In this table but few innovations will be observed. c is made equal to ch; dh and zh are used for the sonant th and sh; and h is placed where it belongs, before the w in the combination wh. The letters q and x are not needed, but may still be used to avoid the awkward kw and ks. In teaching this alphabet to children, and in spelling, the two characters which represent the long vowels and diphthongs should be pronounced as one sound, and not separately. The following extract will give an idea of the appearance of the printed page in this system:-. Soundz at levning. Swiet waaz dhe sound, hwen oft, at ievning'z kloez, OLIVER GOLDSMITH. My object in this paper is not to present a finished system, but to show that the spelling reform is practicable, and to suggest a modification of the alphabet which will bring the desired relief. The time and energy wasted by a child in learning to spell would, if otherwise employed, be sufficient to give him an ordinary education. Let us do something at once to relieve education of this great burden. The plan here proposed has the following additional advantages: 1. The printed and written pages have no very unfamiliar look. 2. Print and script are easily read at sight by one who sees them for the first time. 3. One can learn in a few minutes to write in this system. 4. Its adoption will make no existing books obsolete or useless except a few primary school books. 5. It will give no special offence to the philologist. 6. It will lead easily to a better and more philosophical phcnetic system. ELECTRICAL NOTES. The displays of high-voltage electricity which formed so prominent a feature of the late electrical exhibition held in the Crystal Palace, are not absent from the present one, but neither the display of Professor Elihu Thomson nor that of the Westinghouse Company approach, so far as spectacular effect is concerned, the exhibitions of Messrs. Siemens and Mr. Swinburne at the Crystal Palace. These latter were truly magnificent displays. They were, however, produced by high potentials obtained in the ordinary way, by transforming up, and on this account the experiments of Professor Elihu Thomson possess much more interest from a scientific point of view. The method used by the latter, as most electricians are aware, consists of passing a very rapidly alternating current through a few turns of a coarse copper wire wound round a glass tube placed in oil. Close to the coarse wire primary is wound a secondary of finer wire, and in this a very high voltage is induced by the current in the primary. This secondary current is also of very high periodicity, and all the Spottiswood and Moulton effects can be produced with it. Owing, probably, to the resonant qualities of the room in which the Westinghouse exhibition takes place the noise of the discharge produces a very disagreeable effect on the nerves, even of those accustomed to working with high-potential discharges, so much so that one cannot help wondering at times if the powerful surgings in the ether do not directly excite the nerves as a battery does. It is true that in most of the high-frequency experiments no such effect is observed, but this may be because the quantity of current is in general very small. Meantime the coat-tails of the spectators can be seen, as Rudyard Kipling would put it, "crawling with invidious apprehension." One of the signs of the times is the exhibit of electrical heating and cooking apparatus shown by the Ansonia Electric Company in the gallery of the Electrical Building. Here we see all manner of utensils, baking ovens, gridirons, chafing dishes, saucepans, coffee pots, etc., all arranged so that by simply attaching a plug to an ordinary lighting circuit they are put in operation at once. The subject is such an important one that the writer has thought it best to go into it more in detail (vide infra). Meanwhile it may be mentioned that the exhibit is well worth a visit. The new Helios arc lamp, exhibited by the same firm, will also attract attention. This may be said to be, perhaps, the first thoroughly successful arc lamp for alternating currents. It is almost absolutely noiseless, and almost absolutely steady, more so than most direct-current lamps. These results are accomplished by the use of a low potential and of especially soft carbons. It will be remembered that some years ago Mr. Edison brought out the kinetoscope. In this instrument a combination was made of the well-known zootrope and the phonograph, so that at the same time that the motions of the moving object were seen, the accompanying sounds were heard. The apparatus was exhibited at some of the charitable entertainments in New York through the influence of Mrs. Edison, but since then comparatively little has been seen of it. It has now been more fully developed and forms a part of the Edison exhibit in the gallery of the Electrical Building. current curves. Among the instrument-makers the exhibit of Messrs. Queen & Co. stands preeminent. Their display is on the ground floor near the entrance, and includes almost every kind of electrical instrument made. A number of new instruments have been lately brought out by the firm. First among these we may mention Professor Ryan's electrometer, for use in making alternatingThis instrument, which has already been described in the electrical papers and has been in use for some time at Cornell, consists of an electrometer whose needle is charged through a very fine platinum or silver wire to the potential of the alternating current machine, at any part of its revolution, by means of the ordinary commutating device. So far it does not differ very greatly from the ordinary electrometer. It is a zero instrument, however, and