
Infallibly cures the timber affected:
The omen is broken, the danger is over;
The maggot will die, the sick will recover."

BORING MARINE ANIMALS, AND HUMAN ENGINEERS.

Were a young naturalist asked to exemplify what man has learned from the lower animals, he could scarcely adduce a more striking instance than that of a submarine shelly worker teaching him how to execute some of his noblest works. This we have learned from the life and labours of the _Pholas_, of which it has been emphatically said:--"Numerous accounts have been published during the last fourteen years in every civilized country and language of the boring process of the _Pholas_; and machines formed on the model of its mechanism have for years been tunnelling Mont Cenis."

In the Eastern Zoological Gallery of the British Museum, cases 35 and 36, as well as in the Museum of Economic Geology in Piccadilly, may be seen specimens of the above very curious order of _Conchifers_, most of the members of which are distinguished by their habits of boring or digging, a process in which they are assisted by the peculiar formation of the foot, from which they derive their name. Of these ten families one of the most characteristic is that of the Razor-shells, which, when the valves are shut, are of a long, flattened, cylindrical shape, and open at both ends. Projecting its strong pointed foot at one of these ends, the _solen_ can work itself down into the sand with great rapidity, while at the upper end its respiratory tubes are shot out to bring the water to its gills. Of the _Pholadæ_, the shells of which are sometimes called multivalve, because, in addition to the two chief portions, they have a number of smaller accessory pieces, some bore in hard mud, others in wood, and others in rocks. They fix themselves firmly by the powerful foot, and then make the shell revolve; the sharp edges of this commence the perforation, which is afterwards enlarged by the rasp-like action of the rough exterior; and though the shell must be constantly worn down, yet it is replaced by a new formation from the animal, so as never to be unfit for its purpose. The typical bivalve of this family is the _Pholas_, which bores into limestone-rock and other hard material, and commits ravages on the piers, breakwaters, &c., that it selects for a home.

In the same family as the above Dr. Gray ranks the _Teredo_,[27] or wood-boring mollusc, whose ravages on ships, piles, wooden piers, &c., at sea resemble those of the white ant on furniture, joints of houses, &c., on shore. Perforating the timber by exactly the same process as that by which the Pholas perforates the stones, the Teredo advances continually, eating out a contorted tube or gallery, which it lines behind it with calcareous matter, and through which it continues to breathe the water.

The priority of the demonstration of the Pholas and its "boring habits" has been much disputed. The evidence is full of curious details. It appears that Mr. Harper, of Edinburgh, author of "The Sea-side and Aquarium," having claimed the lead. Mr. Robertson, of Brighton, writes to dispute the originality; adding that he publicly exhibited Pholades in the Pavilion at Brighton in July, 1851, perforating chalk rocks by the raspings of their valves and squirtings of their syphons. Professor Flourens (says Mr. Robertson) taught my observations to his class in Paris in 1853; I published them in 1851, and again more fully in the "Journal de Conchyliologie," in 1853; and M. Emile Blanchard illustrated them in the same year in his "Organisation du Règne Animal." I published a popular account of the perforating processes in "Household Words" in 1856. After obtaining the suffrages of the French authorities, I have been recently honoured with those of the British naturalist. (See Woodward's "Recent and Fossil Shells," p. 327. Family, Pholadidæ.) On returning to England last autumn I exhibited perforating Pholades to all the naturalists who cared to watch them. An intelligent lady whom I supplied with Pholades has made a really new and original observation, which I may take this opportunity of communicating to the public. She observed two Pholades whose perforations were bringing them nearer and nearer to each other. Their mutual raspings were wearing away the thin partition which separated their crypts. She was curious to know what they would do when they met, and watched them closely. When the two perforating shell-fish met and found themselves in each other's way, the stronger just bored right through the weaker Pholas.[28]

