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MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE.

ART. I. Retrospective Criticism.

THIS Magazine Two-monthly, as formerly. as formerly. — See Preface,

p. iii.

Mr. Gordon's Analogies between Plants and Animals. - Mr. Gordon, in his ingenious communication (p. 405-412.), paral lelises on Dutrochet's theory of the agency of endosmose in the circulation of the sap, and seems not to be aware of the fact that Dutrochet has, some time since, abandoned this hypothesis as untenable. J. M.

Tapirs in the Regent's Park Zoological Gardens. To your article on tapirs (p. 458–466.), it might have been added, that two fine animals of the South American species (Tapirus americanus) are exposed to public inspection in the Zoological Gardens. They are very interesting creatures, in the shape of the head, extensibility of snout, and in the very remarkable structure of the feet. One of them has, I was told, been but very recently imported; the other appeared sociable, and ate lime and elm twigs out of my hand kindly enough. D. J.

June, 1832.

Eccentricity of Appetite in a Horse and a Pointer Dg -Sir, One of your correspondents records the case of sin gular caprice of appetite in the goat (p. 471.). This brings to my recollection a somewhat similar instance, which fell under my own observation, in other animals. Some years ago, a quantity of peat soil was thrown down in a heap in the corner of a small field adjoining my house, for the purpose of being used in the garden, as occasion required. A horse that was turned out in the same field (which, I may observe, afforded a good pasture) was in the frequent habit of going to this heap of peat soil, and feeding upon it with as much apparent satisfaction as if it had been a rack of good hay. A pointer dog, also, which was usually kept tied up, on being let loose, would almost invariably go to the heap of soil, and devour lumps of it with avidity. The peat soil, I should ob serve, was of the dark brown kind, and evidently consisted almost exclusively of vegetable matter; and as it had been brought from a great distance, and was difficult to procure in this immediate neighbourhood, we removed it to a place of

safer keeping, deeming it too valuable a commodity to be consumed in feeding our dumb animals. Is this eccentricity of appetite in the horse to be accounted for on the same principle as that suggested by your correspondent in the instance of the goat? But what shall we say to the preference shown for peat soil by the carnivorous dog? Did he eat this dried conserve of Sphagnum and Càrex for the same purpose as he is so often observed to eat the leaves of coarse grass? Yours, &c.-W. T. Bree. Allesley Rectory, June 26. 1832.

The Rot in Sheep. (Vol. IV. p. 173. 284. 472.; Vol. V. p. 98. 202.). Sir, I thank your correspondents (Vol. IV. p. 284. 472.) for calling the attention of your readers, &c. to this disease; but they both write too much as if it were a new complaint, and that they were the discoverers; whereas it appears to have been as well known, and to have committed as great ravages, in former times, as now. Johnson's Dictionary gives it as one of the meanings of the word "rot," on the authority of Ben Jonson. If either had taken the trouble to look into the Encyclopædia of Agriculture, they would there have found a mass of information on the subject, condensed into a single page, and some of the questions asked fully answered beforehand. The opinions of the older writers on agriculture, on the cause of the rot, may be various; but they appear to have blamed certain plants when taken as food by the sheep, such as the white rot (Hydrocótyle vulgàris), the sundew (Drósera); and it was only last winter that I had the Carex cæspitòsa, I believe, pointed out to me as the blue grass so fatal to stock. The opinion, in the north of England, where the farmers too frequently experience the pernicious effects of the rot, is, that it is the peculiar quality of the food which causes the disease, and the great increase of the flukes in the liver, as these are sometimes found in the most healthy sheep. The most dangerous period, if not the only one, is the autumn, if it is mild, after considerable falls of rain. Pasture land which has been overflowed by streams; or upon cold moist clays, and even stubbles where grain has been shed and sprouted, are then considered more than suspicious; and even horned cattle are sometimes lost by this disease after very unfavourable seasons, as well as deer and hares, which are also known to be similarly affected. The reindeer (Cérvus Tarándus L.) brought to England by Lord Ravensworth are said by Bewick to have fallen victims to this complaint. As to medicines, where the quantity composing the flock is numerous, the stock-master would never think of handling his sheep for the purpose; the injury done would more than overbalance the chance of benefit. Nothing remains, if once discovered to have a taint in

the beginning of winter, but to take the affected animals to market as soon as possible; or feed upon corn, as on turnips alone augments the complaint; though those that come through the winter will fatten kindly upon grass during the summer months. I have certainly heard of some that were even poked having been recovered by having been depastured upon the salt marshes; and once a friend told me that he had cured half a dozen by administering salt and flour, as be found prescribed in the Encyclopædia Britannica. I have, however, understood from a veterinary surgeon, that some very satisfactory experiments, as to results, were made at the veterinary college a few years ago. These, I hope, Mr. Youatt will take care to make public in his forthcoming volumes (in The Farmer's Series of the Library of Useful Knowledge) on cattle and sheep. The great care of the shepherd, as may be supposed, is to prevent the disease making its appearance: and this is done principally by removing the stock to the driest and soundest fields in the most suspicious seasons; and they are generally very successful. There appears, also, something in the constitution of the stock, as the hardier breeds are not so subject to it as the long-wooled Leicester breed, and are depastured with safety where the latter would perish. It is not a little singular, and may, perhaps, assist those who would wish to investigate the cause of the disease, that the stocks upon the syenitic hills of the Cheviot, and adjacent and similar soils, are considered not liable to this disease; the herds tell you their sheep may pine, but cannot rot. As this has been very accurately described by the Ettrick Shepherd, in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, those who feel an interest in the investigation of the pining may consult that work; though the reasoning as to its cause is too like that which was to prove the cause of Goodwin Sands being Tenterden steeple.-J. C. Farmer. Not., 1831.