is brought back to its original position by the action of a current in a surrounding coil of wire, which acts on a small magnet fastened to the electrometer needle. The instrument being once standardized, the potential can be found by measuring the current passed through the surrounding coil, and this, from the nature of the operation, is a very short process. While the instrument has been known for some time, this is the first occasion, we believe, that it has been placed on the market. It is to be hoped that some firm will do the same for the dynamometer method of Dr. Duncan, which has been used with so much success at Johns Hopkins. Another very fine instrument is the cylindrical bridge. It is a very mechanical piece of work, and looks as if it could be depended on. With the Carhart commutator, standard ratio coils, and one of the new Ayrton-D'Arsonval galvanometers the electrician has a most complete apparatus for the measurement of resistances to almost any degree of accuracy. These latter instruments (the Ayrton-D'Arsonval galvanometers) will probably interest the electrician more than anything else in the line of measuring apparatus. With electrical railways running in every direction near one's laboratory, the path of whose earth returns varies from day to day, with every sprinkle of rain or difference of temperature, the use of an ordinary sensitive galvanometer has been entirely out of the question unless in the neighborhood of a very strict law and order society, when a little work might be done by getting up to the laboratory at some unearthly hour on a Sunday morning. For this reason the tangent galvanometer has faded from the scene, and is now only used as a means of illustrating certain principles of electricity, its place being taken by Lord Kelvin's balances. And now the Thomson galvanometer must go before these new instruments, for the difference in sensibility is so small that there is practically no advan tage in using the Thomson, even under the most favorable conditions, and under ordinary circumstances there is no comparison between them, the D'Arsonval type being absolutely unaffected by external magnetic disturbances. Moreover, a good Thomson costs at least $400, and an Ayrton-D'Arsonval only about $70. Whether this form of galvanometer will be equally satisfactory when used for ballistic measurements does not, as yet, appear. There does not seem to be any reason why, with a good design and a containing tube of hard rubber instead of silver, it should not be perfectly satisfactory. Several sets of improved portable testing instruments for measuring capacity and insulation of cables, etc., are worthy of attention. Full sets of the instruments of Lord Kelvin are also shown. Another exhibit, which may well make an American feel proud of the work which is being done in this country, is the display of the Weston Instrument Company. True it is that Mr. Weston is an Englishman, but the perfection of the instruments is due, not only to Mr. Weston's ingenuity, but also, to a large extent, to American machine-shop practice. No other country can hope to compete with us until they learn to use the fine and accurate machine tools which fill the instrument shops here. The writer had the opportunity a short time ago of visiting some of the more celebrated European works for the making of electrical and physical instruments. There was not a universal grinder to be seen in them, and in only one was a modern milling machine to be found, and then but a single one. All the last touches were put on by hand, and the result may be seen in the instruments theinselves, where every screw has to be marked, because no screw will fit accurately into any hole except the one it is made for, and no two parts of the same type of instrument are interchangeable. In Europe, all the fine work is done in the assembling, here the greater part is done before the instrument reaches the assembler's hands. Probably there is no instrument in the world whose mechanical make-up is so perfect as an ordinary Weston voltmeter. A number of new designs are shown, and the new laboratory standards are especially fine. The long-looked-for manganin wire bridges have begun to appear, the smaller portable testing sets being now on exhibition. This manganin wire is, as the reader is probably aware, the invention of Mr. Weston, having been discovered by one of his assistants, Mr. John Kelly, while experimenting on that line. There are a number of varieties of this alloy, which is formed of different proportions of copper, nickel, and manganese. Some of these have a negative coefficient, others a slight positive one, and an intermediate class, no temperature coefficient at the ordinary temperatures of working. The researches of the German Government Standardizing Bureau have shown that the alloy is a permanent one, and that it is well adapted for use in standard resistances. It is understood that new bridges of the latest improved form, with four and five dials, are soon to be put on the market, made of this wire, and accurate to a small fraction of a per cent. Another new thing, soon to be put out, is the Weston cadmium standard cell. It is well known by those who have done work on solutions that the solubility of a number of the cadmium salts is the same at all temperatures within the ordinary range of working Also that there is a relation between the solubility and the voltage production of a solution. Mr Weston bas utilized this property of the cadmium salts to form a cell (of a similar nature to the ordinary Clark cell, but with cadmium substituted for the zinc and zinc salts), whose temperature coefficient is practically nil. It is claimed that considerable usage