Mr. Robertson has communicated to "Jameson's Journal," No. 101, the results of his opportunities of studying the Pholas, during six months, to discover how this mollusc makes its hole or crypt in the chalk: by a chemical solvent? by absorption? by ciliary currents? or by rotatory motions? Between twenty and thirty of these creatures were at work in lumps of chalk, in sea-water, in a finger-glass, and open for three months; and by watching their operations. Mr. Robertson became convinced that the Pholas makes its hole by grating the chalk with its rasp-like valves, licking it up when pulverized with its foot, forcing it up through its principal orbrambial syphon, and squirting it out in oblong nodules. The crypt protects the Pholas from _confervæ_, which, when they get at it, grow not merely outside, but even with the lips of the valves, preventing the action of the syphons. In the foot there is a gelatinous spring or style, which, even when taken out, has great elasticity, and which seems the mainspring of the motions of the Pholas.

Upon this Dr. James Stark, of Edinburgh, writes:

--"Mr. Robertson, of Brighton, claims the merit of teaching that Pholades perforate rocks by 'the rasping of their valves and the squirting of their syphons.' His observations only appear to reach back to 1851. But the late Mr. John Stark, of Edinburgh, author of the 'Elements of Natural History,' read a paper before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, in 1826, which was printed in the Society's 'Transactions' of that year, in which he demonstrated that the Pholades perforate the shale rocks in which they occur on this coast, by means of the rasping of their valves, and not by acids or other secretions. From also finding that their shells scratched limestone without injury to the fine rasping rugosities, he inferred that it was by the same agency they perforated the hard limestone rocks."

To this Mr. Robertson replies, that Mr. Osler also, in 1826, demonstrated that the Pholades "perforate the shale rocks by means of the rasping of their valves; and more, for he actually witnessed a rotatory movement. But Réaumur and Poli had done as much as this in the eighteenth and Sibbald in the seventeenth century: and yet I found the solvent hypothesis in the ascendant among naturalists in 1835, when I first interested myself in the controversy. What I did in 1851 was, I exhibited Pholades at work perforating rocks, and explained how they did it. What I have done is, I have made future controversy impossible, by exhibiting the animals at work, and by discovering the anatomy and the physiology of the perforating instruments. In the words of M. Flourens, 'I made the animals work before my eyes,' and I 'made known their mechanism.' The discovery of the function of the hyaline stylet is not merely a new discovery, it is the discovery of a kind of instrument as yet unique in physiology."

Mr. Harper having termed the boring organ of the Pholas the "hyaline stylet," found it to have puzzled some of the disputants, whereupon Mr. Harper writes:--"Its use up to the present time has been a mystery, but the general opinion of authors seems to be, that it is the gizzard of the Pholas. This I very much doubt, for it is my belief that the presence of such an important muscle is solely for the purpose of aiding the animal's boring operations. Being situated in the centre of the foot, we can readily conceive the great increase of strength thus conveyed to the latter member, which is made to act as a powerful fulcrum, by the exercise of which the animal rotates--and at the same time presses its shell against and rasps the surface of the rock. The question being asked, 'How can the stylet be procured to satisfy curiosity?' I answer, by adopting the following extremely simple plan. Having disentombed a specimen, with the point of a sharp instrument cut a slit in the base of its foot, and the object of your search will be distinctly visible in the shape of, if I may so term it, an opal cylinder. Sometimes I have seen the point of this organ spring out beyond the incision, made as above described."

Lastly, Mr. Harper presented the Editor of the "Athenæum" with a piece of bored rock, of which he has several specimens. He adds, "On examination, you will perceive that the larger Pholas must have bored through its smaller and weaker neighbour (how suggestive!), the shell of the latter, most fortunately, remaining in its own cavity."

Now, Mr. Robertson claimed for his observation of this phenomenon novelty and originality; but Mr. Harper stoutly maintained it to be "as common to the eye of the practised geologist as rain or sunshine." The details are curious; though some impatient, and not very grateful reader, may imagine himself in the condition of the shell of the smaller Pholas, and will be, as he deserves to remain, in the minority.[29]

It may be interesting to sum up a few of the opinions of the mode by which these boring operations are performed. Professor Forbes states the mode by which Molluscs bore into wood and other materials is as follows:--"Some of the Gauterspods have tongues covered with silica to enable them to bore, and it was probably by some process of this kind that all the Molluscs bored."

