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Journal of the Bombay Natural
History Society
Bombay Natural History Society
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THE
JOU RNAL
OF THB
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY,
EDITED BY
R. A. STBRNDALB
and
B. H. AITKBN.
Volume IL
xa87.
Consisting of Four JV umbers and containing
Eleven Illustrations.
PRINTED AT THE
^CAXTON STEAM PRINTING WORKSV^ BOMBAY
1687.
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CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Introduction 1 to 3
List of Members 3 to 8
Catalogue of the Mammalia in the Collection of the Bombay
Natural History Society 8 to 14
Catalogue of Birds as yet in the Collection of the Bombay
Natural History Society 14 to 21
Eggs received chiefly from Mr. Davidson 21 to 22
The Society's LiBRABY ... 22 to 23
Note on an Undescribed Hamalopsida, by the Rev. F. Dreckmann,
S.J 24
Note on a Probable New Species of Ibex, by R. A. Sterndale, f.z.s. 24 to 26
Note on Mygale Fasciata, by Captain T. R. M. Macpherson ... 26 to 28
On the Mimicry shown by Phyllornis Jerdoni, by Mr. E. H. Aitken. 28
Notes on "The Birds of Bombay," by H. Littledale 29 to 35
On a Hybrid, Ovis Hodffsoni, cum vignei, discovered and shot by
Mons. H. Dauvergne, by R. A. Sterndale, f.z.s., &c. ... 36 to 37
Birds' Nesting in Rajpulana, by Lieut. H. E. Barnes, D. A.C. ... 38 to 62
On the uses of Pandanus or Screw Palm, taken from the Journals
of the late Handley Sterndale, with Prefatory Remarks, by
his Brother R. A. Sterndale, f.r.g.s., f.z.s. 62 to 68
A Note on Pandanus Odoratissimus or Screw Palm, by Dr.
Kirtikar, I.M.D 68
Zoological Notes —
On Variation in Colour in Ursus Labiatus, the Sloth Bear,
&c., by R. A. Sterndale 69
On the Flying Squirrel of Western India 70
On a Species of Pigmy Shrew ... ... 70
On the frequency of Albinoism in Cutch, by Mr. A. T. H.
Newnham, S. C, 10th N. I., with Notes by Mr. E. H.
Aitken 71
Botanical Notes —
On an instance of fructification in a Staminiferous Plant,
Carica Papaya, by Surgeon-Major G. Bainbridge, I.M.D.... 72
On Abnormal Development in Musa Sapientum, by Surgeon
K. R. Kirtikar, I.M.D 73
Note on Agaricus Ostreatus ... ... ... 73
On the Fruit of Trapa Bispinosa ... ... 74
Note on Kasra or Scirpus Kysoor ... ... 74
Note on a supposed Root-Parasite found at Mahableshwar in
October, 1885, by Mrs. W. E. Hart 75 to 77
Memorandum, by Dr. D. Macdonald, M.D., Vice-President of
the Society, on the Species of Balanophora, found and de-
scribed by Mrs. W. E. Hart 78, 79
List of Bird Skins from the South Konkan ... ... ... 80 to 83
„ „ from Burmah and other parts of India ... 83
Catalogue of Snakes in the Society's Collection .... 84 to 86
Proceedings of the Society during the Quarter ... ... ... 86 to 90
A Sind Lake, by Capt. E. F. Becher, R. A., f.z.s 91 to 96
Notes on the Waters of Western India, by a Member of the Society. 97 to 123
On Abnormalities in the Horns of Ruminants, by R.A . Sterndale,
F. z. 8, &c 123 to 126
A List of the Bombay Butterflies in the Society's Collection, with
Notes by Mr. E. H. Aitken 126 to 135
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ii CONTENTS.
PAG£.
A new species of Alga, Conferva Thermalis Birdwoodii (with
Illustration) discovered among the Hot-water Alg88 from
Vajrabai, exhibited before the Botanical Section on 15 th
March 1886, by Surgeon K. R. Kirtikar, I.M.D 135 to 138
Note on frequency of Parasites in Indian Army Horses, by V. S.
J. H. Steel,A.V.D 138 to 142
List of Birds collected and presented to the Society, by Mr* A. H.
Newnham, S. C, 10th N. 1 142, 143
Zoological Notes —
On an Oligodon (Subpunctatus T) found at Dahanu, North
Konkan, xMarch, 1886, by Mr. G. Vidal, C. S 144
Pteropus Edwardsii, by Mr. E. H. Aitken 144
White-ants, by Mr. E. H. Aitken 144
Poisonous Lizards, the Bis-cobra, by the Editor 145
On Conjugal Infidelity among Birds, by Mr. W. E. Hart ... 145
Botanical Notes —
Note on the Feronia Elephantum (Elephant or Wood Apple)
as a timber tree, by Mr. Frank Rose ... ...146, 147
Proceedings of the Society during the Quarter ... 147 to 151
Waters of Western India— Part II„ Konkan and Coast — by a
Meniber of the Society . 153 to 175
Bird-nesting on the Gh&ts, by Mr. J. Davidson, C.S .175 to 183
Note on some Post-pliocene Molluscs from the BycuUa Flats, by
Mrs. W. E. Hart 183 to 194
The Birds of South Gujerat, by Mr. H. Littledale, Baroda ...194 to 200
Note on a Recent Paper, by Dr. Bonavia on the Mango, by
Surejeon K. R. Kirtikar, I.M.D., Acting Professor of Anatomv,
Grant Medical College, Bombay .'..200 to 203
A Catalogue of the Flora of Matheran, by the Hon. H. M. Bird-
wood, Vice-President 203to214
A List of the Butterflies of the Bombay Presidency in the Society's
Collection, with Notes, by E. H. Aitken 215 to 218
Zoological Notes —
Note on the Homalopsidce in the Society's Collection, by Mr.
James A. Murray, Curator, Karachi Museum ... .. 219
Note on the conduct of a Tame Pigeon, by E. H. Aitken ... 220
Note on Danais dorippus, by Mr. A. T. H. Newnham, S. C.
10th N.I ib.
Note on Locality, by Mr. A. T. H. Newnham, S. C, lOth
N.L .; 221
Note on the Breeding of Parra indica, by Lieutenant H.
Edwin Barnes 221 to 222
Note on Reversion to Primitive Types, by R. A. Sterndale ...222 to 223
Some Notes on Abnormalities in the Horns of Ruminants, by
Mr. J. D. Inverarity ... 223 to 224
Botanical Notes —
Note on the Oloriosa superba (N. O. Liliacea), ** Superb
Lily,'* by Mr. Frank Rose, P. W. D 226
Note on the Oloriosa auperbm, by Surgeon K. R. Kirtikar ...226 to 227
Uses of the Flower of Pandanus odorattssimus, by Mr. Prank
Rose, P. W. D 227 to 228
Freak in a Zinnia paucijlora observed and exhibited by -Mr.
Frank Rose, P. W.D 228 to 229
Note on the above, by Surgeon K. R. Kirtikar 229 to 230
Proceedings of the Society during the Quarter ... ...230 to 243
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JOURNAL
OP THE
^atopl Slstoifg
No. XJ BOMBAY, JANUARY 1887. [Vol. IL
WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA.
Paet III. — The Konkan and Coast.
{By a Member of the Society,)
The remaining Reptiles of the Region are all Batrachians. The
Frogs are much the same as in the few damp parts of the Deccan,
but more numerous. The Coecilians, or blind-worms^ are rather rare;
and I do not think that there are any newts. Singularly enough,
the name " niwta^' is applied to certain leaping-fishes^ which will
be dealt with in their own place; and which, seen at a little distance
in their native mud, have very much the appearance and action of
reptiles.
The fishes, naturally, are numerous and important, and I shall
take them in order -, following usually the classification of Dr. Day,
unquestionably the standard authority on Indian fishes.
The family of Perches is only represented in the fresh waters by
few and small (though often prettily marked) species, chiefly of
Amhassis. The so-called climbing Perch {Anahas scandens,)
belongs to another family, although decidedly perch-like in ap-
pearance ; I have not procured it in the Konkan myself.
The marine Perches, however, are very numerous and important
here, as throughout the tropical and sub- tropical seas, in which,
1
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NATURAL HISTORY.
to a great extent, they assume the place (and very often the name)
of the northern Cod family, here represented only by a few small
species. Where you find ^'rock-cod,'' '^cod-sounds,'' or "cod-
roes" in tropical trade, the term generally refers to one of these
perches, or to some related spiny -finned fish.
They do not seem to afiect the depths of the ocean, but haunt
banks or reefs, from the shore to about 200 fathoms, feeding, as
a rule, not very far from the bottom.
The commonest here are small rock -perches, called on Bombay
tables '' stone-fish," of which the best, perhaps, is the " Cock-up fish,"
Lates calcarifer. This is a fish chiefly of the estuaries, and, where
permitted, it comes some way above highwater mark, and lives for
Bome time in fresh water. An allied species, the '* Kargota, " or
" belt-fish" {TheraponJarbua), is often kept in wells by the natives,
and seems to thrive there as well as in the sea. It is a handsome
little fish, with deep brown bands on a whitish ground, which in
sunlit water look black and gold.
The natives call most of these rock-perches '* Gobra," or " Gobri,"
from the dull olive colours of one or two taken by them as types
which they compare tathe colour of cowdung (gobar or govar).
Most of the commonest belong to the genera Serranus and
LutianuSj and a few, such as Serrarius MalaharicuSy attain a Yery
large size; but these are not often seen on European tables.
Serranus Bcenach (" Bhui-nak" == *' chief -fisherman,") is -prettily
marked with sky blue, and some others have brilliant colours, but
these are not very common in the waters of the coast, usually more
or less dull with mud.* The Lutiani are more commonly bright
coloured than the Serrani; and, in my experience, keep further off
shore. One of them {Lutianus Argent imaculattcs, I think,) is
mentioned and figured by Mr. Thomas as a fish giving sport with
the rod in his region. It is a very fine fish, of a deep cherry colour
when mature, and grows to at least 15 lbs. weight. A very closely
allied species, L. roseus, is the "red rock-cod," of the Straits Settle-
ment. All these perches are very fair eating when fresh. I .shall
take here, somewhat out of turn, the Scioenas^ called by the natives
'*6ul" or "rose" fish, I suppose from a faint pink blush which
they have on death. Some Europeans in Bombay call them *' buffalo-
fish," which I have noted above as a Deccan name for the Mahseer.
* Some Serrani are said to present the ourioas phenomena of perfect milt and
roe normally developed in the same fish.
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WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA.
Similarly the red sea perches are called on the coast " Tambe, *' or
*' copper fish, *' which above ghat is the name of the Roho.
The " Red Sea Salmon " of steamer^s cooks is a Scioena, and so is
the '^ Canal Mullet, " sometimes caught when ships pass a night
in the Suez Canal. The Scioenas generally are but coarse fish,
compared to those mentioned above ; but they grow to 5 and 6 feet
long. They, and many of the larger sea perches, yield isinglass,
which goes abroad under the name of ^' cod-sounds."
The next family, the iSquamipinnes, is much less important in
number and size, either of species or individuals. Several of its
members, however, are remarkable for their strange forms, bright
colours, or handsome markings, as the long-snouted Ghoetodons,
and the '^Warra" {Scatophagus Argus) ^^ spotted like the pard.'*
Most of these fishes have somewhat the shape of a pomflet, that is,
they are ^' flat-fish " on a dish ; but deep fish in the water. They
are, however, squarer about the shoulder, breast, and flanks them,
the pomflets, and much inferior in size and in flavour.
The next family is tbat of the Mullidoe ; or Red Mullets, which
should be distinguished from the grey mullets. There are no true
red mullets, I am sorry to say, on our coast ; so my chapter on
them is like that on snakes in Iceland.
Th^y are represented here by some poor relations of the genera
Mulloides and Upeneus, small and scarce, but brightly coloured.
I have not myself obtained any specimens. The next two families
have few important genera except Chrysophrys, of which one species,
0. berda, a fine perch-like fish, is the '^ black rock-cod '' of the
Madras side ; and passing over a lot of fishes of ^^ merely acade-
mical interest," the next family worth notice is that of the Scorpos"
nidce, which are about as eccentric in shape and colour as any-
thing in the sea. Their chief representative here is the '^ Kombada,"
or ^' cock-fish" {Pterois Russellii), a handsome fish, banded scarlet,
and black, and provided with huge fins that look as if they had been
''torn in a scuffle." We have specimens in our Museum; unluckily
the colours are not permanent in spirits. The '' Kombada " some*
times reaches 15 inches long, and is certainly the showiest fish of
our coast.
The Mango-fishes (Polynemidce) ^ famous on the Bengal side of the
punkah, have little reputation here. The reason is, probably, that
the pick of the basket, Polynemus paradiseus, is '' anadromous," i.e.,
it runs up rivers to spawn ; and there are in the Konkan no rivers
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4 NATURAL HISTORY.
suitable for that purpose. If the matter were taken up at the mouth
of the Tapti or Nerbudda, very likely the fish might be got in good
season there. The Maratha name is " Chela'' (=** disciple")
which corresponds to the Bengal " Tapasi/' said to mean a hermit
or penitent. The large Polynemi are here called "Rawas/* and
are very fair eating, though not in the first class.
The next is a remarkable family, the Sword-fishes, represented here
by at least one species, Histiophorus brevirostris, called in Maratha
*^ Tar-mfea," or " Wire-fish/' probably from the filiform ventral
appendages; and also (according to an unsigned MS. note in my
office copy of Day) "Mdr-masa, '' or " the striker/' which seems
more appropriate. In this fish the upper jaw, or snout, is not so
long as in the Atlantic Xiphias, or even in some of its own con-
geners ; but there is quite enough of it to make a very formidable
weapon, as its length from the gape appears to be about | of the
total length of the fish, which sometimes exceeds 10 feet. That it
is used as a weapon is proved by many instances ; but in particular
there is in our Museum a " sword " of this species which I myself
found sticking in the left hind-leg-socket of a turtle (Cawana
olivacea), brought to me alive. Not only malice prepense, but
considerable cunning of fence, were required to inflict this wound.
Judging by proportions, the sword-fish must have been lighter
than the turtle (not a large specimen), and it is not easy to see
what he could expect to dp with the latter when dead.
After the Sword-fishes, quaintly enough, come Scabbard -fishes
(Trichiurida), long thin creatures like silver streamers, fancifully
supposed to resemble a steel regulation scabbard. They are very
good eating when fresh, but are chiefly used here for drying
without salt in the sun, for which their shape fits them well.
They live on the top of the water, sometimes in great numbers,
and are much preyed up by sea-fowl. Sometimes they will jump
into a boat, like the Garfishes.
The next family, Oarangidce^ contains one very notable little fish,
the "pilot-fish/^ who is supposed to take charge of sharks, ships,
or any other large things that he considers unable to take care of
themselves. I have not got any specimens here. One species
of Oaranxy very common, pretends to be a mackerel, and two or
three to be pomflets, but the resemblance is external only. They
are branded by the natives with the titles of " Chor-wagada" and
" Chor (thief) Sarga/^ Accordingly the true pomflets (Stromatevs)
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WATERS OP WESTERN INDIA.
come immediately after them, and require little description in
Bombay. The native name for the white pomflet is ^' Sarga/' and
for the black '' Halwa/^ The Portuguese name is " Pumpano/' and
a fish of this name is a delicacy in the American " Gulf States ^' and
is brought in ice to New York, where it looks and tastes very
much as a pomflet does in Poena. Whether it is a true Stromateus
or not I cannot say. The " Pumpano '^ was mentioned as a good
fish of this coast by Van Linschoten in the sixteenth century. It may
be worth while to remark that it is not a flat-fish in the same
sense as turbots and soles are, but swims upright on edge like a
John Dorey, which, indeed, is also more like a pomflet in flavour
than any other fish of Northern Seas.
The monsoon fishery for both pomflets, but especially the black,
is conducted on the Bombay coast at considerable risk ; large open
"machwas" (fishing smacks) remaining out of sight of land often
for two or three days. Great care is shown in fitting out these boats,
and they carry double or treble crews, but their return is always
awaited with anxiety, and the fish are as much "lives o' men^'
as any herring in the North Sea, (Query, " pomfret " or " pomflet ^^?)
Pretty close to the pomflets, though more nearly allied to the next
family, are the so-called '^ Dolphins, " of modern sea-folk, famous
for changing colour in dying. They are oceanic fish, and not
common here. I have no specimens from this coast, nor any
vernacular name for them. I need hardly say that the classic
Dolphin was a porpoise. .
I have dined in Bombay, off and on, for eighteen years without
ever seeing a mackerel on table there, and a great many people who
find " cod^^ all over the world would tell you that there are no mac-
kerel here. The fact is, however, that a mackerel closely resembling
the British species is common near Bombay in the cold weather, and
has very much the habits of its northern relative, especially that
of playing in schools on the surface. Only, it will not here
take any sort of a trailing bait or fly ; nor have I ever been able to
catch any sea fish near Bombay by that most sporting method. It
is said to answer well enough down the coast. The Indian mackerel
(Scomber microlepidotus) is smaller than the British fish, seldom
reaching one foot long ; when fresh it is a very 'good fish indeed,
but keeps badly.
It is taken in seines all along the coast, on the flat strands,
and must, I should think, often be so taken in Back Bay ; and
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NATURAL HISTORY.
there I should advise any one who wants a Bombay mackerel to
look out for it. The Maratha name is *' W%ada.'^
. The large mackerels, or tunnies, Thynnm, Pelamya, and
Cybium, mostly keep to deep water, and come to us under the
general name of " Sur-mahi, " (Persian = ^' Red-fish,^') which we
render " Seer-fish, '^ as a very tolerable substitute for salt cod and
salmon. One species, Cyhium guttatum is said to reach 6 feet long,
and they are all reported to take a trailed bait or fly well in the oflSng,
so that they will afford sport to the generation of yachtsmen who shall
learn to sail outside the harbour. The last genus of the mackerels is
Echeneisj containing the curious sucking-fish, called on this coast
" Sakala ^' (E. Neucrates), and " Luchung, '^ {E, albescens) . Of these,
under the name of ^' Chazo, '^ it has lately been written that the
Zanzibar fishermen put a ring on their tail with a line in it and
send them forth to attach themselves to big fish by the curious
sucker on the top of the head. No one here utilizes them in this
remarkable manner, though their habit of " getting a lift '^ from
other fishes is well known. The yarn had been spun before about
some South American fishermen, but with less detail and authority,
and it was not then very generally believed. At present, though
no European has actually seen this fishery, the evidence is good
enough for a strong probability, and there is some of a similar
practice in Madagascar with a fish, probably allied, called
'^Tarudu.'^ The Albacores, Bonitos, and '^ Spanish ^^ Mackerel of
the Atlantic are all Scombridce (Mackerels),
The next family, Uranoscopidoey are about as unlike the graceful
and beautifully coloured mackerels as anything can be. They
are represented here by the ^^ Yekru " (Ichthyscopus inermis),
a deformed and blotchy creature, best described in Dr. Day's
words, " It made a curious noise, half snapping and half croak-
ing,"
But the TrachinidcBy which follow, have a fine slender form, a
good flavour, and a pretty name ; for two or three of their genus
Sillago are known in India as *Mady fishes.^^ I am not sure whether
the name is a compliment to the shape of the fish, or to its nutritive
qualities, which recommend it in native medicine, to ladies in (or
just out of) ^^ an interesting condition.^' It is quite as good for the
most uninteresting of their worser halves ; it tastes like an English
smelt, and therefore, I suppose, some people call it a " whiting. ^'
The Maratha name is *'Murdi'' The Sillagos are fish of the
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WATERS OP WESTERN INDIA.
sand, and of shallow waters, where they are usually taken with the
seine, or with small nets.
Passing over a small and uninteresting family [Pseudochromides)
we come to the Batrachidce, or toad-fishes. Ours are only remarkable
for ugliness and size (reaching 3 feet loqg), but an American Pacific
species {Thalassojphryne reticulatus) is probably alone among fishes
in possessing a blood-poisoning apparatus inferior in degree only to
that of a venomous snake. The operculum or gill cover has a long
tubular spine with a poison-sac at its base, containing a venom
supposed to be secreted in the muciferous channels, and capable
of causing fever, though apparently no more.
The attention devoted to this remarkable fish may help us
hereafter with other " sting-fishes. ^' Most practical fishermen
believe in a specific poison in the wounds inflicted by various species,
especially the northern ** Piky Dog-fish" (Spinax), and some
tropical Siluroids. The efiects are far too severe to be due to the
mere laceration of the most serrated spine, and it is probable that
the mucus is more or less poisonous.
In a similar way the secretions of the skin of some otherwise
harmless reptiles (especially, according to Mr. Murray, the Sind
^^biscobra," Euhlepharis Hardwickii) are certainly capable of
causing irritation to the epidermis, a fortiori more if inoculated.
An European member of one of the following families, Coitus
Scorpio of the Cottidoe, is much dreaded at home on this very score ;
inflicting injuries altogether out of proportion to the size of its little
prickles. Passing over these and one or two others, we come to the
Gobies, very numerous and interesting to people who know more
about them already than I can write here, or perhaps anywhere.
They are small, often brightly coloured, or at least well marked, and
" too numerous to mention." There are however, two goggle-eyed
genera, which are really among the wonders of the coast.
Periopthalmua and Boleopthalmus, the leaping fishes or «^mud
fish" of the tidal waters. The Marathas call those which frequent
muddy creeks "Niwte" and those of rocky shores "Kharba." The
former may be seen, whenever the tide is out, crawling in myriads
over the mud, getting in and" out of each other^s way in the most
ludicrous fashion, and all disappearing in the mud as by magic,
when alarmed. B. Boddaerti is our commonest here. It has bright
blue spots. Those of the rocks, which are mostly Periopthalmi^ are
very provoking to any one hunting the tidal pools for specimens.
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8 NATURAL HISTORY.
Just as the prey seems to be penned up in a corner behind the
hand-net, hop-skip-and-a-jump, he is in another puddle five or sir
yards away, and he always does jump for that next puddle, and
never out on dry rock.
The way to fix him. is to have two hand-nets and lay one of
them over puddle No. 2 before beating up his quarters in No. 1.
I have seen one of these little fishes deliberately follow a bait,
which I slowly withdrew from him, about 2 feet up a rock. Some
kept in an aquarium preferred^ apparently, to be out of water, or
at least half -out, and would remain so for hours without moving.
They are very tolerable eating, when well washed inside and out
or after keeping for a few hours in clean sea- water.
For the next family, the Blennies, I can do no better than borrow
Major Beavan^s statement that they ^* are a most ferocious lot of
little fishes, they reside mostly on or near the bottom ; some of the
species are remarkable for producing their young alive.*^ Ours
vary very much in form ; some (Eleotris) are eel-like, of a dirty pink
colour, and very ugly ; others are smart lit tie fishes, well-finned.
After them come the " Spiny Eels, '' well known on all Mofussil
breakfast tables as " Bhkm Machi, " and generally called in English
"Eels,^^ though they are not really eels at all, in nature or flavour.
For the benefit of readers who may have seen them only on the dish,
I may remark that they have a queer proboscis like that of a tapir,
many prickles on the back, and few on the belly. They are ex-
clusivly fresh water fish, and can be taken with a worm, a bit of
raw meat or almost any other animal bait.
Several Atherines, or sand-smelts, are recorded ; but I have got
none of them here, which is probably my own fault — and misfortune,
as the whole family are good to eat.
The Grey Mullets, to be carefully distinguished from the Red Mul-
lets, abound in the creeks along the shore, and when fresh and in
good condition, are as good for the table as any fish we have. They
are generally known as " Bhui Masa " or " Fisherman fish ^' and a very
good and handsome striped species {Mugil ceur) as ^*Thoda."
This last reaches a yard in length. I have never found a bait for
them, though I have read of many.
The next two families are small and uninteresting here, except
that one fish, Fistularia Serrata, happens to have a long central
tail ray, which, being transferred to the tail of another fish by
accident or design (in a collection) helped to get up a bogus " new
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specieS) ^ and a very pretty quarrel upon the merits. It is not
common.
The ^'Snake-headed^' Murrells are the same here as in the
Deccan. These fish, indeed, vary little throughout India, as
might be expected from their power of passing overland. They
are exclusively freshwater fishes.
The next family, Lahyrinthici, includes the '^ climbing perch,"
which I have not got here, but it may reasonably be looked for.
Dr. Day^s account of the dangers of this fish, and the remedy, is
sufficiently original to be well worth transcribing. " Accidents are
constantly occurring, due to native fishermen killing these fishes
* * by a bite. While the fish is in the fisherman's mouth for this
humane purpose (as it is covered by a slimy, slippery secretion)
it occasionally slips into his throat, then owing to its spiny
character, it cannot be withdrawn without extensive laceration.
***** should the fish be still alive, cut off the projecting or
caudal portion, causing it to die of haemorrhage * * * * the
decay of the animal is most rapid;'' and when it is complete, the
extraction of course is easy ; but on the whole I had rather some one
else bit my perches for me.
The spines of an allied genus ( Poly acanthus) ^^ inflict a most
severe burning pain which lasts for two or three hours" (Jerdon)^
I have not got it here ; but it should be here. Another relative is the
Gourami (Osphromenus olfax)^ which I believe has been put into
Vehar lake. Whether any specimens have been taken out, I have
not heard. It is a Chinese and Malay fish, naturalized in different
places all round the world, and said to be very good eating, which
reputation, and the family character of living with little water, or
little change of the same water, have been the cause and means of
its travels. I think it was Sir William Denison who introduced it
into Madras, where it has since been chiefly looked after by Mr.
Thomas.
Passing over one small family, the next worth noticing are the
LahridcBy or Wrasses, which are represented in British seas. They
are, with few exceptions small fish, haunting weedy rocks or coral
reefs, exclusively marine, and remarkable for their bright colours,
which vary in the individuals of several species, and in some appear
to indicate sex, a very rare case amongst fishes. They could not be
passed over, but I have not found any here that require special
notice. None are of any importance as food, and our dull inshore
2
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10 NATITRAL mSTTOBT.
waters^ and barren basaltic reefs, are ill-suited to the development of
their characteristic coloration.
The next family^ Chromides, seems to be hardly represented
here, if at all. One species, Eutroplus Suratensis, apparently receiv-
ed its specific name by mistake, the type specimen probably
came from Tranquebar (Day). The genias is fcmnd in fresh-waters
and estuaries on the Malabar Coast, and this species is said to take
a bait freely,, and be good eating; ^*bttt is not so easily captured
in a net, as it buries itself in the mud, or dives under the net.^'
It might be worth importing.
We have now diaposed of the Acanthopterygiij or spiny-finned
fishes, of which the Perch i& at the head^ and begin the Anacan"
thiniy or soft-rayed fishes, whose file leader is the cod. The
QadidcBy or Cod family, are very nitmorous m northern seas, in-
cluding such familiar fish as the Haddock and Whiting, the coarser
Hake and Ling, and the sporting' Pollack and Coal-fish, well
known to marine fly-fishers at home. In Day'^s enormous list, how-
ever, there are only two species of this family recorded as Indian
fish. Both are of one genus, Bregmaceros. 1 have myself
obtained on this coast a single specimen of B, Atripinni». Neither
species gets beyond the size of a man^^s finger.
The next family, Ophidiidie, is hardly more important ^ but the
third claims a. good deal of attentionr If is that of Pleuronedidcs'
or flat-fishes proper.
I have already pointed out that the pomflet is not a flat-fish. As,,
he lies, even boiled, on a plate, one can see his blue back, white
belly, and one eye only. Turn him over, and the other side is the
same, from which any fisherman can learn at the hotel or club
where he eats his first breakfast in Bombay, that the pomflet swims
on edge. It is a general rule with marine creatures that the under
colour is the lightest, and this is clearly a protective coloration, for
any diver knows that white objects are easiest seen in the water
below him, and dark things between him and the surface. The
rule is not restricted to the sea, but extends to fresh water, though
it is there open to far more numerous exceptions, and it affects not
only fish, but nearly all sea fowl, many molluscs, aquatic reptiles
(as the crocodiles, turtles, and some sea snakes), and to a very
limited extent, the aquatic mammalia.
Now suppose a sole lying beside the pomflet. He shows only one
dark colour on the whole visible surface, but he shows two eyes*
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^ WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA, 11
Turn him over, tte whole sarfaee now exposed is white, and no
eyes are to be found at all. If he could speak, like the fish in the
Arabian Nights, he could not tell us more plainly that he is a '^ flat-
fish '' belonging to the family now under consideration, and acknow-
ledging the presidence of the Turbot.
The most curious thing about these fiat-fishes is that their excep-
tional attitude and coloration, and their preposterous squint, are
not congenital, but acquired habits.
The sole starts in life swimming upright, like the pomflet, and
with one eye on each side of his head. But early in youth he
acquires the habit of lying on one side, the necessities of his life
(and probably the conditions of light) bleach that side, darken* the
upper one, the under eye gets slewed round, distorting the whole
brow in the process, and with some curious progressive deformations
of his tail, which need not be described here, he becomes a
complete sole as we fry him.
The giant of this tribe is the Halibut of the North Pacific and
Atlantic, who gets to the dimensions of a reasonable round table.
He is followed in size, and much excelled in flavour, by the Turbot,
after whom (in Europe) come the Brills and Flounders. All of these
are very broad fish, and even the flounders, which are the least of
the lot, come to 10 lbs. weight, perhaps more.
The Soles, though closely allied, are much inferior in all three
dimensions, especially in '^ beam." All are marine, though a few
pass above tidemarks.
The first division is not very strongly represented in tropical seas.
On this coast its chief member is Psetlodeserumei, which, for want
of a better name, I may call the Indian Flounder. It grows to be
15 or 16 inches long, and is of the same flavour as the soles (the
northern broad flat-fish differ very much from soles in this respect).
It always comes to table, indeed, as a ^' sole, '* but flounders do that
in other countries without its claim to that honour.
The Maratha name is '' bakar, " that is, " a cake of unleavened
bread,'* and no doubt some of my readers know that an allied fish
is known in Scotland as a '^bannock-fluke." {Vide the Antiquary's
famous deal with Mrs. Mucklebackit.) The tropical soles are
numerous, and of various habit. Some species haunt rocks and coral
reefs, and others sand and mud; the former are often handsomely
marked. The sand, however, is the typical ground of the whole
tribe, and hence it happens that soles are far less plentiful on the
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12 NATURAL HISTORY.
Konkan Coast than on that of the flat desert regions to the north-
ward •
The flat-fishes close the list of spineless fishes for this coast^
and in the next order we shall find plenty of prickles, though they
do not extend through the whole fin, as in the Perch and its fol-
lowers. *
This is the order of Physostomi, and the first family, the SilurU
dee or cat-fishes, is one of the most important in India. The fresh
water cat-fishes are much the same in the Konkan as above Ghat,
very numerous in individuals, and growing to a considerable size,
considering the confined waters that they inhabit. Wallago attu
attains here to about 3 feet in length.
The marine cat-fishes are few in species, but one of the genera,
Ariusy swarms in the estuaries and on muddy bottoms at 5 or 6
fathoms. It is essentially a bottom feeding fish, and does not, I think,
go far out to sea. This fish has the extraordinary habit of carrying
its eggs in its mouth until hatched. It has an armour-plated head
and three spines, being the first rays of the dorsal and pectoral fins.
The fry, when hatched, crowd up the estuaries with the tide and do
a good deal, of submarine scavenging; besides furnishing great
sport to the little boys ; who catch them by dozens with the simplest
tackle. The Arii reach eight or ten pounds weight at least, and are
said to be good eating. I have not tried them. The Maratha name
is '' Shingada " or '' Horny fish.''
Less common than the Arii are two species of Plotosusy called
in Maratha '' Kalan.'' They are hideous brutes, with pretty much
the body of an eel, a round head and a bunch of short thick feelers
round the mouth. They have the same dorsal and pectoral spines
as the ariiy and the wound of these is so much dreaded by the
half-naked fishermen that the hauling aboard of a "Kalan'' is
followed by a general scramble out of his reach. It appears to me
that the fish quite understands his weapons, and writhes his body in a
jerking fashion so as to strike with the erected pectoral spines.
I have often seen one drive the spine deep into other fish lying
beside him in the bottom of a boat. It is possible that he may
use similar fence in killing fish too large for his comparatively
feeble jaws ; but this is matter of speculation only. Contrary to the
* Note. — Strictly speaking, classification by fin-prickles refers to the paired fins
which in fish represent the limbs of other Vertebrates. But the vertical fins are also,
important ; and what is more, they are only apparently single, being formed by the
coalescence of double lateral elements.
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WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA. 13
habits of the arius and of the fresh water siluroids generally, the
" Kalan '^ is a fish of the reefs ; and has the clear brown and
mottled coloration often characteristic of rock fishes.
In a former paper I mentioned the adipose fin of some Siluroids
as characteristic, in the Indian fresh waters. In the sea, however,
they are not alone in possessing it. The Seopelidce, or Bombay
Duck family, all have it, and have even been classed as trouts on
the strength of it.
The most distinguished of the family is certainly the '* Bombay
Duck^* himself {Harpodon nepereus), in Maratha '' Bhombil.^'
" Bummalo '' is either low Portuguese, or mere " Bombay bat,'' and
not a pure native word at all.
Everybody in Bombay has seen the '^ Duck ''at table, dried or
fried, but hardly any European has seen him in his habit as he swims.
The scales are fine, and very loose, and they are always rubbed ofiE
in the boat long before the fish come ashore, which is an extra
merit in a table-fish as no fish-scnles are wholesome, and many
extremely irritating to the coats of the stomach. I must admit,
however; that the naked, flabby-looking fish is not appetizing to
look on, and it is best to defer inspection till he has got a new suit
of bread-crumbs.
The great commercial merits of the Duck are that his gelatinous
flesh dries quickly and safely in the sun, a great matter in a country
where the price of salt is artificially multiplied, and that his
relatively enormous and powerful jaws, armed with numerous and
formidable teeth, can be easily and quickly hitched into those of
a brother on the other side of the drying line, to the great saving of
labour when many thousand fish have to be hung up. When dried
the Bhombil is not merely a trifle to eat with curry ; he is the principal
animal food of thousands of the poor, who cannot afibrd the fre-
quent luxury of salt fish ; and as for meat, don't taste it twice in
the year. Every here and there in the Konkan there are temporary
fish markets in the fine weather, to which people from the interior
bring grain to barter for bundles of dried ^' ducks " and " scabbard-
fish," to be carried up the foot-paths of the Ghits upon their
heads. Besides this, there is a great inward trade by more civilized
methods of conveyance.
On one occasion I saw a goat make a raid on the unguarded
basket of an absent fish- fag, and eat three or four fresh " bhombils"
before the return of the screaming owner drove her ofi*. This, how-
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14 NATURAL HISTORY.
ever, was in Uran ; where the brate creation is clean demoralized
insomach that the cows there are said to steal mfaowa spirit^ and
stagger drank along the streets. There is a fish mnch like the
''Bombay dnck/' but inferior as food, (Saurida tumbitj, which is
known in Maratha as the '* Chor-Bhombir' {'' Ohor''==thief), just
as we talk of a ''horse-mackerel/' a " dog- whelk '' or a *' bastard
florican."
After the Scopelida come the Salmonida; and it can hardly be
too often repeated that there are no indigenous salmon or trout in
India; though the Lochleven trout {8almo Levenensia) has been
introduced into the Neilgherries, with very doubtful success.
The next family, the Scombresocidoe, or Gar fishes and Flying fishes
are represented in both fresh and salt water.
These are fishes so long and narrow that some of them are known
in the British seas as "Horned eels;'* they have, however, nothing of
the pliability of the true eels, and their anatomy is altogether
dififerent.
In the first genus, Belone, the body and both jaws are long and
slender, and the latter well-toothed. Belone cancila is their repre-
sentative in fresh water; and B. strongylurus the commonest of
several marine species.
After them come several species of Hemiramphi, or half-beaked
fish, in which the upper jaw is short, and the lower very long. All
are known in Marathi as " Tuli '' and all live upon the surface of
the water, and furnish, with the scabbard-fishes, most of the diet
of our sea-fowl and of the sea-snakes ; themselves bound to the
surface by necessities of respiration. The fresh water Belone cancila
is sometimes taken with a fly. They are very fond of playing on
the top of the water, and skipping over anything in their way, and
often jump into boats. Severe injuries have often been inflicted, in
this way, on naked fishermen, by the larger species, which exceed
3 feet in length, and one way of trapping them is to float a net
between four sticks, so that if the garfish jump over any stick of
the four he falls into the net. • They are very fair eating, though a
novice is sometimes startled at finding the bones of several species
dark bottle-green, almost black.
They usually take a trailing bait well ; but are very apt to cut
the trace with their teeth.
The second division of this family consists of the well known
oceanic flying-fish {Exocceti)^ known in Marathi as '<Ghiri** or
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Waters op WestbrIt ikdia- 15
'^ sparrow-fish/' Unlike the garfishes, which often cctne close inshore,
these aflfect the deepest water, but like the former, remain near the
surface. All readers in Bombay must have seen them in the
Arabian Sea. On the coast they are rare, and I get but few speci-
mens, and seldom see them when sailing near Bombay.
One might almost say that at that point about the deep-sea
soundings line where you begin to see sea-snakes, you stop
seeing flying fish. The best way of observing them is to stand in
the very eyes of a steamer, and watch those which fly right
ahead, and therefore give the longest view. The general colour is
blue above and white below, but several are barred (especially the
young) or spotted, and the play of light on their wet scales and
pinions is something wonderful. They are, like the rest of the
family, very fair eating.
The next family, Cyp-inodontidce, is small, and of no account,
but its successor, the family of Cyprinidce, or Carps, is of very great
importance here, including a great majority of the fresh-water fishes
of the Konkan, both by tale of individuals and variety of species.
Inland the Cat-fishes rival the Carps, but here we have but few deep
and muddy fresh waters fit for cat-fishes, and so these are only locally
common in fresh water.
For the purposes of this paper, we may divide the Cyprinidce
into three sub-families, the first of which is composed of the
loaches. These and the Alpine carps (Discognathi) , have been
already disposed of, in dealing with the Konkan-ghat-mata.
The second (this present division is rather convenient than
scientific) includes the ^^Eohos^' {Labeo) which in appearance and
habit, most approach the European carp, the type of the family ;
being all vegetable-feeders, with a preference for comparatively
still waters. The typical Roho himself {Labeo Rohita) is not found
here at all, and his place is taken by Labeo Calbasu^ and (I think)
L, dussumieri.
The former is described by Major Beavan as ^^dark in colour,
generally blotchy, and very slimy,'^ but I do not find that this applies
to specimens taken from clear streams in the hot weather, which were
bright and clean, with many of the scales about the deepest part
of the side spotted scarlet. Dr. Day also notices this coloration ;
and it has to be noted that he had personal experience of this fish
on the West Coast, which Beavan had not. AJl the Cyprmidce are
very liable to local variation in colour, and sometimes even in shape.
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10 NATURAL HISTORY.
The Barbels, so far as tbey have a choice, prefer comparatively
rapid waters, and are in this country mostly omnivorous. The
typical Mabseer (Barbus tor) is not, to the best of my knowledge,
found here, but is represented by a fish 1 have doubtfully identified
as the gold-finned Barbel (B. pinnauratits) , which grows to about
10 lbs. weight, perhaps more, and as a sporting fish, is quite
equal to any Mahseer, weight for weight. Here, as elsewhere, the
live-bait is the most killing fashion of angling for barbel, and I
have had no success with spinning-baits, and have not tried the fly
in the Konkan. I do not think it would be found effective for the
larger fish, but probably a good many of the smaller Cyprinoids,
as Basbora danicomius and the Chelas, and the fresh water Gar- fish
mentioned on a former page could be taken with a light trout rod
and midge flies, especially if bright coloured.
But the fresh water angling of the Konkan is, on the whole, poor.
The lowlands are nearly all under rice, and in the rains every
rice-field is a fish-trap, and every stream studded with weirs. The
fish that go up to spawn seldom return alive, and the fry are
taken in thousands, and serve to eke out the scanty meals of the
labourers. Within my own memory, the few waters where tolerable
angling could be had have greatly fallen off, and the stock seems to
be only kept up by the inhabitants of a few more or less sacred
pools and tanks.
Some of these are well stocked. In one, particularly, I have
seen hundreds of sacred barbel come together to be fed. All were,
apparently, of one species ; and similarly another sanctuary seemed
to be mostly inhabited by cat-fishes, which must have lived chiefly
on each other, had it not been for the offerings of good Hindus.
As it is, I suspect that they supplemented their charitable allowance
by cannibalism.
The natives believe that even the otter and osprey respect these
pools, and that the only European who had so little sense and good
taste as to fish them, not only failed, but died of fever. I must say
that he deserved the failure, but the fever was more than one could
wish him.
The Cyprinidoe proper are exclusively fresh water fish, but some
naturalists class with them the Herrings, Sprats, and Shads {Clupeidce) ,
which come next in our classification. These are mostly sea-fishes ;
a few live exclusively in fresh water, and most of these will take a
a midge fly, but as they like deep and still waters (though living
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WATTBRS or V^KSTERN INDIA. 17
chiefly od the surface) these fresh water herrings are not very
comrnon in the Komkau. The Chelae, a genus of true Oypi'inidm
which show considerable external resemblance to this family, talca
their place.
The Shads are anadromous, i.e., run up rivers to spawn, but the
Konkan streams are not big enough for them, and, besides, are very
often barred by weirs. We do not therefore often get the Shads
here '* fresh-ran/' that is, in that stage of gravidity in which they seet
the fresh water to spawn, which is with them^ as with the European
^"hnon and sea-trout, the best condition for the table. It is pro-
bably for this reason that the " Palla" (Glupea iliaha, the **Hilsa-
fish '^ and " Sable-fish '* of other parts), is not very common here,
und but little esteemed. Another thing against it is that, like all
the family, it dies and decays quickly. Now the Bombay fish supply
is so organized that only fish which keep very well indeed (as the
p©miet)- bave any chance of getting to table while still fit to eat.
I have, however, occasionally got very tolerable *' Palla-fish'^ even in
Bombay itsdf, and more often down the Coast.
Some philosophers have maintained that this fish has given its
name to the ** Apollo '' pier in Bombay, but there is this against
the derivati<»n, that native fishermen do not call the place *' Palla
Bandar'* but '-^ Pild Bandar," and don't connect the name with thds
or any other fish.
The allied marine species are very nnraerous.
One wortln noticing is the " Milk-fish or " Kedi" {Ghanaa
«almoneics)y much esteemed further south under the name of "White
mullet.^* It has been suc<3essfully acclimatized in fresh water
tanks, and is a handsome fish, of good quality when fresh, running
to 3 feet long.
We have two pretty common **«prats^' or sardines, the oil
sardine ( Glnpea iongicejps) and the rat- tailed sardines or " Mandils"*
(genus Coilia, several species). These come in great sboals in the
cold weather, and are extremely good eating when fresh, like
their European condins.
The way to get thera and tke mackerel is to have a net banled on
the beach near one's quarters just before breakfast-time. If the
fish are in-shor>e at all at the time, the net is pretty sure to take
enough for a meal, and the fishermen are content with a few annas.
The two next families are small, and classed by some with the
k€3*ring8. The first " Chirecentridte/' coniiains one Indian sea-fish.
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18 NATTJRAL HISTORY.
the " Karli^^ [Chuocentrus dorab), which may be described as a sort
of solitary and predatory herring. It is very long-shaped, with a
.sort of bull-head, ard formidable teeth, which it uses very freely.
The second, the Notapte.ridoe, has only two fishes, the queer
" wambhs," (Nofopterus kapirat and N, chitala)^ both fresh- water
forms, mentioned before as known in Deccan waters. They are
fair eating, and bite freely at a worm or bit of meat, but show no
fight. In Upper India they are said to have an unholy taste for
human flesh, but as we don^t in these parts grouod-bait our sacred
streams with roasted humanity, we need not mind such a trifle here.
The next family, that of the* Symhranchidce, is not, I think,
represented in our waters. It has few members, queer eel-shaped
fish mostly capable of breathing air. At least one species,
Amphipnous cuchia, can remain torpid in mud for a long period.
We now come to the true eels, or Murcenidoe. I have only got
one species of fresh -water eel in the Konkan, Anguilla bengal en sis,
which very much resembles the English eel, but has rather more
variety of colour, mottlings and shadings of olive brown along the
sides. It reaches about 5 lbs. weight, perhaps more. It is usually
caught by the natives ©n trimmers^ and is very fair eating, but is
not common.
The sea-eels are very numerous in species and individuals.
The commonest are the " Isars" {Murwna), of which one species,
(Jf. tesselata)f is very beautifully reticulate. They haunt reefs, and
are often taken with the hook and line. The same remarks apply
to the genus Urocongerf of which we have but one species, the
" Mulan^* (?7. lepturus).
The Murcenesoces, or Eel-pJkes, are fishes of deeper water and
muddy bottoms, but often swim near the surface. They are remark-
able for their large size and formidable dentition. Murcenesox
telabcn, the " Waw,'* or "fathom-fish," is said to reach 10 ft. long,
and its jaws are fully one-eighth of the total length, and studded with
long and sharp fangs. Besides the jaw-teeth, most of these sea-eels
have a central row of still more powerful fangs on the palate, and
their bite is much dreaded by fishermen.
We have in our Museum specimens of several species, and of the
spawn. They are nearly all fairly good second-rate fish for the
table.
Here wo come to the end of the order of Physostomi, and begin
with the Lophobranchii, . or armOur-clad fishes, moat of which are
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WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA. 19
more or less encased in bony plates. The most noticeable are the
8y}vgnathi, or " pipe-fishes," mtb two longf jaws cambiued into a
tube, and Hippocampi, or sea-horses, so called because their head
and neck form a carious caricature of a conventional horse-head.
T hey are mostly marine, small, and not very common, but as the
most part of them consists of the bony armour, with a very small
lining of flesh, they are easily dried, and make good specimens in
that condition, being fixed, while fresh, with wires, in any attitude
that pleas»e8 the artist. They have generally some arrangement for
carrying their eggs about with them till hatched, and it seems
that this duty is discharged by both sexes. Wo have several speci«
mens of both Hippocampus and Syngnathus in our Museum.
The next order is that of the Plecfognathi, and the first family
in it are the Sclerodermic beginning with the genus Triacanthug.
The Triacanthi are awkward ugly fishes, with a profile suggesting
that of an old horse, whence the Maratha name "ghora." They
have one very strong dorsal spine, and two pectoral, a file-lik®
skin, and unwholesome flesh. They are not uncommon here.
The next genus, Balistes, is not so ugly in form, being somewhat
like the typical perches in shape, but deeper and blunter. The
skin is still raspy, the flesh unwholesome, the dorsal fin has a strong
but blunt spine, and ventrals are reduced to a mere bony excrescence;
of no obvious use.
A third genus, Monacanthus , rather resembles Triacanthus, but
has only one spine, dorsal of course. We have specimens of alt
three genera, the latter two are rather rare here.
This family contains also the extraordinary Osiracion^, which are
completely armour-plated, with a bluff upright forehead, and some
have horns like a bull. I have got none here.
They are followed by a very curious family, the Gymnodontes, or
naked-toothed fishes. In these, instead of the claw-like fangs of
fishes in general, we have each jaw armed with a sort of bony beak,,
sometimes divided by sutures into two portions.
In the first fish which I shall notice, however, there are no such
seams, each jaw is in one piece, whence the name Diodon hystrix,
or the two-toothed Porcupine (sc. fish). The surname it owes to a
complete set of horny jpines | of an inch long, covering the whole
body. I have got here two specimens, one alive. It seemed to
have little power of erecting the spines> but was very difiicultr
to handle all the same.
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20 JTATtTRAL msTORT.
It is a short, praffy -looking brute, with some power of blowingf
itself out into a balloon shape, but it is (to judge frop mf Kring
fish) by n^o means a match in this art for some of its neighbours,
to be presently noticed.
After Diodnn comes Tno^ony with two ^' teeth ^ in the upper
jaw, and one in the lower. I hare not got any speein^ens here*
The next genus is Xenopterus, which we have not got,, but whicb
I cannot refrain from noticing, for the benefit of members €)»dered
to Burma. It is a yam of the Burmese that these little fishes ^
when they see a man or any other large animal in the water, fall
upon him in shoals, and bite little bits out of him till there is none
left. Eetaliation in kind is impossible or nearly so^ as. the whole
family of Gynanodlontsare bad eating, in degrees which range from
mere nastiness up to sheer poison OBsness.
After this amiable creature come the Totrodons, or Farrot-fishes,
with two so-called '* teeth " in each jaw, very abundant here, and
-known to Marathas as " Ken.*^ They do a lot of harm to tackle
by biting through it, anf3 when caught are useless, but lie open
to retaliation of a sort, as they survive for some time out of water,
and are always on landing ** handed over to thfe tormentors,'' namely,
gamins of the port. Now it is a character of the payrat-fishesk
that when irritated they puff themselves out like footballs and
each small boy who has got hold of one forthwith proceeds to
tickle the fish's stomach, a sufficiently ludicrous process to watch.
When the parrot-fish, under this stimulus, has blown himself out as
far as he can, the small boy lays him carefully down on the sand, and
then, retiring a few paces, executes a hop-skip-a»d-a-}om'p,
alighting with both heels close together on the unhappy Tetrodon,
who of course goes off with a loud " pop/' (like a grocer's paper-
bag similarly treated), amid yells of delight from the ^' marine light
infantry.'*
The parrot-fishes are the last of the Teleosiei, or fishes with a com-
plete bony skeleton. We now come to the cartilaginous or gristly
sharks and rays, which, although usually of large size, are of very
low organization, the proletariat of fishes. The " Selachoid'^
Sharks.and Dog-fishes take precedence, "the best of a bad lot,"*^
They are nsually to a great extent cylindrical, or rather cigar-
* Certain philosophers have maintained that these brutes instead of being
the canaille of fishes, ought to be classed at their head. All I can say to this i»
that I wish them a closer aoqiiiaintance witk their clients.
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WATERS OF WBSTERK INDIA. 21
shaped, in fonn^ though some are very flat-chested^ showing an
approach to the rays. The gill opening are on the upper surface,
and the upper vane of the tail is the longest (heterocercal).
There is no standing scientific distinction between Sharks and
Dog-fishes. The latter is siraply a term applied by fishermen to all
small Selachoid fishes, and often to the young of the larger species,
which, as with other fry, are very apt to swarm in-shore, perhaps
partly with a view to keeping out of- jaw -range of their elders.
This is particularly the case on our coast.
Some naturalists translate '' Scylliidoe" by "dog-fish/* and the
name was undoubtedly originally connected with the sea-honnds of
the mythical Scylla. But the fScylliidce as now restricted are spine-
less, and the " piky Dog-fishes " (Spinax) of the North Atlantic,
which are armed with a very formidable dorsal spine, have too strong
a hold on their name to be deprived of it by any classifier. The
term 'Mog-fish," therefore, cannot now be used as the equivalent
of any Latin scientific name, and must continue to be a popular
term for small sharks in general. In this country, perhaps, we had
better get on without it.
Our leading sharks are the Carchariidce, one of which, Carcharias
gangeticus, is said to be much dreaded at Calcutta, under the name
of " ground shark,'' which is not in itself of much use.^ All the large
predatory sharks swim high or low according to the position of their
food, and the only species which habitually keep to the bottom
are the harmless kinds that prey mostly on shell fish and crabs.
No sharks are considered dangerous on this coast. The large
ones generally keep well off shore, in from 7 to 12 fathoms of water^
and the fishermen do not care two-pence ^ibout them, except to cut
their fins off, and sell them for export to China. I cannot help
suspecting that there must be local causes for the reported ferocity
of the Calcutta sharks. Possibly the throwing of dead bodies into
the rivers may have something to say to it.
One of our sharks, Carcharias tricuspidatus, is said to reach
twenty feet long further north. I have not myself seen any here of
half that length.
The genus Lamna is closely allied to Carcharias (if really separate
at all), but has only one species here, though represented in the
Atlantic by the famous " White Shark," and many others.
Another genus, '^ Oaleocerdo," contains the '* tiger-sharks,'' so
called from their markings and bad temper; they are said to be
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23 KATTTBAL HllSTOBr.
tnuch dreaded down the ooast^ and to one species is attributed the
carions practice of laying itself oat for dead^ to tempt smaller fishes^
which come to dine^ and find the tables tamed on them» I have
not got any specimens here.
Next come the ^' hammer heads " and " shovel-heads," both of the
geaus Zyg(ena, most hideoas brates, named according to their
respective deformities. A monster-gooseberry paragraph went ronnd
the Indian papers lately, about some huge "shovel-headed sharks,"
spotted like the pard, and capable of taking their prey without
turning over, seen in the Red Sea. Curioasly enouf^h some one went
to the trouble of suggesting '^ Stegostofna tigrinum/' which is indeed
striped (no shovel-headed shark is) but is a ground-shark, or rather
dog-fish, and seldom exceeds 5 feet long.
All sharks, and the shovel-heads as much as any others, most
either get over their prey, or turn on their backs to seize it from
below, and they prefer the former manoeuvre themselves, but as they
are usually observed at the surface, the latter is best known to the
public.
The Zygoenas are credited with great ferocity, chiefly, I suspect,
from their ill looks. As a matter of fact the conformation of their
head, jaws, and breast, is against this, and indicates an approach to
the rays, and a life at the bottom, supported on prey of comparatively
small size. They have nothing like the gape of Carcharias,
The ScyllidoB proper are small and comparatively sluggish and
hai^mless Selackoidsy. feeding mostly at the bottom upon carrion ^
molluscs and Crustacea, spineless, and usually spotted or striped.
Some have two barbels. We have several species, the most notice-
able here is the Stegostoma tigrinum above referred to, a curious and
quite harmless creature, which could not bite a man, unless he put
his finger in its mouth. We have two specimens in our Museum.
We have none of the spined Dog-fishes in our seas. They are a
very plague to the fisheries of the British Isles, and are also not-
able as being ovo-viviparous. I do not know whether any Indian
shark has this character. Their place is taken here, as hinted
above, by the fry of the large Carchariidce.
The second sub-order of the Cartilaginous fishes is that of the
Batoidei, or saw-fishes, skates, and rays. They are all more or less
flat-chested; and some of them even broader than they are long
(omitting the tail). They all have their gill openings below, and live
as a rule, mostly at the bottom, though sometimes they come to
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Waters of WESTflBii !n6ia. 23
the surface, and *' squatter^' along it in a curious way, or even leap
high out of the water, apparently for their own diversion. The
mouth is usually small, and except in the upper jaw of the saw- fish
tlie teeth are small, blunt, and close set, often forming a sort of
pavement. The jaws of most of them are very powerful, and
between these they crush and grind the shell-fish and Crustacea
which are, in most cases, " the chief of their diet,"
The first family among them is that of Pristidoe, or Saw fishes,
called by the Marathas '' Sondla,^* and by Europeans often (incor-
rectly, of course,) '* Sword-fishes.*' In these the snout and upper
jaw are prolonged into a flat round-ended beak, about one-fourth of
the whole length of the fi^h, which sometimes exceeds 20 feet.
Both sides of this are set, rake-fashion, with long flattened horny
fangs, and the fish is said to use this formidable weapon by
swimming rapidly past the victim, so as to deliver a sawing cut
with all the teeth on one side in succession, or by writhing so as to
strike side-ways with the points of so many teeth as may bear upon
the object at once, inflicting a series of punctured wounds, and
perhaps retaining the victim (if small) impaled upon the teeth.
The former manner of fence is said to be used upon large fish,
porpoises, and even men, and the latter upon small fish. The
fishermen of the coast hold these saw-fishes in great fear (though
they make no account of sharks).
The general shape of the saw-fish is not unlike that of a shark,
but he is clumsier and flatter. The fins, which are very large and
powerful, are exported as '' shark-fins.'* Several species ascend
rivers, and in sandy streams go far above tide-marks, but they have
no great chance of doing this in the Konkan.
After them comes the curious family of the Rhinohcdidce, which
have something the figure of the saw-fish, but broader, and in
most species of their two genera {Rhynchohatns and Bhinobaius),
the snout is prolonged into a sort of triangular shdvel. This, how-
ever, is above the jaw, and is unarmed, the mouth is that of a true
skate, with a pair of rasps for jaw. The fish of this type are known
to the Marathas as '^ Lanjd.'* One species at least {Rhynckobatus
djedd&ihsis) is very common on our coast, and grows to at least 6 feet
long. The only round-snouted species, which is called ^' MiviP' (R:
ancylostomus) is exceedingly rare. I have only once seen it. It
exceeds six feet. The Bhinobati are said to be rather larger, but they
are all timid creatures, and the principal evil reported of them is a
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24 KATTTEAL HiSTOEY.
taste iot pearl oysters. Their flesh is said by Dr. Day to be
"' considered nourishing," but is not much thought of here; the
large lirer is used to make oil of, and the fins pass for shark-fins in
the trade.
After them comes the wonderful little family of the Torpedos, or
electric rays. These have very much the outlines of a somewhat
flattened tadpole, and nothing could suggest electricity less than
their appearance. But they can give a shock sufiBcient to make a
man sing out.
We have but two species, Astrape dipierygia, which is brown and
white, and has one dorsal fin, and Narcine timlei, with two dorsals,
and a sort of dull tortoise-shell coloration. We have both in our
Museum, and I have had living specimens of both. They appear
to live on the edges of reefs, feeding on small Crustacea and molluscs,
and I do not think that they can have much use for their curious
power in foraging. It may, of course, protect them to some extent
against larger fish. Neither species gets beyond eighteen inches
long. I doubt if Astrape ever exceeds a foot.
The native fishermen call both species '^ Gingina,** which is their
name for any tingling sensation, such as that caused by a blow on
the nerve of the elbow, or, as we say, the ^^ funny-bone." The
name may therefore be translated " tingling-fish." They use the
creatures, characteristically enough, in a time-honoured practical
joke, concealing them amongst other fish in a bucket, which is then
handed over to one of the boys who are always marauding about
the ports. The small boy is sure to stick his hand among the fish,
and as sure to drop the bucket with a yell, amid the roars of Lis
neighbours. Then all the little boys get together, and try to take
the torpedo out of the bucket, just as you may see boys at home,
who have got a toy electric machine, doing with a sixpence in a
basin of water. The fish soon exhausts bis battery, and can then
be handled with impunity.
After these torpedos come the Raiidie, or rays proper, represented
in India by one fish, Platyrhina schonleini, which I have not
found here ; and then an important family, the Trygonid^, or sting-
rays, called in Maratha " Phakate." These are all lozenge- shaped
creatures, generally broader than long, bar the tail, which is long
and whip-like, and often armed with one, two, or three caudal spines
long, sharp, and barbed all down both sides like some sort of a
cannibal harpoon. The natives say that they wind the tail round
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WATEBfi OF WESTERN INDIA, 25
their victims and then stab them to death with this case of daggers,
which always reminds me of an Arab or Makrani swash-buckler with
three jambiyas in one sheath. So far as I can observe, however, the
tail is not really in any way prehensile, and takes no more hold than
a very supple cane or whip would. It is apparently very liable to
accident, a perfect tail is as scarce amongst veteran rays as amongst
Bombay " Biles " at the end of the season. But I did get one fine
specimen of the typical species (Trygon Uarnafc), in which it seemed
perfect, and the measurements were as follows : — maximum diameter
6 feet, length without tail 5^ feet, tail 8i feet. The tail spine had
been broken oflTand lost, the stump was one inch across, and from a
number of measurements of other spines I find that their length is
to diameter in a proportion that varies from X 7 to X 10. This
spine, therefore, cannot have been less than 6 inches long, and may
have been 10. I could hardly blame the fishermen for breaking it
off before getting the monster aboard. They dread these rays
almost as much as the saw-fishes.
Dr. Day allows this species a tail three or four times its own length,
80 my friend might have had a tail 22 feet long, but the longest of
which I have good record on this coast is one mentioned in the
" Tanna Gazetteer*' as of 13^ feet. Several other Trygons, and the
allied genera Tcenicura and Pteroplatea, are as big, and as well armed.
They live mostly on muddy bottoms, hunting Crustacea and molluscs
but at times, as noted above, rise and play and leap on the surface.
In the next family, Myliobaiidce, this habit is still more common,
and some have spines on the tail, but in the first genus, Myliobatis,
they are not universal. It is represented on this coast, I think, by
the '' Hanwatia'* or '^monkey-skate,'' a small unarmed fish
frequenting the edges of reefs, and handsomely spotted, probably
Myliobates nuiculata.
The rest of tbis family are more or less hideous and monstrous,
but the palm belongs to the Bat-ray, or Devil-fish {Dicerobati
eregoodoo), called in Maratha " Piwri. '' This monster is twice as
broad as he is long, reaching 18 feet across the wings and 9 from
the snout to the root of the tail, which is H times the length of the
body, if not shortened by accident. On his head he has two
projections somewhat of the shape of hare's ears, directed forwards.
He appears usually to swim high, and I have seen one jump a good
six feet out of the water. The only good thing to be said about him
is that he has no spine in his tail.
4
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26 NATURAL HISTORY.
These big skates are no doubt amoDgst the wonders of the sea,
and make one think of the *^ Kraken. " But the best story of one
tliat I know is in a book called ^^ Blue Water, '* the author whereof
maintains that he saw at sea a skate which he took to be seventy feet
across the wings, " Noo, '' as the Scotchman said, " we'll see what
can be dune aboot the breadth of the skate." In the first instance,
the writer, a Mr. Keane, was at one time known in Bombay as the
author of a very quiet aiid ^^ verisimilous " narrative of a pilgrimage
to Mecca, contributed to a daily paper here. Secondly, in the same
book, he deals with other fishes in a style free from exaggeration or
romance, and indeed his remarks upon sharks are very valuable, on
account of the care taken to strip the subject of its usual envelope
of tall talk. Finally, his description of the big skate's proceedings
is clearly taken from observation of a big skate on the top of
the water, the opportunity for which, and the power of using it,
are not very often found. The monstrous dimensions that I have
assigned to the Bat-Ray are taken from Sir Walter Elliot's mea-
surement, and are well known to be equalled by some American
Batoidei.
It appears to me that, making every allowance for the fact that
Mr, Keane's Kraken did not stop to be measured, he may fairly be
credited with a breadth of 40 feet, and if his proportions were those
of Dicerobatis (which is about the shortest tailed of the family),
his tail may have been 30 feet of a total length of 50, allowing for
its curtailment by accidents in his necessarily long life.
Such an animal, swimming and playing near the surface, would
account for any amount of sea-serpent stories, and especially for those
in which the serpent attacks a whale, represented by the body of the
fish. There is nothing in the nature of things to prevent the large
Batoid fishes from ranging from 4 feet long to 50, any more than
in the case of the cetacean mammals, which do so on this very
coast. I have shown cause above for believing that the sea-serpent,
whatever he is, belongs to no known type of marine Ophidia.
As my penultimate fish is the biggest on record, my very last
shall be one of the smallest, if indeed it be a fish at all. In the
water, it is simply a black dot with a silvery rim or edge. But on
removal, this is seen to be the eye of a purely transparent gelatinous
creature having the shape of a very narrow sole, but swimming up-
right, quite symmetrical, and about 3 inches long (in the largest
specimens). On immersion in spirit it assumes a dead semi-opaque
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ON B0T3 (larval (estkidji:) of the horse and camel. 27
white colour^ and seems to show some trace of a vertebral system.
Several specimens are in our collection.*
ON BOTS (LARVAL OESTRID^) OF THE
HORSE AND CAMEL.
By Veterinary Surgeon J. H. Steel, A.V.D.,
Superintendent, Bombay Vciei'inary College.
I WISH, in the following short paper, to contrast the external con-
formation of Pharyngobalus cameli with that of Gastrophihis equi ;
in other words, the larval gadfly of the camel with the less maggot-
like larva of the common horse gadfly.
I trust from this slight study to deduce results of no small interest
and general importance, as well as to indicate some points on which
I have not been able to assure myself, and concerning which perhaps
other workers may be able to enlighten me either at once or as the
result of investigation.
These bots are maggots which live in the alimentary canal. They
differ much in appearance from each other and from ordinary mag-
gots, and in the details of structure they are, respectively, excellently
adapted to the situations they occupy.
Practical observers have long noted "maggots^' coming from the
nose of the camel, a little different from ordinary maggots. But
the noses of camels, especially, are liable to lacerated wounds, from
the nose peg and other causes, which in a tropical climate and on
active service are sought out by the common fly and soon become
the seat of development of common maggots innumerable
* Angling in the Konkan is so very poor a business that no one need go out of his
way for it. But a fair evening's sport can sometimes be had with a fly-rod of 12 to
15 feet and fine tackle, a light small float, and a small hook on strong gut. The
best bait is made of the dwarf or fry barbels, cut short behind to not more than an
inch long ; and hooked through below the spine j under the shoulder. The method, of
fishing is as with live-bait. There should be a grain or two of shot on the trace,
and the bait should be about half way to the bottom. A landing net is desirable. A
private correspondent refen-ing to my remarks on the Barbels of the Deccan (Vol. 1
p. 100), says that the typical European Barbel, though usually found in comparatively
Btill waters in England, does on the Continent of Europe (and specially on the Upper
Bhine) freqnent rapids like our mahseers. Also that the allied fish referred to by
me as called *' shell-fish " in German must be this species, " Burbot " and " Burbolt,"
being both names of the English "eel-pout," a fish of another family altogether.
Further that this name (the German equivalent of '* shell-fish," whatever it may be)
is assigned in German dictionaries to salt-cod.
A correspondent in Bombay has promised to add to my list of Konkan water -fowl ;
and I shall be very glad if any one else will do so too. The notes of any single
observer must necessarily leave much room for such addenda.
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29
NATURAL HISTORY,
Inspecting Veterinary Surgeon Burt in his recent Report on the
operations along the Nile^ says that maggots in the nostrils caused
great inconvenience^ an offensive discharge tinged with bloody and a
Continual shaking of the head^ the camels being dnll^ off-feed^ and the
maggots larger than those in wounds and " more resembling a grub/'
I. V» S. Oliphant records their frequent occurrence in Afghanistan
during the 1878-79 Campaign and V. S. (Ist CI.) Rayment noted their
frequence in the Soudan. V. S. Fenton brought me some specimens
when he returned from Suakim this year with the Madras Troops,
from these specimens I derive the following conclusions : —
The camel bot is half as big again as that of the horse^ is much
softer and more tapering towards the bookless extremity, whereas
it is blunter and much more compressed towards the hooked end
while thB section of the horse bot is evenly oval, that of the camel
bot is flattened on the lower surface. In both the body-ring
tearing spmes are nine in number and the spines point from the
hook end. The following contrasted list of characters may best
be given in the tabulated form : —
Horse Bot.
Spines — Small, hard, sharp, verj numer-
ous on eaeh ring and largest on the
central rings. Small extra spines
alternate with the main ones and are
situated behind and in the intervals
between them ,^ forming as it were,
two rows in each circle. The bulging
parts between the rings are smooth.
Hook-end.— Ho6k» brownish-black and
sharply divergent, short and much
curved, situated inferiorly near the
extremity of a long narrow hook-end.
A central organ of chitine is midway
between the bases of the hooks, and
there are a few spinelets above and
on either side of two well marked
Camel Bot.
Spines. — Fleshy and in single row, verj
large, teat -like, aad blunt. The
largest are in the central ring»
but not markedly so. The main
spines vary in size and tend to
collect into groups with spaces be-
tween them. Those on the lateral
parts of the lower snrfaee tend to
deyelope into temporary feet. On the
most projecting parts of the segments
between tbe rings of spines are small
spinelets which below are very numer-
ous and form continuous bands. In
the different parts of the body the
teat-like spines vary in relative posi-
tion (vide diagram).
Hooh-end. — Hooks black ; diverge at an
acute angle and are slender, long, and
little curved, situated below the
anterior extremity and beneath a 6-
lobed mass surrounded above and on
each side by irregular circlets of
spinelets which communicate at each
extremity with the firbt zone of
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BoTS OP THE Horse and Camel.
(E8TRUS CAUBLI
CESTRUS KQTTl
I Hook end
a First segment
h First circle of spines.
upper
Diagrams of the arrange-
spines in the two
species, also in the Camel
Postr. showing fklse feet formed
Resp.
end on lower surface especially
at hookless end.
Ill Comparison of central seg-
ments (under surface).
IV Hookless end showing ori-
fice & its labia
a. Seen directly
b. Seen from upper side
r. Last segment
y. Last row of hooks
V General
appearance of the
« (lower surface) ap-
proximately natural size.
«fft»
* These segments are a little too wide in the drawing, they should be closer.
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ON BOTS (larval (ESTRID^) OP THE HORSE AND CAMEL. 29
sense organs (situated above the booklets above and below. This first
hooks). These sense organs are zone is a very irregular one. There
all but sessile. The first row of is no chitinous organ between the
spines is complete. books. The pigmented sense organs
are on long peduncles the bases of
which are connected by a band.
There is another transverse band
below the hooks. The first row of
spines is deficient inferiorly.
Bookless or orifice e«c?.— Opening ob- Hookless or orifice enc?.— Opening an
long. Its cavity black throughout. almost circular cavity, black only in
Its lips transversely bifid and the lower two lateral spots, upper lip semi-
one much larger than the upper. circular and with four well marked
The upper one continuous laterally angles, lower bifid, consisting of a
with the side lobes. The last tuberous part elongated transversely
segments are arranged telescopically and also of two bifid protuberances
and bear no appreciable spinelets. each bearing a mammillary process.
There are spinelets on the two latter
and on the lower lip. The general
aspect of the opening is upward. Last
segment irregularly telescopic.
The characters amply prove that the camel bot serves as a
connecting link between the peculiar tough horse bot and ordinary
maggots, they show that the strange leathery spines of the horse
bot are not chitinous or horny nails but true papillas, they show
that these papillae tend to arrange themselves in groups and some
develope into foot-like organs while the others lose their importance.
By contrast of these organisms with common maggots we may infer
what features of structure are necessary for a grub that lives in the
stomach (as the horse bot does) and what for a resident in the
pharynx (as the camel bot). The latter it will be noticed is softer
and less irritant than the former and probably, as having rudimen-
tary false legs, a much better traveller. He makes his exit from
the body through the nose, whereas the stomach bot of the horse
passes through the anus. The difference in position of the hooks
is interesting ; the camel parasite has them arranged like a pair of
delicate anchors, which he can throw down when he wishes to obtain
a grip sufficing to prevent his being swallowed with food, whereas the
horse parasite has much stronger grappling hooks arranged like the
horns of a stag beetle and suited to enable him to hold tight in
whatever direction the churning motion of the stomach may drag
him.
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80 NATURAL HISTORY.
The posterior orifice-like cavity is considered a respiratory sac,
but what the black material in it is lam not prepared to state. Why
does the camel parasite have stalked eyes and the horse parasite
stalkless ones ? Why has the latter only the chitinous organ between
the hooks ? And why should the lips of the orifice of the camel
parasite develope into artistically^ arranged lobes while those of the
horse bot are severely devoid of ornaments ? All these and many
other problems suggest themselves in the study of these peculiar
creatures.
The continuous irritation produced in the nostrils and pharyngesof
our poor camels exiled to the shores of the Red Sea, the probability
that a certain amount of their now historic exhaustion depended on
these bots, and the certainty that in future Campaigns where camel
transport is used these parasites must be remembered and got rid of,
give the (Estrus Cameli a considerable practical veterinary
interest. -
PARASITES IN THE WILD ASS OF CUTCH.
By V. S. John Henry Sterl, A.V.D.
Superintendent, Bombay Veterinary College.
Through the kindness of Messrs. Sterndale and Phipson I was,
in July of the present year, placed in possession of the carcase of a
young wild ass from Cutch. The animal had been strangled in
attempts to ship it for England. The skin was handed over to the
Society for preservation, the hoofs and skeleton have been retained
by me, and I examined the carcase carefully for parasites. This was
all that could be done under the circumstances, our dissecting room
being then not ready for use and our operations in post-mortem
examination conducted under a downpour of rain, in the open. The
investigation showed beautiful development of the muscles (and
especially their tendinous portions) of the limbs, and the lesions of
strangling were well marked. As concerns parasites I wished
especially to make careful examination because I had recently
opposed the popular view that these beings do not occur in wild
animals to such a degree as in domesticated, and that in the latter
they must be considered pathological rather than in their natural
habitat. I thought if horses standing in the open have more
parasites than those more carefully tended, surely animals in the
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PARASITES IN THE WILD ASS OP CUTCH. 31
jungle should still more be invaded by the various Entozoa. In the
case under examination everything was against my being able to
establish my theory; the animal was young, and old animals
though they sufEer least from parasitic invasion are more often the
victims of it than young, the ass came from a part of the country
wherein salt marsh is frequent and, as is well known, salt pastures
are prejudicial to most forms of parasite.
The result, however, was as follows : —
A. Stomach, — Cysts, and spiroptera either from these cysts or of
the species which inhabits the stomach cavity.
Bots.
Ascaris megalocephala.
B. Small Intestine, — Ascaris megalocephala, in enormous num-
bers, some seventy of these very large round worms
being obtained from the stomach and small intestine.
C. Ccecum and commencement portion of the Colon, — Cysts with
small white worms both in them and in the cavity of
the bowel.
Strongylus armatus,
D. Rectum, — Oxyurides — a few.
E. Anterior Mesenteric Artery,— ^One immature Strongylus
armatus.
Liver, lungs, and peritoneal cavity apparently free from invasion.
Thus five localities were infested, the parasites found being of at
least six difierent species and some forms of them extremely
numerous. The following points seems to me worthy of comment : —
(1.) The parasites above enumerated must be obtainable by
animals out on natural pasturage. This is likely to be a useful
hint as regards their prevention in domesticated equines : whether
these species are obtainable in spite of saline pasturage or no it is
impossible to say, but one feels inclined to consider such a view
supported by the circumstances of the case ; at any rate it is a point
worth investigation in the future.
(2.) It is evident that parasitic invasion is not by any means
an infliction on animals following solely in the train of domestication.
It has been authoritatively stated that Strongylus armatus is never
found in the wild ass, although it is of almost constant occurrence
in old domesticated donkeys, my observations distinctly prove this
to be an error, probably at some other season of the year the
anterior mesenteric artery would have been found crammed with the
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32 NATURAL HISTORY,
immature worms, but the single specimen I found there amply
suffices to establish my position,
(3.) The absence of the following common species of equine
parasites should be noted : — Fasciola hepatica, Strongylus micrurus,
Filaria Papillosat Hydatids, and Amphistomes.
(4.) The numerical preponderance of Ascarides is interesting,
for these parasites are, according to my observations, rather rare
in domesticated equines in this country.
(5.) Cysts with small white worms in the large bowel are rare.
They were very numerous and did not resemble the immature Sir.
tetracanthus. Indeed they rather reminded one of the Spiroptera
fbund in the stomach. I have not made a detailed examination of
the specimens, but if they be Spiroptera from the coecum, this is re-
markable, as also would be the absence of Str. tetr acanthus, so
frequent in domesticated equines.
(6.) It is interesting to observe that the parasites which infest
the wild ass are of the same species as those found in the
^domesticated horses.
DESCRIPTION OF THREE NEW SPECIES OF
HYDROPHIS FROM THE BOMBAY HARBOUR
AND THE MEKRAN COAST,
By Jambs A. Murray,
Hydrophis Phipsoni. 8p. Nov.
Head scarcely distinct from neck ; rostral pentagonal, as high
as wide; length of nasal 1:^, its greatest width ; vertical subtrian-
gular in front, tapering behind, and fitting into a nearly triangular
furcation between the occipitals; the length of each occipital is
twice its greatest width. 3 — 4 temporals on the side of each
occipital, the anterior the largest and separated from the 6th upper
labial by an intervening shield. 7 upper labials, the 3rd, 4th, and
5th under the eye. 9 small and 2 large lower labials, the 1 st on each
side in contact behind the triangular mental, the 3rd, 4th, 5th, f th,
and 7th have three large shields below them. Two pairs of chin
shields in contact with each other. One prae and one post-
ocular, the latter in suture with the superciliary, occipital,
anterior temporal, the intervening shield between the 5th and 6th
upper labials and the upper edge of the 5th labial.
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AJJesc'ibes del ScLiiho
AJ^Lo/'cez lU/u>^ 66.
HYDROPHIS PHIPSONll ^Mrraj^
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1 ji\..r- ■ ji\
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THEKE NEW SPECIES OP HYDROPHIS. 33
Scales carinate mesially, the carina strong on the vertebral
region and breaking up into tubercles posteriorly ; laterally the scales*
are feebly carinate. Scales round the neck in 36 — 38 series ; round
tlie highest part of the body in 40 — 42 series. Ventrals entire^
twice the s.ize of the adjoining scales and bituberculate.
Colours. — Yellowish ochrey, with a wide black dorsal stripe, a
faint one on each side of the body, and a fourth one along the
whole extent of the ventrals — the lateral stripe gradually disappears
•with age. Head black, with a horse-shoe shaped yellow band froni
the frontals to behind and above the gape. Tail black.
Length, — 30 inches, of which the tail is 2 inches.
Hab. — Bombay Seas.
I have much pleasure in associating with this species the name
of our worthy and energetic Secretary, Mr. H. M. Phipson, in whose
collection the first specimen of this interesting species was found.
Hydrophis guttata. Sp. nov.
Head longer than broad, scarcely distinct from neck; body stout;
40 series of scales round the neck, 64 round the highest part of the
body, and 1 7 on each side of the tail. Scales imbricate, keeled, each
keel interrupted in the middle ; posteriorly on many scales they are
bituberculate. Rostral 5-sided, lobuliform below, with a deep notch on
each side. Nasals higher than wide, in contact laterally with the 1st
and two-thirds of tuo 2nd upper labial ; frontals in suture on each side
with the single praeocular and posterior third of the second upper
labial; vertical hexagonal, pointed behind and rather longer than
its greatest breadth; each occipital as long as broad ; a large scale
between the furcation of the pair. Temporals three, the hindmost
largest; the first longer than wide, obliquely placed and in contact
with the post oculars and two large shields above the 7th, 8th, and
9th upper labials. Upper labials 9, the 4th and a subtriangular
shield above the 5th and 6th labials enter the eye. One prse and
two post-oculars. Superciliary one on each side, but mesially in its
vipper third and grooved below. No chin shields ; 12 lower labials ;
two obliquely placed elongate shields twice as long as broad, below
the 4th and 5th labials, and a quadrangular one between the 6th
and 7th ; 19 scales between the 1st lower labial and 1st ventral shield.
Yentrals 265 in number, bifid, and arranged opposite to each other.
They are scarcely as large as the adjoining scales. 3 enlarged anal
shields ; 43 series of scales along the lower edge of the tail to the
terminal notcji.
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34 KATURAL HISI'ORY.
Lengths — 42 inches, of which the tail is 5 X 1^ inches.
Colours. — Yellow,becomingochrey beyond the middle of the trunk.
Head olive. Forepart of trunk with 10 ovate black spots on the
vertebral region, separated by a single series of yellow scales ;
laterally these 10 interspaces are divided by a narrow brown line
and a dark spot; beyond this the broad bands run down on the
sides to about one-third the distance from the ventrals, the alternat-
ing dark spots of the forepart of the trunk cease, and begin on the
ventrals instead, along which there are 33, of various forms and
sizes, including the one on the anal region.
Tail completely encircled with 5 black bands ; tip of the tail black.
Hah, — The Mekran Coast.
The present species evidently belongs to that group of Hydro-
phidae classed by Dr. Gunther in his Reptiles of British India, as
having small imbricate scales in 43 to 47 series round the neck,
ventrals split into two. It, however, diflFers from the group in
having large scales, and in the number of scales round the neck
being 40 instead of 43 — 47, and from the only species showing these
characters, viz. Eydrophis IStoked^ it differs in having the 4th
labial and a detached shield under the eye and 33 large black
blotches along the ventrals. The number of ventral shields is not
given. by Dr. Gunther, nor the number of black cross bands on the
trunk and tail. The colouration partly agrees with the description
of fl", Stokesi, from the Northern Coasts of Australia, but the
diflferences are suflBciently marked to separate it from any known
described species.
It may be mentioned that although Dr. Gunther at the time of
writing doubted the occurrence of fl". Stol'esi in the China Seas
and in the East Indian Archipelago, Mr. W. T. Blanford in
P. Z. 8., 1881, states that two specimens from Singapore examined
by him must be identified with it.
Hydrophis plumbea, 8p. nov.
Rostral S-sided, triangular at apex and reaching the upper surface
of the head. Nasal wider than high, in suture laterally with the
first two upper labials. Frontal, as wide as high, rounded behind
and in suture with the upper pra^ocular and superciliary. Vertical
hexagonal, subtriangular in front and tapering behind. Occipitals
5-sided, the length of each twice the greatest breadth. Temporals
three on each side of each occipital, the anterior largest and nearly
entering the labial margin. Upper labials 8, the 4th under the eye,
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List OJ' THE BOMBAY BUTTERfLIES IN THE SOCIETY'S OOLLBCTIONS. 35
the 6th and 7th small and about one-fourth the size of the 8th. 10
lower labials. 30 series of scales round the neck. Scales of the body
keeled. Ventrals 230, the ] st separated from the posterior pair of
chin shields by 4 scales only. First six ventral?, wider than high,
and four times as wide as the adjoining scales, the rest decreasing
in size from three times the size of the adjoining scales till at four-
fifths the length they are scarcely larger than the adjoining series.
Colours. — Plumbeous dorsally on the upper third, with faint dark
brown cross bars, of which there are 32 on the trunk and 2 on the
tail. Scales above and below the tail, and on the half of its terminal
length black with some white scales intermixed on the latter. Sides
and abdomen white, with faint indications of the dorsal bands
running down on the sides. Upper and lower labials also the
rostral, mental and ch^n shields of a salmon colour ; a faint dark streak
in front of the eye, and a salmon-coloured spot on each side behind
the gape.
Hab. — The Mekran Coast. Both this and the preceding (H,
guttata) were collected by Capt. E. Bishop of the I. G. S. Patrick
Stewart.
A LIST OF THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BOMBAY
PEESIDENCY IN THE SOCIETY'S COLLECTION.
With Notes by E. H. Aitken.
{Continued from page 218, VoL I,)
PaI'ILI0NIN(E.
73. Ornithoptera mvnos. — Athough there is no specimen of this
butterfly in the collection on which these notes are based, I will
include it here, having known three instances of its occurrence in
the region with which they deal. On the 5th of June 1873, I caught
a fine female in Poena and on the same date six years after I saw
one at Karanja. In the interval the Rev. Dr. Fairbank had taken
one, also a female, in his garden at Ahmednugger. For an insect
with such powers of sustained flight a journey of a few hundred
miles, with the wind, must be a small matter, and I imagine these
specimens drifted from the Canarese or Malabar Coast, among the
beautiful backwaters of which the species is so abundant that a
Collector in Calicut told me he slew every one that came within his
reach, regarding them as a nuisance. I felt sorry for the victims,
but more so for their murderer.
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36 NATURAL HISTORY.
74. Papilio agamemnon.'^This is very common both in Bombay
and the Deecan and on the hills too, and to the young collector it
has a peculiar fascination. It flies fast and with a good deal of
style and is rarely seen to settle. When it does alight it selects a
shady spot and rests with wings closed. Sometimes on a hot day it
will spend a long time flitting up and down under a shady tree ae
if on sentry duty. The larva feeds on the custard apple and must be
sought on very fresh leaves in the shade. It rests on the upper side
of the leaf, like all papilio larvae. It is the most difficult of caterpil-
lars to rear. It will remain on a faded leaf and starve sooner than
move to a fresh one and cannot be transferred without injury as it
carpets the leaf with silk and hooks its feet to it. I have never
succeeded in rearing one from the egg.
75. Papilio sarpedon. — This, the most -sprightly of all our
butterflies, is found only on the hills; very common thereabout
the end of the year. It is swift, restless, very hard to catch, and
when caught generally breaks its wings in the net. It is very fond
of sipping the moisture from damp ground.
7(5. Papilio nomius, — I have never seen this species alive. The
specimens in the Society's collection were sent by Mr. Davidson and
Mr. Wroughton from Khandesh and the Ghauts which lie between
the Tanna and Nasik Districts, I am told it frequents ravines and
flies very swiftly.
77. P. erithonius. — The commonest of the genus, occurring
everywhere and appearing almost throughout the year. The larva
feeds on various trees of the orange tribe, but in Bombay forsakes
them all for the most ofiensively odoriferous garden rue.
78. P. pammon. — This is nearly as abundant as the last, the
polyctor form of the female being decidedly the most common.
There seems to be nothing seasonal in the aj pearance of the differ-
ent forms. I have reared all three from eggs laid by polyctor, in
the same week. The larva feeds, like that of the last, on various
species of the orange tribe, refusing others. I have never found it
on the pummalo, nor on the rue, of which the last species is so fond,
but a sweet lime in my garden now can scarcely keep a fresh leaf,
and a small Japanese orange is sadly ravaged. Another favourite is
the curry-leaf — Bergera koenigii — on which I have never found the
larva of the last species. The pupa is green when it forms in the
midst of green leaves and brown when attached to the trunk of
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A LIST OP THE BOMBAY BUTTEKlTLlKS IN TffE SOClBTt's COLLECTION. 87
tree. In neutral circumstances the colour seems to be optional!
I have seen a green and a brown pupa on the same pane of glass.
79. P. polymnestor. — I do not understand the distribution of
this butterfly. It is absolutely unknown in Bombay and I imagine
throughout the Konkan, but becomes one of the most familiar
objects as soon as we reach a level of 2,000 feet I do not think it
occurs in the Deccan generally, but in Poena it frequents the old
gardens in the city. Again it abounds all along the Malabar Coast at
the level of the sea. Its chief season appears to be the latter half
of the monsoon, but a good many come out in March and some may
be met with all through the hot months. The larva feeds on lime
and orange.
80. P. helenus. — I found this not uncommon at Mahabaleshwar
last March, but have never met with it elsewhere. I know it occurs
occasionally at Khandalla. This and the last two species have the
habit of going regularly round a certain circuit, so that by taking
one's stand at a spot where it has passed once one is pretty sure to
meet it again every half hour or so,
81. P. dissimilis. — This is either very rare in the Presidency
or passes so easily for Danaia limniace that it escapes notice,
but last year in November and- again in February I found a good
many larvae on a tree near my house which proved to be Tetran-
thera apetala, rather an uncommon tree in Bombay. The larva
grows to a very large size, but just before becoming a pupa it
voids a transparent membrane, like a bladder filled with air, which
reduces it considerably. One end of this is attached by a fine black
cord to the surface on which the larva rests and the other merges
in a large gathering of excrement. The pupa is a much more re-
markable example of mimicry than the perfect insect. Its resem-
blance to a withered twig broken off short being perfect in every
detail. Distant in his magnificent work quotes more than one
authority to the effect that the flight of this butterfly is very strong.
My observation does not confirm this. On the contrary I have been
more than once struck with the degree to which its mimicry of B,
limniace was supported by the similarity of its lazy flight and
attitude.
82. P. clytia, — Among the larvae of the last species, which I
reared, was one, not distinguishable from the rest, which to my
astonishment turned into this. I am quite satisfied that the two
are one species. I have never recognised another specimen of
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88 KAiURAL History.
panope in this Presidency, but have little doubt that I have often
let it pass for E. core.
88. P* diphilus. — This species is not rare in Bombay, but has
its home on the Deccan plains, where throughout the cold season
one finds every babool tree, early in the morning, decorated with
hundreds of them torpid with cold. They always rest with wings
expanded. The larva feeds on A^'istolochia bracteata, a common
weed in black soil. The flight of this species, like that of most
protected butterflies, is notably feeble.
84. P. hector, — I have found this in Poona, Bombay and the
Islands of the Bombay harbour, but it is leather a scarce butterfly in
this Presidency. It seems to be much commoner some years than
others.
PiBRINJi.
85. Hebomoia glaucippe. — 'I have never seen this at Poona, nor
in open country anywhere, but in hilly country it occurs down to
the level of the sea. One specimen in the collection was caught on
Malabar Hill in Bombay, and it is not uncommon across the harbour.
On the Ghauts it is very abundant in March and perhaps throughout
the cold season. It flies very fast, but often stops at a flower, rest-
ing, like the next four or five species, with its wmgs half open and
drooping.
86. Ixias mariamne. — This occurs every where and at all
seasons, frequenting hedges and small jungle. It is equally abund-
ant on the hills and on the plains.
87. I. pyrene. — Perhaps not quite so plentiful as the last, but
equally ubiquitous. I believe in only two species of Ixias in this
Presidency. Those who describe under a new name every specimen
in which their practised eyes detect some minute diversity in the
position of a spot or the breath of a margin, seem to me to assume
an invariability of specific coloration which has no parallel elsewhere
in the animal kingdom, and the argument that the varieties so
described are constant loses all force to the plain man's mind when
he finds that one expert rejects half the species founded, or accepted,
by another.
88. Teracolus danae» This species seems to require a dry
climate. I have found it pretty common in Berar and Cutch and it
Occurs in Poona, but not ordinarily in the Konkan, though Col.
Swinhoe took it in Bombay during the famine year.
89. r. etrida, I have not yet seen any reason to believe that
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A LIST OF THE BOMBAY BUTTERFLIES IN THE SOCIETY'S COLLECTION. 39
all the orange-tipped teracoli in this Presidency constitute more
than one species. It is subject, like most of the pierirue, to very
wide variation, which does not seem to depend much on climate or
season. I have reared very different varieties from larvae taken at
one time in the same spot, if not on the saine plant. The larva
feeds on a small climbing caper which is very common on the hilly
parts of Bombay. (Young plant of C. horrida ?) It is nearly cylin-
drical, slender and of a uniform green colour, with the rough
surface characteristic of the larvae of Catopsilia and Terias. The
pupa has a sharp transverse ridge above, at the junction of the
thorax and abdomen, which extends well beyond the general out-
line on each side, forming a pointed lateral process. From this a
dorsal ridge runs out into a similar point just over and behind the
head. The colour is light green, with a triangular patch of yellow-
ish white on the anterior side of each lateral process and a similar
patch covering the top of the head. This species is in season at the
commencement of the hot weather.
