man, by name Walcott, from Barbadoes, lived high up the River Demerara. While I was passing a day or two at his house, the vampires sucked his son, a boy of about ten or eleven years old, some of his fowls, and his jackass. The youth showed me his forehead at daybreak: the wound was still bleeding apace, and I examined it with minute attention. The poor ass was doomed to be a prey to these sanguinary imps of night; he looked like misery steeped in vinegar. I saw, by the numerous sores on his body, and by his apparent debility, that he would soon sink under his afflictions. Mr. Walcott told me that it was with the greatest difficulty he could keep a few fowls, on account of the smaller vampire; and that the larger kind were killing his poor ass by inches. It was the only quadruped he had brought up with him into the forest.

Although I was so long in Dutch Guiana, and visited the Orinoco and Cayenne, and ranged through part of the interior of Portuguese Guiana, still I could never find out how the vampires actually draw the blood; and, at this day, I am as ignorant of the real process as though I had never been in the vampire's country. I should not feel so mortified at my total failure in attempting the discovery, had I not made such diligent search after the vampire, and examined its haunts. Europeans may consider as fabulous the stories related of the vampire; but, for my own part, I must believe in its powers of sucking blood from living animals, as I have repeatedly seen both men and beasts which had been sucked, and, moreover, I have examined very minutely their bleeding wounds.

Wishful of having it in my power to say that I had been sucked by the vampire, and not caring for the loss of ten or twelve ounces of blood, I frequently and designedly put myself in the way of trial. But the vampire seemed to take a personal dislike to me; and the provoking brute would refuse to give my claret one solitary trial, though he would tap the more favoured Indian's toe, in a hammock within a few yards of mine. For the space of eleven months, I slept alone in the loft of a woodcutter's abandoned house in the forest; and though the vampire came in and out every night, and I had the finest opportunity of seeing him, as the moon shone through apertures where windows had once been, I never could be certain that I saw him make a positive attempt to quench his thirst from my veins, though he often hovered over the hammock.—Charles Waterton. Walton Hall, June 11. 1832.

The Wigeon's Nest and Eggs found by J. C. (p. 384.) — In addition to the query by Mr. Waterton, p. 590., on this subject, I am desirous to learn if J. C. recollects the colour and size of the eggs he found, and what their size and colour were. - J. D. Salmon. Bourne, Lincolnshire, July 9. 1832. Lampreys, their Sex, Mode of Spawning, &c. (Vol. III. p. 478., Vol. V. 23. 290.)-Sir, When I had the pleasure of writing to you before (Vol. V. p. 290.), I had either overlooked or forgotten the queries of " An Old Angler," respecting the lamprey (Vol. III. p. 478.), or I should have replied to them at that time. However, your remarks in the April Number (p. 290.) have induced me to pay a little more attention to the subject. I can now confirm, in the strongest and most satisfactory manner, the sup. position of An Old Angler, that the sexes are as distinct in the lamprey as they are in the cod or the herring. How so distinguished an anatomist as Sir E. Home fell into such a mistake it is not for me to say: but I am as certain that the sexes are distinct in the lamprey, as that they are so in any other animal; and I will now give my reason for making this positive assertion. On the 8th of May, happening to cross a small stream, I saw a number of lampreys in the act of spawning; and, remembering the queries of your correspondent, I stood to watch their motions. After observing them for some time, I observed one twist its tail round another in such a manner, and they both stirred up the sand and small gravel from the bot

tom in such a way, as convinced me it was a conjunction of the sexes. However, there were so many of them together, and they kept so continually moving about, that I could not single out the two individuals, and thus ascertain whether they were male and female: but I felt so desirous of being able to set this question at rest, that I went again next morning, and was fortunate enough to find only two, a male and a female. I then witnessed several sexual conjunctions, during which the sand and small gravel was stirred up with them, and each of which was followed by the ejection of a jet of eggs from the female. I then caught them both, and dissected them: the sexual organ in the male was projected above a quarter of an inch, and the body filled with milt; the female, although she seemed to have already shed a considerable quantity of her spawn, had still a tolerable stock remaining. I frequently afterwards witnessed the same thing, and always found the same difference of sexes; in fact, there was generally no difficulty in distinguishing this difference: without taking them out of the water, the female might readily be known by the enlargement of her body, and the male by still more incontestable tokens.