Mr. Peach never observed the species of Pholas to turn round in their holes, as stated by some observers, although he had watched them with great attention. Mr. Charlesworth refers to the fact that, in one species of shell, not only does the hole in the rock which the animal occupies increase in size, but also the hole through which it projects its syphons.

Professor John Phillips, alluding to the theories which have been given of the mode in which Molluscs bore into the rocks in which they live, believes that an exclusively mechanical theory will not account for the phenomenon; and he is inclined to adopt the view of Dr. T. Williams--that the boring of the Pholades can only be explained on the principle which involves a chemical as well as a mechanical agency.

Mr. E. Ray Lankester notices that the boring of Annelids seems quite unknown; and he mentions two cases, one by a worm called Leucadore, the other by a Sabella. Leucadore is very abundant on some shores, where boulders and pebbles may be found worm-eaten and riddled by them. Only stones composed of carbonate of lime are bored by them. On coasts where such stones are rare, they are selected, and others are left. The worms are _quite soft_, and armed only with horny bristles. _How, then, do they bore?_ Mr. Lankester maintains that it is by carbonic acid and other acid excretions of their bodies, _aided_ by the mechanical action of their bristles. The selection of a material soluble in these acids is most noticeable, since the softest chalk and the hardest limestone are bored with the same facility. This can only be by chemical action. If, then, we have a case of chemical boring in these worms, is it not probable that many Molluscs are similarly assisted in their excavations?

FOOTNOTES:

[27] How Brunel took his construction of the Thames Tunnel from observing the bore of the _Teredo navalis_ in the keel of a ship, in 1814, is well known.

[28] "Athenæum," No. 1640.

[29] See also "Life in the Sea," in "Strange Stories of the Animal World," by the author of the present volume. Second Edition. 1868.

INDEX.