90. T. cyproea. This occurs sparingly in Bombay, but is common
in May and again at the close of the year among the salt works on
the mainland across the harbour, where I have found the larva in
November and December feeding on a tree, called by the natives
Sairi, fond of briny situations. I have persecuted the Botanical
Section for its name without success.* It is slender, cylindrical and
rough on the upper surface like the larva of Terisa, On examina-
tion with a strong lens this roughness proves to be due to minute
tubercles, out of each of which grows a short black bristle. Each
side, above the base of the legs, is fringed with somewhat longer
white hairs. The colour is grass green above, with a dark blue
dorsal line very narrowly bordered with yellow. The under side
18 a paler bottle green, a lateral yellowish line separating the two
tints. The pupa is very similar in form to that of Terias and of
a dingy whitey-brown colour. The aspect of this pupa confirms
my general impression that this species is much nearer to Terias
than to some of the species with which it has been lumped under
the name Teracolus*
91. T. dynamene. Mr. Newnham sent a number of these from
Bhooj, and I found it common at Kharaghora on the borders of the
Runn of Cutch in the hot season.
* Avicennia tomontoso — A white-flowered variety of Mangrove. — K. B. Kirtikar,
Botanical Secretary.
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40 NATURAL HISTORY.
92. T. puellaris. I found this also at Kbaraghora in company
with the last. They were always flitting about the wild caper {C.
aphylla) which formed the most prominent feature of the vegetation
in that wilderness, and I have no doubt now that they were laying
their eggs on it.
93. T. protracttis. For our specimens of this we are indebted
to Mr. Newnham at Bhooj.
94. 1\ fausta. I found this at Kbaraghora in the rainy season.
We have it from Bhooj too. This and the last three are purely
desert insects and are out of place in this collection ; but the few
butterflies we have from Cutch have been temporarily included
in the collection representing Bombay and the Deccan.
95. T.fulvia, 1^ There is one specimen of each without
96. T, t'i^punctata. / note of locality.
97. Appias libythea. This is very common in Bombay about
the beginning of the hot season, that is fco say in " spring. '^ I have
found the larvBB in April on more than one Common plant of the
caper tribe. It is at first sight like that of T, etrida, but the anal
extremity tapers slightly and ends in a bifid projection. The pupa
is exactly like that of T. etrida in form, but diflferent in colour,
being pale watery green with numerous dark spots.
98. Belenois mesentina. This is pretty common everywhere,
and long ago T found the larvse of it on a plant which from my
recollection of it must have been Cadaha indica. Capers are
evidently wholesome to the pierine constitution. Unfortunately
I kept no notes then, but I recollect the larva as clothed sparingly
with soft hair, like that of D. eucharis,
99. Huphina phryne. This is another species which from my
point of view has been most needlessly split up. It is one of the
few species of which it may with truth be said that it is in season
all the year round. It is as common on the hills as on the plains.
100. Delias eucharis. — This is common all the year except
during the months of heavy rain. It rises early in the morning
and flies high, but not fast. The larva feeds on the common
mistletoe, Loranthus longiflorus, which grows on mango and most
other trees everywhere. Unlike nearly all other butterflies and like
moths, this species lays its eggs not singly, but together, in regular
rows. The larvae are gregarious when young and soon clear a
small Loranthus of its leaves, and the habit which they have of let-
ting themselves down by their silk when disturbed is no doubt
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A LIST OF THE BOMBAY BUTTERFLIES IN THE SOCIETY'S COLLECTION. 41
connected with the necessity so often imposed on them of travelling
in search of fresh pastures. I do not think birds -eat them^ but
they are the victims of a dipterous parasite, in appearance not
unlike a house fly. Immediately after the caterpillar has become
a pupa, the larvas of the parasite, of which there may be half a
dozen, undergo the same change within its shell and the beautiful
bright yellow pupa at once turns black.
101. Nepheronia gfaea.— This is very common in Bombay at the
close of the monsoon and for some time after. It frequents lanes
and hedges, especially where there is water and plenty of verdure,
102. Pontia mphia. — This comes out about the close of the rainy
season and continues all through the cold months. About shady
lanes and hedges it is sometimes very abundant, flying low and
settling constantly, I think it occurs throughout the Presidency,
wherever there is sufficient moisture and vegetation,
103. Oatopsilia, — This perplexing genus is poorly represented
in the collection, and I must annotate on it as a whole, never having
been able to form an opinion for myself as to how many distinct
species there really are (I mean in nature, not in museums). Pyranthe
keeps itself quite distinct, laying its eggs on a small annual shrub
[Cassia occidentalis) ; but the larger species fly high and fast, are
indistinguishable on the wing and appear to feed indiscriminately
on several leguminous trees, and as the larvae resemble each other
strongly, it is almost impossible to settle anything by breeding
unless one could induce the insect to lay its eggs in captivity, which
I fancy would be difficult.
This genus difi'ers from all the preceding in one point of attitude,
namely that, when at rest, it sits upright with wings firmly closed.
The habit of migrating westwards has often been noticed. I have
observed these migrations in September, and always I think in the
face of a strong west wind.
104. Terlag Zae^a.— This species, though by no means so abun-
dant as the next, is common enough about Bombay at the end of the
rainy season and for some time after. It varies little compared
with the next,
105. T. hecabe. — Till some one arises with leisure and abilty to
rescue this genus from the chaos into which it has been plunged
by reckless species-making, everything which is not laeta must go
as hecabe, I am disposed from my own observation to believe in
a third species, smaller and more dusky than hecabe, which swarms
6
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42 NATURAL HISTORY,
about grassy plains during the monsoon, laying its eggs on »
minute leguminous weed among the grass. Hecabe proper feeds on
several leguminous plants, but seems to forsake all else for Sesbania
aculeata, already mentioned as the food of Tarucus plinius.
Hesferiid^.
The Heeperiid^ seem to me to be very much over classified.
Nothing is gained by dividing a group of butterflies so much alike
in all stages of their existence into such a multitude of genera, and
I very much doubt whether it will not bo found necessary, as our
knowledge of their life history advances, to re-arrange the whole
family, dividing some of the present genera and uniting others,
106. Oangara thyrsis. — I do not think I have met with this
species out of Bombay, and there it is capriciously distributed, being
common in some gardens and absent from others. It comes out
before dawn and after sunset, and is always at flowers, particularly
those of lilies.
107. Pratapa alexia. — This species is very abundant in the
country surrounding Bombay during the rains. I have found it also
in fields of lucerne grass in Poena during the hot weather in
company with the next. It feeds chiefly in the morning. As the
stout thorax indicates, it is one of the strongest of butterflies on
the wing.
108. Badumia exclamationis, — This is common everywhere while
the rain lasts, swarming about duranta and other plants with small
flowers, especially in the early morning. When crossing the Bom-
bay harbour about the month of September one meets hundreds of
hesperiid(S flying over the sea, this being one of the most plentiful.
110. Pamara naroda. —.1 know little about this. We have
two specimens.
P. bada. — We have only one specimen.
110. C, mathias. — This is about the commonest of the family
during the rains. The larva feeds on a common grass, stitching the
edges of a leaf together so as to form a tube, in which it lives,
coming out to feed at night. It passes the pupa state in the same
shelter.
111. 0. agna, — I believe I have bred this on rice. The larvae
has the same habit as the last.
112. Suastus grcmins' — This is not uncommon in Bombay and
Poena, being very similar in habits to the last two.
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A LIST OP THE BOMBAY BUTTERPLTES IN THE SOCIETY'S COLLECTION. 43
113. Isoteinon nilgiriana. —The specimens in the collection were
contributed by Mr. Wroughton, I believe, from the Tanna District.
I know nothing about it.
114. Telicota augias.-^We hdiYQ one specimen only, caught by
Mr. Wroughton at Nasik.
115. Padraona dara, — The same gentleman contributed this
species from the Nasik District,
116. Astidopterus salsala. — There are a few specimens of this,
without note of locality. I have found it in Bombay.
117. Taradrocera ceramas. — I got a few specimens of this at
Egutpoora in October.
118. Ampittia coras. — This is not rare anywhere during the
monsoon, but difficult to see and more difficult to keep sight of, as
it flies fast, but very low, and alights on the ground.
119. Udaspesfolus. — This is chiefly a hill species, very common
on the ghauts in shady lanes early in the morning.
120. Pyrgus galba, — There are specimens in the collection from
the Tanna District and also from Cutch, the former being conspi-
cuously larger and darker than the latter. I have never met with
it.
121. Abaratha ransonettii, — We have only one specimen, which
I caught at Egutpoora in October 1885.
122. A, Tissa, — Our two specimens of this were caught by Mr.
Wroughton at Bansda between the Surat and Tanna districts.
123. Pterygospidea angulata. — I saw two or three specimens
of this at Mahabaleshwar last March and caught one. They
were flying about at noon and resting on flowers with wings
expended.
124. Plesioneura amheresa, — This comes out in March and in
suitable situations is very abundant. 1 have found it in Bombay, on
Karanja Island and at all the hill stations. It is quite a moth in its
habits, taking shelter during the day in the house and flying by
night.
125. P. Alysos. — I caught a single specimen of this at Maha-
baleshwar last March. It has no business to be in the same genus
as the last. It closes its wings when at rest.
126. Saranyesa purendra. — This is a miniature of P. ambaresa
in all respects. Like that species it frequents rocky places and
when resting on a stone is difficult to detect. It is to be found
almost everywhere.
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44 NATURAL HISTORY.
127. S. Dasahapa, — Mr. Wroughton took two specimens of this
at Bassein in the Tanna District.
In concluding these very superficial notes I must acknowledge
my indebtedness to Mr. L. de Nic^ville and also to Colonel C
Swinhoe for that assistance in naming specimens without which
a mere collector like myself could not haye proceeded many steps.
NOTES ON ^^THE WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA/'
By Me. J, D. Inverarity.
'"" The interesting article on the above subject by Keswal in the
October number of the Society^s Journal induces me to send you a
few rough notes taken from my journal which I think will prove
that some of the birds mentioned by Keswal as not occurring in
the Konkan are to be found there.
The Indian Golden Plover. — This bird, I should say, is fairly com-
mon about the salt lands and rice fields bordering the numerous
creeks that run up from the Bombay Harbour. The first I remember
seeing, were on the Bombay flats in October 1877. I saw three and
shot a couple on the site of the present race-course. In a sub-
sequent year, I think March 1883, 1 saw a flock of about a dozen close
to the race-course one evening when I was riding. I approached
quite close to them two or three times, and have no doubt they were
golden plovers. I have also shot them as follows : — February 1878,
4i couple near Panwell ; December 1878, IJ couple on the Tanna
creek; November 1880, 2 couple near Tullooja; February 1881, 2i
couple near Panwell ; February 1884, 1 couple near Panwell; Nov-
ember 1886, 2 couple near Penn. In fact, I may say, I have seen
some every year I have been shooting. I was at home in the cold
Weather of 1879-80, 1882-83 and 1884-85, which accounts for my
having no note of them in those seasons.
The Bittern.— The large true bittern I have shot several times,
though in some years they don't put in an appearance. In Oc-
tober 1877 I shot one on the Bombay flats close to the site of the
present James Greaves Spinning Mill ; January 1878, saw one on
the Bhewndy Tank ; February 1878, shot one at Panwell ; February
1881, one shot at Panwell; November 1883, two shot at Tullooja;
Pecember 1883, two shot at Deo near Panwell; February 1884,
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NOTES ON ''the WATERS OP WESTERN INDIA/' 46
one shot at Panwell. I have seen two or three others besides of
which I have no note as to dates.
The Chesnut Bittern {Ardetta cinnamomea) — is fairly common.
I have seen several, but have seldom fired at them. I have shot
them at Gorebunder, and shot one near Penn on November 28th,
3886.
Tlie Stone Plover [Bastard Floricam), — Rare. I have only shot one
at Panwell and don't remember having seen another.
The black-tailed Godwit. — I have only once seen one, a solitary
bird. I shot it in February 1884 among the salt pans at Penn.
The Avocet — does not occur, I think, about the Bombay Harbour.
I have seen several and shot a few in the creeks near Udwara and
Billimoria.
The Purple Coot. — Large numbers are to be found on the Bhewndy
Tank. I saw three and shot one on the Vehar Lake.
The Bald Coot, — Quite common, large flocks on the Bhewndy
Tank,^ Panwell Tank, Vehar Lake, on several small tanks near
Callian, Panwell, Penn. Bald coots are always to be found in
the cold weather ; not having visited them at other times of the
year, I can't say if they remain there.
Bails and Crakes, — A large variety are to be found in the paddy
fields across the harbour before the rice is cut. I am unable to
particularize them as I have seldom fired at them. The spotted
crake (Porzana Maruetta)^ I know, is pretty common; I have shot
it occasionally.
Curlew, — I saw a curlew on the Bombay race-course on Septem-
ber 26th, 1886.
The Cotton Teal, — This duck certainly bred this year in the paddy
fields near Indune. I shot several, some of them young birds, of
this year on November 3rd, and also saw a young one alive, unable
to fly, in tiie possession of a villager who had caught it.
The Nukta, — A young bird of this year was shot by Mr. Leslie
Crawford in my presence on a small tank not far from Penn on
November 28th. It was a solitary one. I have not seen the nukta
here before. On the same tank, at the same time, I shot a tufted
pochard, also a solitary one. I sent the latter to the Society. It
had a bright golden eye, so I am sure it was the tufted pochard,
Mr. Aitken at first thought it was a white-eyed pochard.
The Scaup Duck, — I shot a female on a small tank near Panwell
on January 13th, 1884. I believe this is the only instance of a scaup
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46 NATURAL HISTORY.
duck being shot in the Bombay Presidency, though I believe a few
have been procured at Kurrachee.
The following ducks have all been shot by me about Bombay : —
The whistling teal, the shoveller, the gadwall, the common teal,
the garganey teal, the pochard or dun bird, the white-eyed pochard,
to which list may be added the nukta, the tufted pochard and the
scaup mentioned above. The shell drake, the Brahminy, the
mallard, the spot-billed duck, the pintail and the wigeon, I have
not come across near Bombay.
The whistling teal and cotton teal, I think, breed in some tanks a
few miles from Narel ; as least I have seen large numbers there.
The pheasant-tailed Jacana* — I have seen numbers of these birds
on the tanks at Callian.
The Woodcock. — One was shot near Tanna in 1878, 1 saw the skin.
(See Stray Feathers, Vol. 7, p. 525).
I hope that other members of the Society, who have more time at
their disposal than I have, will send to the Society^s Journal any-
thing worth recording that they may have observed.
SOME FURTHER NOTES ON ABNORMAL HORNS.
By the Editor.
One of the most interesting cases of abnormality that has come
before me lately is that of a doe-antelope. A, hezoartica, of which I
give an illustration. The females of this species, as in the <iase of
most . of the Oervidce and Antelopinoe, are hornless, but this
specimen exhibits a pair of very symmetrical horns, ringed, but not
spiral, situated on well-formed bony cores and diverging outwards,
downwards, and forwards like those of a wild sheep. The horns
are thin, about 1 inch in diameter, and about 22 inches in length.
They belong unmistakably to a doe, and not to a young male.
The skin has well-defined traces of the mammas. The animal was
shot by native shikaris, and the head and skin, which are the
property of H. H. the Maharajah of Jodhpore, were sent here for
inspection. It is to be regretted that we had not the creature
in the flesh, for dissection would probably have shown abnormal
conditions, either hermaphroditism or ovarian disease. In the Linn.
Transactions, Vol. II., it is recorded that a female doe with a single
horn resembling that of a three-year old buck, was found on dis-
section to have the ovary of the same side scirrhous. An interesting
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ABNORMAL SANIBAR HORNS-
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NEW SPECIES OP PISH PROM KURRACHEB AND THE PERSIAN GULP. 47
fact regarding the production of malformed horns has recently
been brought to my notice by Dr. A. Barry, at present Superin-
tendent of Matheran. It bears on the probable influence that
certain injuries may exert on the growth of antlers. We know
that a common operation will stop the growth in the young male, or
cause a deteriorated horn in the adult, which remains permanent, and
is not shed annually. Dr. Barry had a tame Cheetal stag, with fine
horns of normal shape. He had a severe accident, breaking one of
his hind legs ; the following and successive years the antler on the
side opposite to his injured leg was deformed. Now against this
I bring forward a case of angther Cheetal stag in the Kurrachee
Gardens. This creature jumped out of a window, and broke one of
his fore legs, the injury had no efiect whatever on his horns. In
Dr. Barry^s stag the injury was probably communicated sympatheti-
cally to the internal organs, and such cases may be more frequent
in the jungles than we imagine, and so lead to the numerous
examples we have collected of abnormal antlers. I have figured on
stone, from water colour sketches by Major Gr. R. R. Poole, of the 12th
Lancers, two very curious Sambar horns, very massive and large,
which he saw hung up in the outer Court of the Jeypore Museum.
He wrote — '^The thick ten-pointed one is a Sambar, without
doubt, the other eight-poinfced one is,Ibelieve, a Sambar. I know the
Kashmir stag well, and do not think it was one. The heads were
hung so highthat I could not get at them, but should say the massive
one was about 40 inches, or getting on for it. The other seemed two
or three inches longer.^* It is doubtful whether the latter is not an
immature horn of Cervus Cashmirianus, but I am inclined to think
not from its size. If, therefore, it be a Sambar, it shows o, curioUs
progression from the Rusine to the Cervine or Elaphine type, the
bez- tines being of perfectly normal shape and size it only requires
the addition of a tres-tine to make it an Elaphine antler. I have
written to enquire further about these horns.
R. A. S.
NEW SPECIES OF FISH FROM KURRACHEE
AND THE PERSIAN GULF.
By James A. Murray, late Curator op the Kurrachee Museum.
Salarias Pulcher — S'p. nov.
Head vertically rounded in front with a pair of inter-orbital ten-
tacles, none ' on the nape ; eyes placed forward, the orbital ridge
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48 NATURAL HISTORY.
in front projecting, and the inter-orbital space above the tentacle^
concave. No crest on the head. The maxilla reaches to below the
middle of the eye. No canines. Dorsal fin divided by a notch and
with \^ spines and rays, not continuous with the caudal ; 8th to 11th
spines of first dorsal with free rays projecting beyond the membrane.
Anal fin with 20 rays ; caudal with free rays. Head f th of the
total length ; height of body a little more than Jth. Pectoral laid
forward reaches a little beyond the hind edge of the eye.
Colors, — Anterior two-thirds chocolate brown; posterior third
golden yellow, with 5 — 7 vertical dark bars. Caudal pale yellow
slightly -edged with brown. Dorsal fin with a dark spot on the
upper edge between the 1st and 2nd spines; a second also on the
upper edge between the 2ud and 3rd spines. A third ovate spot
mesially between the 5th and 6th spines ; a fourth at base of 7th
spine ; a fifth on the upper edge enveloping the 7th and 8th spines,
a sixth also on the upper edge enveloping the 9th, 10th, and 11th
spines. Base of 1st dorsal brown; 2nd dorsal unmarked; pectoral
pale yellow; anal white anteriorly and pale yellow posteriorly;
slightly bordered with brown .
A second specimen agrees with the above description in every
particular, except that there is only a spot between the 2nd and
8rd spines, and another on the 7th and 8th spines, the others being
absent, owing probably to age.
Hab, — Kurrachee, Manora.
Salabias opercularis — fifp. nov.
D. 1^7; Anal 18.19.
The highest part of the body equals the distance between the
snout and hind margin of the branchiostegals, and is 4J to 4f
times in the total length. The forehead does not project in line
with the snout. A pair of simple tentacles at the nostril, another
above the orbit. A curved canine on each side of the lower jaw
behind the series, of small teeth. Inter -orbital space concave, its
width less than the diameter of the eye; the maxilla extends to below
the middle of the eye. Dorsal fin notched and not continuous with
the caudal, both portions of nearly equal height. Anal fin not as
high as the body.
Colors, — Body pale fleshy with seven vertical brown bands extend-
ing to the upper edge of the dorsal; 1st dorsal with a dark spot on
the upper edge between the 1st and 2nd spines. Anal rays ciliated
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BBSCRIPTION OP NEW LIZARDS FROM THE BANGS. 49
and narrowly edged with brown. A dark patch on the opercle and
an oblique streak below it behind the maxilla, and another vertical
one immediately below the middle of the eye.
In the adolescent and young these streaks are continued to below
the chin, and in the interspace between these two lines are two
Bubtriangolar dark spots.
Hah. — Kurrachee (Manora rocks).
PsEUDOCHROMis PersicVs — 8p, nov.
B. 5 D. /^; Vent ^; Pect. 18; L.l. f^, not continuous; Anal ^%;
L. T. 15. The height of the body equals the distance between the
snout and the extreme hind edge of the preoperclO} and is 4^ times
in the total length.
Length of snout equal to the diameter of the eye. Opercles scaly.
Dorsal and anal fins produced posteriorly and pointed. All the rays of
the anal, pectoral, ventral, caudal and the posterior rays of the dorsal
branched ; caudal fin covered with scales for one-half its length.
Colors. — Pale fleshy on the body. Head and snout brown, two
longitudinal pale bluish white lines on the preopercle ; a black spot
behind the opercle with a vertical bluish white line through it, in
its anterior third. Body covered with scattered blue spots. Dorsal,
anal, and caudal fins with faint blue spots, not unlike broken up
undulating lines. The young has a dark brown line running from
the snout through the eye to the end of the dorsal fin, which dis-
appears with age.
Hab, — The Persian Gulf. I am indebted to Captain Bishop, of
the I. G. S. Patrick Stewart, for specimens of this fish, which
were collected by him in the Persian Gulf, when repairing the
Indo-European Telegraph cable.
DESCRIPTION OF A NEW LIZARD PROM THE DANQS.
By F. Glbadow.
Hemidacylus Murrayi, 8p, nov.
Digits quite free ; free distal joints of digits long ; dorsal tubercles
strongly keeled ; not more than 8 lamellce under the inner toe and
11 under the median toe; 5(4 — 6) lamella under the inner, and
8 (7 — 9) under the median toe. Tubercles in 16 — 20 (14 — 22) longi^
iudinal series.
Males with 6 — Sfemoi^al pores on each side,
7
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50 NATURAL HISTOKY.
Snout longer than distance between eye and ear opening, about
J i the diameter of orbit. Forehead concave. Ear opening oblique,
less than half the diameter of the eye. Digits moderately dilated,
the inner well developed. Rostral grooved, slightly broader than
high. Upper labials 10 — 12. Lower labials 9 — 10. Nostril between
the rostral, first labial, and three small tubercles similar to. those
on the muzzle. Back of head, and between eye and ear-opening,
granular, with scattered conical or rounded tubercles. Eyelid
distinct, granular. Pupil vertical. Chin-shields two pair, the first
largest and in contact with the triangular mental and first labials.
Second pair smaller opposite the second labials, reaching their
posterior suture, but sometimes touching the first labials. Mental
broader than the rostral. A row of decidedly, enlarged scales along
the lower labials, followed interiorly by others diminishing in size.
Chin and throat with small granular scales. Upper labials bordered
by a distinct row of tubercles slightly longer than those on the
muzzle. Tubercles on the muzzle closely packed, smallest in front
of the eye. Scales across middle of abdomen in 32 — 36 rows, each
scale minutely 3 — 10 dotted. Back covered with granular scales
interspersed with 16 — 20 (14 — 22) rows of keeled trihedral tubercles
more conical on the flanks, and all less than half the diameter of
the ear-opening in size. Limbs with scattered keeled tubercles.
Tail longer than head and body, verticillate, grooved medially above,
as far as 10 or more verticels. The first few verticels with 3 — 4
sharp conical keeled tubercles on each side, decreasing in number
and size towards the tip. Sub-caudals enlarged, about 50 — 60 in
number to tip of tail. Femoral pores 6 — 8 on each side, interrupted
in the middle. The foreleg laid forward reaches nearly the nostril.
Inner toe with 5 (4 — 6) lamellae below. Median toe with 8 (7 — 9)
lamellae.
Color grey, with several dark bands across the back, the bands
shaped somewhat like two crescents back to back, thus X«
Markings frequently variable or indistinct. A dark streak from
nostril to eye, with three others diverging behind the orbit, the
upper one sometimes produced over the shoulder; underparts
white ; tail banded.
Length — Head and body 66 mm. (2| in), tail 75 mm. (3 in).
The above description is taken from 24 specimens, 8 males and 16
females, forming a nearly pure gathering from two localities, Pimpri
and Garvi, in the " Bangs,'' a forest and mountainous region of
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ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 61
about 1,000 sq. miles, with a rainfall of about 100 inches, at the
nortb-west extremity of the Syhadri or Ghat range, between
Khandesh and Surat. The animal inhabits both trees and houses,
living under loose bark, and in nooks and crannies. Its habits are
chiefly nocturnal, though it may be caught in the day . time. I
believe I have it also from the town of Surai, but this locality
requires confirmation.
I desire to name this new species after Mr. J. A. Murray, to whom
I am indebted for a great deal of willing assistance during the past.
ZOOLOGICAL NOTES.
Dblphinus lentiginosus. I have received a letter from Mr. Sinclair
announcing the capture of a fine Delphinus on the Alibag Coast, which apparently
is lentiginosus, and if so it is a very fine specimen, the skin of which is an acquisition
to our Museum. The average length of this species is from seven to eight feet. I
give Mr. Sinclair's careful measurements and description : —
Adult Male — Length between standards 10' &'
* Greatest height exclusive of dorsal fin. 1' 5"
Greatest circumference of pectoral region exclusive of fins 4' 3"
Height of dorsal fin 8"
Base length of dorsal, true horizontal 2' 3'^
Extreme length of flipper, from front of axilla to tip 1' 3"
Greatest depth of fluke parallel to spine 9"
Greatest expanse of flukes 2f 21*
(Note that this is identical with base length of dorsal fin.)
Length of rostrum (restricted) 8" . Spiracle single, fairly large, cresentic. A
vertical line drawn through its posterior angles would cut the anterior angles of
the eyes. Teeth numerous in both jaws, conical, not yet counted.
The shape is that of the genus ; the caudal region is very much compressed, and
its inferior and superior surfaces produced into what might be called rudimentary
anal and dorsal fins.
Colour — Above (and below behind the anus) rather pale leaden gray, with
numerous long drop- shaped spots. Of these the majority, especially on the
rostum, limbs, dorsal fin, and flukes, are pure white, the rest dark slate color
or black.
Below, from the anus forivard the general ground colour is white, much mottled
on the belly with the dorsal ground colour, less so on the breast, and the mental
region almost pure white; but there are a few black spots.
* This of course would be muoh greater in the water, the weight of the animal in
shore depressing the anterior parts.
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52 NATUEAL HISTORY.
Contents of stomach a few small Crustacea.
The specimen was caught in a drift net in the offing of Ahbag.
The dental formula which he sent me in a subsequent letter gives'}} — |J.
The specimens reported on by Professor Owen had |J — If = 129, which differs
somewhat, but I find that much stress must not be laid on the teeth 4n Dolphins.
Delphinus gadamu varies in individuals from 96 to 108 teeth.
R. A. STERN DALE.
NEST AND EGGS OF CINNYRIS LOTENIA.
As far as I know there is nothing on record about the breeding of this sunbird,
and since I went to Uran on the so-called Island of Karanja, where the bird is
not uncommon, I have been on the watch for its nest. It is a permanent
resident, frequenting the sides of the hills, and incessantly uttering the loud
cheery note which serves at once to distinguish it from the other members of its
family. It seems fonder of flowers than either asiatica or zeylomca, and often
hovers over them HJie a hawkmoth, inserting its long tongue.
In October I suspected strongly that a pair had a nest somewhere in a well-
wooded slope close to my house, but I did not succeed in finding it. Later on I
saw a pair followed by two young ones, and my heart sank within me. But the
birds themselves came to the aid of science, and, about the beginning of November,
made a beautiful nest in the middle of a small tree close to my verandah. I had
to watch it carefully, for there was a pair of zeylonica in the garden. However,
the birds were not shy, and I soon had abundance of opportunity of assuring
myself about the ownership of the nest. As I frequently saw the female going in
and out, I concluded the eggs were not yet laid ; so I waited a week and then one
morning I went cautiously up and touched the nest with a long stick. In a
moment the bird darted out and flew round and round me, screaming and calling
all the birds of the neighbourhood together. It is one of my rules not to take
nests in my own garden, but on this occasion I thought the rule would be more
honoured in the breach than the observance, so I mounted a chair and cut the
nest down. What was my horror on discovering that it contained one egg and
one young one, just hatched. I plunged the other egg at once into cold water,
and left it in it for five minutes in order to kill the chick, if there shouhl be one.
Alas I next evening, thirty-six hours after, this egg too was broken, and a little
naked thing was struggling to get out. I have therefore only the broken shell
of one egg and the nest for my spoil. The nest, as you see, is remarkably long,
measuring fully ten inches. Otherwise it is very similar to that of zeylonica,
having the entrance near the top, protected by a portico. It is constructed of
fine fibres and grass, and covered all over with small pieces of bark and other
rubbish, chiefly that favourite material with all sunbirds, the woody refuse with
which wood -boring caterpillars cover the entrances of their holes.
The egg is not an ornamental one. The ground colour is a dirty brow nish
white, the smaller end being thickly covered with dull brown spots, which pass
into larger confluent blotches and form a cap on the other end.
E. H. AITKEN.
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ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 58
THE CAT AND THE SQUIRREL— A FOSTER-MATERNAL FREAK.
We have all heard of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a she-wolf and
similar, and perhaps better authenticated, stories. But until a few days ago I
never had the chance to see a cat nursing a squirrel.
First I must tell the adventures of the cat, the heroine of the tale . One evening,
when dressing for dinner, I threw a garment into my dirty clothes basket. Out
bounced a cat to my great surprise and temporary discomfiture. Hearing faint
squeaks from the basket I looked in and saw three little kittens snugly nestled in
the folds of crumpled shirts and other things. The outraged mother, a cat of
decent appearance, with perhaps a dash of Persian blood in her, had belonged to a
friend next door, but on his departure, had been left behind, as cats too frequently
are, to become a homeless vagabond. Though keenly sympathising with the cat
and her troubles, it was out of the question that she should he allowed to make
my clothes basket a lying-in hospital. Her feelings towards me were no doubt
similar to those entertained by Calverley's cat towards the pot boy who
** Peep'd with a scared wan face ;
Then sent a random brick-bat down which knocked her into space.
Had I, as some cats have, nine tails, how gladly would I lick
The hand and person generally, of him who heaved that brick."
However I did not heave a brick at her. I only had the kittens firmly but
tenderly ejected, and sent ofi^ to the back premises of the next house, where the
cat was supposed to have her domicile. But the cat had National League ideas,
and was not going to submit tamely to eviction. On my returning from dining
ont, there she was again with all her family complete in my clothes basket.
The process of eviction was then repeated, the kittens deposited as before
in the verandah of the cook-room next door. To make re-entry impossible, I put
the lid on the basket, shut the door and window of my dressing-room, and went
to bed. I certainly thought I had got rid of the family this time. But the old
cat was not to be done so easily. " Give up ? give up, be blowed," said she. Next
morning cat and kittens were found calmly established on a pile of magazines on
a book shelf in my office. Summary eviction was again necessary, but this time
my wife interceded, and accommodated the family with a box in the verandah
close by ; there a few hours afterwards one kitten died, and a fourth was born
and took its place.
Why the cafe had such strong opinions as to the propriety of bringing up her
vagabond progeny in my house I can't conceive. We had never taken the slightest
notice of her, and her appearance, before this episode occurred, would certainly
have resulted in her being introduced to a couple of fox-terriers, whose manners,
in the presence of cats, are more forcible than polite.
Now comes the squirrel part of the story. On the day following the installation
of the cat in the box in the verandah, my wife found a tiny baby squirrel
{^Sciurus ptdmarum) clinging to a creeper in the porch. It had no doubt tumbled
out of its nest somewhere in the eaves. It looked the picture of misery, shiver-
ing and woe- begone. Happy thought ! Put the little waif in with the kittens. As
the old lady was out on the rampage at the time, no sooner said than done.
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54 NATURAL HISTORY.
AVhether the cat would welcome the intruder seemed very doubtful, and until her
return the fate of the foundling trembled in the balance. The cat might say—
" They call me cruel. Do I know if mouse or squirrel feels ?
" I only know they make me light and salutary meals.
" And if, as 'tis my nature to, ere I devour I tease 'em.
" Why should a low-bred gardener's boy pursue me with a besom ?"
Our suspicions of what the cat might say or do was groundless. An hour later
the foundling was seen comfortably sucking the cat, going shares with the
kittens, and holding its own, as if the whole place belonged to it. The cat was
purring contentedly and seemed to think it all right. Four whole days have passed
since the foundling made acquaintance with the Amah, and it appears to be sleek
and thriving. It certainly gets its fair share of the cat's attentions, and although
not a quarter the weight of its foster brothers, is much too 'cute and active to be
crowded out at meal time.
The cat has made one attempt since this addition to her family cares, to regain
her old stronghold, the clothes bnsket. She deposited one of her kittens on the
floor close by the basket. She couldn't get in as the lid was shut, but she left the
kitten down below it, as a last mute appeal to our good feelings. But we were
obdurate, and replaced the kitten in the box. At present she appears outwardly
satisfied, bub I have no doubt she'll try it on again, if ever she finds the cover off
the basket.
G. VIDAL.
Poona, 2\8t October 1886.
Editor's Note, — Mr. Vidal in a subsequent letter informed me that the interesting
family had come to an untimely end, owing to his dogs having discovered
the box.
R. A. S.
NOTES ON THE HABITS OF NEPITA CONFERTA.
Among all orders of insects are found many very interesting habits with relation
to self-preservation. The insect in question is a small moth of the family
LithasudsB.
Having lately bred several specimens, I was much struck with the manner of
preserving the chrysalis from the attacks of ants. The larva of Nepita Conferta
is a small hairy caterpillar of a dull brown colour, having a creamy mark on the
3rd and 4)th segments. It feeds on mosses* and may be found on the walls of
almost any house where a damp spot encourages their growth.
When full grown the larva ascends the wall, and in a very prominent position
makes a slight web interspersed with its own hairs.
The change from larva to pupa takes place within this web. Now a chrysalh
which was merely enclosed in so slight a protection would soon be destroyed by the
numerous ants, who are ever on the prowl. To guard against this evil, before
making the light web, the larva encloses • small space with a wall of hair.
This wall is constructed in the following manner :—
The hairs are placed on one end, with the other end pointing outwards, one hair
having been placed, and made fast to the wall of the house, another is placed
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ZOOLOGICAL NOTES, 55
crossing it, also having its end pointing outwards. In this way the insect continues
until a space is enclosed by the wall thus made, any body who may be incautious
enough to touch this wall of hairs with their hands will repent, for the hairs having
fine sharp points at once enter the skin, and becoming detached from the wall
remain in the skin causing an intolerable itch with great swelling.
I had a box with one of these cocoons in it, which was tightly closed and placed
in an inner room. On going into this room one day, I was surprised to find a great
many confertas busily flying round the closed box ; on opening it, to find out the
cause, I found my moth had just come out a perfect female ; all those flying in the
room were males.
Apart from the extraordinary fact of the males having found out that there
was a female there, their mode of ingress was curious, as to get into the
room they had first to pass through a doorway opposite which a chick was
suspended, they had then to cross the outer room and go through another door-
way before they were in the room which contained the prisoner. I made good use
of this habit by leaving her where she was and selecting the best specimens of
males in the room.
This habit of finding out and coming to a female in captivity is even more
strongly developed in one of our English moths, which is commonly known as the
Oak Egger.
On one occasion in a single day I captured over thirty male Oak Eggers with
one female, and have no doubt I could have taken fifty. There is yet another use
to which Nepita Conferta apparently puts the hairy wall, for I have seen several
cases of the female laying her eggs on top of the deserted cocoon.
The perfect insect is on the wing during June, and another brood appears in
August.
Carwar, H. S. WISE.
September 1st, 1886.
BIRD-NESTING NOTES FROM CUTCH.
I can corroborate Mr. Littledale's assertion that C. affinis (the Indian swift) takes
possession of the nests of H. erythropygius (the Red-rumped Swallow) for on
March 6, in Bhujia Fort, I caught two of these swifts in separate nests of
H. erythrbpygia. One nest contained two fresh eggs, but the other was empty.
C. affinis is not the only bird however that avails itself of the ingenious nest of
H. erythropygia. On April 25 I took 3 eggs of P. flavicollis (the yellow -throate^
Sparrow) out of one of them. To make quite sure of its identity, I shot one of the
parent birds. Also I am nearly certain that some eggs which my shikari brought
me last year out of a nest of Ploceus mwiyar (striated Weaver bird) roust have
belonged to this species, f.*., P . flavicollis, but I never had an opportunity of seeing
the bird. April 15 I shot a pair of Strix Javanica (the Indian screech owl) which,
as far as I know, has not been recorded from this province before. The female on
dissection showed no signs of nidification. Since then I have seen a third.
Within the last month, i.e., April I have seen Peregrine Falcons on two occasions,
and also C. aeruginosus (the Marsh Harrier). Surely this is very late for winter
visitants to be stopping, unless they are breeding. May 2 I found a partridge's
nest in a very unusual situation. It was placed in a hole in the rock about 10 feet
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56
NATURAL HISTORY.
from the ground. I climbed up and found it contained egg», and as far as I
could feel with my hand, there was no attempt at a nest, the eggs being laid on the
hare sand. I may mention that I saw the bird to be the ordinary grey partridge,
P.pondicerianus. April 25 I first observed T. pagodarum (the Brahminy Mynah)
which I had been looking out for for some time. I have never seen them in the
cold westher, so 1 conclude they only come here to breed. Last year I took four
of their nests.
A. NEWNHAM, 10th N. L. I.
THE TWO SHAM AS.
Mr. Hume, speaking of the Shnma (476 Cercotrichas macrura), says: — ** Well
might Jerdon doubt that Philipps' Sharaa described as perching on walls and
breeding in houses, could be this species."
'* Shama " is the native name for the Brown Rockchat (494, Cercomela fusca)
throughout the Central Provinces, and it is this bird that Philipps was writing
about, and not our delightful Indian songster.
" Perching on walls and breeding in houses " is a concise summarj* of its habits.
H. EDWIN BARNES.
MERGUS MERGANSER.
It will interest the ornithological members of the Society to know that I shot a
goosander (Mergus merganser) at Shewa just across the Bombay harbour, on the
2nd instant (December). It w«s a female or immature male, and was playing along
in a shallow sheet of salt water which formed the reservoir of one of the salt works.
1 believe this is the most southern point in India from which the bird has
been recorcled yet.
E H. AITKEN.
LIST OF BIRDS FROM SIND.
Presented by Colonel Swinhoe.
Jerdon*8
No.
English name.
Scientific name.
No. of
speci-
Locality.
11
23
76
89
123
129
136
148
182
212
254
256
257
260
262
265
The Logger Falcon
The Shikra
The Spotted Owlet
The Indian Sand Mar
tin.
The Indian Boiler
The White-breasted
Kingfisher.
The Pied Kingfisher ..,
The Rose-ringed Paro
qnet.
The Pale golden-backed
Woodpecker.
The Pied-crested
Cuckoo.
The European Hoopoe.
The Indian Grey Shrike
The Bufous-backed
Shrike.
The Bay-backed Shrike.
The Pale Brown Shrike.
The Common Wood
Shrike.
Falco jnggni' .,
Astur badius .,
Carine brama .
Cotyle sinensis..
Coracias indica
Halcyon smymensis
Ceryle mdis
PalsBornis torqnatns.
Bachypternus dilutns
Ooccystes melanoleu-
COS.
Upupa epops
Lanias lahtora
Lanius erythronotns. ,
Lanins hardwickii ...
Lanins arenarins ,
Tephrodomis pondi-
cerianns.
Hyderabad.
Kotree.
Sehwan.
Sehwan.
Jacobabad.
Jempeer.
Sehwan.
Shikarpoor.
Kotree.
Knrrachee.
Kotree.
Knrrachee.
Kotree.
Knrrachee.
Sehwan.
Sehwan.
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LIST OF BIRDS PROM SIND.
S7
Jerdon's
English name.
Scientific name.
No. of
speci-
Locality.
278
432
436
438
480
481
483
489
4i>l
492
497
5L4
660 bis
674
681
686
690
€94
695
703
706
721
756
794
799
818
822
829
849
.852
856
872
884
901
903 .
904
907
952
957
965
995
The King Crow
The Bengal Babbler
The large Grey Babbler.'
The Striated Bush
Babbler.
The Brown-backed In
dian Robin.
The White- winged
Blacfe Robin.
The Indian Bushohat ...
The Pied Stone Chat
The Bed-tailed Whea-
ter.
The Black-throated
Whearter.
The Indian Redstart
The Indian Blue-throat.
The Brown-necked
Ba^en.
The Common Indian
Magpie.
The (>}ntmon Starling..
•The Southern Dusky
Myna.
The Rose-colored Star-
ling.
The Common Weaver-
Bird.
The Striated Weaver
Bird.
The Plain brown
Munia.
The House Sparrow
The Black-headed Bunt-
ing.
The Red-winged Bush
Lark.
The Little Brown Dova
The large Sand Grouse.
The Black Partridge
The Grey Partridge
The large Grey Quail
The Indian Ringed
Plover.
The Black-sided Lap-
wing.
The Yellow wattled
Lapwing.
The tfack Snipe .........
The Common Sand
piper.
The Pheasant-tailed
Jacana.
The Bald Coot
The Water-cock
The White-breasted
Water hen.
The Whistling Teal...
Buchanga atra......
Malacocircus terri-
color.
Malacocercus mal-
colmi.
Chatarrhoea caudata.
Thamnobia cam-
bayensis.
Pratincola caprata ...
Pratincola indica .
Saxicola picata .
Saxicola kingi ....
Saxicola deserti
Ruticilla nifiv&ntris..
Cyanecula suecica ...
Corvus umbrinus
Dendrocitta rufa .«
S turn us vulgaris
Acridotheres fuscus.
Pastor roseaa
Plocens baya
Ploceus manyaur ..,
Munia malabarica ..,
Passer domesticus
Enspiza m«lanoce^
phala.
Mirafra erythroptera.
Turtur cambayensis
Pt erodes arenarius..
Francoliniis vulgaris
Ortygornis pontice
rianus.
Coturnix communis.,
^gialitis dubia
The Shoveller
The Blue-winged Teal..
The Indian Skimmer
Chittusia gregaria ...
Sarciophorus bilobus.
Gallinago galiiiiula ...
Tringoides hypo-
leucos.
Hydrophasianus chi-
rurgus.
Fulica atra
Oallicrex cinereus ...
Erythra phoenicura.
Dendrocygna java-
nica.
Spatula clypeata
Qnerquedula circia ...
Rhynchops albicollis.
Hyderabad.
Kurrachee.
Kurraciice.
Seliwan.
Kotree.
Sehwaa.
Kotree.
Sehwan.
Hyderabad.
Kurr.
Kotree,
Sukkur.
Kotree.
Larkhana.
Kotree.
Sehwan.
Kotree.
Jempeer.
Kotree.
Hyderabad.
Kurrachee.
Kotree.
Hyderabad.
Kotree,
Kotree.
Jempeer.
Jempeer.
Jempeer.
Jempeer.
Sukkur.
Narra.
Mulleer:
Kotree.
Kurrachee.
Munchilr.
Munchur.
Sehwan.
Fukkeer-ka-Gote.
Kotree.
Munchur,
Jempeer.
Hyderabad.
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58 NATURAL HISTOET.
LIST OF SOUTHERN INDIAN AND OTHER PLANTS.
pRirsEN'rED BY Jamxs a. Murray.
Lofality.
AnaphalU neilghcrriensis Neilghcrry Hill»»
„ iiotoniaDa >»
Budlea dise«lor * t*
Centranthcra Immifttaa Wynaad'.
Sophubiasp Poolachec.
AUycarpus longifolius Bermuda.
Desmodium congestam Annamallaysw
„ latifolium w
„ reenrvatum *r n
„ diffiisum Jnbbulpoor.
„ gangeticum • Madras.
,^ triqnetruia ^ ......^ Moulmeia.
ir gyraii»»«...« • ...«..♦.».. Rangoon.
Lonicera Leschenaulti ....» Ootacamund.
Viburnum capitellatum •*..... Coonoor.
Pothos scandens » *— >»
Gomphostemma Heyneanus ►...«....*, Anamallays.
Dicerma biarticulatum ^ - Neilgherry HiWah.
„ pulehellum w
Zomeasp - Madras.
Sesbania -^gyptiaca ^ St. Thome.
Tephrosia hirta Venkatagherry.
„ purpurea « Neilgherries.
„ suberosa ^... Jnggiapet.
Atylosia neilgherriensis »• Neilgberry Hills.
Jonesia asoca ^,„^^.„. Condapilly Hills^
Acacia pnlchella > Ootaeamund.
„ robusta ► >»
„ Tcrticillata >»
^ dodonsefolitr ,r
„ longifolia Neilghcrry HiRsw
Gnetum funiculare ► -. „
Genista lutea *..-...... ,,
Clerodendron infortunatnm „
Cinnamomum ovalifolium „
Indigofera linifolia -■ «.....- ,r
Cajanus Indiens .^.. Madras.
Indigofera cordifolia Neilgberry Hill*.
„ pentapbylla »
Crotalaria Wallichiana » »r
,, rubiginosa. >»
„ anthyHoides Waltaiif.
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PROCBEDTNGS OP THE SOCIETY DURINa THE QXJAETEB.
59
Locality^
Crotadaria Tmrbata • Neilgherry Hills.
tSomphocarpus fratieoaus Madras.
Cressa Indiea ••^.....^ ••.»«...»«« .^. .«»••••...« ,,
Olearobusta - Neilgherry Hills.
Ilex wigktiaHa »..•.•*•. ..^^ ^
Melaleuca leiicodendroB... .*. .«.^ •«• Madras.
Tetrasthera iigustrum Neilgherry Hills.
Litsaia eeylanica • «•• • «,
Oyrocaqws odorata ..«•«.••. .......^ •« „
Launis oumamomum ....•«••• •.^»*«..«.^....«.»«..,. Ankapelly.
Hamelia pateas ^. Madras.
Pentas eamea....^....^ « »«^..^. ^
OaliuBi asperifolium •«....«..*«.^..^.«. Neilgherry Hills*
Rubia eordifolia • ,,
Hymenidietyon obcwactam *^ « •« «,
Mussa&nda firondosa «.«.^.....^« ^
Knoxia ^orymbosa • •«• ^
Favetta brunonis .^.^....^..^^ Coimbatoor.
Ixora parviflora * Madras.
99 coccmea *.«••.••.••••««••.••«•»•»«•«»««•.•-••••« i^
ixora rosea «.«.•«.. .«...»^..«»««..«^..,,«««»^.«. Madras.
Eugenia Amottiana ^ Neilgherry Hills.
^ Jambolanum .............................. Madras.
Euealyptas perfoliRta.*« .»« ^ Neilgherry EUlls.
Valeriana brunomana « ^
^rnajaTanica .*« »«• Madras.
Hydrocotyle rotundifolia Ootaeamund.
Goughia neilgherriensis ^,^.^ Annamallays.
Maerea oblongifoUa >#
Keurocalyx Hookeriana .......^ Wynaad.
Ophiorrhiza munghos • Annamallays.
Total 73— species.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY DUEINa
THE QUARTER.
Tee nsnal monthly meeting of this Society took place on Monday, the 4th October,
and was largely attended. Dr. D. Maodonald presided.
The following new members were elected :— Mr. E. Boberts, Mrs. John Jardine,
Mr. Jamsetjee C. Jamsetjee, Mr. Cawasjee Day Limjee, nad Mr. D. D, Opiumwala.
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60
KATtFRAL BISTORT.
Mr. H. M. Phipson, the Honorary Secretary, then read the following list of contri-
butions received since I»st meeting v —
Contribution.
Descriptions.
Contributor.
1 Monkey-mouthed Shark
1 Wai-t Hog's Skull
1 Koodoo's Head .;
1 Armadillo's Skin
1 Tortoise Shell *
1 Gazelle (alive)
A quantity of Snakes ...
A quantity -of Fish
2 Bats
A quantity of Sea Shells
and Birds' Nests.
1 Large Horned Owl (alive)
Nest aud Eggs
1 Duck (alive)
A quantity of Fish, Crus-
taceans and Marine
Animals.
1 Chameleon (alive)
1 Snake ...^
2 Li^rds
1 Lo ij g- tailed Forest Squirrel
1 Ostrich ..
3 Snakes .<
i Bustard.
Stegostoma tigrinum
From Somali Coast ...
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
From Aden
From Mahim
Do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
From Lanowli ..
Prinia Stewartii
From Alibag ....
Do
Chamelio VBlgaris
Dipsaa gokool
Sitana Poadiceriana
Sciurus Maeronrus from
Ceylon.
From Saugor, C. P.
From Malegaon
Mr. E. H. Aitken.
Capt. W.' Aria,
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Mv. C. Anding,
Mr. Jas. Mason.
Mr. S. J. Sarjant.
Mr. R. Wroughton.
Mr. W. F. Sinclair, C.S.
Do.
Mr. H. Barrett.
Mr. F. Kirby.
Mr. U. M. Phipson.
Mr. G. H. Hampton.
Victoria Gardens.
Mr. H. E. Barneer.
Mr. H. Anderson.
Minor Contributions.
From Miss Johnstone, Mr, Daley, Mr. R. Roberts, Dr. Weir, Captain E. V, Becber>
and "Mrs. A. K. Oliver,
Contributions to the Library,
*' Annals and Magazine of National History " (Na CY.), by Mr. H. LIttledale;
** Catalogue of Birds in Lucknow Museum,*' by Mr. G. Reid ; " Proeeedmgs of the
Linnean Society of N. S. Wales (Yol. I.) ;^and '* Catalogue of the Library of N.S.
Wales."
Mr. E. L. Barton exhibited several heads of tiger, panther, and markhor, mounted
by him, which were greatly admired.
In an adjoining room, whrch the Anthropological Society had kindly lent for the
occasion, an exhibition was held, showing the different kinds of fruits and vegetables
which are obtainable in Bombay at this season of the year. The collection consisted
of 175 different varieties.
Mr. H. M. Phipson acknowledged having received the greatest assistance fron»
Dr. Kirtikar, Mr. W. F. Sinclair, and Mr. Nanabhoy F. Davur, in purchasing, arrang-
ing, and naming the specimens. Many of the exhibits came from private gardens,
and a vote of thanks was proposed to the following gentlemen who had sent in
specimens for exhibition :—
Mr. Frank Jefferson, the Hon'ble Mr. Justice Birdwood, Mr. Cowasjee M.
Dadabhoy, Mr. Sorabjee D. Dubash, Mr. Nanabhoy F. Davur, Mr. Kaikabad Ik
Ghandy, Mr. P. B. Brunton, Dr. Weir, Mr. J. Anderson, Mr. N. S. Symons, and the
Superintendent of the Yictoria Gardens,
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY DUBING THE QUARTER. 61
Dr. Kirtikar then read out a list of the natural orders of the vegetables obtained
by the Society from the Crawford Markets, incidentally touching on those sent up
by some of the members of the Society individually. He briefly explained the uses
of some of the vegetables and fruits. Beginning with the grass-order, Dr. Kirtikar
said, there was a very well-developed stalk of Jowari or Sorghum vulgare, exhibited
by the Hon'ble Mr. Justice Birdwood, which showed to what height it could grow
under favourable circumstances. It went up as high as 12 feet before it threw out
the ear of com. Side by side with the Jowari plant was a beautiful specimen of
sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), grown on the " Kutohra" ground of the Muni-
cipality. Dr. Kirtikar dwelt on the importance of using "made ground" for
caltivation purposes, the decaying animal and vegetable matter from which, he said,
afforded much nutritive matter to plants, at the same time serving as an effectual
method of the disposal of refuse matter. Vegetation, he hoped, thus carried on
would remove some of the offensive odours which have been the characteristic of
the Bycnlla Flats. There was one special kind of vegetable belonging to the grass-
order which he said was entirely unknown to many. It was the tender off-shoots of
the Bamboo (bambusa arundinacea) known among the Hindus as vasota, which made
very good pickle with the juice of sour limes, and common salt. He must not omit,
he said to mention that there were a few rice-bearing stalks of the Or^^a sativa,
which formed the staple food of the Hindus of the Konkan and Deccan. He next
described the uses of lemon grass, known as ola chah, '' green tea," or Andropogon
citratum, used principally by the Parsees for flavouring their tea. Oil is also manu-
factured from it. He next described the uses of some of the Arads available now,
such as the AmorphophuUus campanulatus (Sooran) and Colocasia antiquorum (aloo),
the acridity of which was removed by the use of garlic and ganger, and by boiling
in salt and water before making up the dish. Touching the Natural Order Musaceao
he remarked that though there were several specimens of plantains in the day's
collection, it was not a season for plantains. There was one remark, however, he
wanted to make, he said, regarding a special variety of the plantain which came from
the village of Agashi in Bassein Taluka. This variety of plantain was the only one
that could be dried in the sun for preservation. The plantain, he said, was peeled
and dipped in honey and exposed to the sun for seven or fifteen days. It was an
industry which was confined to Agashi only. Several attempts were made in the
surrounding villages to improve the trade by growing this special variety of plantain,
but the results had not produced plantains worth preserving. Why this should be. Dr.
Kirtikskr observed, was a problem to botanists to solve. Referring to the Borassas
flabelli-formis (fan-leafed palm), he remarked that the fruit was very tender and
delicate eating, a great favorite among children. The water it contained was delicious
and refreshing. R egarding the A reca catechu (supari) and Piper betel (pan) , he observ-
ed they made the usual dessert of the Hindu after his meal, and formed the vida
when eaten with a little catechu, chnnam, a few grains of cardamoms, some cloves, a
bit of nutmeg or mace. Among the Anacardiacas were the Kajoo and Charoli, both
used dry, the latter for adorning Burfi, made by boiling milk with sugar over a gentle
fire, and thickening it, and the former for sweetmeats and curries. There was a
specimen of mango from Bangalore — smellless and perhaps tasteless ; steam commu-
nications had rendered it available now. In former years one could not imagine
getting a mango in these days. Among the Euphorbiacese there were the Cicca
disticha and Phyllanthus emblica, the latter of which was very largely used in Poona
for making an excellent preserve. Among the Solancese were the Loveapple and
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NATURAL HISTORY.
Brinjal, both very deKoioua vegetables. There was the Carica papaya, two varie-
ties of the fruit of which were exhibited, one growing as usual from the tree bear-
ing female flowers only, and the other growing on a plant bearing both male and
female flowers. The former was readily distinguished from the latter by its short
and thick peduncle or pedicel, the fruit growing from the later having a long curved
and slender peduncle, and several flowers on it, the peduncle of ten branching and
giving off other fruit-bearing flowers. The papaya is lai^ely used now as a digestive
agent, and makes good pickles. The ripe fruit is also good. The Umbelliferss were
represented by the Carrot (Dauous carota), Parsley and Celery. There was also the
green needle-shape leaved tender plant grown from Anethum sowa, which goes among
the Hindus under the name of Shepu, and is used as greens. Coming to the natural order
Cucurbitaceas, he said it was the plant of the season giving some of the finest and
most delicious dishes a vegetarian could command. A specimen of Tricosanthes
palmata (Kaundal) was exhibited by a member alongside of the edible vegetables, but
it was bitter and used for poisoning cattle. It was beautifully red when ripe, but utterly
useless except medicinally or as poison. Among the Leguminosss, he said, there
were many which supplied abundant vegetables ; the Dolichos Lablab (Fapdi) was
good in curries, the Dolichos sinensis (Chowli) was very pleasant and delicate eating.
Everybody knew the pea. The peculiar four-angled, fringed pod of Chowdhar when
cooked in thin slices with butter, salt, and pepper afforded an agreeble tender dish.
The tamarind ^supplied the place of vinegar in Hindu household economy. On
account of the lateness of the hour it was impossible to enter into the details of the
several other orders. But he hoped that on some future occasion he would be able
complete his observations and supply a few notes on the economic aspect of the
various fruits and vegetables growing and procurable in and around Bombay.
The usual monthly meeting of thisSociety was held on Monday, the 1st Kovember,
and was largely attended.
The following new members were elected :— Messrs. F. D. Parker, H. W. Barrow,
Charles Taylor, A. W. Morris, Alexander Descubes, W. M. Daly, S. Homidge, E.
Litchfield, W. C. Taylor, H. J. Hemming, and E. L. Luard.
Mr. H. M. Phipson, the Honorary Secretary, then acknowledged the following con-
tributions to the Society's collections :—
Contribution.
Description.
Contributor.
A quantity of Fish, Lizards
and Bats.
A quantity of Insects ..
1 Sams Crane ...» ,
A quantity of Shells >
1 Snake
68 Birds' Skins
A large collection of Butter-
flies and Moths.
Skin of Eed-bellied Flying
Squirrel.
Skin of Grey Flying
Squirrel.
Skin of Leopard Cat
1 Bear's Skull
1 Australian Bed Parrot ..,
1 Monkey Mouthed Shark..,
IBel
A quantity of Ooralines ..,
A number of the new Spe-
cies of Balanophora.
From Carwar..
Do
Alive
From Mauritius
Typhlops brahminus..
From Sind
From Bombay
Pteromys magnificus
Pteromys fimbriatus-i
Felis Bengalensis ,
Ursus labiatus ,
Alive
Stegostoma tigrinum
Sp. Mursena
From Alibag
From Mahableshwar
Mr. H. S. Wise.
Do.
Mr. H. Barrett.
Mr. Alex. Descubes.
Do.
Col. Swinhoe.
Mr. Fraser Here.
Major G. Poole.
Do.
Do.
Mr. B. L. Barton.
Mrs. M. C. Turner.
Mr. W. F. Sinclair, O.S.
Do.
Do.
Mr. W. B. Hart.
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PROCEBDINGS OF THE SOCIETY DtJRlNa THE QUARTER. 63
Minor Contkibutions,
From TSir. W. W. Squire, Mr. H. Sinwald, Mr. R. N. Mant, Mr. James Conroy,
Mr. F. L. Magnire, Mr. H. Hatch, Mr. M. C. Turner, Colonel Walcott, Mr. R.
Gilbert, Mr. P. R. Wilson and Dr. Weir.
CoNTSIBUnONS TO THE LiBBABY.
•' Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, New York," in exchange ;
" Annals and Magazine of Natural History" (No. CVI.), H. Littledale; aYid "Journal
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal" (Nos. I., II., III.), in exchange.
Exhibits.
Tigers' skins, with four unborn cubs, and two panthers' skins, Mr. Sarjant ; one
head and skin of doe antelope, with horns, 22J inches in length, His Highness the
Maharaja of Jodhpore ; and one wild Buffalo's head, mounted by Mr. E. L. Barton,
and shot by Mr. J. D. Inverarity.
The Honorary Secretary announced that H. H. the Maharaja of fiutlam had sent
9, donation of Rs. 50 to the Society.
Owing to the indisposition of Dr. D. Macdonald his paper on Cobra-bites was
postponed.
Mr. J. H. Steel (Bombay Veterinary College) then read the following paper,
illustrating his remarks with diagrams and spirit specimens : —
I wish to introduce to you this evening a number of zoological characters who
hare a more or less bad reputation, and, because they love darkness rather than
light, are presumed to be workers of evil. Whether the bad name these organisms
have received, and the aversion with which they are looked on by their fellow-
animals, men, is just or no, will be explained in the sequel, let it for the present be
remembered that doubtless parasites from their own particular point of view are
highly respectable characters. As even the study of criminal tribes and outcastes
has a value and much interest, and the pursuit of such specimens of humanity is
not pleasant except for the zest of the chase and love of danger, which most men
experience more or less, so the shikar of parasites of higher animals is at first not
pleasant { but when employed in this way soon one forgets any offensiveness of
surroundings and feels keenly somewhat as does the foxhunter while the covert is
being drawn, or the shikaree when the beaters are at work. And this research has
high value, for, strange as it may seem to some of you, these small inhabitants of
our bodies are more dangerous foes to the lives of higher animals than are even
the tiger or the cobra. For very numerous and fatal diseases are due to parasites ;
thus the rot of sheep, which often ruins sheep-farmers, is due to "Flukes'* in the
liver ; the " Pip," which carries off poultry, depends on worms in the windpipe j and
the Trichina, which mankind obtain from pork, and which often kills the human
being unfortunate enough to obtain it, is a small round worm barely visible to the
naked eye.
" We really know leas of the habits of internal parasites than of the formidable
" denizens of the jungle/' whereas common sense and policy would suggest to us to
know more with a view to their avoidance and extirpation, as they are our more
bitter foes. I wish to direct your attention to the way in which these creatures
** live, move, and have their being^" and with a view to introducing the subject have
selected what to parasites is a geographical region, the equine organism or system
of the horse* .It is, as ooDceras our internal parasites, not a very favourite country
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64 NATURAL HISTORY,
as compared with the canine organism or the bovine organism, and yet it is fairly
well freqaented, and the inhabitants are of Tarions castes and manners. The
conntry is a fairly hot one, and very uniform in temperature, the thermometer
constantly standing at about 100° F., with a range of not more than a couple of
.degrees. A moist country, moreover, in most parts, but not without fairly dry
spots, which are sometimes frequented. The air varieii very much in different parts.
On the large canal known as the alimentary, it consists principally of carbonated
and sulphuretted hydrogen. In the passage known as the respiratory it is beauti-
fully fresh, but very moist, and with a genial warmth about it. Fortunately for the
inhabitants of this geographical region, they can utilize the oxygen contained in the
surrounding fluids by absorbing it through the skin surface ; they, therefore, are not
concerned as to whether their atmosphere is good or bad, and having neither lungs
nor bronchi do not dread either asthma or pneumonia. This is rather fortunate for
them as, we shall shortly see, they are apt to be abruptly turned out into the cold.
A wonderfully disturbed region is the alimentary canal above-mentioned, sometimes
narrow, sometimes expanding into broads, and always agitated by a peculiar churning
motion most aggravating to a parasite, were it not that it is thereby saved the trouble
of going far to seek food. One can hold fast in such a place by means of anchors and
pincers, as received through the beneficent foresight of Providence, and in ease and
luxury collect the beautifully prepared morsels which are brought to our mouths by
the constant movement of our canal home in ever fresh supplies. We can adopt the
tactics of the oyster, but our food is better prepared than his, and we do not need
even the lazy motion of arms to grasp it, or the waving to and fro of nets to catch.
A jovial life the inhabitant of the alimentary canal leads until in an unguarded mo-
ment he happens to let go his hoM ; then he is pushed from his broad residence
through numerous narrows probably filled with food offensive to his palate, and at
last is by cruel fate expelled even from the equine organisni, and left to do as best
he can when suddenly exposed to the terrible influence of a temperature of but 60*> F.
Happy is the worm who before becoming the victim of so tragic a fate has made
provision for the future of his race, and can die happy in the assurance that his ova
will resist those influences to which he has succumbed, and that, in due course, his
progeny will enter the region he has lost and carry on his life's works ! Let us take
some few of the inhabitants of the equine organism, and see what manner of beings
they are. The alimentary canal of the horse has on its course a large pouch called
the stomach, in which we are almost sure of a "find," in India especiaUy. On cutting
open this pouch we note its lining membrane to be of two parts, one quite white, the
other reddish white. On the former part we shall probably find what the uninitiated
would call maggots, but what are commonly called " Bots" ; on the latter part
we shall very likely see innumerable small thread-like worms really of two kinds
called "great mouths" and "little mouths" (spiroptera), and probably some
"abodes" which they have made for themselves. (1) The Bots are maggots of
the Gad fly, that is they are the young of certain winged insects for which Nature
has found a most comfortable abode in which they may develope. When they
wish they can hold on by two black prickle-like hooks which they have at one end
and when they want to move on they can do so after the manner of worms, joint
by joint, gaining a grip on the surface over which they are travelling. As the
part of the mucous membrane to which they are attached is very smooth, each ioint
has on it numerous homy spines which give a good grip. These bots are not ha rm-
less to the horse. A few cause him little inconvenience, but many may even cause
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PROCEEDINGS OP THE SOCIETT DURING THE QUARTER. 65
his death. I have known cases where they were suflSciently numerous to cause a
blocking up of the passage from the stomach into the bowel. Recently I treated
unsucoessfully a pony which had an abscess in the loins, caused by bota which had
pierced the walls of the stomach. In other ceses severe indigestion is caused. If
in the autumn or early spring your horse falls away in condition, eats earth or white-
wash , or likes to lick anything cool j if he frequently straightens the head out and turns .
the upper lip inside out, and is "foul" (to use a term well-known to horsemen), he
probably suffers from ** worms," not improbably bots. Now it is one thing to put medi-
cine down a horse's throat and into his stomach, but quite another thing to get the worm
to take his share of the dose, so bots are often difficult to get rid of j however, it ia
possible to make them very uncomfortable for a few days by giving the horse dosea
of turps, salt, or green vitriol, and when this has made them thoroughly discon-
tented with their surroundings, clearing them out by a dose of aloes. Bots are
representatives of what are termed '* partial parasites." Their residence in the
horse lasts very much longer than the other phases of their life. Whenever by
accident or in the course of their life's work, they pass from the body and fall to
the ground, they wriggle into grass or loose soil, and become Chrysalides, and in
due course the gadfly escapes. It is a most pertinacious insect, which deposits ita
eggs on the long hair of the legs of horses. The eggs adhere by a kind of glue
which seems somewhat acrid in its character, for the horse constantly bites and lioka
the part on which the eggs are attached. His warm saliva loosens the gfummy
substance, and the eggs (or larvas) are earned into the mouth and in due course
down to the stomach, where the young bot escapes as soon as convenient by lifting
np an operculum or lid at one end of the shell. A few bots give little if any trouble.
2. The Spiroptera, '* great mouths " and ** little mouths,** are extremely frequent
in this country, but not often seen in England. They are Nematodes or round
worms, and of considerable importance to owners of horses. The ** little mouths"
live free in the cavity of the stomach over the soft part of the mucous membrane,
which they cause to become thick and congested, and covered with a very thick
vcisid mucus, worms and mucus together forming a wriggling, seething mass. A
harness horse which I owned some four years ago, was a victim to these small
tormenters. Feed him as we would, we could get no flesh on his bones, nay rather
he continued to fall away, although he used to eat voraciously and with depraved
appetite. He showed a peculiar crankiness of humour, so that at times no amount
of persuasion would cause him to go. Finally he was destroyed, and the soft part
of his stomach was found to be quite concealed by myriads of these small round
worms.
The " large mouths" construct themselves residences in the stomach, which have
been formed into " abodes " or " nests" ; these are abscesses in the wall pf the
stomach, practically between the mucous and muscular coats which become matted
together as a result of inflammation and form a single or divided cavity in which ia
much pus, and which opens by one or more " mouths" into the cavity of the stomach.
The ** large mouths'* seen to live on pus, the small mouths on mucous and perhapa
stomach contents. In a considerable proportion of horses opened in India there are
fdund gastric abscesses, or the remains of the ** cysts, '* as caused by the great-
mouthed round worm. Sometimes the cysts are of enormous size, and it may be
easily understood what an amount of pain must have been caused in the formation
of these abscesses, and that many an obscure case of colic or indigestion may be
traced to this cause. Proper care in cleansing the food of hor&es is an important
9
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06 NATURAL HISTORY.
means of prevention of invasion by these parasites, a liberal salt ration with the
feed, and occasional doses of vrorm medicines will prove beneficial. The pus-eating
" great mouths" in their cysts are the most difficult to get at j cases of rupture of
the stomach, which are not an infrequent occurrence among horses in India, are
often due to the weakening of the coats of that organ as caused by this parasite.
3- The large headed ascaris {A. mpgalocephala ) is an enormons white ronnd
worm, found generally in the small intestine, sometimes in the stomach His im-
portance as causing disease is in no way proportioned to his size. He probably gets
into thQ stomach simply by making a journey of exploration from the intestine.
The male is smaller than his spouse, and decidedly of second-rate importance in the
domestic circle, a very common feature among entozoa. When tho syce lugubriously
brings one of these worms in the morning and urges that his horse wants medicine,
no apprehension should be excited in the owner's mind, but the horso will be the
better for a course of iron tonics. Yet these worm«, though some of the largest,
are among the least formidable to which horses are liable. Only when they are
present in very large numbers do they cause mischief, and then purely in a mechani-
cal way, by blocking up the bowel; the wild ass recently examined by me had over
one hundred in him. They are rather rare among stabled horses in India.
4. No part of the alimentary canal of the horse has a richer fauna than the
ceeoum and commencement of the colon. Three species are specially frequent
there ; among them we will first of all notice a blood-sucking pai^site, which, though
small in size, does much mischief. He can't be mistaken ; like a British infantryman
he is known by his red colour. His looks betray him, and enable us at once to distin-
guish between him and the armed strongyle of which we shall speak directly. He
is armed with four spines {Str. tetracanthus) , which enable him to " tap" the small
blood vessels of the bowel when he is thirsty, a small red spot indicating where he
has been carrying on his operations. His development is shown to us in a ^eiry
remarkable manner. If you examine the mucous membrane of the csecum you will
find it dropsical and pulpy, as a result of irritation caused by these worms, and if
you peel it off and hold it up to the light, you will find the offenders, in many cases
in enormous numbers, simply curled up in the substance of the membrane, some
scarcely visible with the naked eye others almost as large as the adults. They were
first described as " Trichina-like" organisms. These blood-suckers cause fatal
diarrhoea in colts, and may be considered among the most formidable to which the
horse is liable; fortunately adult stabled horses do not much suffer from them.
In one outbreak over one hundred ponies are reported to have died from this cause.
5. With these last are > liable to be confounded the "palisade" or wandering
armed worms which occur in their adult form, especially in the caecum and colon :
they are larger and stiffer than the blood-suckers, and have a black line instead of a
red one running up through them ; this is because they feed on the dark contents of
the bowel. They are, therefore, much less troublesome as adults than their red
companions. Their principal importance arises from their adventurous youth, during
which they wander strangely. Sometimes the young strongyles are seen in the eye,
but another species is much more frequent there, as we shall see directly. An armed
strongyle may turn up in almost any part of the body, but is extremely frequent in
the arteries of the bowels, where he gives rise to disease (aneurism). You can
seldom open the body of an old ass without finding in his bowel-arteries either young
armed strongyles, or traces ihat they have been there, depending on the time of year.
These aneurisms are considered a frequent source of colic in the horse, at any rate
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY DURING THE QUARTER. 67
they must cause the animal considerable pain, and interfere with proper nutrition,
€8i>eciaIIy of the bowels. The yonng strongyles are able to travel about, in conse-
quence of the boring apparatus on their heads, but generally prefer -a much easier
method of progression. They bore into the blood vessels, and are carried by the
blx)d current to different parts of the body, and so we can easily understand how
they may tarn up anywhere. The very young and the adult worms live in the
alimentary canal of the horse ; the latter escape from the bowel and discharge eggs
which are hatched by natural influences, and the young escape into the soil,
and enter the bodies of small snails, where they reside comfortably until the snails
are swallowed with food by the horse. They then escape into the stomach and
intestines, and bore their way through the walls of the alimentary canal. The adults
can be expelled and killed by "worm medicines," especially santonin.
6. The ** wandering eel-like worms '* {Filat-ia papillosa) must not be mistaken for
armed strongyles. We seldom open a horse in this country without finding wrig-
gling about in the warm moist cavity of the abdomen one or more long white worms,
the males with corkscrew tails, but smaller than the females. But one of the most
familiar appearances of these creatures in an immattire form is in the eye of the
horse, occasionally of the ox. The eel -like worm of the eye of the horse can be seen
quite plainly at first disporting himself in this natural aquarium, but very soon he
gives rise to so much irritation as to cause complete clouding over of the eye and
often permanent loss of sight. A surgical operation for removal of the worm has
to be resorted to, and very frequently proves quite effectual. The parasite is much
more frequent in low-lying marshy districts than in others, and in India notably
occurs in Lower Bengal. It is remarkable that worm in the eye is practically never
seen in England, and therefore its treatment is a speciality of Indian Veterinary
Surgery. In other respects this worm is known to cause serious inflammation of
the organs of the abdomen.
The England "Flukes" or flat worms (Fasciola hepatica), like those which cause
rot in sheep, are not uncommon as cause of diseased liver in horses and asses. In
India this species seems rare, but a near ally, the Amphistome, is very common and
rather important. On opening the caecum and colon we not unfrequently find
enormous numbers of small reddish bodies, like grains of barley, mixed with the
bowel contents. These on examination prove to have a sucker at each end of the
body, which used to be mistaken for mouths, hence their '* mouth at both ends."*
They cause a good deal of irritation, and in their effects resemble and are nearly as
serious as the blood-sucking strongyle, than which they in India are more frequent.
Liberal salt ration is the best preventative of them, and, indeed, a measure to which
all horse owners in this country should constantly resort, care being taken that the
horse, not his syce, obtains the benefit of the salt. These amphistomes like other
flakes are remarkable for the complex and numerous developmental stages through,
which they pass. At one time swimming freely in tank water in all the glory of a
long tail, at another ignominiously encysted in the body of snail, finally settling
down not uncomfortably to a fat living, enjoying otium cum dignitate in the caeoui©
or colon of the horse. There are many animals that have a much worse time of it
than a fluke ! Individual flukes, unlike strongyles, contain both male and female
organs.
8. Tapeworms are not frequent in the adult form in vegetable feeders, although
among the principal parasite torments of flesh-eaters and man. Yet we do see small
taeniae in the large bowel of the huree j in so fax as ray experience goes, very rarely
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68 NATURAL HISTORY.
in India. They are so short and peculiar in appearance as to be hardly recognizable
as tapeworms. They give rise in some cases to severe irritation in the bowels.
What is the source of the most frequent tapeworm of the horse is not known, bat
oar knowledge of the development of other Tapeworms gives as some clae.
9. Thus the horse like other herbivora (but not nearly so frequently as the ox
and camel) has often in his liver and lungs, what are known as Hydatids or Hydatid
cysts. These look like white tumours, sometimes bigger than a cricket ball, in
other cases no bigger than a pea. When cut into liqpid contents squirt out with
force often into the eyes of the enthusiastic student of Zoology. These contents
are watery for the most part, but have little white grains in them which, examined
under a low power, are found to be tapeworm heads j the tumours, in fact, are the
cystic or bladder stage of development of the taenia which, more than mankind,
deserves Shakespeare's description, a one individual " in its time playing many
parts," its acts being seven ages —
1. First the " Ovum" with its shell expelled into the world,
2« And next the " sixhooked embryo" wandering free,
8. Then boring through the tissues of the host becomes a ** Cyst,"
4. Which nurse-like from its inner coat developes young,
5. The •* Scolices," on heads which bear a ring of hooks
6. Hydatids swallowed by flesh-feeders lose their coats, but many heads
7. Develope into fruitful Tapeworms and each segment bears ova in many
thousands to preserve the race.
I have never known a horse die from Hydatids, but cattle suffer much from them.
10. The sharp tails (Oxyurides) must for the present complete our imperfect
enumeration of equine parasitic organisms. They are probably the most familiar,
because they reside in the terminal portion of the alimentary canal and are expelled
often in enormous numbers. Almost every horse brought in from the districts has
some of these worms. They are feeders on excrement, cause little mischief, and can
easily be recognised by their having a round firm body, and a soft tail-half to it. They
are something like a thick whip with lash as stout almost as and not longer than the
handle. Although not very serious they cause irritation, and many a tail spoiled by
rubbing is due to the presence of these worms. One of the most common and dis-
tinctive indications of their presence is a brownish white deposit around the posterior
outlet of the alimentary canal, and sometimes a specimen will be found to have become
entangled in its passage through the opening. Syces bring specimens with great
triumph as proof of the necessity for a native worm medicine of considerable value,
Palas papra seeds. The best treatment, however, for the form of parasitic organism is
Injectio Terebinthinse. The larvae of Oxyurides hatch out in the earth, then enter
some animal in which they become changed into the hermaphrodite form. Those of
Ascarides and Filariae lie encapsuled in some animal, and with it pass into the
digestive system of some other animal-form in which they become aduTt ; those of
Strongyles live in the earth, and assume the adult condition in some animal (Von
Linstow). Such are some of the remarkable variations in metamorphoses shown by
Nematodes*
I trust my brief sketch has established my position that internal pamsites are
worth studying by the naturalist, to whom nothing should be common or unclean !
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PKOCEEDINOS OF THK SOCIETY DURING THE Q0ABTER,
69
The usual monthly meeting of this Society took place on Monday, Dec- 6th, Dr. D.
Macdonald presiding.
Ihe following new members were elected : — Mr. Proctor Sims, Mr. B. D. Hare,
Mr. A. Conroy, Mr. J. S. Ashby, Mr. C. Sykes, Major EUiston, and Mr. H. Gonne.
Mr. H. M. Phipson, the Honorary Secretary, then read the following list of contri-
butions, received since the last meeting : —
Contributions.
Description.
Contributor.
20 Birds' Skins
A quantity of Insects
Lizards and Snakes
1 Civet Cat
1 Bronze Winged .Tacana.
An Herbarium (containing
180 specimens.)
1 Black Buck's head
1 Chinkara's Head
4 Snakes
2 Skulls
A 4-legged Chicken
7 Snakes
14 Lizards
1 Civet Cat (alive)
Teeth of Sperm Whale. ..
A Collection of Moths and
Butterflies.
Skin of Red Cat Bear. ...
1 Porcupine Fish
2 Black Bucks' Heads ...
1 Chameleon (alive)
1 Large Bee's Comb .....
1 Fresh Water Tortoise
(alive).
1 Snake
2 Lesser Civet Cats (alive.)
Blind Fish from the Caves
of Adelsfourgh.
Several Birds' Skins
Kest of Loten's Sun Bird.
Collected at Simla for the
Society.
From Belgaum ,
From Catch
Vi vera malaccensis ,
Parra indica ,
Bombay Flora
From Hurda, C. P. ..
Do.
From M oulmein
From Shahabad ...
From the Punjab .
Do.
Vivera megaspila .
Types
From Nepaul .
Chama)]eo vulgari
From Govt. Dockyard
Simotes Bnssellii ...
Vivera malaccensis
Proteas anguinus ...
C. lotenius .
Oapt. W. R. L. Anderson.
Mr. H. E. Andrews.
Mr. A. Newnham.
Mr. Thos. Lidbetter.
Major Lyons.
Mrs. Succaram Arjoon.
Mr. Alfred Walker.
Do.
Mr. M. 0. Turner.
Mr. M. H. Kazar.
Mr. A. Witt.
Major Yerbury, R. A.
Do.
Capt. W. H. Walker.
Do.
Col. Swinhoe.
Mr. Chester Macnaghteu.
Mr. £. M. Slater.
Do.
Capt. F. B. Peile.
Mr. W. J. KiUen.
Miss Langley.
Mr. John O'Connell.
Mr. T. W. Caffe.
Dr. H. J. C. Godfrey.
Mr. J. D. Inverarity.
Mr. E. H. Aitken.
Minor Contributions.
From Colonel Portman, Captain L. Herbert, Mr. C W. L. Jackson, Mr. Burwan
Jayram, Dr. Temperley Grey, Mr. C. R. Brendon, Mr. E. C. Crawley, Mr. G. B. Reid,
C.S., Mr. M. 0. Turner, Mr. J. Wallace, Mr. W. R. Hamilton, and Mr. F. D. Parker.
Exhibits.
'* A long- tailed Japanese Cock" with a tail measuring 8 feet 9 inches, Mr. F. D.
Parker ; *' A Lion's Skin " (shot in Eattiawar), Captain W. P. Kennedy; "Two Ovis
Poli Heads" (from Yarkand), Mr R. A. Stemdale.
CONTRIBUTK NS TO THE LiBBARY.
" Flora 6f British India" (Hooker) Part XIII., from the Government of Bombay;
•* Portraits of the Game Wild Animals of S. Africa" (Harris), Mr. Dhunjeebhoy H.
Wadia; "Butterflies of India" (Marshall and de Niceville), Vol. II., purchased;
*• Indian Silk Culture" (T. Wardle), from the author; *' Glossary of Vernacular Names
of Drugs" from Dr. Dymock ; " Zoological Society of London," Reports, 1883-4-5
from the R. Z. S. of London j ** Geological Survey of India Record," Vol. XlX.j part
4, from the Registrar.
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70 NATURAL HISTORY.
Mr. R. A. Stemdale exhibited two splendid Heads of the Ovis Polii which had been
sent to him for sale at Rs. 200 each. Mr. Stemdale dwelt upon the rarity of this
giant sheep, which inhabits the loftly snow-clad mountains north of Kashgar and
Yarkand. No English sportsman had, he said, ever succeeded in shooting one of
these animals, and it was consequently of the greatest importance that the Society
should, if possible, secure one of these heads for its collection, as such an opportunity
might not occur again.
A feeling of regret was generally felt that the funds at the disposal of the Com-
mittee were not .sufficient to enable them to purchase either of the heads.
Dr. D. Macdonald then read the following paper on
Cobra Bites.
Members of the Society may have noticed more than two months ago in the daily
newspapers the announcement that the stuffer at the V. and A. Museum had been
bitten by a tame cobra, and that he died in consequence of the bite. As there are
some points of scientific as well as public interest, I have thought it advisable to
bring the case before the Society.
The snake was purchased for the Museum six weeks before the unfortunate acci-
dent took place. As usual the fangs were extracted, and in order to make the snake
if possible more completely harmless, part of the poison duct was cut out as well.
There are three principal parts in the poison apparatus of a cobra — (1) the gland
which secretes the poison ; (2) the perforated fang, which pierces the body of the
bitten animal, and at the same time permits the poison to pass along its canal, into
the wound made by the fang ; and (3) the duct along which the poison passes from
the gland to the hollow tooth.
As may be seen in the illustrations here there are several reserve fangs, very
small, varying in size, lying loose in the surrounding flesh, and in a loose capsule.
Each of these, one after the other, moves forward to take the place of the perfect
fang, when that becomes broken or injured, and becomes firmly united to the maxil-
lary bone. Some months are required for the full development of these extra-
ordinary or supplementary teeth, but whenever one of these moves forward to
take the place of an injured or extracted tooth, it is capable, as soon as it can
penetrate the skin of any animal, of inflicting a wound as poisonous as that inflicted
by the full grown fang j for, the gland which secretes the poison is first as active
as ever. In the special case referred to, the stuffer took the cobra from the hands
of the skinner, who had fed the snake with milk ; but, against all rule, incautiously
seized the animal with the hand unguarded. It must have been held loosely, for the
snake managed to wriggle round a little, and got one of the new fangs, which was
still very minute, into a fold of the skin of the forefinger. The stuffer called out
for pincers, and some delay took place. At last the assistant took a quill and simply
pushed the small tooth out, and the cobra was then restored to its cage. The stuffer
at first made light of the bite, but some carbolic acid was put on the puncture, and
he was at. once sent to the J. J. Hospital. The well-known symptoms of snake-
poisoning were already showing themselves, and active measures were at once taken
to counteract the effect of the poison. Too high praise cannot be given to the
house-surgeon who continued during the whole of the night to keep up artificial
respiration ; and next morning there was marked improvement, which went on until
all signs of snake poison completely disappeared. In speaking of the first night *s
experience the stufier afterwards related how he was able to see, hear, and feel
perfectly, although quite incapable of speech or movement. Every one began to
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY DURING THE QUARTER. 71
feel certain that the stufifer was going to make a good recovery : and when it is
remembered that every symptcm of snake-poisoning had disappeared, it must be
admitted that there was good cause for this opinion. Unfortunately, on the third
day fever set in, %nd also inflammation of the lungs, and the staffer slowly sank
under these and died on the fifth day, in spite of everything that skilled medical
aid and constant and faithful attendance and nursing could do.
As to the temporary recovery from the actual effects of the poison, it will be
evident that the amount of poison most have been less than in an ordinary bite.
Indeed, remembering that the ducts had been partly excised, it may surprise any
one that poison entered the wound at all. But this is accounted for by the fact
that, although the duct was partly excised, the gland is still active, and the poison
which it secretes can make its way from the duct into the mouth, were it mixes
with the saliva, and becomes diluted. In the case of the staffer the small fang was
kept in the wound in the fold of skin for some minutes, during which the poisoned
fialiva could act on the punctured wound. Had the snake been removed at once,
my impression is that very little, if any, poison could have entered the wound, and
certainly not enough to do any serious injury ; but as the snake was kept in this
position for some minutes, with the muscles compressing the gland, and forcing
the poison into the mouth, it is not difficult to account for the poison which entered
the wound, and, through it, the system.
And here an important question arises. One of the daily newspapers in referring
to this unfortunate case, expressing its disapproval of poisonous snakes being kept
in the V. and A. Museum, saying that any one might see any day, in the streets,
the same reptiles rendered safe and harmless. The writer either did not know, or
did not understand, that the snakes were believed to be harmless : that not only
were the same measures adopted which are taken by the snake-charmers to render
haroaless the cobras exhibited in the public streets, but an additional safeguard was
adopted in excising part of the ducts. And the question I refer to is— are the
snakes exhibited in the streets perfectly harmless ? I do not think they are. No-
thing save the complete removal of the glands which secrete the poison can render
a poisonous snake harmless. It is true, that the perforate tooth, the hypodermic
syringe, as it is termed by Mr. Aitken in the chapter on the Hypoderniatikosyringo.
phoroi in his " Tribes on iny Frontier ^^^ is not there ; but, as the poison is still
secreted, and as it must make its way through the duct or fistula into the mouth, a
bite with even the ordinary teeth, may be dangerous. I believe that such a bite has
resulted in death, and there are cases on record in which death has taken place after
such a bite. Since the unfortunate accident occurred at the Museum we have given
up altogether the practice of keeping live cobras, and I should advise every one who
sets some value on life to give cobras a very wide berth, no matter *fiow positively
it may be asserted that any particular specimen has been rendered harmless. You
may see from these drawings how difficult a matter it would be to deprive a cobra of
its poison glands. They lie deep in the tissue at the side of the head, covered over
by the muscles which, by their contraction, compress the glands, and thus squirt the
poison in the gland through the duct, and along the perforation of the tooth, into
the wound, just at the moment when the animal strikes. Even without the perforated
teeth, there is still the poison gland, and although the poison, by mixing with
saliva, is less powerful than when undiluted, it is still there, and with all its dreaded
power to destroy life.
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Young Gibbons (Hylobates hoolook) from Assam, drinking and walking. They walk ei-ect,
and drink by dipping the back of tbe hand into the liquid and then sucking off the moisture.
R. A. S.
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JOURNAL
OF THE
Jlatepl Sistaiig
No. 2J BOMBAY, APRIL 1887. [Vd. ii.
WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA.
Part III. — The Konkan and Coast.
(Bij a Member of the Society.)
We now come to the aquatic invertebrates, creatures not only
in themselves diflScult to examine and describe ; but as yet not dealt
with in any ha;i(Jy local text-book.* The following notes, therefore,
will not be very scientific : —
To begin with the Mollusca, or '* shell-fishes " and their allies ;
we find at their head the Cephalopoda; Nautili, Cuttle-fishes and
Squids ; the most of which have no visible shell at all ; and only one
has a real shell ...
This is the. Pearly Nautilus, the sole survivor of an enormous
number of " shelled cuttle-fish " having 4 gills, numerous rather
short arms, and po ink-bag.
I never got but one specimen here ; a dead shell very much
the worse for wear, which may have been hove overboard from
some ship.
Next, for convenience, I shall take the so-called " Paper Nautilus. *'
This was the Nautilus of the ancients ; but we now distinguish it as
" Argonauta."
• My friend Mr. Murray is engaged upon a Monograph of our cruefcacea, to appear
in hit Periodicftli which is badly wanted.
10
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74 RATUBAL HISTORY.
The animal has an ink-bag, eight arms and only two gills. The
female only has a shell > and this^ looked upon as a shell, is a fraud ;
being really no shell at all, but a sort of nest that she makes to hold
her eggs in. It is true that she begins early ; young female
Argonauts themselves leave the egg with the beginning of a shell
about them ; much as the human female nurses a doll before she gets
out of the nursery herself.
The male has do shell at all ; and is a common looking little
** octopus, *' not a quarter the size of the female.
I got one "shelP' of the ^' Paper Nautilus" at Alibag, which bad
been taken in a drift net with the animal in it ; but the latter had
'' dropped ouV according to the captor. This was probably true ;
there is no miiscular connection between the animal and shell
(as there is in all true shells) ; and there was no more reason why
the Argonaut should not leave the shell in the fisherman's hands,
and do very well without (until, as she probably would, she had
secreted a new one) than there is against a hen bird'^s leaving her
nest* This shell is in our Museum,
The rest of the eight-armed cuttle-fishes, ngly creatures, Mve, on
this coast, mostly about the reefs. Out of water they can only
crawl ; but when the weight of the blob-Kke body is taken off the
arms by the water, they pass over the bottom with what can best
be described as a rapid striding motion of arm after arm, or drive
themselves stem foremost by spurting water out of their ** funnel,*'
at the same time closing the arms together, and letting them stream
behind, so that the whole creature looks like some sort of tadpole,
or big-headed vertebrate fish, and not a bit like one^s idea of a
*' cuttle-fish.''
Some of them have a sort of membranous fins f but I have not
got any of these here), and all have an internal rudimentary shell,
usually in two pieces^ very small and rather hard to find.
The next group is that of the Decapod cuttle-fishes and squills,
all of which, besides the eight arms allowed to the Octopods, have
two '' tentacles" considerably exceeding the arms.^ Of these we have
several species of 3epia and LoUgo,
The Sepia, or true cuttle-fish, lives chiefly near the shore, but ia
pretty deep water. I never saw one caught between tide-marks
here. He comes, too, much more off the bottom than the Octopus ;
and can swim head foremost upon occasion, by means of fins
extending along the whole of each side, though he prefers travel*
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WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA* 75
ling backwards. These fins^ and the muscles that move them^
derive some support from the so-called cuttle-bone, which is really
an internal shell consisting of a leaf-sh£^>ed spongy mass with a
very hard sharp curved point at the rear end.