has shown that it is very reliable. As regards the electrical fountains, there is little to be said of them in spite of the great secrecy in which they are wrapped by the officials in charge. The principle is the one generally used, i.e., the projection of a beam of light so as to strike the walls of the jets from the inside, and so be reflected up along the inside of the column of water. Some slight mechanical ingenuity has been exercised in the means of feeding the carbons of the electric arcs, otherwise there is little of interest in the mechanism itself. The display, however, is very pretty, and it may be worth while to give a bint as to the best means of seeing it, as follows: Take the electric launch at the wharf on the Liberal Arts side of the bridge connecting the Administration Building with the Liberal Arts Building, at about 8.30 or 8.15 in the evening (the exact time depending upon the time the electric fountains begin to play, the time of starting should be about 45 minutes before they begin). This will bring the launch back to the basin containing the fountains just about the time they are in full operation, and, as the boats make two turns round this lagoon, opportunity is afforded for a long view of the display. Moreover, the voyage around the other lagoons gives one a beautiful view of the grounds and buildings from the water. The illumination of buildings is well under way by that hour, and the long ride on the water is very enjoyable after the heat of the day. The writer has been informed by those who have had the opportunity of comparing the two, that even the most gorgeous sights of Venice do not enter into comparison with the view thus obtained. R. A. F. A NEW INSTANCE OF STREAM CAPTURE. BY HUNTER L. HARRIS, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. The action of a rapidly flowing stream in cutting back into the drainage area of another, of less gradient, and, finally, capturing some of its headwaters, has been prettily described in the columns of this journal by Prof. W. M. Davis of Cambridge, under the name of "A River-Pirate." In this notice he describes an instance of such action occurring in eastern Pennsylvania, and alludes also to other instances, one of which is that occurring in the Upper Engadine of Switzerland.1 By keeping in mind the principles governing the cutting power of streams, we may easily picture to ourselves the conditions which would result from the excessive action of one stream over that of a near neighbor. Briefly, the more active stream, by virtue of its greater activity, would begin to enlarge its catchment basin, its headwaters eating their way gradually backward, and so pushing the divide farther and farther into the region formerly drained by the relatively weak stream. In process of time, the aggressive stream may actually tap some of its neighbor's headwater members, and, since the divide migrates unevenly, this tapping may occur either at the head, or at some point lower down on the invaded stream. If at the head, we may have a short inverted stream, which possesses few marks by which we may afterwards read its history. But if the connection takes place lower down, as is often the case, a peculiar back-set direction is given to the stolen tributaries which have been thus forced to discharge their waters through a new main stream of reverse direction. They may be compared to the barbs upon an arrow, the body of the arrow representing the pirate stream. This then constitutes a peculiarity by which we may easily recognize instances of such capture. But other evidence should be sought, such as the former comparative activity of the two principal streams, indications of the former course of the stolen tributaries, etc. The case of the Upper Engadine mentioned above may be taken as typical. Here the aggressor is the Maira, flowing southwest, and it has not only taken a goodly part of the drainage area of the Inn, which has an opposite direction of flow, but has also appropriated at least three of its tributaries. The Maira is considerably more rapid, and hence more active, than the other. The accompanying sketch, taken directly from one of the maps of the Swiss official topographic survey, shows the characteristic form of the resultant drainage system. 1 Vol. xiii., 1889, p. 108. See also R. de C. Ward, "Another River-Pirate," vol. xix., 1891, p. 7. An instance of stream capture possessing all the "ear marks" of the typical case, is found in the Appalachian region of western North Carolina and within a few miles of Asheville. Among the principal streams traversing this elevated plateau region, are the Pigeon River and the French Broad, which take their rise on the broad back of the Blue Ridge, and, flowing westward, make their way through deep gorges in the Unaka Mountains, whence they descend into the broad, deep valley of eastern Tennessee. At one point, a northward turn of the Pigeon brings it within a dozen miles of the French Broad. Here, within half a mile of the former, and at an appreciably lower level, Hominy Creek takes it rise, and maintains a rapid, torrential course eastward, joining the French Broad at Asheville. A low and narrow divide separates this young and active stream from the slower moving Pigeon. Reckoning from this low divide, the fall of the smaller stream, within the first three miles, is more than three hundred feet, while an equal distance on Pigeon River yields a difference of level of only a little more than one hundred feet. Here then are conditions favoring the lengthening of one stream Its 10 to 25 leaves of a reddish color and semi-transparent texture are all radical, forming a tuft or rosette generally not more than two or three inches in