ANCIENT Zoological Gardens, 12

Animals, Rare, of London Zoological Society, 16, 17, 18

Annelids, boring, 348

Annelids and Molluscs, Boring Habits of, 348

Ant-Bear in captivity, 76

Ant-Bear, the Great, 72

Ant-Bear at Madrid, 72

Ant-Bear described, 77

Ant-Bear, Domestic, in Paraguay, 75

Ant-Bear, Economy of, 76

Ant-Bear and its Food, 74

Ant-Bears, Fossil, 80, 81

Ant-Bear, Muscular Force of, 79

Ant-Bear, Wallace's Account of, 73

Ant-Bear, Zoological Society's, 76, 82, 84

Ant-Eater, Porcupine, 84

Ant-Bear, Professor Owen on, 80

Ant-Eaters, scarcity of, 80

Ant-Eater, Tamandua, 82

Ant-Eaters, Von Saek's Account of, 83

Aristotle's History of Animals, 279, 280

BARNACLE GEESE, finding of the, 334

Barnacle Goose, Gerarde on, 332

Barnacle Goose, Giraldus Cambrensis on, 332

Barnacle Goose, Max Müller on, 331

Barnacle Goose, name of, 332

Barnacle Goose, Sir E. Tennent on, 334

Barnacle Goose, Sir Kenelm Digby on, 334

Barnacle Goose, Sir R. Moray on, 331

Barnacle Goose, Stories of the, 331-335

Barnacles breeding upon old ships, 333

Barnacle Geese in the Thames, 331

Bat, altivolans, by Gilbert White, 100

Bat, American, by Lesson, 91

Bat, Aristotle on, 85

Bat, Mr. Bell on, 86

Bats, Curiosities of, 85

Bat, described by Calmet, 87

Bat, Flight and Wing of, 96

Bats, in England, 100

Bat, Heber, Stedman, and Waterton on, 91

Bats in Jamaica, 100

Bat, Kalong, of Java, 98

Bat, Long-Eared, by Sowerby, 92, 93-96

Bat, Nycteris, 97

Bat, Rere-mouse and Flitter-mouse, 86

Bat Skeleton, Sir C. Bell on, 87

Bat in Scripture, 85

Bat, Vampire, from Sumatra, 88

Bat, Vampire, Lines on, by Byron, 89

Bat, vulgar errors respecting, 97

Bat-Fowling or Bat-Folding, 92

Berlin Zoological Gardens and Museum, 16

Bible Natural History, 11

Birds, Addison on their Nests and Music, 156, 157

Bird, Australian Bower, Nest of, 167

Bird, Baya, Indian, Nest of, 164

Birds and Animals, Beauty in, 150

Birds, Brain of, 154

Birds, Characteristics of, 145

Birds, Colour of, 148

Bird Confinement, Dr. Livingstone on, 169

Birds' Eggs, large, 162

Birds' Eggs, Colours of, 158

Birds' Eggs and Nests, 158

Birds, European, list of, 161

Birds, Flight of, 146, 147

Birds, Insectivorous, 151;
Instinct, Intelligence, and Reason, 217

Bird-Life, 145

Bird-Murder, wanton, 152

Birds' Nesting, 159

Birds' Nests--Cape Swallows, 168

Birds' Nests--Brush Turkey, 171

Birds' Nests, large, 164

Birds' Eggs--Ostrich and Epyornis, 162, 163

Birds' Nests--Tailor Birds, 165-167

Birds, Rapid Flight of, 147

Birds, Signal of Danger among, 155

Birds, Song of, 149

Birds, Mr. Wolley's Collections, 159, 160

Bookworms, Leaves about, 336

Bookworms and Death-watch, 337

Boring Marine Animals, and Human Engineers, 341

CHAMELEON of the Ancients, 306

Chameleon's antipathy to black, 322

Chameleons, Mrs. Belzoni's, 316-320

Chameleons, Birth of, in England, 321

Chameleon changing Colour, 311, 316

Chameleon, Cuvier on, 309

Chameleon, described by Calmet, 307

Chameleon Family, 307

Chameleon, Air-food of, 309

Chameleon, Milne Edwards on its Change of Colour, 314-316

Chameleons, Native Countries of, 316

Chameleon of the Poets, 308

Chameleons, Reproduction of, 309

Chameleon, Tongue and Eyes of, 310, 311

Chinese Zoological Gardens, 12

Cicada, Song of the, 329

Cormorant's Bone, curious, 204

Cormorants, Chase of, 203

Cormorant Fishery in China, 202

Cormorant, Habits of the, 201

Cormorant trained for Fishing, 201

Curiosities of Zoology, 11

ECCENTRICITIES of Penguins, 188:
Darwin, Mr., his account of Falkland Islands Penguin, 192;
Dassent Island Penguins, 188;
Death-watch and Bookworm, 337, 338;
Falkland Islands Penguins, 189;
King Penguins, 191;
Patagonian Penguins, 189;
Penguin, the name, 194;
Webster, Mr., his Account of Penguins, 193

Epicure's Ortolan, the, 172

Epicurism Extravagant, 177

Evelyn and St. James's Physique Garden, 15

FISH in British Colombia, 280:
Candle-fish, 282;
Octopus, 283;
Salmon Army, 281;
Spoonbill Sturgeon, 285;
Sturgeons, and Sturgeon Fishing, 284-287

Fish-Talk, 250:
Affection of Fishes, 256;
Bohemian Wels Fish, 270;
Bonita and Flying Fish, 263;
Californian Fish, 268;
Carp at Fontainebleau, 254;
Cat-fish, curious Account of, 257;
Double Fish, 272;
Fish changing Colour, 251;
Fish Noise, 252;
Gold Fish, 274;
Grampus, gambols of, 262;
Great General of the South Sea, 272;
Grouper, the, 272;
Hassar, the, 256;
Hearing of Fishes, 253;
Herring Puzzle, 278;
Jaculator Fish of Java, 264;
Jamaica, Curious Fish at, 266;
Little Fishes the Food of Larger, 259;
Marine Observatory, 276;
Mecho of the Danube, 270;
Migration of Fishes, 260;
Miller's Thumb, 276;
Numbers, vast, of Fishes, 258;
Pike, Wonderful, 269;
Pilot Fish, 267;
Sharks, 267;
Singing Fish,252;
Square-browed Malthe, 274;
Strange Fishes, 251;
Sun-fish, 271;
Swimming of Fishes, 250;
Sword-fish, 266;
Warrior Fish, 266