The cuttle-bone, though you can crush it between your finger
and thumb, has considerable durability. It survives all the rest
of the cuttle-fish, except his beak, in the stomachs of large fish and
Cetaceans; and must often pass through these, or, in case of
cuttles dying a natural death, remain after the flesh has been eaten
by small marine scavengers of one sort or another* At any rate,
it is a common object of the sea-shore here ; and is used in native
medicine as an astringent, with what effect I don't know. In old
European practice it was a known antacid, whence the name of the
commonest European species. Sepia officinalis; and also, in a
powdered state, was '^pounce,'* which was used to dry writing
before blotting paper came into fashion, and to some extent, I
believe, in metallurgy^
The next division of Decapods is that of Calamaries or Squids
{Loligo), distinguished from the cuttles by containing a rudimentary
shell (sometimes two or three of them) in the form of a thin horny
transparent blade, commonly known as a '* sea-pen.''
The fins are rather caudal than lateral ; and the squids make
better head- way than any of their kin; though they, too, seem to
prefer travelling backwards as a rule. They are much the most
active of the order, some of them can jump out of th^ water, and
are known to sailors as sea-arrows (the tail fins present something
the figure of an arrow-head).
All the Calamaries prefer deep water, and the surface of it,
though they are by no means helpless at the bottom. They are
common on this coast.
Indeed, there is hardly any sea where you will not find octopods,
cuttles, and squids, eating, and being eaten by, most other marine
creatures ; including the marine variety of Homo Sapiens* We have
here none of the class capable of catching a man alive ; the largest
cuttle bones I have got were not 13 inches long, and I never found
any squid of these parts exceed 3^ feet (including the tentacles), nor
are any monsters of the class reported by the native fishermen here.
But the Enoploteuthis of the South seas is said to reach 6 feet long
of head and body alone, and Architeuthis of the North Atlantic is
"certainly known to attain a length of 15 feet or upwards to the
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76 NATURAL HISTORY.
body and head ; and from 30 to 40 feet or more in the lon^
tentacles/' That is to say^ this amiable creatare is as big as a small
boat^ and has a spread of yard-arm that would do credit to a good-
sized ship.
It was lucky for Victor Hugo*s hero " Gilliatt '* that he only fell
in with a '^ pieuvre/* and not with an architeuthis, the more so as
most of these large squids are pretty well provided with sharp
hooked claws.
Some fossil Cephalopods were as long as a man (or more) in the
body, but these were probably Tetrabranchiate ; and (so far as we
have any means of guessing) inferior in activity and in length of
arm.
On the other side of the question, men certainly eat most sorts of
squids, cuttles, and octopods ; and I can myself vouch for some of
them being fairly good eating. The ink should be got rid of before
cooking. I remember once getting, in Italy, a dish of small
octopods, which would have been very good, if at every stroke of
the fork the ink had not spurted out, till the whole mess looked as
if the sauce had been made of blacking.
Pretty nearly every sea fish eats every cephalopod he can catch ;
and gulls sometimes capture squids on the surface. The Marathas
call cuttles ^' M6kuli/* squids *' Sit-Makuli, *' and octopods
*' Au.Mdkuli/'
The Konkan coast, with its basaltic reefs and muddy water, is not
so rich in shells as might be expected of a tropic shore, and the best
that I can do here is simply to indicate those that I have observed,
following Woodward's classification as closely ^s possible.
Every beach seems to vary ; and there are many Konkan shells in
our Museum that I have not collected here ; but, writing in the
jungles, I cannot refer to the catalogue.* We have few native
StrombidaB) the chief is Rostellaria curia.
My next shell is a Mtirexj closely resembling the English M,
erinaceics; and called by children ^'Aswalia'^ or "Bear-shell.**
These children's names are rather useful, as grown up natives here-
abouts have but few names for shells. A big univalve is Kuba, and
a little one Kubi ; and bivalves in general are " Shipi,'' or some
• For instance, the pretty blushiag Hemristoma seems to be abundant just north
of Bombay ; and is often brought into the city in road material, but I have never
got it in, or south of the harbour.
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WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA, 77
derivative thereof. I have also got other Murices, and a Fusus
(probably F» coins), aPyrula, and others unidentified.
Of Buccinidds we have a good Hiany handsome sorts Ebui^ea
(sfirata ?), a Terehray species at leasts and I think a Nnssa. Our
finest shell is a Dolium, as big as a boy's fist^ which makes a pretty
ornament when the dull brown epidermis has been scrubbed off ; a
thing that often happens^ to some extent^ during the creature's life-
time.
We have, I think, two purples, and I get a great number of
dead shells of Olives ; but have never secured a live specimen. They
are amongst the prettiest shells we have. Cones are numerous,
some of them over two inches long, partly or wholly covered when
alive with a bristly epidermis concealing the markings. The little
boys call them ^' Kuttrya'* ( = dog-shells.)
I have once or twice received Mitres, dead shells, and constantly
receive living cowries of three species, the reticulated Cyprcea
ArahicUy a larger species spotted " like a pard,'* and a small species
seldom exceeding an inch in length. This shows a great variety
of very beautiful spots, speckles, and marblings and colours varying
from marble yellow to very deep brown. The specimens, however,
when placed side by side show such a gradation that I think they
are all of one species. The young are very unlike their elders,
little wheat shaped shells^ with a long foraminated, turned-up spike
at each end.
The money cowry occurs locally on this coast as a dead shell in
considerable numbers ; and wherever this happens, you will generally
be able to trace it to the wreck of a dhow from Zanzibar. I know
two such cowry mines myself.*
I have only got ^a^ica and Lamellaria B/a dead shells. APo^a-
mides is common in the mangrove swamps ; but perfect specimens
are rare; they seem to get broken at both ends during life.
A handsome pied Nerita takes the pla<^ upon our reefs that the
periwinkle does at home, and is, like it, a favourite food of the poor.
* The little boys oaU cowries *' Dnkari ** (spigshell). It is carious that a small
shell of the same family is called "piggy" or" pigshell" in the British Isles.
Colonel Yule (I |ihink) says that Porcellana " (with the same meaning) is the name of
an allied Mediterranean form amongst Sicilian children ; and that probably this gave
the languages of Europe their name for porcelain^ the texture of that materiali when
first imported, being fairly enough compared to that of the sheU. (Porcelain was little
or not at all known to the earlier Greeks and Romans.)
I may add, that probably a similar name was applied in France to some shell or
other, and may be still. It is certain that the earlier French Canadian discoverers
ealled shell wampum " porcelaine."
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78 NATURAL HISTORY,
Along with it are some very pretty little NavicelUe of different
shades of blue, with white spots.
Among the Turbirddce (top-shells), two species yield " appayas,"
that is, solid opercula fib for cheap jewellery (studs and so forth )•
The first is an Imperator, much resembling I, imperialis, a little grey
pyramidal shell warted upon every whorl, and nacreous (mother-o*-
pearly) throughout, except the grey outer skin (epidermis).
The operculum, or valve, which closes the mouth of the shell, is
also "mother-o' -pearly,*' and looks, in fact, like a little pearl, purple
or violet-edged, and in shape like one-half of a tiny split bean* The
largest of these opercula does not exceed ^ of an inch in length.
The second species is, I think, a Monodonta, closely allied to Jf.
labia. It is a good-sized shell, nearly as large, in the finest speci-
mens, as a billiard-ball, covered outside with an olive green epider-
mis, handsomely mottled with a darker green and with a deep
crimson. The whole structure of the shell is nacreous; but the
operculum is porcellanous (which is rather curious, but is the case
with some other Turbinidce). It (the operculum) is about § of an
inch across in the largest specimens ; and much of the shape of half
a split pea. The colouring is green or Spanish brown, or both ; with
shades of white, pink, or pale orange.
This species has long been used in India for buttons, bracelets,
and the like, though not very commonly ; but I believe that I myself
was the first to use the operculum of an Imperator for such purposes.
Some species of Turbo from the Pacific and South Seas are
much more beautiful than ours ; and at one time were a good deal
worked up in Paris.
In the same family come the handsome pyramidal Trochi, gene-,
rally marked crimson and grey. All the Turbinidce can be stripped
of the epidermis by steeping them in dilute acetic acid (or common
vinegar), and then show as entirely of m other- o'-pearl.
In the next family {Haliotidce) we find the Ormer or Venus's ear,
the largest, perhaps, and most beautiful of British shells. One or
two small dead shells of a similar species have been brought to me
here; but I could not find out where they had been got.
We have here, however, a remarkable member of this family, viz,
an lanthina, or Oceanic snail, or ^' Violet shell." The connection
of this creature with the Ormers is perhaps a little overstrained.
They are rock-creepers. lanthina, on the contrary, is at home on
the surface of deep " blue water" • where it congregates in great
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WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA. 79
fleets^ each snail floating in his own inverted shell. I have some
doubts as to whether they can sink at all. It is certain that they
cannot do so when breeding, as they have then in tow a sort of raft
that they make of glutinous air-bubbles, with their eggs hanging
underneath it ; and there is no means of withdrawing the air from
this float. Moreover, the spire of the shell, which would be the
upper part if the snail could crawl on the land or on the bottom, is
always of a very pale blue, almost white, and the base (or what
ought to be the base) is of a deep blue, which coloration, in a
marine animal, is good ground for supposing that the light side is
the bottom, and the dark side the top, in its regular trim.
When stranded, the lanthina is perfectly helpless, cannot crawl
an inch^ and seems to die almost at once. I never could get a
stranded one to live. As for catching them alive, to do that one
must find out their fine weather quarters, which are probably, as far
as we are concerned, on the other side of a good stretch of herring-
pond; for the winds that bring us lanthina fleets are norths
westers, occurring from August to S'eptember ; and the snails must
be brought by them from the Arabian Sea. But to be in that sea^
N.-W. of Bombay, at that time, they must have got up on the
S.-W. gales of May, June, and July from somewhere far to the
S.-W., probably the neighbourhood of the Seychelles and north of
that. If their head-quarters were much further east we should get
them with the- early south-westers. I shall have more to say about
these winds and currents later on.
We have one pmk specimen of lanthina, probably unique, and
as probably coloured by disease. I picked it up myself, dead and
empty ; but its colour cannot well have been the result of weather-
ing. It was perfect, and long before so fragile a shell as lanthina
could bleach upon the '* thundering shore'* where it was found the
waves alone would have smashed it to pieces, to say nothing of
frequent traffic. I find it difficult to secure a perfect specimen,
except by having a watch kept on the shore (for this and other
matters). When it is reported that ''blue flower-shells*' are
coming in, I go or send at the moment of high water to pick them
up. Being very light, they are always stranded along the high
watermark only; and in an hour after the first of ebb the delicate
tissues of the animal are withered ; while a little blue stain on the
sand often marks the discharge, in the last agony, of a blue fluid,
which may perhaps be used for concealment; like the sepia of the
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80 NATURAL HISTORY.
cattle-fishes^ by this otherwise defenceless creature. When the
Barf of the next tide (if a higher one) has passed over the dead
shells^ it seldom leaves one perfect. Those cast ashore at the top
of springs may be long enough to bleach ; but they always bleach
blue-white, the colour of their own paler portions. If, however,
there were a pink species of lanthina, it would probably have
been discovered before this. At any rate, it is a rare and lovely
little shell.
The animal of lanthina is remarkably pig-headed. I do npfc
mean to impugn his morals or intelligence ; but merely his profile.
He is said to live upon some gelatinous things called velellae and
other acalephas, whereof I shall have more to say further on ; and
certain it is that although I often find them without him, I never
find him without them.
Our common limpets resemble those of Europe. I have not
here got any of the queer ^* key-hole limpets,'' '* Bonnet limpets '*
and cup and saucer shells, FissurellicUe and CalyptraiddB ;
but no doubt they could be found by a collector with more
leisure and knowledge, nor have I any of the extraordinary multi-
valve Chitons,
A very small Dentaliwm, or Elephant's tusk shell, is found on the
sands in large numbers.
One of the beauties of our shores is a little sea-snail, Rotella vesti^
aria, which (or rather whose shell, as I never got a live one) occurs
in countless numbers ; sometimes colouring the beach in bands two or
three feet wide and many yards long. How many species of Botella
there may be I know not ; but we have three marked types of colour,
viz.y an uniform dark crimson, an equally uniform coral pink, and a
mottled pattern in which the ground colour runs from crimson to
white; and the markings are of various shades of brown. The
largest I get are a little bigger than common ''pearl'' shirt-studs,
but some in our museum are double as big.
The land and fresh water univalves are not particularly interest-
ing, and differ little from those of the Deccan ; except the
Cremnoconchi previously noticed; and a prettily-shaped Auricula
inhabiting salt marshes and the like places, whence it is often
washed out to sea and cast on the shore, where it passes for a
sea-shell.
The Dorids, or sea-slugs, are pretty numerous ; and one or two
species reach at least three inches long. These large ones seem
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l^ATBBS at WEBTDRN 1ND12L. 81
to haunt pretfcy deep water, as I get them mostly from fishing-nets
ivo?ked seme way from shore. One reef- species about two inches
long is 'of a deep crimson ; another of the same size pale orange;;
«nd one which seldom exceeds an inch in length is cream-coloured,
with crimson and black markings. As a general rule, however^
their colours aroTather duH greens and browns.
Of Brachiopeds I have got none, except dead single valves o€
what I suppose to be a Ling^la ; but in true, or Lamellibranoh
Bivalves, we are well off. The oysters naturally take precedence.
Between the ^common eatable oyster of these parts and that of
the North Atlantic I find two principal ^fferences — (a) that the
former is a deal less expensive, and (b) that, as the University has
not yet takon his education in hand, he cares no more for the
letter Hthan Mr. -Jorrocks did for *'a haitch/' He has, liowever^
« calendar of his own, based 'upon the Hindu Almanack, and
usually from the Mirgs4l to the Diwali, that is, from about June to
Octo'ber^ both inclusive, you will ^o well to abstain from oysters
in these parts, tts the fishermen do.
This, however, is not a law of the Modes and Persians. Whe»
the monsoon was late, I Tiave been assured by the fishermen that I
might safely eat oyst-ers «until there was plenty of fresh water in the
'sea ; and have done so, both I and my house, without any ill effects,
Viutil well on in June.
It is however necessary to take great care how the oysters are
Tcept. They should be in clean sea water, and this should either
be changed at least twice a day, or still better, changed every
moment by the natural method, i,€., by sinking the basket
or other parcel of oysters in a tideway. They should always be
kept " this -side ^up, witli care/* This side is the flat, or slightly
concave, external side, which never shows cmy white scdr, as the
oyster always rests on, and moors by, the other or left valve, convex
externally and concave internally, so that it can retain a little
water. This is of the highest importance to the oyster, especially if
left out of water by the ebb, or removed from it by violence ; and
an oyster turned wrong side up in a basket or barrel is just as likely
to live as a man hung by the heels. This is the seci^ of oyster
packing. But in any case, tropical climates are ill-suited for the
transport of marine bivalves, and a good deal of care is necessary
whenever that is undertaken, and at the end of it there is always
a great deeA of risk to the oyster and some to the man who eats him«
11
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82 NATDHAL HISTORT.
On the Coast, 'per contra, the danger of oyster-eating almos*
always arises from gross carelessness on the part of some one or
other. Nobody gets poisoned with oysters at the Clubs, or at the
Apollo Bunder, where proper care is taken in the matter. In one
case that came under my notice, I myself, and my household,
ate safely of a basket of oysters for three days, at almost every
meal ; and a man who had eaten them there was afterwards
" poisoned '^ with oysters out of that very same basketful, only in
the meanwhile they had passed out of my hands.
As for '' copper in oysters,^^ supposed to be derived from rocks^
it is a fact that the juices of oysters do, at least occasionally, con-
tain a trace of copper, but a dose of copper likely to affect a man
would probably be enough to kill a whole keg full of oysters, certainly-
far more than enough for any number of oysters that the man
could hold. If any gentleman doubts this, let him mix a dose of
verdigris with the water of an aquarium, and see how long any oyster
or any thing else, lives in the poisoned water.
The fact is that nothing is so hateful to shell-fish, and especially
to the Conchifera, as the exide of copper ; and that is the reason why
it is useful on a ship's bottom. Sir Humphry Davy prevented the
copper on a ship's bottom from rusting (by a galvanic experiment
which need not be described here), and the result was that that ship's
bottom immediately became foul ; the Conchifera and Barnacles
having no further reason to fear it.
We have several other oysters here; one has the lower valve plaited,
making it look something like a bird's foot. This is little eaten.
Another small and rare species of the creeks has the valves long,
narrow, and rounded like dinner-knife blades, seldom exceeding 1 J
inch in length. I have not got here the *' Mangrove oyster**
(Dendrostrea) which " grows on trees.** All oysters, or nearly all,
will grow upon dead wood. The connection of ^^ oyster poisoning**
with Mangroves is a mare*s nest.
Of the so-called Pearl-oysters, Placuna Placenta, the Window-
oyster, is common here ; and is still sought after as containing seed-
pearls. It seldom produces large pearls; and since it ceased to be
used as a substitute for window-glass, its value has fallen off. I
once got here a single small fresh valve of the true Pearl-oyster
{Avicula margaritifera). It must be very rare.
Our Scallops are small and unimportant ; and we have, I think,
only one small Spondyle, conspicuous by its orange colour; but
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"WATERS OP WESTERN INDIA. 83
I may have classified it wrongly. I have only got loose dead
valves of this shell. We have several Arks, usually found as dead
shells on the sands, and prettily marked.
We have one very fine sea-mussel, Mytilus smaragdina, the
Emerald-mussel, which earns its name by the green iuternal border
of its valves. There are larger mussels here and there, but taking
the average, it is a handsome species. It is here a ^hell of the
reefs, less gregarious than the European Mytilns edulis, and
not common enough to be, like it, an important article of human
food or bait. Wo have one specimen in our Museum with a rough
pearl in it. This came to me alive from the Alibag reefs.
The true Modiolaa are less common, and our basalt rocks are
generally too hard for Lithodomns ; but I have found the latter in
large old dead oyster shells.
We have at least two of the Union id<e or fresh -water pearl -
mussels, the same, apparently, as in the Deccan. One is rather thin
in the shell, and of a pale olive-green externally (i.e., in the
epidermis); the other is larger, thick and strong, with a black
epidermis, very like the British fresh -water pearl-mussel. 1 have
got no pearls in either here. They are pretty common ; and the
thin-shelled species, at least, is eaten.
Of the strange and monstrous TridacnaB, Woodward gives one of
the queerest forms, Tridacna squamosa, as from Bombay, on the
authority of Chemnitz. I never got it here, nor can my fishermen
recognize the figure. (They are usually pretty sharp at that,) A
good many animals can be collected in Bombay that were born a
long way off, as tve know, if any body does.
The great Tridacna is commonly imported into Bombay from the
China seas, as an ornament for gardens, and is said to be used as a
font in some Catholic churches. I don't happen to be a Catholic,
and do happen to object to making sights of Churches, so I don't
know whether this is true or not. The shell is quite big enough to
immerse a whole baby, but it belongs to the coral seas.
Cockles we have, a few ; but they seem to want the flavour of the
North, and are most used in making lime to eat with betelnut.
I have not identified any Cyprinidce, but a better conchologist
probably could. We certainly have one at least of the Veneridce, a
shell very like Cytherea Dione, only locally common. One of this
order is rather famous, the Venv^ mercenaria of the Atlantic States,
also known as a ^'clam," and by the Red Indian name of ''Qua-
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84! VETXfKAL fitSTOST.
iaug," (pronounced quaw-hog). The beat ^' Wampum," was made
of this shell, whence the scientific name, and it is stm nsefml, not a»
coinage, but as forage^
It maj here be observed that the commercial and gastronomies
term *^elam *' does not now admit of scientific classification. Fen«r
mercenariay as just mentioned, is a *' ckm," and Mya Jrenarim
(quite as difierent from it as a black back from a bison) is a
^ sand-clam,*' and so forfeh^
As for ** elam-chowder," it is very nice ;^ but I faney the efom ha»
nearly as much to say to it as the limestone had to the limestone-
soup in Lever's story.
A *' clambake," is a "stupendous and terrible spree/** in whichr
you* bake every thing you can think of along with the clams, eat the
ether things, drink everything you can think of, and leave the clame
to be eaten by any one who has no better to do; bar ooe or two,,
just to satisfy your soul. There is nothing on earth so hypocritical
as a "clambake,** but it is a fine spree for all that, or because of
it, the hypocrisy is so very transparent that it does^nt hurt any
ene*s conscience much, and the clambakers go away laughing at
each other like Gicero*'s augurs. I wish some one would intrednce
elambake& into Bombay.
I am* not sure that we have any Mactrasy though the aecommoda-^
tion is good for M, 8iuUorum.
Of TelUrbidce, I think I have got broken valves of T. planissima
and diphoe ; dead, of course. We have a Raaor-fish CSolen},
which I cannot distinguish from the British Solen SiKqua, except
by its inferior size. It is, like the British species,, to be got in
the sand at low-water of spring tides, and it may be worth saying^
that the Razor-fishes are equal, as eating, to scallops. Like scallops,
they should be cooked. Boiled Basor-fish is good enough, but
*' au gratin" or "&» la HoUandaise,** is better ; looks like Macearoni^
and is much more to the purpose*
CuUellus politu9 of the same family is a very pretty shell > conunon
(as a dead shell) on our shores.
Passing over some families not well represented here, we come to
the Pholadidce, or boring molluscs, who compel our attention, like
dynamiters, by threatening our lives and public buildings, such at
least as they can get at, namely, ships and piers, and the like.
The type of the family is the English Pholas dactylus or Pid-
dock ; and one species of these seas, Pholas hak&ri, requires a better
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WATffBS OF WE871SBN IKDIA. 95
Naturalist than I am to distinguish him from the same. The shell
is long^ oval at one end^ and at the other tapering off into a sort of
duck-bill shape. The heavy end is covered with toothed ridges,
and although, at a glance, the whole shell appears to be one of the
most delicate and fragile of the Coast {ihe thin parts are translucent) 9
an attempt to scratch it with a penknife shows that it is of very
hard stuff.
To borrow for an instant the special slang of the Mineralogists,
most sea-shells are of something like Galcite, but the Piddock and
his breed house themselves in Arragonite, a very much harder form of
lime. Such a statement, of course, requires to be taken with a good
deal of allowance for a ''allotropism*'; and other Mineralogical
and Chemical details that would be out of place here; but in the
main it is as true as that horses are shod with wrought iron and
"jumpers *' with steel. '* Jumpers,'^ be it known to any reader that
didn't know it before, are tools like crowbars, used for boring holes
in stones ; and of the same use is the shell of the Pholads.
The " Piddock" himself, though the chief of the family, is not
its most active member ; piercing chiefly clay and chalk or such
comparatively soft substances. He looks, too, like a shell-fish, has
the regular two valves of the Conchifera, (there are really five
plates, but three are inconspicuous) and nothing very striking
about him at first sight, except that fully half of him, the foot, is as
transparent as ice. He works like an awkward boy beginning to
use boring tools; by half turns right and left; blowing out his
.sawdust at intervals; if one may use such a word where the
respiratory medium is water.
As w.e proceed with this family, we find, in some, the bivalve shell
little more than rudimentary, not covering more than one-twentieth
part of the animal. This is the case with the Teredos or ship-worms ;
so-called because at first sight they look a good deal more like
worms than •' shell-fish.'' In others the shell has four or five valves,
easily distinguished, and covering the whole, or most, of the animal.
Speaking generally, the long " ship-worms," work with the grain
of the wood that they attack. They line their tunnels with concrete,
and have a sort of miner's law amongst themselves, in virtue
whereof they never invade each other's " claims." They usually
bore in wood, sometimes in mud. The mud-boring species have
been lately sufficiently dealt with by another member of this
society^ under the name of Kaphus.
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86
NATURAL HISTORY.
The short, completely shell-clad species, Xylophaga, Martesta,
&c., attack wood, oyster-shells, and stone. They do not line their
tunnels, and they have no regulation as to boundaries, boring with
or across the grain, cutting each other's lines, and sometimes, to
judge by some specimens that I have seen, cutting through each
other's shells. It is probable, however, that the shells so cut
through were empty.
Both groups are numerously represented here. Native vessels
suffer little from them, partly because they are usually teak-built,
and well protected with the peculiar compound called " chopan,**
but still more because they are very frequently beached and any
long exposure to the air is unpleasant, not to say fatal, to the
Pholads. European vessels are usually either coppered or iron-
built, and the ship-worms are therefore not now a terror of the sea.
But both the long " worms'' and short shell clad borers still play
havoc with piles and the 'like on this Coast.
It is not very long since we had a honey-combed block of wood
in our rooms sent in by the Department of Public Works, with an
accusation against certain sea-anemones inhabiting the holes. These,
however, had certainly been made by at least two Pholads ; one a
Teredo '^stealing by line and level** as already described * the other
probably aMartesia; burrowing at his own sweet will, and "jumping
the claims** of his brethren and predecessors without remorse op
ruth.
Both had abandoned the pile before it came into our hands
(having probably eaten all the soft wood in it) and the burrows
had been colonized by sea-anemones and crabs.
The most remarkable exploit of the Bombay- Pholads ^as the
piercing of wrought-iron pipes at Hog Island, for positive evidence
of which I am indebted to the courtesy of another member of this
Society. The pipes, containing water at a very high pressure, were
served and parcelled with yarn and so forth to protect them from
the water, and this covering, probably, first attracted the Pholad}
one of the short fully-shelled species, probably a Martesia.
When he had got through the covering he went on with the pipe.
The holes were like clean countersunk holes, and were most likely
drilled, by a movement similar to that already described as used by
the "piddock,*' but their clean appearance, and the exposure of the
grain of the iron, give reason for suspecting that the mollusc had the
aid of an acid ; which, in that case, he must have secreted himself.
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WATERS OP WE8TERN INDI^. 87
Of coarse, the moment that any hole reduced the thickness of
the pipe so far that it could not longer bear the tremendous pressure
of the water within, the remaining diaphragm of metal was burst
out, and the miner driven out of his own burrow like a shot from
a gun, so that, although we have the'' corpus delicti'* plain enough,
the corpus delinquentis is not likely ever to come to hand (in the
case of a finished hole). But an oyster shell in the Society's
Museum shows a small Pholad dried in his burrow, who is probably
near of kin to the miner of Hog Island. The story is perhaps one
of the most remarkable in the modern history of Molluscs; and with
it I close my remarks on those of the Konkan.
Having, so far as in me lies, treated of the true Molluscs, I have
to deal with the other Invertebrates, under especial difficulties.
Very few men, not being professional naturalists, really understand
the multitudinous and multiform canaille of the waters; and as for
books, I am now in a remote jungle, dependent on one Nicholson's
"Manual of Zoology.*' I write, therefore, very much subject to
correction, and shall have done all I can hope to do, if I happen to
help any one who knows less than myself So far as possible, I
shall follow the classification of the standard work noted above; and
shall draw on it for some of my facts ; as, in respect of the Mollusca,
1 have depended mostly on Woodward.
Of the higher tunicaries, the Ascidians seem to be rare here;
at least I have got very few, and those not remarkable. These are
the creatures about whom it passed for a joke, some years ago,
to say that "the Darwinians believed themselves to be descended
from a marine Ascidian."
The truth of the story is, that a Mr. Kowalefski considered
himself to have discovered, in the larv89 of certain Ascidians,
structures analogous to those characteristic of vertebrate animals.
In this he was supported by other naturalists, and, amongst them,
by the late Mr. Darwin, who, moreover, stated that he had, long
before Kowalefski's publications, made similar observations on
certain Ascidians at the Falkland Islands (where, it may well
be supposed, he had not the best laboratory in the world).
The whole matter, as regards the Ascidians^ comes fairly within
the scope of this paper ; but it need hardly be said that I do not
propose here to take up such a subject as the doctrine of Evolution.
It may fairly be said that many competent naturalists consider the
supposed vertebrate affinities of the Ascidian larvee to be merely su-
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88 NATURAL HISTOBT.
perficial ; that the adult Ascidians show no trace whatever of such
affiaity; and that as things now standi an amateur naturalist may
most safely assume the Amphioxus or Lancelot fish of the
Mediterranean to be the lowest known vertebrate. I think it
possible that the little transparent fish^ mentioned at the end of my
last paper^ will be found to represent the Lancelot here. But I am
sure that it will supply no missing link^ having bright and
distinct eyes^ whereas those of Amphioxus are rudimentary, or
little better.
I have received and sent in to our Museum a few creatures that
I took for SalpoB.
Of the Polyzoa, I have sent in several specimens of at least two
forms of Flustra (Sea-mats, or Sand-corals) : these abound on the
coast; they are very beautiful, and abominably brittle. Their
growth is extremely rapid under favourable circumstances. We
have in our Museum one very large specimen. It is (I write -
under correction, as the thing is very brittle ; and goes on diminish*
ing every time it is moved) over 18 inches long, 15 wide, and
8 deep.
This grew on an iron buoy that I scraped and painted (partly
with my own hand) and sent to sea at the end of September 1885.
The buoy was landed in May 1886, and the men who did that job
preserved for me the Flustra, which was therefore of under 8
months' growth.
Of the aquatic insects little can be said here. The entomologists
justly claim a monopoly of their extremely intricate subject; and
any one else touches it at his peril. I have already noted that
certain water beeUes are food for crocodiles, and every one knows
the great water beetles that fiy against the lamps of the Byculla
Club, and look '' as big as sparrows.*' As I write, a small bright
green species lies in heaps, like pebbles, on the banks of a tank
before the tents ; and for some reason is untouched by the numerous
crows and other birds feeding about. Certain beautiful tiger
beetles haunt the sands, and a species (apparently) of beetle skims
the surface of the sea in calms, like the ''water boatmen'' (/lo*
tonecta) of English fresh- waters (which, however is not a beetle) •
During the height of the South-west monsoon, the life-boata
cruising off the coast see coloured butterflies at sea. But whether
they come from Africa, or Madagascar, or the Mauritius, no man
knows. This much is certain, that they appear very much at home
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WATERS OF WESTKKN INDIA. 80
in a whole gale, not at all so helpless as oue might imagine ; and I
know from other observations that in light winds a butterfly can
weather on any ordinary sailing-boat^ and will do so^ going to
seaward. What his motive may bo I don't pretend to explain.
One can hardly credit a butterfly with the ideas of a Columbus.
In Crustacea our waters are rich enough. We have no true
lobster (Homarus), but the lobster's placo and name are taken on
our tables by several marine cray fishes. There is a certain confu-
sion about the popular names of the long-tailed crustaceans which
1 shall try to clear up, so far as may be. A lobster is a long-tailed
marine crustacean having claws big enough to be worth eating, a
hard, black, calcareous shell, and a long serrated horn on his fore-
head. A river cray-fish (Astacus) is a sort of dwarf lobster. Uis
English name is derived from the French (Ecrevisse), and he has
stood godfather to a lot of sea *^ cray-fishes/^ which differ in having
no claws big enough for the table. Among these are the French
Langoustes (which in France are considered better than lobsters, the
opposite doctrine obtaining in England) and the "lobbishta^^ of our
butlers. In these the horn, as well as the claws, is absent, or much
smaller than in Homaries, and is also apt to be squarcr in section.
A prawn is a dwarf lobster, with the regular horn, and sometimes
with the broad heavy claw. One of our common species here is a
perfect miniature lobster in shape. But the prawn's shell is entire-
ly or mostly horny; and more or less translucent. A shrimp,
again, has no horn or claws to speak of. The whole group, however,
are very closely connected with each other, and are known t*^
science as ^^ Macrurous Decapod Crustacea, '' that is, ^' long-taiicd,
ten-legged, shelly creatures. '' The prawns in particular are
extremely numerous here, and many of them are very richly
coloured, though unluckily the colours do not laet in spirit. Most
of them, after death (no matter how caused) turn red, or reddish-
white. One small marine species appears to be born boiled. A\'e
have several fresh water species. A very small one haunts mountain
springs with the Alpine carps and loaches. A very fine one is found
in all our rivers, and is a source of great annoyance to the angler,
unless he is hooked, which is very diSicult to manage. However,
as the capture of the prawn requires far more skill or luck than that
of any vertebrate fish in our waters, and as he is very much superior
to these for the table, an angler sometimes gets a good deal of com-
fort uut of him. The prawn swims low, never mure than three feet
12
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90 NATUKAL flISTOKy.
above the bottoiu, and usually on it. His presence is easily dis-
covered, as he pulls the float to and fro, or round in circles, and
finally walks away with it, with a motion easily distinguished from
that of any fish. You can get rid of his attentions by shortening up
the trace under the float ; but if you want to catch him you must use
the smallest and toughest bait, such as. a bit of sinew, and leave the
point of the hook well bare. Such a bait he will probably take into
his mouth, after fumbling about it a good deal with his claws, and
then a smart stroke will drive a sharp hook through his shell. He
will fight for about a minute, and sometimes cuts the line with his
claws. A good prawn will measure 9 inches from the tip of the
horn to the tip of the tail, whereof 6 inches are good eating, and
amount to one good help of lobster. The length of the great claw-
bearing legs is the same as that of the animal. The other pairs are
short and feeble. The claw-points cross each other when closed,
and inflict a nasty little wound. They, and indeed the whole claw-
bearing (cheliferous) limbs are somewhat calcareous or crusty and
opaque, showing an approach to the lobsters and cray-fishes, but the
rest of the shell is horny and translucent.
The ,Anomura (or eccentric- tailed crustaceans) form a group
between the long-tailed lobster tribe and the crabs. The com-
monest of them here are the Hermit crabs, all closely resembling
the European Pagurus Bernhardus, The anomaly of their tails is that
they are naked ; and in fact the whole animal of Pagurus may be
likened to a prawn half-shelled. What shell he has, however, is
felony and not horny. By way of shelter, the Hermit-crab takes up
his quarters in any empty univalve shell that he finds handy, coiling
away his naked tail in its spiral chamber, and making fast with
a sort of sucker that he has ad hoc, so well that you may pull him
to pieces easier than make him let go.
The Hermit-crabs are exceedingly numerous here. Their small fry,
in thousands, inhabit dead shells of Rotella; and the larger those
of whelks and murices, &c. A very favourite shell with them is
that of Potamides, They give rise to some disputes between me
and my collectors, who are led to expect higher prices for shells
containing the living animal, and always pretend not to know that
the Hermit-crab is other than the proper inhabitant of the shell.
Another group of the Anomura are the so-called " crab-lobsters,"
(Porccllance) which are not very common here.
The true Crabs arc classed as Brauhyura (or short-tailed), and
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WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA. 91
invariably carry their tail tucked between their legs ; nor is it of
any great use to them, except that the females carry their eggs be-
tween it and the body. They are extremely numeroua and various hi
our seas and fresh waters. Racing crabs (ocypoda) are not common
in extra-tropical countries. The Irish, indeed, have a proverb, "Ye
may be a racer, but ye don't look like it ; as the Devil said to the
crab,'^ which indicates a want of acquaintance with this group. For
the ocypods not only are racers, but do look like it. Another family,
the Gelasimi, "calling," or " laughing crabs,*' may be described as
large claws with small crabs growing at one end of them. They are
numerous wherever a mixture of sand or gravel with mud exists be-
tween tide- marks; and in such places you will of ten see from afar
the bank covered with as it were white pebbles, which suddenly dis-
appear as you approach. These are the claws, which are mostly
white, with more or less red, black, or blue ; and they have retired
into their burrows.
Some small burrowing crabs cover many miles of the sands with
the ''spoil " (engineers call it) from their burrows, made up into neat
little pellets, and removed from the holes in a fashion that looks like
bead- work, arranged in a pretty vine-leaf pattern. Others only make
a rough spoil heap near the^burrow, and the work of both is easily
mistaken for that of worms.
Then there are spider-crabs, and "peacock-crabs" (mhor pakhi),
so called from, their coloration, with three ocelli like those on a
peacock's tail. There are many native names for them, " kenkad'* is
a general one ^^ Bhaw-more^' (running-crabs) are the ocypoda and
gcelasinii ; ** Saiva-more " are queer grey crabs with feathery legs
found in the creeks, but not common. " Chimbore" are another estu-
arine species, and " Mute " are land-crabs. The giant of the Crusta-
ceans, Birgus latro, the cocoanut-crab, is not found here ; and indeed
I must confess that all our crabs are wanting in size as compared with
those of northern seas. I have some Europe crab-shells in which I get
the Indian crab baked ; and have arrived at an equation as regards
our largest eatable species here, viz., that they are to the British
crab exactly as a tailor to a man. They have their seasons, and are
not always wholesome ; but the natives can generally be trusted
to report upon that.*
* NoTB. — The Land Crabs (Gecarcini) are said to be nnwholesome in the hot
weather, and other species at the change of the shell. I do not know whether the
famons soft-shelled crab of the United States is a separate permanently soft species
or not. It is certainly by no means poisonons.
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92 NATUBAL HrSTORT.
Another group of crustaceans is parasitic upon fish, and very
often kills them. The salt-water catfishes are the commonest
victims. If they had enough sense to deliver each other, as the
monkeys do, they could very easily turn the tables on their
tormentors; which are ugly flat white creatures, sometimes as
big as a sixpence, or bigger.
The most curious, perhaps, of our crustaceans are the hideous
'' Mantis-shrimps" (Squilla), which get their name from their
peculiar claws, deeply-toothed, but not fitted with nippers, some-
what resembling those of the Mantis insect (the Indian Daddy-long-
legs, that does say his prayers, chiefly grace before meat). Our
largest species (S, oratorio) grows to more than a foot long, and
appears to be very sluggish. Some that I kept lay all day half
concealed amongst stones and weeds, but with the claws free and
ready for action ; and this may, perhaps, be their method of captur-
ing live prey. It is likely however that, like most Crustacea, they
live a good deal on carrion. Several smaller species are very
active. In one of these the armed claws are absent, and the
principal legs end in what look like rudimentary nippers, indicating
an approach to the lobster's claws.
I have not got any King-crabs here, but they may very well be
here. They are queer-looking round creatures, with thin legs
completely concealed beneath them, and a long sharp spine in their
tail ; and are not, indeed, really crabs at all, but more akin to the
fossil trilobites ; some naturalists say to the Scorpions.
The last of the Crustacea are the barnacles and acorn-shells (balani)
which no one, to look at them, would take to be crustaceans at alL
Almost every one has seen the common ship's barnacle, a little
delicate shell, with several valves, attached by a long worm-like
stalk to ship's bottoms, or any other floating matter ; and nearly
every one knows the old story of how these barnacles developed into
geese. They are very common here; one species is of a bright
orange colour, but loses its complejcion in spirit. They don't
usually attach themselves to stone, with one curious exception, viz,,
l^umice stone. And in the matter of wood they prefer what is afloat
to piling or other fixed timber.
The Sessile cirripedes (commonly called Acorn-shells), on the other
hand, prefer stone and fixed timbers, but are not exclusive. They
are sometimes wrongly called limpets, but are easily enough
distinguished ; little conical hard shells, with a hole iu the top,
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WATERS OP WESTERN INDIA. 93
lookiDg like a tiny model of a volcano with its crater. On close
examination the cone is seen to consist of several plates, and if the
creature be alive there will be seen a second cone inside the crater,
which is the '^ operculum ^^ or door valve. A small white species is
very common on rocks between tide marks,, and some of the outer
reefs have a very fine species, with au extremely massive shell,
which grows in great clusters as big as a man's two fists.
Individual shells are often an inch and more long; the colour is a
dull red or black, which weathers, after death, to pink and white.
In this condition the shell looks something like a large flower bud
turned to stone ; and is very effective in the rockwork of a fernery,
or the like. It is occasionally called a " tulip-shell,^' an appropriate
name enough.
We get another species on turtles, which is not calcareous
but horny, and looks very much like an old-fashioned great-coat
button ; the colour is a dirty white. Specimens from the under-
side of the turtle seem to some extent lighter in colour, perhaps
because they are less exposed to light. We have some such
specimens in our Museum. They don't do the turtle any harm;
living on what they get from the water. Some barnacles are
said to attach themselves to Whales and Porpoises, but this I have
not seen myself. All of them begin life swimming free, and only
settle down as they age.
The Annelides, or leeches and sea-worms, are pretty well-known.
Leeches of several sorts exist in our tanks, but are not here a pest as
in some other tropical countries.
A Scrpula, very like one common at home, covers stones on the
beach, oyster-shells, and so forth, with long white winding tubes. A
large Terehella is pretty common on many strands. It collects shells
and sticks, and more particularly bits of grass, to make a tube for
itself to live in under the sand; and sometimes goes by the name of
a ^' Sea- caddis." The use of the grass seems to be to anchor it in the
sand. The whole tube, as it lies half exposed, looks more like the
root of some plant than the dwelling of a worm. We have some
very long smooth ribbon-like sea worms (which may be Nemertida),
and one hairy species, looking very like a hairy caterpillar which
takes up its quarters upon floating wreck or the like ; but doesn't
make itself fast in any way. The '^lobworm" and "hairy bait"
seem to be much the same as those at home; but they don't often
come to hand, because they are not used hero as bait, and there-
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94 NATURAL HISTORY.
fore nobody has any motive for hunting them. I have not got any
" Sea-mouse *' here.
Of the Nematelmia, the most noticeable is the guinea-worm
{Filaria medinensis) which is unfortunately very abundant. How
it gets into the human body is not yet certainly known, but one
consideration points to its getting through the skin. It has been
known, though rarely, to attack the horse (and, I have heard, the
dog). Now these creatures don't usually take as much care about
what they drink as men do; and if drinking water was the usual
vehicle of the guinea-worm, they might be expected to suffer
much more frequently than men. But on the assumption that the
worm gets through the skin, the comparative immunity of dogs and
horses, which have much thicker skins than men (and also hair on
them) is easily accounted for. European authorities consider that
the guinea-worm doesn't appear until more than ten months or a
year after it effects a lodgment. The natives, however, say that
three months is sometimes enough; and the circumstances of a very
bad outbreak in my own camp seemed to point to that period.
Probably the time may vary. Dr. Bastian considers the guinea-worm
to be only accidentally parasitic, and in that case, particularly, much
irregularity in development would be natural enough.
The size of this worm is a good deal exaggerated in conversation ;
one of 30 inches is a good specimen. Nobody has ever seen a male
guineaworm to swear to him; our unwelcome visitors are all
" ladies in an interesting condition '' ; and the young, even if liberat-
ed in the tissues by the breaking of their parent in extraction, do
not appear to grow. The common belief that they do is due to the
frequent presence of several filariee at one time in the patient, quite
independent one of the other. The breaking of the worm, there-
fore, is by no means such a serious misfortune as people make out.
The worst that comes of it is the prolongation of the business ; and
that, of course, is often quite bad enough. I knew of one case in
which the worm was broken, and the greater part of it never
extracted at all ; but the wound healed over, and the patient suf-
fered no more from it. The young, of course, were all or mostly
removed by pressure on the wound.
Amongst the Echinodermataj I have not found here any Holothu^
ridae, or '^ sea-cucumbers." Probably we have some, but their
great head-quarters are in the Coral seas, whence they go to China
under the name of trepan g, or Beche de mer, to be turned into soup.
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WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA. 95
Feather-stars (Comatula) are tolerably abundant, and so are the
Brittle starfishes (Ophiuroids) , but the Asteroids, or fleshy starfishes,
don't abound here as they do on British coasts; and the sea
urchins don't appear to be equal in size, variety, or number of
individuals to those of northern seas. In a tide's work you may
get half-a-dozen each of Echini and Asteroids, whereas at home you
could fill a basket. I have seen raw sea-urchins eaten in Europe,
where they are sometimes called '* sea-eggs."
I have already said that we have no coral-reefs ; and of corals,
commonly so-called, such as Madrepores and Millepores we have but
few ; and the specimens are seldom large. The largest I have got
were dead masses which had drifted some way. Some of these
are so cellular that they can actually float; and I have found
barnacles on them. Living cup-corals will grow upon floating
objects. I have repeatedly found them upon drifted pumice;
and once or twice upon driftwood ; and 1 have one specimen in
which three or four have grouped themselves on a dead broken stem
of an Antipath, with young oysters and Balani.
The Antipathes, or Black corals, are found on some of our reefs.
They are long rod-like things, with a blackish horny stem (sclerobase),
whence they take their name in trade. But when alive this is
covered with what looks like a warty bark, really the colony of
zoophytes in which the life of the thing is. Some of ours reach 7
feet long, and are as thick as a drawing pencil; but elsewhere, and
especially in the Red Sea, the stem attains an inch in diameter. The
living "bark" (ca9nosarc) is often of very brilliant colour, red or
yellow ; and a handsome little species in Bombay harbour varies from
orange to crimson. Besides these we have little gorgonias, or sea-
shrubs, seldom (with us ) exceeding a foot in height. One of the
handsomest, which is of a deep crimson, rarely gets beyond six inches.
Others are sulphur yellow, pink, or white. They keep their colour
for some months when dry ; but at last the " bark" dries and chips
ofl*, leaving only the horny stem, which is extremely durable. We
have one very fine specimen from the African coast in this condition,
five times as large as any I ever saw here, and even now a pretty
object.
These things, while retaining their colour, look very well in a
bouquet, a hat, or button-hole ; and might be more used in decoration
than they are. Sea-anemones (ActinicUe) are common on the
reefs and on immersed timbers; and queer-looking mud-anemones
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96 NATURAL HISTORY.
abound in the deep mud of some of the creel^s. Others (with better
taste) bury themselves in sea-sand. But none that I have got here
were remarkable for beauty of colour. I might except one crimson
mud anemone ; but its shape and surroundings are so ugly that it
is very far from being a lovely object.
In the mud, besides these, we find a rather curious object, look-
ing like an earthworm with a backbone. This on extraction turns
out to be a long calcareous rod, of the shape of a buggy whip,
usually with the point turned or curled over. The creature some-
times reaches a foot in length, and the diameter of a swan's quill, and
is probably related to Virgularia. We have many specimens.
The Medasse, or Blubber fishes, are very common. I cannot
myself distinguish those which are genuine from those which are
merely, stages in the reproduction of other creatures. A good
many of them can sting and blister the human skin ; and though
the injury is not in itself dangerous, the fright and shock to the
system of a man or boy suddenly stung in the water by an unseen
enemy are sometimes serious. In some cases the sufferer is
confused to an extent that puts him in some danger of drowning.
A set of flannels is a complete protection. On the Irish coast, I
have . noticed that those blubbers which are almost colourless are
harmless ; the offending species have purple marginal spots. Here,
j)er contra, the fishermen say that the colourless ones are the
stingers, and the spotted innocent.
Another stinging thing is the '' Portuguese man-o'-war/* which
consists of a longish bladder with several '^polypites^^ and long
tentacles and other organs hanging down from it, which steady it in
the water, and do the fighting, feeding and love-making ; in short,
they are the boatswain tight and the midshipmite and the crew
of the Portuguese man-o'-war. It is often driven ashore in great
numbers ; the polypites dry up to nothing ; and the dry bladder lies
on the sands till some one treads on it, and it goes off with a pop,
startling if unexpected. Still commoner are the Velellae, little round
rafts with a semi-circular sail, and the crew, as before, hanging on
the bottom. The fishermen call both of these ''Flowers of the deep
sea,^^ from their beauty, delicacy, and pelagic habits.
Sponges of several sorts are not uncommon on the reefs but
none of them are of any size or beauty ; and none are of any use
for washing oneself with. I sometimes use them for packintr
delicate specimens in spirit. From the perforations I find in dead
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WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA. 97
oyster shells, I think that a parasitic sponge attacks the oyster, but
I hav'n^t caught him at it. This vermin would probably be allied to
the northern Cliona, which does the same thing at home.
The true Sea-weeds [Algtse) are scarce and small here, and most of
them not attractive in appearance. Nor do I know of any alga being
used on this ooast as human food or for manure ; or in fact for any-
thing at all. I don^t know much about them ; and Dr. Kirtikar
and Mr. Birdwood have made the submfarine flora of these seas
their own.
Many years ago, Dr. Carter reported the organism which colours
salt red in our Bombay Salt-pans as apparently identical with that
which reddens snow in the Alpine and Arctic Regions {Protococcus
l^ivaUs), This is now generally considered to be vegetable ; though
the embryo is free and locomotive.
The hot springs all down the Konkan contain peculiar Algae, pro-
bably allied to those which Dn Kirtikar found at " Wazrabai.''
They are most abundant, I think, at Unhere, one march from Nagotna,
and not far from Pali. Northerly gales bring a drifting Sargassum
with little bladders that look like berries (and are not) like JS.
lacc^ferum. Like it, too, this species seems to live afloat.
Since I began these papers, Mr, Aitken has added to ray list of
birds one duck, Mergus merganser, from Bombay harbour, which,
as he justly observes, is probably its most southern record.
Mr. Inverarity (in accordance with his promise), has added
two ducks, the tufted pochard, which I had but doubtfully recorded,
and the scaup. This last is probably also a most southern record.
The truth is that we shall never know all about our ducks until
somebody comes with a punt-gun ; and this applies particularly to
the more marine species. I got a young duck alive in September^
which I think must have been a spot-bill ; but before the question
could be settled the badger broke loose and ate it up.
Mr. Inverarity also notes the true bittern, the little chestnut
bittern, of both of which I have seen local specimens, since I began
these papers, the black-tailed godwit (of which I find a very doubtful
undated note in my copy of '^ Jerdon *' as perhaps shot in Bombay
Harbour), and the golden plover, which he has found in the sort of
• ground where I thought it might be, but in far greater numbers
than I should have thought possible.* Clearly it is a regular visitor
* I haye shot this bird since in the Kundlira Valley, 7 th April 1887,
13
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98 NATURAL HISTORY.
to the coast. He has also identified one crake ; there are probably
more remaining for any one who will take them up.
As regards the bald coot, his observation confirms mine, that the
want of water is the only thing that keeps it oat of any part of the
Konkan. Of the three tanks on which Mr. Inverarity saw large
flocks, each is the largest sheet of water in its taluka. I have no
doubt that the bald coots may breed at Vehar, and probably they do
so at Bhiwandi. At Panwell they don^t.
As regards the purple coot, the notice is very interesting be-
cause, for three or four years previous to the famine, I was very
intimate with the Bhiwandi water-works and Vehar lakes. The
former, I should add, was then in its present form a new lake,
having been greatly improved about 1873-4. Now in those years I
never saw a purple coot upon either lake, so they must have been,
at best, but rare visitors. Mr. Inverarity^s notes appear to begin
with the next season ; the earliest date he gives is October 1887 (and
this not for the present bird); and it will be remembered that the
Deccan famine was followed by serious failure of rain in Gujarat, a
great country for purple coots. This may have set them wandering
south'ard, until some found out Vehar and Bhiwandi, and stayed
there. I have, since that, seen this bird at Nagotna, and have
noticed it, in Gujarat, to straggle a good deal in May ; and
as far as the climate goes, there is nothing to hinder it from
being here, as it is found as far south as Ceylon.
We shall probably have both the coots breeding on the Tansa
lake, if it is only protected.
The tank by the old cantonment at Kalyan has always been a
great place for both species of Jacana ; and I have no doubt they
breed there or thereabouts. The Bronze-winged Jacana apparently
breeds at one point near Panwell (on the road to the Kalhe Pass), at
Nagotna, and at Ashtami ; for you may see young birds there in all
years. The woodcock shot near Tanna must have been a " strag-
gler '/' but I should think it possible that the woodcock occurs
along the crest of the Ghats more frequently than we suppose.
I never got one in India myself.
I have, in several places above, alluded to pumice stone as the
abode of barnacles, annelides and corals, which may require expla-
nation. The fact is, that two years after the great eruption of Krakatoa,
pumice stone began to drift in to the Bombay coast in considerable
quantities. It had got to the Seychelles the year before, so probably
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SOME BIRDS SEEN IN A JOURNEY THROtOH PERSIA. 99
what we got had first travelled to that neighbourhood on the S.-B.
trades or some current ; and then turned off with the S.-W. Monsoon
of 1885. Our largest pieces were about as big as a boy's head. Those
which came to the Seychelles were much larger, and so numerous
as to encumber passages on the coast, and cause inconvenience
(I was told) to boats.
In 1886, it was also reported from the Maldives, but whether it
was then coming in, or was what had drifted and collected in pre-
vious years, is not clear. In 1884 it had been seen o£E the coast of
Ceylon in great <iuantities.
Keswal.
SOME BIRDS SEEN IN A JOURNEY THROUGH PERSIA.
By G. J. R. Ratmbnt, A. V. D.
From Bushire to Shiraz through the Kashgai and Bakhtiari High-
lands to Isfahan, hy Ali Oudurz, Burujurd and Hamadhan to
Sunneh in Kitrdistan, thence to Kismanshah.
[As far as possible, Jerdon's nomenclature has been adhered to.
Birds not identified with certainty are marked thus (?)]
Gyps fulvuB, — Large Tawny Vulture. — Throughout the country.
Specially numerous on a small hill, a few miles W. of Kismanshah.
Neophron percnopterus. — White Scavenger Vulture — Distribution
much as above, but far rarer.
Oypcetvs barbatus, — Bearded Vulture, or Lammergeyer — Kashgai
Bakhtiari Highlands, Highlands of W. Persia.
Falco sacer. — The Cherrug Falcon. Nihavand near Hamadhan,
Western Persia.
Eypotriarchis (Bsalon. — The Merlin — Kashgai Highlands.
Tinnunculus alaudarius. — The Kestrel — Kamaraj and north to
Shiraz, disappearing in higher altitudes of the Kashgai country, and
again being observed in descending towards Isfahan ; met with,
though not often, in W. Persia.
Micronisus badius, — The Shikra— Bushire.
Accipiter nisus, — Kurdistan.
Aquila pennata, — The Dwarf Eagle — W. Persia.
Pandion hali<ztus. — The Osprey. — Bushire, Daliki,— (Foot of
hills near Bushire) once at Gandaman, Bakhtiari Highlands.
Circus Swainsonin — The Pale Harrier — W. Persia.
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100 NATtBAL HI8T0Rr.
Milvus govinda — ( Jf. Ater ?) The common Pariah Kite — Between
Bushire and Shiraz, Kashgai Hills and W. Persia, but very rare
everywhere. Blandford in Eastern Persia considers it M, ater not
govmda.
Athene bactriana. Owlet — near Shiraz, Eashgai Highl^ands. W.
Persia. It has a plaintive little cry, very different to the intolerable
screech of A, brama.
Hirundo rustica. — Common SwaHow-^Common throughout the
country in summer and autumn, disappearing in the cold weather.
Breeding at Kazerun, S. of Shiraz, in June.
Hirundo fluvicola. — The Indian Cliff Swallow ? Jff. daurica) —
Konarthuktah, 1800 ft. between Bushire and Shiraz in June. Blan-
ford in Eastern Persia refers to this bird as S. daurica,
Chelidon urbica, — The Englisb House Martin — Shiraz and South'
Kashgai Highlands. Breeding in immense numbers in June. I
am not sure that it was not C. Gashmiriensis,
Cyjpselua melba. — The Alpine Swift — Shiraz, Kashgai Highlands^
but rare ; not seen in cold weather.
Cypselus alba — The European Swift — Very common in Shiraz
and its neighbourhood ; seen in Kashgai Highlands summer and
autumn.
One species of Caprimulgns seen in Highlands between Bushire
and Shiraz, but not identified, probably 0. Europceus,
Merojps viridis — The common Indian Bee-Eater. — Bushire and N.
up to 2000 feet.
M. ^gyptius— 'The Egyptian Bee-Eater ? {M, Apiaster) ? — Common
throughout the country in summer and autumn.
Coracias garrula — The European Roller — Hills N. of Bushire,
Kashgai Hills, Isfahan, but rare.
Halcyon fuscus — The White Breasted Kingfisher — Daliki and
Kazerun, N. of Bushire.
Alcedo ispida — Very like A. Bengalensis. The Common Indian
Kingfisher — common on nearly all streams of any siae and in the
Isfahan gardens.
Ceryle rndia — The Pied Kingfisher— Khana Zunian, 6000 ft., near
Shiraz, W. Persia near Kismanshah.
Picus Sancti Johannis — (St. John^s Woodpecker) — W. of Isfahan.
Picus viridis — Shiraz, Isfahan.
Upupa epops — The European Hoopoe— Common throughout the
country.
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SOME BiftDS SEES 1» A JOUllNEY THROUGfi P^tCStk. 101
Lanius tephronotus — Shiraz. Breeding in June.
Cincius aquatictig — White-breasted Dipper. — Koshra-Shireen, in
Kasbgai Highlands^ Nargan W. of Isfahan.
Petrocopyphus cyaneus — Blue Bock Thrush — Hills near Shiran.
Turdus Hodgsoni — Himalayan Missel Thrush ? Ardakun in
Kashgai Land.
Ghatarrhcea cawda^a— Striated Bash Babbler ? — Konarthuktah
and Kazerun^ between Bushire and Shiraz.
Otocompsa leucotis — The White-eared Crested Bul-bul. Bushire
and North as far as Kazerun. Breeding in Bushire in June.
0. galbula — Et^ropean Oriole — Very common in Isfahan^
Saxicola JEnanthe — The Wheat Ear — Kazerun between Bushire
and Shiraz.
Rutidlla phtenicura — The European Bedstart — ^Dashtiarjin, be-
tween Bushire and Shiraz^ Ardakun in Kashgai Land^ W. Persia.
Motacilla per sonata — Much resembles M, luzoniensis* The White-
faced Wagtail.-7-Shiraz, Isfahan^ W* Persia.
Motacilla sulphur ea — The Grey and Yellow Wagtail — Common W.
of Isfahan.
Parv^ major— -The European Tit — Shiraz, Kashgai, and valleys,
W. Persia.
Corvus coniiaj— Hooded Orow — Common everywhere.
Corvus cor ax — The Raven — Common everywhere.
Corvus frugilegus — The Rook — Ali Gudurz, between Isfahan and
Hamadhan.
Pica hactriana — The Magpie — Common all over the Highlands.
Shiraz. Very common, Isfahan.
Oarrulus atricapillus — Jay — S. of Shiraz.
Fregilus Himalayanus — The Himalayan Chough — Kashgai and
Kashgai and Bakhtiari Highlands. Isfahan and W. Persia.
Sturnus vulgaris — The Common Starling. — Common everywhere.
W. of Isfahan met with in immense flocks.
Passer Indicus — The Indian. House Sparrow. — Common every-
vrhere. I never observed the Mountain Sparrow, so common in
Afghanistan.
Cardvslis elegans. — The European Goldfinch — Common throughput
the country in suitable localities. Breeding in Shiraz in June.
Oahrida cristata — The Crested Lark — Shiraz, Lower valleys,
Kashgai country, Isfahan, W. Persia.
Certhilauda deserlorum — The Desert Lark ? — Bushire.
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102 NATURAL HISTORY.
Oolvmba palumhus — Tiie European Cushat — Common in tlie hills
S. of Shiraz and Kashgai country, not seen in W. Persia.
Columha Kvia— (according to Blanford) The Blue Rock
Pigeon — Common everywhere.
Pterodes arenarius-^The Large Sand Grouse, common in all
suitable localities.
Pterodes alchata — The Pintailed Sand Grouse — Near Hamadhan,
in immense flights near Bushire in November.
Pterodes exustm — The Common Sand Grouse — Daliki,near Bushire.
Francolvnus vulgaris — The Black Partridge — N. of Bushire, not
extending to high altitudes.
Caccabis chukor — The Chukor Partridge — Common on all the
higher hills.
Ammoperdix Bonhami — The Seesee Partridge — Met with on lower
hills, N. of Bushire, Bukhtiari country, plentiful between Isfahan and
Shiraz.
Coturnix communis — The Large Grey Quail — Common throughout
the country, in higher altitudes during summer and early autumn.
Houbara Macqueenii — The Houbara Bustard — Bakhtiari country.
Cursorius galUcus — The European Courier Plover— Bushire,
Kashgai Valleys. Bare.
Vanellus cristatus — The Crested Lapwing — Common in all suitable
localities, more plentiful in winter.
Chetusia Zeucwra —rThe White-tailed Lapwing — Near Shiraz.
LoUvanellus goensis — The Red-wattled Lapwing — N. of Bushire,
Shiraz.
CEdicnemus crepitans — The Stone Plover^—Alumabad in W. Persia
Orus cinerea — The Common Crane — W. Persia, S. of Isfahan.
Scolopax rusticola — The Woodcock — W. Persia, S. of Isfahan.
Oallinago scolapacinus — The Common Snipe — Common everywhere
in suitable localities in winter. First seen on September 4, W. of
Isfahan.
Oallinago gallinula. — The Jack Snipe — W. Persia, Shiraz.
Actitis hypoleuco9 — The Common Sandpiper — Kashgai country,
W. of Isfahan.
Himantopus candidus — The Stilt — S. of Shiraz, W. Persia.
Porphyrio poliocephalus — The Purple Coot — Kazerun Lake S. of
Shiraz.
Fulica atra — The Bald Coot — S. of Shiraz. Breeding Bakhtiari,
country, June and July.
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A NEW SPECIES OF ZYGJINA. 108
OaUinula chlorophua — The Water-Hen — Kazerun, Lake S. of
Shiraz. Kashgai country.
Ciconia nigra — The Black Stork ? — Kurdistan.
Ardea purpurea — The Purple Heron — W. Persia.
Herodias garzetta — The Little Egret — Common in suitable locali-
ties.
Botauris stellaris — The Bittern — W. Persia.
Nycticorax griseua — The Night Heron — Isfahan and W. Persia.
Phomicopterus minor — The Lesser Flamingo — One specimen seen
at Dashtiarjin, June.
Anser cinereus — The Grey Goose? — Zargan, N. of Shiraz.
Casarca rutila — The Ruddy Sheldrake. The Chukwa.— Common
throughout the country.
Anas hoschas — The Mallard — Common throughout the country.
Breeding in June and July.
Querquedula crecca — The Common Teal — Common everywhere,
late in autumn and winter.
Athya nyroca — The White-eyed Duck? — Dashtiarjin, S. of Shiraz.
Podiceps cristatua — The Crested Grebe ? — Dashtiarjin.
Podiceps phillippensis. — The Little Grebe — Common everywhere in
suitable localities. Breeding in June and July.
Some Pelican seen at Dashtiarjin S. of Shiraz, but not identified.
A NEW SPECIES OF ZYGiENA, FROM THE
KURRACHEE HARBOUR.
By Jambs A. Murray, of the Vict. Nat. Hist. Inst.
ZYGjENA DJSSIMILIS. — Sp. Nov.
Anterior edge of head sinuately curved. No groove running
along it. Length of the hammer from eye to eye 26 inches; from
the middle 13 inches. Each of its hind lateral expansions 10
inches ; its width near the eye 6*5 inches or less than the length.
Eye situated at the upper third of the external edge of the lobe of
the head and two inches below the outer edge of the
nostril. Teeth very slightly oblique, as broad at base as long, with
an indistinct notch laterally and serrated on both edges to near the
tip. They are convex before and behind, with an oblong nodose
prominence mesially at the base on the outer surface. The 1st
dorsal arises from a little more than an inch inside the extreme
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104 NATURAL HISTORY.
hind edge of the pectoral fin ; it is falcate in shape and measures
along the curve to tip, 25 inches ; the greatest width to hind pro-
longation at the base 15' 75 inches. Pectoral fin 18 X 12 inches, or
one-third longer than broad. Second dorsal arises from opposite the
anal ; it is triangularly concave behind, and not straight as depicted
in the plate of Zygoena malleu^y Blochu and Ztudes in Day's Fishes
of India, and has also an elongated process at base. Ventral fin
11 X 10*5 inches, also triangularly concave behind, and not straight
as in the malleus. Anal fins 7 X 11 inches, concave behind, the
distance from its insertion to the tip of the elongate process of the
ventral 5 inches. A pit at the root of the caudal, upper caudal lobe
falcate, lower proportionately longer than in the other species.
Colours brownish grey throughout, except a width of 10 inches on
the under surface, where it is white, also the under surface of the
hammer.
The following are the measurements of this species taken in the
flesh :—
Feet, inches.
Total length to tip of upper caudal lobe ... 1 2\
Length of upper caudal lobe 3 1^
„ lower „ „ 1 3i
Height of 1st dorsal over curve 2 1
„ „ . (vertical) to tip 1 9
Width of „ to tip of elongate
process 1 3
Height of 2nd dorsal 8
Width of „ 11
Length of pectoral fin , 1 6^
Width „ „ 1
Length of ventral fin 11
Width of „ „ lOi
Anal fin, length 7
„ „ width 11
Diameter of eye, 1*25 inches; width of mouth, 9'75 inches.
Hindmost (5th) gill opening smallest.
Locality. — Kurrachee. Captured on 20th April 1884»
This species differs from all the known forms, first, by having
its teeth serrated on the edges instead of smooth; and,
second, in having no prolonged groove along the entire front
margin of the hammer. From Z. Malleus by the less curvature of the
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NOTBS ON PLOCBUS PHILIPPINUS. 105
head and less deep sinuoas groove on the anterior edge of the
hammer^ also by the length of the hind margin of one side of the
hammer being more than its greatest width near the eye, and also
by the shape and position of the fins, especially the 2nd dorsal and
ventral fins, which are concave behind instead of being straight.
It is nearest Z. Mokarran (Gunther Cat. Fish B. M.), but the
length of the hind margin of one of the lateral expansions is greater
than the width near the eye, instead of being eqaal as in that species,
and the anterior margin of the hammer does not form a right angle
with the lateral lobe*
This makes the third species of Shark lately described from the
Kurraehee harbour. The first is Carchartas Murray i, Gunther, the
next, Lamna Ountheri, Murray, and the present one the third. It
is a question now whether these three species extend their range
along the Beloochistan and Bombay Coasts.
NOTES ON PLOCEUS PHILIPPINlTS.
By Lieut. H. Edwin Barnes.
The normal number of eggs laid by the Common Weaver Bird
has been variously stated by different authors ; some give two as
the correct number, others as many as ten. Dr. Jerdon considered
two a& the usual number, and was of opinion that when six or
more were found, they were the produce of two birds ; Mr. Hume,
in his Nest and Eggs of Indian Birds, page 438, gives his opinion in
no uncertain terms. He says : — " With Dr. Jerdon 1 am perfectly
convinced that two is the normal number of the eggs. I have
certainly examined over a hundred nests, and never found more
than three, and only two or three times more than two.'* This
ought to be conclusive. Personally I have never found more than
seven eggs in a nest, and this once only, five of them were much
incubated, and the remaining two quite fresh ; another nest had six,
all fresh. With these exceptions, five is the usual number of
eggs have met with, but I have also taken nests containing single
incubated eggs. This is puzzling, but I believe I have found the key
to the mystery; one day, while nesting in Neemuch, Rajpootana, I
saw, aimongst many others, a remarkably fine nest, which I deter-
mined to secure, but as the babool tree, iu which it was,
stfOod well out in a pool of water, it was a matter of some
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106 NATURAL HISTORY.
difficulty; it contained five incubated eggs, and on searching
the other nests on this tree, I found that in each case,
when the eggs were' incubated, the number was five also, any
lesser number proved to be fresh. A few hundred yards away
I came upon another colony, and on searching the nests, I found,
them to contain from one to five incubated eggs ; at the bottom
of the tree, lay several good nests, that had evidently been cut
down by squirrels, and in some of these I found eggs ; here was
the clue. Every one must have noticed the numbers of half-finished
nests, in every colony, that for some reason or the other have
been abandoned ; what more likely than, the squirrels having cut
down a nest, before the full complement of eggs had been laid in it,
the birds should finish laying, either in one of the incompleted
nests, to be afterwards completed or not, ( I have ofben found eggs
in these half-finished nests), or in one belonging to a neighbour.
This theory accounts for a larger and a smaller number of eggs
than usual being found in a nest. The squirrels were unable to
get at the nests in the Babool tree standing in the water, and in
consequence they had complete clutches of eggs in them. I
intended watching this tree again during the following season,
but having been transferred to Saugor, I could not do so, but soon
after the breaking of the monsoon, I found not far from Saugor,
a clump of babool trees ia a similar situation, and as the bayas
had commenced building upon them, I had an excellent opportunity
of testing my theory, and later in the season, I found, as I had
anticipated that the nests contained five eggs each, in a few cases
four only. I am therefore fully persuaded that the normal
number of eggs, in Rajputana and the Central Provinces at all
events, is four or five, oftener five than four; this I know to be
contrary to the generally conceived opinion, but I think that the
facts I have adduced, go far to prove the correctness of my views.
Mr. Hume, speaking of the nests themselves, says : — The long
tubular entrances that the male often goes on building after the
female is sitting reaches in one nest I have preserved to a length
of 11 inches,'^ and again "as a rule these entrance passages do
not exceed six inches in length,'^ A nest that I took at Saugor
has the tube 25 inches long, another procured at the same time
and place has it 24 inches, and strarge to say, the lower portion is
incorporated with an unfinished nest, evidently meant to steady it;
this fact evinces more intelligence on the part of these birds,
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THE FLORA OP MAHABLESHWAB AND MATHEBAN. 107
('cute as I know them to be), than I should have given them
credit for. Where does instinct end and reason begin? Far
better had the birds trusted to instinct alone, for the very means
used to steady the nest, gave a snake the opportunity to get in it,
for while it was being cut down, one dropped out; and tried to
escape in the long grass, bat a smart tap on the back with a cane
stopped its farther career and it proved to be a Brown Tree Snake,
{Dipsas gokool).
Its stomach contained a partly digested nestling, showing that
it had been in the nest for some time, and had evidently meant to
stay until its appetite retarned, when no doabt it woald have
dined in due sequence oflf the remaining three, qaite unconcerned
and apparently ignorant of the dangerous nature of their self-
invited guest, full measurements of the large nest may not be
devoid of interest to both ologists and ornithologists. The length,
of the suspensory portion which is very thin, is 19 inches, the
bulb 9 inches and the tube 25 inches, giving a total length to the
nest of 53 inches. The diameter of the bulb is 6 inches one way and
4t inches the other.
The tuba where it joins the bulb has a diameter of barely 2 inches,
but it widens considerably at the end, and may be described as
bell-mouthed. These nests are of course most of them now in the
Bombay Natural History Society's Rooms.
A CATALOGUE OF THE FLORA OF MAHABLESHWAR
AND MATHERAN.
By H. M. Bibdwood.
" There is a pleasure in the pathless woods/'
When offering to the Society the Catalogue of the Flora of
Matheran, published at pp. 206-211 of Vol. I. of our Journal, I ex-
plained why it was so incomplete. It was compiled at a time of the
year when many herbaceous plants were dried up and could not be
recognized. I have now been able to enlarge it by adding the names
of plants, seen, soon after the close of the last rainy season, at
Mahableshwar, where a great part of the Flora is identical with that
of Matheran; as might indeed be expected from the general simila-
l^ity of the soil and climate of the two hills. There are, ^o doubt,
certain causes regulating the distribution of plants which are not
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108
NATURAL HISTORT.
^
equally operative at both places.^ Mahablesliwar is about 70 miles
nearer the Equator than Matheran. The latter is an isolated hill,
rising from the plain of the Konkan, midway between the Western
Ghats and the sea; whereas Mahableshwar is further from the sea,
and is, to all intents, a part of the renge of Ghdts. The highest
point of Matheran is about 2,500 feet above the sea-level ; whereas
the Mahableshwar plateau is at a general elevation of 4,500 feet
above the sea, and at Sindola rises to 4,700 feet. These differing
conditions are not without their effect. Some plants are found at
Mahableshwar which will not thrive on the lower mountain-top.
Some Matheran plants, on the other hand, find the higher levels of
Mahableshwar beyond their range. I will give here only a few
instances. The most casual observer is struck by the wonderful
undergrowth of brake-fern at Mahableshwar, and of the arrow-root
plant,— which in the months of October and November blooms on
almost every square yard of the jungle, — and by the beautiful pro-
fusion of the Osmunda fern, mixed with brambles and willows, along
the upper stream of the Yenna River. At Matheran, the brake-fern
is scarcely known. In a few years it will perhaps be extinct ; for
it cannot defy the onslaughts of thoughtless fern-hunters who take
away stray specimens to languish and die in Bombay or Poona
gardens. It would be impossible for any number of fern-hunters to
destroy it at Mahableshwar. Even if unmolested at Matheran, it
drags on at best but a feeble existence. The site is too low for it,
the lowest limit of its range in our latitude being probably at a
line at least 2,000 feet above the sea level. The Osmunda again is not
known at Matheran; nor is the willow; nor the arrow-root {Curcuma
caiillna), though other plants of the genus Curcuma are plentiful
enough. I have certainly seen Mahableshwar raspberries in Matheran
gardens; but they were not what raspberries ought to be.
Again, there are some well-known Matheran trees, such as the
Kumbha (Carey a arborea), the Malia or Indian Ebony (Diosjpyroa
assimilis) and the Chandara (Macaranga Boxburghii) ^ which do
not grow on the Mahableshwar plateau at all. I have been in
communication on this particular subject with Dr. T. Cooke, who
has made the flora' of Mahableshwar and Matheran a special study
for many years, and I hope that he will favour the Society with the
result of his observations embodied in a "Note'^ on this Catalogue,
and give us lists of the more prominent plants on either hill which are
not found on the other. After taking full account of these, it will
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THE FLORA OP MAHABLESHWAB AND MATHEEAN. 109
1
still be seen that very many of the plants included in the
Catalogue are common to the two hills. Such a coincidence is
favoured by the similarity of their geological formation and by the
circumstance that there is no great difference in the range of their
mean temperature at different seasons and in their rainfall. Both
Mahableshwar and Matheran are, roughly speaking, huge masses of
trap, capped by a thin layer of laterite. Both are within sight of the
Bea. Both are swept by the same dry winds in the cold weather and
by the same monsoon storms, and both enjoy the full benefit of the
monsoon rains. The average mean temperature ranges at Mahablesh-
war from 64° P. to 76°; and from 69° to 78° at Matheran. The
average rainfall at Mahableshwar amounts to 263 inches; and at
Matheran to 242 inches. Under such concordant influences, we
find a general likeness in the forms of vegetation on the two hills,
due to the frequent presence of the same characteristic plants on
both. Everywhere at Mahableshwar, as at Matheran, we find the
Myrtle tribe represented by endless woods of the beautiful
Jambul tree {Eugenia Jambolana), the Melastomas by the Anjan
{Memecyhn edule), the Laurels by the Pisa (Actinodaphne Hookeri),
and the Madder tribe by the thorny Gela ( Randia dumetcyrum) , There
iis the same undergrowth of shrubs and herbaceous plants, the
natural orders of '^ Leguminos89," " Acanthaceae '' and'* Compositas "
being especially and numerously represented. There are many showy
.tclimbers and trailers and creepers common to both hills ; as there are
! Orchids and Dendrobiums and other parasitic plants ; while everywhere
the little Silver-fern covers with equal impartiality every sheltered bank
and rock. The flora of both Mahableshwar and Matheran can, there-
fore, be conveniently included in a single Catalogue. In the present
Catalogue, which contains the names of 493 plants, while the former
one contained only 218 names, I have included a few plants which
are not actually found on either hill, but which are conspicuous
enough to catch the eye of even the most rapid traveller on the
well-worn road from Poena, by the Kartraj and Khandala Ghats, to
Panchgani and Mahableshwar. T could never have prepared so full
a list without Dr. Cooke's help. He has kindly lent me his valuable
Monograph on the Flora of Mahableshwar, of which I have
endeavoured to make good use. He has also revised the proof-
sheets of these pages, and added notes, where necessary. It only
remains for me to add that this Catalogue is framed on the same gene-
ral plan as the former one,' and with the same object. It is meant.
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110 NATUEAL HISTOBT.
with the aid of the appended index of vernacular names^ to farnish
a ready method of learning the scientific names of plants. Many
visitors to the hills take an interest in learning those names even if
they have no intention of nndertakiog the serious study of Botany in
any of its various branches. With some, however, the interest thus
acquired leads to further study, which becomes all the pleasanter for
the knowledge which has been gained, without too much trouble,
of the names by which the plants in which they are interested are
known to the scientific world; just as it is pleasanter and more pro-
fitable to study the grammar of a new language aflber the student
has acquired some portion of its vocabulary, and learnt to speak it a
little, than before. For the use of those who wish to become better
acquainted with the hill flora, and are disposed to correct the Cata-
logue or to add new names and notes to it, I have asked Mr. Stern-
dale to issue a few interleaved copies in pamphlet form, which can
be procured from the Secretary.
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CATALOGUE. Ill
CATALOGUE. •
NOTE.'^In the first two columns, the nomenclature adopted for the first lit
Orders is that of Booker's *' Flora of British India,'' Vols. 1.-/7., and Vol, V.
Part I., which do not include Orders 75—99, represented in this Catalogue.
The synonyms in the second column, in the case of plants belonging to the first
74 Orders, are the names under which the plants ate described in Dalzell
and Gibson's " Bombay Flora, " or in Graham's " Catalogue." The words " Herb.
Co.," after the name of a plant in this column, indicate that the Mahableshwar
herbarium, presented to the Society by Dr. Theodore Cooke, contains a specimen
of the plant. In the third column, the vernacular names are spelt according to
the Eunterian system. The word * veV or *yel,' which recurs frequently as a
component part of a name, means a * creeper ' or * climber.* The words * lahan *
and *dhakta' {fem. *dhaktV) mean * small,' *motha'{f€m. 'mothi') means * big,'
' pandhra* means 'white,' 'kala* 'black,* 'tambda' 'red, and 'kadu' 'hitter.'
* The prefix * ran ' indicates a * jungle ' plant, or, as we should say, ' a wild plant,'
though all the hill plants in the list are probably wild or indigenous on
Mahableshwar or Matheran, with the exception perhaps of the large-flowered*
yellow flax {Reinwardtia trigyna), the Inditm raspberry (^Rubus lasiocarpus),
the strawberry ( Fragaria vesca), the Brugmansia Candida, the mulberry (Morus
arropurpurea), and the Jack-tree {Artocarpus integrifolia). The Reinwardtia is said,
however, by Major H. H. Lee, R. E., to be "found truly wild on Varandha Ghat"
in the Satara District. {"Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency," Vol. XIX.
App. A.) The Morus airopurpurea of the Mahableshwar gardens is, perhaps, a
variety of Morus alba, the home of which "is probably China." {Brandis.)
According to Wight and Beddome, the Jack- tree is " wild in the mountain forests of
the Western Ghats, ascending to 4,00D feet." But Dr. Brandis remarks that
" regarding its native home there is yet some uncertainty."
Natural Order.
Genns and Species.
Yemacnlar or English name, use,
habitat, &o.
Division A — Vasculabbs. — (Plants with woody fibre and cellular tissue).
C LASS^I . — DiCOTYLEDONBS. *
Sub-Class — 1 THALAMiFLOEii;. f
1 Banunculacead (The
Butter-cnp Order.)
2 Dilleniacesa
Clematis Gouriana, Herb,
Co.
„ Wightiana
Dillenia pentagyna
Mor-vel, Mor-yel, R^njai. Travel-
ler's joy. Matheran ; Koyna Valley.
ib. Mahableshwar.
Earambel, Dhdkta Earmal.
'* In the seeds of Dycotyledones there are always two cotyledons at least, and if
there are two only they are always opposite.
t The differences of the four snb-classes into which De CandoUe divides the class
of Ezogens or Dicotyledones " might be, in most cases^ expressed thus : —
1. Polypetalons.
Stamens hypogynous = ThalamifloroB.
Stamens perigynous = Calycifiorce.
2. Monopetalous = OorollifioroB.
3. Apetalous = Monochlamydew.
• It is, however, to be observed that some of the Oalyciflorae and Thalamiflerae
have a monopetaloas corolla. In this classification! the student proceeds from what
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112 HATUKAL HISTORT.
1
Natnr
8 Anonsu
Casta
Order.
4 Menis]
5 Papav<
6 Crucift
Cabbc
7 Cappa;
8 Bixinei
nofcto
9 Pittosf
10 Polyga
11 Portuli
12 Tamar
13 Qmitiii
are consi
Thus all i
things rer
stamens
Monochla
orderu, tb
43, 44, 45
Candoll©*£
would con
• Thej
purple in!
need i^
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CATAtOQUE.
113
Natural Order.
Genus and Species.
Vernacular or English name, use,
habitat, &c.
14 DipterocarpeaB .. ..
16 Malvaceae. (The
Mallow Order.)
Anciflfcrocladus Heyneanus.
Sida carpinif olia, Herb, Co.
Abutilon polyandrum
Urena sinuata
Kardor, Kardori. A handsome
climbing shrub, with large,
smooth, elliptic leaves and hook-
ed branches. Not uncommon at
Matheran.
Chikni. It " is used to make be-
soms, the twigs being at once
supple and tough." (Lee.)
n
Hibiscus hirtrUS ..............
»>
Thespeeia Lampas
R&n-bhendi, Lahdn Bhendi. Wild
Bhendy.
Bombax malabaricuip.
8yn. Salmalia mala-
barica.
Savar. T&mbdi Savar. Silt.rnffnTi
tree. Sans. Rakta-sdlmali.
The wood is " used for planking,
packing cases, toys, scabbards,
fishing-floats and for the lining of
wells. * * The calyx of the
flower-bud is eaten as a veget-
able. The fruit is collected before
it opens, and the cotton with
which it is filled is used to stuff
quilts and pillows." (Bran-
dis.)
10 Stercnliacese
Stercnlia urens* ...••
S&ldhawal. Karai Kiiflri
„ guttata «.
colorata
Goldor. Gordar. Kukar
Bhaikai. Khavan KAiinhi Thft
bark is " made into rope."(Bran-
dis.)
17 Tiliaceae. (The
Linden Order.)
Grewia tilisBfolia
Dhdman. ** Made into shafts, shoul-
der poles for loads, pellet-bows,
handles, masts, oars, employed
in carriage building. From the
inner bark, cordage is made in
Bombay. Twigs and leaves lop-
ped for fodder. Fruit eaten,
of an agreeable acid flavour."
(Brandis.)
„ Microcos, Herh.Oo.
Erinocarpus Nimmoanus...
Triumfetta pilosa
Chaura, Chor, Cher.
Kutre-v&ndre, i.e., " Dogs and
Monkeys."
Necharda.
„ rhomboidea. Herb.
Co.
Elaeocarpus ohlongaay Herb.
Co,
Linum mysorense, Herb.
Co.
Reinwardtia trigyna
Kdsu,Kh6s. AtLingmala.and near
*« Temple Hall," Mahableshwar.
Bfimburti, Wundri. Yellow Flax.
Abai. Large flowered yellow flax.
In gardens at Mahableshwar
and Matheran.
18 Lineas
19 Geraniaceae. (The
Cranesbill Order.)
Oxalis comiculata,Fcr6. Co.
Ndlkarda. Yellow sorrel.
* The StercuUa urens, though not common, is conspicuous on the Matheran Ghdt
by its cream-coloured, pink and white, shining bark, the thin, transparent coating of
which peels off ** like that of the birch." Sitars (native guitars), are made of the
wood. It yields a gum which is ** sold under the name of katila, katira.'* The seeds
are •* eaten by Gonds and Kurkus in the Central Provinces." (Brandis.)
15
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114
NATURAL HISTORY'.
Natural Order.
Genus and Species.
Ternaeular or English name, use;
habitat, &c.
19 GeranxaeesB {contd.)
20 Btitaceeer (The Bue
Order.)
21 Burseraceae.
22 Meliaceae <
23 Olaemese
Impatiens acauli«, Hei'h.Co
„ mconspicua
„ oppositifolia
„ Dalzellii, H^rh
Co.
„ Balsamina, Ferb.
Co.
Evodia Boxburghiana ...
Toddalia aculeate
GlycosmiB pentaphylla,
Herb. Go.
Murraya exotica, var.
paniculata.
„ Koenigii, 8yn.
Bergera Koenigii, Herb.
Co.
Atalantia monophjlla,
Herb. Co.
Boswellia seyrata. Syn. B.
thurifera.
Garuga pinnata
Cipadessa frutioosa, Syn.
Mallea Bothii.
Soymida febrilvga
Ohloroxylon Swietenia
Mappia fcetida (M. oblonga
in Herb. Co.)
Lahdn Terda, Berii. Stemles^
Balsam. Bare at Matheran. Hot
so rare at Mahableshwar, where
it grows on Wet rocks near
streams. It is a small but
handsome plantj with large,
pale-mauve flowers. " WelB
worthy of a place in the con-
servatory." (Lee.)
Sanmukh patri, Terda;
Yellow Balsam.
Terda. Wild Balsam.
Kirmira.
Pdndri, Kunti. Below ' Chowk
and Hart Points, Matheran.
Bare.
Kadhipfit, Kadhi-nimb. Curry
Plant.
Mdkad-limbu, t.e., ** Monkey lime."
Stiphali, Sfilera, Halera. Frankin-
cense tree. On the Kartraj and
Khandala Gh&ts, on the road ta
Mahableshwar.
Earak. " Bark employed for tan-
ning, a gum exudes from it>.
The fruit is eaten, raw and
pickled." (Brandis.) On Mather-
ran Ghit.
Kartraj GhAt.
Fol&ra. Bohan. Bastard Gedaar,
Indian Bed- wood. " The bark
is bitter, and has been used as
a substitute for cinehana bark."
(Brandis.)
Billu, Halda.
Gdnera.
Sub-Class 2.— CALYcrFLORi*.
24 Gelastrineffi (The
Spindletree Order.)
25 Bhamneae (The
Buckthorn Order.)
Gymnosporia Bothiana ...
,r montana, Syn.
CelastruB montana.
Hippocratea Grahami
Tentflago madraspatana. .
Ziayphus xylopyms ,
„ rugosa, Herb. Co.
Scutia indica, Herb.
Co.
Mothi Yekadi, YekaU, Yenkli.
Yekadi.
Yeoti.
Ein-vel, Lokhondi.
Guti, Ghuti^ Hart Point, Mathe^
ran ; and on the road to Garbet
Point.
Toran.
Ghimat, ** Wait-a-bit *' thorn.
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CATAtOGUE.
115
Natiiral Order,
Geuns aud Species.
Yemaculai* or English name, uae,
habitat, &c.
26 Ampelideas (The
Vine Order.)
27 SapindaceaB <The
Soapwort Order.)
28 AiracardiaceaB (The
Cashew Order.)
29 Connaraceas
30 LeguminossB
>} .•«.«...•
„ .........
j> ••
j>
n #.......,
), •••......
•>y ••
)> •»
» •• ••
»j ....»*•».
j»
>> ••
>»
j> •
5J .». ••• ...
>>
h
Vitis discolor, Sy*^, Cissus
discolor.
„ tomentosa
,, latifoHa, %n. Cissus
latifolia.
„ auricalata, St/n.
Cissns anriculata.
„ lanceolaria
Leea sambucina, 8yn. L.
staphylea, Herb. Co.
Hemigyrosa canescens.
Syn. Cupania canescens
Allophylus Cobbe, Syn
Schmidelia Cobbe. Herh,
Co.
Schleichera trijuga.*
Nepheliam longana. Herb
Co.
Mangifera indica ,...
Connarus monocar pus
Crotalaria vestita, Hei-h.
Co.
„ triqnetra, Herb.
Co.
„ nana. Herb. Co,
,, retnsa
„ Lcschenhaultii..
Herb. Co.
Indigofera pnlcheila, He^h.
Co.
Gcissapsis cristata
„ .tenella
Zomia diphjlla
td . , var. zejloncnsis
Smitbia purpurea. Herb.
Co.
,} setulosa, Herb. Co.
„ blanda, Herb. Co.
Aljsicarpus vaginalis, var.,
nummularifolius.
„ longifolius ...
Desmodium parviflorum,
Herb. Co.
Erythrina indica
Batea frondosaf
Phaseolustrinervius, Herb
Co.t
Teltcha-vel.
Shend-vei.
Nadena.
Jangli K<^jorm.
Kajgolicha-yeJ.
Dhindi, Dindi.
Karpa.
Tipan.
Kosuniy Kusam, Koliam, Kochant.
Wumb. " Fruit size of a cherry,
reddish or purple. Aril whole-
some." (Lee). Koyna Valley,
Mahableshwar.
Amba. Mango tree.
Sur^dar,
Ghdgn,
Daeli, Dingala.
Nerda. Wild Indigo. Near Yenna
Falls, Mahableshwar.
Barki.
LahAn Barki.
NalBarga, Berki.
Barga, Berki.
Motbi Berki.
Dhdkta Dhampta.
Dhimpta.
Pangara, Paramga.
Palas, Khakra. t^ans. Palasa.
The " Flame of the Forest."
Mungir.
* In many parts of India, lac is produced on the young branches of the Schleichera.
" In Oudh, this tree is lopped, and the twigs and leaves are used as cattle-fodder
during the dry season. Oil is extracted from the seeds in South India and Ceylon.'*
(Brandis.)
t The leaves oC the Palas tree are given as fodder to buffaloes,
made, with alum, into the yellow dye used at the HoU festival,
tree gives its name to the memorable plain of Palasi, vulgarly
(Birdwood*s Vegetable Products.) It yields a kino and a lac. (lb,)
X This plant is common throughout India. " The Seeds, said to be rich in nitro-
genous principles, were largely used by the famine- stricken people." (Lisboa's
Useful Plants).
The flowers are
(Brandis.) This
called " Plassey."
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116
NATURAL HISTORY.
Natural Order.
£toniL8 and Species.
Vernacular or English name, use,
habitati &c.
30 hegximmoasd{contd.)
Vigna vexaiata, Herh, Co.
Birambo), Halula, EaJanda.
Indian Sweet Pea.
....
Atylosialineata, Herh. Co.
Ran T6r.
v
Cylista scariosa. Herh. Co.
Rdn Gheyda.
Flemingia strobilifera,
Uerh. Co.
Bondar.
>»
Dal bercria latif olia
Sisn. Siswa. Sisam TaU. Black-
,, ...*
^.^ «*»Ki^^^& n'^** ***»/»» XT**** ••« ••• •••
wood tree.
„ sympathetica ...
)) volubilis .........
Pendguli-yel, Yek-yel. Ek-vel.
Alei.
71
•>
„ paniculata
Ph^nsi. Matheran Ghfit.
Mezonenrum cucnllatum...