I have been induced to describe this more minutely than I otherwise should have done, in consequence of the mystery in which the propagation of fish has been hitherto wrapped; and I am not aware that what I have here described has been witnessed by any one before; at least, I do not know that it has been recorded.

I caught half a dozen lampreys, four males and two females, and preserved them in spirits; and these I now forward to you.

Concerning the large lamprey, I am unable to give the same information, having never seen it in the act of spawning; but I have repeatedly caught both milters and spawners of this species, with the milt and roe as distinctly visible in them as it is in the salmon or any other fish.

I am of opinion that the P. fluviatilis and the P. marinus are distinct species, for the following reasons:- - 1st, Because the former stays with us the whole year, whilst the latter only ascends the rivers to spawn, and then immediately returns to the sea; 2d, Because fish which are in the habit of descending to the sea never (unless the small lamprey be an exception to the general rule) arrive at maturity until they have visited it; and, 3dly, Because there are no intermediate sizes (at least in the Ribble) between the one which, although only 6 in. or 7 in. long, and half an ounce in weight, is yet capable of propagation, and the one of a pound weight. Not having one of the larger kind to refer to, I am unable to point out any specific difference of form.-T. G. Clitheroe, Lancashire, May 2.

1832.

The specimens sent are, as described, four males and two females, of the Petromyzon fluviatilis of Linnæus, called by the Thames fishermen the lampern, to distinguish it from the P. marinus Lin., which they call the lamprey. It seems desirable here, to add what has been recorded else where, by late observers, on the subject of the distinction of the sexes in the lamprey and lampern; since Baron Cuvier, in the first volume of the Histoire Naturelle des Poissons, 1828, p. 534., depending on the observations of others, repeats the statement of the hermaphroditism of the eel and the lamprey, and appears to consider the occurrence of a single male lamprey, noticed by MM. Magendie and Desmoulins, as accidental.

In the 45th volume of Constable's Miscellany, devoted to a reprint of White's History of Selborne, Sir Wm. Jardine, the editor, among other valuable additions appended as notes, has the following, at the foot of p. 66. :—

"The manner in which the common lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), and the lesser species commonly known as lamperns, form their spawning beds, is curious. They ascend our rivers to breed about the end of June, and remain until the beginning of August. They are not furnished with any

elongation of jaw, afforded to most of our freshwater fish, to form the receiving furrows in this important season; but the want is supplied by their sucker-like mouth, by which they individually remove each stone. Their power is immense. Stones of a very large size are transported, and a large furrow is soon formed. The P. marìnus remain in pairs, two on each spawning place; and, while there employed, retain themselves affixed by the mouths to a large stone. The P. fluviátilis, and another small species which I have not determined, are gregarious, acting in concert, and forming, in the same manner, a general spawning bed." — W. J.

Additional evidence on the same subject, and referring to both species, occurs at p. 133. of the Reports of Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London, Part I., 1830-1831. Evening Meeting, Sept. 27. 1831. "Mr. Yarrell exhibited preparations of the two sexes distinct both in the lamprey and lampern, at the time they were about to deposit their ova and milt; and gave the following account of his investigation of this subject:

"The common river lampern (Petromyzon fluviatilis L.) was obtained and examined every week from March to the middle of May. Up to the 19th of April, more females than males were taken; but after this period, the females being nearly ready to deposit their roe, the males were most numerous, in the proportion of two to one. All the females taken about the 26th of April were in a state to deposit their roe; and the milt of the males, now become fluid, passed in a stream from the sheath behind the anal aperture, on making slight pressure upon the abdomen. By the 10th of May nearly the whole of those examined had deposited their spawn. The males were entirely void of any appearance of milt, and the females at this time might be mistaken for males that had not spawned. The gelatinous matrix of the ova appeared swollen, and of large size; and close examination showed the ruptured membrane and extravasated blood produced by the separation of the ova, with here and there an occasional ovum still adhering. The kidneys (which have been mistaken for the male sexual organs) were not observed to undergo any alteration, either in size or appearance, during a long series of examinations. The males could be distinguished from the females, externally, by their larger respiratory apparatus and lips.