Frog and Toad Concerts, 327

HEDGEHOG, the, 102

Hedgehog devouring Snakes, 104

Hedgehog, Food of, 103

Hedgehogs, Gilbert White on, 107

Hedgehog and Poisons, 105

Hedgehogs, Sir T. Browne on, 102

Hedgehog Sucking Cows, 104

Hedgehog and Viper, Fight between, 106, 107

Hedgehog, Voracity of, 103

Hippopotamus, Ancient History of, 119

Hippopotamus, described by Aristotle and Herodotus, 121

Hippopotamus, Economy of the, 115

Hippopotamus, the, in England, 108

Hippopotami, Fossil, 122

Hippopotami on the Niger, 117

Hippopotamus, Professor Owen's Description of, 111-115

Hippopotamus and River Horse, 116

Hippopotamus in Scripture, 120

Hippopotamus, Utility of, 118

Hippopotamus from the White Nile, 109

Hippopotamus, Zoological Society's, in 1850, 108-111

LEAVES about Bookworms, 336

Lions in Algeria, and Jules Gerard, 143

Lion, African, 131

Lion, Bengal, 133

Lion described by Bennett, 123

Lion described by Buffon, 123-125

Lion described by Burchell, 125

Lion, disappearance of, 130

Lion and Hottentots, 132, 133-136

Lion-hunting Feats, 128

Lion, "King of the Forest," 126

Lion, Longevity of, 137

Lion, Maneless, 133-135

Lion, Niebuhr on, 131

Lion in the Nineveh Sculptures, 139, 140

Lions, the Drudhoe, 144

Lions, Popular Errors respecting, 123

Lion, Prickle or Claw in the Tail, 137-139

Lion, Roar of, 136

Lions in the Tower of London, 140

"Lion Tree" in the Mantatee Country, 127

Lion Stories of the Shows, 142

Lion-Talk, 123

Lioness and her Young, 135

MERMAID of 1822, 43-47

Mermaid in Berbice, 39

Mermaid in the Bosphorus, 47

Mermaid and Dugong, 41

Mermaids, Evidences of, 36

Mermaid at Exmouth, 40

Mermaid, Leyden's Ballad, 35

Mermaid and Manatee, 42

Mermaid at Milford Haven, 37

Mermaid, Japanese, 44

Mermaid, Scottish, 36, 38

Mermaids and Sirens, 33

Mermaid's Song, Haydn's, 34

Mermaids, Stories of, 33

Mermaid, Structure of, 43

Mermaids in Suffolk, 48

Mole, its Economy controverted, 62

Mole, the Ettrick Shepherd on, 71

Mole, Le Court on, 62, 65

Mole and Fairy Rings, 64

Mole and Farming, 70

Mole, Feeling of, 64

Mole at Home, 62

Mole, its Hunting-ground, 67

Moles, Loves of the, 68

Mole, structure of the, 63

Mole, St. Hilaire on, 69

Mole, Shrew, of North America, 70

Mole, Voracity of, 68

Montezuma's Zoological Gardens, 13

Musical Lizard, 303:
Climbing Walls, 303, 304;
Formosa Isle, 303;
Gecko ennobled, 306

ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 15

Ortolan described, 172, 173

Ortolans, how fattened, 174

Ortolan, Mr. Gould on, 174, 175

Owls, 221:
Abyssinian Owl, 230;
Barn Owl, 226;
Bischaco, or Coquimbo, 224;
Boobook Owl, 228;
Cats and Owls, 230;
Fraser's Eagle Owl, from Fernando Po, 229;
Food of Owls, 226;
Javanese Owl, 228;
Snowy Owl, 227;
Tricks by Night, 224;
Utility of, 225;
Waterton on the Owl, 225