Wagatea spicata :
RSgi.
Vagiiti.
Bdhawa. Garmala* Indian Labor*
„ ...1.. ......
»> ..t..
Cassia fistula .
>l
^^ »***fc»»«i* A« %J V **»«« ••* »•• ••• ••• ••■
Bauhinia racemosa
num.
Apta, Wanrij.
K&nchan.
>l •••
Bauhinia malabarica
„ Vahlii ,
»» *•
Chdmbnli.
>>
Acacia catechu
Khair. Catechu is manufactured
>> ....
from the wood.
„ coucinna
., Intsia, Herh, Co.,
Chikakai Shikakai.
J» ••••»
^*^ ***■■<*>■■ ***y •^MA A Vk %mm^ %MAm
Albizzia stipulata
Lullei. Laeli.
II •.. «•• ...•••
amara
Siras. Sans* Sarshapa. Near
Alexander Point, Matheran.
>f •.. .r -■
II a,xuax<s ............
81 Bosaceae (The
Rose
Pygenm Gardneri, Syn. P.
"The seeds smell strongly of
• Order.)
zeylanicum, Herh. Co.
prussic acid. The kernels of the
fruit said to be used for poison-
ing fish." (Lee.)
Rubus moluccanns, Syn. R.
rugosus, Herb. Co.
Indian Blackberry.
9) ••• ••
„ lasiocarpns
Fragaria vesca, Herh. Co.
Bryophyllum calycinum.
Mahableshwar Raspberry.
Strawberry.
Pinphue, P6njad.
:: ::::::::::"i
>> ... ••
32 CrasBulacesB
(The!
Stonecrop Order)
Syn. Kalanchoe pinnata,
•
Herh. Co.
33 Rhizophoreae.
(The
Carallia integerrima
Phansi. Wild Jacktree.
Mangrove Order.)
84 Combretaceae
...
Terminalia belerica
Beheda, Vehcla.
>»
...
„ chebnla*
Harda. Chebulic Myrobolan tree.
)i
„ arjuna
Arjuna.
»
••
,, tomentosa, var.
typica, Sijn.
T. glabra
Ain.
I)
...
Calycopteris floribunda.
Sijn. Getonia floribunda.
Bagvel, Yakshi.
,,
Oombretum ovalifoliam ...
Mad-vel.
35 Mjrtaccas.
(The
Eugenia caryophyllaea,
31yrtle Order.) |
Herh. Co.
>»
...
,, Jambolana, Syn.
Jdmbuli Sans, Jambn. Jambul
Syzigium Jambolanum
tree.
Herb. Co,
ii
Careya arborea
Kumbha.
* *' The Myrobolan tree is found throughout the Satara district, but in special
abundance in the Mahableshwar forests, the hill soil apparently being well suited
to its growth. The fruit, the Chebulic Myrobolan of commerce, is about the size of
a damson, though more pointed at one end, of a deep green colour and contains a
hard seed ; when dry, it becomes blackish and very hard and shrivelled. It is not
edible in its natural state ; but when mixed with the Beheda and Avla, the powder
is taken as a stomachic and mild aperient. , The fruit is much valued in tanning and
dyeing. * * It is also used ♦ * in making an ink." (Dr. W. McConaghy, *< Gazetteer,"
Vol. XIX., Appendix B, Note.)
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CATALOaOG.
117
Natural Order.
Genus and Species.
Vernacular or English name, use,
habitat, &c.
87 Lythrace®. (The
Looee-strife Order.)
If •••
j> ...
„
»»
88 8amvdaee89
Memecylon edu\e,Herb. Co.
Ammania baccifera Herh,
Co,
Woodford ia floribunda,
Syn. Grislea tomentosa .
Lagers troemia parviflora. ..
„ lanceolata
,1 FIos-Beginae ...
Gasearia graveolens
,) escnlenta
Anjan. Iron- wood tree.
" Bocks near water on the Ghits.
This is th9 plant so commonly
called ' Heather ' by visitors at
Mahableshwar." (Lee.)
Dhauri, Dhatit.
Nanah. Benteak tree.
T^man.
Bokhdda.
Mori,
89 Cucurbitace» (The
Gourd Order.)
Trichosanthes palmata,
Herb. Co,
Gucuxnis trigonus
Kaundal.
Kat-vel.
»
»
>f
Zehneria Baueriana, Herh.
Co.
„ umbellata, Herh.
Co.
Begonia crenata, Herh. Co.
,, malabarica
War6li. Mahableshwar Bryony.
Gomiti.
41 Picoidew (The Fig-
Harigold Order-)
42.Dmbellifera9
» ......
sa ......
}) ...•*.
)) ......
43 Babiaceae. (The
Madder Order).
MoUugo hirta, Herb. Co.
Hydrocotyle rotundifolia.
„ aaiatica. Herb.
Co.*
Pimpinella monoica, Herb.
Co.
Peucedanum grande, Syn.
Pastinaca grandis.
Heracleum concanense,
Herb. Co.
Adina cordifolia. Syn.
Nauclea cordifolia.
Stephegyne parvifolia.
Syn. Nauclea parviflora.
Wendlandia Notoniana.
Herb. Co.
Oldenlandia corymbosa,
Herb. Oo.
Anotis carnosa, Syji.
Hedyotis carnosa.
MusssBuda f rondosaf
Randia dumetorum, Herb
Co.l
K&rivana, Khopri, Kadu K&ran-
d6. Sans. Bhrihmi.
BhAlga.
B&phli.
Pandi, Pinda. Near Elphinstone
Point, Mahableshwar.
Had.
Kalam. Near One Tree Hill.
Matheran.
A small, much branched herb, with
slender, pubescent stem and
branches, linear, sessile leaves,
and small white flowers. Very
common at Mahableshwar on the
sides of paths in October.
(Cooke.)
•
Bhutkes, Sarwad. Near Simpson
Lake, Matheran.
Gela. The fruit is used instead
of soap by the hill people ;
and the pounded bark for
pcMBoning fish. (Lisboa).
* An infusion of the leaves of this plant was used by the late Dr. Bhau Daji in
his treatment of leprosy. The juice of the leaves is sometimes prescribed, in native
medicine, for Epilepsy ; and is also popularly believed to be a cure for stammering,
and to stimulate the intellectual faculties, if taken daily.
t This showy shrub is not very common at Matheran. It can be readily identified
by its conspicuous, white, calycine leaves and its small, golden-yellow flowers.
X The Oela is very common on the hills. It is variable in size, sometimes a small
tree, generally a shrub, with numerous stiff branches armed with spines^ and large,
fragrant; white flowers slightly tinged with greenish-yellow.
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NATURAL HISTORY.
Katoral Order.
Genus and Species.
Vernacular or English name, use,
habitat, Ac.
43 RubiaccBB (contd.)
Canthinm umbellatum,
Herb. Co.
„ angustifolium ...
Vangaeriaspinosa, Syn.V.
edulis, Herb. Co.
Ixora nigricans
Arsul, Tupa.
Chip-vel.
Alu. Indian Medlar.
Lokhandi, Atkura.
Pavetta indica, Herb. Co.
„ hispidula, var. si-
phouantha.
Psychotria tmncata
Rubia cordifolia, Herb. Co.
Centratherum phylloIsB-
num, Herb.
Co.
ff tenue
Papat, Phdphat. Matheran Coffee.
"
i>
Itiri. Indian Madder. The roots
44 Compositae
furnish the dye called Manjit,
(Balfour's Botany.)
*
Lamprachaeniam micro-
cephalum.
Adenoon indicnm, Herb.
Co.
Vernonia cinerea
>> ...••••..
Kusamb, Mothi Sonki.
Mothi Sadori, Sahadevi,
Bondar.
„ divergens. 8yn.
Eupatorium divergens,
Herh. Co.
Adenostemma viscosum,
Herh. Co.
Ageratum conyzoides,
Herb. Co.
Dichrocephala latifolia,
Herb, Co.
Cyathocline lyrata
Jirao, Jangli Jirao.
Gangotri.
'
Cony za stricta ...
"
Blumea glomerata, Syn.
B. holosericea.
Gnaphalium luteo-album .
Vicoa cernua ,
Bh&mburda.
» •••..*...
»j ••
Wedelia urticaefolia, 8yn.
Verbeeine biflora,
Wollastonia biflora.
Spilanthes Aomella
Bidens pilosa, Syn. B.
Wallichii.
Tridax procumbens, Herh.
Co.
Artemisia parviflora, Herh.
Co.
Gynura nitida, Syn. G.
simplex, Herb. Co»
Notonia grandiflora. Syn.
Cacalia Kleinii.
Senecio Lawii
Sonki.
>»
Dauni.
D4hn Sow-thistle.
Cabbage tree. Khandala Qhii,
near Mahableshwar.
„ Grahami
Sonki.
„ belgaumensis, Syn,
Madacarpus bel-
gaumensis.
Calendula officinalis
Tricholepis glaben-ima,
Herb. Co.
Lactuca Heyneana
Makmal. Marigold. Kartraj
and Khandala Ghdts.
Motha Bur, Bur. Fitzgerald GhSfc
and near Bombay Point, Maha-
bleshwar.
Wild Lettuce.
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CATALOatre.
119
Katural Order.
Genus and Species.
Yernacalar or English name, use,
habitat, &c.
45 Campanulaceae..
Lobelia trigona, Herh. Co.
Lobelia nicotianaefolia,
Herh. Co,
Cephalostigma flexnosum.
Wahlenbergia gracilis ..
Dhdwal, Devnal. A tall, erect
plant, with hollow stenis, and
large, light-green, lanceolate
leaves, and a dense terminal
raceme of white flowers. Seeds
smrall, ellipsoid, acrid.
Sub-Class 3. — CoROLLiFLORiE.
46 Myrsineas ,
47 Sapotaceae..
48 Ebenaceas.
»
49 Styraeese .
50 Oleacessr ?.
61 ApocynacesB. (The
Dogbane Order.)
} Asclepiadeae. (The
Milkweed Order.)
Moesa indica, Herh. Co.
Embelia ribes, Syn, E.
glandulifera, Herh, Co.
„ robusta, var,
femaginea, Syn, E.
Sideroxylon tomentosum,
Syn. Sapota tomentosa,
Herh, Co.
Bassia latifolia
Mimusops Elengi .
Diospyros montana, Syn.
D. Goindu.
„ assimilis, Syn.
D. nigricaus.
Symplocos Beddomei Syn.
Hopea racemosa^Herb. Co
Jasminium arborescens.
var. latifolium, Herh. Co.
Olea dioica
Ligustrum neilgherrense,
Herh. Co,
Carissa Carandas
Bauwolfia densiflora. Herb.
Co.
Holarrhena an tidy sen -
terica.
Tabemsemontana dichoto
ma.
), cnspa
Wrightia tinctoria
Anodendron paniculatum.
Calotropis gigantea
Gymnema silvestre.*jffcrlr.
Co.
Atki, Atak.
Waiwarang.
Ambti.
Kh^pri Yel.
Kanta-Kumbal.
Mavra, Mohova. Mowrah Tree.
Matheran Ohdt.
Bokul, Bakuli. Below Simpsoa
Lake, Matheran.
Goindu.
Malia. Indian Ebony.
Hur&, Lenda. Koyna Gh&t.
Ensar. Matheran Jasmine.
Pdr Jdmbul, Pirjam. Wild Olive;
Lokhandi, Mersingha. Mahablesh*
war Privet.
Karvand, Corinda. Corinda Bu^.
Kuda. Sans. Kutaja. The seed
is called Indrajava {Sans.
Indrayava) and is used as a
vermifuge and febrifuge,
Taital.
Pdndhra Kdda.
Kdla Kuda.
L&mt&ni. Dr. MacDonald's ** Seed-
Traveller." See the Society's
Journal, Vol. I., p. 237.
Bui, Ark. Mad&r.
Kaoli, Pitani, Dodi, Dudhroli
Sirdoli.
• The leaves of this climber have the property, when chewed, of neutralizing
for a time, the taste of saccharine substances. It may be identified by its slender
green branches and numerous dense umbels of yellowish green flowers rather
than by its most common vernacular name, Kaoli, which is applied to many of the
twining asclepiads. (Cooke.)
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120
NATURAL HISTORY.
Natural Order.
Genns and Species.
Vernacular or English name, use,
habitat, &c.
52
Asclepiadesa
{contd,)
Dregea volubilis Herb. Co,
Dischidia bengalensis
HoTa retusa
Kaoli. Near the top of the Ro-
tunda Gh&t and at Babington
Point , Mahableshwar .
DhAkti Ambri. Golden Fringe.
Ambri, Dudh-yel. Wax plant.
Khar-Khodi.
9i ••
„ Wightii. Syn, H.
pallida.
Leptadenia reticulata ...
Buddleiaasiatica, Berh. Co.
Stry chnos colubrina .;....
58
Loganiacese
Kanal, K&jar-vel. Strychnine
Creeper. Near Simpson Lake,
Matheran.
Dotatorum •.
Niwali, Nirmali. Sear Hart
54 C)anfin.nn.RAS»
liixacuni bicolor
Point, Matheran.
i> ......I..
)i Lawii
Jat&li. Mahableshwar Grentian.
„ petiolaret
Canscora diffusa ...•••....••
Very common amongst grass in
October; dies very soon after
the end of the rains. (Cooke.)
Common along shady roadsides,
both at Matheran and Maha-
bleshwar. (Cooke.)
Kauri. Flowers in November, in
Swertia decussata .*
55
Boracrineaa
Triohodesma zeylanicum...
Paracaryum cselestinum.
Syn, Cynoglossum caeles-
tinum. Herb. Oo,
„ malabaricum.
Herb. Oo,
„ Lambertianum.
Herb. Co.
grassy places. Tolerably abun-
dant in the fields between the
Satara Boad and Lingmala, Ma-
hableshwar. Used as a febrifuge.
(Cooke.)
Nechurdi. Mahableshwar ''Fen--
get-me-not."
» #••••••».
56
Convolvulaceae ...
>» ...
i» •••
,,
SolanaceaB. (The
Potato Order.)
Gavel.
57
„ malabarica
Lettsomia setosa, 8yn.
Argyreia setosa.
Ipomasa dissecta, Syn,
I. coptica.
Porana malabarica, Byn,
P. racemosa, Herb, Co,
Solanum nigrum
Girud-yel.
Bhauri. The «* Snow creeper."
Flowers in October and No-
bleshwar, and al^pjg the Garbefc
Road, . Matheran. Flowers
small, funnel-shaped, pure
white. The dry scariose calyx
is often seen on the withered
plants in the hot season. (Cooke).
Kfimani. Common in gardens
below the bazaar, and below the
lake, Mahableshwar. (Cooke).
„ denticulatum, Herb.
Karad Kdngoni.
Oo,
„ ^iganteum, Herb,
Oo,
i% indicum, Herb, Co,,
Nicandra physaloides
I>atnra fastuosa, var alba .
„ Metel? .,.., M...
Kutri.
Chiturti, Bhui-vingi,
Eartraj Gh&t.
Dhotra.
I» ..l.«»mt..
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CATALOGUE.
121
Natural Order.
Genus and Species.
Vernacular or English name, use,
habitat, &g.
57 Solanacew. (contd.)
W Scrophnlarinese.
(The Figwort Order)
»»
>»
»i
•)
» •••
»>
i>
59 Leutibnlariace» ...
W) Bi^oniaceaB
Brugmansia Candida, Herb-
Co.
Linmophila racemosa ......
„ gratioloides ...
Herpestis Monniera, Herb,
Bonnaya veronicaefolia ...
Striga orobanchioides* ...
Bamphicarpa longiflora ...
Genfcranthera hispida
Sopubia delphinifolia,
Herb, Co.
Fedioularis zeylanica
Utricularia albo-oaerulea,
Herb, Co,
„ cserulea
Hetrophragma Boxburghii,
Herb. Co.
„ adenophyllum ...
Thunbergia f ragrans
Hygrophila Serpyllum.
8yn, Physiohilua Ser-
pyllum, Herb. Co.
Phaylopais parviflora, 8yn.
^theilema reniforme.
Dcedalacanthus porpura-
scens, Syn. Branthe-
mum nervosum.
Strobilanthes asperrimus..
,, Heyneauus.
,, ixiocephalns,
Syn. S. Neesianus.
,, callosus.
Herb. Qo.
,, perfoliatus...
Galacantbus Dalzelliana,
Syn, Lepidagathis gran-
diflora.
Blepharia aeperrima.
Herb. Co.
Barleria Prionitis .
„ grandiflora
Motha Dhotra. (Not described in
Hooker's ** Flora of British
India").
Flowers in April and May.
Shewdl.
Kfijutoha-gh&8. Not very common.
Grows in patches in the wet
grass near the Dhobi's Water-
fall, Mahableshwar.
Bladder-wort.
Wfiras.
Pddel.
61 Acanthaceae
Eri-y^l.
RAu-tewan.
Waiti.
Kdrvi. Indian Wattle
'»
Ankra.
"
Matheran. Flowers large, purple.
PahAdi-atgan.
Comm.on at Matheran . Flowers
yellow.
Matheran. Flowers large, white.
It&ri.
,, courtallica
»»,
„ Btrigosa, var. ter-
minalis, Herb.
Co.
A systasia violacea
Kor&nti. Flowers in November.
Flowers blue, the tube of the
corolla much paler than the
limb. Stigma purple. A hand-
some, showy plant.
Haplanthns verticiUaris.
Herb. Co.
Lepidagathis cuspidata.
Herb. Co.
E&la kir&t, E&la &nkra.
* This strange-looking little plant may be readily identified by its dark, reddish-
purple stem, branches, and scale-like leaves, and its terminal spike of pink flowers,
which have a white spot at the base of each division of the corolla. It grows on rocks
and is sometimes parasitical on the roots of other plants* It flowers in November.
.16
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122
KATUBAL BISTOBT.
Natural Order.
Genns and Species.
Vernacular or English name, use,
habitat, &o.
61 AoanthaoesB.
(eontd.)
Jnflticia trinervia, Syn.
Adhatoda trinervia.
„ procnmbens. ...
Herh Co.
EJcbolium Linneanum, 8yn.
Jnstioia ecbolinm.
Bnngiaparyiflora, Herh.Co.
Dicliptera zeylanioa, Syn,
D. bivalvis, Herh. Co.
Callicarpa lanata, Syn. C.
cana. Herh, Co.
Tectona flnra.ndi8
Suta. Near Elphinstone Point,
Mahableshwar ; abundant.
Tharambal.
i> •••••••••
Dbfikta-adulsa.
02 Terbenace^ --- fn-"
Yesur, Eshwar.
S&gi Bigw&n. Teak tree.
01]lmbar-ve1.
Frexnna coriacea, Syn. P.
BcandenB.
H'TnAliTifl, ar1x)reat.t--f
Shewan. The pale yellow, close-
grained wood of this tree i»
highly esteemed for planking,
furniture, the panels of docra
Ac. (Brandis.)
The leaves are aromatic. Id
native medicine, the bruised
leaves are applied to the
temples as a cure lor headache.
(Cooke.)
Koyna Valley.
Borungi, Borsangf, Bh&rang. Near
» •••
>» ••••
■
Vitex negnndo. Herh. Co...
„ leacoxylon
Clerodendron serratuitt.
Herh. Oo.
Plectanthrns Wijarhtii
Coleus parvifloms ?
*• ••••
6S Tjfi.l)iid:fl&
the dharmsala, between
Mahableshwar and Panohgani.
Khipri. Near Elphinstone Point,
Mahableshwar.
Indian Lavender. On the Ghlits on
« "■•••
Lavandula Gibsoni
Pogostemon parviflorug..
Syn. P. purpnricaulis,
Herh. Co.
Dysophylla myosuroides.
Herh. Co.
„ salicifolia ...
,, stellata
, gracilis. Herh.
Co.*
Colebrookia oppositifolia.
8yn- C. temifolia. Herh.
Co.
Micromeria stellata. 8yn.
. Oo.
Salvia plebeia
the Mahableshwar road.
Pdngla, Pdngli. As to the use of
the leaves of this plant, as a
supposed cure for snakebite,
see the note at p. 210 of VoL I. of
the Society's Journal.
Shewal.
Marv6.
>»
Bh6man.
Sa «•••••••••••
Karwat.
Scutellaria discolor. Syn.
S. indica.
• Dysophylla gracilis is probably only a tall form of D. stellata. (Hooker, VoL IV.
p. 641), The latter plant can be readily known, when in flower in Octobcnr, by its
narrow, linear, whorled leaves, and its slender spikes of minute, closely-packed, dark
purple flowers. It grows in patches on the roadside near Sydney Point, Mi^ablei^war.
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CATALOOUE.
123
Natural Order.
Genus and Species.
Yemacolar or Eoglish name, tub,
habitat, &o.
69 Labiatso (e<mtd,) ...
AniBomeles Heyniana
tf ovata>.> t>. .*• .•
Chaudh&ra.
„ malabarica ...
Lencas stelligera. Herb, Co,
„ ciliataHerb. Co. ...
Teacrium tomentosum ...
On the Eartraj Ghdt. Flowers
in November. This beautiful
plant can be readily identified
by the snow-white, appressed
wool which clothes its stem said
branches, by its large, thick
leaves and its dense whorls of
pale-purple flowers.
Gnma, Borambi.
Borambi . Mahableshwar Dead
Nettle. Flowers in the cold
season. Not so common as L.
stelligera. May be identified
by the short, dense, yellowish
brown hairs on the helmet-
shaped upper lip of the « corolla
(Cooke.)
SuB-ClISS 4 — MoNOOHLAHTDBiB.
64 PlantaginesB....
65 Amarantace®
66 ChenopodiacesB.
(The Goose-foot
Order.)
67 PolygonacesB. (The
Buck- wheat Order.)
Plantago major. Herb. Co.
Celosia argentea. H^rh.
Co,
Achyranthes aspera. Herb.
Co.
Alternantbera sessilis
Herb. Co.
Chenopodium ambrosoides
Polygonum plebejum, var.
elegans.
„ glabrum ...
68 Piperacesa..
69 LaurinesB. (The
Laurel Order.)
barbatum. Syn.
P. rivulare
alatum Herb.
Co.
chinense. Herb
Co.
English plantain.
Quail grass.
Sariita. Burr plant.
Dauni.
Sheral. In the lake,Mahable8hwar
with the next species.
Dhdkta Sheral.
Piper Hookeri
„ sylvestre
Peperomia portulacoides...
Machilus macrantha 8yn
M. glaucescens.
Actinodaphne Hookeri,
Syn. A. lanceolata, Herb.
Oo.
Litsffia tomentosa, Byr^,
letranthera apetala.
„ polyantha, 8yn.
Tetranthera mo-
nopetala.
I, Stocksii, Syn, Te-
tranthera Ian-
ceoefolia.
,, fuscata ,
„ zeylanioa
Ndrali, Paral. Indian Buck- wheat.
Very common everywhere at
Mahableshwar.
Dongri Mirchi, Hill pepper.
G61(im.
Pisa.
Kdla-Pisa.
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NATURAL HISTORY.
Natural Order.
Genns and Species.
Vernacular or English name, use,
habitati &o.
70 Thymelaceffi
Lasiosiphon eriocephalus,
8yn, L. speciosus, Herb,
Co.
Elaaagnus latifolia» 8yn* E.
Kologa, Herh. Co>
Loranthus Wallichianus ...
„ obtnsatus, Herh.
Co.
„ cuneatus, Herh.
Co.
„ elasticus, Herh.
Co.
Loranthus involucratUB ...
„ lageniferus
,, loniceroides ...
Viscum angulatum, Herh.
Co.
Osyris arborea, Syn. 0.
Wightiana, Herh. Co,
Balanonhora r...
.Bametd. Plentiful on little Chank
71 Elseagnaceae
Point, Matheran, and oommon
on both hills. The bark, which
has a very strong fibre, is used
by the hill coolies for tying bun-
dles of gra«s and wood. Used
also for poisoning fish.
Ambulgi.
72 LoranthacesB
Mistleto Ord
>i
it
it
»
78 Santalacero
Sandalwood Oi
74 BalanophoreeB
1
75 Euphorbiacese
Spurgewort C
i»
}t
(The
Dr.)
(The
•der.)
(The
Irder)
The name B&nda or VAuda is
commonly given to all these
parasitic plants.
Baudguli.
Indian Mistleto.
Lotah
The genns is inserted on the au-
thority of Mrs. Hart's " Note on
a supposed Root-Parasite found
at Mahableshwar in October,
1885." See the Society's
Journal, Vol. I., p. 75. t
Diidhi.
Thor.
Kirkind.
Euphorbia Rothiana. Herh.
Co.
,, nereifolia
„ parviflora
,, acaulis
9l
Homonoyia riparia, Herh.
Co.
Briedelia rctusa, Syn, B.
montana Herh. Co.
Phyllanthua madraspa-
tana.
1, lanceolanus
Herh. Co.
Fliiggea leucopy rus
Has&na, Asana.
Eanocha.
Pdndharphali.
K61ti. Sting-nettle Creeper.
Chandira.
Tragia involucrata. Herh.
Co,
Macaranga Roxburghii ...
* This beautiful species is very variable in habit, taking the form of either a bush, a
small tree or a climber (Hooker). At Matheran, it is generally found as a large
climber and is readily identified by its oblong, elliptic leaves, which are silvery- white'
or rusty-red beneath.
t Mr. W. E. Hart gives th6 following description, from memory, of the specimens
collected by him. '' My specimens approach the description of B, indica nearer than
any of the others " (See Hooker, Vol. V. pp. 287, 238.) " The rootstock was tuberous
or warty. The peduncle-scales yellowish. * ♦ * They lay close on the peduncle, and
* * were imbricate, but separated at the upper extremities. The heads were
certainly globular and 1 -sexual, reddish brown in colour. The flowers were dicBcious,
white in colour. The stamens of the male flower united into a central column of
conical shape. The peduncles were of all lengths from 1 to 6 inches high, and decidedly
thick for their length. The heads were of all sizes from marbles to bagatelle balls."
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CATALOGUE.
]25
Natural Order.
Genns and Species.
Vernacular or English name, use,
habitat, &c.
75 EuphorbiaoesB
{contd).
„ ......
»i
J* ...•••
,, .•••••
J, ......
,) .....
76 UrticesB (The
Nettle Order).
»>
j»
»
ff •
>>
>»
>> •
>»
»»
i»
It
„ t.«...
»»
n
>»
»»
II
77 SalicaceaB
78 GnetacoaB
79 Orchideae
Mallotns philippinensis,
Syn. Rottlera tinotoria,
Herh. Co.
Croton hypoleuoos
„ Lawlanns
,, ramifloram
Ceratogynnm rhamnoides..
Phyllanthus Emblica
„ lanceolarius,
Herh. Oo.
Elatostemma oppositifolia.
Fleurya interrupta
Gerardina heterophylla..
Herh, Co.
Splitgerbera scabrella. . . .
Debrigascea longif olia. . . .
Trema Wightii, Syn.
Sponia Wightii, Herh. Oo.
Ficns heterophy Ila
a .oppositifolia.
„ bengalensis
religiosa var. ?
infeotoria
retusa
cordifolia
Tolabilis
glomerata ......
„ aspemma
Moras atropurpurea ...
Artocarpns integrifolia
Salix tetrasperma. Herb
Co.
Gnetam scandcns
Rohen, Buen, Kapila, Bhendri.
Pandurai.
Borambi.
EAvala.
Ohiokli.
Awal. Gooseberry tree.
Bhoma.
Khijoti.
Mothi Khdjoti, Agia, Agarra.
Gol.
Kharoti.
Wad. Banyan tree. Below Chowk
Point.
Ashta.*
Kel.
N&ndruk, Ranekuit.
Pahir.
Datir. Climbing Fig.
Umbar. Sans, Qdnmbar. The
Sycamore tree of the Bible.
Situt, Shah-tut. Mplberry.
Phanas. Sans. Panasa. Jack«
tree.
Walunj. Willow.
Umli.
Class II. — MoNocoTYLEDONES.f
Section 1. — Stamens epigynous.
Oberonia recurva i
Microstylis Hheedii. Herh.)
Co.
Dendrobium
Lawannm,! Bechn. This name is commonly
Herh. Co.
Macraei
„ ramosissi-
mum.
„ miorobolbon.
„ chlorops
„ barbatnlnm.
Herh. Co.
Cirrhopetalum fimbria-
turn.
Eria braccata
given to all Dendrobiums.
The ** Umbrella orchis" ; so named
by Mrs. Jerdon.
• The Ashta is distinguished by the hill people from the Pipal of the plains, of
which it is perhaps a variety. The name " Ashta" has no connection, apparently, with
the Sanskrit name of the Pipal, " Ashvatth."
t In the seeds of Monocotyledones there is generally only one cotyledon. If there
are two, they alternate with each other. The natural orders in this class are arranged
according to the plan adopted in Part. II. of Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Plants.
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126
NATURAL HISTORY.
Natural Order.
Genus and Species.
y emaoular or Bnglish name, use,
liabifcat, Ac,
79 Orohideed {contd.).,
80 BnrmanniaoesB..
81 Soitaminese
MusacesB
83 Amaryllidess
84 HypoxidesB
85 Dioscoreae
Micropera maculata
iiulophia bicolor ....;
„ pratensis. Herh.
Oo.
brides orispum
„ Lindleyana
,, maculosum
Habenaria Candida. Herh.
Co,
„ platyphylla.
Herb, Co.
Platanthera Susannae
Herh. Oo.
Burmaonia triflora. Herh,
Co.
Zinziber macrostachyum
Herh. Co.
Curcuma zedoaria
,) pseudomontana..
„ caulina,*Herb. Co,
Musa omata
Pancratium parvum
Cimum asiaticum
,, brachynema .,
Ourculigo malabarica ..
„ gramini folia..
Dioscorea pentaphylla..
Helmia bulbifera
Ambarkhand.
Bukhsing.
KaUbi.
Only one plant of this splendid
orchis has been found by Dr.
Cooke at Mahableshwar, and
only one at Matheran.
On the 'road to the Gk>vemor's
Bund, Matheran. Near the
Dhobi's Waterfall, Mahablesh-
war.
Sheri. Nisam. Wild Ginger.
Kachora, Kachola.
R&n-haldi. White turmeric.
Oh&var. Arrowroot.
B&n-kel, Ch&wankel, Kawadar.
Wild plantain.
Ehanddiu.
Mahableshwar Lily.
Eajuri.
Shend-vel, Shendon-vel.
Kadu-karanda, Nor-vel.
68 AsphodelesB
87 SmilacesB
88 LiliacesB
»
89 Commelineas
90 SriocaulesB
91 Palmed (Palms)
Section 2. — Stamens perigynous.
Asparagopsis sarmentosa. Ashwal. Asparagus creej^er.
Herh. Co,
Chlorophytum brevisca- Kula.
pum.
„ Nimmonii,
Herh. Co.
Smilax ovalifolia. Herh-
Co.
Ledebouria hyacinthina ...
Anguillari a indica
Commelyna communis ...
Aneilema axillaris
,, tuberosa
Cyanotis axillaris
„ longifolia
Valisneria spiralis
Eriocaulon setaceum
Caryota urens
Got-vel.
Dhakti K&ju,
K^ju. Spider-wort^
Gtondali.
Bherli-mid. Fish-tail Palm. For
the derivation of the Marathi
name, see the note at p. 211 of
Vol. I. of the Society's Journal.
* The Curcuma caulina, from which arrowroot has been obtained, grows abun-
dantly everywhere at Mahableshwar. It flowers in October, and seeds freely in
November.
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CATAIOQUK.
127
Natnral Order.
Genus and Species.
Yemacnlar or English name use ,
habitat, &c.
Section 3. — Stamens hypogynous.
92 GramineaB (Grasses) Coiz lachryma Easai, Bin-makai. Job's Tears.
Panicum prostratnm
Isachne elegans
Oplismenas colonns...
Arundinella tenella ...
,, stricta ...
„ spicata....
Setaria glaaca
Cynodon daotylon ...
Eragrostis nnioloides .
Bambusa stricta ,
f, arundo
„ balena
Andropogon polystachyns.
fi mnrioatus
8p. ?
93 Cyperaceae
94 AroidesB ...
95 LemnacesB..
Anthistiria cymbaria ...
Psilostachy s filiformis . . .
IsohaBmnm conjngatum
Bathrathemm molle ...
Follinia eriopoda
Carex indica
Fimbristylis oestivalis
Cryptocoryne Boxburghii.
ArissBina, M urrayii
A morphophallas
pannlatas.
Bemusatia vivipara..
Lem na tri aulca ....
„ globosa •.,
D(inda.
Kumnd.
Eol&ra.
Dfirba. Hari&li grass.
\inB, B4mbn, Udha.
Sans. Venn, Eichaka. Bamboo.
Chivari.
Ch6ki.
Gondal. Elphinstone Point, Maha-
bleshwar.
Wala, Ehaskhas. Ehnskhns grass.
A grass, with the smell of tur-
pentine, near the Neral Station.
At Panchgani. Used for paper-
making.
Indian Hush.
S&mpacha kh&nda, i.e. *' snake-
root." Cobra Lily.
Suran.
Bokh-&lu. Wild Caladium.
Dnok-weed.
Division B.— Cellulares. — {Plants with cellular tissue only).
Class I.— Foliacejb.— (iea/y plants).
9G Filices (Ferns).
Polybotrya appendiculata.
Acrostichum variabile,
8yn. Gymnopteris
variabilis, rar. lanceo-
lata. Herb. Co.
,» virens. Syn.
PsBoilopteris
terminaris,
and Gymno-
pteris sub-
crenata.
Asplenium planicaule. Syn,
A. laciniatum.
), radiatum, Syn.
Aotiniopteris
radiata.
„ fuloatnm ,
,1 lunnlatum, tMir.j
trapeziforme,
Only one specimen of this fern is
known to have been found at
Matheran. It has for many
years been in the garden at
'* Underwood."
Booting fern. Once plentiful on
several favourite sites at Mathe-
ran. Now almost exterminated
by fern hunters.
Palm fern. Ehandila Qhit, an
Mahableshwar road.
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128
NATURAL HISTORY.
Natural Order.
Grenus and Species.
Yemacular or English name, use,
habitat, &c.
96 Filices (contd.) ,
97 Lycopodineae (Club-
mosses.)
Pteris aqnilina* Jierh, Oo
,1 qaadriauritai He^'h.
Co,
M pellucida
Adiantam lunulatum,
Uerh, Co,
„ capillus Veneris.
Cheilanthes farinosa, Hei-h,
C9.
Osmnnda regaliSf Herb.
Co.
Lygodinm pinnatifidnm,
8yn, L. flexaosam.
Sagenia coadunata. 8yn
Aspidium cicutariumi
Herb. Oo.
Folypodinm qaercifolinm,
8yn. Drynaria quer-
cifolia.
Nephrodinm molle, Herb.
Co.
Pleopeltis membranacea,
Herb, Co.
„ linearis, 8yn, P.
Wightiana, Herb
Co.
Lastrea filix mas, far.
cochleata Herb. Co.
„ filix mas, rar,
elongata, Hei'h.
Co.
Athyrium filix faemina,.
rar. flabeUnlata, Hei'b.
Co.
Lycopodium imbricatum..
Netsa. Brake fern.
Hansraj, Bajhans, i.e., "Goose
foot " fern. Maiden-hair fern.
On wet rocksy near Panchgaui*
(Cooke).
Pdtkuri. Silver fern.
Nadieha Miiriid. Below the
lake, Mahableshwar, and at
Lingmala.
Hansr&j-yel. Creeping fern.
K6j^ryache Bashing. Indian Beech
fern.
K&dik-p&n. Indian Oak fern.
Male fern.
Lady fern.
98 Masci (Mosses)
99 Fungi
Class II.— Aphyll^— (Lea/?ess ^plants.)
Hypnum curratum. ...
„ sqnarrosum. ,
„ bryoides
„ refiexum. ...
Agaricus campestris. .
Lycoperdon pratense ,
DsDdalia gibbosa
„ versicolor
PolyporuB giganteuB
Anisogonium esculentum.
Leucostegia immersa .
Alamben. Mushroom.
Bhuiphod. Puff ball.
Kerambi, Pdranza.
Common on the Tenna, Maha-
bleshwar.
* The brake fern grows in great profusion all over Mahableshwar. At Matheran
it is now confined to a single site on the Garbet Bidge. No plants are now. to be
found on a site near little Chauk Point, where it g^w a few years ago.
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INDEX TO CATALOGUE.
129
INDEX OF VERNACULAR NAMES.
(The references are
to the fgures in the
first
column of ih%
Catalogue.)
Abai ...•
... 18
Bberli.mad
...
... 91
Agarra
... 76
Bhoma
...
...
... 75
Agia
... 76
Bhuiphod
...
...
... 99
Ain
... 34
Bhui-vangi
...
. ..
... 57
Ankra
... 61
Bhutkes
...
... 43
Alaimben
... 99
Billu ...
...
...
... 22
Ale
... 30
Birambol
...
...
... 80
Alu
... 43
Bokhada
...
...
... 38
Arnba
... 28
Bokul
^^
...
... 47
Ambarkand
... 79
Bondar
...
...
30, 44
Ambri
... 52
Borambi
...
68, 75
Ambti
... 46
Borungi
. . •
...
... 62
Ambulgi
... 71
Borsangi
i . .
. . .
... 62
Anjan
... 36
Brahmi
...
...
... 42
Apta
... 30
Bar ...
• • I
.. .
... 44
Arjuna
... 34
Ark
... 62
Chaki
...
• •■
... 92
Arsul
... 43
Chambaiyel
. . .
• • •
... 62
Asana
... 75
Chambuli
...
...
... 80
Ashta
... 76
Ghandara
...
...
... 75
Atak
... 46
Chap-yel
...
• ••
... 43
Atki
... 46
Chaura
• •#
...
... 17
Atkura
... 43
Chawan-kel
...
• • •
... 82
Awal ...
... 75
Chawar
...
...
... 81
Cher ...
. . .
. . .
... 17
Bagvel
... 34
Chikakai
• • .
...
... 30
Bahawa
... 30
Chickli
.« .
...
... 75
Bakuli
....47
Chikni
• • •
...
... 15
Bambii
... 92
Chi mat
...
...
... 25
Bamburti
... 18
Chiturti
.• .
. . .
... 57
Banda
... 72
Chivari
. . .
.. •
... 92
Bandguli ;
... 72
Chaudbara
. . .
...
... 63
Baphli
... 42
Chor ...
• ••
...
... 17
Barga
... 30
Corinda
...
..<
... 51
Barki
... 30
Bechu
... 79
Daeli...
...
...
... 80.
Beheda
... 84
Dahn...
• . .
...
... 44
Berki..
19, 30
Datir...
...
...
... 76
Bhaikui
... 16
Dauni . . .
. • •
. . .
44, 66
Bhalga
... 42
Devnal
t . •
. . .
... 45
Bhaman
... 63
Dhakta-Adulsa
...
... 61
Bhambarda ...
... 44
Dhakti Ambri
...
... 52
Bharang
... 62
Dhakta-Karmal
...
... 2
Bhauri
• •1 56
Dhakta-Dhampta
...
... 30
17
Digitized by VjO<
130
NATURAL
HISTORY.
Dhakti Kaju
i...
... 89
Indrajav
... 51
DhaktaSheral
... 67
Itari
...
43, 61
Dhampta
... 30
Dhaman
... ]7
Jambu \
Janibul J
... 35
Dhauri
... 37
...
Dhawal
... 45
Jangli-Kajorni
. • .
... 26
Dhotra
... 57
Jangli-Jirao .,.
. ..
... 44
Dhiadil
Bindi J
... 26
Jao
...
... 12
Jirao ...
...
• ... 44
Din gala
... 30
Jatali ...
...
... 54
Dodi
... 52
Dongri-Mirchi
... 68
Kachora \
Kachola J *"
... 81
Dudhroli
*• • . • .
... 52
...
Dadh-yel
... 52
Kadhinimb ...
• ••
... 20
Dudhi
... ...
... 75
Kadhipat
. , .
... 20
Dunda
... 92
Kadu-karanda
...
... 85
Durba
...
... 92
Kadik-pan . . .
...
... 96
Eriyel
Esliwar
• • . .• •
... 61
... 62
Kaju
Kajgolitcha-yel
Kajar-vel
...
... 89
... 26
... 53
Ganera
• . . * t «
... 28
Kajutsa-ghaa
. • .
... 59
Gangotri
• • • • • •
... 44
Kajuri
... 84
Garmala
• •• ...
... 30
Kalabi
...
... 79
Gavel
. . • ••»
... 56
Kalam
• • •
... 48
Gela ...
• • • • . •
... 43
Kala-Ankra ...
• * •
... 61
Ghagri
... 30
Kala-Kura ...
...
... 51
Gliol-baji
... 11
Kala-Kirat ...
• . .
... 61
Ghuti...
.'• • • • .
... 25
Kala-Pisa ...
...
... 69
Gol
...
... 76
Kamani
.••
... 57
Goldor 1
Gordar J
... 16
Kauri...
*..
... 54
...
Kanal
...
... 53
Gomati ...
... • a .
... 39
Kanvel
. . •
... 25
Gondal
• • • ...
... 92
Kanchan
...
... 30
Gondali
... •• •
... 90
Kanocha
...
... 75
Goindu
... 48
Kanta-kumbal
% . .
... 47
Gotvel
... •».
... 87
Kaoli
...
... 62
Gulum
... •• •
... 69
Kapila
. . .
... 75
Guma...
...
... 63
Karad-Kangoni
...
... b,7
Guti ...
••* ...
... 25
Karak
*••
... 21
Karambel
... 2
Halda...
... 22
Karai ...
• ••
... 16
Haldi...
... ...
... ]3
Kurund
... 92
Halera
». • • • •
,.. 2]
Karvi...
. . •
... 61
Halula >
Halunda J
... 30
Kardor 1
Kardori / —
• • .
... 14
Harda
... 34
Karivana
...
... 42
Hansraj
}■ "•
... 96
Karpa
...
... 27
Hansraj-yel
Karwand
...
... 51
Harkia
... •••
... 13
Karwat
...
... 63
Harkinjal
... ...
... 3
Kasai
• • •
... 92
Hasana
• « • . . •
... 76
Kasu ...
...
... 17
Hed ...
... 43
Katvel
Digitized by '
... 39
3Qle
INDEX TO CATAtoaUE.
131
Kaundal
•• •
... 39 Marva
63
Kaushi
...
... 16
Mavra )
Mohova J ■*■
47
Kavaia
...
...
... 75
Kawadar
...
...
... 82
Mersingha ...
60
Kel ...
..t
...
... 76
Morvel "1
Moryel J "'
1
Kerambi
. • .
• . •
... 99
Khapri-yel
...
...
... 46
Mori
38
Khapri
...
• . .
... 63
Motha-Dhotra
57
Ehas ...
• . •
...
... 17
Mothi-Berki ...
30
Khavas
• ••
. a •
... 16
Motha-Bur ...
44
Khajoti
...
...
... 76
Mothi -Khajoti
76
Khakra
. • •
...
... 30
Mothi-Sonki...
44
Eband-ala
...
• ••
... 83
Mothi- Sadori
44
Khar-khodi
...
...
... 52
Mothi-Yekdi...
24
Kharoti
...
...
... 76
Mungir
30
Ehaskhas
...
...
... 92
Murud
95
Kbausbi
...
...
... 10
Kher ...
• • .
...
... 36
Nadena
26
Khopri
...
...
... 42
Nadicha-Murud
96
Kirkind
...
• . .
... 75
Nalkarda
19
Kirmira
• t .
...
... 20
Nal-barga
30
Koham )
Kocbam /
... 27
Nandruk
70
...
...
Nanah
37
Kokam
. . •
...
... 13
Naram-panal...
3
Kolara
...
...
... 92
Necharda
17
Kolisna
• . •
...
... 7
Nechurdi
55
Koranti
...
... 61
Nerda
30
Kosum
...
, , ,
... 27
Netsa
96
Kuari..,
...
...
... 16
Nisam ...
81
Knda...
• ..
• ».
... 51
Nigud '
Kukar
...
...
... 16
Nigadi }» ...
62
Kula...
..•
...
... 86
Nirgundi,
Kulti ...
.. .
...
... 75
Nirmali 1
Niwali / -
53
Kumbba
...
... 35
Kunti
...
...
... 20
Norvel
85
Kusam
...
. » •
... 27
Narali
67
Kutre-vandre
...
... 17
Kutri...
• 1 1
« • •
... 57
Padel
4, 60
Laeli ...
Laban-terda
• • •
...
... 30
... 19
Pahadi-atgan
Pahir
Palas
Pandharphali
Panhra-kuda...
Pandi
Pandri ...
Pandurai
Pangara
61
76
30
75
51
42
20
75
30
Laban-bbendi
Lamtani
Lenda
Lokhandi
Lotal
LuUei
. • •
• «*
...
... 15
... 51
... 49
25, 43, 50
... 73
... 30
Madar
...
...
... 52
Pangla 1
Pangli J ■■■
63
Madvel
• . .
...
... 34
Makad-limbu
. * •
... 20
Panphne
32
Makmal
...
• • .
... 44
Papat
48
Malia...
• ••
...
... 48
Paral
67
Digitized by CjOOQIC
132
NATURAL HISTORX.
Paraznga
Paranza
Par-jam 1
Par-jambul J
Par-yel
Patknri
Pendguli-yel ...
Phandharpbali
Phanas
Ph^Dsi
Phaphat
Pinda
Pisa ...
Pitan ...
Polara
Ragi
BajhaDB
Bameta
Ran-bhendi ...
Banekuit
Ban-haldi
Baojai
Ban-kel
Ban-makai ...
Ran-tewan ...
Ran-tur
Bafcamba
Boban
Boben
Bokhala
Buen ...
Bui ...
Bukhsing
Sag 1
Sagwan J
Sabadevi
Sajeri
Saldbawal ...
Salem Salpbali
Sampaoba-khanda
Sanraukb-patri
Sonki
Sarata
Sarub
Sarwad
Savar
Sbendvel
Sbabtut
Sbendri
Shewal
Sbawau
... 30
... 99
... 50
... 4
... 96
... 30
... 75
... 76
80, 83
... 43
... 42
... 69
... 62
... 22
30
96
70
15
76
81
1
82
92
61
30
13
22
75
94
75
52
79
62
44
3
16
21
94
19
44
12,
66
12
48
15
ie,
85
76
75
58
62
}
Sbikakai
Sirdoli
Sisam
Sisu
Sitat
Sandar
Suran
Sarangi
Sheral
Sberi . . .
Siras . . .
Taital
Tambdi Savar
Taman
Tarabat
Tan . . .
Tali ...
Telicha-yel
Tharambal
Thor ...
Tipan
Terda...
Toran
Tupa...
Umbar
Umli ...
Vagata
Vanda
Vans ...
VasanveH
Vatoli y
Vat-yel J
Vehela
Waiti
Wala ...
Walunj
Wundri
Wad ...
Warnli
Waras
Watan-yel
Yakshi
Yekli...
Yekadi
Yek-yel
Yela ...
Yenkli
Yeoti...
Yesur
.. 30
.. 52
76
... 29
94
18
... 67
.. 81
.. 30
.. 51
.. 15
.. 37
.. 8
.. 4
.. 80
.. 26
.. 61
.. 75
... 27
19
... 25
... 43
... 76
.. 78
.. 30
.. 72
.. 92
.. 61
.. 92
.. 77
.. 18
.. 76
.. 39
.. 60
,. 4
.. 34
.. 24
.. 9
.. 30
.. 34
.. 24
.. 24
.. 62
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NOTE ON THE FLORA OF MAHABLE8HWAU AND MATHERAN. 133
NOTE ON THE FLORA OP MA.HABLESHWAR AND
MATHERAN.
By Theodore Cooke, LL.D. F.G.S.
An observant visitor to Matheran cannot fail to be struck with
the way in whicb certain plants disappear as he ascends the hill
from NareL The Teak tree {Teciona grandis), the skeleton of whose
dried leaves is so like lace-work^ disappears before half the ascent
is accomplished. The StercuUa urens, which looks as if its bark
had been stripped off, and which is a very conspicuous tree along
the ascent^ also disappears^ as well as the Phyllanthus Emblica,
whose gooseberry-like fruit is used by the natives for pickling.
On Matheran hill itself^ many plants are met with which are not
found on the plains below; and as we ascend to a still higher
elevation and reach the table-land of Mahableshwar^ 2,000 feet
above that of Matheran, we find the effect of increased elevation in
the gradual thinning out of certain plants, and the appearance of
new ones. This is particularly noticeable on the ascent from the
Koyna Valley, which is about 1,500 feet below the table-land of
Mahableshwar ; as the paths, by several of which the ascent may be
accomplished, pass along well- wooded slopes.
Ascending from the Koyna, the valuable Ain tree {Terminalia
tonientosa) is very soon lost to view, and the only representative of
the family (Cohbbbtaoeai!) on the hill summit is the Terminalia
ehebula, which supplies the Myrobolans so largely exported for
the tannin they contain.
In the same way the Orewia microcos and the Wrightia tindona
disappear, the former very soon, while the latter is carried up very
near to the plateau on the Gh^t Road, near the small village of
Metala, The Casearia graveolens may be found still higher up, but
does not reach the summit, though it grows luxuriantly along the
Ghat Road, not very far below Bombay Point, while the Albizzia
stipulata, which is such a conspicuous tree at Matheran, with its
dark, reddish-brown, papery pods, and its large, pinkish, brush-like
flowers, ceases abruptly on the Fitzgerald 6h£t Road, about 4 miles
from Mahableshwar.
Looking through the list, so carefully and laboriously prepared by
Mr. Justice Birdwood, I would make the following remarks : —
The Reinwardtia trigyna, which, in the introductory note to the
Catalogue, is said to have been found truly wild on Varandha Ghat,
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134 NATURAL HISTORY.
I have found wild in the Koyna Valley ; at least I have found it
growing luxuriantly in a dense jungle near the Koyna, in a locality
far removed from any human habitations. The Brugmansia Can-
dida is not indigenous. It is, I believe, a native of Peru, but it has
found the climate and soil of Mahableshwar well suited to its
development, as it grows most luxuriantly over the hill, and has been
planted along the Fitzgerald Ghat Road. Its large, white, funnel-
like flowers render it a very conspicuous object.
The Clematis Wightianais not, as far as I know, found at Matheran,
nor does it extend much below the summit of Mahableshwar.
Its flowers are large and yellow, but as it flowers in January and
February, when the hill is not much frequented, its blossoms are rarely
seen. The plants in Orders 2 and 3 do not occur at Mahableshwar ;
the Cocculus macrocarpus does not quite reach the hill summit,
though it may be found just below the Dhobi^s Fall. Polygala
persicaricefolia does not, I think, occur at Matheran, and indeed, is
rare at Mahableshwar. It may be met with on the path leading
from Lingmala Ravine towards the Waterfall. Ancistrocladus Hey-
neamis, though tolerably common at Matheran, does not reach Maha-
bleshwar; nor do the plants of the Order GuTTiFERai, immediately
preceding. Of the Malvace^, neither Hibiscus hirtusi Thespesia
Lampas^ nor the Bomax, and of the Stehculiace^, none of the plants
catalogued are to be found at Mahableshwar. The Triumfetta
rhomboidea is tolerably common, the ElcBocarptis oblongvs rare.
There is a good tree of the latter in Lingmala garden, and a couple
on the bank of the stream below the house. There is also a solitary
tree in the compound of Prospect Cottage, at the corner of the
Cross Road, just opposite the entrance gate of Temple Hall. Many
of the leaves of this tree turn red, which render it a conspicuous
object among the foliage of the woods, and the fringed petals of its
flowers are very beautiful, the brownish-red calyx appearing through
the interspaces between the petals. All the plants catalogued under
the genus Impatiens are to be found at Mahableshwar, amofag
them a very remarkable one, a yellow balsam (J. Dalzellii), Evodia
Boxburghiana does not occur at Matheran, and is somewhat rare at
Mahableshwar. One tree (a male) may be found on the Panchgani
Road, a few yards beyond the turn to Kate's Point. There is another
tree at the 4th culvert on the Fitzgerald Ghat Road, and a little
further down the roadj close to a culvert, are two trees, a male and
female. A knowledge of some localities where a tolerably rare plant
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NOTE ON THE FLORA OP MAHABLKSHWAR AND MATHERAN. 185
may be found, will be useful to collectors. Neither of the Orders
BuRSKRACBJE noF Mbuacre are represented on Mahableshwar.
The Mappiafoetida is a very remarkable as well as common tree
at Mahableshwar. I do not think it occurs at Matheran. The odour
of its yellowish flowers, which appear in October, is most offensive,
savouring of carrion. Visitors to the hill are often puzzled by the
strange odour, and unable to account for it. There is a tree in
the Superintendent's compound, at the side nearest the Club, and
several trees may be found close to the road, just below the Bund.
Zizyphus rugosa is common both at Matheran and Mahableshwar, and
its white berries are edible, though not very palatable. Zizyphus
xylopyrus does not occur at Mahableshwar, while the 8cutia indica
is only found on the higher Ghats, and does not descend to the level
of Matheran. It is known at Mahableshwar as the *' Wait-a-bit
thorn," as when its hooked-thorns catch the clothes of a rambler
through the woods, there is no going forward till the thorns are
unhooked, — often a difficult process. It may be easily identified by
its native name '^ Chimaf
Hemigyrosa canescens does not ascend to Mahableshwar, nor does
Schleichera trijuga,hut the Order (Sapindaceje) is abundantly repre-
sented by the shrub Allophylus Cohhe, which, with its soft, trifolate
leaves and long racemes of small, white flowers, is scattered every-
where over the hill top. The Leguminosj5 are largely^epresented
on both hills, but it is a remarkable fact that, while in Matheran,
there are several trees belonging to the Order, there is not a single
tree on Mahableshwar belonging to it. The Grotolarias, Smithias,
Desmodium, Phaseolus, Vigna, Atylosia, Cylista, and Flemingia
are common to both hills ; but the only Acacia on the summit of
Mahableshwar is Acacia Intsia.
Of the Rosacea:, the Rubus lasiocarpxis or Mahableshwar Raspberry
is very common and well-knowyi. This plant is indigenous here
and to the highest Ghats to the Southward. Rubus moluccanus
has been found at Mahableshwar, but it is very rare. It may be
found in a ravine on the road to old Mahableshwar. I found it
very abundantly on the high land (Newera Eliya) in Ceylon.
Of the RuBiACEiE, neither Adina nor Stephegyne occur at
Mahableshwar, the Wendlandia notoniana does not occur at
Matheran ; and I have only seen it in Mahableshwar, near the banks
of the stream (Yenna) below Lingmala. Psychotria truncata is a
rare plant, occurring as far as I know, at Mahableshwar, in a single
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136 . NATURAL HISTORY.
locality, which being far removed from habitations and in a dense
jungle, it is diflScult to describe. Mussoenda f rondo 9a does not ascend
to Mahableshwar, though common at Matheran and in the Koyna
Valley, where its velvety, orange flowers and curious, white, leaf-like
bracts may be seen throughout the woods. Most of the Composite
are common to both hills, but Elephantopus scaler does not ascend
to Mahableshwar, though plentiful at Matheran and in the Koyna
Valley, and the same may be said of Cyathoc line lyrata, while I do
not know that Adenostenima viscosum or Adenoon indicum have
been found at Matheran, though common at the higher eleyation.
The commonest Composite at Mahableshwar, scattered all over the
hill with the brake-fern, is Conyza stricta.
Of the Campanulaceji, the little Wahlenbergia gracilis does not
grow at a low elevation. It is not found at Matheran and is very rare
at Mahableshwar, the elevation being apparently insuflBcient, for at
the high elevation of Newera BUiya, Ceylon, it grows very
abundantly.
The Sideroxylon tomentesum which is very a bundant at Matheran,
does not seem to thrive at Mahableshwar. It is nowhere fonnd
near the central portion of the hill top, and is confined to its edges.
It is to be met with on the path -way up to Lodwick Point, and also
occurs near Bombay Point. Neither Bassia latifolia nor Mimusops
Elengi occur at Mahableshwar, while the Order Ebenacejb does not
possess a single representative.
Symphcos Beddomei is not met with at Matheran, but is tolerably
plentiful at Mahableshwar. It flowers in the cold season ; its blossoms
have the odour of the hawthorn, and its berries, which ripen in May,
are blue. There are one or two trees just opposite the gate of the
Cemetery. The Jasmmiiim arborescem is common to both hills, and
its fragrant white flowers are seen in great profusion in April.
The Olea dioica, which is very common at Matheran, is rarely met
with in the Mahableshwar woods, while the Ligustrum neilgherryense
is very common on the latter hill, and does not occur at all on the
former. Its fragrant white flowers appear abundantly in October.
Of the Apocynace-s: there is but one representative on the Mahablesh-
war hill, and that is a I'are plant, the Bavwoljia densi flora. It maybe
found in the ravine below the Forest Officer's bungalow at Lingmala.
Its white flowers appear in April. Of the Asclepiads, the Calotropis
gigantea does not ascend to the elevation of Mahableshwar. The
most remarkable plant of the Order which occurs there is the
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NOTE ON THE FLORA OP MAHABLESHWAfi AND MATHEBAN. 137
Oymnema sylvestrej whicli is an extensive climber, with small yellow
flowers, appearing in the hot weather. The leaves of this plants
when chewed, possess the strange property of destroying for a time
the taste for sugar, while exercising no effect on the taste for
substances other than saccharine. If two or three leaves be chewed
and the tongue and palate moistened with the juice, the result of
taking a little sugar in the mouth is very curious. It appears just
like so much sand, while salt or anything not saccharine tastes just
as usual.
Of the LoG^NiACEiE, the Suddleia asiatica is the only plant of
the Order at Mahableshwar. It is very rare. There is one plant at
Lingmala,%iear the out-houses of the bungalow, and I have seen a
plant on the Fitzgerald Ghat. Of the Gentians, the little purple
Exacum Lawii is all over the Mahableshwar hill, in October, amongst
the grass, but dies very soon after the rains cease. The Swertia
(lecussata is found at Mahableshwar occasionally, but not common
there. It is very abundant on the hill top above the Panchgani
travellers' bungalow. An infusion of this plant is used by the
natives as a febrifuge.
The Order Boragine^ is represented on both hills by the genua
Pa^^acaryum,
The Paracaryum coelestinum is known as . the Mahableshwar
" Forget-me-not." It is very abundant both here and at Matheran.
Two other Paracaryums are tolerably common at Mahableshwar,
but as far as I know, do not occur at Matheran. The P. mala-
haricum is the more common, and may be found in large quantities
at the Bund, P. Lambertianum may be found on the cliff, opposite
the Dhobi's Waterfall, below General Barr's bungalow. Of the
SoLANACEiE, the Solauum gigantenm is very abundant at Maha-
bleshwar, but does not, as far as I recollect, occur at Matheran.
It is to be found everywhere on the former hill, and its bunches
of red berries are handatoie.
The Heierophragma Roxbnrghii, which is very common at
Matheran, does not seem to thrive at Mahableshwar. I only know of
two trees at the latter place, and these are poor stunted specimens.
One of them is just over the Yenna Waterfall, and the other a few
yards beyond the 30th mile on the Satara Boad.
Of the AcANTHACB^, Thunbergia fragrans may be found all along
the Panchgani Gh&t, and on the road from Panchgani to Maha-
bleshwar, but, strange to say, it ceases at the 68th mile, half way
18
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138 NATURAL HISTORY.
between these stations. It is somewhat remarkable tbat it does not
extend to Mahableshwar itself^ as it is very abundant at the high
elevation of Newera Elliya, Ceylon. The term fragrana is a
misnomer^ as its flowers are destitute of fragrance.
Of the Bablbrlas^ B. Prionitis with yellow flowers is yerj com-
mon on the road up to Matberan, but does not occur anywhere
near Mahableshwar. Barleria drigosa, with large blue flowers, is
common at Matberan, where it may be found in abundance below
Ponsonby's Spring, but is only to be found on the slopes of Maha-
bleshwar and not on the hill top. It may be seen in flower in the
cold season, on the slope some way down below the DhobFs Glen.
Ecbolium Linneannm, which is very common at Matberan, and has
green flowers, is not found at Mahableshwar; nor is the magnificent
Calacanthua Dalzelliana, which grows in profusion on the wet rocks
on the road up to Matheran, about a mile below the Chauki.
Of the Verbbnaceje, the CalUcarpa lanata is common to both hills,
the Tectona gramdis does not reach even half way up the ascent to
Matheran, and the Premna coriacea and Gmelina arborea do not grow
at Mahableshwar* Vitex negundo will no doubt flourish on either
hill ; it has been largely planted along the Fitzgerald 6h6t, and Vitex
leucoxylon is to be found in the Koyna Valley. The Clerodendron
aerratum is not found on Matheran, nor on Mahableshwar hilltop,
but it may be found about Lingmala Ravine and on the Panchgani
Road; it also occurs on the slope below Bombay Point on the road
to the Koyna, The most common of the Labiatje, both at Matheran
and Mahableshwar, is Leucas stelligera. At Mahableshwar, another
member of the genus occurs, Leucas ciliata, a larger and much less
common plant than L, sfelligera, Dyaophylla myosuroides is not
found at Matheran, but is common in Mahableshwar water-courses.
It is abundant in the nulla near the Sassoon Point Tennis Court,
just below where the road from the bazaar crosses the stream.
Micromeria MaUolmiana is a small plant peculiar to Mahableshwar.
It is found along the Yenna, below the Bund, and has a strong odour
of peppermint.
The Plantago major is rare at Mahableshwar, and is not found at
Matheran. It may be fonnd on the banks of the Yenna River,
The Lasiosiphon eriocephalvs is common to both hills, and is par-
ticularly abundant at Mahableshwar. The handsome climbing
shrub Elceagnvs latifolia, the under-sides of whose leaves have a
sheen like silver, and whose pink coloured fruit is edible, is also com-
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ijote; on the i?lora of mahablesbwar and matheran. 139
moa to both hills. Of the Loranthus family, I have not found either
L involucratii^ nor. L. Iacpen\feru8 at Mahableshwar. The Osyris
arherea is not found at Matheran, although growing at Khandaliai
wliich is close by. It can be readily identified by its native name
"Lotal," The Order Euphorbuce-k is better represented at Matheran
tiian at Mahableshwar. The Crotons are entirely absent from
Mahableshwar; Fluggea leucopgrns ascends about half way up the
hill from the Koyna and then ceases; while of the three trees,
Phyllanihv4 lanceolariics, Briedelia retnso. and Macaranga Roxburghii,
the first only occurs in any quantity in Mahableshwar. Though the
BriedeUa does occur in one place, the top of the old Rotunda Ghat,
below Bombay Point, it does not, as far as I know, occur anywhere
else, and should therefore be hardly considered a Mahableshwar
tree. The Macaranga does not grow at Mahableshwar at all, but the
Bhoma (Phyllanthus lanceolarius) (Sj/n, Ghchidion lanceolarium) is
very abundant. Homnoia riparia is to be found in beds of streams
at Mahableshwar, not at Matheran, and may be collected in the bed of
the ravine below the Dhobi's Waterfall. Of the Urticacej:, Gerardina
heterophylla, a formidable stinging nettle, is common to both hills,
as are also the Splitgerbera scabreila^ and the Trema Wiyhtii, Fleury^
wfermpia is not found at Mahableshwar, nor is Bebrigascea longifolia,
a native of Matheran, Ficus glotnerata (Umbar) is common on both
hills, but none other of the genus Ficus is to be found on the hill-
top of Mahableshwar, except Ficus cancaoides, although F. asperinm^
F, cordifoUa and F. iv/ectoria may be met on the slopes. The
Artocarpus integrifolia does not reach Mahableshwar ; it is cultivated
near villages in the Koyna Valley, and there is one tree at the village
of Metala on the plateau below Bombay Point.
The 8alix tetrasperma or Indian Willow does not grow at
Matheran ; it is abundant along the Yenna River and may be seen in
flower in October.
With regard to the ORCHiDACEiE, the handsomest one at Maha-
bleshwar is the Mrides Lindleyanum, which does not occur at
Matheran, and the most showy one at Matheran is ^ridts
tnactdosum, which is not found at Mahableshwar, though it is seen
on the Panchgani Road. The Dendrohium barbatulum is common
to both hills, and is in flower in March and April. Dendrobium
ramosissimum is not found on the summit of either hill. It is very
abundant in the Koyna Valley. Dendrohium Macr<ei, a curious
looking orchid with many large pseudo bulbs^ and a single leaf
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140 NATtEAL flISTOKY.
growing out of the terminal one, is very rare at Mahableshwar, and
is not to be found at Matheran. It is very abundant in the Koyna
Valley, some of the old trees along the river being literally
covered with this, Dendrohium ramosiasimum and the bulbs of the
Oirrhopetalum fimbriatum. A visit to the Koyna Valley will amply
repay a plant-hunter. The ferns and orchids in some parts near
the river are in the greatest profusion, and must be seen to be
appreciated.
Of the two hills, Matheran and Mahableshwar, the former has the
more varied flora, but several plants are found in Mahableshwar
which do not exist at the lower elevation of Matheran. I have
made a rough estimate, which is not correct to a dozen plants or so,
that there are about 140 plants (excluding grasses) which occur
at Matheran, and which do not occur at Mahableshwar, and that
there are about 130 plants which are found at Mahableshwar, and
not on Matheran, while there are perhaps 140 common to both
hills.
I regret that I have not had longer time to devote to this short
note, which has been written hurriedly, in order to be in time for the
issue of the Journal in which Mr. Birdwood's Catalogue is to
appear.
T. CooKE.
Mahableshwar, April 2Gth, 1887.
NOTES ON MAHABLESHWAR AND OTHER INDIAN
ARROWROOT-YIELDING PLANTS.
By Dk. J. C. LisBOA.
There appeared, two years ago, in one of our local papers a short
article in which it was sought to prove that there is no arrowroot
plant indigenous 'to Mahableshwar, and a correspondent even
attempted to show that a arrowroot prepared there is from Maranta
arumcUnOiCea, carried from Butnagherry to the hill and there culti-
vated. There is, however, no doubt, that the arrowroot prepared at
Mahableshwar is from the tubers of a plant indigenous to that hill,
first described by the late Mr. Graham, of the Bombay Civil Service,
and as yet not found anywhere else so far as I know. The plant is
Curcuma caulina, Nat. Ord. SeitamineasB, Grah. Cat. Bomb. PL It
is very common at Mahableshwar, where it is known to the natives
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CURCUMA CAULINA.
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ARROWROOT- YIELDING ttANTS. 141
as Chowar. It maybe described thus:'-«'Boot size of an orange^
sometimes larger^ with large oblong tubers, white inside, pendulous
from the fibers. Radical leaves almost opposite, sheathing, short'
petioled, oblong lanceolate, 12-20 by 3-4 in*, upper leaves alternate
frequently tinged with a beautiful red; scape central leafy, 3 feet
high. Bracts green, calyx white, and corolla yellow.
It is from the roots of this curcuma that the Chinese ticket^of -leave
men and a native of Goa, Mr, DeCosta, for many years used to manufac-
ture arrowroot and sell it to the Commissariat and in the bazaars of
Bombay. Dr. McConaghy says that, in 1878, a European prepared a
few hundred pounds of it and sent samples to be tried by Messrs.
Treacher and Co., Phillips and Oo#, and Kemp and Co. Its colour
and taste were pronounced good, but it was found to be deficient in
nutritive properties. That it is inferior to West-Indian arrowroot
may be gathered from its market value, 5 to 6 lbs. to the rupee.
During the famine of 1877, it was recommended to the suffering
poor, but they never used it except in extreme scarcity.
The process of preparing arrowroot at Mahableshwar is simple.
The root (of which a cooly will gather four or five large basketsful a
day, for as many annas) is scraped, washed and rubbed to pulp on a
grater, as mortars are found to crush the globules. The pulp
is then washed with cold water, and the fecula allowed about
ten or twelve hours to settle > the supernatant fluid is then decanted,
the sediment stirred with the addition of fresh water and again
allowed to settle. The whole process is repeated above twelve
times, till the dark scum and the muddiness of the washings slowly
disappear and the sediment is pure white, when it is allowed to
harden into a cake, which is afterwards reduced to powder. A bas*
ketful of roots yields 3 — 41bs. of pure arrowroot. Curcuma caulina
fiowers at about the end of September. I had planted in pots
during the last monsoon tubers which I had brought from Maha*
bleshwar, and with which I intended to illustrate my paper, which
was meant to be read at the last October meeting. Having,
however, been informed by the Honorary Secretary that the Society
had resolved to hold, as it did, a fruit exhibition that month, I left
Bombay soon after, and my plants had withered when I returned
in the early part of December.
The arrowroot, a specimen of which I have exhibited though
made in a rough manner, is white, and like other kinds of arrowroot
insipid and inodorous. Examined under the microscope in a drop
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142 NATURAL HiSTOt&Y.
of water, it is found to consist of numerous granules of various
sizes, somewhat resembling those of maranta and tickar. They may
be described as flat, somewhat irregular broadly ovoid bodies,
round at the larger end, and narrow, almost drawn to a pointy at
the other, with a beautiful stratification, consisting of fine concen-
tric lines around the hilum, which is visible towards the narrow end.
To ascertain the proportion of nutriment principles of this arrow-
root, a thorough analysis by a competent chemist is a desideratum.
So far as my enquiries go, no such analysis has been made.
I am led to believe that arrowroot was obtained by a rough
process by the hill men, long before the Chinese ticket-of-leave
men manufactured it; and is still obtained by the inhabitants of
the hill from the plant, which grows all over. It is now being
manufactured at Gutad, about 3 miles from Frere Hall, and sold
chiefly to natives, hence it cannot be of a very inferior kind, as
stated by Dr. McConaghy. I shall now proceed to describe other
Indian plants which yield various kinds of arrowroot. The best
arrowroot is that which is prepared from the rhizome of Maranta
arundmacea, Bosc. Scitam, tab. 25, a herbaceous plant> native
of the tropical parts of America, and of the West India Islands.
A Variety of it, named 3f. Indica Tussac, Rose. Scitam tab. 26,
occurs in Bengal, Java and the Philippines, considered by Grisebach
in his Flora of the British West-Indian Islands to be a species
distinct from M, arundinacea. It is said that the arrowroot
cultivated at first in Brazil, was from the rhizomes carried tliither
from India by the Portuguese.
The chief kinds of arrowroot, the produce of Maranta, are from
Bermuda, Natal, St. Vincent, Jamaica and other West India
Islands, Brazil and the East Indies. The latter is prepared from
the tuber of if. Indica above mentioned, and sold pure or mixed
with Tickar Arrowroot, presently to be mentioned. Maranta
arundinancea is extensively cultivated at Dapoli in Rutnagherry, by
Mr. Narayen Ramchandra Gupte. The Commissariat Department
lately gave him the contract for 1886-87 for the supply of arrow-
root to the several military stations in the Bombay Presidency.
The total amount required at these stations in 1886-87 was about
5,0001bs. Mr. Gupte will have to supply this quantity of arrowroot
at the rate of 4^ annas per pound. It may be stated here that this
arrowroot on examination, both microscopic and chemical, prove?
, to be fully equal to the Bermuda arrowroot. It is also cultivated
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ARROWROOT-YIELDING PLANT. 143
by Mr. Woodrow, of the Poona College of Science ; the produce
is stated to be at the rate of 9 tons of fresh root per acre. When
manufactured by unskilled hands this gives 2,822'41bs., or 14 per
cent, of pure arrowroot per acre. One of the agricultural students,
Mr. R. S. Joshi, has lately invented a wooden machine which
reduces the cost of preparing arrowroot by almost 8 per cent. The
machine is still capable of great improvement, but its chief merit
is that any village carpenter can make it.
Arrowroot of all kinds is a favourite article of diet among the
natives, especially for children. The milk-men in Bombay use it to
thicken milk which has been watered. — Dymock. Curcuma
angustifolia. Roxb. Tavakhirl (Bomb.) Tickar (Hind.) — This
is an annual plant, springing up at the beginning of the
rains. Bulbs with oblong tubers hanging from the fibres. Leaves
narrow, lanceolate, petioled, striated, with fine longitudinal lines,
from one to two-and-a-half feet long; petioles, 6-10 inch long; spike
radical, 4-6 inch long ; crowned with a coma of purple bracts ; flowers
yellow, large, expanding in the morning and fading at sunset.
It grows wild in various parts of India, Travancore, Nagpore, &c.
and in the Bombay Presidency at Ramghat. This species is said
to yield portion of what is called Travancore arrowroot. There is
no doubt that Curcuma arrowroot (known in Bombay as Tavakhir,
tickar in the other presidencies, and to Europeans as East Indian
arrowroot) is manufactured in Southern India especially in Cochin,
Travancore and Kanara, but in a very rude manner, the granules
much resembling those of Maranta arundivacea ; in fact what is called
tickar arrowroot is often the producB of the latter plant, or curcuma
starch mixed with that of cassava or tapioca plant, the manhihot
being much cultivated at Travancore. Malabar arrowroot fetches
from Rs. 3 to Rs. 4 per quarter cwt. in Bombay. Drury (useful
plants of India, p. 176) says : — "An excellent kind of arrowroot is
prepared from the tuber of this species (C angustifolia), especially
in Travancore, where the plant grows in great abundance .^^ This
is a favourite article of diet among the natives. The flour, when
finely powdered and boiled in milk, is an excellent diet for sick
people or children. It is also much used for cakes, puddings, &c.
though considered by some to produce constipation, In a commer-
cial point of view the East Indian arrowroot is below the West
Indian starch, though similar in its qualities and uses. The exports
of arrowroot from Travancore average about 260 candies annually.^^
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144 NATURAL HISTORY,
It appears that in 1869-70, 3272 cwts., vdlued at Rs. 14,152 Tvere
exported from Madras. Drs. Roxburgh and O'Shaughnessy state
that 0. rubescens, Boxb. Eosc. Scitam tab. 107, which grows in
Bengal and is there named tickar also yields nutritious fecula.
Every part, particularly the root, has a strong but pleasant aromatic
odour when bruised; but its chief use is for the preparation of
tickar, a fine fecula like arrowroot. 0. leucorrhiza, Roxb. Rose.
Scitam tab. 102, also named tickar, is common in Behar; its
horizontal tubers, long and straight, are of a very pale yellow
colour; they also yield an abundance of fine nutritious fecula used
by the people of Behar and Bhagalpore. Dr. Royle says : — ^' The
pendulous tubers of Curcuma rubescens, C leucorrhiza and C,
angustifolia yield a very beautiful fecula or starch, which forms an
excellent substitute for the West Indian arrowroot, Marania
arundinacea. It is sold in the bazaars of Benares, Chittagong,
and Travancore, and eaten by the natives. A very excellent kind
called tickar is also made at Patna and Bagilpore from the tubers
of Batatas {Ipomoea) edulis,'*
'Ihe mode of preparing arrowroot at Travancore is as follows: —
^' The tubers are first scraped on a rough stick, generally part of the
stem of the dommon ratiian or any plant with rough prickles to
serve the same purpose. Thus pulverised, the flour is thrown into
a chatty of water, where it is kept for about two hours, all impurities
being carefully removed from the surface. It is then taken out and
again put into fresh water, and so on for the space of four or five
days. The flour is ascertained to have lost its bitter taste, when a
yellowish tinge is communicated to the water, the whole being stirred
up, again strained through a piece of coarse cloth and put in the
sun to dry. It is then ready for use." — Drury. The process adopted
at Behar and Bhagalpore is as follows : — The root of G. leucorrhiza
is dug up and rubbed on a stone or beaten in a mortar, and after-
wards rubbed in water with the hand and strained through a cloth ;
the fecula having subsided, the water is poured off and the tickar
dried for use. — Roxb.
C. pseudo-montana, Grab. Cat. Bomb. PI. Sinderwani ; sinderbut ;
sindewan ; helleunda. Bulb oblong, with round, small, potato^like
tubers, hanging from the fibres. Leaves, including the petiole 2«S
feet long, narrow at both ends, 6-19 inch broad in the middle, quite
green. Coma of a beautiful dark rose colour, waved. Flowers
yellow, appear in September.
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ARROWROOT- YiELDINO PLANTS. 145
This plant, which was first described by Mr. J. Graham of the
Bombay Civil Service, is common in the Konkan, Matheran, &c.,
where it appears at the beginning of the rainy season. The tubers,
which are perfectly white inside, are boiled and eaten by the people
during seasons of scarcity. Perhaps, this plant too, yields a part
of East Indian arrowroot ; for it is stated that in former times, it
was manufactured at Ratnagherry from its tubers. (See specimens
on the table prepared in Ratnagherry and North- West provinces.)
All the plants described above belong to the Nat. Ord. Scitamineae.
Ariscema tortuosum, var. hellehori folium^ Schott Syn. Ar. 29;
Prodr. 36; Blume in Rumphia 1-105. Sap Kanda (Khandala name).
This belongs to the Nat. Ord. Aroideoe and is met with at Matheran,
Khandala, and other Konkan hills, as well as in the Himalayas, at
Simla, Nepal, Sikkim and Mussooree* In the observations appended
to the plate 5931 in Curtis' Bot. Mag., Sir J. D. Hooker says that
'' the tuberous roots of this and allied species of Arisoema are used
for food in times of scarcity by the Lipchas of Sikkim ; they are
prepared by burying them in masses in the ground, until acetous
fermentation sets in, when they are dug up, washed and cooked.
By this means the poisonous properties of the roots are in part
destroyed, but not tdtogether, and violent illness often follows a
hearty meal of ' tong' as this food is called. The nutritious starcht
with which these tubers are filled, might be easily separated by
grating and washing and an aliment as good as Portland island
arrowroot (the starch of Arum maculatum) be thus procured in
quantities/' Though the tuber of this aroid is utilized as food by
the Lipchas of Sikkim, it does not appear to be used as such on
this side.
The plant described under the name Arisoema cicrvatiim by Sir J.
D. Hooker in Curtis' Bot, Mag. tab. 5931, above alluded to, is in
the opinion of Enghor, Araceas, D. C. Monogr. Phaneg, Ariscema
tortuosum var. hellehoHfoUum^ an opinion which is adopted here.
Sir J. D. Hooker himself appears to have had doubts about the
identity of the species for after stating that it grows in the forests
of the Himalayas from Bhootan to Simla, Nepal and the Kassia
mountains at elevations of 5,000 to 7,000ft. says — a " similar if not
identical species inhabits the mountains of the Konkan in the Pen-
insula of India.''
Ariscema ctirvatum which is well described in Rox, Fl. Ind. vol.
III. p. 506, and figured in Wight's Icon. tab. 788 under the name
19
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146 NATURAL niSTORY.
of Arum curvatum grows only at high elerations y and so far as it
is known, on the Himalayas, Nepal, Naini-Tal and Kumaon; its
lamina is pedatisect, leaflets 10-13, sessile, linear-lanceolate, 4-6 inch
by i-f inch approximate, accuminatCy entire.
4. helleharifolium is a common plant in thoKonkan, first described
by the late Dr. Stocks, of the Bombay Medical Service, as well as
on the Himalaya mountains, Nepal, and Sikkim discovered by Lady
Dalhousie, Wallich and others. I have fonnd it also at Khandalla and
Matheran, where it is known to the natives as sap khanda. Its
lamina is pedate, 6-12 inch diameter and orbicular in outline: leaflets
TS-23, 4-8 inch by 2-3i inch acute, accuminate or caudate at the pit,
bright green; central distant and petioled, lateral becoming gradual-
ly smaller, shortly petioled or almost sessile.
In my book (Useful Plants of the Bombay Presidency, ''Bombay
Gazetteer,** Vol. XXV. chap. Famine Plants) I have stated the
following: — "Almost all the species belonging to the order Aroidece
are more or less acrid and poisonous ; some, like Lagenandra toxicaria,
Vatsunah of the Marathas, Tyfhoninm triholatumi Surei Kanda of
the Telingas, &c., are deadly poisons. They contain an acri<i
principle which appears to be destroyed by the application of heat
or by mere drying of the aroids. During the late famine in Madras
and Southern Maratha country, hundreds of people were seen to
live upon tuberous roots and leaves of aroids known to be poisonous.
It is believed that the washing, boiling and stewing process these
herbs were subjected to prior to being eaten destroyed their delete-
rious principle, and thus the tubers, &c., became innocuous or rather
wholesome food. The cultivation is also held to modify the poison
both in the case of aroids as in that of encumbers. The Soorvin
(Atnorphophahis campanxdatus) which is widely cultivated for the
sake of its large root held to be a very nutritious vegetable and
extensively consumed by all classes of people of this country, also
contains a principle, slightly acrid ; this is removed by steeping the
sliced tuber in water and by boiling. Nevertheless, not long ago a
paper was read at erne of the meetings of the Grant College Medical
Society in which a case of poisoning marked by severe inflammation
of the fauces and throat was described.^' There is in North Ame-
rica a species of Ariscema named A. atroruhensy of which Dr. Lindley
says : — '* It is violently acrid and almost caustic ; the rhizome when
fresh is too powerful to render its internal exhibition safe. The
acrid principle is extremely volatile, and easily driven off by heafe
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ARROWROOT-YIELDING PLANTS. 147
when the rhizome yields one-fourth of pure delicate amylaceous
matter, resembling the finest arrowroot, very white, delicate and
nutritive.
Tacca 'pinnatijida, Roxb. Nat. Ord. Taccacas, known to the
natives of the Deecan by the name of khunda. — It grows all over
India and also in the Malayan Archipelago, the Molluccas and South
Sea Islands, and is cultivated in the Mauritius. I found it very
common at Damaun and the neighbouring villages of Guzerat. Its
root is tuberous, as large as a large orange, often larger, round
and smooth, intensely bitter when raw, it yields a great quantity of
beautifully white starch, of which it is said the best flour for con-
fectionery, puddings, &c., is made.'' Drury says: — "The fecula
much resembles arrowroot and is very nutritive.'' " It possesses a
considerable degree of acrimony," says Ainslie, " and requires
frequent washing in cold water previous to being dressed. In Tra-
vancore, where the root grows to a large size and is called Channay
Kelimgoo it is much eaten by the natives, who mix some agreeable
acids with it to subdue its natural pungency." In the notes appended
to Tacca artocarpifolia T. 6124, Curtis' Bot. Mag. Sir J. D. Hooker
states: ^The tubers of Tacca pinnatijida afford the South sea
Arrowroot, said to be the best of all in cases of dysentery, and its
starch is a favourite article of diet in the shape of puddings and
cake. In times of scarcity, the inhabitants of these islands live on
the fleshy tubers of tacca/'
ZOOLOaiCAL NOTES.
Hybrid Wolf presented to the Society.— Mr. Frank Hose, the donor
^ this animal, writes concerning it : —
Apropos of Mr. Sterndale's " Note on Reversion to Primitive types;*
giving a case of cross-breeding between jackals and dogs, I have much pleasure in .
presenting the Society with a Hybrid wolf-whelp— a cross between a village dog
and a wolf, age about 3 months, caught in the G9th mileage^ Chickli-Dewalgaon,
Rajah Eoad, (Buldana Districts, Bexar). Tlie mother with five other wolves
{Canis pallipes) and a hybrid are in the vicinity of Javul-Kheira,
The whelp was captured on 12th January, under the following circumstances :
While examining a quarry about a mile from the road, a dog was observed
going leisurely towards a flock of sheep; the latter grazing and looking
ttuconcernedly at their apparent protector ! But, alas ! aftei- a few minutes, an
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148 NATURAL BISTORT*
outcry from the shepherd was heard, when to our astonishment the carcass
of a sheep was being trinmphantly carried away by the wolves in fragments, th«
Hybrid " wolf dog/' as he is called, acting as a pioneer (but without the dainty
piece of mutton), heading the msurauders. One of them made direct towards
a bush, when the three whelps came out. Chase was given, and on seianng one
it bit a man slightly, when it was soon despatched to its long home f The one
now sent (1st February) also showed fight, and resisted his capture for a long tnne,
but was soon coaxed, amd secured ; the third made its escape with its mother and
her confreres. For the first three days (12 to 15th January) the pop seemed very
unhappy, and sulky, but had a voracious appetite for raw meat. After a time
he gradually became very tame, so much so that my children played with him.
This may be considered rather an imprudent aet^ but he appeared so happy and
contented in their arms, I concluded,' that he had domestic blood in him like
his noble grandfather, the village pariah! The whelp was under domestication
for eighteen days.
From the same pack there were three Hybrids: —
No. 1 — brought up by the special magistrate at Mahona — is now prowling
about in that vicinity and Rajah-Dewalgaon, quite domesticated; she will not
reside with her master or in one place ; but goes roaming from one village
to another in the vicinity, and does not associate with her parents. She has
never been known to bite any one^ but is said to be a renowned thief. I have
always seen her escorted by an intrepid village cur/ who seems to be quite
delighted with her agreeable company, in having a charming wife of mixed
parentage !
No. 2 was shot by a Mr. Burns of Berar, when capturing No. 3, early
in 1886, at about the same place as I got mine.
No. 8 was quite a pet, but very mischievous with her thieving propensities.
She frequently occupied a dark room during the day, and making her exit at
nights, would steal clothes, hats, boots, &c., and deposit them in different
bungalows. The poor thing was killed, wilfully I was told.
From the above facts, it is possible that within the next 25 years the wolves
in this vicinity may in time become domesticated. The first Hybrid was known ia
1885, I believe, and is the one now with the pack. Eminent Naturalists have
decided that the anatomical structure of the wolf, its habits, and physical
development are very closely allied to the dog; especially in its osteology,
which does not at all differ. The only difference is in their oblique eyes.
There can be no doubt that the dog and wolf will readily breed and their progeny
prove fertile. The above will suffice as an instance in India. There is no gain-
saying the fact* that they are mortal and irreconcilable foes, and poor doggre
sometimes provides a dainty morsel to its supposed great grandparents; but
yet they are known to follow domestic dogs in pursuit of smaller mammals. We
are told that two species of the wolf, Canis Lupus and C. latrans — the latter
known as the ^* Coyote'' — {" Meesteh cha^gotdsh ") or " Prairie wolf "—are the
originators of all the canine species ? Then why could they not breed and be
made tameable and just as affectionate as our domestic dogs^ Ca7nsfamiUaris.
V I remember rightly, it is on record that a lady in Italy had a very tame and
affectionate wolf, which followed her like a spaniel. Business took the lady fh)»
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ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 14d
home for a few days, and on her return the wolf, through joy went up to her,
put its paws on her shoulders, and immediately fell dead !
The Bush Quail {Perdicula erythroryncha). — The following letter about this
bird has been received from Mr. W. Mahon Daly, of Yercand : —
It well known that the attachment of birds to their young is not exceeded
by that of any other creatures.
The boldness and sagacity displayed the other day by a red-billed bush-quail
(8*28 Perdicula erythrorhyncha) in the protection and defence of its brood, may not
be uninteresting to your readers. A friend of mine caught in his hand a little one
of this quail, and sitting silently under a bush watched for the mother. The
chicken cried piteously for some few minutes, when, shortly the parent bird arrived,
which seemed immediately to restore life to its frightened offspring. The bush
quail repeatedly pecked at my friend's hand, and he in attempting to catch the bird
took off a quantity of feathers. It came again and again, and seemed to peck at
his hand beseechingly, rather than hurtfully, till at last it was caught a victim to
maternal love. The mother having fairly won its little one was released,
and in a twinkling disappeared with its *' chick," and they were soon concealed in the
long gnr^TTIiat this handsome bush -quail generally frequents.
These birds are generally met with in rocky ground with low scrub jungle, and
nearly always in pairs, and not in large bevies as stated by Jerdon. An
accurate observer has remarked that the natural timidity of birds is a great
preservative Jto them. This quail however is most daring, for I have more than
once seen it fly at a dog in defending its brood, and have often caught a bird off
its nest, which contains generally six to eight eggs.
Note on the Irregular Breeding of Grus Antigone^ the Sarus.
By Lieut. Edwin Barnes.
The normal breeding season of the Sarus is during the latter half of the mon-
soon, but that they frequently breed during the cold weather seems not to be
generally known.
At page 6, ** Game Birds of India," Mr. Hume gives the breeding season as
above, but in a footnote, says : — " Occasionally, however, they certainly breed also
in the spring." Quite recently, Mr. Chill wrote to me from near Delhi : — " Last
month (April), my men brought me in a young Sarus, about twenty days old, so
it must have been hatched about the end of March ! It is a new thing to me to
find the bird breeding in the spring."
On the 5th February last year (1885), while duck> shooting at Grangrar, about 60
miles from Neemuch, I found a nest containing two perfectly fresh eggs, and on the
30th March at Jeerun, about twelve miles from Neemuch, I found another pair,
much incubated. This year (1886), on the 18th February, I obtained from a marshy
a few miles from Saugor, two more, very slightly incubated ; these last eggs are
perfectly white and spotless, and have a considerable amount of gloss, and my
beaters assured me that this was the case with all Sarus's eggs in the Saugor
District, but as is not unusual with native shikaries, they deviated from the truth,
for the only two pairs of eggs that I obtained later in September; were fairly well
marked.
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150
NATURAL HISTORY.
A simple explanation of the cause of some few birds breeding in the spring
might be that they are birds whose eggs have come to grief at the usual breeding
season, and had in consequence laid again later on ; but this theory is met by the
fact, that eggs have been found, both by myself and others, in nests from which
eggs had been taken two or three weeks previously, but it is not unlikely that they
may be birds whose half-reared young have fallen victims to one of the many ac-
cidents to which they are liable. The young of the Sarus remain with their
parents much longer than is usually the case with other birds.
The time at my disposal is very limited, and at most I can only get out for a few
hours occasionally, and that three instances of this departure from the natural
course should have fallen under my personal observation, seems to point to its being
rather a common occurrence, but then, again, seeing that at this season of the year,
the marshes and lakes frequented by these birds are almost daily shot over for
snipe and duck, it does appear strange that such a prominent nest as that of the
Sarus usually is, should escape notice, or it may be that the fact is so common that
it fails to excite remark, although it appears to be unrecorded except in the note
previously quoted.
COLLECTION OF BIEDS^ EGGS.
Presented to the Society by Mr. W. M. Gibbs.
No. of
Speci-
mens.