diameter, from the centre of which during the months of April and May it sends up a single flower stalk or scape 6 to 10 inches high, and bearing at its summit a one-sided raceme of light rose-colored flowers 4 to 5 twelfths of an inch in diameter. Its oval seeds, when seen through a microscope, are finely furrowed and covered with small granules arranged with perfect regularity. The spatulate leaves are narrowed into a long leafstalk or petiole, the wide portion less than one-half inch in length and one-half as wide. It is known to botanists as Drosera capillaris, and has the usual characteristics of the order Droseraceæ. The leaves are circinate in the bud, that is, rolled up from the apex towards the base, after the manner of ferns. The upper surface is covered with somewhat fleshy, reddish filaments less than one millimetre in length in the centre of the leaf and gradually increasing to the length of 4 or 5 millimetres on the with loss of territory by the other, and such has clearly taken place. The accompanying map is traced from the topographic map of the region made by the U. S. Geological Survey (Asheville sheet). It will be at once noticed that the branching headwater tributaries of Hominy Creek, instead of flowing with an easterly course like those which enter lower down, have a distinctly backset position like the barbs of an arrow. A visit to the region would leave little room for doubt that these were once tributary to Pigeon River. The arrangement of the contours shows, in fact, a depression which may mark their former course over what now constitutes the divide. INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS OF SOUTH FLORIDA. BY G. W. WEBSTER, LAKE HELEN, FLA. As one approaches the moist grounds bordering on the lakes and ponds so numerous in south Florida, a beautiful plant is often found that, while it attracts the attention of the ordinary observor, is especially interesting to the student of natural history. border. These filaments or tentacles are about 200 in number on each leaf, and each bears at its summit a gland which secretes a drop of perfectly transparent, viscid substance that glitters in the sunlight like a brilliant dewdrop, hence the common name of sundew. This secretion is very adhesive, and whenever any small insect attracted by the brilliant color of the plant, the prospect of a sip of dew or from any other cause, alights upon the plant, it immediately becomes entangled in the treacherous substance. The tentacles of the outer border of the leaf, which were before curved backward, now slowly but surely begin to curve inward, carry· ing the victim toward the centre of the leaf, and enfolding it closely from every side. At the same time the secretion from the glands is greatly increased, drowning or smothering the insect. The leaf also slowly assumes a more cup-like shape and rolls back from the apex toward the centre of the plant and finally holds its victim in a close embrace, with the 200 glands pressed down upon it, bathing it in their secretion, which has now changed to acid and become capable of dissolving and digesting the soluble parts. These are taken into the circulation of the plant and by assimilation assist in its nourishment and growth. Some When the work is completed, the leaf unfolds, the tentacles uncoil and again fold backward, leaving the skeleton of the insect in the centre of the leaf as a warning to all passing insects. A careful observation of the plants when in,active growing condition will show all stages of the process. leaves will be folded up enclosing fresh insects, while many more will be seen spread open with the skeletons on their upper surface. Having finished their meal they are ready for the next customer. Occasionally the living insect will be found struggling to free itself from the adhesive secretion of the glands and the grasping tentacles that threaten its life. The larger insects often manage to free themselves and escape the fate that overtakes the less fortunate. I have seen the common house fly after being held for sometime finally extricate itself and fly away. A great variety of insects, such as mosquitoes, small flies and bugs, become the victims of this carnivorous plant. Small spiders with their soft bodies seem to be especially adapted to supplying its demands. The plant, which has but a few very small roots, can be easily transplanted to boxes where it can be more readily observed. A sufficient amount of the adhering soil should be taken up with it, which can be readily done by means of a common garden trowel. In some experiments lately made I find that it generally takes from 24 to 48 hours for the leaf to become completely folded over an insect. Small house flies required in some instances 48 hours, and it was nearly two weeks before the leaf again unfolded. Small spiders, having softer bodies, were digested in less time. Small pieces of cooked beefsteak placed on the leaves at noon were enfolded by the next morning. At first the leaves appeared to be stimulated to extra activity, but the beef did not seem to be adapted to the sustenance of the plant. After a few days the leaves, instead of unfolding gradually wasted away, the tentacles withered and finally the whole leaf died, leaving the beef apparently but little changed. Pieces of wood or solid vegetable fibre placed on the leaves would be partly enfolded but only remain so for a day or two. Tender vegetable tissues in 48 hours were reduced to an apparently decomposed pulp. Besides Drosera capillaris we have here in Volusia County two other species of Drosera; D. brevifolia, a smaller plant, not very common, grows in higher and dryer situations. The leaves are only about one-balf inch in