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largest crocodile ever brought alive to this country was killed by some one thrusting a stick into its eye, and last week seals were poisoned by fusses thrown into their pond, and one is dead. All this has happened at the Westminster Aquarium within the last three months, and it makes it heartless work when one hag to contend against so many difficulties. Cook, who brought over the white whale, left on the 14th for Labrador in quest of others, and may be expected with his treasures in due time.—The Entomological exhibition was a wonderful success, as it deserved ta be, since it was the largest and most complete ever held in this country. With 900 cases, repetitions were a matter of course, but there were great rarities, including an unnamed one from the Himalayas, very like P. Paris, but, if possible, handsomer: Lord Walsingham's exhibit was the most interesting, and I commend it for imitation to ail true lovers of entomology; not only was the perfect insect there, hunt the caterpillar and pupæ illustrated its progress; and beautiful models of the leaves on which it fed, made of wax paper so admirably as to truly simulate nature, completed the life history, while all were prepared by his lordship himself, who has contrived to invest the caterpillars with most life-like and characteristic attitudes, These are prepared by first killing with chloroform or ether, (not in the cyanide bottle, which destroys the colour,) then making a small perforation near the anus with fine scissors, and rolling with a cedar pencil on blotting paper till the contents are extruded. A blow pipe is next inserted into the slit, and the animal then gently inflated to its natural size, when it is dried on a hot plate or in forceps over a spirit lamp, and the thing is done. It requires skill, and some early failures may he anticipated, but the art is soon acquired, and well repays the trouble. Camberwell Beauties and Purple Emperors, were common enough; and one exhibitor had nearly 7,000 Coleoptera, the work of forty years' collection, at sight of which, I, as a semi-scientific "flaneur." felt (and I hope many more like myself did too) ashamed of my lazy life. Thore was, too, evidence of the progressive advance of artistic taste among the people, in fifty really exquisite drawings of insects and flowers by a poor working man who had never had a lesson, and whose painting was done by candle light, after work hours. All honour to him. Your old associate, Mr F. Enock, was there with his microscopic objects, which are obtaining a well-deserved celebrity; his latest success being entire insects mounted without compression; these seen by dark ground illumination are as beautiful as they are instructive.—Let those who keep monkeys beware of overfeeding. Generally the animals die of lung disease, and therefore fat-forming and heat-producing foods are most suitable, but corn flour and sugared milk have just killed the most intelligent Chimpanzee I ever knew, and the post mortem, made by Professor Seeley, showed he was loaded with fat, especially about the heart, which failed in consequence. W. J. S.
Gleanings.
"On the Detection of Toxic Matter connected with Typhoid and other Enteric Diseases" is the title of a paper read at a recent meeting of the Microscopical Society by Dr. Bartlett. In the course of it he gave an account of his attempts to trace to its ultimate source the cause of a recent outbreak of typhoid fever, and showed that whilst chemical analysis had failed to discover any impurity either in the water or milk, he had bean able, by means of microscopical examination, to detect in the water certain bodies, presumably of a fungoid character, which were identical with those found in the bowels of persons who had succumbed to the disease.