own tunes, or rather discord, have each | their own notion of time, and are chiefly zealous to drown every other noise with their own. "Dahoman houses, from the palace to the farm, are all similar. Walls, either of clay or palm branches, enclose, according to the number of inmates, courts and houses of all sizes, made of clay, and thatched with grass. A bamboo bedstead or a few mats, some country pots and agricultural implements, and weapons, a loom of coarse material, besides the insignia of office (if a cabooceer or head man), are all the furniture. A store in each house is provided with clothes, grain, foreign goods, &c., according to the wealth of the owner. Within the enclosure are all domestic animals, and invariably a dog. The diet is simple, consisting chiefly of messes of meat and vegetable, mixed with palm oil and pepper, with which is eaten a corn cake called kankee, or dab-a-dab. There is very little variety. A mixture of beans, peppers, and palm oil, is made into a cake, and sold to travellers; yams and cassada form the staples of food. Foreign liquors are scarce and expensive; and as palm wine is forbidden by the king, the chief drinks are a very palatable malt called pitto, and a sort of burgoo called invincible god Seh,' nor to the Fetish FRAGMENTS FROM THE WELSH. POETICAL TRIADS. 1. THE three primary requisites of poetical genius: an eye that can see nature; a heart that can feel nature; and a resolution that dares follow nature. increase of goodness; increase of under2. The three final intentions of poetry: standing; and increase of delight. 3. The three properties of a just imagination: what may be, what ought to be, and what is seemly to be. 4. The three indispensabilities of poetical language: purity, copiousness, and ease. 5. Three things that ought to be well un derstood in poetry: the great, the little, and their correspondence. 8. The three dignities of poetry: the true beautiful and the wise, and the union of art and wonderful united, the union of the and nature. ah-kah-sar. Drunkenness is not allowed; 6. Three things to be avoided in poetry: nor is there, except in Whydah, much the mean, the obscure, and the extravagant. opportunity for it. As a public example, 7. Three things to be chiefly considered the king kept a drunkard and fed him in poetical illustration: what shall be obvion rum, and exhibited him at the cus-ously seen, what shall be instantly admired, toms,' that his emaciated and disgusting and what shall be eminently characteristic. appearance might shame his people from making beasts of themselves; this terrible example is dead. In agricultural pursuits they are advanced in knowledge, but extremely indolent, keeping but a tithe of the land in cultivation. The religion of Dahomey is a mystery only known to the initiated. There is no daily worship, but periods at which the fetish men and women dance. They who are initiated have great power, and exact much in return. It is a proverb that the poor are never initiated. The fetish of Abomey is the leopard, that of Whydah the snake. The human sacrifices at the festival See-que-ah-hee are neither to the Forbes. 9. The three advantages of poetry: the praise of goodness, the memory of what is remarkable, and the invigoration of the affections. THERE are two distinct sorts of what we call bashfulness: this, the awkwardness of a booby, which a few steps into the world will convert into the pertness of a coxcomb; that, a consciousness which the most delicate feelings produce, and the most extensive knowledge cannot always remove. -Mackenzie. "Dahomy and the Dahomans." By Commander NOTES AND QUERIES FOR NATURALISTS. NOTES. THE WRYNECK (Yunx torquilla). This is one of our earliest spring visitants, and certainly not the least interesting. Its appearance is hailed with delight, as being the harbinger of the opening season, when young spring scatters abroad her garlands over the earth, and the birds sing out their melody in copse and grove. It tells of the advent of those mild hours when "The balm, the bliss, the beauty, and the bloom, Recall the good Creator to his creature." It is known to but few of our peasants by its proper name, the more common names being those of snake-bird, pee-bird, &c. These names are highly characteristic: the first because the tortuous windings of the bird's neck often lead the unwary to mistake it for a snake; and the young hunting urchin has often dropped his hold of the tree where its nest is built, from the idea that the fanged adder reposed among its nestlings; and the latter because the cry of the bird is a loud and continued repetition of the monysyllable "pee," uttered in a clear, shrill tone, and audible at a great distance. The wryneck is the precursor of the cuckoo; and when the one is first heard, the arrival of the other may be safely predicted. The southern and midland parts of the kingdom are the favourite haunts of this bird; and in the orchards around London its cry may be heard from sunrise to sunset throughout May and June. In the northern parts of England it is more rare, and in Scotland is seldom seen. It preys on ants and other small insects found in trees, and in ant-hills, into which its very long, slender, and viscid tongue is thrust. The spot chosen for its nest is the hole in the trunk of a tree, and upon fine particles of decayed wood it deposits eight or ten pure white eggs. It would be vain to attempt to describe the markings of