length, while the pretty flowers are quite conspicuous, being one half inch in diameter. D. longifolia is occasionally seen on swampy and overflowed lands, where it is found floating during high water, the few roots taking a feeble hold of the soil as the water recedes. The Venus's fly-trap (Dionœa muscipula), also belonging to the order Droseracea, I think has not been found so far south as Florida. The spotted Trumpet Leaf (Sarracenia variolaris), also an insectivorous plant, is common here. Bejaria racemosa, a shrub growing 2 or 5 feet high, with large and showy white flowers, secretes a viscid, sticky substance on the stems below the flowers, thus entrapping many insects. It is often called Fly Catcher. It is the general law in vegetable physiology that plant life receives nourishment from two sources First from the more solid organic and mineral substances supplying phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, ammonia, etc., taken up by the rootlets and carried in solution to every part of the plant to be utilized in the process of growth, and, second, from the gaseous substances, oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and ammonia, drawn from the atmosphere through the stomata of the leaves. In carnivorous plants alone do we find the power of dissolving and appropriating organic substances through the leaves. In this power there is an approach made toward the function of the stomach in animals, thus forming another connecting link between the vegetable kingdom and those forms of life so nearly on the dividing line between the animal and the vegetable that it is sometimes difficult to determine on which side they really belong, and demonstrating to the student of biology that there is a unity in all life. QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF MILK. BY W. W. COOKE, STATE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION, BURLINGTON, VT. SEVERAL attempts have been made to measure the effect of the period of lactation of the cow on the quantity and quality of the milk. In nearly, if not all, of these cases no account is taken of the food or the conditions. In this note it is intended to show how these changes during the period of lactation are modified by the abundance or scarcity of the food of the cow. Most of the cows of Vermont calve in the spring, from February to May. We have the records of twenty such herds of about twenty cows each. Averaging these records, we get figures based on the doings of over four hundred cows. Hence the results ought to be quite reliable. All results are calculated to thirty days in a mouth. 90 per herd, pounds..... Ratio of different months, if June is 100... Average per cent of fat in milk....... Ratio of different months, if 60 75 100 87 72 64 50 26 These cows were fed but little grain at the barn. They were turned to pasture in May and fed no grain while on pasture. As the pastures dried up in August and September, but little care was taken to keep up the flow of milk. Almost no grain was fed, and not much of fodder-corn or of fall mowings. When they came to the barn in November, no pains were taken, in most cases, to keep them along in milk. The feeding, then, may be said to be rather poor at the two ends of the season and an abundance of the best of feed in the middle. Under these conditions there is a marked increase in the quantity of milk under better feed, reaching its height when the feed is best in June and skrinking still more markedly when cold weather and short feed occur in Nevember. The changes in quality are especially worthy of note. There is a prevailing idea that when cows go out to grass the milk gets poorer in quality as it increases in volume. Some States recognize this belief in their statutes by lowering the legal milk standard during May and June. Many tests at this station during four consecutive seasons have shown the incorrectness of this belief, and the figures of these 400 cows show the same very conclusively. The per cent of fat is lowest just after they calve, and there is a rapid increase when they go to pasture, and a continued increase each month until at the last the increase is very rapid. It is to be noted, however, that this increase of fat per cent is not enough to counterbalance the decrease in the weight of the milk, so that the total daily fat decreases during the fall months in spite of the increased rickness of the milk. If these records are compared with those of the station herd that have been full fed all the year, it will be seen that there are no such violent changes. When the cows go to pasture the milk increases quite a little, but the fat remains about the same, and for the first eight months of lactation there is only a slight change in per cent fat, and no very large decrease, and no sudden decrease in quantity of milk. Also, it will be noted that in our herd there is not so large an increase in per cent fat at the end of the period The influence of full feeding is seen most strongly during the months of April and May, which yield, with grain, one-third more milk and butter-fat than without. An influence after June is seen, but not so pronounced. Those having grain shrink in milk-flow only nine-tenths as fast as those not having grain, and have the advantage of only one-twenty-fifth in the shrinkage of butter-fat. Of course, this is not a strict comparison of the effects of feeding grain on the total yield or of the financial side of the question, but merely of the effect the grain has of increasing the flow of the milk at once when the cow calves and of maintaining the milk-flow for a longer period in the latter part of lactation. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The writer's name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. On request in advance, one hundred copies of the number containing his communication will be furnished free to any correspondent. The editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with the character of the journal. An Unusual Aurora. ON Saturday evening, July 15, there occurred an aurora which was unlike any the writer has ever seen, and a brief description of it may contribute something to the aggregate knowledge of those interesting phenomena. The peculiar feature of this aurora was the movement of a series or succession of whitish flecks across the sky from east to west, resembling somewhat the waves of a body of water. About 9.30, central time, my attention was first attracted to it. Flecks of white light were forming in the east at an altitude of about 45°, passing in regular succession westward, about 20° north of the zenith, and apparently accumulating in one larger band in the northwest, reaching at times from near the horizon to perhaps 80°. The white flecks or streaks were about 10° in length, strictly parallel north and south, and quite uniform in distance apart. They grew brighter and more distinct as they approached and passed the meridian. Their motion was very regular and quite rapid, comparable to the swiftest apparent motion of light clouds. If they were as high as the electric theory would suggest, the velocity must have been enormous. At times similar short bands, like strokes with a paint-brush, were stationary in the north, at about 45° altitude, for several minutes at a time. A few minutes later a number, perhaps ten or twelve, white bands appeared north of the zenith, all converging towards a point some 10° south of the zenith, but vanishing before reaching the zenith. They remained only a few minutes. About 10 o'clock the moving flecks had disappeared, and one long, straight band extended from the northwest horizon, 50° or 60°, toward a point about 45° south of the zenith. Two or three other short flecks appeared parallel with the main band. About the same time the usual diffused glow appeared in the north horizon and continued till after 11 o'clock, but was not observable while the moving bands were seen. Many more gorgeous auroras have been seen in our latitude, but the rapidly-moving bands gave this one a new interest. W. H. HOWARD. Adrian, Mich. Light-Shunners and Light-Seekers. It is well known that in the main divisions of the animal world we find groups which normally withdraw from daylight and which form a very large minority of existing species Some of these lovers of darkness dwell in caverns, in underground burrows or in the seas at depths where the light penetrates feebly or not at all. We might, perhaps, expect that such creatures would feel annoyed, more or less, by artificial light and would withdraw from what to them must be an exceptional phenomenon. This, however, would be a mistake. The only nocturnal animals which seem to shun fire and light are the carnivorous mammals especially the cats. It has long been customary for travellers in Africa to keep lions, leopards, etc., aloof from an encampment by means of bonfires. As a rule the sleepers are safe as long as the fires are fed up. The lemurs and loris are even more nocturnal than the cats, since they do not travel or prey by day. Whether they are repelled or attracted by a light is not sufficiently decided. The bats are not purely nocturnal. They are sometimes seen bawking for insects in full daylight. But a light attracts them. Entomologists-I may mention Major Elwes, P. E. S.- who have hung out lamps in order to entice moths, have often found that bats come to the lights and secure a large share of the speci mens. Among birds there are few truly nocturnal species. The owl and the night-jar (absurdly called the goat-sucker) are the most common night fliers. The owls are attracted by a light, a fact which has given rise to a foolish superstition. They will often dash against the window of a room which is lighted up by night. If, as often happens to be the case, this is a sick-chamber, nurses of the old school pronounce such a visit a fatal omen. Some would-be wise men have gravely asserted that the owl scents the approach of dissolution and comes in the hope of feasting upon the corpse. Now, in fact, the owl feeds by preference on prey which it has just killed, and in captivity it rejects any food which is in the slightest degree tainted. In Australia the emur, though not truly nocturnal, may be seen rapidly scudding over the plains by moonlight. Many birds which are perfectly diurnal, in their ordinary habits, fly by night when migrating, and are then attracted by a light. Numbers of various species dash themselves against the windows of lighthouses and are killed by the shock. This is much to be regretted, since the majority of migratory birds feed on insects, and had they survived they would during the coming season have been hard at work ridding our crops of vermin. The habits of reptiles vary greatly. The few European snakes, e.g., the viper, the asp, the Austrian adder, the grass snake and Coronella lævis, are rarely met with save in the brightest hours of the day. But of the African, Indian and Australian species it may be said: "The snake that loves the twilight has come out, beautiful, still and deadly"-though they also bask in the sun. Nor are they scared away by lights or fire. One species, indeed, if it espies a fire in the forest, seeks to dash or drag the sticks away. Toads, newts and salamanders live very contentedly in the dark, but seem to regard a light with indifference. The majority of fishes and other dwellers in the waters are decidedly attracted by lights. |