English Name.
Scientific Name.
Jerdon's
No.
1
1
2
2
18
7
6
3
1
5
1
1
8
4
8
2
1
4
5
9
8
2
1
1
23
7
1
Indian King Vulture
White-backed Vulture
Tawny Eagle
Ring- tailed Sea Eagle
Pariah Kite
Eock-horned Owl
Spotted Owlet
Common Indian Bee-eater..
Common Indian Kingfisher
Bose-ringed Paroquet
Rose-headed Paroquet
Indian Koel
Purple Honey-sucker
Bay-backed Shrike ,
Common Drongo Shrike ....
Rusty -breasted Ply-catcher
Bengal Babbler ,
Large Grey Babbler
Striated Bush Babbler
Common Madras Bulbul....,
Indian Oriole
Magpie Robin
Franklin's Wren Warbler .,
M alabar Wren Warbler . . . . ,
Common Wren Warbler • .,
The Jungle Wren Warbler
Pied Wagtail
Indian Corby ,
Common Indian Crow . , , . ,
Otogyps calvus
Pseudogyps Bengalensis
Aquila Vindhiana
Haliaetus leuooryphus ...
Milvus govinda
B ubo Bengalensis
Carine brama
Merops viridis
Alcedo Bengalensis
Palaeornis torquatus
Palaeornis purpureus
Eudynamis honorata
Cinnyris Asiatiaca
Lanius vittatus
Buchanga atro
Siphia Erythaea
Malacocercus terricolor...
Malacocercus Malcolmi ...
Chatarrhaea caudata
Pycnonotus hsemorrhous
Oriolus Kundoo
Copsychus Saularis
Prini a gracilis
Prinia Hodgsoni
D rym oipu s inomata
Drymoipus sylvaticus
Motacilla Madraspatensis
CorvuB macrorhynchuB ...
Corvus splendens .........
2
5
29
42
56
69
76
117
134
148
149
214
234
2U0
278
322
432
436
438
462
470
475
536
538
543
545
589
660
663
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BOOK NOTICE.
151
No. of
Speci-
mens.
English Name.
Scientific Name.
Jerdon'j
No.
6
4
4
2
7
4
10
3
4
8
9
2
2
1
1
1
4
1
7
2
4
8
1
2
1
2
14
Common Indian Magpie
Common Myna
Bank Myna
Common Weaver-bird
Plain Brown Munia
Blue Rock Pigeon
Little Brown Dove
Common Ring Dove
Common Sand Grouse
Common Peacock
Grey Partridge
Jungle Bush Quail
Black-breasted Bustard Quail ..
Red -wattled Lapwing ,
Yellow-wattled Lapwing
Sarus Crane
Bronze-winged Jacana
Pheasant- tailed Jacana
Purple Coot
White -breasted Water Hen
White-necked Stork
Large Egret
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Pond Heron
Pelican Ibis
Spoonbill
Shell Ibis
White Ibis
Flamingo
Black-backed Goose
Large River Tern
Lesser Cormorant
Indian Snake Bird
Dendrocitta rufa
Acridotheris tristis
Acridotheris ginginianus .,
Ploceus Ph il i ppinus
Amadina Malabarica
Columba intermedia
Turtur Senegalensis
Turtur risorius
Pterocles exustus
Pavo Cri status
Ortygornis pondiceriana
Perdicula Asiatica
Turnixtaigoor ,
Lobivanellus Indicus
Lobipluvia Malabarica
Grus antigono
Parra Indica
Hydrophasianns chirurgus .,
Porphyrio poliocephalus
Erythra phoenicnra
Dissura episcopa
Herod ias alba
Herodias garzetta
Bubulcus Coromandus
Ardeola Grayii
Tantalus leucocephalus
Platalea leucorodia
Anastomus oscitans
Ibis melanocephala ,
Phoenicopterus antiquorum
Sarcidiomis melanonotus ..
Sterna seena
Phal acocorax car bo
Plotus melanogaster
674
684
685
694
703
788
794
796
803
826
832
855
856
803
900
901
902
907
920
925
927
929
930
938
939
940
941
i^44
950
985
1006
1008
All the above wore taken in the Kaira District with the exception of the Flamingo
(Phoenicopterus antiquorum) \vliich came from the Persian Gulf.
BOOK NOTICE.
The book under notice * refers to work done ten years ago, but was only pub-
lished in England late in the year before last. Mr. Hornaday was commissioned by
Professor Henry A. Ward, the proprietor of a great Taxidermical Establishment at
Rochester, in the State of New York, to travel for two years in the East in search
of fish, flesh and fowl ; but chiefly of the larger mammals and reptiles. He started
for Europe early in 1876 ; and is probably the only traveller of this generation
who has produced a really readable account of a trip from a great European or
American port to Bombay. He landed at Londonderry, and began his adven-
' ■ ■ .^ . ■■
♦ Two Years in the Jungle^ the Experiences of a Hunter and Naturalist in India, Ceylon,
the Malay Peninsula, and Borneo. By William T. Hornaday, Chief Taxidermist, U.S.
National Museum ; late Collector for Ward's Natural Science Establishment. London ;
Kegan Paul, Trench & Co. 1885.
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152 NATURAL HISTORY.
tures among the giant mamniRls of the Old World bj "skeletonizing four old
donkeys " in the county Down ; for which the finest pisanthry on a fruitful soil
"came at him with longhandled spades " and "boycotted him in a cabin" till
the siege was raised by H. M.'s Royal Irish Constabulary. The motives of hit
proceeding and of their resentment are obscure ; unless we conceive that old
donkeys are so rare in the State of New York, that a traveller can profitably spend
money and time on their purchase and dissection ; and that the patriots, on the
other hand, considered the victims to be their own next-of-kin ; and the slaughter
to be good cause for a blood-feud. Anyhow Mr. Homaday " came off with whole
bones — mine I mean,, not the donkey's," and upon the whole prefers Dyaks to
Irishmen.
He got to Bombay after, as we have said, the only amusing trip thither of the
last 20 years ; and was disappointed with the contents of the Victoria Museum ;
but found the Crawford Markets a happy hunting ground ; and arrived at the
conclusion that there were "few marine animals in the neighbourhood of Bombay*
except the fishes in the grand Market." Upon this head we feel justified in observing
that Mr. Homaday generalized from a very imperfect experience. He was a week ia
Bombay, and does not appear to have visited the neighbourhood of it at all.
His next halt was at Allahabad, whence he proceeded to Etawah and spent some
time living in a boat on the Jumna and shooting gavials {Gavialis gangeticus), i.e.
long-snouted fishing crocodiles there abundant, but not found in our local waters.
Our author had one great advantage over the ordinary sportsman, namely, that
almost every creature that he saw was capable of being turned into the almighty
dollar at Rochester, N. Y.; and he was therefore armed against the scorn with
which old shikaris treat the griffin who has killed something that is " not shikar.*'
If he didn't find a gavial any morning, he found a jackal, or a vulture, or a stork ;
anatomised him " straight away " and enjoyed immensely a trip which would
probably have rather bored the sportsman of Fhilistia. He points out very well the
peculiar charm of crocodi'e-shooting, which is that above all other forms of the
chase it requires the use of straight powder ; often under considerable difficulties
and at long ranges. And, like a good many other people, he did riot catch a river
porpoise iPlatanista) but he says he will do so yet.
After this he went out " into districts " with an Executive Engineer and his wife,
and fell into the usual delusion of the globe trotter, that the life of a Mofussilite
family under canvas is " a continuous picnic," which is of course .based upon
the not very recondite fact that his host and hostess did all they could to make it
so to him. Picnics of this sort, however, are apt to pall, a little upon the soul of
him with whom they have been " continuous" for 20 years or so ; and who has
had to make them pleasant /or himself in despite of the powers that sit in cool
places.
Our picknickers, at any rate, introduced Mr. Hornaday to the black-buck,
nilgai, and gazelle, and appear to have informed him that this last was " not fouud
south of the Godavari," which shows that the Britisher can occasionally "ring in
fun" even upon Professor Ward's^young men. The Indian Gazelle (G. Bemetti)
was to be seen every day near Poona, by any one with eyes in his head, at the time
he wrote this, and is scattered all over the Deccan Districts and others, far
southward, though nowhere so abundant as in parts of Khandesh and Gujarat.
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The finest gazelle horns the present writer ever saw were reported by the
owner to have come from near Kolhapiir, and to be 16 inches long, and looked
it ; but were hung too high to be measured.
To return to our traveller. He went from Etawah to Calcutta without any
adventure worth noting; except perhaps the pangs he seems to have felt at seeing
seven score monkeys fed in Benares, whereof he might not skin so much as one ;
and a disappointment in the Taj Malial of Agra. He got to Madras in the middle
of the famine, and moralised quaintly upon the .Relief operations. **The natives
look upon the British occupancy of their country as a punishment inflicted upon
them by the gods for past misdeeds # ♦ * * QP^py ^^^ better pray
for their gods to punish them some more in that way." He further approved highly
of the Madras Museum, and especially of its stuffed fishes,
Madras, however, was no place for him, and he went, naturally enough, to the
Nilgiris, where he found that " every prospect pleases, and only man is vile." He
did, however, get introduced to the sambar, bison, and elephant at home, and
thought that the last was "the most stupid animal he ever tried to approach."
This opinion, based upon the conduct of a single herd, he afterwards saw reason
to modify considerably, and eventually came to the ccmclusion, tJiat the elephant is
much cleverer than the dog. He also was thanked by a Hindoo for a kindnesit
and doubts whether '* any Anglo-Indian will beUeve it really occurred ;" from
which it will be perceived that Mr. Hornaday's acquaintance with the featherless
bipeds of India was limited to specimens hardly worth preserving as types. Fur-
ther on he '* is not ashamed to say that he hates the gentle Hindu."
It is to be regretted that a writer evidently intelligent and energetic should
permit himself such a license of expression about a set of people with whom he
could not converse even in Hindustani ; on the strength of his acquaintance with
a few low-caste servants and hunters, who, upon the whole, seem to have served
him fairly well.
After the Nilgiris, Mr. Hornaday shot in the Anamalai Hills with great success ;
but his shooting was much like that of the " Old Forest Ranger," the " Old
Shikari" (whom he suspects, as some other people do, of having had a very
slippery foot-rule) and other great Nimrods. It is well described, but there is
nothing new about the story to most of us ; and it is rather matter for the Field
than for this Journal. At the end of his account of it is a short treatise upon
elephants, worth reading by any one who has never read a treatise upon elephants
before. The most noticeable item in it is his insistance, for cause shown, upon
the specific distinction of the Ceylon elephant.
From Madras he went to Ceylon, and landed sick with fever at Colombo; where-
upon the Oolombiads took him to be drunk. As, by his account, part of the
accommodation of a Hotel in Colombo was a special room for gentlemen past
taking themselves home, perhaps they were not much shocked.
However he found a doctor who cured him of the fever by a prescription which,
for the benefit of all future patients, Mr. Hornaday records. He thinks, however,
that it isn't all right ; and we can affirm without fear of the faculty that any
gentleman who brewed it according either to the text or to the explanatory note,
would be in possession of a cure for all earthly ills.
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154 NATURAL HISTORY.
It provides for a quarter of an ounce of strychnine per diem, for 4 days
running.
But it cured Mr. Hornaday as easy as he would have cured a tiger-skin.
Colombo, according to our author, is the most beautiful city of the tropics.
The only ugly thing about it is the name of an Esplanade. It furnished him with
lots of fish and marine invertebrata, and with the curious fact that the Echini of
Ceylon and Malayana lose their spines unless soaked in spirits before drying, where-
as those of the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, and the West Indies can be dried
without soaking, and the spines will not fall off. Most or all of our Bombay
Echini are certainly the better for the spirit-bath. On the British coasts some can
dispense with it.
The Government of Ceylon charged Mr. Hornaday spirit duty on his methy-
lated spirits, and would not refund ifc, which seems hard. At least it may be confi-
dently affirmed that no Indian Custom House would charge on such spirits. The
other side of the story is not, however, before us.
Here comes in a digression upon the immunity which Naturalists enjoy, it appears,
in the enlightened republic of Venezuela ; where their outfit and supplies are free
of duty, including arms, rum, and salt. This is a very good idea, and we think
that this Society might very well address the Government of India with a view to
a similar- exemption. Doubtless other learned bodies in the other Presidencies
would support us ; and natural science will become popular — except with the
Commissioner of Customs. By this time, doubtless, every living human being in
Venezuela is a Naturalist — more or less.
Mr. Hornaday travelled pretty nearly all round Ceylon, halting at various
uncomfortable places to collect marine animals, chiefly.
He rejoiced greatly over a specimen of Rkamphobatis {Rhynchobatus) ancylos-
tomtiSi the rare ** MiviV* of our coast, called in those seas " Cululava*' and " Man-
nuluva" ; and in preparing it he found L30 spines of small sting-rays sticking about
its chops ; each representing, as he concludes with great probability,
the last futile remonstrance of the sting-ray against being devoured by its big
cousin. He also got a monkey shark {Stegostoma tigrinum he says) over 6 feet
long ; but the description and plate seem to indicate some other fish ; possibly a
new species; as any one may see by comparing them with Dr. Day's in our Library,
and with our specimens in spirits. Stegostoma is not so rare a fish as
Mr. Hornaday seems to have thought. After that he got Urogymnus Jsperimus,
a fine porcupinish ray, of whose skin some Malayan savage men make shields
occasionally, corals, birds, and crocodiles. These last were of our broad-snouted
species, the " Mugger," which, in Ceylon, Mr. Hornaday calls CrococUlus palustris,
as we do (following Gunther), though in India he calls it C. bombifrons. He
remarks on its power of standing with the belly clear of the ground, walking, and
even running ; and this he observed in specimens eight feet long. • The present
writer has seen it in half-grown and young specimens. It is certainly rare
amongst the CrocodiUa, which is probably the meaning of our author when he
says that he "never observed it in other saurians." This taken literally, i»
Bonsense ; and in contradiction with the context.
He shot 44 fiying foxes with five shots ; and skinned them ; and didn't die of
it ; and he got a Mmds pentadactylus ; or as we sometimes call it a " scaly-
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ant-eater" {Marathice " Kaul-manjar") and was told by the Sinhalese that this
creature (of which he gives a beautiful vignette) curls himself around the elephant's
trunk and suffocates him !
He went to Point de Galle, and found a very rare animal in that port, viz., an
honest " Moor-man, " who sold him real stones at reasonable rates, under the
name of Muhammad " Ossen" (presumably " Hasan" or " Husain.")
And then he shook the dust off his feet against the Government of Ceylon and
sailed to Singapore which he calls " the Hub of the Far East."
In Singapore he found little to collect, having come at the wrong season, though,
on a subsequent visit the Malays brought him marine miscellanea '* by the boat-
load." Amongst many specimens of Homo sapiens he found three Americans, the
Consul and his two daughters ; and thinks it worth while to record that the first
was "loyal to the back bone, and devoted heart and soul to the interests of the
Government he represents," which one would hope is hardly a rare character
amongst Consuls; although the maintenance of a Consul to look after his own two
daughters in a port where no other resident specimen of the nation was to be
found, seems to be a diplomatic luxury on the part of the ** Government he
represents."
However, two more arrived during Mr. Hornaday's stay and satisfied him
" in spite of the Scotch blood " of one of them.
He found that the Europeans drank more brandy and soda than was good for
them, which is a common complaint with him, as with other temperate men who
make it a custom to frequent fourth-rate hotels in seaport towns. ** Of the social
life of Singapore he knew nothing, " but " from what he was told " thanked God
for America, as a better place to know something of society in.
Having contemned what he " knew nothing of" to his heart's content, and
visited the private Menagerie of the famous Mr. Whampoa; Mr. Hornaday
started for Selangore, and wisely made friends with the Superintendent of Police,
by whose advice he went to a place called Jerom, on a** night of the kind
especially made for boating " (a good phrase) and there he proceeded to catch
Crocodilus porosus, which he calls the sea-crocodile (also a good phrase),
although he only once saw the species out at sea, as it seems to be rather an
estuarine reptile. He shot a few ; but his best specimens were caught with the
** Alir," an ingenious Malayan ** trimmer " which he describes and figures. He saw
monkeys {Macacus cynomolgus) picking up small Crustacea at low wafer ; and
captured a Hydrosaurus similarly employed. Also he had a great hunt in the
mud after a junaping fish {Perioptkalmus schlosserii) which any one who pleases
may reproduce in B')mbay Harbour if he will be content with our
allied- "mud-fish" {Boleopthalmus Boddaarti). Centipedes swarmed in his bed
and clothes, and he didn't care. Moreover he cured a man of the stab of a sting-
ray, which had quite perforated the hand, with tincture of arnica, " divine stuff,''
as he calls it. After this he returned to Klang, the Capital of Selangore; and
started thence for Kwala Lumpor, the centre of the tin mines of that district.
Here the most wonderful thing he found was *' Jules Mumm's best at 60 cents
a quart*' ( =Half a crown a bottle) ; but a little ahead of this he discovered
the ** Durian" {Durio zibethinus) and appears to have been the first white man
who ever fell in love with that remarkable fruit (a cousin of our jack-fruit) at
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156 NATURAL HISTORY.
first sight. Durians are nearly as large as jacks, and sold at this period, 17 for
a dollar, and our hero invested a dollar in them then and there.
The durian groves were tended by Malays, who lived, for fear of wild beasts,
in platforms on the trees, such as we should call " Machdns." Further on
Mr. Hornaday met with " Junglies*' called Jacoons ; who had never housed in any
other way ; and whom he supposes to be descended from emigrant Boraean
Dyaks. These primitive folk live (^or lived then) on game and forest produce
alone, specially bats swarming in certain caves, obtained by the simple process of
knocking them down with sticks, which the present writer has found pretty
efficacious at Ajanta in the like case. " Fortunately they knew the value o^
money'' and became shikaris to our author and his comrade ; and assisted at the
slaying of an elephant. Here Mr. Hornaday obtained a dead python ; and here he
digresses to observe that throughout the Indies he found serpents as scarce " as in
Ireland ;* which " was disgusting, after all the big snake stories I had heard."
The only snake he saw in Selangore was " a vicious little viperine affair, which
I killed with a prayer-book in Captain D.'s drawing-room, while kneeling at
prayers one Sunday evening."
From Singapore Mr. Hornaday was bound for Borneo ; but the Singaporeans
couldn't or wouldn't tell him much about it. However he fell in with one of the
District Officers of Raja Brooke, and accompanied him to Sarawak, as we call it ;
but on the spot people call it Kuching, which is to say '*a cat."
He admired the Raja's government, and proceeded to collect specimens, and get
ready for a trip into the interior. The Raja pays rewards for the slaughter of
crocodiles (C. porosus), on a graduated scale, by the linear foot, and
Mr, Hornaday gives the statistics of 1^78 for two rivers. During that year 266
crocodiles were brought in to be measured and paid for. One was 13 feet 10 inches
long, two others exceeded 13 feet, two more 12 feet, ten were over 11 feet, and 18
over 10 feet. The majority were between 7 and 9 feet long. The application of a
foot-rule has a singularly dwarfing efi^ect upon the dimensions of reptiles. Besides
the estuarine crocodilus porosus, Borneo has a rare gavial ITomistoma SchlegeUi)
which Mr. Hornaday did not see in the flesh, but he got a skull 3 feet 3 inches
long.
The District Officers gave him a passage to the Sadong River, and quarters in
the " Government House," or, as we should call it, the *.' District Bungalow," from
which he hunted for several days, but got nothing to speak of j so acting on
information obtained from the Dyaks of the Simujan he started up that river in
his own boat, in company with a Government writer, Mr. Eng Quee. Here he
made acquaintance with a Dyak ** long-house," a whole village under one roof,
and over one floor (the whole supported on piles), and at the first attempt he
shot three ourang-outangs in one day.
This shikar was accomplished in a canoe, paddling in a forest flooded with
several feet of water, yet dense and lofty enough to allow the ourang*outangs to
travel from tree to tree at a great height from the ground. As ourangs can't swim,
they have to stick to the tree- tops.
From August to December he lived amongst the Dyaks; occasionally meeting
with the Raja's officers, or accompanying them on their tours. Then be packed
up ^nd went home. This last part of the book, dealing with Borneo, its beasts
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PROCEEDINGS. 157
and its people, is very much the best of it. The author really did make acquaint-
ance with the country and people, and his observations about both are valuable,
very unlike his hasty generalizations on Indian matters. He killed gibbons and
ourang-outangs and '* proboscis monkeys," and collected more strange creatures
than we have space to enumerate.
Altogether his book is better worth reading than any recent book on the Far
East and the part of it dealing with his own ad? entures and special subject is as
good as it can be; the "obiter dicta,'* as we have already remarked, are frequently
hasty, and, we regret to add, occasionally in the very worst taste.
The illustrations are of very various degrees of merit. Those by the author's
own hand would make Mr. Ruskin stare and gasp, but have a certain quaint
verisimilitude. Others, borrowed (always with acknowledgment] or executed for the
work by professional artists are of high quality.
PROCEEDINGS.
The usual Monthly Meeting of the Society took place on Monday, the 10th January
1887.
Dr. D. Macdonald presided.
The following new members were elected : — Mr. W. W. Barr, Eev. B. S. Hall, Mr.
John Wallace, Major T. T. Leonard, Mr. W. F. Melvin.
The Honorary Secretary, Mr. Phipson, reported receipts of contributions to the
Society's Collection, amongst which were two Birds of Paradise from H. H. The Maha-
raja Hc^ar ; Lizards and Snakes from Mr. F. Gleadow ; a large collection of Fishes
&c.f from the Bed Sea and Perim from Gapt. Aves ; a collection of Butterflies from
Col. C. Swinhoe ; and one of plants from Mr. James Murray.
To the Library were contributed : — Magazine of Natural History, Vol. 18, Nos.
107-108, from Mr. H. Littledale ; Two Tears in the Jungle (Homaday), from Lieut.
W. A. Oonnop, R. N. ; Useful Plants of the Bombay Presidency (Dr. Lisboa), from the
Author ; Journal of Comparative Medicine and Anatomy, Vol. I. ; Journal of the
BroveUe Society of Natural History, Nos. 1 and 2 Proceedings of the LinnsDan Society
of N. S. Wales, Vol. I., Part 8. *
Mr. Murray, late Curator of the Eurrachee Museum, exhibited a collection of
Marine AlgsB consisting of 212 species, from the Coast of Sind, and described the same.
Dr. Kirtikar read a paper on Marine Algsd collected by the Hon'ble Mr. Justice
Birdwood on the Batnagiri Coast. Mr. Stemdale exhibited a fine head from his
own collection of Cervus maral, the Persian stag, and described the differences between
it and the Cashmere stag.
The usual Monthly Meeting of the Society took place on Monday, 7th February
1887.
Dr. D. Macdonald presided.
The following new members were elected:— Lieut. W. A. Connop, R.N., Mr. H. T.
Silcook, C.S., Mr. Louis Bergl, Col. G. Mercwether, B.E., Dr. J. H. Irving.
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158 NATURAL HISTORY.
Mr. B. A. Stemdale was unanimously elected Vice-President in the place of Dr«
Maconachie, who had resigned.
Mr. H. M. Phipson, the Honorary Secretary, then reported and acknowledged con-
tributions to the Society's collections and library.
Mr. B. Gilbert exhibited a broken piece of a Sambur's horn, measuring 44} inches,
which he had shot off an animal in Asirgarh. The fracture had taken place above
the brow antler, so that the horn must have been of extraordinary measurement.
Colonel Charles Swinhoe then read a most interesting paper on " Mimicry in
Butterflies for protection," illustrated by many beautiful examples from his private
collection. This paper will appear in the next number of the Society's Journal.
The March Meeting of the Society was held on Monday, the 7th, when upwards of
seventy members were present.
Mr. B. A. Stemdale presided.
The following new members were elected : — Sir M. Melvill, K.C.I.E. , Mr. T. Walker,
Mr. N. P. Surveyor, Mr. Pherozeshah Merwanjee Jeejeebhoy.
Mr. Phipson, the Honorary S.ecretary, acknowledged various contributions to the
Society during the past month, and also the following books for the Library : —
Bulletins of the California Academy of Science, Vol. II., No. 5 ; Becord of the Geolo-
gical Survey of India, Vol. XX. ; Verhandhengen des Zoologisch Botanischen ; Gesell-
Bohaft in Wien XXXVI.,Band III.-IV., Quartal; Journal of Comparative Medicine
and Surgery, Vol. II., No. 1 ; Life of Frank Buckland (Bompas), from Mr. E. C. K.
Ollivant, C. S. ; Sport in India (Aberigh Mackay), from Mr. J. A. Murray ; Annals
and Magazine, Natural History, from Mr. H. Littledale.
A collection of 40 specimens of snakes lent by Mr. G. W. Vidal, C.S., were exhi-
bited, also a rug made by Mr. £. L. Barton out of 15 Afghan fox skins.
The Secretary announced that through the generosity of a dosen members the
Society had been able to purchase for Bs. 150 the splendid pair of Ovis Polii
horns which had been exhibited in their rooms.
Mr. J- H. Steel, A.V.D., Principal of the Government Veterinary College at
Parol, read a paper on " The Horse, a Zoological Study," which will appear in the
next number of the Journal.
Mr. Stemdale exhibited, through the courtesy of its owner, the Agent of the
Waterbury Watch Company, the now-celebrated white monkey, which so nemrly
came to a tragical end in the great fire at Madras. He stated that it was a female
albino of the common bonnet monkey, Macacus radiatus.
A further description of this monkey, with a plate, will be given in the next
number.
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JOUENAL
OP THE
JlatopI listmig ^o(itt^.
No. 3J BOMBAY, JULY 1887. [Vol. ii.
THE WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA.
Part IV. — Gujarat.
(By a Member of the Society.)
From tbe Konkan northwards to the tropic of Cancer lies the
province of Gujarat, bounded on the east, at first by the northern
extremity of the Sahyadris, up to the Kondai Bari Pass. Just
north of this, the last elbow of the chain turns sharply eastwards
to form the plateau of Nizampur ; and for about 25 miles, as the
crow flies, the boundary between Gujarat and Khandesh in the val-
ley of the Tapti is an imaginary line. I am here using '* Khan-
desh*' as a Geographical expression only. Politically it extends
some miles to the westward in a country called the Nowapur Peta.
But the most convenient physical boundary mark is the " Haran-
paW (or "Buck's leap'') on the Tapti; the more so as we are
here dealing with water. This is a rock barrier over which the river
forms a cascade in fine weather, though in flood it is said to be
merely a rapid.
All the waters of Khandesh proper pass over this fall, no matter
where they come from; but the district officially called Khandesh
has some outlying villages on the Deccan plateau, draining into the
G-odavari, and also includes a tract called the Akrani Pargana in the
valley of the Nerbudda (Narmada).
The Nerbudda also has its " Haran-pal " corresponding to that of
the Tapti ; and an imaginary line drawn through the Satpura
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160 BO^IBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETT.
Mountains between the two will serve for a prolongation of our
eastern boundary, and may fairly be protracted througli the western
branches of the Vindhyas to the tropic of Cancer.
This last makes an excellent northern limit to a province which
has none precisely defined by nature ; and it happens, too, to coincide
very well with the northernmost limits of British Gujarat ; and the
points at which the rugged country to the east and the plains to the
west begin to show the characters in man, beast, and soil of Raj-
putana. The Deccan trap in the hills begins here to give way to
other formations ; and the plains assume more and more the charac-
ter of the Indian Desert. I am aware that some naturalists have
recently included the Ueesa region, and even country much further
north, as Gujarat — chiefly, it would seem, becauso the Bombay Army
has garrisons there. An ideal boundary for an ornithologist would
perhaps be the death -scene of the northernmost Painted Francolin
and southern green pigeon (Crocopus chlorig aster) ; but the tropic is,
on the whole, the best boundary, and coincides pretty closely with
those of native geography and ordinary English conversation.
To the west of Gujarat proper lie the Peninsulas of Kattywar
and Kutch, which, in geology, flora, and fauna, may be assigned
to the desert region, with the south-western parts of the Ahmeda-
bad District such as Gogo, where we get tertiary fossils on Piram
Island. To the south of these lies a shallow and sandy sea, pro-
longed, east of them, into the Gulf of Cambay. In the rains, when
the great and little " Rans " of Kutch fill and communicate with
the "Nal** of Viramgaum, and this again with the Gulf, no doubt
the fleets of the Royal Canoe Club might circumnavigate them to this
day.
Gujarat proper, as I have defined it, has two very well marked
regions. Under the hills it is broken and wooded, drained by
small rocky streams which run nearly dry in the hot weather. In
the extreme south, indeed, there is no marked line between Gujarat
and the Konkan, but here begins a plain, which gradually widens,
between the wooded hill country and the sea. The rivers,
especially those rising in the western ghdts, resemble (while in
the rough ground) the streams of the Konkan. But at Surat we
come upon the Tapti and at Broach upon the Nerbudda, both
members of the second class of Indian rivers and already great
perennial streams when they enter this province. North of these we
; have the Mahi and Sabarmati — streams far inferior to them, but
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WATERS OP WESTERN INDIA. 161
still respectable — and all four flow for a great part of their course
in wide sandy channels between high alluvial banks, as much resem-
bling in appearance the great river-beds of the Deccan as their local
tributaries and lesser neighbours do those of the Konkan.
All four are subject to violent floods ; and once they top their
banks, the flat nature of the country lays it a good deal at their
mercy.
The great characteristic of the waters of Gujarat, however, is
that its plain is, especially to the northward, a country of tanks.
The rainfall (which in the hills is high, reaching 100 inches, and
probably much exceeding that on some hill tops) is here moderate,
and the great thickness of the alluvial soil often makes it impos-
sible to get water in a well of reasonable depth.
The natural remedy is found in tanks, and it will make my later
remarks clearer if I describe a typical Gujarat tank. Where the
ground slopes suflBciently for the water to know which way to run
(which is not always the case), a great crescent-shaped ditch is
dug with its horns, of course, pointing against the stream and
the convex side downwards. The earth out of this is thrown out
on the outer or convex side, and forms an embankment of which
the crest ought to be perfectly level tapering in thickness towards
each horn ; and if the measurements are true, meeting the natural
slope of the ground at the points. As the greatest pressure is
expected on the centre of the crescent, this is naturally the most
massive part of the dam; and that part of the trench which is its
ballast-pit will naturally be widest and deepest. But, besides this,
ambitious engineers in old days went on digging on the inside of their
trench long after the dam was big enough, throwing up the spoil
into hills, often into islands, some of them quite high enough to be
conspicuous from afar in so flat a country. Such mounds are apt to
be crowned with a Hindu temple or Musalraan tomb, having
usually a few trees around it, and, when isolated, are naturally very
favourite spots with waterfowl and crocodiles on account of their
safety from disturbance. I have here described a large first-class
tank, which would have 30 acres or upwards of water when full.
'There are many such, and more modest ponds are innumerable in
the northern plains. These are so liable to inundation that, in
practice, at least once a year, a fish can change his quarters in almost
. any direction he pleases, following drainage channels which, in the
•^ dry season, can only be detected by careful survey.
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162 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
When full^ sucli a tank as I have mentioned is of course a half-
disc of water ; and as it dries^ this becomes more and more ere-
scentic, till, when the water is near the original level of the soil,
the nndug centre is a marsh surrounded by a crescent of deep water.
This is the best time for water-fowl, the waders taking up their
quarters in the marshy central promontory while the swimmers feed
around its shore, and especially in the horns of the crescent.
During the heat of the day they will sit upon its point or, if there
be an island, around that, or float quietly in the centre of the
widest water.
It will be seen at once that on such a lake the best point for
stalking a flock will probably be at each horn of the embankment ;
but, once the birds are up and flying about, the points of vantage
are on the internal promontory and islands, if any.
The angler^s best place, on the contrary, is in the centre of the
outer curve of the water and inner curve of the dam^ as there the
water is deepest and there will be the biggest fish.
If, as often happens, one is encamped upon the tank, this
is all very convenient, as the best trees are sure to be
at the outside of the centre of the crescent which has
the most permanent water-supply. On very large and old tanks
the embankment is often well planted at this point. Now, it is :^
pleasant to fish near the tents, but better to shoot out of range of ai
them. It may here be remarked that if the camping ground is
S.-W. of a large tank, it is often dangerous in the cold weather ]
(especially for women and children). The cold land wind, blowing f^
over shallow water and marsh, seems to strike deadly chill; and i^
if one must camp in such a place, the north face of every tent jm
should be carefully closed pretty early in the evening, and extra ^
precautions taken in the matter of clothing and bedding. \^
Such a camp, if one is not inclined to shoot near the tents, i^^
gives in any province great opportunities for watching the birds
with the help of a good glass. They get pretty well accustomed i^^i
to natives and cattle, and, after a day or two, to the tents. i,j(
I have often been able to watch the coots, jacanas, sand-pipers, and ^
towards the end of the cold weather, snipe, at very close quarters; i
and the other day I had a painted and a '^ full " snipe together ||^^
in the focus of my glasses for 15 minutes, within 20 paces. The ^j^^
difference in their practice is noticeable, the painted ^nipe feeding s^
in the water a few inches from the mud and the *^full'' snipe in 'h
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WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA. 168
the mud a few inches from the water. Both '* dibbled ^* in
the mud for a perceptible time, making repeated strokes without
quite withdrawing the bill. * The sand-pipers, on the other hand,
feed equally in the water and in the mud, but they peck once only,
withdrawing the bill immediately with a very rapid motion and
elevating it to swallow almost as quickly, something like a hen
drinking.
I focQSsed lately a group of two spotted sand-pipers and a bronze
winged jacana, which was lovely to see, the brilliant metallic colours
of the latter fairly blazing in the tropic morning and his somewhat
clumsy figure contrasting strongly with the graceful forms and quiet
colouration of the sand-pipers. The one looked like some Japanese
work in two or three metals ; the other two like a sketch by some quiet
European artist.
Besides the tanks we have (here alone in Western India) numer-
ous natural lakes, not widely distributed, but gathered in groups
here and there in the north.
The largest, the '*NaP^ of Viramgaum, has nine miles by nearly
six of open water in December, and an. equal area of marsh. It i
brackish, but not too much so for freshwater fish, and it is a very
paradise of water-fowl. The water is nowhere much more than six
feet deep, generally much less, which is all in their favour, but
causes a nasty little sea to get up quickly, the more so as the low
desert shores afford no shelter.
The islands are mostly wooded with acacias 15 or 18 feet high,
enough to cut a figure in such a country. About 35 miles north of
this are some salt lakes or marshes, much smaller and chiefly
remarkable as great roosting places for wild-fowl.
Again, 100 miles away in the north-east are the lakes of
Parantej, beginning with the "Bokh,'' an ancient river-bed
now appearing as a huge trough in the plain, with a string
of pools down its centre. The largest of these, the "Great
Bokh,^' is of about 140 acres, if I recollect right, and the next, tjie
" Little Bokh, " of 80; but I have no details here. There are several
smaller pools, and they swarm with fish and fowl.
A group of smaller pools lies within a few miles of Parantej, east
of the Hathmati canal, and another, near Dehgaum, in the Gaekwar^s
country, north of the direct road from Ahmadabad to Harsol. The
* Note. — *' Full" snipe, when qaietly pnt up under these circumstances, often rise
ttlently, without the usual alarm-noto, and with little or no ** twist " in their flight.
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164 BOMBAY NATTTEAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
largest is between Harsol and Morasa, and is said to consist of 360
lakelets. I shonldn't wonder if there were really more, but not one
of them is itself of any great size. The Khara Lake^ which is the
largest^ may have an area of nearly 100 acres in the rains^ bat
is nowhere 6 feet deep.
NOTE ON EE8TIA MALABABICA.
By Capt. T. Macphkrson, Bo. S.O.
As nothing is known regarding the early history of Hestia Malor
harica^ it may interest members of the Natural History Society to
learn that I have succeeded in rearing it from the eggs. On the
28th of February last, I was in Camp at Devimani on the Kanara
Ghauts. On the afternoon of that day, whilst walking through a patch
of evergreen forest, I noticed a $ Hestia^ apparently intent on find-
ing a place to deposit her eggs. I therefore stood still and watched
her. She fluttered about for a considerable time round a tree that
was thickly covered by a creeper with large cordate leaves. At last,
when I was almost tired of watching her, she settled on one of these
leaves and deposited an egg on the under surface. This I quickly
secured, and on a careful examiuation of a number of other leaves
of the same plant I discovered some 8 or 10 more freshly deposit-
ed eggs (I give illustrations of the egg, the full grown grub and
the pupa). The egg is always deposited singly on the under sur-
face of the leaf; it is white, oval, about -j^^ inch long by ^
broad, attached to th6 leaf by one of the small ends and marked
with about 22 longitudinal rows of hexagonal indentations. The
eggs hatched out in from 6 to 7 days, and about 2 days before the
grub emerged its black head could be distinctly seen through the
thin shell. The larva emerges fpom a little to one side of the apex
of the egg^ eating only a small hole sufficient for its exit; it then
eats its cast off shell for its first meal.
On emerging the grub is about /^ inch loug, skin transparent
pale yellow, head and feet black, and through the skin are visible
the white rings of the more mature grub, also the two black dots on
the back of the 2nd segment. It has 4 minute pairs of fleshy ,ten-
tacles arranged as in the more mature grub.
In a few days the first skin is cast and the grub then assumes tho
colours and markings which it retains until it changes to pupa. I^
eats its cast skiu in the first two changes only.
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<\\\ //
n^mmmm'
The Eggs, Caterpillar and Chrysalis of
Hestia Malabarica.
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INDUN ROCK SKAK8. 16b
The young grub has the peculiar habit of eating holes in the centre
of the leaf instead of from the margin inwards^ as with most cater-
pillars^ but this habit it gives up as it increases in size. It conceals
itself generally on the under surface of the leaf. In from 20 to 25
days it attains to full size, and is then about 2 inches long by i inch
broad at the centre, cylindrical, slightly tapering towards the ex-
tremities, provided with 4 pairs of black fleshy tentacles about i
inch long, one pair being on each of the following segments — 3, 4,
6, and 12, skin smooth, glossy, head black, 2nd segment white
with two small black dots on the back ; all the other segments white
with a broad band of black round the centre of each ; legs black.
Segments 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 have on each side on the black
ground small round patches of bright scarlet, particularly distinct
on the 6th and 11th segments ; belly black.
On attaining its full size the grub spins a small pad of silk on the
under surface of a leaf, attaching its last ^ir of legs firmly to this
pad and hanging thus freely suspended head downwards; it remains
thus for about 24 hours, when it casts its skin and changes to pupa.
The pupa is naked, hanging freely suspended from its oval seg-
ment as in all the Nymphalidaa ; it is 1 inch [long by -/^ broad ;
colour golden yellow, with large patches of bright metallic gold, the
black spots on the wings of the butterfly showing through the
yellow parts of the chrysalis.
In 12 or 1 3 days the pupa loses its brilliant colouring and metallic
lastre and turns black, and about 24 hours later the butterfly
emerges.
I have given a few specimens of the pupa to the* Natural History
Society, so that if my description is faulty it can be corrected.
The food-plant I was unable to define, but I left some leaves with
the Society, and perhaps they have been classed by this time. The
creeper was unfortunately not in flower, nor could I find any seeds.
OBSERVATIONS ON THE FEEDING, &c., OP THE
INDIAN ROCK SNAKE (PYTHON M0LUBU8)
KEPT IN THE SOCIETY^S ROOMS,
From 27th May 1886 to 20th May 1887.
By H. M. Phjpson, C.M.Z.S., Hon. Sec, B. Nat. Hist. Soc.
Thb following particulars, showing the amount of food consumed
by the Python in the Society's Rooms in one year with the varia-
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166
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
tions of its temperature during the period of hybernation and other
details wiil^ I think^ be of interest to the members.
During the twelve months between 27th May 1886 and 20th May
1887^ the snake ate 23 rats^ 3 hens^ 3 crows^ and 1 kestrel^ all of
which were given to it alive. It is worthy of note that the rats on
being placed in the cage appeared to take little or no notice of the
snake. They would frequently run over its coils in their eflforts to
find a way out of the cage^ and on occasions^ when the snake re-
mained quiet for a time, they would frequently approach it, smell it,
and even bite it. The hens appeared to have even less instinctive
fear of the snake, and would, if left to themselves for a short timet
commence scratching and picking up grains in the cage. The
crows, on the other hand, showed considerable apprehension of the
danger.
It will be seen that during the hot months the period of digestion
averaged about eight days, whereas in the cold weather it became
much slower, the two rats eaten on 21st December being retained
until 28th February.
During the cold weather, from 21st December to 13th April,
a period of 113 days, the snake refused food and remained in a very
sluggish, sleepy condition. During this period of hybernation the
temperature of the reptile fell from 82° (normal) to 73°, a fall of 9
degrees. Taking the temperature was a matter of considerable
difeculty. The snake is very strong, and it often required as many as
six persons to hold it still while the thermometer was inserted.
The results are, however, of particular value, as such observations
cannot be made in European menageries, where artificial heat has
to be used.
The snake cast its slough four times during the course of the
year : three times in the hot weather, at intervals of 2 mouths, and
once after it had recovered from its hybernation.
Date when
Fed.
Description of
Food.
Date of
DefoBcation.
Date of
Casting
Sloagh.
Temperature
taken.
Tempera-
tore.
1886.
27th May .
7th Jane .
22nd „ .
25th „ ,
28th „ .
aOthJnly ,
27th „
1 Kestrel
1 Bat
I Crow (
1 Eat i
3 Bats
1 Bat \
1 Bat j
1886.
3rd June ..
12th June ..
29th June ..
17th July ..
Ist August.
1886.
27 th May
17th July..
^886.
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BREEDING OF THE KENTISH EINaSD PtOTEE.
167
Date when
Fed.
Description
Food.
of
Date of
Defoecation.
Date of
Casting
Slough.
Temperature
taken.
Tempera-
ture.
1856.
28th July
29th „
2nd August...
4th „ ...
6th „ ...
26th „ ...
1 Crow....
1 Crow ...
1 Rat
1 Rat
1 Rat
1 Rat
5
1856.
6th August..
22nd August.
2nd Sept. ...
27th Sept. ...
14th October.
2nd Nov. ...
27th Dec. ...
1887.
28th Feb. ...
Thrown up....
IstMay
16th „
28th «
1886.
27th Sept. ...
1887.
10th April ...
1886.
9th Nov.
28th „
1887.
3rd January
29th „
20th Feb.
7th March
30th „ ...
1 Rat
10th September
28th
1 Rat
1 Rat
13th October...
2lst „ ...
30th „ ...
8th November
17th December.
1 Hen ....
1 Rat
1 Hen ....
1 Rat
1 Rat
::!
■1
..J
82 o
79i»
19th „
1 Rat
21st „
2 Rats ....
1887.
13th April
24 th „
1 Rat
75i
73
1 Rat
]LOth May
1 Rat
78
20th „
1 Hen
82
NOTES ON THE BREEDING OF THE KENTISH RINGED
PLOVER (MGIALTTI8 CANTIANUSJ WITHIN
INDIAN LIMITS.
By Lieut. H. E. Barnes.
Many years ago Captain (now Colonel) Vincent Legge found
the Kentish Dotterel breeding in numbers on the banks of the salt
pans in t]ie south-eastern portion of the island of Ceylon.
Mr. Hume having received eggs and a skin from Captain Legge
writes as follows in Nests and Bggs of Indian Birds : —
" Two of these eggs sent me by .Mr. Legge measure respectively
1'23 and 1'2 by 0*87 and 0*85, and therefore in dimensions corre-
spond precisely with those of the next species,* as, indeed, they do
also in colour, shape, and markings.
^' Mr. Legge also favoured me with one of the old birds, which he
considered to have belonged to the eggs. It is clearly Cantianus,
but it is in entirely non-breeding plumage (though killed on the
7th July) without either black or rufous about the head. He
also informs me that all the specimens killed by him at that time
were similarly in non-breeding plumage.
23
* 849. ^giaUtis duhia.
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168 BOMBAY NATUEAIi HISTORY SOCIETY.
'' The bird sent me is a young bird, a year old or thereabouts,
and I cannot help fearing (every one who has taken their nests in
Europe knows how difficult it is to catch them on their nests) that
Mr. Legge's specimens may all have been young birds that
remained behind when their parents returned to their breeding
haunts^ and that the eggs which he attributes to them in reality
belonged to individuals of the next species/'
The following season (1873), Captain Legge again found them
breeding and shot the old birds from the nest, but still Mr. Hume
remained unconvinced.
Up to the present time I am not aware of anything "more being
placed on record regarding the breeding of the Kentish Plover
within Indian limits, but Dr. Scully found them breeding on the
25th April in Eastern Turkistan, and it will perhaps be remembered
that Captain Butler shot a specimen at the island of Henjam, in the
Persian Gulf, in May, with the testes much developed as if breediug,
but he does not say what plumage this particular bird was in. He
also says that he found the Kentish Plover breeding on the bare
sandy plain at Jashk ; and although he found no eggs, he caught
a young bird unable to fly, about ten days old, and a specimen he
shot at the same time was in winter plumage.
On the 28th April of the present year, Mr. J. W. N. Gumming,
a young but earnest and reliable fellow-worker in Oology, found a
clutch of three eggs placed in a slight depression in the sand at
the base of a small hillock not far from the sea ; on the 9th May
he found three nestlings of the same species, and from his descrip-
tion of the manner in which the parent bird (which he shot)
tried to entice him from their vicinity, there can be no reasonable
doubt of their authenticity.
This skin was forwarded by Mr. Gumming to the Honorary
Secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society, from whom I
received it. It is without doubt a young bird of Mgialitis eantianus,
exactly as Mr. Hume describes ; but to prevent any possibility of
error I had the skin identified by Mr. Murray, Manager of the
Victoria Natural Eistory Institute, Mazagon, and for many years
Curator to the Karachi Municipal Museum, who, after a most careful
examination, fully endorsed my identification. Mr. Cumming's
valuable find has therefore confirmed Colonel Legge's assertion,
that the eggs he took in Ceylon belonged to uE. carUianus and
not to j3E. dubia.
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MIMICBY IN BUTTERFLIES FOB PROTECTION.
169
Mr. Hume lays some stress on the fact that the eggs sent to him
by Colonel Legge are much smaller than European specimens usually
are ; but if, as seems certain, only yearling birds breed with or near
us, then their eggs, being under the average, need not excite surprise.
The eggs of ^gialitis cantiana, taken by Dr. Scully in Eastern
Turkestan, are about the same size. Below I append a table giving
the dimensions of the two eggs in Mr. Hume's possession, of four
with Colonel Legge, three of Dr. Scully, and one sent me by
Mr. Gumming. The first eggs of many domesticated birds are often
abnormally small, as every housewife knows, and I have a crow's
egg, taken from the nest, not much larger than a sparrow's egg,
I have very carefully compared one of the eggs taken by
Mr. Cumming (which he kindly lent me) with European eggs, and
I find that, except in size, it does not differ : the ground colour and
the markings are exactly similar, but on the other hand it differs
considerably from eggs of JE. minutus. Pall (Jerdoni), of which I
took a large number atNeemuch. The difference is hard to explain
in words ; but when the eggs are placed side by side it is very notice-
able. The markings of the egg of minutus being more speckly and
scratchy and not so distinct as in eggs of cantianuSf I am myself
quite convinced of the authenticity of these eggs.
Dimension of Eggs of ^gialitis cantianus.
Oolonel
Mr. Hnme.
Vincent
Legge.
Dr. ScuUy.
Mr. Cumming.
Bbhabks.
^
ii
P
1-'
4 .
9 I— 1
CO
•3 a
3
Is
3
1
1-23
0-87
1-21
0-85
1-24
0-92
1-25
0-87
Mr. Hume says that
2
12
0-85
125
0-89
1-22
0-91
...
«••
European eggs vary
from 1-25 to 1-64
inches in length and
8
'••
...
1-23
0-89
1-21
0-90
...
...
from 0*96 to 0*96 in
breadth.
4
1-2
0-92
•.«
...
••«
• >•
ON MIMICRY IN BUTTERFLIES FOR PROTECTION.
By Col. Chas. Swinhob, p.l.s., p.z.s., f.e.s.
That butterflies are to be found all over the world, clothed in colours
and patterns closely resembling their surroundings, has been long
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]70 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
known. Groups like the SatyrinsD that are fond of shady places and
live on hill sides and rocky dells are nearly always of a dull-brown
colour ; the Euploeinse that inhabit dark moist dells and live in the
thick undergrowth of forests are all black ; the Pierinso that fly
about in the sun in almost any kind of climate are generally white or
yellow ; and the desert group of this family, the Teracoli, that mostly
frequent barren sandy tracts in the hottest parts of the world, have
their white colours tinted and patched with most brilliant sun-spots
of bright yellow and salmon colour ; they only fly about in the hottest
part of the day, and are very difficult to distinguish. Then there are
the leaf butterflies, or Kallimas, and their allies, which, when on the
wing, frequent the tops of high trees; their flight is very swift, and
most of them are of large size. On the upper surface their wings
are often brilliantly coloured, but underneath have the colouration and
markings of various kinds of leaves, and when they settle, you see
them vanish into a tree and become at once invisible. The com-
mon Indian form, Kallima inacUis, for instance, a N.-W. Himalayan
insect, generally settles amongst the dried leaves of a tree, and
perching head downwards with closed wings so exactly resemble a
dried leaf as to be invisible. Many of the Pierinas have also mimic
eaves on their under surface. The largest of them are the
Hebomoias. I have only two species of this genus, H. glaucippe,
from various parts of India — very plentiful in Bombay, on Malabar
Hill — ^and the Nicobar species, Bceepstorffii, and they both represent
excellent imitations of leaves on their under surface. The subject,
however, of the mimicry of one form of butterfly or another form
was first brought clearly before the scientific world by Mr. Bates
in an excellent paper which appeared in the Transactions of the
Linnsean Society for 1862, Vol. 33, p. 495, and subsequently Mr.
Wallace brought many remarkable facts on this subject to light.
It was observed by Mr. Bates that imitating species are com-
paratively rare, whilst the imitated are to be found in great numbers,
the two sets living together. The imitated were for the most part
brilliantly coloured insects, and he therefore concluded that they must
be protected from the attacks of birds, &c., by some secretion or
noxious odour, and this has now been abundantly proved, and his
paper on this subject in P. E. S. 1866, 3rd December, p. 45, is well
worth reading. I do not propose to give just now a paper of scien-
tific deductions. The principle of mimicry has beeh written about
and argued out by many scientific men since Mr. Bates first brought
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MIMICBY IN BUTTEBPLIES FOB PBOTECTION. 171
the matter to light in 1862. I simply propose to show as many of
the types of mimicry as lean from the examples out of my own private
collection of butterflies. As to how one butterfly comes to mimic
another for protection has been explained by many authors, and not
always on the same theory; but I take it that Darwin's explanation
that many species of Lepidopt«ra are liable to considerable and
abrupt variations of colour is the keynote of the whole mystery. Let
us look at Hypolimnas misippus. The normal form of this butterfly
is black, with large white spots on the wings ; the female mimics
Da/iiais chrysippus in its colouration and markings, this butterfly
being of a bronze-reddish colour. Now the male of Hypolimnas
misippus is a very pugnacious insect and is very active, and has a
remarkably quick flight, and is therefore capable of protecting itself;
it is very good food for birds, lizards, &c., and whenever caught is a
delicious mouthful; the female, however, is much slower in flight,
and when heavily laden with eggs is easily captured. Dcmais chry^
sippus, on the contrary, like all the Danainaa group, is a butterfly
thac no bird or lizard will touch, and both these species live in the
same places. Now, supposing at some former period, in accordance
with the well-known fact that Hypolimnas misippus in common with
many species of lepidoptera being liable to considerable and abrupt
variation in colour (I myself have a very curiously coloured female
of this group), if a female appeared of a reddish or bronzy tinge (a not
uncommon occurrence with black butterflies), would itnot be probable
that it would have a greater chance of escaping the attacks of birds
and lizards than its black sisters ? Some of its progeny would also
probably have a bronzy tinge, and these also would have the greater
chance to escape, and so on, from generation to generation the more
bronzy the offspring became, and the more they resembled the
colouration of the protecting species, the more they would become
protected themselves, until, in the course of ages, the black form of
the female H. misippus would cease to exist and its place would be
taken by the beautiful female mimic oi Danais chrysippus) and it is
curious to observe that the protected and protecting forms are
invariably found together. Danais chrysippus is an insect common
in many parts of the world, all over India, Burma, and Ceylon, in
the Philippine Islands, in Turkey, Madagascar, Arabia, and the west,
south, and south-eastern coast of Africa, and in all these places
(I am not sure about Turkey) the protected form, Hypolimnas
misippus, is also to be found. In Aden and in several parts of
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172 BOMBAY KATUEAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Africa there is a form oiBanais chrysippus, called D. alcippus, with
white hind wings, and in all such places the protected form of JB",
misippm is found with white wings; and in Aden, on the Kutch Coast in
Sind, and in parts of the interior of Africa, there is a form of D.
chrysippus called JD. dorippus, without the black apical patch to the
four wings, and in these places the female of JET. misippus is also
coloured and marked similarly. This form of the female of H, misippus
is frequently to be seen in Bombay and other parts of India, and it is
not at all uncommon, though not nearly so plentiful, as the D. chry-
dppus form. On observing this I have for some years collected all
the jD. chrysippus I could get togeijier in the expectation of getting
some D. dorippus, and in this I have not been disappointed, and I
have now specimens in my collection from Bombay, Poena, Khandalla,
and from the Punjab. It is, however, nothing like so common as the
female of J?, misippus, which mimics this form, reversing the rule
that the imitating species are comparatively rare whilst the imitated
swarm in large numbers ; but this only shows that in former ages
in these places the form D, dorippus was a common form, and ^hat
it has gradually been dying out and is now very nearly extinct.
On tho principle that mimicry is merely for protection, and that the
protecting butterflies are those most abundant, we would here in
India naturally expect to find the several species, of the sub-families
Euploeinse and DanainsB more frequently mimicked than any other
kind, because many of the species of both these sub-families are to
be found in great abundance in most parts of India, and all are
distasteful to birds, lizards, &c., and this is actually the case. It is
very difficult to demonstrate facts of this nature from a private collec-
tion from want of sufficient specimens, but happily my collection
affords some very interesting examples, and though I cannot in all
cases show the exact species mimicked, some of the mimicking species
being from parts of India, from which I have not many specimens,
still I can show forms sufficiently allied to make the matter un-
derstood. We will first take the Buploeinae, of which the common
form is E. core. It has many allies all over India, and its allies are
more or less closely mimicked by several species of Papilio — Papilio
panope, Papilio clytiay Papilio lankesHoara, Papilio dravidarumy sjii
the female of P. castor, also Papilio tavoyana, which exactly mimics
Euplxa alcathoe from the same parts of India, and of which I happen
to have two good examples. There is another butterfly the female of
which also mimics the Euplceas — a butterfly called Hypolimnas bolina,
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MIMICRY IN BUTTBIEtPLIES JOB PROTECTION. 173
of the family NymplialinaB, widely separated from the family
Papilioninae. In case No. 2 are also some very interesting mimics
of two other common species of Euploea — E, midamas and E, rhada"
manthua. On the left of the former are two moths called Amesia
aliris, which mimic the male, and three other moths called Amesia
midama (all of the family Chalcosidae) which, mimic both sexes of
E, midamas; and on the right of these Euploeas are also five excel-
lent mimics, all butterflies of the family Blymniina9, E. leucocyma
and Dyctis patna, the sexes of which mimic the same sexes of E.
midamas. In the next column are some specimens of E. rhada-'
manthus of both sexes and to their right are a number of Ewri/puB
halitherses, a butterfly of the family Nymphalinae, the males of
which mimic a Danais I do not possess — (I have, however, put in an
allied form from Java to show the pattern), and the female mimics
two forms of Euploea, E. rhadamanthus and a black Euploea I do
not possess. Next we will take the red Danainae (case 3), D.
chrysipptosy Z>. doriypus, and D. aldppus. We will there see the
female of Hypolymnas mimicking all these, as before explained,
and Danais genutia you will find in the next column mimicked by
the females of three different species of the family Elymniinae, i, e.,
E. fraterna from Ceylon, E. caudata from South India, and E.
undula/ris from Sikkim and Assam. There is a female of the last
named species received last week from Rangoon along with the allied
form of D, genutia from that part oflndia, with white hind wings called
D, kegisippitSf and it is very curious to observe that the hind
wings of this and E, undularis as also whitish* In this case I
also show you enother species of this family called Dyctis vasudeva,
which mimics a Delias of the family PierinsQ, a gaudily-coloured
common genus which nothing will eat. In case No. 4 are some
white Danias mimicked by various kinds of Papilios, by one species
of the family Nymphalinas, Hestina nama, and by one species of
the family Satyrinae, Orinoma damaris. Euploea tytia and E,
malaneus beautifully mimicked by Papilio agestor aud P. Qovindra;
also P. epycidesi P. megareus, P. macaretiSfP, xenocles, and Hestina
nama of the family Nymphalinae, all of ' which mimic various forms
of white Danais, the nearest allies of which to be found in my
collection I have placed in the case for comparison. Finally, in
case No. 5 there are some insects that mimic the common Papilio
diphilus and its allies, a butterfly most distasteful to birds, &c. In
the left is P. pavimon^ the female of which mimics two species.
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174 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
P. diphilus and P. hedtor, and in the Nicobars the female of the
variety Nicobarus mimics the Nicobar variety of P. diphilus, called
P, camorta. Then you will see P. janaka is mimicked by a moth
called Epicopeia polidora, of the family Chalcosidae, and P. aidoneus
is mimicked by another moth of the same genus called Epicopeia
poUnora, If we examine into the moths we find numerous cases of
mimicry, commencing with the ZygaBnidea, which mimic various
kinds of hornets, wasps, and flies, but time does not admit of my
going into these. There is another form of so-called mimicry,
which is not mimicry at all. In the family Euploeina9 there are
many series of species which in their markings much resemble each
other, but as they are all distasteful to birds, lizards, &c., there can
be, in so far as we know, no reason why they should mimic each
other; but, as has been already shown to you, many of them are
very closely mimicked by various other kinds of butterflies, some
of which belong to families widely separated from each other and
by many moths. All the Indian species of EaploeinaB, except one,
j&. Andamanensis, are coloured black, and it is undoubtedly a fact
that many of them, though differing so much in the shape of their
wings and in their sexual marks as to have caused their separation
into different sub-genera, are so nearly like each other in their
markings as to be hardly distinguishable except to the experienced
lepidopterist. These similarly marked species, in so far as I can
understand it, must have had the same common ancestor, and for
some reason unknown to us, though their markings have remained
similar, the shape of their wings and the sexual brands on their
wings, have become altered in the course of time, to adapt them to
their conditions of life in the great struggle for existence. It is also
very curious to note how evenly these changes seem to have
occurred in widely separated places, such, for instance, as in
Bombay and Ceylon, where we have the common form, E. core,
a black insect with largish white sub-marginal and marginal spots;
it has the hinder margin of the fore wings nearly straight, and one
small sexual brand on the fore wings of the male. We also get in
Bombay E. Kollari^ so like it in its markings as to make it seem at
the first glance to be the same insect, but if yoa examine it carefully
you will see that it is quite different in the shape and size of the
wings in both sexes, and the hinder margin of the fore wing is
deeply curved outwards, and the sexual brand of the fore wing
is also quite different. Now in Ceylon we have a form of E. core
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MARATHI NAMES OF PLANTS. 175
called E. asela^ also quite common there, diflfering from jB7. core
in having all the spots small ; and we also get E. sinhalaj difiering
from E. Kollari in exactly the same way that E, asela differs from
E.^ core. The core form is very common, and the Kollari form is
rare, and I believe the latter was the original form ; that it is
.gradually dying out and has been replaced and pushed out of
existence by the other, which has now become the common form*
I cannot do better than to end this paper with a quotation from
Darwin on this subject; he says :-^*' As in each fully ^-stocked
country natural selection necessarily acts by the selected form
having some advantage in the struggle for life over other forms, there
will be a constant tendency in the improved descendants of any one
species to supplant and exterminate in each stage of descent their
predecessors and their original parent. *^
MARATHI NAMES OF PLANTS*
WITH A GLOSSARY.
By Brigade-Surgeon W. Dymock.
MoLESwoRTH remarks, in the Preface to his Dictionary, that such
Words as B^f^, %o? or ^ofl", ^ffq", qfT'TO", &c., are applied indifferently
to the tree and to the fruit, especially in the Konkan; but that the
Desh-people prefer to say arfsqr-? ITTS", %olf^ ITR" &c., for the tree
or plant and W^, %^, ^rN", &c., for the fruit. (Op. cit, Pref. p. xiii.)
At the same time, when it is desired to distinguish between the
tree and the fruit, it is usual to make the tree feminine and the fruit
masculine, thus, the tree Garcinia indica would be ^ til aft" and the fruit
^HMI. To this rule, however, there are many exceptions, e. g,, another
name for the same tree and for its fruit is Prt"^, a feminine noun,
whilst the seed is called firt^, also a feminine noun.
Many foreign names, usually more or less mutilated, are to be found
in Marathi books ; these are mostly derived from the Hindi, Guzarathi,
and Canarese languages, and, of course, are most prevalent in the
Northern Konkan, the Eastern Dakhan, and Savant Wari Districts.
We also find that many names are very local and often quite
unknown beyond the district in which they are current.
Some names are applied very loosely to different plants having
similar properties, or resembling one another in appearance; for ex-
ample, 3??^ and ^rST, the first being used to indicate several of the
24
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176 BOMKAY HAT0BAL HISTOBY flOCIElT,
AracecB and also varioaa trees bearipg plam-like froits; the seeond
is the name of ^schynomene aaperaj Hibisetts eaculentua and sereral
plants having similar flowers, such as Theapeaia populnea, &c.
The Marathi names o£plants, like the Hindi and Gazarathi names,
are many of them of Sanskrit origin^ and as well as the non-Sanskrit
names, are mostly descriptive of some property or peculiarity of
appearance possessed by the plant; e.g., 4m-^^<» i (Tiger's-mouth) is
Oloriosa superba, i^^i^cAfkMtAl (Battle-pod Dingala) is Orotalaria
Leschenaultii, i^\^\i\ and similar names are applied to nettles and
such plants as irritate the skin, tf^Nrr or (Fairies' pumpkin) is liuffa
echinata, &c.
With regard to Sanskrit names of plants their identification is
often a hopeless task, owing to the number of different plants to
which similar names have been given. Thus Amara means Euphorbia
Tirucalli and Tiaridium inddcum, Amard Panicum dactylon and
Tinoapora cordifolia, Amara-pushpa Saccharum spontaneum, Pan"
danus odoratissimus and Mangifera indica, Amritd, essentially
the same name, means Phyllanthus Emblica, Terminalia Chebula,
Tmospora cordifolia, Piper longum, Ocimum sanctum^ CitruUua
Colocynthisi &c.
In this neighbourhood Amarvel, Ambarvel or Amritvel would be
understood to mean Tinoapora cordifolia, a plant which really deserves
the name of Amara,
Marathi names are not free from ambiguity ; thus we have several
BaW-eara, Undirachekan or Undirkani, in no way related to one an-
other generically, and such vague terms as "the white tree, " "th®
black creeper/' "the sour bush'* are not infrequent.
Many plants have the same names as cultivated ones, to which
they bear a certain resemblance, with the addition of Jangli, Ban,
Van or Vfra, words meaning < wild,' e.g., ^i\ff\ ^^^ <hQ'4>^ I, %^ ?55f
^5rrf Wild Bhenda, Wild Lablab Bean, Wild Turmeric, Wild
Jasmine, names applied to Hibiacua tetraphylliia, Oyliata acarioaa,
Curcuma aromatica, Saliab. and Clerodendron inerme. Other dis-
tinguishing adjectives in common use are ^, equivalent to our
Fairy, sfrfi Thorny, cR^ Bitter, cjnoST Black, i^RT Salt, «fr?
Sweet, %>Trrr Four-cornered, #hT^ Mountain, riN^I Bed, iflirfT
Great, ni<|id l Small, stTT Snake-like, TfetT White, 'TfTfl" Hill,
f^?fSCT Yellow, ^ Ground, i.e.9 procumbent or dwarf ; "W
Great, ift^ Large, rnr Boyal, r^ and r^ Bed, n*f belonging
to Bam, ?rm Boyal, t^fPf Small, f^m Bed, Rt^ f ^itfl Foreign, ft^
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CFLOSSABT.
177
belonging to Shiva, q;;^ San, #5r Golden, ftrr belonging to
Deer, &c.
Corruptions are not nncommon; the country-people say Erfi or
R^ra for Vera (%Tr ), wild. Yel for V^l, a creeper, H61a or Ela for
Wah^la, the name of Terminalia belericaf &c.
Errors of pronunciation have been the cause of many mistakes in
Marathi names when written in English characters.
In the list of names, which I now present to the Society, I have taken
much trouble to ascertain the orthography of the words ; 1st, by ex-
tracting all the names of plants from Molesworth's Dictionary and
from several Marathi books on wild medicinal plants; 2nd, by com-
paring the list thus made with the names found in English botanical
works, the spelling of which I have thus in most cases been able to
correct when necessary. The list thus revised contains about 1,200
Latin names of plants found in this Presidency or sold in the Bazars
with usually two or three Marathi or G-uzarathi equivfdents for each
botanical name.
There still rem^n on hand a number of vernacular names for
future identification and incorporation in the Glossary.
GLOSSARY.
Abelmoschus, see Hibiscus*
Abroma augusta, Linn ,
Abrus precatorius, Linn ^ ,
Abutilon graveolens, W. & A,
9, indicum, G, Don, •..
., ,. var tomentosum.
„ muticum, O, Don.
Acacia arabiea, JFiild
» var
» ,» var
,, ff seeds
„ Catechu, Willd,
91 „ catechuic acid
sftHchf{41t« Olaktambol, or BH<^t<4>4j<^
Olatkambol.
t^i Gunj, «q<tr^ Chanoti.
w^R Mudim.
^dld Pet&ri, irA Madmi, S|rt^ Karandi.
^*^^f ChakrabhendS.
The seed is sold in the shops as ^rTi^N*
Balbij. The capsules of these plants
are called ^^ Mudrfi, from their resem-
blance to a seel,
ehfjjrd Kasili.
in^ B4bhdl.
^>|^<m^dS VeribdbhtSl.
^ r ^i'^ii^i f Ramak£nt£.
>^^ Dhdmuki.
^fW" Khad^ri, ^^ Khair.
Found in cavities in the wood, ^tcw^
Khairsdr.
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178
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Acacia catechu, var
„ concinna, DC...
„ eburnea^ WiUd
„ Farnesiana, Willd. ...
„ fenruginea, DC
„ Intsia, Willd,
„ Latronum, TFilld
„ leucophlsea, Willd. ...
„ odoratissima, Benth. ...
„ pennata WiUd
„ procera
„ stipulata
„ Suma, Kurz
„ Sundra, DC
» sp
„ (extract)
Acalypha indica, Irtnn
Acampe papillosa, Lindl
Acanthodium spicatum ...»•....
Acanthus ilicifolius, Blume ...
Achillea millefolium, Linn. ...
„ Santolina, Linn. ...
Achras Sapota, Linn
Achyranthes alter nifolia, Linn.
„ aspera, Linn. ...
Aconitum ferox, Wall (root)...
„ heterophyllum, Walh
(root).
„ »p. (tubers)
Acorus Calamus, Linn, ...••«
Actinopteris radiata, Linn.
Adansonia digitata, Linn,,,
Adenostemma viscosum
Adenanthera pavoniua, Linn.
Adenoon indicum •
Adhatoda Vasica, Nees
Adiantum lunulatum, Burm,
et veuustum, Don,
Adina cordifolia, H.f.
^giceras corniculatai Blanco,
^*^fl>i Shepiya-khair.
^I^ir Shikd, the pods R|eh | gM| Shikakai.
HlHki Marmat.
4||8|«ir^' Guyababhdl, cfr^RT Kankar.
Hi<i< l 4>i ' P^ndhar& Khair.
iMrMK Chilar, or f^r^t Chilhdr.
^^^9^ Deobdbhul, ^ Bhes.
t^ Heviir, qf^ ^Pjser Pandhari habhiil.
4iQ64> Qgr Phalphall
^^ Shembi, §W^ Shemberti.
See Albizzia procera.
See Albizzia stipulata.
**ifS^ Kamtiyd.
tTlH^^ Ldlkhair.
^inft Kimaji. (Grab. Cat. 468.)
^efi l RhW Akd,kia (impd.)
gr^ft Kupi, f$ni)(# Khokali.
^f^f BAsni, gffFWT Kanbher.
See Blepbaris edulis.
H l d^ Mdrdndi, HTO'^r Mordnnd.
imnd Rojamari.
ftt^TTftnr Biranjdsif.
f^ Chikd, 5F^ Karath.
JTcprr Getand»
a4im>^| Aghadd, ?3T»f5T(V Kharmanjari.
^ xi gfr q * Bachnab, or q^^^fliT Bachndg (m^c?.)
^at^ Atis, armm Ativish (impd.)
^^Hl Vakhmd, f^^^HF Bikhma.
% ?g^ Vekhand, ^^TO"^ Yachvekhand.
iT^gT T^ Gord-vach.
HTS^^IT Mdpursik.
^Tl«ap!<-^ Gorakhchinch, nr^^^fifi;^ Go-
rakbamli, ^r^^TR" Vavbab.
^Tff^ Rdnjiren.
mPS Vdl, tJncffl- iT«r Thorli gunj.
jff^ ^r^ Mothi-sonki.
97^Qi^r Addls^, ^rarBdsd, 97?^ Atarusha.
J^K^Mubdrak, ^CRJIT Hansrdj, iJt^^^O
Ghorkhdri.
if^Edu, or^l^Hedd.
^Sj^rm KdujaU.
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GLOSSARY.
179
JE^le Marmelos, Corr
brides maculosum, LindL
JErva lanata, Juss
^schenomene aspera, Linn,
^theilema reniforme
Agaricus campestris, Linn.
„ officinalis
Agati grandiflora
Agave americana, Linn
Ageratum conyzoides, Linn, ...
Aglaia odorata. Lour
Ailanthus excelsa, Roxb
„ malabarica, DC
AlangiumLamarckii, Thwaites
Albizzia amara, Boivin .\,..
„ Lebbek, Benth ......
y, odoratissima, Benth ..
„ procera, Benth. ...
„ stipulata, Boivin.,..
Algae sp. var, (pond weeds)
Aleurites moluccana, WHld.
Alhagi maurorum, Besv
„ „ manna (impd)^
AUamanda cathartica, Linn,
Allium Cepa, Linn
„ porrum, Linn ,
,, sativum, Linn,
,9 sp. (Muscat garlic)
AUophyllus Cobbe, BL,
Alocasia indica, Schott,
Aloe abyssinica, Lam, .
extract of
perryi, Baker, extract,
(impd)^
^ Bel, f^ Bil or f^^^ Bilvd.
fT|q||x| Ichvach.
^rjC T^ Kdpdr-madhurd.
^S" Bhend. The dry stem from Bengal,
used by women to |keep earring-holes
open. The sola hat is made of it.
See Justicia infundibuliformis.
^f^ Alomben.
See Polyporus officinalis.
See Sesbania grandiflora.
m<^<:hi5 Palkdnde', ^in# ST^Tra Jangli
an^s.
^^twif Os&ri.
ffftn Priyangu.
*<^ll^|c< Mahardkh,
«NM^|W? Bagyadhup, gj^ td.
SRTo^r 34|chj^ Kal^ akol, or 3t^)tt7 Ankol.
rjt^rl Liilai, f^PTffl" Layali.
RT^HET Shiras, Rj^lr^ i ChichoW.
ftpOT Shiras, f%f%5T Chinchindd or f^^-tir
Chicbvd.
fgFrsrf Kinai, itth: Gur^r.
^jt^ Udul, eh^rfli Kasir.
^r^oB" Sheval.
3T?3^ Akhrot, ^rTTTo? Jdphal.
^f^r^ Jav^sd, or iinrrar Y^vasi.
g^[:5f^ Turanjabin.
^f ^ ^H<i^r Jahari sontakkd.
grt^ Kandd, gjsu tJl, q«^i^ Palandd, Hw^
Piydj,^iro5t Dungli.
?^2" Khorat,
t^^i^H Lahsan, rtijjT Lasdn, or t^^ Lashun.
?;ftt^O Sirebari (impd,) '
^^^^ t'S^'T Ekkdnda lahsan, in bazar,
it comes from Gogo.
iftf^ Tipin, H^ Mendri.
araj^Alun, Wt ^ T6re.alun.
i^rrC Kunvdr, ej;Uch>^ Korkand, qf^OTIT
Koraphad.
JlfBs^t Bliyd.
iJichM qfe^i Sokotri eliyd.
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180
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Aloexylon Agallochum
Alpinia Allughas, Rose.
„ Galanga, Stoz,
„ nutans. Rose. .
„ officinaruiDi Hance .
Alstonia scholaris, R, Br. ..
Alternanthera sessilis» R, Br,,,,
Althoea officinalis, Idnn, (root)
„ „ (flowers)
Aljsicarpus vaginalis, D. C, ...
Amarantus Biitam, Linn ^.
» gangeticus, Linn,^
fi polygamus, Linn,,,
„ spinosus, Linn,, ..
„ tenuifolius, Willd*
Ammannia baccifera, Linn,
Amomum Cardamomnm,
„ Korarima, Pareim,,
„ subulatum, Roxb,,.
„ xanthoides, Wall ••
Amoora Rohituka, W, ^ A,,,
Amorphophallus campanulatus,
Blume.
„ », wild kind,
„ sjlvaticus . M
Amygdalus commuDis
Amyris beptaphylla
Anacardium occidentale, Linn,
V w (tar) ..
Anacjclus Pyretbrum, D. C,
(root)
Anamirta Cocculus, W.^A..
»y V fruit
Ananassa sativa, Linn. ........
See Aquilaria Agallocba.
TrntefT Tdrak.
^ffrt" ^(¥Nnf Kosbt kulinjan. (The great
Galangal^ impd.)
qFTPTO" Pundchampd, SH'nrfhrn Ndg-
pbanicbampd.
MM^I^i Pdnkijar, a;fi^l^ Kulinjan.
(China Galangal, impd.)
^TO^H" Sitavin, ^TTTrfSr Saptaparni.
5frf^^ Kdncbari.
f4B|«4t Kbitmi (impd.)
il^^a Gulkbairo (impd,)
^rf Cb&i, M^'^'^'J Ladundi cb^.
qt^oCT Pokali.
m^ Mdth, red kind dH>^ r Tl^ Tambarl
matb.
^ffo5f Cboulm.
cfrf^yrnnr Kdntebbaji, ^S'^fHT K4ntem4tb.
^^^ Gbol.
srfiRJ^Aginbuti, JfnC^h^ Bbarjdmbhdl,
arrnnTT ^giy^.
iSee Elettaria Cardamomnm.
^^ ijt*^ Motbi elacbi, ififl' ^f^^^ Mothe
veldor^ (impd,)
*> ,» (impd,)
IpT^ ^[fit Elacbi ddne (impd,)
flf^deh Robitak, f ^TOfRT Haramkbdni.
g^ Suran.
M^fd ^TT Jangli suran, and wben dried,
H4H^H Madanmast.
See Synantberias sylvatica.
See Prunus amygdalus.
See Clausena beptapbylla.
cfrnt or 59frr«r#T Kajd or Kijvin. (Qoa
almond.)
^gr Dik.
ar^^T^TRT Akkalkdr^ {mpd).
ml\d(\ Vitoli, gfr?5ft Karvi.
c|ir«ti4)Q6 Kakpbal, c^^j^ | q|H Karvivil.
afTR^ Ananas, vulg. sr^rr^ annds.
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GLOSSARY.
181
Anastatica Hierochuntina,Ltn72.
Aachusa tinctoria, Desv. ...
Anciatrocladus Heyneanus,
Wall,
Andrographis echioides, Nees
„ paniculata, '^ees,
Andropogon aciculatus, Uetz,,
„ citratas, D. C. ..
„ glaber, Roxb. ..,
„ laniger, Desf..,..
(Herba Schsenanthi)
„ muricatus, Retz,,,
„ Nardus, Linn, .,
„ scandens, Boxh,,,.
,f Schoenantbu?,
Linn
Anetbum graveolens ,
Anguillaria indica
Anictoclea Grabamiana
Anisocbilus carnosus, WcUL
Anisomeles Heyneana, Bentk,
malabarica, R, Br,
„ ovata, R, Br
Anisonema multiflora
Anodendron panicuIatum,i4.P<
C.
Anogeissus latifolia, Wall .....
„ acuminata, Wall ..,
Anona muricata, D,C, . ^
„ reticulata, Linn
„ squamosa, Linn
Anthemis nobilis, Linn
Anthericum tuberosum, Roxb,,
Anthocepbalus Cadamba, Miq.
Anthrocnemum indicum, Moq
Antiaris toxicaria, Leesck. .. . . „
^%H^€|H Kafemarijam (impd.)
idH^7d Ratanjot, l^l^iKim^ Rangebidshah
(impd,) from Cbina.
ifiidof) Kbardali, ^^f};^ Kardondi or c|r^-
ff#l Kardodi.
qH|%^ofl- Rdncbimni,
^Tt^ fS hil ^r l Olen-kirdit.
^(^!iWt ' Sbankapushpi. '
BTIW ^BTTfT OU, cbabd, mt^ > AS||^ PaKya-
chihi, ^{^'^\ "^Tfr Paticba chabd.
rTT^, Tflmbat.
^<i^^l Jardmkusb, STfR^Eff^ Azkbir, ?^f?ft
Khdri.
m^ Vdl,^ft^ VdrdliJ, ?^^ra^Kbaskhas,
^#^ Ushir.
gi^^nr^ Usadhan.
»Tnc%W, Marvel.
il^4|^<< Rosbegavat, ^^ Robisb.
See Peucedanum graveolens.
^r^eh<4|| Markaldi, (Melnntbium indicum.
Wall,, PL, As., Rar,, 3,259.)
See Tetrameles nudiflora.
ch|M ;r(i or ehj^i^rfl, K^pdrli or Karpdrvalli,
•qHNr Cboronvi, TT^f^ Panjiren.
^Iv^in Cbaudbard.
ifif^PTT Gojibbd.
4MmQfl Gopdli.
See Pbyllantbus reticulatus.
t' S Rd l ^fl Lamtini ^fr^^t^ Kulivel.
^flflr^rr D^brid ^r^r^ Daurd.
%\^ Pbds.
HR I ^io g Mamdpbal.
i l H4»b6 Rdmpbal.
Rid i ng Sitdpbal.
qj l ^HI BdbiSna.
f^ ^ Cbipli cbai, 5^ Phdrsi, frgft
Kiili.
cir^ Kadamb, 7^ Nbyu.
ilMtoft Macbol.
«srrfry Cbdndal, 'tji<|d > >j | Cbandkura.
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182
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Aniidesma Bunias, Spr
„ Ghflesembilla, Gartn.
Antirrhinum glaucum
Apium graveolens, Linn
„ involucratum
Aplotaxis auricuiata
Aporosa Lindleyana
Aquilafia Agallocha, Roxb. .„
Arachis hypogeea, Linn. .^...,
Aralia Guilfoylia
Ardisia humilis, FaA/
Areca Catechu, Linn ,
Argemone mexicana, Linn, ...
Argyreia argentea, Chois
„ elliptica
,, sericea, Dalz
„ speciosa, Sweet
Arissema Murray i, Dalz
Aristolochia bracteata, Retz ..
„ indica, Linn
„ longa, Linn, (root)
,, rotunda, Zi«w.(root)
„ serpentaria, Linn.
(root).
Arnebia sp
Artabotrys odoratissima
Artemisia Absinthiam, Linn,,.
„ maritima, Linn,
(flowers).
„ Sieversiana, Willd,,,
„ sternutatoria ,.
„ vulgaris, Linn, var.
indica.
Arthrocnemum indicum, Moq.
Artocarpus hirsuta, Lam
incisa, Linn
integrifolia, Linn.
Lakoocha, Roxb.,
^H€t Atoati,
^}h?r Jondhri.
See Schweinfurthia spheerocarpa.
Sff^qra Karafs, ^ffr^m^f Bori-ajmod.
See Carum Roxburghii.
See Saussurea Lappa,
ii\^\ Sdli.
f^3T«n: Hindi agar, ^^TflT Krishna*agar.
.gfi^ Bhuimdg^^l^ Bhuisheng.
tTN»TT^ Tapmdri.
r^chHI Dikna.
gqrfl- Snpdri, JIT Piing.
^r^ DdrtSri, f^i^ .^fhTT Phirangi-dbotr^,
chi^^Nr Kantedhotrd.
»^$W Mhaisvel.
See Lettsomia elliptica.
in^ Gdv^l.
^=T55rifr«F Samudra-shok.
'HHIxfr ^ffr Sarpacha kandd.
^v^ Gandhati f^»^Hfi Kiramdr.
^rnWT or 5Bp|^, Sapsan or Sapsand*
JRT^f^^nTR' Zardwand^kalan {impd.)
UTT^^^^ Zardwandegird (impd,)
^RTa^r^o^ Kalavdla {impd,)
itH JrW Ratanjot.
See Uvaria odoratissima.
^•^^^•T ^^ Afsantine Riimi (impd,)
f^K^\^ sfi^ Kirmani oavd.
^sprr Daund.
See Centipeda orbicularis.
^X^^ Surband, vulg. ^of or ^of Surpan
or Surpin, derived from ^o? and Sff, ^
it is used to cure bellyache, worms, &c.
W^fK Machol, 3O Ghuri.
ST^fflr Anjeli, MK4^m^ Patphanas, ^fTO^H
Ranphanas, qTT^tT Phanasul.
f^rtl'Mffl' ^'^r^H Vildyati Phanas.
4»""I<H Phanas.
wr^ Lovi. ^?r^ Aond, sj^ Badhar, ^^
Vatambd.
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QLOSSABT.
188
Arum nympheefolium
„ sessilifloruTn
Arundo Karka, Roxb ,
Asarum europeum, Linn. (root) ,
Asclepias curassavica, Linn. ...
Asparagus adscendens, Boxb.,.
f, officinalis, Linn, ...
„ racemosus, Willd.,,
„ sarmentosus, Willd,
Asphodelus fistulosus, Linn. ..
Asteracantha longifolia
Astragalus sp. (gum sarcocolla).
Atalantia monophylla, Corr. ...,
Atriplex hortensis, Linn* .
Atjiosia Lawii
Avena sativa, Linn
Averrhoa Bilimbi, Linn
„ Carambola, Linn,
Avicennia tomentosa
Azadiracbta indica
Balanites Roxburghii, Planch,
Balanophora sp
Baliospermum moiitanum,
MUll'Arg, (seed).
,, montanum (root)
Balsamodendron Gileadense
(fruit)
,» ,, (balsam)
,> „ (wood)
„ Mukul, Hook
(gum resin)
„ Mjrra, Nees,
(gum resin).
, , Play fairii Hook, f,
(gum resin.)
,t Hoxburghii, Am
(gum resin).
Bambusa arundinacea, Willd.,
25
See Colocasia antiquorom.
See Sauromatum pedatum.
t^TSy or ^^mm Deonal or Deonil.
rHR Tagar (tmprf.), (seldom genuine).
W^^ Kurki, ^TRig^ Kdktundi.
^nrrS^raft- Safedmusli, ^Jtoft^^Rfl- Dhdi
musli.
^fo|<(^ Haliyun.
"I^m-i«>7 Shatmuli, |n!T Zatar, ^rngrt^T
J Asvel.
^^m^ Bokhat, PiMi4) ! ^l Bingharbij.
See Hygrophylla spinosa.
^JIR: Gujar (impd,)
^Hfrtl Ranlimbd, ^TRT^i^^Kf Mdkamim-
boni, hM^HK M^tangndr.
^ Juri.
W<t< Rintdr (A. lineata, W. ^ A,)
f^f^Rfft WT^Vildyati Jdu.
^f^5ft Bilimbi.
'^Hi* Khamrak, ^t^lH Karambal, f^KHB S
KarmaL
ffRT Tivar (A- officinalis, Linn.)
See Melia Azadiracbta.
ft^FT Hingan, flipi^ Hinganb^t.
'nrt^'Taft" Gajpimpali.
^RHTiflfHT Jamdlgotd (false).
^ f rl*to6 D^ntimiSl.
f^f'Wr^lErR Habelbales^n (B. Opoba-
samum (Kuntk), (impd,)
iT^HPT Balesdn (impd.)
^^MtiUM Udebalesdn {impd.)
^;<^Mukul, 4J14IS6' Guggal (impd.)
l^il^toK Hirabol (impd.)
*ftHI^AH l Mindharmd (impd.)
iiWl^rh g-njoy Mhaisdbol, Guggul.
TJ^^iij Mdndgdi.
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184
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Bambusa Arundo, JKlein, .
„ (silica of)- ...i...,
*P
„ stricta, Roxb
„ vulgaris, Wendl
Barleria coerulea
montdna, 'Nees.
courtallica, Nees*
Prionitis, Linn.
Barringtonia acntangula, Gdrtn
(fruit)
Basella alba, Linn.
Bassia but jracea, Roxb
„ elliptica
,, latifolia, Roxb
„ longifolia, Willd.
Batatas panic uhtft
„ edalis
Bauhinia purpurea, Linn
,, malabarica, Roxb* ..
p racemosa, Lam
tomentosa, Linn.
„ Vahlli, W.^A..
„ variegata, Linn. .
Begonia crenata, Dry and*.
Benincasa cerifera, Savi. .
f^T^nff Chivdri.
4M<^^H Vanshlochan, d^Ufti Tabdshir.
i^ Mis.
^ T ^iij Udhdvdns.
SfTo^^ Kalak, ?fRnr Vdnsd.
mf^H Wahiti, ^ | o& i chJ<U r K^la Kordnta
(B. strigosa, WUld.)
\ ^fot^rTT Kolistd, flj^l" Ikhari.
eho&ijfr ^^ 4i\^i\i Kalsunda or kdsundd, f^-
<to6iqhliU i Pirald koranta, <ftlfft^| or
^if^SfTT, Kolistd or Kolitd.
?ft^ Tivar, fiToft Ingli.
^3?r^lOT Samudraphal, 9|^^q6 SathphRl
\ :||'9n4>o6 Dhatriphal.
JRHSP MayAl, ^ilhr, Velgond, or%?^^t#
Velbondi.
<ir^5^ Phalvd.
See Dicbopsis elliptica.
#1^ Mova, TSW Mabua.
^i^f Movd, TfBTT Mahu^.
See Ipomoea digitata.
See Ipomoea Batatas.
^^<4i*MH Devakdnchan, ST^R^ Atmati.
^StK!f^ Koral, ^i^Hrft Amli.
srrnT -^ptd, stf^tTT Abhitd, <fHi|^ r Van-
rdja.
R^cAlchF'^ PivaMkdncban, 3T A*i'dcfi Ash-
mantak.
^^ or ^frfl' Cbambdri or Cbambiili:
^il'^H Kdnchan.
Jfj^TB^ Mdtiyd.
efiijl f S g r or ^g l <i5 r, KohoU or KoybAW
Berberis Lycium, Royle.
(fruit).
„ „ (wood)
„ „ (extract) ..
Bergera Roenigii
Bergia yerticillatay WiUd
Bertbelotia lanceolata
Beta vulgaris, Moq
^M i ng Kdshmdnd.
B T ^i^rO^rt Ambarbdris.
^ r i^oS f Ddrbalad.
T^^ Rasot, ^^rt^ Raswanti.
See Murraya Koenigii.
^^!m Hintdl.
See Pluchea lanceolata.
igsjf^ CbtSkandar, «n«^ Pilak.
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GLOSSARY.
185
Betula Bhojpattra, Wall, (bark)
Bignonia chelonoides, Linn,.,
Bignonia undulata, Roxh
„ spathacea
„ stans, Willd
,, sua^eolens
Biophytum sensitivum, D. C.
Bischoffia javanica, BL ,
Bixa Orellana, Linn
Blepharis asperrima, Nees
„ edulis, Pers
,. molluginifulia, Juss. ...
Bligbia sapida, Don
Blumea auiita
„ holoserioea and othei
strong smelling
Blumeas.
„ sp. nov. near to B.
eriantba.
Boeagea Dalzelli, H.f. & T.
Boerhaavia elegans, Chois ...
„ repens, Linn
,, verticillata, Poir ..
Boletus crocatus, Batsch, var.
Bombax malabaricum, D. C.
(gum)...
Borassus dicbotomus, White...
„ flabelliformis, Linn...
Borrera Asbneb
Boswellia floribunda, Endl,
(fi ankincense.)
» (bark).
, serrata, Roxb.
Bougainvillia spectabilis
Bovista, sp
Brachyrampbus soncbifolius ...
Brassica campestris, Linn* ...
H'NnTT Bbojpatr, ^J#nr Bbdqpatr.
3i^oF Kunak, h i ^o6 Padal.
^^fcK Kunak.
See Dolicbandrone falcata.
Rt^l^rh ^^|c|) Vilayati kunak.
See Stereospermum Buaveolens.
WMI Lijri.
^rarBok.
^ Shendri, %5g^ Kesri, ^^i4t>^ Kes^
bondi. <
BTcfT^ Akra, H\f^\4\ ^TtRPT Pdbiri-Atgan.
^^ipr Utangan.
^iS^i r ^h l K4ntemakd.
3TT*r Aki.
See Lagera aurita.
n\^K^\ Bbdmbdrdd, or hNt^:^ Bbdmbnir.
Prjr^ Nimurdi.
^fT%0 Sajeri, ^Ivjf^^cg Harkinjal.
^rrcF^ Ndkbel (seeds eaten).
^HH^ r Punarnava, m^i\ Kbdpar^. ^^ofl
Gbetuli, grrS^ff^^KdlivastS.
^^\ Satdra.
4^"»<J ^Tr?r or 9r=TO'3T^1r^ Pbanasambd or
Phanasalomb^ (Isca de Jaca of tbe Por-
tuguese).
