Page:The Zoologist, 1st series, vol 1 (1843).djvu/102

74 near Leith. This is an animal of great interest to the naturalist, and is more likely than any other of which we have any knowledge, to have given rise to the stories of sirens and mermaids. Although it has frequently been seen at sea, specimens have very rarely found their way ashore, and of the entire animal kingdom no species is so rarely met with in museums.

The following may be considered a tolerably correct list of the British Quadrupeds, as enumerated by Mr. Bell. We have introduced some slight alterations in the nomenclature, and on a future occasion intend suggesting others, more especially as regards the bats. The whales are purposely omitted, as we consider them too imperfectly known to admit of any precision as to their specific differences.

Anecdote of Instinct or Reasoning Power in a Cat. Passing by the back window of a neighbour's house a short time since, I saw