PELICANS and Cormorants, 195

Pelicans described by Gould, 195

Pelican in Japan, 197

Pelican Popular Error, 198, 199

Pelican Pouches, 198

Pelican Symbol, 200

"Pelican of the wilderness," 197

Pholas, Life and Labours of, 341

Pholades, Charlesworth and Peach on, 347

Pholades, Harper on, 346

Pholades, Robertson on, 343

RHINOCEROS in England, 22:
African Rhinoceros in 1858, 27;
Ancient History, 23;
Bruce and Sparmann, 27;
Burchell's shooting, 30;
Horn of the Rhinoceros, 31, 32;
Indian Wild Ass, 24;
One-horned and Two-horned, 23-26;
Scripture, Rhinoceros of, 23;
Speehnan's Rhinoceros Shooting, 30;
Tegetmeir describes the African Rhinoceros, 27;
Tractability, 25;
Varieties of Rhinoceros, 22;
Zoological Society's Rhinoceros, 23, 29

SALE of Wild Animals, 20

Sentinel Birds, 183

Song of the Cicada, 329

Songs of Birds and Seasons of the Day, 219

St. James's Park Menagerie, 14

Stories of the Barnacle Goose, 331-335

Stories of Mermaids, 33

Surrey Zoological Gardens, 20

TALKING birds, 205:
Bittern and Night Raven, 207;
Blue Jay, 206;
Canaries, Talking, 210-212;
Chinese Starling, 205;
Crowned Crane, 206;
Cuckoo, 209;
Laughing Goose, 209;
Nightingale, 209;
Piping Crow, 205;
Snipe, Neighing, 213;
Trochilos and Crocodile, 216;
Umbrella Bird, 206;
Whidaw Bird, 205;
Wild Swan, 209;
Woodpecker at Constantinople, 215

Talk about Toucans, 179:
Bills of Toucans, 180;
Carnivorous propensity, 184;
Economy of, 182;
Food of, 183;
Gould, Mr., his Grand Monograph, 180, 186;
Owen, Professor, on the Mandibles, 185;
Swainson, Mr., on Toucans, 185
Toucan Family, 179, 180;
White Ants' Nests, 183;
Toucanet, Gould's, 184

Toad and Frog Concerts, 327-328

Toads, Running, Dr. Husenbeth's, 323-327

Tower of London Menagerie, 14

Tree-climbing Crab, the, 288:
Bernhard, Hermit, and Soldier Crab, 291;
Climbing Perch, 288;
Crab, Burrowing, 290;
Crab Migration in Jamaica, 292;
Fishing-frogs, 288;
Glass Crabs, 301;
Pill-making Crabs, 301;
Purse Crab feeding on Cocoa-nuts, 296;
Robber Crab, 292;
Screw-pines, Crab climbing, 298;
Vaulted Crab of the Moluccas, 291

UNICORNS, ancient, 51

Unicorn and Antelope, 53

Unicorn in Central Africa, 58

Unicorn described by Ctesias, 49, 50

Unicorn, Cuvier on, 54

Unicorn, Is it Fabulous? 49

Unicorn, Klaproth on, 55

Unicorn in Kordofan, 53

Unicorn and its Horn, 53, 59

Unicorn, modern, 50

Unicorn, Ogilby on, 51

Unicorn, Rev. J. Campbell on, 57

Unicorn in the Royal Arms, 60

WEATHER-WISE ANIMALS, 231:
Ants, Asses, 241;
Darwin's Signs of Rain, 248;
Frogs and Snails, 237-240;
List of Animals, 241-247;
Mole, 240;
Mother Carey's Chickens and Goose, 234;
Redbreast, 236;
Seagulls, 232;
Signs of Rain, 232;
Stormy Petrels, 233;
Shepherd of Banbury, 249;
Toucans, 237;
Weatherproof Birds' Nests, 247;
Wild Geese and Ducks, 235

Wild Animals, Cost of, 19

Wild Beast Shows, 21

ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, Origin of, 12

Zoological Society of London, 16

Zoology, Curiosities of, 11

C. A. Macintosh, Printer, Great New-street, London.

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