^ETR?: Savar, jfNT Mocba.
H l -eli^ Mocbaras.
>i^ r H^Q g Ukbamandal.
fTTS- Tar, fM^H \ 4 T^nndr.
See Parmelia kamtschadalis.
f^^ Visesb, (impd.) vulg. f^rar Esas.
^ Dbdp, gr^qr Kasbfa {iiwpd.)
^n^ Salai, ijniS^ Guggul, ^M^Fa?^ Sdl-
pbali.
irnrtl?^ Bdnberis.
md l Qfc^j'^^' t Pdtdltnmbri.
See Lactuca Heyneana.
ftrft^ Sbiris.
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186
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Brassica juncea, H. /. ^ T-
„ nigra, Koch
„ oleracea, Linn
,1 Bapa, Linn
Brayera anthelmintica
firiedelia sinica ,
„ montana, Willd ..,
Bryonia laciniosa, Linn
„ umbellata
firyophyUum calcynum, Salisb
Buclianai^ia latifolia, Rosed
Butea Arondosa, Roxb,,.
„ „ (seed).
„ parviflora, ......
,y superba, Boxb,»,
Cactus indicas, Boxb
Gadaba indica, Lam
Csesalpinia Bondiic, Roseb . . .
„ coriaria, Willd.,.
„ digyna, Rottl. ...
„ pulcherrima, Swtz.,
,, Sappan, Linn, ...
„ sepiaria, Roxb ...
Cajanas indicus, Spr,
Calacanthus Dal^elliana, T.
Anders.
Caladium sp. var
Calamus Draco, Jftlld. (gum
resin).
„ Rotang
Callicarpa lanata, Linn
Callitris qua4riyalyis, Fent^ The
gum
CalonyctioQ speciosum, ,
^njft Mohari, ^ Rdi.
ggrtt Kobi, cifrt Koi (Port.)
^t6M^ Shalgham.
See Hagenia abyssinica.
See Phyllanthus lanceolarius.
BTPOTTT Asdnd qTrTTtTT Phattarphor,
qr r^^<:l*^ r P^lehasan, f^TT^ Hasdni.
<» r ^j^^1 Kavdori.
See Zehneria umbellata.
Ml^ l og Ghdyal, ^ \ mM Ghaipat, MI^HI^
Ghaimdri. BT^^anr?^ Aranmaran, q«WN"
Parnabij or leaf-seed.
f^Tir^ Piyal, ^K Ghdr, T^iUdSif Charoli,
-cjKHK Chardbor.
qoP^ET Palas» i^ l -^H Khdkara.
cTo5^nftf Palasgond, ^r*<Mlll Khdkari
gond.
qoj^nrnrg^r Palaspdpard,.
See Spatholobus Roxburghii.
4 06^^06 Palasvfl, f^^ Tivas, f^^n Tiva^
%<<fd^<^ Bfltivas.
Vlft^^ Alitd.
gfr>2r^ Kadhab (Arabic), qj l oftM^m Bdlpuvan,
^aMIMM^I Sdgargotd, inniT Gajag^.
P^NRoi) Libidibi.
^fcKO Vdkeri.
^fch i ^i Shankdsdr, ^rtftrWT Morshikha,
qtn Patang.
f^^ Chillar.
^Tiir,
^tri^ Mptay^n.
arst^A^^^^ (cultivated for ornament).
I^^j^?^ Hiradakhan, ftnj^ HirddnkhJ.
%^Vet,%?rBet.
^■^R Aisar. ^
«q^[^ Chandras, {impd.)
See Ipomoea bpna-nox, Linn.
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GLOSSABY.
187
Colophyllum inophyllum, Linn,
„ spurium ,
„ toroentosum, Wight
Calosanthes indica
Calotropis gigantea, R. Br, ...
„ procera, R. Br. ...
Calycopteris floribunda. Lam..
Calysaccion longifolium
Camellia theifera, GriJ^,
Camphora officinarum
Canarium strictum, Roxb
„ „ (resin)
Canavalia gladiata, D. C,
„ virosa, W, ^ A,
Canna indica, Linn
Cannabis sativa, Linn
„ „ (female flowers)
„ „ (resin
Canscora decussata, Don.,,.
Canthium didjmum, Roxb,,,,
„ Leschenaultii ....
^ parriflorum, Lam, .
„ umbellatum, Wight,'
Capparis aphy 11a, Roth
„ brevispina
„ grandis, Linn
,, horrida, Linn.f...
„ pedunculosa
„* Eoxbarghii, 2}. C. ...
„ spinosa, Linn, (bark),
Capsicum sp. var
Caralluma fimbriata, Wall ....
Carallia integerrima, D. C
Cardiospermum halic^cabum.
Linn*
^^ or ^sf^H" Undi or Undin.
ij<^ Sarpdn, c^MMH Kdlpdn. (C. Wightia-
num, WalL)
r^ Pdn, 55T^ Punai.
See Oroxylum indicum.
Jil^rn: Mdnd^r, ar^r?^ Akrd, ^ Rdi, 8T#r
Arka.
H | <^Hi<|K Ldlmdndar, dN^ l ^ch>rf r Tambard-
Akri.
4Uj;(f\ Bdngdli, ^^ Ukshi.
See Ochrocarpus longifolius.
-^n^ Chdhi, ^ Chdi.
See Cinnamomum Camphora.
^ Dhdf), ij44|o6 Guggul.
c|i | o&>^iHi Kdl^ddmar.
fJh<HH<l Kismdri, a?^ Abai (C. ensiformis
D, C, the var. virosa is the wild form.)
cR^^fqo^Karsambal, <a<fiMlQ6 Kharshingal,
<j|i^^o6l Eharsamuli.
t^sft" Deokeli, ^Fjfferr Kimushki, ^rmnff)'
Kamakshi, ch^e£| Kardali.
^TnrBhang.
^flTT Ganjd.
^ni^a* Charas.
?ETng%?7 Sdkhw^l.
mM^{\ Varsangi.
^nfif^t? Chdpyel (C. angustifoliura, Roxb.)
offtrfl" Kirni.
gr?^3^ Ursdl, jt Tdp.
Hfj^ar Karil, %?T Kera, ^^rft Nepti.
^ \ ^& Vaghanti, 'ftft'fr Govinda, C
zeylanica, Linn.
^^sH^i^ Pachovdnd.
^R#t Tarti or ?rt^ Taranti.
^Tffc^H I Kohsna.
T^ Piirvi.
«f;^ Kabar (impd.)
9jR5pir«ft Lalmirchi.
Hg^^ffB l ^l Makarshing.
.JT^T^ Phdasi.
^p^ Bodhi, ftwirw Shibjal, INlt^ Tejovati,
»4iRl^*^ Jyotishmati.
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188
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTOEY SOCIBTY.
Careya arborea, Roxb
„ „ (immature fruit).
Carica Papaya, J>tnn,..
Carissa Carandas, Linn
Carthamus tinctorius, Linn,...
(seeds)
Carum Carui, Linn, (seeds)...
„ copticum, Benih
„ nigrum, Roxh, (seeds)
„ Hoxburgbiauum,
Benih,
Caryota urens, Linn
(fruit)
Caryophyllus aromaticus, Linn.
(buds).
Casearia esculenta
„ graveolens, Dalz
,, laevigata
„ tomentosa, Roxh.
Cassia Absus, Linn
„ alata, Linn :
„ auriculata, Linn
Cassia Fistula, Linn
„ lanceolata, Forsk,
„ occidentalis, Linn.
,, pumila, Law
„ Senna
„ siamea, iflw...
,, Sopbera, Zinn.
„ Tora, Unn.,.
Cassytha filiforrois. Mill.,
Casuarinaequisitifolia, Forster.
„ muricata, Boxb
Cedrela Toona, Roxb ...
escu-
^r Kdmbha.
^r^ Vikumbbd.
ip^m Popay4.
!ihl<4l Kiranda, dRK^ Karavand, ^5^
HarttSudi.
jgi^m Kusumbd.
qr#f Kardai, cfpc^ Kardi.
Rt^l^l4t ftft ViUyati jir^n.
aTlHTPT Ajwdn, gJm Onvd.
Rrar- WC Siah jir^n.
»|<|H I4 Ajmod, cttiiidl Karonzd, ?J5T^r
Bdndbani.
^(4^HI^ Bberlam^r.
H^fg^ Ardbisupiri.
W^ Lavang (impd.)
^<^'AM Narlavang (impd.)
Ht^ Mori.
nrit Mori, f^^ CbilU, ^i^ \ ^ \ Bokbdr4.
l^nifT Lwnjd, h1^H<H|| Mormassai, (C
lenta, Roxb.)
f^Sn* Chilli, ^mi Mas^ai, Sf^ Kara).
r^Hi Chimar, '^cR'^ Chaksd.
^N^Ih Dadmardan.
fK^nr Tarvar.
^f^^ Bdhavi, 5iTmo5T Garm^li, «||Q&4iU<r
Balkdnteri.
^M I Ji< S fl Sondmukbi, corruption of Suvar-
namukbi, Sans.
f ^<ho& Hikal, -cHhH^ Chakramard.
^Hi'Hrt Sarmal.
5^ SHpcTT^ Sdratibbuitarvar (C obo-
vata.)
cfi'^HJ^ Kasmod.
iH<i f ^m Rdntdnkld.
^hirSBT Tankl4, «|^^0^l Kovariya, ^T^^
Tiroti or f\iMd\ Tarvati.
a< | tht^^W Akdsavel, Mcti^rt Antarvel,
^J^mS5^ Akismtili.
f^tsyra^ ^rW Vilayatisaro.
^ Tdn, ^SF Kurak.
}
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QLOSSARY.
189
Cedrus Deodara, Loud
Celastrus emarginata
„ montana ,
,, paniculata, Willd,,
„ Rotbiana
Celosia argentea, Mo([. ..'..,..
cristata, Linn.
Celsia coromandeliana, Vahl,,.
Celtis Roxburghiana
Centaurea Beben, Linn
,y moscbata, Roxh
Centipeda orbicularis, Lowr .. .
Cepbalandra indica, Naud
(wild, bitter).
Cerasus Pudum
Ceratogynum rbamnoides,
Wight
Ceratopbyllum submersum
Willd, and otber pond
weeds.
Cerbera Odallam, Gdrtn...
„ Tbevetia
Ceropegia bulbosa, Boxb
„ juncea, Boxb, .....
Cbamoerops Ritchieana
Cbavica
Cbeilantbes farinosa, Spr
Cbenopodium album, Moq. ..
,, ambrosioides, Linn,.
Cbikrassia tabularis, Adr. Juss,
Chloropbytum parviflorum. ...
Cbloroxyloti Swietenia, DC,..,
Chrysantbemumindicum, Linn.
„ „ (small flowered)
Cbrysopbyllum Roxburghii.
Von.
Cicca disticha
ft^ l ^illi Teliyd deodar.
See Gymnosporia emarginata. '
See y, montana.
cfrnrKt" Kangoni, ?fni Kangu, H4|4fl Pigavi.
See Gymnosporia Rotbiana.
«5 Kddr6 or ^ Kundrd, H^<Rl<^l
M6ydrsbikba.
itMf^ld R^jagiri, «T^jrfir^ vulg. H\ii\im \
Mayiirsbikbd vulg. Morshikha.
flfedctft Kutki, cFt(7f<7 Kolahal.
jJTirr Brumaj.
<^%<f ^^H^ Safed fiabman.
^n^ ^V^ Shdb pasand.
^ gftf^oh^ft Nakchikni, ^TiF^RT Aphkar.
^V^?3fl- Tondli, f%ift- Bimbi.
TM R^n, or c|v|^Kurd, %37^ Tondli.
See Prunus Pudum.
f^^^ Cbikuri.
>4 | eh/| ^^frfi Dbakti sbevali.
^[cfT^Siikand.
See Tbevetia neriifolia.
?^qr^«rr^ Kbapparkard, Mm^M Qayald.
«h"rtrt Kanvel.
See Nannorrbops Ritcbieana.
See Piper.
qfm^ Pdtkuri.
qfoj- Gbdn^n.
■fej i ch^d Cbikvat -^'^H^td^^ l Cbandanbatv4
^^ir Vasuken.
f^ Pabb, f^rew Cbikrds.
See Antbericum tuberosum.
^n^ Bberiya, f^ffT Billo, fSJ^TfT Halad-
rava.
^f^ SWvati.
i^jjuftiqjft ' Davan-sb6vati, i|i<il^tft Raish^vati,
(l^mi^^ill Davanmulgi.
mijft^a Tarsipbal, '^prft' ^ITTOW Dongri-
mdyphal.
See Phyllanthus disticbus.
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190
BOMBAY NATURAL HI8T0BY SOCIETY.
Cicer arietinum, Linn
Cichoriura IntybuB, Linn
Cinnamomum Camphora, Nees
^, Cassia, Blume,.,
„ (buds)..
„ iners, Reinw..
„ Tamala, Nees.
(leaves),
Cissampelos Pareira, Linn
Cis8U8
Citrullus Colocynthifii, Schrad.
J, vulgaris, Schrad,
(watermelon)
var..
Citrus aurantium, Linn,..
,, decumana> Willd.
„ Limonum, Linn^..
„ medica, Linn
,, „ var. acida, i«Vin
Clauseua heptaphylla, W. fy A.
Clematis triloba, Beyne
Cleome felina, Linn
,, visco8«, Linn
Clerodendron inerme, R.Br..,
„ infortunatum,
Linn,
„ pblomoides, Linn...
„ serratum, 5pr.
„ Siphonanthus,
E.Br,
Clitorea Tematea, Linn
Clypea Burmanni
Cnidium diffusum
Coceinia indica
Cocculus Leoeba, D. C
„ macrocarpuSy W. ^ A.
▼iilosus, 2). C
""V^ Cband, f^^HT Harbhard.
chlMrT) Kdsni, {impd.)
ctfl ^ t^ KdpiSr (impd.)
^rrj^pftor ^ ^r^tfl Darchini or Dalcbini
{impd.)
sirr* H l U^^i Kil^ ndgk^sar (impd).
^r^fM!' Ddrchini ?rir Taj ^TFT Kurfa.
f\H\fh[ Tamdla.
?r H[<^m TamdUpatra.
TTWrC^W Pahdrvel, 'nWH!^ Pahdrmdl.
See Vitis.
tC?n";5ror Indrdyan, fJCiTo^ Indrapbal, fj^fFF^
Indravdrdni, jTIJfr^^ KurArundavan.
«hFh^l>^ or ehffti i m K^lingar or Kalingan.
Rt^M^<C Dilpasand.
fTrft'ft Naringi,
H4H4:I Papanas.
fSr^Limb d.
»f^r^ Mahalung, 5fpflT or nMc Jambhir
or Jambir
Bi^gfi ff^or <?5^Ambat nim,bd or limbu.
chim^cA Karanpbal.
i}><^<^ Morvel.
I^^HNftfr Suvarnakshiri.
5|inr^r or chH4>l>^ K^npbuti or kdnphori,
Phrsfl" Rrss^TT Pivali-tilavan.
iM^ l l Rdnjai, chl^^c4 Koivel.
*rr^ Bbandir IfpS Kari.
ftT Iran or'ijTT Airan.
HTrrft Bhdrangi.
yfft'ft' Bfadrangi.
Sft^rfl K6jali 4nch»n Gokarni ^^ Supli.
See Cyclea Burmanni.
See Seseli indicum.
See Cephalandra indica.
jT^^Guddcbi.
^^^ Vatvel ^rS^Rimril^* cor. of rRTUT
Eimrakshd ^T^WJ Vdtoli.
<t^H^<j^ Vasanvfl ^t^^ Parvel spT Tin.
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aWSSARY.
191
Cochlospermum Gossypium,
D. C.
Cocos nucifera, Linn
Coffea arabica, Linn
Coix barbata, Boxh
„ lacryma, Linn
„ „ (Seed)
Colchicum, *p ,
Coldenia procumbens, Ltnn, ...
Colebrookia ternifolia
Coleus aromaticus, Benth
Colocasiai antiquorum, Schott,
,t >i (several var.)
Colubrina asiatica, Brogn
Combretum ovalifolium, Roxb
„ Wigbtianum
Commelyna communis, Linn...
Conium maculatum, Unn (fruit)
Connarus monocarpus, Linn.
Conocarpus latifolia
Conocephalps niveus, Wight.
Convolvulus arvensis, Linn,
(gum resin)
„ Scammonia, Linn
Cookia punctata, W. 8f A. ...
Coptis Teeta, WalL (root)
Corallocarpus conocarpa,
EoohJ-
,, epigsea, Hodk.f, ...
Corchorus Antichorus, RcBusch
„ capsularis, Linn,
„ fascicularis, Lam ...
»t%0 Gann^ri, ijimnr Gunglai.
Hlirfl JTTT Narali-m4r.
<*lt{^r Kahva, ^ Bdn.
^^hT?T Varival.
^^''^^^ BdnjondhaW, m^m^ lUnmaka.
sir^^T^fflT Kassaibij.
'Tlrs^fNn Gorasurinjfo.
^T^ Sftwc Kard surinjan.
hrr^ Tripaksbi.
mPpft Bhdmini. (C. oppositifolia, Sm.)
TRT^ Brhrr P^ndchd onvi,
s?aj^Aldn, arsrtH Alvin.
gfrNrrsP^RT Kdnsdlvat, ^rmral^Kdnsilii.
^ Ter^, ^^8?^ mdald, *Trr Mfod or m^
Mandi.
^?r Gdti.
^^r^ Jeiiosi, *mT^ Mddhvei, Wlr>^n:^
Vdr&ihaus.
«ft<?r?5r Pilok, (C. extensum, jRo^J.)
%?ft Kdni, f^^ Chiroti, ftoff^ Nili.
ctfitHrTT Kirdam^na (twprf.)
g^ Sundar.
See Anogeissus latifolia.
*"l3<ft K^pusi, 2fRTp Kargdl.
f rT^ Hiranpag.
^r^3^r^ Sakmdniyd (tmp^.)
^cift V^mppi.
irnft?j^ Mamirdn (impd.)
*T^rt^ Mdhddevi, ftr^ir Shivaling.
19
olitorius, Linn, ...
trilocularis, Itnw. . . .
„ » (seeds).
Gordia angustifoUa
„ latifolia •...
26
ch^^^H i l Karvindi.
ir^^aft Bahuphali.
^f# Chonchfo.
^VhdEt Bahuphali, ^TT^fO Hirankhori,
»nT?:f%^ Magarmithi.
f%^ Chinch, «|Hm<i Banpat.
SR^Rj^ Kard chinch.
i l ^hll R^jjir^n.
'fr^ Gondani. (C. Rothii, Rom, et Seh,).
^rft^^rmSapistin, ^ Sheld, ^?:ii^ Vargund.
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192
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Cordia Macleodii, H.f, ^ T, .
„ Myxa, Xfnn .•.
Wallichii.
Coriandrnm sativum, Lirm, .
„ „ (fruit)..
Corylus avellana, Linn, (nuts)
Corypha umbraculifera, Linn.
(seed.)
Coscinium fenestratum, Colehr.
Cosmostigma racemosum,
Wight.
Costus speciosus, Sm
Crataeva religiosa, Forst.,
Cressa cretica, Linn
Crinum asiaticum, Herb.,
,y augustum, Roxb,.
„ ornatum, Wight.
Crocus sativus, Linn- (saffron)
Crossandra undulsefolia, Salisb,
„ (flowers)
Crotalaria j uncea, lAnn ,
„ Leschenaultii, D, C,
„ Notonii, W. Sf A
„ retusa, im»
Croton hypoleucos, Balz
„ oblongifolium, Roxb.
„ sebiferum, Linn
„ Tiglium, Linn
„ tinctorium, Burnt, ..
Cubeba officinalis •. . . .
Cucnmis Colocynthis
„ Melo, Linn
„ „ var utillissimus
„ sativa, Linn
„ t rigonus, Roxb ,
^t^ or fqif Dhaivan or Dai van.
HtcR Bhokar, ^rS^d Shflvant.
%^ or $^ Dhavan or Baivan (G. obliqua^
Willd. var. Wallichii.)
<|^^j4>i Kothmir, th1fl(41< Kothimbir.
>^ Dhan^.
T^9eF Phinduk or Finduk (mpd,)
?fgif^Vajrabatt4 qigi | < ! j66 Vajrival.
!HI>flfjo&<( Jhdrihalad.
inft Jati.
^«||{| o|7r^ Kbumb^ri kindi, ?^ Penvifv
^Hi-N^>^l or ?rrT^nfl" Vdgchavri or Vagriti.
^nmt Vayavarnd,^r§r?rTf Harvarni, TX^f^
Rdmala, cKK^^ Kdrvan.
J^rii Khardi, ^^^ Chavel.
TPRTT or H l ^m Ndgdavan or N^gdan.
4||^i4^u| Gaidavan.
T^jfNrf or 4i<^itffehili: Gadanikand or Gad-
ambikdnda. (C. longifolium, Roxb.)
%^K Keshar {impd.)
^g^^[^ Aboli, vulg. for ^Tl^fc^ Aboli.
arr^t^y or srr^r^ Abola or Abol^.
5rnT Tdg, ^PT^ftir Sanbij.
ftiTo^ or fk^m, Dingli or Dingal, fRTSft
Dayli. ^i3fc<ab6f§4iQ6l Khulkbuldiugala.
3756^ K^lai.
^[^ Ghdgri.
qfeO Pandhari.
^"I^ Ghansdr.
R4o5^li^ Pipalgank.
^HM^rfdf Jamalgota, iA\\\db or ^RTTT^^
Japdl or Jaipdl.
?^fr^ Siiryavarta.
See Piper Cubeba,
See Citrullus Colocynthis.
f^ire- Chibiir.
rT^^,-^, or-^rK Tavsi, Tavshi or Tavshin.
cfrrsR^ Kakari, f^RJ Khira.
o^rtt^ or cirfftsr Kdrit or Karint, ehld^r^
Kdtvel.
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GLOSSABY.
193
CucumistrigonuSjVar.pubescens] ^ohH^ or -^, Takmak or Takmaki.
Cucurbita Citrullus See CitruUus vulgaris.
„ Pepo, D.C ,
Cuminum Cyminum, Linn, .
Cupania canescens
Cupressus glauca, Spr
Curculigo
Curcuma Amada, Roxb
,, angustifolia, Roxb,.
„ aromatica, SaUsb,,
csesia, Roxb
caulina, Grah
loDga, Roxb
pseudomontana^GraA
Zedoaria, Roscoe ...
Cuscuta reflexa, Roxb.
>* sp
,» sp
Cyamospsis psoraloides, P. C,
Cy anotis axillaris
Cyathocline lyrata, Cass, ...
€y cas circinalis
Cyclea Burmanni, Miers
„ peltatat^
Cydonia vulgaris, Per*
CylicodaphneWightiana, Nees
Cylista scariosa. Ait
Cynara scolymus, W^illd
Cynodon Dactylon, Pers
Cyuoglossum canescens .-..
,, coelestinum
Cyperus bulbosus, Fahl
„ pertenuis, Roxb
y, rotundus, Linn
5TT^ Dfogar, ^t^^ Bhopl^.
H ^ ^ ^Hf^i' Sufedjire.
See Hemigyrosa canescens.
^T^ Sard.
See Hypoxis.
WW^ Amdda, «til^i|4^lO Kdjur^gauri.
d^filOi Tavkir.
iM^<*f RIahalad, af^foSf Amb^halad,.
%^r^f V^rihalad.
Hich-^i Narkachdr.
^^ Chavar.
9o^ Halad, ^f^ Haridra.
Rrf^^ Sindarbar, f%^^^pf)' Sindervani.
«h-^lir or ^rf|r5r Kachora or Kachola, C
Zerumhet, Roxb, The name Kachura is
often loosely applied to all Curcumas.
arrami^W Akashvel, ST»n:t?y Amorvel,
at?n^ Antarvel, aTRTTOHSfl- Akashmuli,
^HK?H Sonarvel, ^tT^ Sonvel.
3nr#h5fr Aftimdn (impd.)
^i^r Kasiis (impd.)
^\\^\i\ Gov^ri.
See Tradescaiitia axillaris,
iyiflr^ Gangotri.
'n^^rrO' ^rrt^ Malabari siipdri. (C. Rum-
phii, Miq.)
TRTC Pakar.
qf^ Parel, HK^r^ Parvel, m<^<^ Par-yel.
See Pyrus Cydonia.
^r Pesha.
iH^l^ ^ Range vara.
f%?r?5T Kingin, ^Jtli Kdnjir.
j^ Durva, ^X^ Harala, ^^?3" Haryeli^
f^^f-tjjT Liyachardi (C. Micranthum, Desf,}
See Paracaryum ccelestinum.
^^ Thegi.
H | 4K*ff^ ' Nagarmoth, t^cflobl Lavald.
5^5TrMust6,3frvrMotha, ^fin^Bimbal. The
name Bimbal is applied loosely to many
kinds of Cyperus.
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194
BOMBAY NATUEAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Doedalacanthus purpnrascens
T. Anders
Doedalia gibbosa ,
Doemia extdnsa, R, Br
Dalbergia lanceolaria, Linn. . . .
J, latifolia, Boxb
9, ougeinensis ,
,, paniculata, Boxb..,.
„ Sisso, Boxb
„ sympathetica, Nim-
mo.
„ Yolubilis, Boxb.,..
Daphne Mezereum, Linn....
„ oleoides, Schreb....
Datisca cannabina, Linn
Datara alba, Zmn.& fastuosa.
„ Stramonium, • Linn,
var. Tatula (fruit.)
Daucus Carota, Linn, (fruit)
Decaneuron microcephalum ..
Delphinium denudatum, Wall.
„ Zalil^ Aiteh. ^Helm
Dendrobium Pierardi
Desmodium gangeticum, D. C.
„ recurvatum
„ triflorum, D. C...
„ triquetrum, B. C.
Dichopsis elliptica, Benth...
Dichrostachys cinerea, W.^ A
Digera arvensis
D ilivaria ilicifolia
Dillenia pentagyna, Boxb....
„ speciosa
Dioscorea aculeata, Boxb.
„ bulbifera, Linn.
,, oppositifolia, Boxb..
„ pentaphylla, Willd..
ip^r^rnT Gulsham.
efil^ Kerambi.
^tTTT Utaran, ^rTT^ Utarni.
?f^ Dandtis, ^^npft Harinij'inrft Gengri.
tfnft Tdli, ^(chTtO Takoli.
See Ougeinia dalbergioides.
'Trat or qRT^ Pasi or PhdsL
ftr^Shisd, ftRTTT Shinshapl
"^^iirfl Pentgdli, f^^r^of^ Titiibli, ?RR?y
Yekyel.
a??^ Alai, 5?rTlw Mdnganvel.
*i»tf>O^H Mazeriyfin.
^^ Pech.
^*<^4I< or aTcR?^^, Akalbir or Akalbar.
chisMldiT Kante dhotard, v^gn Dhattdrd.
Mi^tft Gharbhdli (imjpd,)
^TTir^ Gdjar.
See Lamprachsenium microcephalum.
W^^rnC Jadvar (impd.")
^mnm Triyimdn, bt^eJRT Asprak, 4|t6^t( ^ f >
Quljalil.
Mf^ch Patrika. (D. Lawanum, Lindl.)
^HTTTSdlvan, ^PT Daye, ^Ermrff Salparni.
iM^li^ l IWngdnjd, (D. laxiflorum, B.C.)
i'M^^ Riinmethi.
«hf«ffi^lMI Kdkgdnjd.
M I- ^M P^nchoti, iTWT Palla.
f^nnr«KT^ Sigamkati.
See Achyranthes alternifolia.
See Acantl^us ilicifolius.
^KHfh Karmal, cfPHT^ Kangld, ct>i4i^^^
Karamvel, v|l<=hd»chH^|t^ Dhakta-kangld.
'fr^ chiHH^ Mothe Karmal, (D. indica, Linn)
«rit2«hi4fl Kdntekangi, ch"|4K Or gpT^ft
KaDgara or Kangi.
ch<l<=hU l or «fr?^Rr?[^, Karukarandd, or
Kary4 karandd.
Jirg- Mdnda, MIAIMTo&l' Pashpoli.
4><^iJl Ulsi, i^4^fh Shendv^l,
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GLOSSARY.
195
Dioscorea sativa, Willd
„ tomentosa (?) perhaps
a variety of D. pentaphylla.
triphylla, WUld
Diospyros assimilis, Bedd
„ cbloroxylon, Boxb
„ exculpta
(roots)
„ melanoxylon, Boxb^
„ montana, Boxb,,
„ sp. var.
„ Tupru, Earn
Dipterocarpus turbinatus,
Gdrtn. (balsam).
Dodonsea Burmanniana ...,
Dolicbandrone falcata, Seem
Dolichos bifloruSi Linn
„ Lablab, linn. ...
,. « var.
„ sinensis
Dorema Ammoniacunii Don
(gum.)
(root)....
Doronicum pardalianches, Lznn
(rbizome)
Dregea volubilis, Benih
Dryobalanops Camphor a,
Colebr. (Bhimseni camphor)
Dysoxylum binectariferum,
Hook./.
Ecballium Elaterium, A, Bich.
(fruit)
Ecbolium Linneanum, Eurz...
Echinops echinatus, "D, C. ..
Echium sp. (leaves and flowers)
„ „ (?) rhizoma
Eclipta alba, Hasak
Ehretia buxifolia, Boxb^
„ laevis, Boxb
0^ 1 ^*4106 Konphal, f^T^ff, Chini.
^T^ or ^f|H9 Chdyen or Chain.
HTW Mdnda
5lfl-?r Mulliya.
Pr^ Ninai.
23«ff Tembumi, ^ifch^' r Tav/l MAkarkhindi,
(D. Embryopteris, Pere,)
37^1%^ ^tlTT Akshateche Khor.
«^or Rrf^^, Tendd or Tinddka.
ifff%^ Govindu, ctr^rtt Loh^ri.
BTR5ggr Abuds. (impd.) Ebony,
^TOf^ Tartar.
4iiaHH<6 Garjanel.
^^fift Jakhmi. (D. viscosa, Linn.)
^ ri fix^ Medhashingi, H ^ ^ Marshingi.
^f^Eva Kulithi.
^nsyqfnff Valpipari, qr^ P^nti, 3Tr^>vri.
^^^ Ghevari.
See Vigna Catiang.
%gc|7 Feshuk, ^^a^ Ushak {iw^d.)
^ Boi (im^d.)
^m^ WK^ Dirdnajd akrabi {impd.)
atrft Ambri, ^?7Tfr^ Hirandori.
«ftH%^ ^fnj: Bhimseni kapur {impd.)
5^ Burfimbi orf^ Buram.
t hilf t "i^TRTT Kdnteri indrayan.
n^nrnit^Ran aaboli,\=rr^i3T3^155HT Dhakta
adulsa.
^^^i?'^*^^!! Kintechubak.
^W^M Gaozaban (ivipd.)
idH^M Ratanjot {impd,)
tW or ^m^ Bangra or bangrdj, m^ or «ff-
SV^ Makd or mikri.
qfTRffPaU.
tinrc^ Datrang.
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BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Eloeagnas Kologa
Elseocarpus Ganitrus, Roxb...,
y, oblongus, Gdrtn,,
„ robustus, Roxb,,,.
Elaeodendron glaucum, Pers
Elephantopus scaber, Linn,.,
Elettaria cardamomum, Maton
Eleusine coracana, Gdrtn
Embelia Busaal
ferruginea, Wall,.
Ribes, Burm
Emex sp. (plant)
Emilia soncliifolia, D,C.^^ ,
Enicostema Httorale, Blume..
Entada Purssetha
Ephedra Alte, C. A. Meyer
„ vulgaris, Linn.
Epicbaris exarillata
Epicarpurus orien talis ...
Erantbemum pulchellum
„ roseum, Br,
Eragrostis cynosuroides, Rom
Erigeron asteroides, Roxh
ErinocarpusNimmoanus, Grah
Eriocaulon sexangulare, Linn,
„ eetaceum
Eriolsena Candollei, Wall ...
„ Hookeriana, W. Sf A.
Eriodendron anfractuosum,
Ervum Lens, Linn
Erytbroea Roxburghii, G. Bon
Erytbrina indica, Roxb
Ery throxylon indicum, Bedd, . .
qfT»ft Nargi, arr^iny Ambgdl, (E. latifolia,
Zinn,)
^^^ RiSdrdksh.
eiTRT K^s, en^tti) Kisso.
^(4Hf| Jalpai.
^dHHI Bbut^pdW, ri l H^M Tilmrdj, (E.
Roxburgbii.)
qrqrft Patbri.
t?7^ Veldore, ip^ Elcbi.
?nwfl" N^cbni, ^m^ Ndgli ^lift, Rdgi.
M<^i\ Barbati, Jlv^ofl Jondhli, atwft Ambti,
(E. robusta, Roxb.)
3t4i«K«|^ Ambftt-barbati.
^r^^ Vavdring, ^fT^ir'ft Karkani, ^rftc^
Bdbirang.
5T^r^ Shukai {impd.)
^[[4\^^ Sddhimandi.
'T'ff^r Mamijvd, HI^-<^IHHI NaicbapAU.
A\ \ i4\ or iTIT^ft, Qarambi or Gdrbhi, MKirh
Gardal, (E. scandens, Bth)
H f ^defi ' Lastuk.
^ Horn of tbe Parsees, supposed to be the
same as the Soma of the Vedas (imyd.)
See Amoora Lawii.
See Streblus asper.
See Dadalacantbus purpurascens.
?PT W^ttfl" R^n ^t>oli» f![r5oftDashmuli,gT^it
• ^i\i\ Tambri-kordnti.
^ Darbba.
»i^ Mar^di, mH<£ i Sonsali.
tt?T Cbera, 'tm Chouri.
jTRSjl^ Margundiyd.
ff i i d S i Gondali.
^t^ Botkd, art^ Arang.
^ Bdti, ift^^ Botkii.
^ { frHt^ Shalmali, ^pfKNT Sbamiridi, ^If^
vjpTT BhdjridhimaQ.
JT^ Masdr.
^f^d<J^ Lantak.
fTTffn Pingr^, m^ Parang^,
^^^ Deodar.
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QLOSSABT.
197
Eugenia
AniK^A. SuTtn** ••
caryophylloea, Wight.
if
Jambolana, Lam
Jambos. Jjinn
Euloph
Eupato
lanceolaria, Roxb
lissophylla, Thwaites.,
a bicolor, Da/«
rium Ayapana, Feni. ...
di verffens
Euphorbia antiquorum Linn ...
Viirtft ... -
ji
Deriifolia, Linn
»
thymifolia, Burm...
9>
Tirucalli, Linn,...,.
>>
tithynialoides, Willd
(glim)
Bdn
Eurya japonica, Thunb
Euxolus polygamus, Moq
Evolvulus liirsutus
Exacum bicolor, Roxb
„ pumilum, Griseb
Excsecaria A gal loch a, Willd...
„ baccata, Miill
„ insignis, Milll-Atg.
Fagoiiia mysorensis
Farsetia cpgyptiaca, Turr^ ...
Feronia elephantum, Corr, ..
Ferula alliacea, Boiss
„ galbaniflua, Boiss
(jgunresin.)
„ Narthex Boiss. {gum
resin ^
„ sp. (gum-resin)..
Ficus asperrima, Roxb
„ bengalensis, Linn ,
„ Carica, Linn....
„ cordifolia, Roxb
f^«K4ir^a7 TikjambhtSl.
5fin^ W^ Jangli lavang, iM<4^«l
lavang.
5rpjo5 or ^)|sA, Jdmbhdl or Jambhuli.
ITTirr or irhrr, Jimba or Jdmbhi, ^TreR^rPT
S^karajambha.
>^Tc|7^ %rT Ddkti-sheran.
mH«li^Q6 Pan jdmbhdl.
ot^^^ or 3T7n:Q|rf Amberkand or Amnrkand.
Brnrrrnr Ayapdn.
See Vernonia divergens.
5T?[#5r Narsej.
W^ Dndhiy ^TRT^ Nayati, (E. pilulifera, Linn)
^nr^ir Nivar6ng, P f ^f^ehi? Nivalkante',
P<m 4 i<f Mingut.
mMi\ Nayati, >7R^ J^ Dhaktidudhi,
^^rn^^TTT Hazarddnl
^ Slier, ij%^ Thuvar, f^^^ or-Ffj", Nival or
Nivali.
^ Shend, f^PJRT^ g^ Vilayati-tuvar.
^<^^ ' Farbiyiin
jj^TO" Bhaunrd, rffsT Gonta, ^^pct Devri.
■•grtll ^rnfl" Chiilai bhaji.
^ ^i<^ Shankhaveli, (E. alsinoides, Linn.)
sii\T^i \ M r( Udichirayat,
Urnfl- Jatsili.
it^ Gevd, Jrrnfr Phungali, ^^ Surund.
qfr^C^ Kirad.
gr^ Uro.
vyHKfi Dhamasa (F. arabica, Linn.)
qrtj^-y?|- Farid-bdti.
^^ or ^f^, Kavath or Kavith.
^TT Hing (impd.)
flfq^ Biriz (impd.)
j^jTSJ Hingrd.
^nriftsT^ Sagbinaj.
^<<(d oT'if Kharvat or KharvatL
^^3" Var, ^ Vari.
BfSftC Anjir.
\tt or m^^ Pairi or Payri, STC" Asbta.
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198 BOMBAY NATtmiL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Ficus dasycarpum, Zam ^jr^c^ Bhurvar
demonum ,
glomerata, Roxb.
infectoria, Willd
religiosa, Idnn.,
^TSfiTC Dher-umbar, ifh^it BokherS, ip^sqr-
t#C Gdndydumbar, cHiio6 | j^i K^aambar
(P. hispida, Linn./.)
#^ Umbar, 4j^^K Udumbar.
^im i O Bass^ri, m^^ Pdkari, i[WsSt Ukhali,
l^S^^ Lendvl
f^n^ Pipal, ^n^ Ashyatha.
(To be continued.)
THE HOESB : A ZOOLOGICAL STUDY.
By J. H. Stbbl, A.V,D.
In whatever way we look at horses they are of interest and
instruction. We may approach them with the critical eye of the
horseman skilled in the judgment of shape, action, and pace ; of the
veterinarian, distinguishing the sound from the unsound; of the
humanitarian, viewing with interest one of the most valuable quad-
rupedal friends of man. Or, again, we may approach from another
point, and view the natural history relations and bearings of the noble
animal,Jhis zoological characters and aJBBinities, and his comparative
anatomy. Seen as a member of the zoological tree, the horse yields
to none in the interest of the considerations it suggests to us, some
of which I hope to touch on superficially this evening,
Hippology has not yet become a distinct science, but we Lave
sufficient material at our disposal to render it so; and Xenophon
probably had the intention of making a knowledge of the horse
a polite study, and temporarily succeeded in doing so among
the circus-loving patricians of Greece by his work on Hippologia.
A Hippological Association would be out of place nowhere in
the British Empire ; for, somehow or other, horse racing, hunting,
and the like, follow the Union Jack just as cricket does. The
study of hippology from its severest and most recondite aspects
has been pushed with some vigour in Germany, France, Italy,
and the United States. The descent of the horse ; his true place in
nature; the true homology of his foot ; the comparison of fossil
horses, and of those of Grecian, Assyrian, and primitive art, with
the horses of the present day ; the strict comparison of liviog
horses now found and their arrangements in species, races, varieties,
&c., have been followed out especially by Owen in England, Gaudry
in France, Ratimeyer in Germany, Kowalewski in Austria, Count
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THE HORSE : A ZOOLOGICAL STUDY. 199
Ercolani ia Italy, and Marsh and Cope in America. The results
obtained by these observers and philosophical investigators of the
past and of the present constitute a mass of knowledge which, if
it has not yet thoroughly settled down into a well-defined stratum
of scientific information, promises to consolidate into a concrete and
instructive mass of science under the term hippology.
But there is a more practical branch of this science of the future
(if I be permitted to call it so) which appeals to a much larger class
than scientists pure and simple. In all parts of the world the horse-
supply question is becoming a very large one, and presenting pro-
blems which require to be solved by those who have made the study
of it a special science. The influences of artificial selection and
natural causes on the form and utility of the horse is a phenomenon
which we all have constantly under our eyes in Bombay, where the
Arab, an Oriental horse, meets his Occidental cousin from England
or Australia, and where indigenous horses (Cbuntry-breds), Turco-
mans, Persians, and even Burmans, are constantly to be seen and
compared as to shape, value for work, and suitability for the
climate.
One of the most remarkable phenomena of the last fifty years is
the changes which have taken place in the distribution and nature
of horses during that time. In England the thorough-bred is
constantly undergoing change (in some respects not for the better),
the weight-carrying hunter is becoming replaced by much lighter
horses, and the older race of horsemen regret the degeneracy of
horses in the present day ; we still constantly hear of the falling
off in horse-breeding throughout England and Ireland, and often of
extinction of useful breeds, such as the Suffolk Punch, and yet we
find our troops and batteries well horsed, our race horses well to
the front as usual, our thorough-breds bought for high prices,
because foreigners can produce none like them, and our horses
"stay ^Mn the field as well as ever, in spite of the pace in hunting
having decidedly become faster of late years. Excluding the feeble
attempts of the French and others to imitate the British Turf, the
efforts of the Continental nations are directed almost entirely to the
adaptation of the horse to war purposes. The colossal studs of Ger-
many, Italy, France, Austria, and Russia constitute a drain on the
resources of those countries which, like the conscription, has happily
not yet extended to England, and from which India, with no slight
effort, set herself free. On the southern and eastern outskirts of
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these great nations are found horses which, like their owners, have by
less conscions efiforts of artificial selection, indeed almost by survival
of the fittest, become typical light cavalry horses, hardy, active, fleet,
«nd fearless. The varieties of the Arab along Northern Africa and
Sojathern Asia, from Algeria to Hyderabad (Deccan), the Cossack hbrse
in Southern Bassia,and the Turcoman in Central Asia, and extending
southwards into India, are the semi-natural races now referred to.
Further east we come to the zone of ponies of Indo-China and
Australasia, of which the Burma or '* Pegu *' is an example — an
essentially natural race of great hardihood, robust physique, but
small sise and indomitable pluck. Australia, the Americans, and the
Gape show us the phenomenon of horses becoming highly specialized
by the combined infiuences of new climate, special management,
And artificial selection. Compare the Waler with the English horse,
whether in shape, temper, or suitability for special work, and you
will see how special infiuences have affected the race of horses in
the colonies quite as much as they have the men. The most con-
spicuous example of the effects of artificial selection on the horse is
the American Trotter, a grand breed with beauties of *' make ^' and
powers wholly its own, developed by Yankee energy and skill from
the English thorough-bred race-horse. But I must not allow my-
self to be carried away by this fascinating branch of my subject.
I must now point out to you that the working horse of North Ame-
rica, the pampas semi-wild horse of South America, the valuable
**' Waler,'' and the horses of New Zealand and the Cape are examples
of diffusion of the European horse throughout the world, principally
the outcome of the last half century. What an extraordinary
expansion of the area occupied by the horse! This would prove an
interesting study for a member of the Statistical Society, but
would be out of place here.
I go on to the horses of the far distant past. Cuvier used to say
that from a fragment of bone he could build up the skeleton of an
animal, and he could actually do so, to an extent. A veteran
tavant of Great Britain, the illustrious Owen, has informed us
from fossils what the horse of the past was like. I exhibit an
enlarged copy of his diagram, from which it will be seen that his
xnaterials to work with were a few bones and teeth. He traces
clearly the process by which the three-toed horse became the one-
toed horse of the present day, and gradually lost the first molar in
the course of time occupied in these changes. It is insisted that
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THE HORSE : k ZOOLOGICAL STUDY. 201
here we have an actual and paleontologically proved descent in the
course of geological time, i.e., since the upper Eocene. A remark-
able confirmation of this has been contributed from America, and is
well illustrated by Marsh's diagram, a copy of which I now exhibit,
together with Oscar Schmidt's table showing the connection between
the odd-hoofed animals. We may look at these diagrams and allow
our fancy to summon before our mind's eye the time when the ancestors
of our present horses roamed over the marshy plains of the
continent of the old world, and were prevented by their side toes
from sinking in the mud, just as are the tapirs and rhinoceroses of
the present day. We may fancy that the rude pictures found carved
by our own remote ancestors (on the shin bones found in fossiliferous
caves) of horses and mammoths give us some insight of what thesa
horses of the past were like, and, with Goethe, we may critically,
look on the vigorous representations of Grecian horses on the freize
of the Parthenon, and observe that they are not like the war horses
of the present day» they present anatomical indications of their
being but semi-tamed and wholly natjiral and nnartificial in develop-
ment. But we must leave the domain of speculation and return
to that of careful deduction ! Marsh, Cope, and others have clearly
proved a series of hipppid, horse-like, creatures on the slopes of
the Rocky Mountains in the Upper Tertiaries; and yet when the
Spaniards landed in America the horse was an unknown creature, the
mounted warrior was, like the ancient Centaur, worshipped as a god I
The equine animals of America had from some cause, which is at pre-
sent a profound mystery, disappeared from the continent of America*
Events since the discovery of the New World have tended to make
this fact still more remarkable, for it has been found that both North
and South America are particularly favourable to development and
increase in number of horses. The question which here arises for
solution in the future is. Whether the hippoid animals of Marsh
were actually ancestors of horses, or rather had not mammalian de-
velopment been going on on parallel lines in the old world and the
new. Marsh's hippoids in America " vicariating" for horses, as llamas
do for their close allies the camels, and as marsupials in the Austra-
lasian region long did for manimals of the higher orders in most
parts of the world? Materials are not yet available for solution of
this problem. In spite of these doubts, the value of the facts which
have been ascertained concerning the descent of the horse to zoolo-
gical science is proved by Oscar Schmidt's statement, that " no
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202 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
other mammals in the present day can show so distinct or regcdar a
pedigree as the horse. ^'
Teratology, the study of so-called monstrosities, gives ns some
curioQS results which are worth a short consideration in this con-
nection. Horses are not uncommonly born with three toes on one
or more of their feet. An example of this '^ recuiTence to original
type '* is shown in the diagram now exhibited. Horses of low
breed are especially liable to this peculiarity. History tells ns
that Bucephalus, the celebrated charger of Alexander the Great,
was a Hipparion, i.e. had three toes on each foot. The tomb of
this horse is on the north-western frontier of India and is well
known. Whether the bones of Bucephalus still he in it or no I am
not in a position to state ; but if antiquarians at any time get an
opportunity of exploring the contents of this tomb, I trust that any
equine remains will be submitted to examination by a competent
hippologist. I also trust that the desideratum will be made widely
known, in order that, if they be not already lost, the bones of Buce-
phalus be preserved with due honour. The results of Teratology
go further — they show us that at times horses cloven-footed, like oxen,
occur; that horses are sometimes found with small frontal horns; and
that frequently the limb bones of the horse very closely resemble
those of the ox. ' Natural and ordinary development shows that the
fibula of the horse enters into formation of the hock joint, and that
the ulna extends down to the knee, and these are facts which few
zoologists know. I once had a humerus of the horse, of the large
black Belgian breed used by undertakers in England, which even
well-informed students in veterinary anatomy used to constantly
mistake for that of a bullock. These anatomical and teratological
facts by no means alter our accepted ideas as to the degree of rela-
tionship of the horse and the ox, but they are indications of similarity
in function ; in plain words, that the horse and ox, since they walk
and run to an extent in the same way, have their limbs very similar.
They further give colour to the 8U8picion\held by veterinary anatomists,
irb opposition to the views at present generally accepted among
zoologists, that in the days before the Anchitherium^ fusion between
the third arid the fourth fingers occurred to produce the large central
toe of the horse. This heresy will, no doubt, give a shock to some
of my hearers who have been led to believe that the functional digit
of the horse is No. 3, enormously enlarged, and that all the other
digits have disappeared or are in course of disappearance. I
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THE HORSE : A ZOOLOGICAL STtTDY. 203
cannot enter into detail here, but I must ask you to accept my state-
ment that facts and observations are becoming multiplied to such an
extent as to cause the hitherto accepted view to tOtter and to need
its defenders to rally round it. Suffice it for us now to look upon
the foot of the horse as a great scientific bone of contention in the
future and a most beautiful piece of mechanism which ensures
our horses treading firmly and progressing rapidly in the present.
There are some horny portions of the limbs which are less interest-
ing practically than the hoofs, but equally instructive and carious to
the enquiring mind. The little knot of horn in the fetlock termed
the Ergot is considered to be a remnant of the hoofs of the two digits
represented by the splint bones. This little organ is rudimentary,
i, e., of no known use in the present day, and it is only found in the
coarser breeds of hoij'ses. Another relic of the past, an organ in
process of disappearance, is that piece of horn inside the forearm,
where it is termed the Chestnut, and that inside the hock, where it is
termed the Castor; it corresponds to the finger nail of the thumb
of our hand and of the foot of the five-toed ancestor of the horse
in the very remote past.
A lecturer on the processes of change going on in the body of
mammals, whereby variation is brought about, could find no struc-
ture better illustrative of the phenomena to be described than the
limbs of the horse. " Convergence, " that is, similarity produced
by similar uses, would be illustrated by comparing the fore limbs
with the hind; " divergence" by showing how these two parts difler.
The sesamoid bones of the fetlock and the navicular bone show how
new bones appear and gradually increase in importance ; and the
splint bones, fibula and ulna, indicate the several ways in which
bones disappear, i.e., by degeneration, anchylosis, fusion, and develop-
mental absorption. The shoulder girdle of the horse is a specially
interesting study in comparative anatomy ; of the typical three ele-
ments, scapula, coracoid, and clavicle, the former is remarkably
well developed, the coracoid has degenerated into a single process of
the scapula, and the clavicle has become but a fibrous band in
the substance of the muscles running from the neck to the shoulder.
It is a fact not known to zoologists in general that the horse has
distinct indications of a clavicle, and that it is not rare to find in
him rudimentary clavicular muscles. The spine of the horse is in a
singular state of unrest. There is not one of its five regions that
has always the same number of bones. This is a most remarkable
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204 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
fact and a most significant one, and, I may add, one on which zoolo-
gists have not hitherto laid sufficient stress. Darwin has taught
us how much may result from individual variety and specific varia-
tion, and he could nowhere have found it better marked than in the
spine of the horse. It will be sufficient if I here state that I have
proved it is not unfrequently seen that the seventh cervical vertebra
in the common English ass has on each side a well-developed rib
connecting it with the sternum; thus this animal is, in fact, the
extraordinary phenomenon of a mammal withbut six cervical vertebras.
The bones of the back vary in different cases from 17 to 19 ; of the
loins the number of bones is extremely uncertain , ranging from 5 to
7; the sacrum consists of 6 or 6, and the number in the coccyx ia
quite uncertain;but it has been observed that the tail in well-bred horses
is becoming shorter — a fact which may comfort members of the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals with the knowledge that,
in the distant future, horses' tails will have become too short to require
*^ docking.'* To those who view this subject from an artistic point, and
fear lest in the future the horse may lose altogether his beautiful
caudal appendage, I may give a word of comfort. Instantaneous
photography of horses in motion has proved that the tail has a
raison d'itre as a balancing organ; Nature also will spare it for use
as a fly-flapper !
Time will not permit my passing in review the nearest allies
of the horse and the various races of equines in different parts of
the world. Our country-bred horses show some remarkable indica-
tions of relationship with the zebra, donkey, and quagga and
other equines who are not caballine. We are constantly speaking
' of the donkey- stripe of the Kafctywar horses and of zebra marks on
the knees and hocks of country-breds. The frequency of mouse-
colour in country-breds and the constant occurrence of parti-
colouration in them are significant in this relation. Another study
of equines which would prove specially interesting and of scientific
value would be the phenomenon of hybridism as exemplified in
the mule, the hinny, and the crosses which have been made from
time to time between the horse and the zebra ; not to speak of the
extraordinary phenomenon which occasionally occurs of mules breed-
ing. These hybrids promise to show to the careful student the laws
of transmission of parental qualities ; they afford the naost practicable
opening into this hitherto obscure field of enquiry. Comparative
anatomy gives us some information ; for example, we find that the
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ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. 205
lower hock bones are naturally becoming fixed (natural spavin) and the
splint bones are becoming but processes of the large metacarpal
(natural splint), but the study of hybrids tends to give us precise
information as to how we are to breed the exact sort of horse that
we require. It is interesting to observe that horse-breediag, which
has hitherto been empirical, is showing signs of bQcoming a ductive
science with a certain amount of exactitude in it. I trust this
record of a few thoughts about horses will prove of interest to the
Society.
ZOOLOGICAL NOTES.
SNAKE-BREEDING FOR THE GOVERNMENT REWARD.
The Government of Bombay recently addressed our Society on the subject of
the rewards paid for the destruction of poisonous snakes in the districts of Satara
and Ratnagiri. The opinion of the Society was solicited on various points, andj
amongst others, the question tiras raised as to whether there was likely to be any
truth in the rumours that snakes were frequently bred in confinement by the
people, in those districts, for the sake of the Government reward.
The following is an extract from the reply written to Government by
Mr. H. M. Phipson, the Hononary Secretary, on 8th June 1887 : —
" With regard to the last paragraph in your letter concerning the possibility of
«nakes being bred in confinement for the sake of Government reward, I have no
hesitation in saying (and in this Mr. Vidal thoroughly agrees with me) that such
a thing is highly improbable.
There are practically only four poisonous snakes, of any consequence, in the
districts referred to, Satara and Ratnagiri. viz. —
1. The Cobra {Naga tripudians),
2. The Gunus {Dahoia elegans).
3. The Phoorsa {Echis carinata). caxU
4. The Krait (fiungarus arcuatus\ of which the l a tter is by no means com-
mon in those districts.
The Cobra has, to the best of my knowledge, never been known to breed in
confinement, and it is exceedingly doubtful whether the Gunus and Phoorsa which
are both viviparous, could be successfully propagated except in a most carefully
constructed serpentarium.
The rumours respecting the breeding of poisonous snakes ar^ probably founded
on the fact that snakes' eggs are frequently picked up by the junglemen, who natur-
ally keep them until they hatch, so as to claim the Government reward in the
event of the snakes being poisoaous; but this practice is one that should be
encouraged.
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206 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
It is also quite possible that gravid females of the Phoorsa (which is so common
in Ratnagiri) have occasionally been kept for a short time after capture in order that
the Government reward may be claimed on the young ones as soon as they are
born, but there seems to be little or no harm in such a practice.'*
District Officers frequently refer to rumours regarding the existence of such
practices, and as the subject is of interest both to the naturalist and to the economist,
the sooner the truth is ascertained the better.
BOOK NOTICE.
The " Marchesa," an auxiliary screw steam yacht of 420 tons, Mr. C Kettlewell)
master and owner, * * * left Oowes on the 8th January (1881) and reached
Colombo April 24th, having touched at Socotra and Oolegaum Island (Maldives)
• ■• *. She proceeded vi& Singapore to Formosa ; and so far we have only quoted
the author.
In a recent review we had to praise a writer for having written a readable account
of the ordinary outward voyage to the East ; but Dr. Guillemard has adopted a
counsel of perfection (given by Horace), ignored a few thousand preliminary
knots altogether, and introduced us to the " Marchesa," running in toward s the
land to reconnoitre a fort at Nansha, the southern extremity of Formosa. This
particular fort has deserved from the first, as some of onr own Isle-forts tic
in their old age, the favour even of the Peace Society. For it was erected
not for the fracture of heads, but " as a refuge for Shipwrecked Mariners";
in virtue of a treaty concluded in 1867, between General Le Gendre, U. S. Consul
at Amoy ; and Tok-e-tok, Paramount Chief of the Southern District of Formosa, to
both of whom the acknowledgments of mariners are due. For before that ; Tok-
e-tok's subjects had been in the habit of murdering all strangers on whom they
could lay hands, and were more than suspected of eating them.
The " Marchesa" made no experiments upon the improvement in their ways, but
passed on to the low island of Samasana, formerly visited by the famous old
Samarang ; and by the Sylvia (1867). Here, however, her j)8rty found nothing in
our line, but many domesticated Formosan deer {cerims pseudcms) creatures looking
like a cross between the English red-deer and our *'chital." It will strike a familiar
chord in the heart of every mofussilite reader to find that here, in what our author
calls " the ultimate of Ultima Thules," he was waylaid on his return to his boat,
and compelled to examine the school, just as he would have been here. Having
discharged this duty under the slight difficulty caused by his not knowing the
Chinese alphabet quite so well as the junior first form did, he sailed for Chock-e<
day.
The virtue of the land of Chock-e-day, which is on the East Coast of Formosa,
is that its mountains rise 7,000 feet almost sheer out of the sea, as is well showa
* The Cruise of "the "Marchesa*' to Kamschatha and New Guinea ; with notices
of Formosa, Liu-Kin, and various islands of the Malay Archipelago. By H. H.
Guillemard, M.A., M.D., &c., &c. London : John Murray, 1886.
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BOOK NOTICE. 207
in a fine illustration. It must be one of the grandest coasts in the world, but
there is not much pleasure on it, and no anchorage. A party from the "Marchesa"
landed, well armed, and admired the scenery greatly; but saw only one bird (not
described) and caught nothing but a snake, 9 feet long (not identified). They
saw tracks of deer and wild cats, and on their return to .the boats, those of a
native who had been dogging them, possibly with a view to dinner. After which,
the surf having risen, they had to swim off to their boat with the aid of a life-belt
and line ; and made no further attempt to inspect Eastern Formosa, which is entirely
in the hands of inhospitable and probably Cannibal savs^es, and likely to remain
so for some time yet.
They therefore proceeded to the comparatively civilized portion of the island
colonized by the Chinese, landed at Ke-lung, and went overland (partly by
river) to Tamsui ; remarking, chiefly, the great variety and beauty of the bamboos,
a thing worth noticing, as these ports lie under the 26th degree N. L. Dr.
Guillemard observes that Aralia Papyrifera, the plant whose pith furnishes
what we somewhat perversely call " rice-paper," is peculiar to Formosa, " a fact
not generally known." He notes that the lofty eastern mountains of the island,
catching the rainstorms of .the Pacific, make it " a sort of umbrella for the eastern
coasts of China" ; and that the detritus constantly washed down from them bids
fair some day to unite the island to continental Asia.
Tamsui and Ke-lung have been a good deal before the public since the
" Marchesa's" visit, in connection with their occupation by the French ; and it is
not, therefore, necessary to quote here Dr. Guillemard's account of them and their
environs. On the whole, he considered Formosa " a very good country to live out
of;" and gladly departed for Liu-Kiu (which we used to call Loo-choo).
His researches in that archipelago were such as may best be dealt with by our
"chum" Society, the Anthropological. The Islands, he says, "still remain an
almost virgin ground " in respect of natural history ; and he brought no specimen
out of them to speak of, except a "large and beautifully iridescent shell {Avricula
Micropteron) very rare on the Island, and greatly valued for its beauty." Bird
life appears to be exceedingly poor in Liu-Kiu. Of plants he notices pine trees,
pink lotus, and "feathery fronds of the tree-fern." It is not easy for the reader
to guess whether this Jast is the same plant noticed a page or two further on as
** the stiff-looking Cycaa." At any rate, this last is extensively planted, for what
purpose we are not told.* The other vegetation mentioned is all sub-tropical.
The Islands, at the time of the "Marchesa's*' visit, were passing under Japanese
dominion, and will probably soon cease to be terra incognita.
She sailed from thence to Japan, and here again we have reason to be grateful to
Dr. Guillemard for judicious abstention. He really only bestows a line and a
half upon the " mousmis " ; and a page and a half on the whole country ; and
leaves the reader to learn " all about it" from the works of people who have seen
something more than the hackneyed excursion routes ; reserving himself for the
almost unknown glories of Kamschatka. With these he made his first acquaintance
at Petropaulovsky in Avatcha Bay, memorable chiefly for the fiasco of the naval
expedition undertaken against it by the French and English in 1854.
• Probably Sago.
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208 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
The result of their combined action is still traditionally recorded in the navy in the
words of a sailor, too forcible, unluckily, for publication virginibus puerisqite.
At any rate, they got well beaten, but returned next year, and destroyed the
place, which the Russians, with their characteristic strategy, had meanwhile
abandoned. Dr. Guillemard thinks Avatcha Bay "one of the finest harbours
in the world, if not ** actually the finest; " but the town of Petropaulovsyk had
not at the time of his visit, recovered from its desertion and destruction ; and
was simply a poor undefended /ur-trade settlement. Fishing and shooting were
good, and amongst other birds our author notices (and figures) two very quaint-
looking sea-fowl, the Whiskered Puffin {Lunda Cirrhata) and the Tufted Auk {Simo'
rhynchus cristatellus). In the latter the frontal crest curves forward ^ giving a
strange air of martial swagger to this peaceable little water-fowl.
Ashore, the most remarkable and abundant mammal was the sledge-dog ; who
outnumbers humanity, in Kamschatka, by about 400 per cent., and is so far
master of the situation that '* owing to his rapacity, it is impossible to keep sheep,
goats, or any of the smaller domestic animals, and Kamschatka is one of the
few countries in the world in which fowls are unknown. " In mitigation it has
to be observed that except when actually at work, these dogs are never, or
rarely, fed ; and, instead of having kennels, are reduced to burrowing for shelter.
"A dog'« life," says Dr. Guillemard "is here most appropriately realized." To
prevent the dogs, when collected for work, from quarrelling, they are picketed one
to each foot of triangles of poles arranged like piled rifles ; and this although the
males are subjected, as pups, to a pacificatory operation.
A party from the "Marchesa" undertook to march overland from Petropaulovsky
to the Kamschatka river, and descend the latter on rafts, floated on dug-out
canoes of poplar wood ; and accomplished this exploration with success. Their ac-
count of the interior is, in shorfc, that" every prospect pleases, and only man is vile,"
especially when well crossed with Russian ; the aborigines being, comparatively
civil and honest. It is quite clear that the game was not worth the candle, and
that nearly all they saw worth seeing could have been better got at by ascending
the river from its mouth in their own boats.
They shot one bear and one sable (out of season), many ptarmigan, doubtfully
identified as Lagopus albus (no specimens were preserved). Ernes {Haliaetus
(dbicilla) Phalaropes (L. hyperboreus) and ducks, which our author does not
specify, though he appends a list of Kamschatkan birds, borrowed, with due
acknowledgment, from Dr. Leonard Stejneger.
Of the ducks, however, Dr. Guillemard tells us one thing; a new way of
cooWm% i\iQr[i h la kamschathaine, which he recommends : — "The bird is plucked
with care, so as to leave the skin unbroken : and is not drawn. A stick is thrust
down the throat, and the other end stuck into the ground close to the fire. The
effect produced when a party of a dozen are thus cooking their suppers is not a
little absurd ; it is as if the camp-fire had burst into a perfect girandole
of naked ducks, who fly quacking from it in open-mouthed alarm." The party
saw, but did not obtain, the fine sea-eagle of Pallas {Thalassaetus pelagicus). But
the most interesting record of their journey to the naturalist is the notice of the
strange and numerous Salmonidse of the Kamschatkan rivers. The number of
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BOOK NOTICE. 209
these unhappy creatures is one of the marvels of nature . In a branch of the Avatcha
18 inches deep, '* hundreds were in sight, absolutely touching one another ; and as
we crossed the river our horses nearly stepped upon them. * * They were for the
most part foul fish * * *, but others in good condition were to be found , and with a
little trouble I was able to pull out three good ten-pound fish in as many
minutes with a gaff. Any other method of fishing would have been useless."
A native present ** went a little way up stream, and soon returned with half a
dozen fish, which were a great improvement upon our own selection j for I can
apply no better term to it. * * * The traveller goes down to
hook his supper out of the stream as naturally as he gathers the firewood to boil
his kettle."
The Kamschatkan population, human and canine, live chiefly on salmon, and
during the summer so do the bears, and in winter horned cattle are foraged on
them. This last curiosity in farming is known in some other countries, and we
in India have seen milch and draught cattle fed on worse things. All the efibrts of
man, beast, and bird have no material efi^ect upon the numbers of the fish, and the
proportion consumed by all enemies is nothing to that which perishes from starva-
tion, shipwreck, or disease, and lies in rotting heaps by the banks of almost every
stream.,
The commonest species is Salmo Proteus, KamachatUch, " Garbusa,"
which, says Dr. Guillemard, signifies " Hump-back," and certainly ought to.
This fish starts in life with a good figure and a fine silvery complexion, set off by
a few spots on his tail; but even before spawning his back begins to get humped,
the natives say from the effect of his efforts in ascending the stream (which
can scarcely be accepted as causa vera et sufficiens). At the same time his snout
turns down and his chin turns up, and as a '* kelt '' he is the very Punch of the
waters, while his coloration, livid, irregularly blotched with blood red, is rather
that of a Clown. This is the most abundant species and least esteemed, thought
eatable enough when "fresh run." It is chiefly used to feed dogs (and sometimes
cattle), and runs to about 15 lbs. weight.
The largest and best fish is the " King Salmon," or " Tchervitchi," which attains
a length of four feet and a weight of 60 or 60 lbs. avoirdupois, and is said sometimes
to exceed these dimensions.
Dr. Guillemard mentions several others, and is rather perplexed about one, called
Gultzi, which appeared to him to be a large char. The name is ascribed by several
writers to a true Salmon {S. callaris), and is probably loosely applied by the natives
to two or more species. One Kamschatkan Salmon ( Onckorhynchus lagocephalus)
turns bright red all over in the ** kelt " stage, i. e. after spawning. Another, the
" Kisuchi. " (Onckorhynchus Sanguinolentus), is so fat that the natives " try out"
the oil by putting heaps of the fish in a canoe beside a bonfire, with water quant,
suff., and dropping red hot stones in till the water boils and the oil rises to the
surface. The civilization of this Russian dependency must be rather low when
the inhabitants are reduced to this very primitive sort of cauldron close to navig-
able rivers.
The " Marchesa's '* shore-party made a survey of the chief of these, the Kams-
chatka, and recorded some observations about the fine group of volcanoes near its
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210 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
mouth, very well worth reading, and well illustrated from their photographs. The
ship dared not cross the dangerous bar, though a Swedish -schooner drawing
10' 6* had lately done so with some danger, bumping once or t^ice, even at
high water. " It appears," says Dr. Guilleinard, "that there is only one tide here
in the 24 hours," a thing about which a seaman would like more positive informa-
tion. The " Marchesa," however, had had enough of the place, got her *• liberty-
men " on board, and stood away for ** Bering " island.
Dr. Guillemard tells us that this, and not " Behring,'* is the proper spelling of
the name which that unlucky navigator has left to the island in question, as well as
to the more famous straits. It and a neighbouring one called ** Copper Island''
are the westernmost of the volcanic Aleutian chain that locks in the north angle
of the Pacific. These two belong to Russia, and are called, together, the Koman-
dorski (Commander) Islands, that having been the naval rank of poor Bering
when he perished miserably on the larger, half-buried before the breath was out
of him.
Most of the time of the ** Marchesa's " party was taken up in interviewing the
fur-seals, or sea-bears {Callorhinus ursinus) ; but the natural history of this animal,
and the fashion in which he is preserved and slaughtered, are not only hackneyed,
but in many details little short of disgusting. One thing Dr. Guillemard records
which is not in the newspaper accounts of the Sealery, videlicet, the young sea-
bears are bom with their eyes open. Also he met here Dr. Leonard Stefneger
engaged on the natural history of the islands. The most valuable result of his
researches had been the collection of many bones of the extinct sea-cow {Rhytiu
Stelleri), and of some data bearing on the very recent colonization of these vol-
canic isles by the continental fauna and fiora. He thought that the evidence quoted
by Nordenskiold as to the survival of Rhyiina to within late generations was
untrustworthy.
From Nikolsky, the capital of Bering Island, the " Marchesa " sailed to Cape
Shipunsky, in Kamschatka, to hunt walruses and wild sheep {Ovis nivicola); with
the former she did little good, the shore having been harried by the Swedish
schooner already mentioned, and the carcases left lying on the rocks, effectually
debarred the survivors from landing. Now walrus hunting t» the water is no di-
version for amateurs. With the sheep the landed party did better, surroonding
many on a lofty promontory, where they shot or drove over the cliffs no less than
nine in one day. These sheep closely resemble the American " Bighorn " {Ovismon-
tana\ and are fine brutes, some exceeding 40 inches at the shoulder, with a length
of five feet and a half, and horns 85 inches long outside the curve.
Dr. Guillemard gives reasons for maintaining the distinction of the species, by
some identified with the nearly allied 0. montana. They have one merit consider-
able in a sheep, very good mutton. A few seals, resembling Phoca vitulina, were
shot here, after which the " Marchesa " returned to Petropalousky, and sailed
thence to Cape Lopatka to get sea-otters {Enhydra lutiis). They got two skins,
and the canoe, bow and arrows used in the chase of this rare animal. The canoe'
was like an Esquimaux kayak in form and construction, made of skins of the
tea* lion (Eumetopias) on a wooden frame, covered in, and further protected by a
loose petticoat- shaped circular apron tied under the arms of the paddlers. One
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BOOK NOTICE. 211
of these canoes can be lifted with one hand (though they hold three men) ; and in
foul weather (as they always cruise in company) they are made fast to each other
by means of paddles seized down athwartships, forming a pretty sea- worthy sort
of catamaran.
The bow is mentioned as of '• tough wood," un-named, strengthened by an outer
longitudinal bracing of plaited hide such as is used by the tribes on the American
coast of the same sea to make up for the want of toughness in the coniferous woods
on which they have to depend. The arrow is of wood, with a long socket of
walrus ivory, which loosely holds a barbed copper head, made fast to a lanyard of
plaited sinew coiled on the shaft, very much as in the fishing arrows of our own
Bhils. The feathers are " rifled," i.e., set on spirally to give a spinning motion to
the projectile ; a practice which is reported to exist, or to have existed, amongst
aome tribes in the north-east of the Indmn peninsula.
From this point Dr. Guillemard, with his usual discretion, gives us a mere
precis of the " Marchesa's " movements in well-known waters, till we rejoin her at
anchor off Lamery, in the isle of Luzon, 40 miles south of Manilla. Near this place
is the lake of Taal, mountain-girt, and probably an extinct crater, 15 miles long.
In its centre rises a mountainous island 2,000 feet high, on the top of which is an
undoubted crater-lake a mile across, Q he ** Marchesa" stayed only a few hours,
and sailed for the Sulu sea. Passing the little isle of Bancoran, it was observed
to swarm with big white " nutmeg pigeons" (Myristicivora bicolor), which tempted
the travellers in vain. Time pressing, they proceeded on their voyage to Cagayan
Sulu. This island lies pretty well in the centre of the Sulu sea and clear of the
other islands known by the same name ; it acknowledged the suzerainty of the
Sultan of Sulu, subject always to the necessity of submitting to that of Spain,
whenever and so long as enforced by the arms of that power. This seems to have
been the condition of politics throughout the Sulu group at the time of the
" Marchesa's" cruise, viz., 1883.
Dr. Guillemard thought he had never seen a tropic island " more captivating
than Cagayan Sulu." The party explored it for several days ; especially a strange
chain of three crater-lakes, side by side on the south coast. The sea has broken into
the westernmost and largest lake, Jiwata ; but the entrance is only about a cable's
length across and 3 feet deep, though inside there is 55 fathoms. It is also partly
barred by an islet, a remnant of the crater's rim. The other two lakes contain
fresh water ; and it is impossible to look at the plan and sketch, illustrating Dr.
Guillemard's account of them, without hoping that a civilized engineer may some
day have the chance of cutting through the coral barrier and lava-bar of Jiwata ;
and turning it into one of the sweetest little harbours in creation ; with a good water
supply cl'jse by. Until that happens, however, there is a good harbour available on
the north coast, discovered by our voyagers, and somewhat prosaically chris-
tened by them "Yacht Bay." It has a sandy bottom, and 15 fathoms water;
but is not further described in the work under review. *' Animal life ap-
peared singularly meagre" in the island; but they got a new Mixomis;
a large and very rare fruit-pigeon {Carpophaga Pickeringa); and some better known
birds. The mammals appear to be rats and one monkey, the " krah" {Macacus
eynomolgus) a common Bornean species.
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212 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Here there is a gap in the narrative, which is practically resumed at Meimbun,
in the island of Sulu proper. Here they made acquaintance with the Sultan,
whose authority is apparently nominal, and with many birds, ineluding a green
parrot {Tanygnathus burbidgei), peculiar to the Sulu Isles ; and an almost new
sun-bird {Cinnyris juiice) discovered in Mindanao by the ** Challenger's" party. A
white cockatoo {Cacatua heematuropygia) has the under-iail-coverts and vent
scarlet ; a single rose-coloured feather forms its crest ; and it is, says Dr. Guil-
lemard, " perhaps the commonest bird." Fancy a country where ** the commonest
bird" owns such a figure and coloration as this cockatoo, and is also good in pie I' .
The Spaniards had a fortified port in the north of Sulu, which is marked by that
name in our charts; but they called it Jolo. Either name is preferable to one now
happily obsolete : " Soog."
It does not appear to be a pleasant place, and gentlemen walking outside the
palisades without escort are apt to get their heads chopped off with a ** parang.'*
This is a common word and weapon throughout the Eastern Isles ; but the Sulu
pattern, which Dr. Guillemard figures, deserves special notice. It very much
resembles a Ghorkha "kukri" out of curl; and still more the curious short sword
shown in some of our Indian Buddhist paintings and sculptures ; which has some-
times, owing to the indistinctness of the latter, been compared to the short broad-
sword of classic warfare.*
Besides their eternal war with the Spaniards, the natives of Sulu are engaged
in continual local, tribal, and individual feuds ; and our author thinks that most
of them would die in their boots if they had any. All parties treated the
"Marchesas" as neutrals^and guests; but on one occasion one of them, probably
mistaken for an " orang Castillan," (Spaniard) was actually stalked by a native
with a ** parang," whom, however, his countrymen undeceived and quieted. The
principal wild mammal of the island seems to be the pig (species not noted); and
the Sulus showed our voyagers good pig-sticking. Of game birds they seem to
have noticed chiefly Gallus bankiva, (the universal Jungle-cock of the farther east
and probable ancestor of our Game fowls) and Excalfactoria chinensis, which
Dr. Guillemard calls a button-quail ; wrongly, of course, (if he has rightly identi-
fied his bird) E. chinensis is the *' Blue-breasted Quail " of Indian sportsmen ; our
button-quails belonging to the genus Turnix, which has no hind toe ; and as these
names were adopted by Jerdon, whose English nomenclature was as systematic
as his Latin, they have a right to stand. If size was the only thing to consider, E
minima^ the Dwarf-Quail of Celebes, would^put both the Indian birds, as well as
the present species, out of court. It is the smallest game-bird in the world.
Speaking generally, our voyagers found the fauna of the Sulu group to be Philip-
pine in character, and Dr. Guillemard attributes to the Sibutu passage, separating
them from Borneo, an importance, as a Zoological boundary little inferior to
that of " Wallace's" line at the Lombok Strait, at the other side of the Malayan
region.
• Vide for instance plate 37 of Fergnsson's Indian and Eastern Architecture ;
representing a relief from Amrawati ; and note that Amrawati was in constant
communication with the Malay Islands.
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BOOK NOTICE. 213
From Siilu the " Marchesa'' sailed to the territories of the British North
Borneo CompaBy, Brunei, and Sarawak. They were not able to visit the caves
where the edible swallows- nests are procured in such quantities as to form **by
far the most important" export of the country. Dr. Guillemard notes, however,
that the caves are not the only habitat of this swallow. He ** observed a couple
of nests built close together oa the face of a small cliff, barely 10 feet from the
sea-beach." He does not name the species, and no bird of the genus {Collocalia)
appears in his appendices. The party collected many birds, and a live ourang-
outang, but met with no particular adventure in Borneo, except that our author
found a bird as big as a goldfinch {Mixornis Bornensis) caught in the web of a
forest spider {Nephild) who, " though evidently somewhat deterred by his un-
usually large capture and the violent shakings of the web, showed no intentions
of flight, and quietly watched the issue of events close by." The masculine
gender is perhaps here misplaced. It is probable that no male spider, even of the
monstrous genus My gale, which Dr. Guillemard found reaching 3" by 1" in size,
could kill a bird. The female is the bigger, as well as better, half, among the
Arachnidse ; and in some species carries woman's rights so far as to kill and eat her
undesirable admirers.
Aftersome cruising in known waters the ** Marchesa," on the 9th August, anchored
off Sumbawa ; and entered on the study of the A ustralo- Papuan region, to which
that island belongs by climate and zoology, though the population is of the Malay
breed. The difference in landscape struck the travellers at once, everything was
dry, the jungle scrubby and thorny, and Euphorbias of two or three species
were abundant. In Bombay we don't require to go to the Papuan region for
these luxuries; but Dr. Guillemard had been for months in Malay proper,
and had come to feel that nothing but a rattan had any business to stop his way
with prickly branches. " The forest trees were unfamiliar, and owing to the
leaflessness of many of them, there was a remarkable absence of colour in the
landscape. Here and there only a Bombax caught the eye; its crimson flowers
conspicuous at the end of the bare branches. The prickly-pear was growing every-
where, and to judge from its abundance, must have been introduced into the
island many years ago. No rain had fallen for five months, and the heat and
dust were intolerable." From the above quotation it will be gathered that the
glories of Sumbawa are pretty much such as may be enjoyed by the aid of the
G. I. P. R., and without getting out of range of ice and pomplets.
The birds, however, were a little more interesting from the mixture of Indian
and Malayan forms; and one new bird, Zosterops Sumbaven^is, was obtained.
At Bima, in this island, the best shooting was about the town graveyard.
From Sumbawa the " Marchesa " sailed to Gunongapi (or fire-mountains), a
volcanic isle, where her collectors secured a new button-quail {proper) which they
called Tumia Powelli, after one of their party. They also noticed a species of
Borassus ; not so common, says Dr. Guillemard, in the islands further west, which
flowers but once, and dies immediately afterwards, like the bamboo and some
other big endogenous plants.
From Gunongapi they sailed for Macassar in Celebes, where they found " dress-
coats de rigueur, but a frock-coat or even a cut-away may be worn without
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214 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
a breach of decorum. '^ Tbwt compendium of Macassarian costume is, as Mr.
Mathew Arnold would stfy, slightly wanting in lucidity ; and our author saw
nothing of the '' incomparable oil, Macassar/' which is reported to be made of
the fruit of a tree very common about Bombay, the "horse-radish tree"
(Moringa pterygosperma, Marathic^ Shewga).
If there is no oil, however, there is lots of grog ; " Port, Madeira, Hollands,
and Bitters,*' and Manilla cheroots abound. '*Tbe ladies are far in advance of
their Anglo-Indian sisters "; for why, because they wear "sarongs" and
" Kibayas, " things which the present writer fears to discuss. But from the
context it would seem that if the Holland- Indian sisters advance much further
on this line, their progress will be something like that of the Irish sergeant's squad
" advance three steps backward, and dress by the gutter" ; a dressing-room
appropriate enough to any further change of costume in the direction indicated.
Amongst the Batavian disciples of Pantagruel and Lady Harberton Dr. Guillemard
picked up a new trick in his own trade, a prophylactic against cholera ; which at
any rate, sounds pleasanter than our old friend Mr. Hornaday's " fever-cure"
based upon strychnine at the rate of two ounces a week). " Float your liver, sir,
keep your liver constantly floating in champagne," was the prescriptioji of those
whom our author naturally calls " the wise Dutch."
He might also well call them the liberal and hospitable Dutch ; and they lent
the " Marchesa " good charts, the height of friendship amongst seamen. She
naturally, cruised a good deal about Celebes, and Dr. Guillemard admired
the Dutch colonial system, and compared it with English ways, which he considers
inferior. Leaving his generalisations on subjects clearly beyond his competence, it
is a pleasure to accompany him on his proper ground — amongst the birds. In Cele-
bes these are numerous and interesting, few more so than a dwarf dove (Ptilopus
melanocephalus), one of many such in the Papuan region, but distinguished by
shining gr^^ body and French grey head ; velvet black nuchal patch, bright
yellow throat and vent ; and under tail coverts of crimson. He also procured
Priottiturus platurus, a racket -tailed parrot, of a genus peculiar to Celebes and the
Philippines, and on the small island ofTalissetwo fine species of fruit pigeons
(Carpophaga) in which he noted the enormous power of gape (due to the peculiar
arrangement of the mandibles and quadrate bones) which enables these birds to
swallow entire fruits^ much bigger than their own heads. Returning to the main
island of Celebes, the " Marchesas " shot some Babi-rusas, strange pigs whose
extraordinary hornlike development of the upper canine teeth has earned their
Malay name. " Babi'* means a pig in Malay; and **Rusa" a deer. The latter
word we have adopted into scientific Latin as the name of a genus of which
the first specimens came from Malayana ; though its finest species, the Sambar,
is Indian.
They also got some pigs of a species unnoted, and had a great hunt for " Maleos,"
I.e., Megapodes, or "Brush-turkeys" {Megacepkalon maleo). These birds, which
sometimes weigh over 3i lbs. lay their large eggs in the sand of the sea-shore, like
turtles, at which operation our sportsmen surprised them, and found that if they
* The natiyes asserted that the Babirusa conld ascend trees (easy trees of ooarse)
and the^Marohesa'e" hunters aotoally saw one try to do eot
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BOOK NOTICE. 215
advanced with great speed and demonstration the' pdbr' "iurkeys" flew into trees
and sat there to be shot down in succession. But if slowly approached they ran
off into the jungle before giving a shot. The genus is A ustralo- Papuan, and
Dr. Guillemard agrees with Mr. Wallace in considering its extension to the Nicobars
as due to human agency. Another westernmost form was a brush-tongued lory
( Trichoglossus ornatus). The genus is strong in Papua and Australia ; and one
species (T. pumilus) is one of the various "love birds" of our aviaries.
The party procured two specimens of the Sapi-utan {Anoa depressicornis\ which
is not a monkey, but a forest-bull (as the Malay name implies); and left
Celebes for Ternate. Here, in the aviary of a Dutch District OflScer, they were
introduced to many Papuan birds which, at a later period of the voyage, they were
to see at liberty.
One of the strangest of these was the heavy Black Cockatoo (Microglossus
aterrimus) the only bird whose beak is strong enough to crack " kanari nuts" ; and
another the strangely vulturine parrot Dasyptilus Pecqueti, There were birds of
Paradise too, but no reviewer has space to quote the eloquence with which the
sight of these lovely creatures alive inspires the dullest traveller.
From Ternate the " Marchesa" sailed to Batchian and Obi ; where the thing best
worth mentioning, perhaps, was a racket-tailed king- fisher {Tanysiptera obiensis).
It is strange how this peculiar form of tail-feather hangs about the skirts of the
Malayan region, occurring in birds of very various diet and habit, from India to
New Guinea. Another bird peculiar to the group, Lorius, flavo-palUatus, was
' shot while feeding on wild figs. It is ** crimson and olive, with a splash of golden-
yellow in the centre of the back," whence the name. The Malay hunters carry
valuable spoil of this sort slung across their breasts, a good plan, as a light bird
80 carried would probably suffer little damage to its feathers.
On a small island called Bisu they obtained the Nicobar pigeon {Caltsnas
Nicobarica) which, says Dr. Guillemard, is generally distributed, yet jare, in the
Eastern Isles. Its somewhat helpless bulk and terrestrial habits (in accordance
with which its appearance is very gallinaceous) induce it to prefer remote islets
unfrequented by man and other predatory mammals.
In this group they got their first birds of Paradise, the ** Standard-wing"
{Semioptera Wallacei) ; the only Paradiseid found out of the Papuan Islands, as
restricted, and extremely aberrant from the rest of the family.
They also assisted at a deer-hunt, which seems to have been a scramble of many
men and *' pie " dogs; and saw sago being made.
On leaving Batchian, they touched at the desolate Weda Islands to shoot Nicobar
pigeons, and saw none, but got many other pigeons, including Carpophaga Myris-
ticivora " hitherto supposed to be confined to New Guinea and the true Papuan
Islands" (page 247) and described as of ** shining green plumage." It is not to be
confused with Myristidvora bi-color, mentioned on page 2 of the same volume,
which is mostly white and Borneau in habitat. They got a new red lory (Eos
insularis) ; and a fine coloured plate of him is the frontispiece to the second
volume. But the Weda isles have no anchorage, and the party had to re-embark,
and sailed for the New Guinea group. Here they remained until December,
collecting birds of Paradise chiefly; and other things too numerous to mention^
and then returned home by way of Sulu.
29
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216
BOMBAY NATUEAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
The book is throughout extremely interesting ; and about as well got up as any
book of its size and class has ever been. Many of the illustrations are extremely
beautiful, especially the studies of trees. There is a double-barrelled sketch of
jack fruit (Artocarpus iniegrifolia) at page 6 of the second volume; which for
truth and beauty is very much to be preferred to the living fruit; and has the
further advantage of not smelling nasty, as that does.
There is but one thing to regret about " the Cruise of the Marchesa," videlicet,
thab none of the ship's company seem to have thought it worth while to notice any
fish which did not lend itself to being *' selected" with a gaff out of half a yard of
water, except by eating it.
PROCEEDINGS.
List of contributions acknowledged at the Meeting held on 10th January 1887
omitted in the last number :—
Contribution.
Description.
Contributor.
2 Birds of Paradise .......
1 Monkey (alive)
1 Manura (alive) ,.
Shark Jaws
A Manaul Pheasant
6 Snakes
30 Lizards •
1 Hamadryad
Birds' Eggs
1 Octopus (alive)
2 Snakes
3 Bats
1 Dolphin
3 Snakes
Scorpion and Centipedes
A large collection of Fish
A collection of Butterflies
3 Eagles
2 Snakes ;
A collection of Plants
1 Cockatiel
1 Gazelle
A collection of Plants
1 large Turtle
1 Red Parrot
2 Snakes ..«
1 Snake
A quantity of Ooralines and
Marine Animals.
2 Jackals' Heads with Horns
Paradisea apoda ,
Macacns radiatns
Paradoxnrus mnsanga
Bombay Harbour ,
From Simla ,
From the Dangs ,
Do
Ophiophagns elaps ...
From Shevaroy Hills
Octopus vulgaris
From Alibag
Do.
Sotalia plumbia >
From Perim Island ..
Do.
From the Red Sea ..
From Afghanistan
From Persian Gulf ..
From Soinde
Gazella Bennetti
From S. India
Chelonia Virgata
From Singapore
From Eennery Island
From Alibag
H. H. the Maharaja|Holkar.
Mr. A. S. M. Ritchie.
Do.
Mr. Higgins.
Mr. H. W. Barrow.
Mr. F. Gleadow.
Do.
Capt. A. Gwyn.
Mr. Mahon Daly.
Mr. H. KiUen.
Mr. W. F. Sinclair, C. S.
Do.
Do.
Capt. W. Aves.
Do.
Do.
Ool. C. Swinhoe.
Mr. J. A Murray.
Do.
Do. ,
Victoria Gardens.
Do.
Mr. F. Murray.
Mr. J. C. Anderson.
Mr. M. Hakim.
Mr. F. Kirby.
Mr. W. F. Sinclair, C S.
Do.
Mr. F. JI. Davur.
MiNOE CONTEIBUTIONS.
From Captain Baffin, Captain Street, Mr. F. Kirby and Captain Gissin, B. N.
OoNTEIBUnONS TO THE LiBEAEY.
Magazine of Natural History, Vol. XVIII., Kos. CVII. and CVIIL, from Mr. H.
Littledale J Two Years in the Jungle (Homaday), from Captain Oonnopj Useful
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pROCBEomas.
217
Plants of the Bombay Presidency ( Dr. Lisboa), from the author j Journal of Compara-
tive Medicine and Anatomy, Vol. I. j Journal of the Brookeville Society of Natural
History, Nos. I. and II. i and Pi:oceedings of the Linnasan Society of K, S. WaleSy
Vol. I., Part III.
List of contributions acknowledged at the Meeting held on 7th February 1887,
omitted in the last number : —
Contribution.
Description.
Contributor.
1 Coco-de-mer
1 Bird of Paradise
3 Flamingoes
2 Tortoises (alive)
Ceylon Leaf Insects
1 Snake
A quantity of Shells
1 large Chameleon (alive)..
1 Wolf (alive)
2 Owls (alive)
Fresh -water Sponges
1 Eock-homed Owl (mount-
ed).
A quantity of Butterflies ..
A number of Rats ,
Carolines
A collection of Shells
Lodoicea Seychellarum
Paradisea apoda
Phcenicopterus roseus .
Testudo elegans
Mantis ficcifolia
Lycodon Aulicus
From the Andamans
Chameteo vulgaris ,..,
From Aurungabad ...,
From Neemuch ,
From Kurrachee ,
Bubo Bengallensis
From Raipur, C. P. ....
From Sholapur
From Bombay Coast....
80 Specimens
Capt. A. Moore, R. N.
Mr. Jamsetjee C. Jamsetjee.
Victoria Gardens.
Mr. W. S. Price.
H. B. Rear- Admiral
Sir Fred. Richards.
Mr. F. Kirby.
Sergt.- Major Webb.
Mr. F. Rose.
Capt. M. B. Salmon.
Mr. J. A. Murray.
Do. ^
Mr. J. A. Betham.
Mr. H. T. Silcock, C.S.
Mr. Framjee N. Davur.
Miss Etta Sterndale.
Minor Contributions.
From Mr. C. E. Crawley, Mr. W. W. Squire, Mr. F.D. Parker and Mr. W. J. Bssai.
Contributions to the Library.
Magazine of Natural History, Vol. XIX., No. CIX. Mr. H. Littledale.
List of contributions acknowledged at the Meeting held on 7th March 1887
omitted in the last number : —
Contribution.
Description.
Contributor.
A collection of Sea Shells ...
1 Stinging Bay
1 Cobra (alive)
1 Four-homed Antelope ...
2 Young striped Hyaena
(alive)
A quantity of Fish and Ma-
rine Animals.
1 Mounted Head of the Tahr.
A quantity of Shells
1 Kite (alive)
1 Snake's Skin
150 Specimens
Trygon Uamak
Ptyas mucosus
Tetraceros quadricomis ..
Hyaena Striata, from Am
raoti.