this bird, which consist of the most delicate pencilings and spots, in which white, brown, and black are mixed in beautiful irregularity. It is about the size of a common lark. It appears to be generally distri buted throughout the milder regions of Asia and Europe, and in all probability of Africa. foreign names are equally characteristic with the English. Its Swedish name (gioek tita) signifies "the cuckoo's explainer," and its Welsh name (gwas y gog) "the cuckoo's attendant." Early in September it re-migrates to more southern latitudes. VARIATION OF COLOUR IN CHRYSALIDES. Its Chatham, March 12, 1860. Dear Sir, I venture again to trespass on your space for the purpose of making known a most remarkable fact which I have observed in regard to the colouring of chrysalides, and which I have never seen alluded to in any entomological work. I will take the swallow-tail chrysalis as a case in point. Having received a few caterpillars of this butterfly from a friend at Ely, I observed a fine fellow spinning; placing him in a chip-box, he soon fixed himself to the lid. Knowing he could no longer crawl away, and believing light to have some effect in colouring chrysalides, I placed the lid, with the caterpillar on it, in a window facing the light. The result was, that the chrysalis, instead of the usual green colour, assumed a delicate buff, being the exact colour of the wooden box to which it was attached. I tried another, with the same result. I then coloured a box inside with the three primitive colours, red, yellow, and blue (you may think me rather green to expect chrysalides to assume such colours); I placed a full-fed caterpillar in this, but the chrysalis was of the ordinary green colour; this one, however, changed during the night. Persons having "insect homes" will do well to try a similar experiment, as, no doubt, all chrysalides which are exposed to view are subject to this variation, the result of which, in preserving the individual from observation, must be evident to all. I have also noticed that those chrysalides which are gilded or silvered when attached to a plant, when found on other substances not only want those embellishments, but assume the colour of those objects to which they are attached. It has been said that in nature preservation of the species is the only thing attended to; the above facts show that the indi vidual is also cared for. I conclude by observing that the colour of each individual is permanent, so that its changeableness is of a different character from that of the chameleon.-I am, dear Sir, yours truly, T. W. WOOD, Jun. A DOG WITH A WOODEN LEG. Mr. Howard, of the Railway Inn, near the Droylesden railway station, has in his possession a Scotch terrier with a wooden leg, which runs about with scarcely any perceptible limp. The dog had its right fore-foot amputated by an express train three months ago; and a veterinary surgeon from Manchester, being informed that it was a favourite pet, not only dressed its wounds, but shortly afterwards supplied it with an artificial limb, of which it appears somewhat proud. 1860. HOW A TOAD UNDRESSES. A gentleman sent to The New England Farmer an amusing description of "How a Toad takes off his Coat and Pants." He says he has seen one do it, and a friend has seen another do the same thing in a similar way:-"About the middle of July I found a toad on a hill of melons; and not wanting him to leave, I hoed around him; he appeared sluggish, and not inclined to move. Presently I observed him pressing his elbows hard against his sides, and rubbing downwards. He appeared so singular, that I watched to see what he was up to. After a few smart rubs, his skin began to burst open, straight along his back. Now, said I, old fellow, you have done it; but he appeared to be unconcerned, and kept on rubbing until he had worked his skin into folds on his sides and hips; then grasping one hind leg with both his hands, he hauled off one leg of his pants the same as anybody would, then stripped the other hind leg in the same way. He then took off his cast-off cuticle forward, between his fore legs into his mouth, and swallowed it; then, by raising and lowering his head, swallowing as his head came down, he stripped off the skin underneath until it came to his fore legs, and then grasping one of these with the opposite hand, by considerable pulling stripped off the skin; changing hands, he stripped the other, and by a slight motion of the head, and all the while A STEEPLE-CHASE OF ELEPHANTS. This odd event has taken place at Rancoon. The 68th were the authors of the idea, which was carried out in all respects à la steeple-chase : ditches to wade, or leap fences, walls, &c. Gentlemen jockeys, with the addition of an Indian to stir up the elephants; betting, of course. Captain Vaughan was the winner; and Ponderous Polly, ridden by Lieutenant Foorde, was nowhere, out of the thirteen starters. 