manner, which I have not space here to describe. The thoracic portion of the body is defended by a sort of cuirass, admirably adapted to bear the weight of the superincumbent earth. The anatomy of the mole-cricket has been thoroughly described by Dr. Kidd, late Regius Professor at Oxford, Philos. Trans., 115, (1825), p. 228. The preparations (611 and 784) of the Royal College of Surgeons show the anatomy of the mole-cricket. The crop, instead of being a gradual dilatation of the oesophagus, is appended to the side of that tube, like the crop of a fowl, and a longer canal intervenes between it and the gizzard; two large cæcal appendages open into the termination of the gizzard, from which the true digestive stomach is continued. The liver is represented by a great number, from 150 to 200, of minute but long capillary cæca which all unite into one common tube or duct, which conveys the biliary secretion into the intestinal canal, close to the pylorus.

FLAMINGO p. 248.-PROBABLE ORIGIN OF THE OLD STORY OF THE PELICAN IN THE WILDERNESS FEEDING ITS YOUNG ON ITS OWN BLOOD.-When a boy at Winchester College I was always much struck with the representations of the pelican feeding its young with its own blood, which adorn the roof of the grand old Cathedral at Winchester. Mentioning this one day to Mr. Bartlett, he told me that he had discovered the origin of this story, and he kindly gave me his observations in writing as follows:

"The facts I now lay before you appear to me to afford a solution to the well-known and ancient story of the Pelican in the Wilderness. I have heard that the so-called fable originated, or is to be found, on some of the early Egyptian monuments (I do not know where), but that the representations are more like flamingoes than pelicans. I have published in the "Proceedings of the Zoological Society," March 1869, what I consider to be the facts of the case. The flamingoes in the gardens have frequently shown signs of breeding, and have been supplied with heaps of sand to form their nests, but without result; nevertheless they appear to take considerable notice of a pair of cariamas in the same aviary. These birds have a

habit of bending back their heads, and with open gaping mouths utter loud and somewhat distressing sounds. This habit at once attracts the flamingoes, and very frequently one or more of them advance towards the cariamas, and standing erect over the bird, by a slight up and down movement of the head, raise up into its mouth a considerable quantity of red-coloured fluid, which, as soon as the upper part of the throat and mouth becomes filled it will drop or run down from the corners of the flamingo's

mouth; the flamingo then bends its long neck over the gaping cariama and pours this fluid into the mouth, and as frequently on the back of the cariama. Having seen this repeatedly I took an opportunity of obtaining a portion of this fluid, and submitted it to the examination of Dr. Murie. We placed it under the microscope and found it composed of little else than blood; in fact the red blood-corpuscles are wonderfully abundant in the otherwise clear and almost transparent glutinous fluid. That this does not proceed from any disease or injury done to the flamingo, nor arise from or is produced by any portion or part of the food taken by them, I am perfectly certain, for the birds are in the most vigorous health and condition; but I believe that it is an attempt to supply food to the cariamas, just as the hedge-sparrow and other birds supply food to the young cuckoo ; and I have no doubt if a careful observer had the opportunity of watching the flamingoes on their breeding-ground, he would find that this is the mode of feeding their young; no doubt other food is also provided, but most likely mixed with this secretion. I think it highly probable that this habit was noticed in ancient Egypt, and, by the confusion of names in translation, the pelican was supposed to be the bird intended; in fact I have heard that the representation (which I am very anxious to see) is much more like a flamingo than a pelican. Again, a flamingo is much more a bird of the wilderness than the pelican, seeing that the pelican requires a good supply of fish, while the flamingo can live and does well upon very small insects, seeds, &c., and is found in places in which the pelican would starve."

THE

ANTIQUITIES OF SELBORNE.

LETTER I.

It is reasonable to suppose that in remote ages this woody and mountainous district was inhabited only by bears and wolves. Whether the Britons ever thought it worthy their attention is not in our power to determine; but we may safely conclude, from circumstances, that it was not unknown to the Romans. Old people remember to have heard their fathers and grandfathers say that, in dry summers and in windy weather, pieces of money were sometimes found round the verge of Wolmer Pond; and tradition had inspired the foresters with a notion that the bottom of that lake contained great stores of treasure. During the spring and summer of 1740 there was little rain; and the following summer also, 1741, was so uncommonly dry, that many springs and ponds failed, and this lake in particular, whose bed became as dusty as the surrounding heaths and wastes. This favourable juncture induced some of the forest cottagers to begin a search, which was attended with such success that all the labourers in the neighbourhood flocked to the spot, and with spades and hoes turned up great part of that large area. Instead of pots of coins, as they expected, they found great heaps, the one lying on the other, as if shot out of a bag; many of which were in good preservation. Silver and gold these inquirers expected to find; but their discoveries consisted solely of many hundreds of Roman copper coins and some