From Alibag
Hermitragus Jemlaicus ..
Daboia elegans
Mr. G. A. Kittredge.
Mr. F. A. Little.
Victoria Gardens.
Do.
Rev. R. W. Metcalfe.
Mr. W. F. Sinclair, C. S.
Mr. H. Bicknell.
Do.
Mr. J. S. Agran.
Mr. G. F. Sheppard, C. S
Minor Contributions.
From Mr. R. Baumbach, Captain Bishop, Mr. V. St. J. Cabral, Mr. J. C. Anderson,
Mr. H. E. Andrews and Mr. R. Hemming.
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218
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Contributions to the Libbabt.
Bulletin of the California Academy of Science, Vol. 11., No. V; Record of the
Geological Survey of India, Vol, XX.; Verhandhengen des Zoologisch Botanischen ;
Gesellschaft ip. Wien XXXVI., Band III., IV. Quartal; Journal of Comparative
Medicine and Surgery, Vol. II., No. I. ; Life of Frank Bnckland (Bompas), by Mr. E.
C. K. OUivant, C.S.; Sport in India (Aberigh-Mackay), by Mr. J. A. Murray; Annate
and Magazine of Natural History, by Mr. H. Littledale.
Exhibits.
Mr. G. W. Vidal, C. S., sent a collection of snakes on loan, consisting of 40
speciments ; Mr. E. L. Barton exhibited a rug made by him out of 15 Afghan
fox skins.
Mr. H. M. Phipson announced that through the generosity of a dozen of the
members, the Society had been able to purchase, for the sum of Rs, 150, the splendid
pair of Ovis Polii horns which had been exhibited in their rooms.
The usual monthly meeting of this Society was held on Monday, the 4jth April 1887 ;
Dr. D. MacDonald presiding.
The following new members were elected :— Major R. C. Graeme, Mr. R. A. Willis,
Mr. A. J. Haslam, A.V.D., and Mr. B. W. 0. Thompson.
Mr. H. M. Phipson, tfhe Honorary Secretary, acknowledged the following contribu-
tions to the Society's collections : —
Contributions during March 1887.
Contribution.
Description.
Contributor.
60 Birds' Skins
1 Rock-homed Owl (alive).
A collection of Birds' Eggs.
1 Double-barrelled Rifle by
Daw.
1 Bat
A quantity of Corals
1 Ostrich
1 Black Buck
1 Monkey
1 Indian Screech Owl (alive)
20 Crocodile Eggs
Several Snakes
1 Snake
2 Sambur Heads
3 Snouts of Saw Fish
1 Snake
1 Owl (alive)
4 Young Dolphins
A quantity of Fish and
Marine Animals.
A quantity of Lizards, Snakes
and Scorpions.
1 Fish (mounted)
From Dharangaon
From Hurda, 0. P
392 Specimens
Originally made for Major
John Jacob, C.B.
From Mozambique
From the Labcadi ves
Strix Javanica
Crocodilus Palustris
Chersydrus Granulatus ..
P, Antiquorum
Tropidonotus Plumbicolor
Strix Javanica
Neomeris Kurrachiensis ..
From Alibag
From Burmah
Barbus Malabaricus (10|
lbs., caught at Poena).
Mr. Q. Hampton.
Mr. B. W. O. Thompson.
Mr. H. M. Gibbs.
Do.
Capt. Frohawk.
Mr. M. C. Turner.
Victoria Gardens.
Do.
Do.
Mr. J. Malcolm.
Mr. E. L. Barton.
Col. Kincaid.
Mr. T. Bromley.
Mr. E.T.Leith.
Do.
Dr. Gaye.
Mr. 0. F. Davar.
Mr. W. F. Sinclair, C.S.
Do.
Mr. A. T. Webb.
Mr. H. M, Phipson.
Minor Contbibutions.
From Mr. H. T. Hatch, Captain F. B. Peile, Mr. H. Tootill and Mr. Percy Bena.
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PBOOEEDINOS.
219
Exhibits.
Mr. £. L. Barton exhibited 3 heads of Sambnr, NeUghai and Panther, monnted
by him for members of the Society np-country. Mr. H. Bicknell also exhibited
a handsome mg made of the skins of the Silver Fox.
CONTBIBUTIONS TO THB LiBBABY.
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. IV., Part II., No. IV. ; Proceedings
of the Linnssan Society of N. S. W., Vol. I., Part IV. ; Notarisia (of Venice) Nos. I
to V. ; Magazine of Natural History, Vol. XIX., No. III., from Mr. H. Littledale
In the place of the ordiaary monthly meeting, on 2nd May i887, an exhibition of
orchidSj liUes, hegonias and other choice plants was held.
The following are the names of the Exhibitors : —
Mr. W. J. Best.
Mrs. Douglas.
Mr. A. S. Panday.
Mr. M. 0. Turner.
Mr. J. K. Johnson.
Mr. Ohubildas Lulloobhoy.
Mr. Oowasjee Dady Limjee.
Mr. D. M. Slater.
Mr. Walter Lang.
Hon. Mr. Justice Birdwood.
Mrs. Chambers.
Victoria Gbrdens.
Mr. Furdoonjee Merwanjee Banajee.
Mr. N. S. Symons.
Mrs. Grattan Geary.
Mr. L.R.W. Forrest.
Mr. H. Knott.
Mr M. E. Wyer.
Thebs was no Meeting in the Month of June.
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JOURNAL
OP THE
llatmial listoiig ^041%
No. 4.] BOMBAY, OCTOBER 1887. [Vol. ii.
WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA.
Part IV. — Gujarat — {continued.)
(Bfj a Mfimber of the Society.)
The seas of Gujarat, as has been shown above, resemble towards
the south those of the Konkan; and northwards belong to the
Sind maritime region, so I need spend no time or ink on them.
In the freshwaters, as hitherto, the only important mammal is the
Otter (Lntra nair). In the matter of birds, the difference between
these waters and those hitherto dealt with is very great. We
have here got to the edge of the tropical region, and while we
have nearly all its Indian forms, the cold weather brings us many of
the Palaenrctic birds.
Of the Aquatic Raptores, the chief is the Ring-tailed Sea
Eagle, Ealifjietus fulviventer (leucoryphus) , closely followed by the
dsprey. The former certainly breeds here in the rains, but T have
not found an Osprey^s eyrie. The Ring-tailed Eagle preys at certain
seasons at least as much on water-fowl as on fish, its chief victims
the countless bald coots, being much inferior both on the wing and
ia the water to ducks, are a comparatively easy prey; and I have
seen, on an island of the Nal, a space of many square yards strewn
six inches deep with their feathers, around an old acacia which the
eagles used as a dining room, or as falconers call it, a '^ block.'^
The Osprey, on the other hand, seldom touches feather.
30
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222 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTOEi; SOCIETY.
The Brahminy Kite, a bird much less restricted in matters of
diet than his human godfathers, is also abundant ; and Spilorim
cheela is found in the eastern woodlands, often near water, but by
no means confined to its neighbourhood. The birds of prey of
this region seem to require a little more attention than they have
hitherto received, but I do not myself think that they will be found
to include any forms not found in either Khandesh or the desert
region. I have not met with the grey-backed or the white-tailed
Eagle on the freshwaters.
Limnaetus Cristatellus is not uncommon in Eastern Gujarat, hut
in spite of its watery name it is not a water eagle but essentially a
forest bird.
One fish Owl {Ketupa) occurs in the eastern streams, probably in
greater numbers than might be supposed from the scanty records
as yet published.
The Great Blue Kingfisher. (JGT. Leticocephalus) haunts similar
waters. The other two Blue Kingfishers (R Smyrnensis and Alcedo
Bengalensis) and the Pied Kingfisher (Ceryh rudis) abound, but
the region is not generally favourable to the rarer species that belong
to or approach the Malayan fauna.
Of Cranfes we have three. The huge Sams is a permanent resi-
dent, and a familiar object, as few people ever molest him. In one
flock of these cranes which I had repeated opportunities of watching,
there was a half-grown bird who used often, and of his own accord,
to swim short distances. The common and demoiselle cranes are
cold-weather visitors, coming in huge flocks, especially to the north-
western plains. They roost in great numbers in certain marshes on
the edge of the desert; and as they fly eastwards in the early
morning over the cultivated lands, they seem like an aerial army
with banners and trumpets. Each corps keeps clear of its neigh-
bours, but the whole army advances almost in line, and sometimes
the flanks are out of sight on each horizon. But the whole force
seldom takes more than a few minutes to pass. These two species are
eagerly pursued, but generally take very good care of themselves.
All the southern species of Plovers are abundant here. Of
the more northern VanellinsB (or Lapwings proper), Chettusia gre-
garia, the Black -sided Lapwing, occur in small flocks, and Captain
Butler mentions the White*tailed Lapwing (0. leucura). Both the
'* Did-ye-do-its'^ are common; and both Stone Plovers occur in
suitable places, and breed. For the certainty of this, in the case
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WATERS OF WESTERN INDIA. 223
of the Great Stone Plover, I am indebted to Mr. Littledale's paper
in the fourth No. of this Journal. I have myself seen the bird all the
year round in this region^ under circumstances which induced me to
believe it a native; but I have nob got the nest. This, is by no
means my only obligation to Mr. Littledale and his collaborator^
Mr. Doig,
The Turnstone, Crab-Plover, and Oyster-Catcher occur on the
coast, and probably breed there.
The Snipes are the same as in the regions already treated of^
*^only more so/' or at least more of them. The Woodcock Wood
Snipe may occur in the Dangs.
The Black-tailed Godwit is common in the cold weather; its ally
the Avoseib Sandpiper, rather rare. Of the Curlews, the true curlew
is commonest on the coast ; the Whimbrel is far more so inland^ and
usurps its name in the sporting vocabulary of Gujarat. The Stints
are numerous, especially on the coast. One species {Tringa minida,
I think,) is fairly abundant in sandy river beds, even of moderate
size. For instance, I have found large flocks on the Wat-ak, near
•the famous tomb of the Sayads, above Mahmudabad. Small as
they are, the Stints are well worth powder and shot, being, for the
table, barely inferior even to Snipes. Sandpipers are very com-
mon ; the Greenshanks and both Redshanks hardly less so. Totanus
calidrisy in a few places, occurs in immense flocks, especially
towards evening, when scattered foraging parties unite, and fly
towards a common roost.
On one occasion, finding out their path to bed, I shot in a few
minutes enough to supply a large camp and might have killed
many more. The Stilt is common, and the Avoset not rare in
suitable places; but the great abundance of Ducks and Snipe causes
the sportsmen of Gujarat to overlook almost all other water-fowl ;
and tl^ey really know less about them as a rule than the shikaris
of less favoured lands, who, are obliged by necessity to be less
*' proudf ul," and know something about eatable " Snippets.^'
Of the Latitores, both Jacanas are common, and both breed..
The Bails and Water Hens are very numerous, and as yet by no
means worked out. I have little reliable information about them
myself. The Purple Coot and Bald Coot abound and breed. The
former, as seen strutting on the grass near the edge of a tank,
with the sun on its plumage, is a splendid bird, looking like a great
blue pullet. In hand, its size shrinks, the plumage seems rather
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224 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
sooty, and it is only second-rate as a table bird, and can take no
rank in presence of so many better birds as we find here.
Of the Cultirostres, we have the great Adjutant and the hand-
some " Jabira^' (Mycteria).
The European Stork is a winter visitor, the Black Stork rare,
and, as elsewhere, confounded with the black White-necked Stork,
which is very abundant.
The Herons are abundant. On one occasion I saw a bird which
I took at the time for An^dea sumatranay but the observation is
doubtful. The grey Purple Herons, the various white Egrets, and
the whole tribe of Paddy-birds, swarm in suitable places; the
European Bittern is not uncommon in the cold weather and at
least one little bittern still less so. Mr. Littledale mentions this as
A.flavicoUis, but it is probably not alone.
I have often seen various herons associated with crocodiles upon
(apparently) the most friendly terms, and once a white Egret
(H. minor) appeared actually to pick something ofifthe reptile's
side, probably a leech or some parasite.
The Spoon-bill is common, usually associated with the White Ibis.
The Glossy Ibis occurs in considerable flocks ; and the Black Ibis
in smaller parties, but more frequently. This bird is here often a
very foul feeder. The Pelican Ibis and Shell Ibis abound. The
three last birds all perch on trees ; but I have not seen the Glossy
Ibis do so ; and the White Ibis not often, except at night.
Of the true Natatores, the first is the Flamingo, which abounds in
places in the cold weather, remaining as late (occasionally) as June.
I have not, however, found it breeding. (Where does it breed ?)
The typical Wild Goose, A, anser, occurs in the cold weather,
especially in the north-western districts bordering on the desert
region. The flocks are infrequent, and usually small^ and the habits
of the bird appears to be rather nocturnal, so it is but seldom shot.
No other species of Anser (as restricted) has yet been recorded.
The Nukta or Black-backed Goose [Sarkidiomis melanonotus) is
common, and breeds. The other resident -4nfl;<i(^cB are the Lesser
Whistling Teal, the Cotton Teal and the Spot-billed Duck. This last
is commonly called in Gujarat a Mallard, and is, indeed, very closely
allied to the European Mallard, which may perhaps occur in Gujarat
as a rare straggler. I have not seen it there myself.
The Brahminy Duck is common enough, and stays late; but does
not, I think, breed here. The Sheldrake (Tadorna vulpanser) is
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WATERS OP WESTERN INDIA. 225
rare. The Shoveller abounds, but is here little esteemed by sports-
men, because of its familiar habits. It may commonly be seen
dabbling in dirty little puddles besides villages, almost as tame as
the Pea-fowl, and not much more particular in its diet.
The Pink -headed Duck of Bengal probably does not occur. The
Gadwall, Pin- tail and Wigeon are abundant; the last two in larger
flocks, and more locally distributed than the first. The common
Teal and Garganey abound, and the latter remains later than any
other migrant dack, quite up to the end of April and even the
beginning of May. The birds just named, with the Spot-billed
Duck and White-eyed Pochard are the ducks most commonly found
in the bag in Gujarat. I have shot the Marbled Teal in Gujarat
and Kattywar, but it is a rare bird. The Eed-crested and Red-
headed Pochards both occur; but being powerful and wary birds,
and affecting the wider waters, are less commonly shot. The Scaup
may occur as a straggler, and the Tufted Pochard is locally common,
especially towards the N.-W. Frontier.
The Merganser and Scaup are rare stragglers, as is the Crested
Grebe. The Dabchick is common all over India wherever there
is water. The Gulls and Terns, very abundant in some places, are
the same as those of the Sind region, and are mostly recorded by
Captain Butler. I am surprised, however, to find S, javanica not
noted as a Gujarat bird in his list, as it is not uncommon on the
Sabarmati or Ahmedabad river. I have not seen the Skimmer
{Rhynchops albicollis), but I think it has been obtained on the
large estuaries.
The Lesser White Pelican is not uncommon in the cold weather;
and I think that the European Pelican will probably be found to
occur at least as a straggler. The Grey Pelican is common, and
breeds. The rivers of Gujarat sometimes flood very rapidly, a sort
of wall of water pouring down the dry bed, and on the crest of
this, or little behind it, amidst a confusion of drift and muddy foam,
the Grey Pelican may often be seen, looking almost the spirit of
the deluge.
The Great Cormorant is rare, the lesser and little Cormorants are
common ; and the last a permanent resident, as is the Snake Bird,
Of all lands that I have shot in, Gujarat is the best for wild
fowling in a modest way. The number and variety of birds is
less than in many other places, but still sufficient to satisfy any
reasonable sportsman. The multitude of tanks, and the great variety
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B6MBAY KATUBAI. HI8T0BT 80CISTT.
in their size« enable a busy man to get a few brace of birds in an
hour's walk with little apparatus and arrangement; and this to a
resident sportsman is worth far more than the power of making s,
big bag at the cost of half-a-day^ and of preparations made as if for a
battle. The punt-gun is unknown^ and the natives^ luckily^ know
littlOf in most places, of snaring water-fowl.
Tbe aquatic reptiies and amphibia of Gujarat differ so little from
those of the provinces already dealt with, that no great notice of
them is necessary. Crocodiles (0. palustris) and freshwater turtles
abound. The Crocodiles eat the turtles and the turtles eat what-
ever they can get* Both attain a larger size in the great rivers than
in the standing waters. The jBshes> too, are much the same. I have
not myself procured Barbie tor, the typical Mahseer in this provincei
nor in Khandesh, which, as far as river-fish go, is a part of Gujarat,
though its water*fowl are those of the Deccan.
In those places in Gujarat where I have fished, the most sporting
Barbel was, I think, Barhus aarana, called by the natives '* Darai.'^
I have also often got the " Kaf ria,'^ a handsome fish, which I take to
be identical with the Konkan Mahseer, and have somewhat doubt*
fully identified with B. pinnauratua.
In the same way the occurrence here of Laheo rohita, the true
Boho or Rahu fish, is very doubtful. Its place seems to be taken by
Labeo calbasu and two other species, which, I think, must be i. fim-
Iriatus or Leschenardiii, and L. ariza; but I am not prepared to
speak with certainty.
Of the sea-fishes there is little new to say, except that in this
province you begin to get the Palla (Clupea ilisha) or Indian Shad
running up the great rivers to spawn.
If, however, the fishes of Gujarat differ little from those of our
southern waters in kind, they greatly exceed them in number. A
great many tanks are protected by those communities (very powerful
in Gujarat) which object to the destruction of life, and the weedy
deeps of the lakes form natural sanctuaries. During the rains the
flat and flooded country affords ample water-way to fry, and the open
waters are restocked from these reserves.
In consequence the number of fish is everywhere very great, and
the Labeos in particular attain a very large size, often exceeding
twenty pounds in weight. There is scarcely any part of the province
where one cannot get a little rod fishing of some kind; and in the
more rapid parts of the great rivers it is sometimes really good.
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WATERS OF WESTTBBir T^IA.. 227
Of freshwater Crustacea the prawn is apparently identical with
that of the Deccan and Konkan, but crabs are mnch less common
here than in those provinces ; I do not know why.
To make up for this to the birds and fishes, some of the fresh-
water molluscs (gasteropo5s) occur in vast numbers in particular
tanks and marshes, especially in the North-Western plains. The
TJnionidaQ, however, are not abundant, apparently sticking chiefly to
running water and open gravelly or sandy bottoms. Now few of the
tanks have sandy bottoms, tiuless occasionally in some one corner
end of the lakes; I think that the Nal of Viramgaum is the only one
that is not marshy or weedy all round. Accordingly, I have found
dead shells of a small ITnio on its beach. In the eastern streams
there seem to be the same two species as in the former provinces, but
they do not abound.
During the hot weather the water of some tanks and lakes is
afifected, by some cause unknown to me (probably the liberation of
gases from the mud), in such a manner that all kinds of fish rise
and float gasping on the surface, and eventually die in great num-
bers. I have described this phenomenon, as witnessed by me on the
Little Bokh (a lake of the Ahmedabad district), for the Report on
the London Fisheries Exhibition. The fish that die are left to
carrion fowl ; but those only moribund are captured in great num-
bers, and eaten without any ill result. I have repeatedly eaten
them myself, and found them in excellent condition. The cause
of death appears to be asphyxia, and not specific poisoning. I
have mislaid my notes, but to the best of my memory tlie Ophioce-
phali are not afi'ected ; neither is any aquatic reptile or insect. The
prawns do not frequent the tanks, and I do not think that the
" hot water,'^ as the natives call it, is ever observed on any river.
It is well known that many bottom fish can be much inconveni-
enced by the mere stirring up of the mud, as by the passage of
cattle or elephants through a muddy stream or tank, but I have not
been able to connect the phenomenon now described with anything
of that sort. It generally lasts for several days, but may be
confined to a small part of a tank without visible reason for the
restriction.
The freshwaters of Kattywar are not materially difierent from
those of Gujarat, except there are that no large rivers, few small
ones, and by no means so many tanks as on the main land. The
x)hain of lakes and marshes of which the Nal of Yiramgaum is the
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228 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
chief, lying on and often forming the boundary on the isthmns,
belongs as much to the peninsula as to Gujarat proper; the chief
difference between these provinces is geological, and outside of our
present subject.
The next peninsula (one might almost say island), the principality
of Cutch, belongs in most way to the region of the plain of the
Indus ; and must be considered with it. But its internal fresh waters
are unimportant. The characteristic hydrographical feature of this
part of the country is what we call the Ean, a great hollow separating
Cutch from the main land, which becomes at times a shallow and
brackish sea. Whether it has any peculiar fishes we do not know.
It might fairly be expected to have some crustaceans of its own, but
I have not heard of any, and have no personal acquaintance with,
that part of it lying north and east of Cutch. The branch called
the little Ran, extending north of Kattywar to the British frontier at
Patri and Kharaghora, does not appear to have any fishes, except
such as come into it from the surrounding country in flood-time,
all freshwater forms.
It may, however, fairly be hoped that the aquatic 'fauna of these
interesting peninsulas will hereafter be fully described by some
member better acquainted with them than I am.
Ficus retusa, Linn-
» sp
„ volubile, Dalz
Flacourtia Catapbrscta, Roxb..
„ inermis, Roxb
„ montana, Grah ...
„ Ramontchi, VEerit
,, sepiaria, Roxb
Flemingia Grahamiana, W. 4'
A.
MARATHI NAMES OP PLANTS.
WITH A GLOSSARY.
By Brigade-Surgeon W. Dymock.
(^Continued from page 198.)
5fj^ Nandrilik.
^i|T Ldngar.
^nftr Datir.
"SHpT Janjiam, rri'^3' Tambat.
ffi«4d Tdmbat.
BTTcrr Atak.
^TT^ K^ki, ^vs^ Bh^al.
BT^ Atrdn.
^\f^^ DaudanU.
sp.
ililtft Garang^ri.
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GLOSSARY.
229
Plemingia strobilifera
Fleurya interrupta
Flueggea leucopyrus
„ virosa
Foeniculam vulgare, Gdrtn*
Fraxinus Ornus, Linn» (Manna)
Fumaria officinalis, Linn^ ...
„ parviflora, Lam ..,,
Qarcinia indica, Choia
„ (pickled fruit).
„ (raw fruit) . .
Morel la, Desrouss,,,
,, (Gamboge) ..
ovalifolia, Hoolcf. ..
xanthochymus, Hookj
^T^i Bondar.
See Urtiqa interrupta.
See Securinega Leucopyrus*
See Securinega obovata.
*^fi^i?H Barishoph, ^ iiiioftT* Varydli.
^fW^R?r Shirkhist (impd.)
^IMtf Shdhterah (impd,)
fTTTTrrST Pittapapara.
^sibft or <Mi«ft<, Ratdmbi or Ratimbir, p^T
Bhirand.
«tJl«n*i Kokam, ^^^ Anisul.
idi«fr Ratdmba.
JTT^^^ Mavardkh.
^^^ ftlTT Revanchini shiri (impd.)
rT^^ Tavir, ^oS% Haldi.
^t?r or ^-g-, Aont or Aonsht.
Gardenia florida, Eoxb I 3T^Tf?T^ Anandrao, 3^ Ananta.
guramifera, Linn, /. f^JTT^ Dikemali.
,f latifolia, Jit
V „ lucida, Rox5
„ turgida, Roxb ....
Garuga pinnata, Roxb
Geissapsis cristata
„ tenella.
Gelidium sp. var
Gentiana lutea, Linn,
»> sp
Gerardina heterophylla, Dalz,
Getonia floribunda
Glinus lotoides
Glochidion lanceolarium
Gloriosa superba, Linn
Glossocardia Bosvallea
Glycosmis pentaphylla, Corr,,
Glycycarpus racemosus. ,
Glycyrrhiza glabra, Linn
Gmelina arborea, Roxb
Gnetum scandens, Roxb
31
qr| Pandru, Tfj^ Papiir, ^f^^ Ghogari.
i^%Jn?fl' Dikemali.
gnr^TT Kiirphendrd.
^FTNt^ Kankar, JT^^ Kddak.
^T^ Barki.
W^M««"«*fi Lahan barki.
f^t ^ra* Chini*ghds.
F^TrftaTRr Giuti^na,
S^Mm^l^t Guleghdfis (impd.)
'fl^ i^I^Irft Moti khajoti.
See Calycopteris floribunda.
See MoUugo hirta.
See Phyllanthus lanceolarius,
^^^\4\ Kalalavi, ^^^gr^TFT Kharyandg, f^
Indaye, ^IM^»<ch7 V%hchabkd.
ITtR;^ Phattarsiiva. G. linearifolia, Cass.
f^fx^K Kiraiir, ^^r^ Ratkdr.
See Nothopegia Colebrookiana.
^sIhvJ" Jeshtimadh.
^TTT Shivan, g-g^ Gdmud.
^55 Kdrabal, t^Bsi Umbali.
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230
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Gomphrena globosa, Boxb
Gossjpium Stocksii, Mast ...
„ var, ar-
bore nm
„ „ var. her
baceum, Idnn,
var. reli-
giosum.
Grangea madraspatana, PotV...
Grewia asiatica, Linn
„ Microcos, Linn
„ pilosa, Lam
ft polygama, Roxb ......
„ populifolia, FaA^
„ Balvifolia, Eeyne
„ tiliafolia, Fakl
Grislea tomentosa
Guarea binectarifera
Guatteria longifoiia
„ cerasoides
Guilandina Bonduc
Guizotia oleifera ...••
«mr^ ^^ Jaferi gdndi.
ir^ ^ T ^^ R^n-k^pdsi (JFild.)
itK^ ^rng^ HirgiSndi kdpdsi, qast or
^^ Palhe or Pal^.
^rrjjft" KdpiSsi.
Gymnema sylvestre, JR. Br.,
„ nepaulensis
Gymnosporia emarginata, Roth
^ montana
„ Rothiana, W,
Gynandropsis pentaphylla, PC,
Gynara nitida
Gynocardia odorata, 22. Br,
^^^KpTjftDev kfipusi,!nrtNr5fnr^ Eksheng
kdpilsi. Yields Nankeen cotton,
♦i^n^^r Mashipatri*
qro5^ Phalshi.
^ft^^ Shiral, ^H\^ Hansoli.
^ g^ Jt Khat-khati.
4^0^ Gauli.
irnft Gdngo.
fVfW Bibal.
ygfX^^ Dhiman, <||ioh«fl' Karkani.
See Woodfordia floribunda.
See Dysoxylum binectariferttm.
See Polyaltbia longifoiia.
See Polyaltbia cerasoides.
See Cficsalpinia Bonduc.
W{^^ Rdmtil, cfiiirfl^iV og Karlitil. G. abys-
sinica, Cass.
etT No i t Kavli, ^?^ Vdkhandi, ^
gR"^^!^ Kali-kardori.
See Anodendron paniculatum.
iT[^ Ingli, X^^ Ikari, ^j3^ Enkol.
HH^i^f t'^ Malkangoni.
if^TBft Ingli> l^r Ikari.
^65TT Tilvan, ^\WV^ Tilparni, ^J^
Mabli.
fff?r Dahan. ;
^Irtjftq r Chdlmogrd, 'qT i^a*^ Cbavalmdn-
g"-
Habenaria sp. var
Hagenia abyssinica, Willd,
Barailtonia mysorensis
^ ; y f r Mbenas.
^^ Ktisso.
x.».w*.vv,^*« .-v ^^ Gidasa. H. suayeolens, RoxL
Haplanthusverlicillaris, Aee*.. insrrrr Jbdnkara, ^PS^r BTT^T^ Kald-akar ,
^oSrf^^rfcT Kala Kirait.
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GLOSSARY.
231
Hardwickia binata, Roxb
Hebradendron Gambogioides..
Hedjchium coronarium, Linn
„ flavum, Roxb
,» sgaposum, Nimmo
n spicatum, Ham ..,
Hedjotis auricularia, Linn.
ff dicbotoma
9, Hejnii..
Helianthus annuus, Linn .
Helicteres Isora, Linn ,
„ „ (fruit)
fleKotropium Eichwaldi, Sieud
„ indicum, Linn,.,.
9, supinum
Helraia bulbifera
Hemidesmua indicus, R. Br...,
flemigyrosa canescensr
Thwaites.
Heraclenm Pinda, Balz
Heritiera littoralis, Bri/and
Herpestis Moaniera, H. B. 8t
Kth
HeteFopbragma ehelonoides...
n Roxburghli, D. C-
f, suareolens.
Heynea trijoga, Roxb
Hibiscus Abelmoschus, Linn
,y cannabinus, Linn.
,. esculentus
^f3f^R Nbaianjan, qpRft^ Pirsid.
See Garcinia Moiella.
^*f?^r Sontakkd.
^Hd*r Sontakka.
^iichMO Kapdrkachari {sliced rhizome)
(tmpd.)
^m^ Gaimaril.
See Oldenlaudia dicbotoma.
See Oldenlandia Hejnii.
grfir^^ Siirydkdnt, qjulcf r Hf ^ Sdrydkamal.
%^ Kevan, ^oRis't Varkati, ^pjofj DhA-
mani.
5^^^ Milrdrsheng.
ip^ ^^ Popat-bdti.
g?rRr»n7 Sdry^kamal.
^^ST^ Var^sdri.
See Dioscorea bulbifera.
^TT^rr^ or ^qTr^^nft" Uparsdl or Upalsdri,
^rfkm S^riva, BT^tT^o?, Anantamdl.
cRp$ Karpa*
f^^ Pinda.
gfSft" Sdndri.
^ Bimb, 5nx?rr^ Nirbrahmu
99 Fosa-sinensis ,...
„ SubdariflTa, litW. ...
,y tetraphyllus, Roxb...
„ tiliaceus, Linn
Hippion arientale
Hippocratea Grahami, Wight..
See Stereospermum ehelonoides.
^^ Varas, crfOTf P^nlag.
See Stereospermum suaveolens.
^t^ Tisdl, fk^T^ Limbdr^.
^^(\ ^^3T Kastdri-bbenda.
3t^^ Ambari.
^rPbenda. H. cancellatus, RoxB., var. escuw
lentus, Linn.
^iti«if Jasavand. H. floccosus, Mae^^ var.
rosa-sinensis, Linn,
f^rnr affTST L^l ambard, ^n*^ Pattvd,
^TT H^ R^n-bhendd.
%fyq'2T Belpatd.
See Enicostema littorale^
ij^tft Yevati.
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BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Hippocratea indica, Willd.,..
,. obtusifolia, Roxb. .
Hiptage Madablota, Gdrtn.
Holarrhena antidjsenterica,
Wall.
„ „ (seeds).
Holcus cernuus
,, gaccharatas
„ Sorghum
„ spicatus
Holigarna longi folia
Holostemma Rheedii, Spr, ..
Hordeum vulgare, Linn, ...
Hoya viridiflora «....
,, Wightii, Hook, /*.
Hvdnocarpus inebrians
Hydrocotyle asiatica, Linn.
Hygrophylla spinosa,
Anders.
Serpyllum, T.
Anders.
Hymenodictyon e^celsum,
Wall.
„ obovatum,
Wall
Dyoscyamus seeds
Hypoxis brevifolia
„ mnlabarica
„ orchioides, Gdrtn, ..,
Hyssopus sp ,
Ichnocarpus frutescens, Br,,.
cR'fg[?ft' Kajhiirati, ?TCNI' Taroli.
v j^Afl li Daoshir.
»n>Jrt^ Mddhvel, ^TOtO Bokh^ri, 9o5#T
Haladvel, ^T^fgrfn" Atimdkta.
^TT or HJSir ^^i Kura or Pandhrd 'EAiL
SK^fr^lT Kard indrajav.
See Sorghum vulgare^ var.
See Sorghum saccharatum.
See Sorghum vulgare.
See Pennisetum typhoideum.
^^nifl" Hulgiri. H. Arnotteana, H. /.
^^rgoffr Tdltiili, Ji^ Dddiirli, ftrff^ Shi-
dori.
IH" Jav, ^1^ YaTa.
See Dregea volubilis.
^ys(^ Dddhvel, ^0 Ambri.
cfvf^^S" Kardkavath. H. Wightiana, Bl.
^(J^ Brahmi, ^rR c ^F K^ringa, gRTft^*^ or
qX Kdrivand.
chK l d r Korata, ehr^^'^ l Kalsanda, H l fi^Hi^l^ H
Talimkhdua, rlTtT'RJjrn' Talmakhara.
^RrT^PT Rdn-tevan.
^ fogf ^ <i'i \ KdU-karvd, ^TOIry Bhorsil,
f%?7 or f^lsH" Danddl or Dand^li,
^T? Sirid.
?ir<Wr4V BHT^R Khordsdni ajvan ?#tTr^'
^nr Khordsani onvd (impd,)
f 2^{o^Musli, gir9?!'5^r9ft Kali-mdsli, ^^
j Kachuri.
gqnr ^I«fl<^ Zdfai-ydbis, {impd,)
t>^"Klft^ r Krishnasdriva, <iKi^ HT <^ Kante.
bhouri.
<See Strychnos Ignatii.
« rr R<*T t '^<5i fn' i Bddidnekhatai (iwpd,)
Isnatia amara
Illicium anisatum (fruit) ..
Impatiens acaulis, Am I rS^fHtli^l Lahdnterada
„ balsamina, Linn. ...| H'i^T Teradd.
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QLOSSARY.
233
Impatiens oppositifolla, Linn,,
Indigofera cordifolia, Heyne ,.
„ enneaphylla, Linn,
„ glandulosa, Willd.,
linifolia, Retz,
,f pulchella, Roxb, ..
I, tinctoria, Lm/i......
•> M (indigo.)..
., trifoliata, Linn
Inga dulcis
„ xylocarpa
lonidium suffruticosum, Ginp,
Ipomcea Batatas, Lam .,
Bona-nox, Linn,
„ campanulata, Don, ...
1, coccinea, Linn
„ coerulea
» it (seeds.) ,
„ digitata, Linn
„ „ (young tubers)
,, mnric3ita, Jacq
I) n (seeds)
,, peseaprse ,
„ Quamoclit, Linn .
I, reniformis, Chois,
,, reptans
„ sepiaria, Keen, ..
„ turpethum, Br.
„ vitifolia, Sw
Iris germanica, Linn. (root)...
„ Pseudacorus, Linn, (rhi-
zome.
Isachne elegans, Dalz
Ischeemum pilosum, Wiffht ...
'^g^T^ Sanmdkh-patri.
^•^chr Bechaka.
S^^ Bhuigtili,
^^F'^H^H^ Gavachd'malmandi, ^;§-
Barbed.
^T^rrft^r'R^^ Javdrichdmalmandi, q^f^U^Sff
Pandhardphal.
f^**"lit Chimnattii ^^r Nerdi.
Sff W^T Bhui tarvar.
?fte Nil, JTSst Gdli.
^chlfi^r Vekdriya.
See Pithecolobium dulce.
See Xylia dolabriformis.
^iiHHiiJ Ratanparas.
TPTTSg, Ratald, SFRfr or gf^ift Kangi or
Kongi, <rlH^«7 Ratanvel.
'^S^rfrf Chandrakant, 4it^xti<^ufl , Gulchdn-
dani.
^^oSf GaTali.
f^cfTT^ Ishkpecha.
'ft^S^l' Nilapushi. I. hederacea, Jacq,
chro6r ^Prr KaU dana.
2f ^rftoSr Bhuikohola, N<^ r <1^1 Vidarikand.
BT^f Asgand.
^O Bhauri.
^ftToSX ^r^ Kali dana.
»T^rf%t?r Maryddvel, JTSffftt^ Marjddvel. I
biloba, Forsh.
T^lAI^H Ganeshvel, ^r%%^ Sita cbeke's.
^^cRT'fl' Undirkani, BTT^cfT^ Akhdkarni.
TToSWI' *Tr^ Naliehi bhaji, TR^?^ Pdnvel,
I. aquatica, Forsh,
aTTT^ Amti.
M^RTli Nishottar, %T Ter, %rr^^ Shetvar,
^Irir^ Shetdr, ^^asR-fl" Phutkari.
'TR'^'^T^H" or ?rRolJt Navalichdvel or Nadli.
«ir^^«1^J^ir Bikh^banafsha (impd.)
m^m^^ Pashdnbh^d (imjpd.).
#^ Ddnd*
5Ttr Nath, 5T KiSad.
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BOMBAY NATTJEAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Ixora coccinea, Linn
„ nigricans, Br. ...
„ parviflora,^Fa^/.
J ambosa vulgaris
Jasminumangustifolium, Roxb
arborescens, Boxb..
aureum, JOon, ..
auriculatum,i2o»^..
„ elongatum
graadiflorum, Linn
latifolium
officinale, Linn ...
pubescens, WiUd...
,, Sambac, Aiton
„ (double var)
Jateorrhiza palmata, Miers,
(rooty
Jatropha Curcas, Linn
„ glandulifera, Boxb.,.
„ Manibot, Willd,.,
„ mnltifida, Linn ...
„ nana, Dah
Johnia congesta
Jonesia Asoka
Juglans regia, Linn, (fruit)
Juniperus communis, Linn,
(fruit).
Jussioea Tillosa
Justicia Adbatoda
„ Ecbolium ••••
„ ecbioides
„ G endarussa, Linn. /. ..
„ infundibuliformis,
Willd.
^, paniculata
„ picta, Boxb
^cKt^ Bakord, qa ^ JcA or m[^4Iq6 Pentgdl
or Pendgdl.
5F2'5^r Katkurd.
^^ Kdrat, Klf^KT Raikdra, Hr^il^flf^
Makrichejhar.
See Eugenia Jambos.
5t^rft Revati, ^RHnrn R^nmogra,
ar^ or jr^ Kiind or KiSndi.
Rr^oft l[t Pivalijui, 5^^ Sonjui-
^ Jai, ^ Jui.
^^aft Nevali, J. Roxburgbianum, Wall.
«^f^r«^ Cbameli.
^^ Ktisar. J. arborescens, Roxb. irar. lati-
folia.
^rnrSr Siyli.
ft^^r^nr Vikmogra. .
%rn Mogrd.
Si dHM T C r Batmogra.
^iWHSirraCir Kaldmkachari (impd.)
HRt*^n:# Mogbli erandi, ^srt^tT Jaipdl.
^(^tqi^^ JaiigU erandi, ^f^^fW Under
bibi.
^^TT^r^T^ Savarcb^yen.
f^^rf ij^ Cbini-erandi.
^gf^ Kirkdndi.
See Dolicbos biflorus.
See Saraca indica.
Vi%t^ Akrot (impd-)
3T^^ Abbal, ^^r^<Hi^^ Habelarbar (impd.)
x{\ w \ fjfiii\ Panalavenga. J . suffruticosa, Linn.
See Adbotada vasica.
See Ecbolium Linneanum.
See Andrographis ecbioides.
Rr^ Teo, ^J^x^ Bdkas.
a^f4t<?t Aboli, vulg. Vl^^ Aboli
See Andrographis paniculata.
evrrs* H^o6<di r Karad-addlsi.
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GLOSSARY.
235
Justicia picta var., nigricans..
„ procumbens, Nees* ...
„ trinerTia
„ -verticillata
Kalanchoe laciniata, D. C, ...
„ pinnata ••
Ksempfeeria galanga, Linn. ...
„ rotunda, Linn •.
Kydia caly cina, Roxh.
Kjllingia monocephala, Linn,,
Lablab vulgaris •
Lactuca Heyneana
„ remotiflora, D. C
,, scariola, Linn, var
sativa
Lagenandra toxicaria, Dalz,,,.,
Lagenaria vulgaris, Seringe, ..,
Lagerstrcemia indica^ W. ^ A ,
„ lanceolata, Bedd.
„ parviflora, Hook,.
„ reginse Retz
Lagera aurita, Schulte-Bip
Lallemantia Royleana, Bth>
(seed.)
Lampracheenium microce
phalum.
Lnntana indica, Rozb
Lasiosiphon speciosus, Bene..
Lathy rus sativus, Linn
Laurus glaucescens
Laonsea pinnatitida, Cass
Lavandula Burmanni, Benth.,
„ Stoechas, Linn
Lavrsonia alba, Lam
^\dtt\ ^^db^\ Kdld-adulsi.
^iRlfT^FrTTTTr Ghati pitpdpara.
gfTSiit
See Haplanthus rerticillaris.
tWN" Parnabij.
See Bryopbyllum calycinura.
4j>3<i<^ l Chandamdla, ^JfTfTW Chandhisa.
2f^P?rr Bhui chaphd, ^Ht^ Bhui.
champd.
^rrtT Varang, ^i^(T[^ Varangar, HlT^ Bhoti,
'll^rO' Potari.
Prft^ft Nirvishi.
See Dolichos Lablab.
4^l 41* ii< fl Sddimdndi.
^4ti«hl4t Undirkani.
grr^Kahti.
^r^^nrPT Vatsanabha.
gr^l^ffqo^r Kariibhopla, ^fT g^ Katiitiimbi,
a^f^AlabiS.
f%;ff H^ Chini-mendi.
g'rir^ Bondar, ^^ Kumbiyi, 9[t^{\
Bondagi, g^nir StikiUyi.
<^^RJ\>^i Lahdn bondar, <Sbc., &c.
rf JTT Taman.
j>4|fft jgfl' Jangli-miili..
a4*?<<i<J<l Tukmebdlang (impd,).
^r^lir^ Brabmadandi.
^["tft Ghaneri.. The foreign species bear
the same name.
^'^r Riimethd.
t^TT Lang.
See Machilus glaucescens.
aTt'rf^r Almiro, ^Xlf^ Pathri.
'ift^ Qorea, STT^JT^ft" Asmani.
^t^<3^ UstakhddiSs (impd,),
^J(^ Mendi.
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BOMBAY NATURAL HISTOBY SOCIETY.
Lebedieropsis orbicularis, MulU
Arg*
Ledebouria hyacinthoides
Leea crispa, Willd, ...*
„ h\TtB,,Boxb
„ macropbylla, Boxb
„ stapbjlea ...
Leersia aristata, iJoa?5 •....
Leonotis nepetsefolia, J5r
Lepidigathis cristata, Willd,...
„ grandiflora
„ prostrata, VaU,
Lepidium Iberis, Linn, (seeds )^
„ sativum, Linn
Leptadenia Jacquemontiana
reticulata, W. ^ A
Lettsomia elliptica, Wight . . .
Leucas aspera, jSp''
„ cephalotes, Spr, ...
„ longifolia, Benth. ...
„ stelligera, Wall
Limnanthemum cristatum,
Griseb
Lindenbergia urticsefolia, Lehm
Linum mysorense, Heytte
„ trigynum
„ usitatissimum, Linn. ...
Lip pia nodiflor a, Bich
Liquidambar orientalis, Miller.
(Storax)
Litseea lancifolia, Boxb
» polyantba, Juss
.„ sebifera, Pers
„ tomentosa, BerA
„ zejlanica, C ^ Fr*
Nees
Lobelia nicotiansefolia, Heyne,
m\(\' Qarari.
See Scilla hyacintboidea.
< r ^H^ r Haidind^.
^ » ch\iiM | Okjaugbd.
f^^ Dinda.
a^t35^ Althe, eriieh«ft Karkani. Leea
sambucin^ Willd,
^^XT Chauran.
HFrft^ Mitisdl, UHH l fA Biptnal.
^Y^i^^ f Bhuiterada, cfJic^*^ ^^^ Kolhech^
chdtar.
See Calacantbus Dalzellidna.
^^iTT Bakra.
tfftfr Todri (iwpd.) .
^H \ (^^ \ Asdliyd, 3Tfo5?T Ahaliv.
flffq* Kip. L. Spariium, Wight.
^r^T^M Baidori, Rt^T" Sbingdti, ?mT^t^?
Kharkhcri.
^fg^t^ Bondvel, %^rO Kedari.
«?T|fnTnflr Tburduribhdji.
H^ Tumbd.
Him Goma.
^p^ Buriimbi, ^TfTT Gomd.
J ^HK l Khatdrd, ^ijf Kdmdd,
it^ Dbol, 1T?T^ Gazdar,
tlj^ Undri, ^gst Bambdrti.
See Rein ward da trigyna.
^ob^H' Alashi, ^T^^ Javas.
^ fftR^^ r Rfttoliyd, ^^?r Vakkan*
n [ |<^ r W Sildras (impd.)
Zt^'^li Gdlcbai.
^rS ^ U Kdlejhdr, fqr^ or pRTTt^ Pisd or
Pisbal.
%^n^cfr^ Maidalakrf.
pcj cR m r Chikna.
gR-rq^t^ Kdnvel f%f%n' Cbircbiri..
S^oiy Dhaval, %^o? Deonal.
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0L08SAR?.
287
Lodoicea seychellarum, LaUU.
Lonicera Leschenaoiltiv WaU.
Lophopetalum Wightianum
Am
Loranth usamplezifolius'
u loagiflora8» I)««v^ ...
„ 8p« var„ a general
name for parasites.
LuflTa acutangala, Roxi. ...^
n 9> var. amara.
^'rhRT^ Daryai n<ral» ^nrO^lRar JTahari-
niral.
^ Hadf.
%FRrSBoIpiil&
^H^iofl Baingiili (Grah 671)*
ecliinata^ Roxh.
pentandra
LupiQus albus^ Linn, (seeds)
Ljcium europaeum, Ztnn
Lycoperdon praiense, Linn ..
Lygodium pinnatifidum, 5^r...
Maba nigrescens, Dalz^.
Macaranga Boxburghii.
Machilus glaucescens .
Meesa indica, Wall,^ ,
Mallotus philippiaensis, Milll.^
Malva sylvestris, Linn
>» M (fruit.) ...
Mangifera indica» Linn^
„ „ (dried unripe
fruit.)
„ >» (dried juice
of ripe fruit)
„ „ (seed)
Map pia oblonga, Mitrs
Marsdeuia tenacissima, W ^A . .
Marty nia diandra, Gloxin,,.,,,
32
^TVRTTcir Banddkpdshp*
^V^da.
^tm^ Gho8ili> ^nf Tdrai, RrTw Shiroli,
PH-*fl<?l>^ch1 Gilchidorki.
*hl4i^cfft Kard dorki, c|^^ ^M1 i^r rfl ^ Kard
ghosdli.
^^^nrt^ Deod^ngri, ^^^^^ KdkdrveL
^rmsst Ghos61i, TrcWfPirosi. L. regyptiaca,
MiU
ffHCpJ^ Tirmis (impd.)
iim Gdngro, f^Tf%n Chirchitta.
yHl^ Bhuiphor.
•5rR>rft Jiriveli, <j^il^^t<l ' Hansrdjvel.
<'^<lR>?r or inrST Raktarohida or RaktarorS.
'^t??rS' Chandvar, ^^ Chandar, ^rhfTT
Chanddr. M. tomentosa, Wights
Jfjyir Gdlamb, jr^Jir Kdrma. M. micrantha»
B^^ or BTR^ Atki or Atki.
^[)f^ Kapild, ^rf^r Kapitd, sirfjrt^ Kamila,
^H^ Rohin,
f^Rffsft Trikali.
q[^|ft Khdbdzi (impd,)
B^RT Ambtt, ^R Am,
9|^r^ Ambosi.
^T^irft Ambapdri, ^U«||^\|U Ambiy^-
ches^th.
a^f^Tfirr^ Ambabatha.
^JT Gur, ^^^l< Kalgiir.
^ Hab.
|%«^Vinchd.
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BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Mathiola iocaan, R. Br. (seed.)]
MatricAria Chamomilla, Linn
Malaleuoa ieucadeodron, Linn
(oil.)
Malastoma malabathricum,
Linn,
Melhania abyssinica, A. Bieh,.
Melia Azadirachta, Linn
Azedaracb, Linn*
dubia, Cav
„ (fruit).
Melilotas bamosa, Link, (pods)
„ parvifiora, D«s/.....
Melocbia yelutma, J3^(/(^. •••..
Memecylon edule, Roxb
Mengia tenuifolia
Mentha arvensis, Linn, (sweet
mint).
„ incanB, Willd. (Bombay
Peppermint)
Meriandra bengalensis, Benth.
Mesua ferrea, Linn,,,
Michelia Champaca, Linn,.,.
Micromeria stellata
Microrbynchus sarmentosus.
Milletia auriculata, Baker....
Millingtonia bortensis, Linn. J.
?ihft Todri (^mpd.)
m^ \ Bibdnd.
^r m»ij> Kayaptiti {impd,)
irr^ Pilord.
frnftBrdbri.
f^ or f?5ir Nimb or Limb, Sfr;^ Kard
nimb, iirS5^ Bdllirab.
dichi^^l Bak^yan, ^ Drek.
tk^Cm or fSfiiro* LimbarA or Nimbara.
5Rlb6|ia^< Kala khajiir, ^jtfra^ Karva
khajiir.
3T^f9n5^HH^y?fr Aklilulmalik {impd.)
^«r^PrsFT Vanmethika, f^ Zir.
I(t|r^ Maithori.
a^iPT Anjan, VX^^ YAlki, qg^ KArpa, St^
Lokbandi.
See Amarantus tenuifolius.
1
^2^^ Pddind, ^f\^\*\ Vatalav^
Mimosa bamata, Willd...,,
,y pudica, Xt'nn
„ rubricaulis, Linn,.
Mimusopis Elengi, Linn, .,
„ bexandra, Roxh.
„ Kauki, IrinTt
Mirabilis Jalapa, lAnn
Modecca palmata, Lam.
Molluga hirta, Thunh..,.
^^ Shesti.
^r^ l -JM r NAgcbampa.
f^TO?r "^nrr PivaU cbapbA.
ch^^d Karvat.
8ee Launsra pinnatifida.
(^^35 Jithiil.
5fWJ^%fJ5t Nimi cbambeli, a4|chl^l^7 ^^^
nimb.
3^*1:^17^ Arkar.
^ynrr^ LajaM, tTT^rfl' LAjri.
B^lf Arai.
^^ Bakuli, STlfoft Ovali.
^5^ Kerni, ?t5rT RAnjana XX^ Baini.
Bf^tT Adorn (of Goa).
n^ Sfs^ra. Gdl Abbd8,?gMr5irTsftSandhya
kAli, (Evening flower).
j^jt og Undal.
^S[V(^ Kothak.
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GLOSSARY.
239
MoIlagH pentaphylla.
Momordica Balsamina, lAnn..
,» Charantia» Linn...
>, Cytnbalaria, Fewi..
91 Axoicsi^ Roxb ,
Morinda bracteata
If citrifolia, lAnn. ...
Pf^ Jharas. M. stricta, JAnn.
*lt4i ^nfi" Kardlo-jangro.
2int?ft, ^rc%t^, sfrrofr, srkS, si^bt, ^ftirSf,
K^rli, Kirvel, Karti, KarW, Kar61o,OmbM.
^n^^ Kadavanchi.
*fc'Wrfl Karantoli, ch<dM Kartoli.
Hl^l**r N^kdrd. M. citrifolia, var., Linn.
a^TH Ala, ai^ or aTF3^ Al^ or Adla, ^c^t^
Bdrtondi.
BT^cfl' As^ti. M. tinctoria, Rawh. var.
^Rtnnrr or ^ir^r IWn-shegva or SWgat.
^TTT or %ir^ Shegat or Sh^gvi.
ip- Tiit, a?^ Ambat.
'ft^ $R^ Mothi-kdhilf .
^J^rfi" Ktihili, ^ ?ji^< t Kiint^kdyerL
'frrf^ ^raRjft* Qori-kdjeli.
Pttr^ Chiriiti.
Ijft or ^jft Supi or SdptL
^^ Kdnti.
fitrtn Jhirang, grftf%^ Kadhimmb, iil 4t \ A H
Gorinimb.
^^ Kaadir, iRJ^oa B&ikel, sr^^^
Kavdar
%W K61.
I ^^ or '^^^ Chavi or Chavin.
MossiBiula froiido8a.£,«« [ ^^ g^^^^^^ ^^^^ Lavasat, f^^r^tafT
Shivardoli.
chl^H»o6 Kayphal.
nsnrrsnrar RAn jaypbal, HTirar iWm-
9» tomentosa
Moringa concanensis, Nimmo.
n pterygosperma, Gartn
Morusindica, Linn
Mucana monosperma, D. C,
u pruriens, D.C ,
9» 9» (cultifated.)
Mukia scabrella, Am
Mundulea suberosa, Beni%.
Marraja exotica, W. ^ A..,
9, Ko&Qigii, Spreng...
Musa omata, Roxh.
Bapientum, Linn.
superba, Roxhy,
Myrica sapida, Wall
Myriatica malabarica, Lam
(seed)..
phal.
«hM^6& Kayphal.
„ (mace) . . .( txH^ Rdmpatri.
moschata, Willd. ...j irr^R^ Jayphal.
(mace) ... irpsmflr Jaypatri (impd.)
If t> (seed) .,
Myrtus commanis, Linn.*
91 n (berries)....
Nannorrops Ritchieana, Wendl
Nardostacbys Jatamansi, D. C.
(rbizome.)l
^rriTFSff Jayphal (impd.)
PtHfRft-W ViUyati-mendi.
^tii^^a r iH Habul-Aas (impd,)
*^^Fis.
^^Hiift Jatamansi,
Siimbdl (impd.
^\W^ Balchar, g^t^r
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240
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
Naregamia alata, W. if A.
Narthex assafoetida
Naudea CaoLamba .«•...
,9 cordifolia
9» elHptica
parviflora :
purpurea, "Roxh
Nelumbium speciosuniy WiUd,
„ „ (seeds).
,» 9» (scapes)..
Nemedra Nimmonii
Nepeta ciliaris, BeniK
Nepbelium Litcbi* Camh.
,y LoDgana» Comb
*» ••«••••••
Nerium odomm, Solan.
Nicandra pbjsaloides, Gartn,
Nicotiana Tabacum, lAnn ....
Nigella indica
Nothopegm Colebrookiana,
Blume
Notonia balsamica, Pa/^ ,
„ corymbosa
Njctantbes arbor-tristis, Linn,,
NymphaDa Lotus, Linn ,
Ocbrocarpus longifolius, Bentk
,* V (budd)
Ocimum basilicum, Linn
»f » var
f, canum, Sims ,
99 gratissimum, Linn . . .
pilosum ,
«M^?>tf) BLdpdrbbendi, f^^cf^ Kttfel
^ftT^PftTinp^ni, Trilblio (Port.)
See Ferula Narthex.
See Anthocepbalus Cadamba.
See Adina cordifolia.
^ or fg^ 'Fitig or Pbitj. N. missionis,
Wall.
See Stepbeiryne parvifiora.
^Tir«TH Deophanas.
gfTTO? Kamal, qf&^ ^IPTof? Posb^r-katnal, qff-
qrf^ Pandkdnd^ iR^ Posher^, f^Hflit
Nilopbar, q^^Ff Pabban.
<ifc*i<^^l^^ Kamalkdkari, q^^ Pabori.
f^r^ Bhishi.
See Amoora Lawn.
ift^ Lichi.
^ or sHr', Umb or Aomb, ^|N4iqS
Ashpbal.
2|P^ Kaubi^r, «k*^C or cft^lflv Kan^r ' of
. Kan^rf.
C M^m^ Ranpoptl
?f^Rl|^Tambakht!i.
evn^Nr KaKjir^ 4ic4i^ Kalonji. N. satira,
Sibthorpm
s^OAmb^ri.
f^ft Pirang.
^Ui<t<fl V^ndar roti. N. grandiflora, D. C,
mRM\^<k\ P^rijdtak, ^ifi'MK Harsingar.
gfqoft-3rr*W» XJpli-kamal, «^ Kdni.
iflr^-^ Gori dndi, itWHT Punnig, gfft
Sdrangi, f$<4^l flarakia.
trt^-WHI^AK Tiimbar^-ndgkesar.
^(^T Subji, anr?«7r AjvaW. *
37^41 f Ajganda.
iH^^^ Bibtiilas.
CnJ^aJ^Rimtdlas, *ilrfittofei< Mffitdla3,n*IJ-
^ Rdmddti.
^TjfWtfH Tdkmerihto. O. basilicum, i««»'
. var. (impd,)
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OLOSSAST.
241
Odmnm BVLnctvLm, Linn
Odina Wodierj Battb
Olax scandens, Roxb
„ Wightiana, JFalL
OldenlancUa corymbosay Linn.
,9 dichotoma, jEierti<
,9 HeyniuSr.
Olea dioica, Rostb •«..
„ ferraginea ,
Ophelia cbirata • •«
„ elegans ,•.
99 flsultiflora ^«
M pauciflora
OphioxyloB serpentioum ....,
Oplismenus colonus
Orchis, sp. var. (tubera)
Origanam marjorana, Linn. .«
Oroxylum indicum, Fent ,
»
»>
Oryza sativa, Linn
TBX
wild
«, „ (cleaned grain.)
Osmonda regalis
Ougenia dalbergioides, Benth.,
Oxalis comiculata, Linn
9, sensitiva
Oxystebna esculentum, Br,
P&ederia foetida, Linn,
Paeonia officinaGs
Panax Ginsing, C. A. Myer ..
PaBeratium parrrnn, DaU. ..
Pandanns odoratissimns, lAnn.
Panicum colonum, Linn
#9 coloratum
535^ Tdlas.
f%^ Shimti, ifhf Moy,
f?:|^ Harddli, aT?:^T^ Ardim.
^ qrrrft Phipati.
>*fg<^ KAzdri, %w«T^ Kshetraparpati,
J ift'inr Parip^t.
^Cf^Karamb^ ifnciri^ Parjamb.
^ir? Khav, O, eu8pidata9 Walt*
See Swertia cbirata.
See Swertia affinis.
See Swertia decussata.
See Swertia corymbosa, Tar. Lawii.
See Bawolfia serpentina.
See Panicum colonum.
^H<P>^< I Sdlabmisri (impd.)
T^^ Marv <•
f^Tetd,27fHTayitd, qnWTT Phalph<ra9
^^JWI ^agdal4.
«rm Bh4t, tKt^ Ddngar, ^ETrtt Sdri.
B^fMlft Ambemohar.
^if^inw Deobh^t
flt^TinddL
«rifrW 5^T Nadicba miSnIr.
?T5rw Tanaj.
^wit AmbtXti, Jff^r^ Bhni-sarpati, HIH^i-
^ N^lkarda, st^f^ Amboshiy ^ir^
Ldndagii.
See Biophytum sensitivum.
ff^^ Dudhikd, ^ps[p(t Dudhibi.
frT%9r Hiranvel.
^^<^l<^<l Udesilab, ^^{^ Mamekh. P.
Eraodi, Wall.
finfffnr Jinsing (imjpd.)
f^[^(E^ Khindtid, ^Hdb Bhukma^
Hi fl ^gfiU l Mah£dk£nda.
%nF3T Kevard, %H7 Ketak.
^nm^ 'R&a savd, ^^7 Sivak,
Kdrdnd
mfl' Dfaind« P. cnis-galli, Linn.
5^
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242
BOMBAY NATURAL HI8T0ET SOCIETT.
Panicum flayidttm ,
,, frumentaceum, Both*.
ft italicum
,9 miliaceom, JdtM,.,
,» miliare, Lamb
»» pilo^am, ....,
,9 sp. (Dangali).M««*
Papayer Rheaa, Linn
9, somniferunit Linn.
9, „ (capsule^)
„ „ (opium)....
Paracarynm caelestinum, Benth
Paramigjiia iiaonophjila,
Wight
Parinariam excelmim
Parkia biglandulosa, W.^A.,,
Parkinsonia acaleata, Linn. ...
Parraelia caperata, Jch, ,..,
9» kamtschadalisy Eseh.
99 perlata, Ach, •.....,
jfff Btirti, P. bri^oideSy Linn.
(fif^ft Kathliy ^j^{9r ShftmtiU.
See Se^ria italica.
qf^frnr VarfsAvl
^wnRHJ. Nelasbainildf ^f%^ Nainiyi.
See 9eta9ri4 glauca«.
See Pennisetum Ijpbividenmf Tar.
mm Lili, iliRft jifit^ Jangli M^idrika.
UliJUa^ft^l Vt^ Khaskbaasi che jbin
^twPost.
BTJ Aph6, snfhr Apbim.
Pr^ljHft Niadrdi. ..
< ! IK i iMl/| or m^, Khit&'fig^ii or ydgbanti,
^T*-in^ or ifrt*, Karri yigeti or v«-
IQhanti.
in^ Mitimbd (of Goa).
4h|li3 OfaendtipbaU iiff^ QenAi, ^
Jhendd.
ftpjfipft WPpt ViUycti-bdbhdl, %^-9P]^
Kesri-bdbhdl
^t^ Vft ^ Barik dagar phdl.
sift finrs^ Mothe dagar phdl.
{To le continued.)
FURTHER NOTE ON EE8TU MALABABICA.
Bt Liokbl db Nic&yiLLB^ F.E.S.
On page 164 of Vol. 11. of the 3 aamol ot the Bombay Natural
History Society, Captain T. Macpherson has given a very fnll
account of the transformations of Eestia malabai-ica, Moore. This
species should, in my opinion, be sunk as a synonym of 'Eestia
lynceus, Drury, the latter proving to be, the more we know of
it| an eminently variable species. Mr. F. Moore has lately ( Proc.
Zool. Soc, Lond. 1883, p. 218), described and named three of these
variable forms from the Malay Peninsula, which Mr. Distant (Bhop-
Malay .j p. 405), has very properly sunk as synonyms. To have been
consistent, Mr. Moore should also have described the numerous
varietal forms * of HeMia * jcusonia, Westwoodj which occur in
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FUBTBBB NOTE ON HESTIA HALABABIGA. 243
Ceylon^ aa distinct dpecies, but as that island represents but a
very small geographical area^ he very wisely refrained from doing
80. But the object of this Note is not so much to correct the name
by which this species should be known, but to point out that
Captain Macpherson is not quite correct in stating that *' nothing
is known regarding its early history.** As far back as 1857, Mr.
Moore published figures of the larva and pupa of this species (Cat.
Lep. Mus. E. I. 0-, p. 134, n. 267, pi. IV., Pigs- 11, 11a) under
the name of Id^opsis daoSf Boisduval. From these figures a brief
description was drawn up by Major Marshall and myself in "The
Butterflies of India, Burmah and Ceylon,*' Vol. I., p. 30. The original
discoverer was a Captain Hamilton, who is said to have found them
on the Tenasserim coast. This identiBcation, however, was an error,
as the following extract from Mr. Moore*s paper in Proc. Zool, S0C.9
Lond., 1883, p. 220, n. 12, under Hestia malabarica, shows: — " The
larva and pupa of H» malabarica were figured in the Catal. Lep. Mus.
E. I. Co., pi. IV., fig. 11, 11a, in error for those of (?. [= Ideopsia']
dao8. The figures there engraved were stated by Prof. Westwood
to represent the transformation of O. daoa ; the drawings (now in
the Library of the Entomological Society of London) were received
by him from Capt. Hamilton; and the species in question was
stated to be from the Tenasserim coast."
" In a letter which I subsequently received from Mra Hamilton,
this lady informed me that the drawings of the above-mentioned
larva and pupa were made from specimens taken on the Cotiaddy
Pass, in the Western Ghauts of Southern India, not in Tenasserim
as stated by Prof. Westwood [Proc. Ent Soc, Lond., new series,
Vol. I., p. 35, 1850]. This identity is also confirmed by other draw-
ings of the metamorphoses of the same insects, now in my posses-
sion.*'
In the last para, but four of Captain Macpherson's description
there is a stupid misprint. For '< suspended from its oval
segment,*' read '^ anal.*'
I hope, in conclusion, that the Botanical Section of the Society
has ere this been able to identify the food-plant oi Eestia lynceus;
specimens of it. Captain Macpherson informs me, having been for-
warded to it for that purpose. Should this be so, a note might
be added to this paper giving its name, and the Natural Order to
which it belongs.
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94UL
mrvM
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTOBT 80CI8XT.
LIST OF BIRDS OoLLBCTBD BY Captain P.BABINGTON PEILB^
IN GaSHHEBB Da&iNO THE SuMMBB OT 1887| AND PBB8BNTXD BY HJOf
TO THB
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY*
Jerdon's
No.
Sdentifio Name.
English Name.
]«e.ef
Sped*
men&
121
MeroDB BDiaster* TAn ••••..t*.
The European Bee-eafcer •..
The European Boiler .....^r...
The European Eing-FifheTr .
The Slaty-headed Paroquet.
The Himalayan Pied Wood-
pecker.
The Ouckoo
8
125
134 |{&
150
Goracidff gamila, Lvn »
AJcedo ispida, Lin
PalsBomiB schiBticeps, Hocl^s .•••••*..
8
1
154
199
Pioii» bimakyaniu, ifard, «•...
rSHm1nwnn.nonill.lJm.
1
1
254
UoUDa 6DOD8* liilh ••* !•••• «•
The European Hoopoe
The Short-billed Minivet ...
The Long-tailed King-Crov.
The Paradise Flycatcher ...
The Blue-headed Ghat
Thrush.
The Himalayan Black Bnl-
bul.
The Indian Oriole
1
273
. 280
288
Periorocotus brevirostris, V%g
Buchanga longicaadatns, Hay,
Musoipeta paradisi, Lin
1
8
9
858
444
Petrophila oinclorhynohns, Vig, ...
Hy psipetoB pBaroides, Vig, .........
1
470
OrioluB kniidoot Syltes
4
483
Fratinoola mdicnsi Sly .,...
The Iddian Stonechat.. ,.
The Plumbeous Water-Bobin.
The Jackdaw
2
505
Bhvacomis fiilifirinosns. Via
1
665
CorvuB xnonediila* Lin,
1
667
672
748
Nucifraga multipanctata, GottZd ...
UrooiBsa flayirostris, Bly
CalaoaDtlilB bnrtoni, Oould \
The Many-spotted Nutcrac-
ker.
The Tellow-billed Blue Mag-
pie.
The Crimson-browed Pin<jh.
The Turtle Dove
1
2
792
Turtur Diilchratns. Hodas
1
804
Lophophorus impeyanus, Lath
PuoraBia macrolopha, Less
Hydrophasianus chirurgus, Scop ...
Porzana ftisca. Lin ... .
The Monaul •
9
808
901
fill
ThePuckrass .,
The Pheasant-tailed Jacana.
The Buddy Bail
I
I
1
937
Nyoticaraz firiisenB. Lin. . .
The Night Heron.,
I
984
Hydrochelidon hvbridA. Pall
The Marsh Tern ••.,....
1
THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF THE BOMBAY
PRESIDENCY.
By H. M. Phipson, C.M.Z.S,, Hon. Sec^
{Read at the Society's Meeting on 5th September 1887.)
A POBTNiGHT ago One of our local newspapers stated that there
were not more than three, or perhaps foar, poisonous snakes in the
Bombay Presidency. I felt that we ought not to allow such a state-
ment to pass unchallenged, especially as our own collection furnished
evidence that nine poisonous snakes, at least, are to be found in the
Presidency, and that according to the greatest authority on the
subject. Dr. Gunther, a tenth, which we have not as yet obtained, is
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POISONOUS SKAOSr. 245
an inliabitaiit of the Deocan* I consequently gave the Times of
India a h'st of the. poisonous snakes in our possession, all of which
had been killed in this Presidency ; a list which, I think, reflects
great credit on this Society, when the short time during which the
collection has been got together is taken into consideration. Some
of the measurements we were able to give have already attracted the
notice of the press in other parts of India, and I therefore think it
would be of interest to the members present if I were to draw
their attention to the specimens we possess of these particular
snakes. We have^ you will observe, specimens of the following
poisonous snakes, all of which were killed in this Presidency : —
Colubrine, — 1. Ophiophagus elaps* 2. Nag a tripudAans. 8. Bungarus
arcuatus, 4. Oallophis trimaculatus. 5, GaUophis nigresc^ns*
Viperine.—Q. Bahoia elegans^ 7. Echis carinata. 8. Trimeresurtis
anamallensis. 9. Hypnale nepa.
1. We will take, fii-st, the great Colubrine snake, the Ophiopha'^
gus elaps, the '* Hamadryad '' or " King Cobra," which is probably
the largest poisonous snake in the world. I say probably, as there is
one in New Guinea, Lackesis mutusj a viperine snake belonging to
the Crotalidse, which is said to reach 14 feet in length. Fortunately,
the Hamadryad is not very common. Dr. Cranther, the well-known
ophiologist, says that the Hamadryad is found in all parts of the
Indian Continent, in the Andamans (where I hear it is eaten by the
natives)^ the Philipines, Java, Sumatra and Borneo. As its name
implies, it feeds principally on snakes and other reptiles. Owing to
the fact of its expanding a '^ hood" it is frequently mistaken for a
cobra, but, as you will see by comparing the specimens before you,
the plates or shields on the head of the Hamadryad differ materially
from those of the cobra. According to Sir Joseph Fay rer, the natives
of Bengal call it the '* Sunkerchor," a "breaker of shells," but he
gives no explanation of this name. The snake-men about here do
not appear to know the Hamadryad, but it is, undoubtedly, an
inhabitant of this Presidency. We have received a skin of one from
Carwar measuring 12 feet 6 inches, and another from the Goanese
Ghauts which is 15 feet 5 inches in length. Major Beddome,
of Madras, says he has killed one nearly 14 'feet near Cuttack in
Bengal, where it is common. A few years ago one was caught
in the Konkan by Mr. Bulkley, who tried to take it to England
alive, so we have ample proof of its occurring in this part of
India.
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246 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
2. Naga tripudians, the Cobra, is too well known to need descrip-
tion. It is found all over India up to 8,000 feet in the Himalayas.
There are a great number 'of varieties, diflfering in colour and mark-
ings, many of which are, you will see, figured in Sir Joseph Fayrer's
Thanatophidia of India- The natives, who give separate names to
these varieties, maintain that they are distinct species, and that they
diflFer considerably, not only in appearance, but in their habits. The
natives are, I need hardly say, profoundly ignorant in such matters.
. For instance, many of them insist that all the hooded cobras are
females, and that the male has no hood and is harmless. Their
^^ male cobra '^ is nothing more than the common Dh&man {Ptyas
miicosua), the Indian Rat Snake. They also state, in support of
their theory, that the Dh&man is proof against the poison of the
cobra, but this has been shown over and over again not to be the
case. The cobra lays from twelve to twenty eggs, once a year,
during the rains, and the young show si^ns of their venomous
power at a very early stage. Those hatched in this Society's rooms
last year killed a small Malay python (P. retuculatus) , which was
placed in their cage a few days after they were bom. They attacked
it at once, biting it viciously across the back. The Python showed
great signs of fear, but made no attempt at retaliation. It was at
once removed to another cage, but died in about twelve hours.
We have, as you see, many specimens of the cobra in our collection,
amongst which is a young one preserved in the act of emerging from
its egg. In this specimen, the foetal tooth with which the young
snake cuts its ways out of the strong parchment-like egg, capi be
clearly seen with a magnifying glass. This foetal tooth is shed as
soon as it has served its purpose, and is, in fact, expelled the first
time the snake darts out its tongue, which it usually does directly
its head appears from the egg. Some of these little cobras thrived
for several months on young lizards, but the others would not feed,
and died in about two months. They measured 7i inches when
born, and were very fat. At the end of the two months they had lost
all their plumpness, but had increased their length by nearly 1 finches.
It is very extraordinary that the original nourishment obtained from
the egg should be capable of sustaining them for so long a period.
The cobra is an exceedingly timid snake, but it can be easily tamed
with kindness, as you know from the living specimen in the Society's
rooms* It is worthy of note that the cobra is about the only poisonous
snake which those arrant impostors^ the so-called *^ snake-charmers/
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POISONOUS SNAOS. 247
ever have anything to do with. I never lose an opportunity of fra-
ternizing with these gentlemen in the hope of obtaining specimens we
are in want of, but on no-occasionhavel ever seen any other poisonous
snake in their baskets except the cobra. The explanation of this
lies, I believe, in the fact that the cobra is the only poisonoas snake
which can be easily and safely handled. You have only to attract
its attention with one hand, while you seize it in the middle of the
body with the other, and the snake is yours. It strikes in every
direction, especially at any moving object, but it never seems to occur
to it to turn and bite the hand that is holding it, as almost all other
snakes would do at once. The snake-charmers have from time
immemorial made great capital out of the knowledge of this simple
fact. Their performances with the cobra are known to you all.
The snake is taken from the basket, when a slight slap across ih-e
back brings it at once into its striking posture. It is the constant
movement of the musical instrument in front of the snahe that keeps
it erect J and not the noise produced. Snakes have no external ears,
and it is very doubtful whether the cobra hears the music at all.
The vipers, which are far less timid, cannot be frightened in this
manner, and consequently they are not used for these performances.
The snake-men will tell you that the Daboia, the largest viper, or
adder, of the East, is a dull snake with no ear for music, and it is
interesting to note that they have evidently been repeating this
nonsense ever since the time of David — vide Psalms LVIII.— ^' like
the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; which will not hearken to tha
voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. ^'
The cobras in the Society's rooms feed freely on young rate, bird^,
and toads.
3. We next come to the Krait {Bungarus arcuatusi^y, which is
also a very well-known snake. It is exceedingly poisonous, and is-
common in nearly all parts of India. We have a number of
specimens in our collection from the Bombay Presidency and from
Bombay itself. I have lately received two from Malabar Hill. The
one contained a ^' brown tree snake'' (Dipsas gokool), and the other
a Dhftman (Ptyas mucosus), so that we have good evidence of its
snake -eating propensities. The dark variety of the common and
harmless Lycodon aulicus is, you will observe, very like the Krait
in outward appearance, but you can readily distinguish the Krait
by the large hexagonal scales down the centre of the back. The
Burmese Krait {Bungarus fasciatus), of which we have several
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248 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
beautifal specimens^ is not fonud, I believe^ in any part of this
Presidency, although it occurs in parts of Bengal and Lower India.
4. Our fourth poisonous Colnbrine land snake is the CalUrphis
trimaculatus, which does not possess any popular name that I am
aware of. It is a ground snake, and lives chiefly on other small
snakes. Dr. Gunther says that the Calamarias, which they much
resemble in appearance, are their principal food. This snake,
although so small, is undoubtedly poisonous. We have two speci-
mens, one from the Konkan and the other from Bandora.
5. I have just received a telegram from Mr. G. W. Vidal, C.S ,
to the effect that the specimen of Oallophis nigreacensj which he
deposited some time ago with the Society, was found by him in
Cfirwar, thus adding another poisonous snake to the list of those
found in this Presidency. The upper parts of this snake are black,
and the lower uniform red. It grows to about four feet in length.
6. We now come to the Viperine snakes, first and foremost of
which is the deadly Dahoia elegans, the Gunus of the natives, known
to Europeans in India as the Chain Viper and in Ceylon as the Tic
Polonga. It is common in the Island of Bombay, and is, I believe,
found in most parts of the Presidency. According to Sir Joseph
Fayrer*s experiments, the poison of this snake, although very
different in its action, is almost, if not quite, as fatal as that of the
cobra. It has, as you will observe, exceedingly long fangs and a
good supply of spares one^^ behind ready to take the place of those
in front should they be broken. From its sluggish habits, its
fierceness, and the great length of its fangs, it is to be dreaded,
I think, more than any other snake in this country. Most of the
authorities give 60 inches as its length, but we have the head of
one, killed by Mr. J. C. Anderson, in Hurda, Central Provinces,
wiiich was 61 ^ inches. Judging from the size of the head, and the
evidence of the piece of string with which the snake was measured,
there is little doubt that the correct length has been stated. Like
most of the vipers it is diflScult to keep in confinement, but it is
very tenacious of life, and Has been known to live for a whole year
without food. It is an exceedingly handsome snake, especially
when young, as you will see from the specimens before you.
7. The only other true viper in this country is the Echis carinata,
known here as the Phoorsa and in Sind as the Kupper. We have
received it from many parts of the presidency, and in some districts,
Eutnagherry for instance— it is found in great numbers. I have
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POISONOUS SNAKBS. 249.
never heard of its being killed in the Island of Bombay, although
the harmless ^* brown tree snake'* {Dipsas gokool), which somewhat
resembles it, is often sent to me as a Phoorsa. You will readily
distinguish them, as the head of the Bchis, like all vipers, is
covered with scales, whereas that of the Dipsas gokool has plates
or shields. Dr. Gunther was, when he issued his book on the
Indian Eeptiles, under the impression that the bite of this little
viper was not absolutely fatal, but it has since been proved
that ia certain districts the mortality from the Phoorsa is very
great.
8. The Oreen Tree Viper (Trimeresurns anamallensis) belongs
to the family of Crotalidge, or Pit Vipers, so called from a curious
pit or cavity between the nostril and the eye, the use of which is
not known. The dreaded rattle-snake of America belongs to the
same family. There are eight species of Trimeresuri in India, but
we have, at present, in our collection, only 37. anamallensis from
the Bombay Presidency. It appears to be common on the Ghauts,
as we receive many from Khandalla, Egutpura and Mahableshwar.
Dr. Gunther states that another species, T. sirigatus, is found in the
Deccan, and I hope before long some of our up-country members
will be able to send us one in order that we may have specimens of
the ten poisonous snakes, which are now known to belong to this
Presidency.* It is just possible that an eleventh, Peltopelor
macrolepis, may also occur in the Canarese jungles, as it is said to
be common a little further south.
9. We now come to Hynale nepa, or the Carawala, which was
found in Carwar by Mr. G. W. Vidal, C.S. Its head-quarters are in
Ceylon, where it is greatly dreaded, bnt, like so many of the Ceylon
fauna, this snake is to be found along the Malabar Coast, but
probably not further north than Carwar.
I have to-day only dealt with the poisonous land snakes of this
Presidency, but all thd true sea snakes are, as you know, poisonous.
I may state that we have at present in our oollection specimens of
the following species : —
Hydrophis diadema. (Gunther.)
Hydrophis robusta. (Gunther.)
Hydrophis curta. (Gunther.)
Hydrophis aurifasciatus. (Murray.)
* A specimen has since been received from Mr. H. B. Wise, which was killed in
Carwar.
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260 BOMBAY NATURAL HlSTOBT 80CI&TY.
Hydrophis Phipsoni. (Murray.)
Hydrophia Guntheri. (Murray.)
Hydrophis Lindsayi. (Gray.)
Hydrophis chloris. (Daud.)
Bntrydrina bengalensis, (Gray.)
Pelamis bicolor. (Daud.)
THE INDIAN HEPATICiE.
By Surgeon K. R. Kirtikab, I.M.D., Fellow Soc. Myc.
(France), M.E.C.S.
{Read at the Society's Metiting held on 5th September 1887.)
On various former occasions I have brought to the notice of the
Society that the subject of Indian Cryptogamia, or flowerless plants,
has yet to be investigated; that in exhibiting before the Society,
froni time to time, my specimens of fungi and algao growing in and
around Bombay, I have failed to derive any assistance from works on
Indian Botany ; and this I repeat on the present occasion. This
fact is borne out by the independent testimony of a distinguished
Indian Botanist, Dr. Wellington Gray, whose observations on the
Botany of the Bombay Presidency, as embodied in Vol. XXV. of the
Bombay Gazetteer, recently published, contains the following
remark : — He says, " The species belonging to the indigenous flower-
less plants have never yet been fully described or investigated, and
there are doubtless multitudes of new species etill to be discovered."
And this is literally true. Take up any book on Indian Botany,
— Professor Oliver's ''Indian Botany/' for instance. Considering
that Professor Oliver has never visited India, and that the book
written is from dried Herbaria, and from species of Indian plants
growing in England — in the Kew Gardens — the work is admir-
able. In that book, containing nearly four hundred pages, however,
the Cryptogams are disposed of in twenty pages. No mention is
made of the order HepaticeBj specimens of which are exhibited this
evening In Gregg's text-book of Indian Botany, recently prepared
for the Hooghly College in Bengal, amerely passing allusion is made
to the order Hepatic80. In Roxburgh's "Indian Flora,'' recently edited
by Mr. Clarke, there is a chapter added on the miscellaneous Crypto-
gamia. No mention is made of the Hepaticae. Now I do not
mention all this to show the magnitude of the result of my researches
in' that neglected branch of Botany, but rather the magnitude of the
difficulties I have had in investigating the subject. I have to depend
on my own resources entirely. Considering that one is accustomed to
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^rr
Normal size
Riccia No. 1
variety F
Fronds
roagnified X 50
'S%
vA
W ^.•- "v-
Brown Spores
X 500
Fig. II.
Normal size
Biccia var. ? No. 2.
Tile-arrangement of fronds
Circular frond«arrangcraent
a. Enlarged lobule X 500
h. Stomato of Riccia No. 2.
c. Polygonal cells with chlorophyll
granules.
K. R. K. et I. B. del ad nat.
INDIAN HEPATIC/E DESCRIBED BY {J|iJie KIRTIKAR.
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PLATE IT.
Fia. III.
Normal size
Biocia No. 3. vr*r. ?
Pk
Polvgonal
cells
One oE the lobules
enlarged X 500
with chlorophyll granules.
ALGiE FROM Vehar Water 1887.
• •
Fia. IV.
Fig. v. ;
Nostoc Minima -^
X 500 ^#
# •
Protococcus Vehar
X 500
Pleurococcus Vehar.
in masses X 500
K. R. K. et 1. B. del ad nat.
I
INDIAN HEPATIC/E AND VEHAR ALG>^,i
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TAB INDIAN HBPATIC^, 25l
Lave information at second-liandin fehis country, where original facts
have to be refeorded, great care and caution, and accurate and repeated
observations are necessary. I urge the fact of the absence of all
previous information more in extenuation of the defects of my own
paper than a desire to show what others have left undone. I urge
this point also with a view to rouse the interest of those members of
the Society who are given to Botanical pursuits, inasmuch as there
appears to be an unending field for very entertaining and useful re-
search. For the materials one has not to go very far. In the
rainy season we tread these plants under our feet, the carriage
wheels daily pass and repass over them near our stable door and our
garden gate. They invade our eye as we stand by the garden wall,
with the rich beautiful green of their foliage which the artistes
pencil can never imitate. They grow on the outer side of our flower
pots in isolated or close packed circlets. On dilapidated walls they
are more constant, growing from year to year, drying after the
monsoons. This, then, is their habitat. A moist ground or a
damp spot is necessary for their growth, and they are in their prime
in the monsoons. The ground may be clayey, sandy or- chunam-
mixed. With regard to their general appearance they are leafy
expansions — foliaceous. The roots of these plants are delicate and
silky, so entering the ground as to form a web or network, thin and
friable, matted with the ground, rendering it difficult to preserve
the plant op set io free from the matrix-earth in which it grows.
Why the order to which the three plants belong is called hepatic»
I do not know. It is possible that from the lobed condition of the
frond and its resemblance to that organ in general shape the name
bepatic89 might have been given. Otherwise there is nothing in
common between the liver and the liverworts. The natural order
hepaticas is allied to the mosses from which it differs in many re-
spects, mainly in this, that in most of the liverworts there is no stem,
but simply a patch of green membrane spreading over the ground
whereas In the mosses there is a stem often much branched. The
hepaticae are sub-divided into the Liverworts or Marchantiaceae, the
scale mosses or Junger-manniaceae and thQCrystalworts or Ricciaceae.
The hepatics, especially plants of the last sub-division, are often con-
founded with lichens, but the lichens can be easily distinguished by
even a cursory microscopic examination. The plant depicted in Fig. I.,
PL No. I., is of dark green colour. The surface markings of the frond
are visible distinctly under an ordinary magnifier. Under the micro-
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2B2: BOMBAY NATORAJ. BISTORT SOCIETY.
scope the frond prpgeats a, reticulated surface, on the upper sppface
of which there are open spaces representing the " stomata/' or
breathing spores. The frond is elongated and presents a deep
groove, dark green in colour, and corresponding to the midrib of
the. leaf of a phanerogam. . The fronds branch dichotomously, and
a . vertical section presents a figure of eight appearance. The cells
are compfessed, spherical, and give the appearance of a" hexagon by
mere optic illusion. There are abundant chlorophyll granules in the
cells, closely packed. The roots arise from the lower surface of
the mid groove. They are soft and filamentous. There are
also some fine radical hairs ; the fronds are succulent and
not imbricated. The margins are entire. The sporangium which
contains the spores is situated in the frond and is ovoid in, form,
containing thickly-packed brown black spores of a very deBnite
character. ,
. In other parts pf the frond there is the commencing formation of
the spprangium,. where the dichotomous cell division is well marked.
The full formed.spores are honeycombed in appearance. No elators
.or spiral fibre, have, been seen at all the examinations of the plant
The. plant is,, therefore, consigned to the sub-division or '* Alliance,''
.as Lindley calls it, of Eicciaceae, the diagnosis lying between this
sub-division and Marchantiaceasj in which elators exist as a matter
of necessity. <rhe plant depicted in Fig. IL, PI. No. I., is also consign-
ed to the subdivision Bicciaceas. The colour is brighter than that of
plant Fig. I. The fronds are more delicate and less succulent. The
margins are crenulate and lobed. The stomata are visible on the
upper surface even to the naked eye. The roots are finer and more
numerous, coming not only from midribs, but also from the under
surface of the frond as a whole. The fructification of the plant has
not been observed. Under the microscope the structure of the
chlorophyll cells is much more delicate and oval- The stomata
are strikingly sharp and hexagonal. The plant depicted on PI. No.
IL, Fig III., is peculiar in its arrangement, the tendency being to
form circles by the growth of -fronds all round from a central point.
The colour is dark green, tinged brownish yellow. The. tissue
is crisp and friable, midway between .that of plants figured Noa. 1
and 2, The margins are crenulate, and the greater. the. ivumber. of
fronds packed the greater the; amount of crenulation. The cells
forming the substance of the frond look polygonal anid compact,
having lai*ge thickly set chlorophyll granules in various stages of
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WILD HOBSBS.
253
development. This plant also belongs to the Alliance Ricciaceae.
The three plants require naming.
WILD HORSES.
By Veterinary-Surgeon J. H. Steel, A.V.D.
(Read at the Society^s Meeting on 1st August 1887.)
In bringing forward for consideration by the Society some
further questions about horses, I trust that I shall not be thought
to unduly force a hobby on my hearers. I feel assured that to a
large number of our members there is no lower animal more
interesting than the horse, and none about which details will be
more acceptable. Viewed from the high scientific standpoint no
animal-being, save perhaps man himself, could be studied with
more prospect of sound results and valuable generalisations. The
horse is to us the best representative of hoofed animals and
vegetable feeders, and to anatomists he is what Oscar Schmidt
describes in the following passage: — "The best known example of
this kind of an isolated form of mammal is the horse and its
relatives, the genus equus. The descriptive zoologist places it by
the side of the two-hoofed animals. Yet the difference between
the one-toed horse and the two-toed oxen and stags remains
completely unexplained. Besides this the more perfect dentition of
the, horse stands in sharp contrast with the reduced dentition of
most of the ruminants, which lack the upper incisors ; the only
point of connection would seem to be the camel, which again has
a much fuller dentition. Nevertheless, the horse remains a
phenomenon so peculiar within itself that descriptive zoology
has always classed the horse in the order of the two-hoofed
animals.^'
This evening I want to consider wild horses in some of their
practical and scientific bearings, and naturally the first question
which arises is, whether there is any such creature as a wild horse ?
This is rather a startling question when we consider that in
at least four out of the six continents horses in a free state are
found living only to a very limited degree influenced by man
and most certainly not in a state of domestication. The mustang
34
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254 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTOBT SOCIETY.'
of Mexico, the wild horse of the Pampas of Southern America,
the brumbie (or ''Scrabby'') of Australia, and the terpan of
Tartary are to all intents and purposes ^'wild/' but it is very
doubtful whether, in the naturalist's sense of the term, they
are truly feral. As regards the brumbie of Australia it is certain
that he is the descendant of imported horses which strayed
within recent years; the enormous numbers of horses of the
Americas are known from historical records to have resulted from
animals imported by the Spaniards and others from Europe. The
horse of Tartary or Central Asia has no such historical record, and
yet we find that naturalists of good scientific reputation almost
without hesitation state that he must have resulted from domesti-
cated animals which had strayed. Youatt says his origin has been
clearly traced to horses that were employed at the siege of Azof
in 1667, but it is doubtful if he refers to the true Mongolian wild
horse. Certainly there are in this region large horse runs, the property
of the Imperial Chinese and other Governments, and undoubtedly
under not very perfect management horses stray and become lost or
are enticed away by their free comrades, as is the manner of wild
horses (though Youatt says, I know not on what authority, the wild
horses of Tartary quickly destroy any domestic horse which comes
into their power), but we have no distinct and definite evidence on
this question as to whether in Central Asia the original wild stock of
horse still exists in the condition of its native proprietors. Wo
may consider the evidence fairly conclusive concerning the horses
of America and of Australia, but in the case of those of Central
Asia it is not proved whether the breed has descended in unbroken
pedigree through ancestors which never have been tamed, or
whether at some time or other in the history of his race it has
yielded to the power of man. Tradition and scientific surmise (we
cannot speak of it in stronger terms) point to Central Asia as tho
aboriginal abode of the horse, but this can by no means be proven,
and it is certain that fossil horses are found in both Europe and
America equal in age to those of Asia, thus tradition dating even
from extremely remote periods can have little importance attributed
to it, and it is much to be doubted whether the scientific view which
has hitherto been adopted will hold ground against some most recent
observations in this connexion. Darwin's statement that ''no
aboriginal or truly wild horse is known to exist" must still be held as
explaining the exact position of this question, but we must supple-
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WILD HOBSES. 255
ment it by stating ''it is not certain that truly wild horses do not
exist/*
Our evidence in elucidation of this matter must, as we have
seen, be brought to bear on Central Asia ; unfortunately, it cannot
be accepted as conclusive, being based on the statement of travellers,
which are in each case that I can find only second-hand and
through an interpreter, who possibly was well aware his employer
would be very glad to hear there was such a thing as a wild horse.
The latest information on this subject apparently is that in Preje-
valsky^s Mongolia, from the English edition of which, edited by
Yule, we find that Father Hyacinthe, writing of Middle Mongolia,
speaks of wild camels, wild mules, wild asses, and wild horses. Sir
D. Forsyth, in a printed report of his last mission to Kashgar, men-
tions, apparently from native information, wild horses mixed with
wild camels. These /'horses'' were probably Kulans (Turki for
Kyang) " this equivoque is probably at the bottom of many mentions
of wild horses ; but I would not say so positively." (Yule.) Thus Dr.