"Seven examples of the lamprey (P. marìnus L.) were received on the 3d of May from the Severn, about which time they ascend that river for the purpose of spawning. Of these seven, four were males and three females: the appearance of milt and ova being most distinct. The kidneys, lying in the cavity of the abdomen, were of equal size in both sexes, elongated and narrow in form, with the ureter running the whole length of the outer edge. The anal opening is situated anterior to a small sheath, which, when slit up, exposes four apertures, the two innermost of which lead to the ureters; the outer two open into the abdominal cavity." -S. T. P. July 9. 1832.

Notes on the Spawning of the Minnow (Cyprinus Phoxinus L.). - As I have been so successful in my observations of the lamprey, I felt desirous of ascertaining whether the same thing could be seen in other fish (as, in natural history, it is by no means safe to reason from analogy); and as there was a large shoal of minnows spawning near the place where I had seen the lampreys, I determined to watch their motions. They happened to have chosen a very convenient situation for being observed, being between two large stones in the river, which lay about 3 ft. from each other; so that, by cautiously approaching them from behind one of the stones, I got close to them without disturbing them. But after watching them carefully and repeatedly within the distance of 2 ft., I can only speak doubtfully of their operations; for they were so numerous, and incessant

in their motions, and, when a female was about to shed her spawn, the males (which were ten times as numerous as the females) crowded round her in such a manner as to render it very difficult, if not impossible, to speak with certainty on the subject. I will state what steps I took to satisfy myself; and, perhaps, the history of my failure may be of use to future observers.

It occurred to me, from what I observed, that it was probable the males had the power of absorbing the eggs after exclusion, and impregnating them within their own bodies: and I caught a dozen males at different times when they were attending on the female, and opened them, but I could discover nothing like an egg. I then caught a female, and scattered the spawn (which was expelled by the slightest pressure) in a place frequented by a number of males, but they took no notice of it whatever. I after this caught a female when she was surrounded by a number of males, and apparently in the act of shedding her spawn, and examined whether the spawn which I pressed from her body was impregnated; but it appeared perfectly homogeneous, and so delicate in its texture, that it burst with the slightest touch; whilst in that which I picked up from among the gravel, where it was scattered abundantly, the impregnation was visible with the assistance of the microscope; and it was so much tougher in its covering, as to bear rolling about in my hand without injury.

I then tried to impregnate the eggs mechanically, and applied a drop of the spermatic fluid to the egg at the moment of exclusion; and it certainly appeared to me, in one instance, both to increase the size, and alter the colour, of the eggs it was applied to: but I was not able to produce the same effect so decidedly in any of my subsequent attempts to do so.

My observations, which were often repeated, induce me to believe that the egg is impregnated at the moment of exclusion; and that two males have (almost invariably) access to the female at the same time; for I frequently remarked, that, when a female came among a number of males, they immediately pursued her if she was not ready for shedding her spawn, she made a very precipitate retreat; but, if she was, she came boldly in among them, and was immediately pressed closely by a male on each side; and, when they had been in that situation a short time, were superseded by other two, who wedged themselves in between them and the female, who appeared to treat all her lovers with the same kindness.

One difficulty is, that the spermatic fluid mixes very readily with water; and I cannot imagine how its virtue is preserved, if (as I suppose may be the case) the egg is impregnated after exclusion: but I also think it probable that the ventral fins of the female serve to conduct this fluid to the place where it is needed; and the chemical affinity between it and the egg may be sufficient to account for the impregnation.