Cats catching Swallores. (p. 84. 273. 471.)—I have heard it before, and I agree with the writer (Vol. V. p. 275.), that these poor animals do not deserve the character they have acquired. It is only the half-starved creature, which is not regularly fed, that is given to stealing: in fact, hunger alone is the cause of their propensity: even human nature is tempted in such cases. Not having a complete set of your amusing Magazine to refer to, I know not if you have inserted before, that cats, contrary to their nature, will stand in shallow water, and catch fish, in fine weather. [See Vol. IV. p. 430., Vol. V. p. 471.] I heard lately of a singular instance of instinct in a cat, belonging to a friend of mine, who lately removed from Streathamn

to Wandsworth; and carried poor puss, tied up in a bag, with him, to his new abode: he enquired after her, in the course of a few days, and heard that she was nowhere to be found. Having occasion to visit Streatham, at the end of the week, he was welcomed by his old favourite at the door, who had reinstated herself in her accustomed place, apparently as happy as if she had never experienced the removal. Upon enquiry, he found she had traced her way back on foot, as no communication had taken place between the houses, and had returned to her old haunts the day before he arrived: of course, he left her, as a legacy, to the new residents. Yours, &c. Cattus.

Cats without Tails in the Isle of Man. (p. 674.) A friend of mine has twice brought cats without tails from the Isle of Man, where there is a considerable number, and they may be purchased for a trifle. They are the most plentiful, I believe, in that part of the Island called the Calf of Man. They are rather taller (if I may be allowed the expression), than the common cat, but not so broad and strong; their colour is generally a lightish grey. They resemble more the hare and rabbit, in their movements, than the domestic cat; which, perhaps, may be owing to their hind legs being so much longer than those of the common cat. I cannot speak to their qualities as mousers; one of those which I have seen had four kittens (by a common cat), two of which had very short thick tails (about 2 in. long). I saw them almost every day, and paid rather particular attention to them. The only work in which I have found any account of this species [variety rather] is Le Keux's Illustrations of Natural History, vol. i. p. 356., in these words: "There is also a hereditary variety of the cat in this country without any visible tail. It is not uncommon in Cornwall; and Dr. Leach received one from the Isle of Wight, which, however, could not be reconciled to its new habitation." The "Isle of Wight,” I think, ought to be the "Isle of Man." I have conversed with a native of the former island on this subject; and he says he never saw or heard of one there. Le Keux gives also the following anecdote from Dr. Anderson's Recreations in Agriculture. "A cat belonging to Dr. Coventry, the ingenious professor of agriculture in Edinburgh, which had no blemish at its birth, but had lost its tail by accident when it was young, had many litters of kittens, and in every litter there was one or more that wanted a tail." I hope the above will prove acceptable to some of your readers. I remain, Sir, yours, &c. - Mancuniensis. Sept. 3. 1832.

The last fact seems to answer my question (p. 674.) affirmatively.-J. D.

The Stoat, the Changes in the Colour of its Fur, and those Changes rather referable to Atmospheric Temperature than to periodical Change of Season; and the Stout and its Congeners trace their Prey by the Faculty of Scent. - Sir, I send you some remarks on the Mustèla ermínea of Gmelin, called in Britain, in its summer fur, stoat, black-tailed weasel, and large weasel; in its winter fur, ermine, and white weasel. J. M. states, at p. 77., that "the stoat does not change its colour here, as in the northern parts of the world, by which its fur becomes so valuable an article of commerce, though it has been observed that its breast and throat are whiter in winter than in the summer months."

I will, in the first place, observe that if J. M. had looked into our best work on British Zoology, by that classical and learned naturalist Pennant, he would have read that not only the stoat, but also the common weasel (M. vulgàris Gmel.), sometimes becomes white in Great Britain. "In the most northern parts of Europe," says he (British Zoology, vol. i. p. 115. edit. 1812), "these animals (stoats) regularly change their colour in winter, and become totally white, except the end of the tail, which continues invariably black, and in that state are called ermines. I am informed that the same is observed in the highlands of Scotland. It is sometimes found white in Great Britain, but not frequently, and then it is called a white weasel. That animal is also found white, but may be easily distinguished from the other in the ermine state, by the tail, which, in the weasel, is of a light tawny brown." I may here remark, incidentally, that, from the common weasel's occurring of a white colour, Linnæus named it, in his Fauna Suecica (p. 7.), Mustèla nivàlis. I will now endeavour to show, from my own observations, that the white dress of the stoat in England depends on the temperature of the atmosphere, either according to situation, or according to the severity of the winter; and not on the periodical change of the seasons, as Pennant seems to imply in the following words (p. 116.): "With us it is observed to begin to change its colour from brown to white in November, and to begin to resume the brown in the beginning of March." Within the last nine years I have had the good fortune to meet with two ermines alive, and in two of the most different winters that have occurred for a great many years: the one was in the extremely severe winter of January to March, 1823, and the other was in the almost as extremely mild January last of this present year (1832). The first ermine which I saw (in the month of February, I believe) in the year 1823, was running in and out of a hedge by the side of a turnpike road. The ground at the time being