Page:The Zoologist, 1st series, vol 4 (1846).djvu/198

1364 ported by the facts connected with its propagation and distribution from one person to another, which are so manifestly dependent upon external circumstances, that it may be fairly considered likely that the worm in some other form, or at least in some other stage of its exist- ence will be found external to the body. A discovery that is reserved for the observer in those countries only where it is endemic. — J.S.B.

Rat fishing for Eels. — On the 24th of February, taking a walk with a companion, as we went along the side of the mill-race at Swalwell, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, we noticed a common house-rat, making its way close by the edge of the water, among the coarse stones that formed the embankment. Curious to know what it could be doing there, we watched its progress downwards, until it reached the outlet of a drain ; into which it had just turned, when it gave a sudden plunge ; and as quickly reap- peared in the stream with a middling sized eel in its mouth. It made for the edge, where it soon regained its footing ; and this, from the steepness of the bank was a matter of difficulty ; which was much increased by the eel, which it had seized a little above the tail, and was struggling vigorously to get free. Eels, at any time, as every youthful " troller" knows are troublesome gentry, very hard to manage ; and it would require all the shifts of a rat, to cast a knot on ones tail. Our's attempted to get for- ward and turn a corner ; where on a broader ledge he, peradventure, might have had "luck in his fishing." But the desperate efforts of the eel rendered his footing so pre- carious, that rather than have a plunge for nothing, he was reluctantly obliged to drop it into the water. His first action afterwards, was to give himself a good shake, both to revive his spirits, and to rid his coat from the eff"ects of his morning dip ; and then, as before, he resumed his "contemplative recreation." As our paths lay differently, I have nothing further to report of his good or evil success. — James Hardy ; Gateshead, March 23rd, 1846.

Singular effect on Animals from swallowing the ashes of Hecla with their food.—A letter from Copenhagen, of the 16th of April, says: — The packet which arrived yester- day from Reikavik, in Iceland, has brought us letters from that town of the 8th of March, which give curious details respecting the malady under which the cattle were suffering, from having eaten grass, &c. covered with the ashes vomited by Mount Hecla. These ashes act more particularly on the bones of the animals which have swallowed them. Thus, on the bones of the feet, there are formed, in less than twenty- four hours, osseous excrescences of an oblong form, which gradually assume so for- midable a development that they prevent the beasts from walking ; the same phenome- non is then manifested in the lower jaw ; which is at the same time enlarged, and ex- tends in all directions so considerably, that it eventually splits in several places ; whilst in the teeth of the upper jaw there is formed a species of osseous needles, very long and pointed, which take root in the lower jaw, and even traverse it, — a phase of the malady which always determines a fatal issue. As high winds had prevailed for some time, the volcanic ashes were scattered throughout the island, and a great num- ber of cattle, especially oxen, cows, and sheep had perished. If the eruption of Hecla (say the letters from Reikavik) is prolonged for two months more, all the rural proprietors who have not enough hay to feed their herds,— and the majority are in