1858. A SHOT-PROOF CROCODILE. "The distance was not more than eighty yards. I fired, and struck it; the monster wagged his tail, but did not move from the spot where he was lying. I fired two more shots; one ball took effect, while the other glanced off into the water beyond. I now thought myself sure of my aquatic friend; so we jumped into the boat, and rowed across, when, to our surprise, just as we were gaining the shore, the monster of the Nile quietly slipped into his native element, and we saw him no more. On the spot where he had been lying were two small pools of blood."C. J. Monk. AN OLD RAVEN. At Heppignies, in the year 1858, a gentleman shot a raven which had round its wing a strip of parchment, on which was written, "1787, Abbaye de Socilment." ARTFUL ELEPHANTS. The Ceylon Observer contains an account of some brick-making works, six miles from Colombo, which turn out about 20,000 bricks a day. The clay for brick-making is prepared by ele phants. The wild and tame work together, and both attempt to shirk their work by endeavouring to put their feet in old footprints, instead of in the soft, tenacious, untrodden mud. A MAGNIFICENT GOLDEN EAGLE. Was shot in 1858 by Frederick Can, gamekeeper to Major Palmer, of Nazing Park, Herts. It measured 8 feet from wing to wing, 3 feet 2 inches from beak to tail, and weighed 9 lbs. LATE NESTING OF THE PARTRIDGE. On the 14th of November last a partridge's nest was accidentally discovered on Melbourne Common, Derbyshire. The bird was sitting on eleven eggs nearly ready to hatch. The female accidentally got killed. The male took no notice of the eggs. 1858. ANSWERS TO QUERIES. mould, a mole hill, all are derived from the Danish "mule," a mouth; a mole being an animal MOULD WARP (p. 171).-We cannot better which carts with his mouth. The Greeks call answer this question than in the words of a correspondent of Notes and Queries, who says:-"Ition of the quotation from the homily:him skalops, a digger. I add Eccleston's transla think Milton wrote "mould" and meant by the word a mole-hill, the habitation (cubile) of a mole or mould-warp. It is not every mole-hill that is the mould, but the largest one in which the mole hollows out various galleries and ways for himself. There is a plate, in a note on the mole, in the Rev. J. G. Wood's edition of Gilbert White's "Natural History of Selborne" (Routledge, 1854. See page 321), which gives a good description of a mole-hill, the mould, and its "darksome passages." I have heard mole-catchers talk of a garden-mole as if he were a larger animal than the field-mole; and, perhaps, because he is more mischievous; they always expect more for trapping a garden-mole. Milton writes, "For God had thrown That mountain as his garden mould, high raised "For thee is a home built, Ere thou wert born; For thee is a mould shapen, Ere thou of (thy) mother camest; The literal translation of the last line is, "And A WOLF'S TOOтH (p. 171).-We cannot inform Dentatus as to the origin of the superstition he refers to wolves, we suppose, have sharp teeth, and perhaps it was thought that they had the power of communicating this quality of sharpness to the dentals of the suffering child, enabling them to penetrate the gums speedily. Perhaps the following extract from a letter, addressed by Lady Wentworth to Lord Strafford, under date, March 26th, 1713, may direct our querist to one ished; this also seem to show that it prevailed in the century immediately preceding our own :-"I have made your daughter a present of a wolf's tooth; I sent to Ireland for it, and set it here in gold. They are very lucky things; for my twoe ferst ones did dye; the other bred his very ill, and none of ye Rest did, for I had one for all the Rest."-H. G. A. In God's hand the mountain was but as a molehill; and as in a mole-hill, with its porous earth and several passages, the water oozed, some up-county, at least, in which the superstition flourwards, forming a fountain, which meets the nether flood, which goes through the darksome passage. This seems to me all to apply to a mould, a mole-hill; had Milton meant a mound, he would have written mound, but I do not see that his description would in any way have applied to a solid mound, a mole, or embankment, Once more I must ask pardon. The mole derives his name, I think, from the Danish "mule," a mouth; muld-varp is his Danish name, which means mold-caster, but the root is mule, a mouth-caster, as in the German maul-warf. The Anglo-Saxon name is wanda, from wendan, to turn. Mould-warp is still the name of the mole in Derbyshire; and among the Danish "by's" of Lincolnshire I have shewn the use of the word "warp." Is mould-warp also used in Lincolnshire ? I know no other instance of "mould," used as I supposed it to be by Milton; but "mold” I find used in a homily in the Bodleian Library, temp. Henry II. (supposed): vide Eccleston's "Introduction to English Antiquities," p. 102. And I conclude that mould, a shape, in which anything is cast, mould (humus) earth, fine earth, churchyard earth, mould-damp, mole, the animal, and AGAMA AND AGAMI (p. 171).-The first of these words, whose similarity has puzzled W. B., has reference to a genus of Saurian reptiles, the type of a family called Agamida. The Agamis are truly lizards, being closely allied to the Iguanas ; they have a loose skin, which they can at will inflate with air. They are generally of small size, and inhabitants of warm climates, some living in trees and others on the ground. The Egyptian Agami (4. Egyptiaca, or Trapelus Egypticus) is remarkable for changing colour, like the chameleon; some of the most common lizards of Australia belong to this family, the most remarkable of them being the Frilled Agami (Mamydosaurus), which has a kind of frill round the neck, commonly lying back in pleats, but standing out when the animal is alarmed or angry. The term Agami refers to a genus of South Ame rican birds, allied to the cranes. Only two species are known, and these are sometimes called Trumpeters, from a peculiar sound which they emit. The Gold-breasted Trumpeter (P. crepitans) is the best known; it is as large as a pheasant, but with a much longer neck and legs. This bird runs with extraordinary swiftness; a tame one, kept in England, has been known to keep up with hounds. LICHEN (p. 171).