Bellew in his " Kashmir and Kashgar,*' p. 400, speaks of a place
called Kulan Uldi, which means " The wild horse (ass ?) died ;" and
elsewhere he speaks of meeting a herd of six or seven Kulan or Kiang.
Jerdon tells us that Cunningham calls the Kyang the wild horse,
and states that it neighs. Now the Kiang or Kulan is an animal
about which there is much debatd as to whether he is a horse or an
ass. He is bigger than most asses, has a voice which some obser-
vers call a neigh and others a bray, his ears are much smaller than
those of most asses. He is described by Prejevalsky as " in
appearance closely resembling a mule." His importance to us at
present is that we must distinctly understand that he is not here
considered a wild horse, and all the statements of travellers who
seem to have considered him as such must be excluded from our
evidence. It would almost be right, if practicable, to exclude all
hearsay evidence, for it seems that in Central Asia the Mongols
often confuse the wild ass and the wild horse, and mention the two
animals under the same name, just as in some parts of India there
is only one name for sheep and goats. The only fairly exact and
positive evidence I can find is that of Prejev.alsky (p. 169, vol. 11.),
who says : — "The natives repeatedly told us of the existence of both
wild camels and wild horses, and described them fully . • . Wild-
Horses, called by the Mongols dzerlikadu, are rare in Western
Tsaidami but more numerous near Lob Nor. They are generally in
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256 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
large herds, very shy, and when frightened continue their flight
for days, not returning to the same place for a year or two. Their
colour is uniformly hay with black tails and long manes hanging
down to the ground. They are never hunted owing to the difficulties
of the chase. * ^ * The plains of Tsaidam are 1,700 feet below
Kokondi, and on this account the climate is warmer. The absence
of water also tends to increase the heat/^
Thus we must conclude that the evidence is sh'ghtly in favour of
the existence of wild horses in Central Asia, but we have no evidence
as to his pedigree in relation to domestication.
The Shetland pony is practically the wild horse of the British
Isles, and illustrates on a small scale the peculiarities of horses
which have gone wild. He is evidently not the British horse
exported by Julius Caesar as "being powerful, and by stature and
training well suited to war.**
The question now arises as to whether all horses of the present day
have come from one original stock or have been developed on parallel
lines. Wild horses certainly existed in the distant past, and it
behoves us to inquire in what respects they resembled and how
they are related to those of the present day and also our domesti-
cated horses. The original horse may not now exist in a wild state,
but he must be lineally represented by our horses, and his com-
parison with them must result in important observations. The
question of origin of the horses of America is soon settled. As
Oscar Schmidt shows, the Palseotherium soon disappeared in South
America, but became very numerous and continuously developed in
North America as in Europe and Asia. Marsh considers that a true
equus appeared in the Upper Pliocene, and this in the post-tertiaries
roamed over the whole of North and South America, but very soon
became extinct. Schmidt concludes that '^ the true horse of our
day never existed in America before its importation.'* The primi-
tive equine forms of America are thus supposed to have been crushed
out by the ice formations of the Diluvium. Among the forms thus
lost must be included Equus andium (Branco) as found in the
volcanic tufa of Ecuador, probably also the coeval diluvial pampas
horse, the cave horse of Brazil, and the Equus curvidens (Owen).
In Equus andium it has been observed that the eyes must have
been situated much deeper than in Equus caballus, in which the
orbit has moved further back. Altogether, concludes Schmidt, the
American members of the genus horse have never advanced so close
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WILD H0RSK8. 257
to our present horse as the diluvial members of the European family
did. Forsyth Mayor shows that Bquus stenonis of the quaternaries
of Upper Italy contains all the intermediary stages between Hipparion
and Equus. Schmidt .continues the argument on this important
subject, oi;i which he is not always quite clear, by drawing attention to
Goethe^s observations on the backward position of the eye in the
horses of the Parthenon ; they are far back against the ear, and, says
Goethe, this was, though the artist may not have known it, the
condition present in the primeval horse.* It must be remarked,
how;ever, that evidence tends to show that of the cave horses some
had eyes far back and some in the position of those of the present
day. These cave horses were useful to man but not domesticated ;
they lived in the reindeer period, and found their most deadly foe
in man, who pursued and killed them for flesh food. As yet all
conclusions as to their make and shape seem to be derived from the
work of a Landseer of the stone period, who drew a picture of a
man, horse, and a mammoth in recognizable outlines on. pieces of
ivory. The horse seems rather a small one and has a big head.
This curious record of art in the nursery stages of the world's
history must not be considered from the severely artistic point of
* Youatt's views on conformation of the Parthenon horses will be read with interest
as bearing on the text : —
" There is a considerable difference in the form and action of the two horses. The
right hand one, and the foremost of the two, is sadly defective in the portions of the
forearms which we are permitted to see. The near one is poorly supplied with muscle.
The off horse is out of all keeping. The large ears placed so low ; the clumsy swelling
of the lower part of the neck ; the bad union of it with the breast ; the length and
thinness of the barrel compared with the bulk of the fore parts, notwithstanding the
natural and graceful position of the hind legs, show no little want of skill in the
statuary. The more animated head of the left and hinder horse, the inflated nostril,
the opening of the mouth, the form and prominence of the eye, and the laying of the
ears, sufficiently confirm the accounts which we have of the spirit — sometimes un-
tameable — of the primitive horses. The neck, however, is too short, even for one with
these immense forehands ; it springs badly out of the chest, the shoulder is very defec-
tive ; but the forearms, their expression and their position, are exceedingly good ; the long,
forearms and short leg are excellent ; and so are the off fetlock and foot ; but the
barrel is deficient, the carcase is lengthy, .and the hind quarters are weak compared
with the forearms. The beautiful execution of the riders * ♦ * shows that they were
portraits, as probably the horses were to a very great extent. These animals remind
us of some of the heavy ones of the present day particularly ; they have the beauties
and defects of many of the modern Holstein horses ; they are high, but perhaps heavy
actioned; courageous, spirited, possibly fierce. They exhibit the ^erms of many
future improvements, and, taken altogether, may be examined with considerable
pleasure, remembering that they are horses of nearly 2,300 years ago. Art has done
much for the horse since that period, but the countenance and figure of the human
being were at that time perfect. These horsemen have not even the switch to guide
the animal ; but they are holding by the mane with the left hand, and are evidently
directing the horse by pulling the mane, or pressing the neck with the right hand
a little higher up." It looks more as if the mane were not held at all but guidance
made by pressure with the forefinger of either hand on the corresponding side of the
neck. Youatt seems slow in giidng the artist credit for as much faithfulness in
representation of the horses as of the men ; of course he may not have been an
" animal *' artist.
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258 BOMBAY NATURAL BISTORT SOCIETT.
vievt, bat mncli as we would a child's productioa in the present
day^ in no way detracting from the credit of this earliest of the
world's known artists.
It seems to be generally accepted by British naturalists that the
horse of the present day came from one original stock. This was
the view of Gobbold. (Maseum of Natural History.) Martin Duncan
says: ''All true horses are descended from Equus caballus, a well
established species/' and so on. Schmidt combats the view of the
domesticated horse having a single origin from the original wild
stock. He shows reason to believe that^ perhaps^ some of the
slighter breeds of the present day have resulted from the taming of
the broad-browed horses of Southern Germany, but certainly some
of the tamed thin-boned horses of the bronze period were of Asiatic
origin and introduced by nomads* Ecker also considers that of the
two breeds of German horse described by the Roman writers (Caesar
included), the small and hardy native race was indigenous, but the
Equus caballus germanicus (of Sanson and Pi^trement), the heavy
korse of Central Germany, was an imported animal, probably of
Asiatic origin^ tamed and introduced by nomadic tribes in pre-
historic times.
Two groups of domesticated horses have been distinguished : (1)
the Oriental, with well developed cranium, forehead broad, face
small, inner side of crescents of upper molar with but few enamel
folds, limb bones graceful and firm ; the Arab, for example. (2)
The Occidental (Franck of Munich), face much larger as compared
with cranium, long narrow skull, forehead narrow, rims of orbits
somewhat forward, enamel folds of crescents of upper molars very
complex, limb-bones thick and massive, and of less dense structure
than tihose of the Oriental. Nehring shows that the diluvial horse
of Central Germany — found at Westenregeln near Magdeburg, at
Thiede (Brunswick), also along the Rhine in the neighbourhood of
Remagen — presented all the characteristic features of the Occidental
horse. Frass has described a Schussenried breed of fossil horses,
found in S. W. Wurtemburg, with very broad foreheads and grace-
ful limbs. In France, Sanson and Pi^trement have arrived at some
very interesting conclusions with regard to the horses in relation to
the domesticated races of the present day. Pi^trement shows that
it is untenable that the horse of Solutr^ (a primeval form of the
reindeer period, which abounds in caves near Macon, north of Lyons)
was tamed and domesticated, but Schmidt concludes that in it we
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WILD HORSES. 259
very likely have one of the races which sabseqaently became
domesticated^ and which left descendants that probably still exists
such as the long-headed Ardennes horse and the Garmague small
semi-wild horses of the Rhone delta. Also in Alsace there is a race
of large ponies which Schmidt thinks probably the last offshoots of
a race of this kind; they have large and ugly heads, well formed
bodies (although no care whatever is exercised over their breeding)^
and their limbs are powerful. They are good-natured^ docile^ and
very strong in moving weights. The sum of these observations and
arguments is hardly conclusive as establishing that horses were
domesticated locally; yet it seems to be clearly established, however,
that there were at least two well-marked varieties of the cave horse,
the large-limbed, narrow-headed form and the small-limbed, well-
shaped, broad-skulled animal. These variations we must to a very
large extent put down to local conditions; the experience of breeding
domesticated animals, even during the short period of half a century,
shows that the large size of the variety and narrowness of the skull
depend on the amount of food obtainable within a limited range of
grazing, whereas compactness of bone, smallness efface, and greater
relative development of the cranium result from opposite conditions,
as may be illustrated by comparison of the skull of a Lincoln sheep
with that of a Southdown. The result of scientific research so far
has, we may conclude, supported what we may term the common-
sense conclusions with regard to horse domestication. Of the
methods of capturing the horse or wild ass in the present day*
almost all would not be practicable to our earliest horse-fcaming
forefathers, for they naturally could neither adopt the corral nor
lassoing system ; also they had nothing on which to ride down
horses. Either they captured the very young, or else they cured
animals captured alive after being maimed with axes, arrows, or
other primitive weapon. Certainly they got many horses for food
in those days, and probably, as the Bikanir hunters are described
as doing now, they caught the foals and tamed them. Doubtless,
• Methods of capture of wild horses : —
1. Corraled; thrown by means of lasso round fore legs, saddled, bestridden, and
then let go and spurred until controllable.
2. Loose wild horse lassoed and jerked off legs, then ridden.
8. Bidden down by relays of horses.
4. Bewildered by falcon flapping wings in the eyes.
5. Brought down and stunned by a rifle shot behind the ear.
6. Capture and rearing of foals or of wounded horses.
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260 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
from the earliest times migrations of equine animals have tak^n
place ; it is supposed that in the period of the early tertiaries sack a
migration occurred to America^ and that there was also a very early
migration from Central Asia in other directions^ as to the western
limits of Europe. Doubtless also early human migrations influenced
the spread of the horse in such a way that even the special races of
different countries have from /time to time had constant' admixture
of foreign blood both in the pre-historic and historic periods. Yet
we cannot believe that so obvious a process as domesticating horses
did not take place simultaneously in different cbuntries and so act
as an important factor in production of local breeds. All methods
of the present day are but modifications of those of the past, in this
tis in other matters '* there is no new thing under the snn.^* I
cannot conceive that given men of a number of different races with
horses to hand and constantly killed as food, it would occur only to
the Mongolian to endeavour to domesticate so tractable an animal I
Martin Duncan shows that the domesticated horse was first known
in the Swiss Lake period, and must have been driven in the brouze
period, for bronze bits have been found in France and Italy. He
quotes Hamilton Smithes conclusion that the first domestication of
tho post-diluvium horse was achieved in Central Asia, or commenced
nearly simultaneously in the several regions where wild animals of
the horse form existed ; the latter seems the most tenable view.
With regard to climatic and physical conditions under tvhich wild
horses live, the Steppes of Tartary are described as great treeless
plains at considerable elevation. The Kiang inhabits the Thibetan
plateaux some 15,000 to 16,000 feet above the sea level, and the
Mongolian wild horse of Prejevalsky is found on the plains of
Tsaidam, some 1,700 feet below the Kokonor Steppe. In Bolivia
the llanos are described by Spence as a series of enormous level
tracts watered by navigable rivers and covered by verdant turf,
where vast numbers of mules, horses, and asses pasture. These
tracts are subject to floods during which the horses take refuge on
table-lands, which form, as it were, islands in the flood, and the
mares (with their foals) may be seen swimming about in the water
browsing on the tops of the long grass projecting over the water.
Wide plains of pasture, undulating and even hilly, are suitable for
the wild horse, running streams and perennial grass are advantage-
ous to him, but he at times undergoes great straits both for food
and water. The arguments with regard to the nature of the land
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WILD HOESES. 261
on which the fossil horses were found have been rather in
a circle. It has contantly been assumed that the occurrence of
remains of horses implies vegetation and climate resembling
those of the Steppes, or, again, that wide grassy plains imply
suitability for horses. As a matter of fact, we know that
horses thrive in a remarkable variety of climates and on
many soils, but a tendency to dryness with heat is favourable,
heat with moisture and an alluvial soil are conditions unfavourable
in the extreme, and indeed often suffice to produce extermination.
When one comes to think of it and to compare America and
Australia with South Africa, the question naturally arises, why
have not horses gone wild in the latter place, where many must have
escaped, just as in Australia and America ? If we may judge from
the presence of the zebra, quagga, and BurchelPs zebra, the climate
and soil is everything that could be required for the production of a
wildraceinSouth Africa, and yet one has not appeared! It seems
to me that this is the result of one of two causes, or, perhaps, of a
combination of each. The South African territory was originally
occupied, indeed fully populated, by equines before importation of
the horse, and the latter has had to contend with that terrible
enemy, the Horse Sickness, not to mention animals of prey and
such small but serious foes as the Tsetze fly. Youatt seems to have
had a suspicion that wild horses were found at the Cape. He had
probably heard the Dutchmen and other travellers talking of the
Wilde Paarde, the Boer name for the zebra. He says : ^' At the
Cape of Good Hope we find that the horse, if a native of that
country, is only occasionally seen in its wild state. * * * The
wild have long disappeared from the colony, and we have no authentic
record that any of them were even taken and attempted to be
domesticated.*^ This was written about fifty years ago. Darwin noted
some curious facts about the non-spread of horses in the Falkland
Islands to the degree that might have been anticipated. Firstly,
he attributes some influence to the fact that the hoofs, on account of
softness of the soil, become overgrown, and so limit progression ;
secondly, the stallions insist on the mares accompanying them
often before the recently born foal is able to move sufficiently fast.
Wherever the horse runs wild, there seems to be what we
may fairly consider as a recurrence to ancestral manners. Each stal-
lion has his following of mares ranging from a few up to forty or
even fifty, and these parties may be separate or banded together into
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262 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
herds of considerable size sometimes, it is said, 400 strong. The young
and weak males remain with but a scanty or even no following. The
stallion has to maintain his supremacy by frequent combats, which
especially occur at certain seasons of the year. Youatt mentions
frequent combats between different herds, but the general evidence
tends only to the occurrence of contests for supremacy between
different stallions. The animals are suspicious in the extreme, swift'
of flight, but bold in defence with tooth and heel in emergency.
They range extensively in search of pasture and water, and when
hard pressed by danger or famine, the herds break up. It is said
that each troop has a leader and implicitly obeys him, he is the first
to face danger and to give the hint to fly ; when hard pressed, the
horses form a ring, with the mares and foals in the centre, and defend
themselves vigorously with their heels, or they close in on their
opponent in a dense mass and trample him to death. A favourite
proceeding of these animals seems to be the tempting of domes-
ticated horses to join them, a source of much annoyance to breeders
in Australia, as also is the invasion of their runs by wild stallions,
which vitiate select breeds in a most annoying manner. Wild horses
are sagacious in avoiding sportsmen, keen of scent, and vigilant.
Many wild horses in America are found with saddle marks, and
I have seen the skull of an unfortunate individual with each side
of the lower jaw almost cut through by pressure from a halter
which he wore when as a youngster he escaped from captivity.
With regard to shape, it is much fco be regretted that from Job
even unto Byron, our authors and travellers have thought advisable
to view the horse in a state of nature from the poetic rather than
from the practical side. We have very few " horsemen^s descriptions "
of these animals in so far as I can learn, and the pictures given us
are either over-artistic, evidently taken from stuffed specimens, or
not reliable. The brumbies are described by Anthony Trollope as
" perfect marvels of ugliness, " and elsewhere we are told that they
' are small, hardy, and remarkable for the excellence of their feet,
but seldom worth the trouble of capture and training. The picture
before us of the wild horse of Tartary looks like that of a youngster.
Its most striking features are a most ugly head, with coarse Roman
nose and convex forehead, short muzzle, little cranium ; head badly
set on, no shoulder, deficiency of barrel, ugly quarters, round short
hocks, upright pasterns, and great length below the knees and hocks.
To counteract these bad points there is power in the quarters, arms,
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WILD H0BSE8. 263
and thighs ; the animal is well ribbed up and the feet look good.
The picture of the mustang exhibited reminds us of a thorough-
bred circus horse let loose, and is evidently a flight of imagination
on the part of the artist. Touatt, in speaking of the wild horse of
South America, mentions him as possessing much of the form of the
Spanish horse from which he sprang, as not remarkable for speed,
but wonderfully enduring, and knowing no pace between a walk and
a gallop. Spence in his "Land of Bolivar" speaks of them as
'^ small, strong built, and capable of enduring any amount of fatigue/**
Unsoundness of hoof of the wild horse is not often seen, but its
general infrequence under natural influences contrasts markedly
with the terrible frequency of foot lameness, in spite of all care,
among domesticated horses. It teaches us the important lesson to
get the natural wear and bearing as much as possible, but must not
be misled, as by some, into teaching that the domesticated horse
should go unshod. According to the latter argument pushed to its
logical conclusion, our horses should be fed only on grass and never
be groomed !
The original colour of the horse has been a subject of much
debate, and seems to have been pretty generally accepted that the
primitive horse was dun, Martin Duncan says the evidence on
this point dates back as fer as the time of Alexander the Great :
that the wild horses of Western -Asia and of Eastern Europe are
dun, and that the duns much predominate among some unmixed
breeds, such as those of Hungary and Norway, t It will be seen that
the arguments of the learned professor are weak in the extreme.
Whether or not the historians of Alexander the Great saw wild
horses I can't say, but I consider it extremely probable that they
saw only wild asses of Persia, Assyria, Scinde, and even, possibly,
the Kiang in the Punjab. Again, I doubt very much whether
colours were recorded with as great discrimination by those histo-
* There waa nearly half a century "between when Youatt and Spence wrote ; the
stamp of the South Ainerican horse may materially have altered in that time.
f I am indebted to Mr. F. Stockinger, Gonsul-General for Austro-Hungary in
Bombay^ for the following interesting information on Hungarian horses, as conveyed,
to me in a letter recdved since the. paper on "Wild Horses** was read: — "The Hungarian
is certainly one of the best mixed hreeds on the surface of the earth, as the Grovernment
and private persons have for more than a century imported Arabs, English, Spanish
Norman, and other blood for breeding purposes; in fact, half to three-fourth of
the blood in the Hungarian horse is foreign. A. commission of landowners and
officers visits periodically every part of the country and selects the stallions best
suited for the place. The thoroughly Himgarian city of Debreczin owns a stud
in which they pride themselves to have preserved the original Hungarian horse in
its primitive state unmixed with other blood. I have visited that stud * * and found
that the horses are, without e^^oeption, bays or brown."
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264 BOMBAY NATURAL HI8T0BT SOCIETY.
rians as even by our travellers of to-^day^ and it is probable that the
names of the colours of their go-called wild horses were first con-
fnsed by the language of the natives of the country in which such
animals were foujid ; secondly, rather mixed up in the Greek; thirdly^
again confused in transl^^tion into English, either directly or through
the Latin. It is certain, that mere descriptions of colour are rather
limited in value even when there are no obscurities of language.
Darwin noticed that roan and iron-grey predominated among the
wild horses of the Falkland Islands as descended from horses left by
the French in 1 764. Youatt says of the Tartary horse that he is
'^ generally of a red colour with a black stripe alqng the back. '*
Martin Duncan considers him mouse^KJoloured, and agrees as to the
dorsal stripe, and he speaks of these horses as the '* nearest example
of the stock from ivhich the domesticated horse was derived."
Prejevalsky mentions the wild horse of Central ^^ia as bay, and
elsewhere we hear him described as of a " rufous tinge. '^ Any one
who has had to describe properly a number of battery or transport
mules, or even of country-bred horses, will clearly enter into the
colour diffic|ilty, and understand how naturalists for scientific exact-
ness would need some such standq.rd colour scales as those introduced
by Broca for anthropological observers. He will also have observed
how wide embracing and indefinite are the vernacular colours kumait
and lal ! In India we have in the Kattywar horse, which comes
from a locality, the geographical position of which secures to an
extent purity of race, an example in favour of dun being the original
colour, and among country-bred stock we find many duns and
mouse-coloured horses. We observe a great tendency of prevalence
of the donkey mark along the back, and even slightly a cross mark
on the shoulders, also pale colour of limbs and markings on the
knees and hocks, zebra-marks. The frequency of parti-colouration
is simply the effect of natural crossing; it is seen among all semi-
wild stock and low-caste varieties of the horse. As regards colour
of original horses, I think we can come no nearer a conclusion than
that the groundwork varied somewhat in the differeQt localities
according to prevalent colour of soil, probably froni very light dun
tljirougb mouse-colour and chestnut to bay-brown, there being a
wellrmarked donkey stripe and sniall cross bands, occasionally also
faint stripes about the knees an4 hocks of a darker colour \ the
limbs, lower part of the belly and muzzle generally somewhat lighter
than the rest of the body. A.}1 the darker colour3, all partircolpura-r
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WILD HORSES.
265
tion, and marks have probably resulted from domestication- A
few of the original breed also probably were Albinoes.
With regard to shape, all the evidence tends to the belief that in
all the points which render a horse useful to mankind, domesticatioD
has improved him, though he probably has been rendered less endur-
ing and more liable to disease. The cave horse, whose portrait ba»
been handed down to us carved on horn, had a large head, thick
neck, big mane, and coarse and clumsy points (Duncan) ; but we have
seen that the artist cannot be absolutely relied on for proportions.*
If we be permitted to imagine, on the basis of what we know of th&
oldest wild horses and of the least cared-for breeds, we may describe
the original horse as follows: — Head large, fine or coarse in the
muzzle, badly put on, eyes far back, ears large, neck thick and
coarse, shoulder small and upright, forearm muscular and short,
tendons a little deficient below the knee, pasterns upright, feet
blocky and good, back rather short, girth moderate, loins muscular,
quarters round, tail set on low, hocks big and compact but very
short, thighs very short, but muscular,
Nqw, such a horse is not at all what we would try to buy for any
domestic purpose, but it is the unspeeialised form which in the zebra
and wild ass we find compatible with fair speed, remarkable endu-
rance, and other high qualities. I, as a horseman, criticising the
works of Nature, must not be supposed to be indulging in ridiculous
faultrfinding with perfection. The wild horse is suited admirably to
the wild free life for which he is intended, but he cannot compete
either in speed with the race-horse (althougth his speed is not
inconsiderable), in strength with the draught horse (though he can
perform collar work moderately well with little training), nor is he,
until brought under the controlling influence of man for several
generations, and influenced in a particular direction by artificial
selection, specially suited for any domestic purpose. The adapt-
ability for work shown by the descendants of horses which have
recently gone wild is wonderful. The little training the Australian
and American horses receive to enable them to work proves that
they have not yet outlived the inheritance of the useful quality of
obedience to man, That a traveller should be able to oross South
America by impressing wild horses successively to carry him is
extraordinary.
In size there can be no doubt that (though an enormous fossil
* One of his pomes is not a b^d shaped one, the other is like a Tapir.
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266 BOMBAY NATUBMi HISTORY SOCIBTY.
horse is sapposed to haVe lived in South America) the tendency of
domestication has been towards increase. All the writers, with
charming indefiniteness, speak of the wild horses as '^ small, strong,
and not fast. *'
We have rather more accurate information as to their powers of
endurance, which are undoubtedly considerable; it is not uncommon
for an animal to be captured, ridden sixty or seventy miles straight
off, and then the animal, tired, not " done up,^^ to be enlarged ; this
work on grass feed is not bad. In some of the revolutions in Sputh
America these wild horses have been used extensively and in rather
extraordinary ways. Thus Paez, the cavalry leader of Bolivar, broke
in wild horses and so mounted a very considerable force^ with which
on one occasion he performed the extraordinary feat of capturing
gunboats in midstream^ the men swam their horses in and jumped
on board from off the animals' backs. The aquatic powers of horses
in this part of the world are remarkable, and it is peculiar that
white horses are there thought most of, as being the best swimmers.
It is really wonderful how horses can adapt themselves to emer-
gencies* Those of Central Asia, for example, have often to live like
reindeer, eating snow for drink and gathering a scanty feed by
scraping away the snow. Darwin tells us what a hard time of it
horses sometimes have in South America. Cattle and horses in time
of drought become so exhausted, that when they rush into rivers
they are unable to crawl up the muddy banks, and thus are drowned.
*^ All the small rivers become highly saline, and this caused the
death of vast numbers in particular spots ; for when an animal
drinks of such water it does not recover* Azara describes the fury
of the wild horses on a similar occasion, rushing to the marshes,
those which arrived first being overwhelmed and crushed by those
which followed. He adds that more than once he has seen the
carcases of upwards of a thousand wild horses thus destroyed.'^
The distinguished naturalist comes to the conclusion that a geologist
unacquainted with the occasional occurrence of this phenomenon
would draw some conclusions of not altogether satisfactory stability
from discovery of a breccia of horse bones.
Yet) in spite of adverse influenceSi rapidity of spread of horses is a
phenomenon of which there can be no doubt. The diffusion of horses
which in Mexico escaped into the woods and savannahs northward
to the Bocky Mountains and to the sources of the Columbia, is, as
Low points out, remarkabloj yet not to be compared with what has
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WILD HORSES. 267
taken place in the plains of La Plata and other parts of the South
American Continent. Darwin shows us that whereas the first horse
was landed in America at Buenos Ay res in 1537, in 1580 (less than
fifty years) the Patagonians had horses. This spread is, of course,
not to be compared with the wonderful increase in numbers of horses
in general in Australia which has recently been witnessed, but it
may be remarked as an illustration of how wild horses spread,
that in New South Wales, in 1875, 7,000 wild horses are recorded as
having been shot without extermination, and the horse pest has
attained such importance as, I believe, to have received legislative
notice in some parts of Australia. Our members ought to be able to
give us some interesting information in this matter. There is evi-
dence that even in South America the numbers of horses have been
materially lessened by the requirements of man recently.
Some curious eccentricities of wild horses deserve a passing notice.
Darwin remarks on the extraordinary fact that without any apparent
reason, and though there is no appreciable difference in climate and
soil between the western and eastern parts of the Falkland Island
on which he saw horses, they had never left the eastern part.
Another peculiar point is noticed by Azara, the preference of wild
horses for the dropping of excrement in or near roads. This carried
out on a large scale, in South America, has an important influence
on the procuration of fodder along the main tracks.
Darwin comments on the extreme difficulty of driving large bodies
of horses over the South American plains. One remount officer who
left Buenos Ayres with 500 had under 20 on arrival at his destination.
The animals are excitable, and the approach of a puma or even a fox
during the night will cause the horses to disperse in every direction,
and even a storm willhave the same eflfect (" Voyage of the Beagle '*)•
This tendency to wild heedless bolting of large numbers of horses is
a phenomenon not unknown to our cavalry officers and those of
other nations. I know of one stampede of horses of a cavalry regi-
ment mounted on Walers in this country, and two serious stampedes
occurred among the Guards' horses and those of the Queen's Bays at
Aldershot at the first an tumn manoeuvres. Paez in Bolivia turned this
tendency to valuable account in the War of Independence, for he
used to stampede bands of wild horses against the enemy at night.
Finally, we may observe that, as the equine animals in South Africa
have been noticed to have a curious tendency to ^^ chum ^* with the
Gnu and other ruminants, the wild horse also has been observed
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268 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
on terms of settled friendship with the larger ruminants of the plains
on which he is found.
The paces of the horse in a natural condition are the walk and gallop.
As regards other paces, the amble and the canter are undoubtedly
artificial, but it has been much discussed as to whether the wild
horse trots. We need not enter into the arguments in detail here.
The question has received much attention in America, and Hiram
Woodruife has concluded that the trot is a natural pace for young
untrained animals ; also zebras and other wild equines trot. There
are evident fallacies in this argument, but to debate on the paces of
the horse here would take too much time and trespass too much on
the patience of the meeting.
Finally, in estimating the influence on manldnd of the wild horse
in the present day, we find a difficulty in separating him from the
numerous herds of semi-wild animals which in most parts of the
world are utilised as reserves of horse supplies, such as those of
the great breeding establishments in Hungary, * Russia, and even
in Chinese Tartary. A description of one of the latter by
Prejevalsky may prove of intei*est : *^ The great Steppe country
through which we passed from Doloknor is the pasture land
of the Imperial horses. Every herd (dargu of the Mongols) num-
bers 500, and is under an officer; a superior officer is over all. " They
supply remounts in time of war. These horses are under the average
* Mr. Stockinger writes : " Hungary certainly has large breeding establishments
which I have mostly seRn more than once^ but you Will not find any animal even
approaching the semi -wild state. The largest stud is called Mero Hegyes, which
belongs to the Government, and covers an area of about 45,000 acres, numbering
between 4 to 5,000 horses.
" They are divided according to breed, age, and sex into small herds numbering 80 to
100 at the utmost. Each herd is driven out to the pasture everv morning bj^ two to
three well mounted men with long whips, and brought back in the evening into lai'ge
separfrte enclosures, each of which contains a shed entirely open on one side.
*' They are all perfectly tame, and one could hardly imagine a prettier sight than
being surrounded by a flock of thoroughbred or half-bred yearlings searching your
pockets for bread.
" The stallions are kept in stables all the j'ear round, do the carriage and saddle-work
of the superintending officers, and are about as peaceful and tame creatures as one
would wish. I have never heard a scream or a kick in a stable containing perhaps 50
or more stallions.
** Large landed proprietors have studs kept very much on the some system ; the stal-
lions are either private property or belong to Government, who let them out for the
season.
**The small landlord and peasant breeds horses as a domestic animal more like the
Arab. They are about the house or farm ; the boys jump on their backs as soon
almost as they can stand on their legs ; and he follows his master about like a dog.
You win very often see a farmer drive about the country with the offspring and
relations of his team after him. I know a good many books contain still accounts
of the wild Hungarian horse, but these are things long, long gone by.
'* The very natural and surest proof of this is that I have met verj', very rarely with
an ill-tempered or vicious horse, and then it can be almost invariably traced to bad
treatment."
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LEPIDOPTERA OF KAEACHI AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 269
height, their legs and neck thick, head large, and coat long and
shaggy, possess wonderful powers of endurance, remaining out in
the open in extreme cold, and contenting themselves with the scanty
herbage, or, if there be none, with such coarse stuff as camels feed
on. In winter the snow serves them for water. They roam almost
at liberty' over the pasture lands of Northern Kalka and the country
of the Chakhars. The larger herds are usually broken up into
smaller troops of 10 to 30 mares, led by a stallion, who guards them
with the greatest jealousy and never lets them out of his sight. The
leaders of them have pitched battles with one another in the spring,
Darwin observed a tribe of Indians which was gradually changing
from hunters on foot to hunters on horseback, a neighbouring tribe
lending them old and inferior horses to prevent their being abso-
lutely starved through want of success in the chase.
The wild and semi-wild horses constitute together a grand reserve
of remounts for the world's requirements. They are absolutely
necessary for travelling in many parts ; they even constitute a source
of food supply to mankind; they give scope for reckless energy of
certain classes of mankind which might otherwise find a less
legitimate outlet; in some countries, as in primitive ages, skin, hair,
hoofs, milk, and bones of horses are found useful. There is doubtless
much waste in capture and breaking-in, yet the supplies seem almost
inexhaustible, thanks to rapid propagation and wide range over
suitable country. Even viewed as a feral animal there are few
quadrupeds more useful to man than Equus caballus; a^ a domes-
ticable being he is one of the grandest presents of Nature to
mankind.
J. H. S.
Bombay Veterinary College.
ON THE LEPIDOPTERA OF KARACHI AND ITS
NEIGHBOURHOOD. (Part I.)
By Col. C. Swinhoe, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &g.
There appears to be no record of any collection of Lepidoptera
ever having been made in Karachi or in Southern Sind, beyond a
short paper of my own which appeared in the Proceedings of the
Zoological Society of London for 1884, p. 503.
I collected at and about Karachi, from December 1878 up to
August 1880, employing (as I always do) the services of a trained
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270 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
native collector, and recorded his captures daily in my journal.
There was no sweet water in Karachi then, and but very few and
feeble attempts at gardening — little but sand every where, and conse-
quently the Lepidopterous fauna was very limited, and mainly
limited, as might be expected, to desert forms.
With the introduction of the Mulleer Water Works the whole face of
Karachi is rapidly changing — gardens are springing up everywhere,
all kinds of new trees are being cultivated, and this change is bring-
ing a number of fresh species of butterflies and moths into the neigh-
bourhood. I received a number of new things from Mr. Murray in
1882, after an unusually heavy rainfall and during my stay there
from the 30th March 1886 to 21st September 1886, 1 captured many
more fresh species, and I now purpose giving a complete list of all
the lepidoptera within my knowledge taken at Karachi and its
vicinity up to date. '
The list of species is still very limited ; it will no doubt go on
increasing every year with the growth of vegetation, until it some-
what resembles that of Bombay, but in Consequence of the sandy
nature of its surroundings, Karachi will always contain many desert
species, and will lack many of the species which thrive in the moist
atmosphere of the Bombay coast. For instance, the genus Ixias, so
plentifully represented in Bombay, is entirely absent from Karachi,
as also the eucharis group of the genus Callosune, very abundant
in Bombay, is nowhere to be seen about Karachi, whereas, on the
other hand^ the dulcis group of the same genus, and the dijnamene
group of the sub-genus Idmais to be met with in abundance in one
or other of its species all the year through at Karachi, are only repre-
sented in Bombay by very rare specimens of Callosune taplini,
£winhoe, and Idmais cyprcea, Fabr.
PART I.
BHOPALOCERA.
NYMPHALIDiE.
EuPLOEINiE.
1. Tirumala limniace,
Papilio limniace, Cramer, Pap. Exot. i., pi. 69 f. D. E (1779).
July 1882, in great plenty after heavy rain, and is now quiilb a
common insect during the months of July and August, since the
introduction of the Mulleer water into Karachi and' the consequent
increase of vegetation.
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LBPIDOPTEBA OP KARACHI AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 271
2. Salatura genutia.
Papilio genuUa, Cramer, Pap. Exot. iii., pi. 206, f. 0. D.
(1782).
Is also now becoming a common insect at Karaclii daring the
months of June and July and August.
8. Limnas chrysippus.
Papilio chrysippm, Linn., Mus, Ulr,, p. 263 (1764).
Common everywhere in Sind all the year round.
4. Limnas dorippus,
Euploea dorippus, Klug., Symb. Pbys., pi. 48, f. 1-5 (1845).
Never common; an odd specimen taken occasionally all the year
round.
5. Limnas alcippoides.
Limnas alcippoideg, Moore, P.Z.S., 1888, p. 238, pi. 81, f. 1.
Same note as above.
Sattein^.
6. Melanitis leda.
Papilio leda, Linn., Syst. Nat. i., 2, p. 773 (1767).
A rare insect at Karachi. I took one in 1879 and one in
July 1886.
7. Melanitis ismene,
Papilio ismency Cramer, Pap. Exot. i., pi. 26, f. A. B.(1775)
Rare ; one taken by me in May 1886.
8. Ypthirna asterope.
Hipparachia asterope, Klug., Symb. Phys., pi. 29, f. 11-14,.
(1832).
I took one in May 1886; it is identical with specimens in my
collection from Arabia identified by Mr. A. G. Butler of the*
British Museum.
Ntmphalin^.
9. Atellaphalanta.
Papilio phalanta, Drury, 111. Exot. Ent. i., pi. 21, f.. 1, 2!
(1773).
This is also a rare insect in these parts. I go* one at Karachi
in July 1882, and received one in a small collection made by Sir
Oliver St. John in Kozdar, Beloochistan.
10. Pyrameis cardui.
Papilio cardui, Linn., Faun. Suec, p. 276 (1761).
Common throughout the year.
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272 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
11. Junonia lemonias.
Papilio lemonias, Linn., Mus, Ulr., p. 277 (1764).
Taken in November 1885.
12. Junonia hierta.
Papilio hierta, Fahr., Ent. Syst. Suppl., p. 424 (1798).
Not observed in 1879 or 1880; is, however, becoming common.
It was plentiful in several months of the year in 1885 and 1886.
13. Junonia orithya.
Papilio orithya, Linn., Mus. TJlr., p. 278 (1764).
A few taken in April and May 1879 and 1880, but is becoming
quite common, and was taken in great plenty in June, July, and
August 1885 and 1886.
14. Junonia asterie,
Papilio asterie, Linn., Syst. Nat. i. 2, p. 769 (1767).
One taken in November 1880.
• 15. Junonia almana»
Papilio almana, Linn., Mus. Ulr., p. 272 (1764).
The commonest species of the genus appears in January, April and
November.
16. Eypolimnas lolina.
Papilio holina, Linn., Mus. TJlr., p. 295 (1764).
Two specimens in July 1882, one in July 1886, and one in the
following month*
1 7. Hypolimnas misippus.
Papilio misippus, Linn., Mus. Ulr , p. 264 (1764).
Common from June to December. The female mimics Idmnas,
dorippus more commonly than L. chrysippus,
Lyccenidj:.
18. Polymmatus boeticus.
Papilio boeticus, Linn., Syst. Nat.i. 2, p: 789 (1767).
Common in every month of the year.
19. Lampides strabo.
Eesperia strabo, Fahr., Ent. Syst, iii., p. 287 (1793); Lyccena
kandarpa, Horsfield, Cat. Lep. E. I. C, p. 82. (1829) ; Lampides
asoka, Kollar, Hiig. Kasch. iv., p. 419, S 6; Lampides didda,
Kollar, Hug. Kasch iv., p. 420, S .
Common in July and August.
20. Catochrysops cnejus.
Eesperia cnejus, Fahr., Ent Syst. Suppl., p. 430 (1798).
Common during August, September and October.
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LEPIDOPTERA OF KABACHI AND ITS NBIGHBOUEHOOD. 273
21. Oatochrysops contracta.
Lampides contracta, Mr. Butler, P. Z. S., 1880, p. 406, pi.
84, f. 3.
Common from May to September. Butler's type came from
Kandahar ; the Karachi examples are identical with the Elandahar
form.
22. Oatochrysops ella.
Oatochrysops ella, Butler, P. Z. S., 1881, p. 606.
Common in December and January.
23. Tamcits nara.
Lyccena nara, KoUar, Hug. Kasch* vi. 2, p. 421 (1848).
Common from April to August. A species allied to T. nara with
attenuated markings on the wings below occur at Karachi in June;
it appears to me to be distinct and has yet to be described. I
have examples taken in June 1879, in June 1885, and in the Hubb
River, ta^ken by Captain Becher, R. A., in September 1885.
24. Tarucua extricatus*
Tarucus extricatus, Butler, P. Z. S., 1886, p. 367, pi. 35, f. 2.
Taken in May, October and December 1885, and in January and
April 1886.
25. Tarucus plinius.
Eesperia plinius, Fab., Ent. Syst. iii., 1, p. 284 (1793).
Common in May, June and July,
26. Zizera trochilus.
Lyccena trochilus^ Freyer, Neuere. Beitr. v., pi. 440, f. 1
(1844).
June 1885, and taken by Captain Becher on the Hubb River in
September 1885.
27. Zizera harsandra.
Polyommatus harsandra, Moore, P. Z.S., 1865, p. 505, pi. 31,
f.7.
The commonest Lyccena in Karachi. It occurs in great plenty
in April and May, and again in countless numbers in November
and December.
28. Zizera mora.
Ziz^a mora, Swiohoe, P. Z. S., 1884, p. 506, pi. 47, f. 2.
June 1879 and Juna 1882.
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274 BOMBAT NATURAL HISTOBY SOCIXTT*
29. Zizera pygmcea,
Lyccena pygmcea, Ssellenj Tijdschr.^ Ent. xix.^ pi. 7, f. 3
(1376).
July 1882.
SO. Chilades putli,
Lyccena putli, Kollar, Hiig. Kasch.^ p. 424 (1848).
Muggnr Pir. August, 1880.
31. Azanus zeim.
Lyccena zena, Moore, P. Z. S., 1865, p. 505, pi. 31, f. 9.
Commou from July to November.
32. Azanus vranus.
Azanus uranus, Butler, P. Z S., 1886, p. 366, pi. 35, f. !•
Three taken in August 1886, and one taken by Captain Becher
in the Hubb River in September 1885.
33. Spindasis trifurcata.
Aphnoeus trifurcata, Moore, P. Z. S., 1882, p. 251.
Several taken in the Hubb River by Captain Becher in Septem-
ber 1885.
34. Spindasis acamas.
Lyccena acamas, Kliig., Syst. Phys., pi. 40, f, 7-9 (1834).
Common in January and February 1880 and July 1881. One
taken in July 1885.
PAPILIONIDiE.
PlBBIN^.
85. Terias Iceta.
Terias Zceia Boisduval, Sp. Gen. i., p. 674 (1836).
One taken in June 1879 is a common insect at Karachi, and is
very plentiful in May and June.
36. Terias hecahe,
Papilio hecahe, Linn., Mus, Ind. Ulr., p. 249 (1764).
Common from April to August.
37. Terias hecabeoides.
Terias hecabeoides. Men., Cat. Mus. Petr. Lep. i., p. 85, pi. 2,
f. 2 (1855).
Is also common during the summer months. It is doubtfully
distinct from the preceding, its only diflTerenoe being a heavier
marginal border, and in the forewing this border extends further
in on the hinder margin.
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LBPIDOPTBRA OF KARACHI AND ITS NEiaHBOURHOOD. 275
38. Terias cesiope.
Teriae cesiope. Men., Cat. Mus. Petr. Lep. i., p. 85, pi. 2, f. S
(1885).
July and August. This insect is also doubtfully distinct, the
two fonner are free of all red markings on the wings below.
T. oesiope has a red apical patch, below the wings above with its deep
border being almost identical with T* hecabeoides,
39. Terias curiosa,
Terias curiosa, Swinhoe, P. Z. S., 1884, p. 508, pL 47, £. 3.
August, 1879.
40. Terias excavata.
Terias excavata, Moore, P. Z. S., 1882, p. 252.
August to January.
41. Terrias purreea. •
Terias purreea, Moore, P. Z. S., 18^2, p. 252.
November to January.
42. Terias asphodelus.
Terias asphodelus, Butler, P. Z. S., 1883, p. 151, pi. 24, f. 13.
November to March.
43. Terias irregularis.
Terias irregularis, Moore, P. Z. S., 1882, p. 253, pi. 12, f. 3.
January, 1886.
The last four species all have red patches on the wings below >
some Lepidopterists think they are all varieties of one species.
This may be the case, or else they may be seasonal forms, but-
they are not diflScult to separate, and a long series of them will
show very few intermediates.
44. Terias venata.
Terias venata, Moore, Oat. Lep. B. I. 0. i., p. 65, pi. 2 a, £. 2
(1857).
Observed for the first time at Karachi in July 1886, when I took
four; it will probably become as common in a year or two with the
increase of vegetation as it is in Bombay.
45. Idmais fausta.
Papilio fausta, Oliver, Voy. PBurop. Atl., pi. 33, f. 4 a. b.
(1801).
Never common at Karachi, but an odd one taken occasionally
from May to August. The males of this species have a sexual mark
on the forewings in the form of a small embossed patch.
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276 . BOMBAY NATURAL HISTOEY SOCIETY.
46. Idmais protractus.
Teracolus protractua, Butler, P. Z. S., 1876, p. 137.
A rare insect here, one taken in Karachi in January and one
in March 1879; it is common on the Hubb River from July to
November, and in great plenty on the banks of the Indus at
Hyderabad.
47. Idmais vestalis.
Teracolus vestalis, Butler, P. Z. S., 1876, p. 135, pi. 7, f. 10,
and 1881, p. 609.
In great plenty from April to June.
48. Idmais pnellaris,
Teracolus puellaru, Butler, P. Z. S., 1876, p. 136, and 1881,
p. 609.
Scarce at Karachi. Common.in the interior ; an occasional speci-
men to be taken from May to August.
49. Idmais ochreipennis.
Teracolus ochreipennis, Butler, P. Z. S., 1876, p. 136, pi, 1881,
p. 609. ^
Plentiful in December.
60. Idmais peelus
Teracolus peelus, Swinhoe, P. Z. S., 1884, p. 439, pi. 39, f. 9.
Taken in May and September.
5L Idmais dabia
Teracolus dubiu^, Swinhoe, P. Z. S., 1884, p. 439.
July, August and September.
A key to the last six species may be useful.
Above they are all more or less similar, except that J. puellaris
and J. duhia have the marginal black bands on the hind wings
deeper than in the other species ; their distinctive diflferences are
in the colouration and markings of the wings below, as under.
I. vestalis, Butler, and J. puellaris^ males, both wings below sul-
phur yellow., forewings with three black spots near outer margin,
below the median branches ; in I. vestalis the centre spot the largest,
in I* puellaris with the lowest spot extending downwards and expand-
ing upon the hinder margin; females very similar in appearance, but
the band on the hind wings above in J. puellaris is as in the males
deeper than in Z". vestalis ; below the markings are very much as iu
the male, but the hind wings are flesh colour, the colour being
darker in I. puellaris than in J. vestalis.
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LEPIDOPTERA OF KARACHI AND ITS NEWHBOURHOOD. 277
r. ochrei'permis ^ Butler, below both sexes with the three spots in the
fore wings as in J. vestalis ; hind wings^in both sexes flesh colour.
/. pfielus Swinhoe, is like a yellow 7. vestalis.
I, dubia, Swinhoe, is like a very large 7. vestalis, with all the
.black markiugs much deeper above and belo^f, with a discal series
of large reddish brown spots in the hind wings below.
7. protractus is marked like 7, puellaris above and below, but is
of a deep salmon colour above. There are several other differences
between tlie various species, but by thdse alone they can be easily
separated, and these characteristics appear to be quite constant.
62. Idmais dynamene
Pontia dynamene, Klug., Symb. Phys. pi. 6, f . 15, 16 (1829);
Teracolus carinfer, Butler, P. Z. S., 1876, p. 138, pi. 7, 8,
89.
Very common all the year round.
53. Idmais Calais
Papilio Calais, Cramer, Pap. Exot. i., pi. 63, f. 0. D. (1779),
One taken by Captain Becher at Karachi in June 1885, and is
identical with my Aden specimens identified ^by Mr. Butler.
54. Callosune dulcis*
Teracolus didcis,B\it\eT, P. Z. S., 1876, p. 157, pi. 7, f. 13,
Teracolus dims, Butler, 1. c. f. 11; Teracolus eboreoides,
Butler, 1. c. p. 158, pi. 7, f. 12; Teracolus immaculatus,
Swinh., P. Z. S., 1884, p. 443.
Common from April to August.
Typical specimens of all the above can easily be separated, but
there are so many intermediates, it is impossible to separate them
as distinct species. C. dulcis is the common form, the hind wings
below have a complete whorl of small discal brownish spots, and ۥ
immaculatus, G. eboreoides, and C diru^ are larger butterflies. Below
on the fore wings are two black patches on the outer margin near the
hinder angle. In C. eboreoides the discal spots on the hind wings are
double, prominent, complete, and very black; in (7. dirus these large
spots are only represented by two or three pairs from the cosfca
downwards, and in C. immaculatus they are entirely absent, there
being many only one pair of spots on the costa.
55. ColloHvne subroseus
Teracolus subroseus, Swinhoe, P. Z, S., 1884, p. 443, pi. 40,
f. 67.
July to November*
37
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278 BOMBAY NATUBAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
A good and distinct species^ bnt of ibis as of C. dulcis tliere
appear to be some varieties more or less constant. One form has the
hind wings below pure white, and in another form the hind wings
are shaded with pale purple. 1 have a long series of all these forms
in my collection with many intermediates. O^subroseun in its typical
rose-colonred form is a very common insect at Ahmedabad.
56. G alios ane etrida,
Anthocaris etrida, Boird., Sp. Gen. Lep. i., p. 576 (1836)-
Teracolus purus, Butler, R Z. S., 1876, p. 160, pi. 7, f. 14,1 5.
Common from April to July.
57. Callosune femotatus
Teraeolus femotatu9y Butler, P. Z. S., 1876, p. 159, pi. 7, f. 1.
July, August and September.
58. Callosune fai rinvs
Teracolvsfarrinus, Butler, P. Z. S., 1876, p. 169, pi. 7, f. 2.
May to September.
59. Callosune Uvibatns
Teraeolus Umlatvs, Butler, P. Z. S., 1876, p. 161.
June 1880 to October 1885.
0. etrida has the underside of the hind wings immaculate, C. lim-
batus (common in Ceylon) is similar, but has the black band on hind
wings above entire and not macular.
C. ,pernotatus has a whorl of pale blackish rather diffused discal
spots on the hind wings below, and so has C. farrinus^ but the
latter is a larger insect, and has all its black markings deeper ; the
inner blagk band of the orange apical patch on the fore wings above
IB broad, and the black macular marginal band of the hind wings
above consists of large spots, sometimes like black patches.
I am inclined to think there are only two, not four species, but
the types of each are very distinct in appearance, and until proof
can be produced they must stand.
60. Oallosune bimbura
Teraeolus bimbura, Bntler, P. Z. S., 1876, p. 161, pi. 7,1 S, 4.
December, January and February.
The type came from Bimbur in Cashmir, but it is common during
the cold weather in the plains all over Western and Southern India;
above it is like a finely marked 0. etrida ; below the hind wings
(excepting the discoidal cell) are pinkish suffused with brown atoms,
the discoidal cell standing out pale whitish in the pinkil&h brown
coloration.
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LEPIDOPTBRA OF KARACHI AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 279
61. Belenois mesentina —
Papilio mesentma, Cvhmer, Pap. Exot iii., pi. 27, f. A.B,
(1782).
Pieris lordaca, Walker, Entom. v., p. 48 (1870).
Belenois auriginea, Batler, P.Z*S., 1886, p. 374.
Cornmon from February to June.
The females are mostly of the B. lordaca form. Mr. Butler has
lately split the Indian form of this species into three species, but
1 cannot follow him, with a very long series from all parts of India,
includiDg many from the Puiijab, from whence his types of B^
lordaca and B, auriginea came. I cannot separate the three forms
though I can pick out typical specimens of all these. The only
conclusion to arrive at appears to me to be that B. mesentina
is a very variable species.
62. Catopsilia pyranthe.
Papilio pyranthe, Linn., Mus. Ulr., p. 245 (1764).
May to August common.
63. Catopsilia ilea.
Papilio ilea, Fab., Ent. Syst. Suppl., p. 426 (1798).
May and June.
64. Catopsilia philippinia —
Papilio philippinia^ Cram., Pap. Exot. iv., pi. 361, f. CD.
(1782).
Common from September to January.
65. Catopsilia crocale
Papilio crocale, Cram., Pap. Exot, i., pi. 55, f. C. D. (1779).
One taken in 1879, another in July 1 882. It is now more
common during the months of June and July.
Papilioninje.
66. Menelaides aristolachia.
Papilio aristolochusj Fab., Ent. Syst., p. 443 (1775).
Papilio diphilusj Esper., Ausl. Schmitt, pi. 40, B. f. 1.
(1785-98).
Very common in July and August.
6 7. Op hiedes erithonius
Papilio erithonius^ Cram., Pap. Exot. iii., pi. 232, f. A. B.
(1782).
Common all the year round.
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280
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
HESPEIlIDiB.
68. Parata alexia
Papilio alexia, Pab., Syst. Ent. p. 583 (1775).
One example, July 1882.
69. Badamia exclamatioms
Papilio exclamationis, Fab., Syst. Ent., p. 530 (1775).
One example, June 1885.
70. Chapra midea
Pelopidas midea, Walker, Entom, v., p. 56 (1870).
Common at all seasons. This is the large pale form of Chapra
mathias, Fabr. I have received it also from Khozdar in Beloochistan
from Sir 0. St. John. Walker*s type came from Turkey.
71. Parnara bevani
Hesperia bevani, Moore, P. Z. S., 1S78, p. 688.
July 1887 and October 1885.
72. Gegenes karsana
Hesperia karsana, Moore, P. Z. S., 1874, p. 576, pi. 67,
f. 6.
April to October.
73. Pyrgus galba
Hesperia galba^ Fab., Ent. Syst. iii. 1, p. 352 (1793).
Pyrgus superna, Moore, P. Z. S., 1865, p. 792.
June to September.
74. Pyrgus evanidus
Pyrgus evanidus, Butler, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., March,
1880, p. 223.
January, February and March.
75. Gomalia litoralis
Gomalia litoralis, Swinhoe, P. Z. S., 1884, p. 513, pi. 47,
f.4
July 1879.
LIST OF BIRDS' EGGS IN THE SOCIETY'S COLLECTION.
Jerdon's
No.
Scientific Name.
Popular Name.
No. of
Eggs.
2
Otogyps cal vuS| Scop
The Kinsr Vnltare ...
1
1
4
1
4 lis.
Gyps pallescens, Hume
The Long-billed Pale Brown
Vulture.
The White-backed Vulture ...
The Scavenger Vulture
5
6
Pseudogyps bengalensis, Gm. ...
Neophron ginginianns, Lath
Falco iuerenir, J. E. Gr ,.,
11
The Juggar Falcon
1
23
Astur badius, Gm.*
TheShikra
2
29
Aqxiia rindhiana, Frankl
The Tawny Eagle
2
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UST OF BIBDS' EGOS.
281
Jerdon's
No.
Scientific Name.
Popular Name.
No. of
Eggs.
33
Nisaetus fasoiatus, Vieill
The Crestless Hawk Eagle ...
The Crested Hawk Eagle
The Ring-tailed Fishing Eagle.
The White-eyed Buzzard
The Pariah Kite
1
85
Tiimnaptnfl cirrhatnfl. Gin- - .«i
1
42
48
Haliaetus leucorTphns, Pall
Btitastar teesa. Frankl.
2
2
56
Milvim crovind&i^ SvkBB ••.....••••
16
69
70
Bubo bencralensis. Frankl
The Rock Horned Owl
5
Bilbo coromaiidaSi Lath.
The Dusky Horned Owl
1
76
Carine brama. Tern
The Spotted Owlet
5
84
Hirundo filifera. SteDh
The Wire-tailed Swallow
The Red-rumped Swallow
The Indian Cliff Swallow
The Duskv Crasr Martin
1
85
86
90
Hirundo erythropygia, Sykes ...
Hirundo fluvicola, Jerd
Ptyonoprogne concolor, Sykes ...
Cypsellus affinis, J. E. Gr
Colocalia niiicolor, Jerd •«..
1
2
1
100
103
The Common Indian Swift ...
The Edible Nest Swiftlet
The Common Indian Nightjar.
Franklin's Nightjar
5
2
112
114
Capri mulgas asiatica, Lath
Capri mulgas monticulns, Isrankl.
Merops viridis, Lin,.......*
4
2
117
The Common IndianBee-eater.
The Blue-tailed Bee-eater
The European Bee-eater
The Indian Roller
3
118
Merops philiPDinnRi Lin# ■,
1
121
Merops apiaster, Lin. .., •••...
1
123
Coraoias indica. Lin
4
125
Coracias garrnla, Lin......*...
The European Roller
1
129
Halcyon smyrnensis, Lin
The White-breasted King-
fisher.
The Indian Kingfisher
The Common Grey Hombill ...
The Rose-ringed Paroquet
The Rose-headed Paroquet ...
The Yellow-fronted Wood-
pecker.
The Southern Pigmy Wood-
pecker.
The Western Green Barbet ...
The Pied Crested Cuckoo
The Indian Koel
1
134
Alcedo bengalensis, Gm. .........
3
144
Ocvceros birostris. ScoD •...
2
148
149
160
Pals9ornis torquatus, Bodd
PalsBOrnis purpureas, P. L. S. M.
Picus mahrat tensis, Lath.
a
1
1
164
Yun^riDiciis nanus. Visr. ............
I
193 bis,
212
214
Megalaema inomata, Wald
Ooccystes jaoobinus, Bodd
Eudynamis honorata, Lin....
1
2
4
217
Centrococcyx rufipennis, 111
Cynnyris asiatica. Lath
4
234
The Purple Honey-sucker
The Indian Grey Shrike
5
256
Lanius lahtora, Sykes
Lanins erythronotus, Vig
2
257
The Rufous-backed Shrike
The Bay-backed Shrike
The Common Wood Shrike ...
The Black-headed Cuckoo
Shrike.
The Small Minivet
6
260
Lanius vittatus, Valenc
5
265
268
276
Tephrodomis pondioeriana. Gm. .
Volvocivora Sykesi, Strickl
Pericrocotus peregrinus , Lin. ...
Periorocotus erythropygius, Jerd.
Buchanga atra, Herm
3
1
3
277
278
The White-bellied Minivet ...
TheKing-Orow
The Paradise Fly-Catcher
The White-browed Fantail ...
The Idle Schoolboy
2
5
268
Muscipeta paradisi, Lin
1
292
Leucocerca aureola, Vieil.
4
3ii3
Myiophoneus temmincki, Vig. ...
Goocichla cy anotis, Jerd
2
354
The Wiiite-winged Ground
Thrush.
The Yellow-eyed Babbler
The Qualcer Thrush
2
385
Pyet oris sinensis, Gm
4
389
Alcippe poiocephala, Jerd
2
397
432
Dumetia hyperythra, Frankl. ...
Malacocercus terricolor, Hodgs. .
Malacocercus somervillei, Sykes
Argya malcolmi, Sykes
The Rafous-bellied Babbler ...
The Bengal Babbler
2
1
435
436
The Rufous-tailed Babbler
The Large Grey Babbler
The Striated Bush Babbler ...
The White-browed Bush Bul-
bul.
The Southern Red-whiskered
Bulbul. •
The Common Madras Bulbul ...
The White-winged lora
The Indian Oriole
2
10
438
453
Chatarrhoea oaudata, Dnm
Ixus luteola, Less
20
1
460 his.
462
468
Otooompsa fuscioaudata, Gould. .
Molpastes hcEmorrhous, Gm. ...
lora tiphia, Lin
2
18
2
470
Oriolus kundoo, Sykes
3
475
Copsychus saularis, Lin. .„
The Magpie Robin
2
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282
BOHBAT HAT1TBAI. HI8T0BT SOCIBTT,
Jerdon's
No.
Soientifio Name.
Fopalar Name.
No. of
Eggs.
479
Thamnobia f olicata, Lin
Xhamnobia cambaiensiBi Lath....
Bhyacornis faliginosa, Yig
Orthotomus sntoriaSi fforst
Prinia Btewarti. Blv,
The Indian Black Bobin
3
4S0
505
630
The Brown-backed Indian
Bobin.
The Plumbeous Water Bobin...
The Indian Tailor Bird
4
1
5
535
Stewart's Wren Warbler
The Malabar Wren Warbler ...
The BufouB Grass Warbler ...
The Common Wren Warbler..
The Jnngle Wren Warbler ...
The Allied Wren Warbler
The Bafoos-fronted Wren
Warbler.
The Leaser White Throat
The Pied Wagtail
3
538
Priaia graoilis, Frankl
23
539
543
Cisticola qursitans, Frankl. ......
DrymGBca inomata, Sykes
2
20
545
DrvmmnA Rvlvatinfi.. .Tftrrl.
4
546
551
682
DrymoBca neglecta, Jerd
Franklinia baohanani, BI7
Svlria affinis. Blv. ...
1
3
1
589
Motaoilia madraspatensis, Gm ...
Zoster ops palpebrosa, Tern.
GoryaB inacrorhynchuB, Wagl. ...
Corviis snlendens. Vieill
2
631
The White-eyed Tit
1
660
The Bow-billed Corbv
8
663
The Common Indian Crow ...
The Common Indian Magpie...
Hume's Starlinir
2
674
Dendrooitta rafa. Scod
2
682
Stnrnns nitenB) Hame
1
684
AcridothereB triBtis, Lin
The Common Myna
The Bank Mvna
8
685
AcridotbereB ginginianaB, Lath. .
Stamia pagodarum, Gm
4
687
The Black-headed Myna
The Common Weaver Bird
The Spotted Munia
4
694
PlocouB nhilioDinns. Lin.
13
699
Amadina panotulata, Lin
1
703
Amadina mftlftbarica» Lin .........
The Plain Brown Munia
The House Sparrow
14
706
Passer domesticns, Lin
13
756
760
lyf irafra erythroptera, Jerd.
Pyrrhulauda grisea, Scop
The Bed- winged Bush Lark ...
The Black-bellied Finch Lark..
The Small Crown Crest Lark...
The Blue Bock Pigeon
2
3
765
Soizalanda deva. Svkes
1
788
Columba Intermedia. Strickl. ...
Turtnr sfinftgalflTiaiH, Lin. .„.,..,,
2
794
The Little Brown Dove
6
795
Tartar saratensiSf Gm
Tartar risorius. Lin
The Spotted Dove
2
796
The Common Bing Dove
The Common Sand Grouse ...
The Pea-Fowl
5
802
PterooleB exastas, Tem
4
803
Pavo oristatas. Lin
2
803 oct.
814
Mogapodias nicobaricoB, Biy, ...
Galloperdix spadiceoB, Gm
Francolinus nictns. Jerd
The Nicobar Mound Bird
The Red Spur-Fowl
1
1
819
The Painted Partriacre
1
822
Ortygomia pondicerianas, Gm....
Perdicala asiatica, Lath ,
Cotarnix coromandelica, Gm. ...
Tumix taigoor, Sykes
I'he Grey Partridge
2
826
The Bock Bush Ouail
2
830
832
The Black-breasted Bain Quail.
The Black-breasted Bustard
Quail.
The Likh
5
6
839
Sypheotidefi aurita, Lath.
1
843
Glareola laotea, Tem
The Small Swallow Plover ...
The Bed-wattled Lapwing
The Yellow- wattled Lapwing. .
The Large* Stone Plover
2
855
856
858
Lobiyanellas indicus, Bodd
Lobipluvia malabarica, Bodd. ...
uEsacus recurviroBtris, Cav.
-^dicnemas soolopax, S. G. Gm. .
GmB antifipone. Lin
13
8
1
859
The Stone Plover
2
863
The Sarus
4
900
Parra indioai Lath
The Bronze-winged Jacana ...
The Pheasant-tailed Jacana ...
The Parole Coot
6
901
902
HydrophasianuB chimrgus, Scoh.
Porphyria poIiocephaluB, Lath....
Falica atra, Lin
5
1
903
The Coot
1
905
Gallinala chloroDas* Lin
The Moor-Hen
3
907
909
Erythra phoenicura, Penn
Porzana maraetta. Leach
The White-bellied Water Hen .
The Snotted Crake Hen
5
1
918
Hypotinidea striata, Lin
The Blue-breasted Bail
1
920
Dissura episcopa, Bodd
The White-neokod Stork
The Larsre E&rret >
1
925
TTArndiafl tniTA. R. TTam. .........
3
926
927
Herodias intermedia, Hnss
The Smaller Egret
The Little Earret *...
3
1
929
Babnlcos coromandns, Bodd.
Ardeola grayii Sykes «...
The Cattle Ecrret
6
930
The Pond Heron
3
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ZOOIOOTCAL SOTXS.
283
Jerdon*8
No.
Scientific Name.
Popular Name.
No. of
Eggs.
933
Ardetta cinnamomea, Gm
Nvcticor&s irrisea. Lin
The Chesnnt Bittern
4
937
The Night Heron ,
3
938
Tantalns leucocephalus, Vornt ...
Platalea lencorodeai Lin
The Pelican Ibis
1
939
The Spoonbill Heron
The Shell Ibis
7
940
AnastomnH oscitaus, Bodd
Ibis melanocephala, Lath.
Phcenicopterna antiqaoraniyTein.
Sareidiornis melanonotns, Penn.
Fiilignla nyroca, Gnld.
6
941
The White Ibis
7
944
The Flamingo „.,.
1
950
9^9
The Comb Duck
The White-eyed Pochard
The Dabchick
1
2
975
Podiceps minor, Gm
Hydrochelidon hybrida, Pall. ...
Sterna seena, Sykes
7
984
The Marsh Tern
2
985
The Large Riyer Tern
Sannder's Little Tern
988 ter.
Sterna sanndersi, Hnme
3
1004
Pelecanus philippensis, Gm
Phalacrocorax fnscicolis, Step. .
PlotuB melanogaster, Penn
The Grey Pelican
4
1008
The Lesser Cormorant
2
1008
The Snake Bird ,
5
ZOOLOGICAL NOTES.
NOTES ON A HORN ON TUB MARGIN OF A GOAT'S EAR.
By Veterinary Surgeon J. H. Steel, Superintendent, Bombay Veterinary
College.
This specimen, presented by Colonel Biddulpb, was obtained in Deoli (Rajpntana).
The head is a fine one of black colour and having two spiral horns well developed,
of even twist and backward and outward slope ; the ears are long, broad, and pendant,
covered externally with short black hair and internally having a fair quantity of
long straight hair near the margins. The peculiarity affects the posterior margin
and both the surfaces of the right ear at about the middle third of the margin, a
distance of some three inches from the tip. On the outer surface a semicircle of
the skin about half an inch in diameter has undergone warty change, forming an
irregular horny mass, the area of which is extended by the circular base of the horn
which grows from the inner surface. The base of the horn is about 1} in. in dia-
meter, it has hairs growing from among the homy material and a small irregular
projection like the commencement of another horn on a smaller scale. The horn is
in the main conical, about 5 in. in length, and curls slightly outwards at its tip, its
growth is by concentric rings and its texture is distinctly fibrous, but less regular
than that of ordinary horns. Its attachment to the ear seems firm enough, but only
by a very small portion of its base, and looks so imperfect that the Honorary
Secretary in handing me the specimen implored me, whatever I did, not to let the
horn come off the ear. The base is not quite circular, being prolonged somewhat
supero- internally. The growth seems a genuine natural though irregular one,
and we %re informed in the letter which accompanied the head that there was
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284 BOMBAY NATTTiULL HISTORY SOCIETY.
another irregular horn on one of the limbs ; thus the animal seems to have had a
tendency to such growths {Keratogenous diathesis). There «re many such cases
on record hoth in man and in the lovrer animals, but irregularities of this nature
are always worthy of careful examination and record, for irregular horns may be
of several diflferent kinds :—
I. — Commemorative or Atavisms. — Recurrences to original type, as when indi-
viduals of hornless breeds of cattle develope horns ; true frontal horns as occasion-
ally seen in horses may serve to illustrate affinities or possibilities of future
development.
II. — Degenerated Organs. — Horns about the limbs are generally of this nature,
and somewhat resemble the " warts" of the fore and hind limbs of the horse, the
rudimentary claws of cattle. It would have been of interest to know whether the
horn on the limb of this goat was a degenerated limb or not.
III. — Accidental displacements of normal horns.
IV. — Simple warty growths. — ^Thickenings of the epithelium assuming a horny
character, and physically compelled to become conical in forms known to cutaneous
surgeons as cornua.
V. — Compensatory. — Developed as atonement for loss of these natural means
of offence and defence ; as in the case of which I show a drawing made by me
from the original in the .Museum of the Royal Veterinary College of London.
The horn of a cow was broken, ftnd from the side of the stump shot out at right
angles a true young hollow horn, a phenomenon of sprouting which is most
remarkable in an animal so high in the scale as the ox.
VI. — Physiological.^ — Such as the natal collosities of the monkeys (seen also in
old and ill-tended dogs) and the horny pads of the knees, stifles, elbows, and
brisket of the camel.
In the case in question the horn is neither commemorative nor a degenerated
organ, for it is not natural to any animals allied to the goat to have horns on their
ears. It is not compensatory, for the ordinary horns of the animal are well
developed ; we have no reason to believe it could have been produced to meet a
physiological emergency. It might have been a horn the skin to form which had
accidentally before birth become transferred by grafting from the frontal region to
to an ear resdng against it, but in that case the ordinary frontal horn should be
deficient or defective, which is not the case. Loose frontal horns of cattle are very
common, especially in the more improved breeds and in females, rather than males,
the core of the horn then degenerates at its root into a simple ligament or dis-
appears altogether, and the organ may be far detached from its normal position.
We have no evidence of such being the case here, but the reverse, for the ordinary
horn occupies the usual position. We are thus, by exclusion, compelled to fall
back on the view that we have to deal with a keratoma or horn tumour, an
epidermal growth assuming the form of a conical horn. I have found recorded
among my notes a case of " a horn on the tip of a cow's ear," as described by a
professional friend of mine who saw the animal alive, which probably was of the
same nature as this. Warts on the ears of cattle are by no means rare and
keratoid growths are often dealt with in works on surgery and of the skin. Bland
Sutton has recently brought out an interesting paper on the subject in the Journal
of Comparative Medicine and Surgery.
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Cutaneous Horn
ON THE EAR OF A DOMESTIC gOA^'F'^'^®^ ^^^^^8
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PBOCBEDINQS. 285
NOTES ON THE FOOD OF THE PANTHER (FELIS PARDUS).
The following notes on the food of the panther may be of interest : —
When walking through a jungle in the district of Ganara I came upon the fresh
tracks of a panther, and following these tracks a short way, I found some fresh
panther's droppings, embedded in which were the remains of a large black
scorpion. It was evident from the way in which the scorpion's remains were
embedded in the droppings that the panther had eaten and partly digested the
scorpion.
On another occasion I had a chance of noting the food of panthers. A male
panther was shot measuring 7 feet from the tip of nose to end of tail, while the
girth measurement behind the fore legs was less than that of another panther, a cub,
measuring something under 6 feet. The panther yfias in miserable condition, the
cause of which seems to have been the presence of three porcupine's quills
embedded in his body. Of these quills one was in the ball of the right forefoot,
one a short distance up the left fore leg, and the third between the ribs close
behind the shoulder. The quills were all broken, a length of about 3 inches
remaining in the wounds. Around each wound the flesh was much inflamed.
Panthers will also eat rats, and are very quick at catching them, which they do
with both mouth and paws.
H. S. WISE.
NOTES ON THE CHEEtAL.
A Poona correspondent wrote to us as follows, in July last : —
" I have a few Cheetal, or Spotted Deer {Axis maculatus), in an enclosure in my
garden, very tame, and they breed regularly. A stag fawn was bom in the month
of May last, and, with its dam and companion, would come up and literally beg,
rising on its hind legs for bread, biscuits and vegetables, offered by any visitor .
Last week the river rose, the banks fell, and it became necessary to remove the
deer from their enclosure to my stables. The fawn followed its dam, being let
out of its enclosure, when something startled the little fellow and he jumped into
the raging stream just opposite the Boating Terminus called Rosherville. Carried
off his legs he swam vigorously across, and so far as we could see landed about a
quarter of a mile below on the Rosherville bank. It was sundown, and we gave
the animal up as lost. All we could do was to send round and warn the vil-
lagers and police. In the middle of the night, I heard the dam calling, and in the
morning learnt that our little friend, who must have gone right up to Holkar's
Bridge for the purpose, had swam across, about 2 a. m., and joined his mother,
to the great alarm of the sentries, who thought it was a panther visiting them.
Procebdings of the Monthly Meeting held on 4th July 1887.
The Hon. Mr. Justioo Birdwood presided.
The following now members were elected: — H. H. Prince Joravarkhanji of
Bajana, Mr. E. von Hantelmann, Dr. W. Kay, Mr. A. C. Walker, Mr. F. E. Dem])ster»
Mr. F. L. Charles, C.S., Mr. W. N. Fleming, Capt. E. G. Roilly, Mr. C. F. Whyte,
Mr. Q. do Soano, Mr. G. Sutton Jones, Capt. Pentland, Capt. Butler, and Mr. A. de
Oama.
38
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286
BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.
C6NTRIBUTIOW3 TO THE SoCI«TY*S COLLECTIONS.
Hr. H. M. PhipBOD, fhe Honorary Secretary, then acknowledged the foUowiDg^
contributions to the Society's collections since the last meeting : —
Gontribntion.
Description.
Contributor.
2 Tifipers* Sknlls
FeHs ticrris
Capt. T. MacpherscHu
Do
1 Panther's Sknll
Felis nardus
1 Snake Calive^
Dendronhis nicta
Mr. F. Gleadow.
1 Snake (alive)
Zftmenifi- fa ffciolatus .........
Mr. T. Maclurcao.
1 Snake (aliveV
Dinsas eokool
Mr. M. C. Turner.
1 Black Bear (alive)
2 Field Mice
Ursus labiatus
Mr. A. C. Walker.
Gk)lunda erlliotti ............
Mr. 1* Gleadow.
1 Fonr-homed Antelope .
A quantity of Insects
1 Snake (alive^
Tetraceros quadricomis . . .
From Belgaum
Victoria Gardens.
Mr. H. B. Andrewes.
PvthoU molnrua
Mr, C. P. G. Lester.
1 Pintail Grouse (alive)
A quantity of Butterflies..
1 Panther
Pterooles alchata
Do.
From Baipur, C P.
Mr. J. A. Betham.
Felis nardus
Victoria Gardens.
1 Snake
Gongylophis conicus
Lvcodon aulicus
Capt. J. B. Peile.
Do
1 Snake '. i..
A quantity of Butterflies.*
Birds' Eggs and Nests „
1 Snake
From Ceylon
Mr. A. P. Green.
Prom Sanger, C. P
Onychocephalus acutus ...
Carine brama
Lieut H. E. Barnes.
1 Spotted Owlet (alive)...
A large piece of Coral ...
2 Snakes «
Mr, H. Johnston.
From the Red Sea
Mr. M. H. StarUng.
Mr. F. Kirby.
Victoria Gardens.
Naga tripudians
I Black Buck
Antelone bezoartica.
86 Birds' Skins
From Cutch
H. H. the Rao of Cutcb.
1 Crested Serpent Eagle .
1 Jungle Cat's Skin
Spilornis cheela
Mr. W. F. Sinclair, C. 9.
Do.
From Alibacr
1 Ohinkara
Gazellai bennetti
' Mr. E. von Hantelmann,
1 Snake
Capt. J. B. Peile.
Do.
Dr. Bridges.
Signer L. Tea.
Col. W. Peyton.
Mr. R. A Straw.
1 Foetus of Black Buck ...
1 Skull of Black Bear
Antelope bezoartica
Ursus labiatus
A quantity of Reptiles ...
A Skin and Skull
From Upper Burmah
Of Black Panther
Of Black Buck
A curiously deformed Hind
Foot.
1 Snake
£i<^hifl cairinait&i •••.. •••••••
Mr Fj. von TTantelnmno-
Fo88i Tooth of a Mastodoo
Prom Bhownu^&rer
H. E. the Lady Reay.
Do.
A number of other Fossils
Do.
1 Lizard
Sitana minor
Father Dreckmann.
A number of Msirine
Animals.
2 Snakes ,
From the Mergui Archi-
pelago.
BungaruB arcuatus and
Dipsas gokool.
Eublepharis hardwickii ...
Mr. F. J. Daley.
Mr. T. Bromley, Jun.
1 Lizard
1 Stuffed Albatross
Mr. C. F, Davur.
A quantity of Snakes'
E&f&rs .•.•••...
Tropidonotus qaincuncia-
tus.
Corypha umbraculifera ...
With a 5 in. horn on tip
of the ear.
Axis maculatus
Mr. Thos. Hayter.
8 Sketches of the Talipot
Palm.
1 Goat's Dead
Mr. T. A. Le Mesurier.
Cok J. Biddulph.
Mr. E. von Hantehnann.
1 Skin of Spotted Deer ..
A fine Specimen of^ Coral
1 Golden Pheasant (alive]
13 Birds' Skins
From the Bed Sea
Mrs. Goldwyer Lewis.
Mr. Thos. Lang.
Mr. A. J. M. Inverarity.
Do.
From Shanghai ,.,
Do.
1 Musk Deer's Skull
Do.
1 Turtle Talive)
Caouana oli vacea ........
Mr. W. F. Sinclair, C.8.
1 Pvthon Calive)
Python molurus
Father Dreckmann.
1 Sootv Tern
Sterna f uligihosus
. Mr. W. F. Sinclair, C. S.
1 Striped Hyaena
Hyaena striata
. Victoria Gardens.
1 Black Buck's Head ..
HornSi 24 inches ...........
. Mr. T. Lo McBurier.
D
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PBOCBEDIiras.
287
Contribution.
Description.
Contributor.
1 Panther's Skull
Felispardus
From I'indi and Lahore...
"Rri-mnrif^nn mWnrrn
Mr. G. F. Blackwell.
A quantity of Snakes
2 Hedgehogs (aUve)
1 Spotted Hyasna's Skull ,
▲ quantity of Snakes and
Fish.
A onantitv of Shells
Major Yerbury, A. A.
Do.
From Somali Coast
From Aden t-r.^.^...,..*if'
Lt. H. G. Swayne, R.B.
Oapt W. Ives,
Do.
From P<^i*i"Bi Tnland , . , , » 1 1 ♦-
Skull and Horns of Oryx...
A quantity of Sea Snakes
and other Marine
Animals.
t Avocets
From Somali Coast. '
From Persian Golf
Becurvirostra avocetta ...
lioris gracilis
Do.
Capt Bishop.
Mr. B. F. Ansell.
1 Slender Loria
Victoria Gardens.
1 Snake .,
Bungams arcuatus
Mr. John Fleming*
6 Birds' Eggs
From Yercaud.
Mr. Wm. Mahon Daly.
Mr. W. F. Sinclair, C. S.
A number of Fish and
From AKba^g ••....
Marine Animals.
COKTBlBunONS TO THE LiBBART,
Manual of Scientific Terms (Stormonth), by Mr. F. Gleadow.
Magazine of Natural Hfetory, Vol. 19, Nos. OXII. to CXIV, by Mr. H. Littledalo.
Vertebrate Zoology of Sind (Murray), by Mr. S. S. Johannes.
Insect Transformation, by Major Yerbury, R. A.
£atomologist's Text Book (Westwood), by Major Yerbury, B. A.
Papillons Exotiques (Cramer), by Major Yerbury, E. A.
Honograpb of the Callidryas (Buder), do.
Transactions of the Zoological Socy. for 1886, do.
Beise in Nordost Afrika (Henglin), do.
Bulletin of American Natural History, Vol. I. No. 8 (in exchange).
Buffon*s Natural History, by Mr. J. A. Betham.
Records of the Geological Survey (in exchange).
Minor contributions received from Mr. A. S. Panday, Mr R. Wylie, Mr. A. S. M.
Ritchie, Mr. Kirby Johnston, Mr. Gea Ormiston, Mr. J. Leask, and Mr. E.
Calthrop.
Mr. J. H. Steel read a note on the head of a dotnestic goat which had a large
cutaneous horn on the ear, receiYed from Col. J. Biddnlph. This note will be found
in Zoological Notes, on page 283 in this number, which also contains a sketch of the
head.
He also read a note on a deformed hoof of a Black Buck received from Mr. B. A.
Straw, appearing under Zoological Notes.
Mr. Steel made the following remark —
On the Deformed Canine Tooth of a Tiger.
Here we have in a tiger's skull, exhibited by Mr. G. Sutton Jones, of Deoli, another
illustration of the effects of injuries om wild animals. I take it that a consider-
able time ago this tiger broke his canine tooth off rather short and had a very bad
tooth-ache as a result. We can see the surface of the fracture although it had
been smoothed off at the edges by friction during the long period since the original
injury. "We can also see that after the injury the tooth grew thicker than is natural,
less smooth, and regular, and the tooth socket became enlarged and the bones
around it swollen. These are indications that both the tooth-producing membrane
and the boU0 near it were inflamed. Gradually, since this disease subsided, there
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288 BOMBAY NATURAL HIBTOBY SOCIETY.
has boen a return to normal conditions, yet even now the socket is larger and
not qnite the shape of its fellow, the bone aroand it is swollen, and the canine tooth
is very different in appearance from an nninjnred one although certainly more
formidable to the eye and probably little less efficient for nse.
Dr. Eirtikar, in referring to Mr. Steel's paper on the adventitions horn from the
ear of a goat, said that in his opinion Mr. Steel's remarks regarding its origin were
correct. The growth was of epidermal origin — arising from the layer of cells cover-
ing the tme skin. There was a specimen of snch a growtb occnrring in hnman
beings in the Museum of Grant Medical College. The growth was shown as
distinctly homy in one of Tuson's wax models which adorn the College Mnsenm.
Whether Tuson prepared it from an actually living specimen, or whether it was
merely diagramatic, he was not prepared to say. It was on the back of the forearm,
just a little above the wrist joint, and appeared to be of epidermic origin.
That such errors of nature have the homy element in them is undoubted. It was
merely a modified form of the epithelial tissue.
Vegetable Life iv Vehab Watbb.
Dr. Kirtikar next showed under the microscope two specimens of algae from Vehar
water. One of them was the Pleurococcus pluvidlis and another contained the
Protococcus pluvialis and a minute variety of Nostoc. They were both magnified
five hundred times.
During the course of his observations Dr. Kirtikar remarked that the first specimen
of Pleurococcus jpluvialis, Fig. 4, PI. II , was obtained from the Vehar pipe in the
Jam set ji Jijibhai Hospital. It first appeared soon after the first fall of rain in Bombay
and its suburbs, and has been since seen floating as green matter in the water served
at the Jamsetji Hospital through the Vehar pipes. Whether the plant came from
the Vehar Lake itself as a fresh growth from old plants, or whether the rainfall had
introduced it afresh, or whether it was from the special pipe of the hospital, he was
not prepared to say. He had just been kindly promised by Dr. Weir, who was then
among the members present, that a supply of water direct from the Vehar Lake
would be submitted to him for a further microscopical examination, to elucidate that
point. The algae. Dr. Kirtikar observed, were visible to the naked eye as irregular
floating green masses. Under the miscroscope their fall structure was apparent.
Beautiful green masses, circular, but some hexagonal by pressure, covered over with
a fine hyaline coating congregated in masses, hence being called "pleurococci,"
containing gonidia, in the shape of brilliant green granular matter. The masses were
like ** families'* collected, and held together by a hyaline mass of cellular matter,
distinct and irregular in shape. There was some among the individual pleurococci
which were like the figure eight distinctly showing the process of multiplication by
fission — one cell dividing into two, each of these again sub-dividing further. In the
condition of the plant the present gonidia had not separated or escaped from the
teguments, so it was not possible to determine whether the gonidia were ciliated
or not.
With regard to the next specimen Fig. 5, Pi. II., Dr. Kirtikar observed that he had
searched through the illustrations of Kiitzing, the German Algologist, and through the
plates recently published by Cooke ; but that he had failed to find such minute
arrangement of cells forming the filaments of the Nostoc. The protococcus which was
seen in the field of the specimen was a variety of the ordinary protococcus pluvialis, but
the Nostoc was of a rare beauty and structure. It did not come direct from the Vehar
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PBOCEEDIKCIS.
289
water, but was foand growing along the Bides and bottom of a bottle in which Vehar
water had been stagnant for some days. The bottle was originally clean and the
water was used for wetting postage stamps. Where the plant came from it is diffi-
cult to say. The trichome (filament formed from a stringed arrangement of minute
unilocular cells — green in colour) was included in a very fine sheath, highly trans-
parent. The filaments were not branched. The extreme minuteness of it was the
point of interest about it, so that the Vehar Lake was not only important in its being
a good supplier of excellent water, but that it was of interest to the man of science
also.
Dr. Weir thanked Dr. Kirtikar for his contribution and expressed a hope that it
would not be his last microscopic examination of Vehar water, but that from time
to time he would give the Society the advantage of his repeated examinations*
The Hon'ble Mr. Birdwood concurred*
Pboceedings of the Mokthly Mbetino held on Ibt August 1887.
Dr. Kirtikar presided.
The following new members were elected : — Mr. Arthur Crawford, C.S., Mr., H. B.
King, Captain M. J. Meade, Mr. B. Bobertson, C.S., and Mr. B. A. Straw.
Mr. H. M. Phipson, the Honorary Secretary, acknowledged the following contribu-
tions to the Society's collections :—
Contribution.
Description.
Contributor.
1 Water Tortoise
From Persian Gulf.........
Mr. H. B. Hooper.
Mr- H. E. Andrewea.
A number of Hemipterons
Insects.
1 ChaTneleon
From Belgaiim... ........ti.t
Cham.eleo vulgaris .........
Mr. J. C. Burke.
1 Snake (alive)
Dipsas gokool
Curiously deformed...
Mr. J. Fleming.
Dr. T. Weir.
Foetus of Goat
1 Lizard (alive)
Varanus dracoena
Mr. Alfred Walker.
1 Snake's skin ,
Python reticulata s from
Mergui Archipelago
Crocodilus palustris... ......
Messrs. Searle. Lamb, fttwl
2 Crocodiles ^alive)
Pickard.
Mr. E p. Close.
3 Jerboa Rats (alive)
1 Lemur
From Alibao'
Do.
Sergt-Major Webb.
Mr. W. F. Sinclair, O.S.
Captain J. B. Peile.
Do.
A quantity of Fish and Ma-
rine Animals.
49 Birds' Skins
From Cashmere
A quantity of Reptiles
Do.
Mr. J. H. Steel, A.V.D., then read a very interesting paper on Wild Horses, which
will be found on page 233 in this number.
Dr. Kirtikar proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Steel for his able paper.
Prcceedings of the Monthly Meeting held on 5th September 1887.
Dr. D. Macdonald presided.
The following new members were elected : — H. H. the Thakore Saheb of Lathi,
Mr. M. Scott Stuart, Mr. S. D. Sassoon, Dr. Anna Moreshwar Kunte, Veterinary
Surgeon C. E. Nuthall, A.V.D., and Mr. N. Miller,
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290
BOMBAY NATUBAL HISTOBT SOCIKTY.
Mr. H. M. PhipBOH, the Honorary Secretary, then acknowledged the following oon-
tributions to the Society's collections sinpe last meeting —
Contributions
. Description.
Contributor.
4 Birds' Efircrs
Morula n igropi^ea
From Bombay Harbour ...
Manis nentadactvia
Mr» J. Davidson, O.S.
Capt. W. Aves.
Mr. H. M. Phipson.
Mr. J. A. Betham.
Mr. B. Tartharl
5 Sea Snakes '.
1 Pan iirolin f alive) •.. •
12 Foaails
From Bainnr C. P. ...
1 FGBtns of a door t
rinrinnHlv H«f ormftd
1 Peacock
Mounted
Dr. Kirtikar
A nnjiT»f.if,v of TTnncri
From fiombav
Do
A quantity of Fish, Shells,
Corals & other Marine
> From Alibag
Mr. W. F. Sinclair, O.S.
Do.
Do.
Do
Animals.
Skeleton of a Dolphin
A quantity of Turtles'
2 MuntiBCs' Heads
Da
Do.
Oervnlns aureus *
A number of Hermit CrabSr
FroTii Adep Tt-.ic***^-*rt •••
Mr. D. BetinAf.f.
2 FlvincF SoninTGlfl...
From Cashm.6r6 .......*»...
,Oapt. P. B. Peile.
Do.
24 Birds Eggs
Do.
Bungarus arcuatus
1 Snake
Dr. Hojel.
Mr. F. Grieves
1 Sea Snake
Enhydrina bengalensis ...
1 Gibbon
Victoria GardAiiR
Several Bats
Megaderma lyra ,
Mr. W. F. Sinclair, C.8.
Mr. H. Bulkley.
Mr. W. W. Saunders.
1 Domestic Duck (alive) ...
1 Mongoose (alive)
With curiously deformed
feet.
Herpestes griseus
1 Mannra .t
Paradoxurus musaDga ...
Mr. E. P. Close.
Minor Contrihutions. — From Mr. Fraser Hore, Miss Warner, Mr. J. Greenwood
Dr. Weir, Mr. G. H. Colomb.
Contrihutions to the Library. — Journal of Comparative Medicine and Surgery, from
the editor, " Verhand lungen dea Zoologisch Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien," in
exchange.
Mr. H. M. Phipson, the Honorary Secretary, then read a paper on the " Poisonous
Snakes of Bombay," which will be found on page 244 of this number.
The Bev. Fr. Dreckmann, S.J.; made some remarks about the distinction of the
poisonous from the non-poisonous snakes. He first drew attention to the erroneous
but widely spread opinion that all poisonous snakes have a broad triangular head and
a slender neck. This was, no doubt , a characteristic of the viperine snakes, but they
had it in common with the perfectly harmless tree- snakes, whilst the Elapidsd, which
include the most deadly snakes in existence, in this respect looked very innocent. Th
list of poisonous land snakes in the Bombay Presidency, about which there could be any
doubt, was happily a very short one. There could be no difficulty about the cobra or the
rare Ophiophagus. The two species of Oallophis were so rare, led such* an obscure
underground life, and were so sluggish, that it was practically impossible to be bitten
by them accidentally. For the others, the Bungarus, the Vipers and Tree-vipers, ho
proposed the following ** rule-of -thumb" : — •
1. Bead 6road, triangular and very distinct from neck. — (o) Those with head covered
with large shields or plates are harmless, {h) Those having the head covered vnth
small scales are poisonous.
2. Head scai cely distinct from neck, (a) Head covered with large shields and sub-
caudals (shields beneath the tail) single, poisonous, (b) Either head covered with
A
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