(P.S. July 27th. I tried to hatch some of the eggs which I had endeavoured to fecundate. The attempt was unsuccessful. I placed the eggs (which I had put into some clean washed gravel in a shallow vessel, open at the top, and with holes drilled through the sides) in a small stream of water; but I found, to my great mortification, on looking for them a day or two after, that there was not one left, but that in their stead were many aquatic insects, which had, no doubt, feasted on them as long as they

It appears to be a beautiful provision of nature that mixture with water should increase the sphere of its action. Spallanzani found by actual experiment that three grains of the seed of a male frog might be diluted with a pint of water, without destroying its stimulating power.

For an interesting series of experiments on this subject, see his Dissertations, vol. ii. p. 142. chap. 3.-S. T. P. July 9. 1832.

lasted; and after this I was not able to meet with another shoal of minnows in the act of spawning.-T. G.)

The head of the minnow, in the spawning season, is spotted over with small white knobs, apparently osseous in their structure, which make their appearance immediately before they begin to spawn, and which disappear again as shortly after; and I think they are intended as a protection to the head of the fish during the spawning, as I remarked that they generally thrust their heads in between two pebbles, and had their tails sticking up almost perpendicularly. Yet this was not always the case, as they sometimes ran nearly out of the water; and it was in this situation that I observed what I have before mentioned, as I found it impossible to discover any thing that was done by those in deeper water; for, when a female went into such a situation, there was such a crowd of males rushed to the place, that I lost sight of her in a moment.

I was astonished to find how quickly the eggs were hatched. I dis covered a large shoal spawning on the 11th of May; on the 12th, they were diminished to one tenth of the number; and on the 14th (the 13th was Sunday), there was not one left. As I had by no means satisfied myself on the subject, I felt disappointed that they had so soon finished their operations; and I took up a handful of the gravel where they had been spawning, and examined it with the microscope, to see whether I could discover any eggs, and how they were going on; when, to my great surprise, I found them hatching, and some of them already excluded from the egg. One of them, which I took on the point of a knife, swam briskly away; and another was the means of pointing out an enemy to me that I had never before suspected, and that I had always believed to be the prey and not the devourer of fish. The poor minnow had somehow got fast to the point of the knife; and, in its struggles to free itself, it attracted the attention of a creeper (the larva, I believe, of the fly called the green drake by anglers), which pounced upon it as fiercely as the water staphylinus does upon the luckless tadpole : but, fortunately for the minnow, either the glittering of the knife-blade, or the motion of my hand, scared it away again without its prey.

The young minnows in this state were quite transparent, except the eyes, which appeared disproportionately large; and they seemed to be perfectly aware that they owed their safety to concealment, as those that I saw immediately buried themselves in the gravel when they were set at liberty. -T. G. Clitheroe, Lancashire, May 2. 1832.

On preserving Insects selected for Cabinets. (p. 495.)—I only know of two methods to guard prepared insects from the depredations of living ones. The first is, by poisoning the atmosphere; the second is, by poisoning the preserved specimens themselves, so effectually, that they are no longer food for the depredator. But there are some objections to both these modes. A poisoned atmosphere will evaporate in time, if not attended to, or if neglected to be renewed; and there is great difficulty in poisoning some specimens, on account of their delicacy and minuteness. If you keep spirits of turpentine in the boxes which contain your preserved specimens, I am of opinion that those specimens will be safe as long as the odour of turpentine remains in the box; for it is said to be the most pernicious of all scents to insects. But it requires attention to keep up an atmosphere of spirit of turpentine. If it be allowed to evaporate entirely, then there is a clear and undisputed path open to the inroads of the enemy: he will take advantage of your absence or neglect; and, when you return to view your treasure you will find it in ruins. Spirits of turpentine, poured into a common glass inkstand in which there is a piece of sponge, and placed in a corner of your box, will create a poisoned atmosphere, and kill every insect there. The poisoning of your specimens by means of corrosive sublimate in alco