-Henry is informed, that in Botany, this is the name of an extensive division of cryptogamous plants, constituting a genus in the order Alge in the Linnæan system, but now forming a distinct natural order called Lichenaceœ. The general mode of growth of these plants is that of a thin, flat crust, spread over rocks and the bark of trees. Sometimes they spring from the ground, and shoot out tiny branches like miniature shrubs; and sometimes they appear as a mere gelatinous mass, or a fine powdery substance. Among them are included the Iceland Moss, on which the Reindeer feed, which, however, is quite distinct from the true Mosses. Lichens abound chiefly in the cold and temperate parts of the world. Their chief use appears to be the preparation of the surface of the earth for the growth of large vegetables; but some kinds, as those above named, are of direct essential service to man, possessing tonic and strengthening properties. They are also useful in the arts, furnishing the dyer with many brilliant colours. An acid peculiar to some varieties has been extracted, and termed Lichenic Acid; it appears to be identical in its character with Malic Acid. A peculiar vegetable starch, called Lichinin, is obtained from the Liverwort, it is said to possess the alkaline property of combining with acids. BURYING BEETLES (p. 171).-These beetles, sometimes called the "Sextons," exhibit a very interesting kind of instinct in providing for their larvæ. These Necrophori, as they are sometimes called, are some of them very handsome, being most frequently red or orange-coloured, and finely spotted or barred with black. Gledetsch, in his "Recreations of Natural History," published in 1765, has given a very interesting account of their habits. He tells us that if a dead reptile or piece of flesh is placed as a bait for them at the proper season, they appear in an incredibly short time, guided no doubt by an extremely keen sense of smell, which enables them to scent it from a considerable distance. When they arrive, they appear to survey the object with a certain kind of deliberation, as though taking the measure of its dimensions; after which they at once commence digging underneath, and sometimes bury it above a foot deep, the whole operation occupying but a few hours. When the work is complete, the female deposits her eggs upon the object, and it is then covered up so as to leave but little trace of the performance. An instance is recorded of the singular manner in which their instinct enables them to overcome unexpected difficulties when they occur. A mole, as it is said, was suspended to the upper end of a stick fixed firmly in the ground, and the scent of the carcase soon attracted the "Sextons," who appeared at first much disconcerted by the situation of the coveted supply of provender for their future progeny. After a kind of consultation, however, which appears to have been very much to the point, they proceeded to undermine the stick, which, yielding to a few hours' unceasing labour, at last fell, and the prize was secured and duly interred after the usual fashion.-The Butterfly Vivarium, by NOEL HUMPHREYS. QUERIES. interest the account of this bird in the last The Oyster Catcher.-I have read with much number of the Family Friend. I remember being told by an old fisherman that he once found one of these birds, which had been killed in a very singular manner; it had, as is mentioned in the opened its shell, but the fish, rapidly shutting Family Friend, attempted to seize an oyster as it itself up, had caught the poor oyster-catcher by the beak, and being fixed upon the base of a small rock, held it fast until it was drowned by the return of the tide. He also told me that these birds would sometimes take an oyster up in the air and let it fall upon a rock, repeating this manœuvre until the shell was sufficiently broken to allow them to get at the contents. How much credit is to be given to these stories?-BLANCHE ALSINGTON. Bird Stuffing.-I am very desirous of forming an ornithological collection, and shall be glad if directions for stuffing bird skins, of which I have you can furnish me with some plain and simple a number in a very good state of preservation.JAMES W. What is a Reptile? Under this term I find in appearance and habits, that I am puzzled to comprehended so many creatures, very different know exactly what it means, and on what principle of classification the arrangements had been made which brings together such diverse formed and variously-natured animals.-BOBBY B. About Bees.-Is the noise which some people make, in order, as they say, to attract a swarm of bees, and the custom of rubbing the inside of a hive with something which has a pleasant perfume, previous to introducing the swarm, really of any service?-A BEE-KEEPER. Formation of Pearls.-Has the account first given by Sir Joseph Banks, of the mode in which pearls are found in the shell of the muscle or oyster ever been proved to be correct. I know that considerable doubt has been expressed on the subject, and shall be glad to receive information thereupon.-A JEWELLER. |