"At 10.55, the arch became undulated, showing both streamers, while the pulsations became more numerous and brilliant in the various quarters in which they had been previously seen.

"At 11.5, the eastern part of the arch had given place to groups of rosy and golden-coloured streamers, rising high. Quickly the same change occurred in the other limb, and the arch was obliterated; flushes of rosy and greenish light alternated in the west, and faint converging beams were visible near the magnetic pole. The pulsating movement now ceased to be discernible. Here the regular observations were closed, but the auroral lights probably continued through the night, as at 3 A.M. of the 3d I saw a luminous arch, with streamers, in the north.

"On reviewing the various phases of this aurora, it will be seen that they recurred according to a somewhat uniform order of succession. First, the dark segment on the northern horizon took a regular arched form, and, as it rose, became bounded above by a broad luminous curve, at the same time developing one or more bright concentric arches within. The streamers, previously absent or infrequent, now shot forth from all parts of the luminous zone; and as these increased in extent and brightness, the upper arch faded away, as if it had expended itself in producing them. And now the lower arch took its place, to be obliterated in its turn by a like seeming process of exhaustion. At length, one of the grander effusions of light coming on, the whole arch was broken up, and the dark segment below was reduced to a shapeless mass. There then occurred a comparative pause in the phenomena, until the dark segment again took form, with its one or more luminous bands, and a like cycle of development was repeated."

Supplementary Remarks on the genus Galago. By ANDREW MURRAY, Edinburgh. With a Plate.

Since writing the paper describing the Galago murinus, published in last number of this Journal, I have received from my friend, the Rev. W. C. Thomson of Old Calabar, some in

teresting information regarding the habits of the genus whica at that time I desiderated.

He tells me that there are two species found at Old Calabar-the one which I described as murinus, which is the smallest, and another about the size of a rat. He says, "Young ones of both species are brought to us about this period of the year (July 26). Mr Robb has a young specimen of the smaller species just now, and about this time last year I became possessed of one of the larger. It was a most interesting and amusing pet, not only quite tame, but manifesting strong attachment. I had it for about six weeks in my possession, when, unfortunately both for myself and it, it took a false leap into a water-barrel and was drowned. It was a very epitome of zoology, of the size and colour of a large rat; it had the tail of the squirrel, the facial outline of the fox, the membranous ears of the bat, the eyes and somewhat of the manners of the owl in its cool odd way of peering at objects, the long slender fingers of a lean old man, who habitually eats down his nails, and all the mirthfulness and agility of a diminutive monkey. It hated its cage at night, but delighted to leap among the bars of the chairs ranged purposely round the table for it. It could clear a horizontal distance of at least six feet at a leap; and whenever it fell, as during its short apprenticeship it often did, and from alarming heights too, it gave expression to its parenthetic chagrin by a rough sort of purring. It possessed the curious power of folding its membranous ears back upon themselves, and somewhat corrugating them at pleasure; and it appeared to me that the palms of its hands, all four, were endowed in some degree with the power of suction, such as the walrus is said to possess in perfection. I have seen it maintain itself in positions where the mere lateral pressure of its limbs appeared to be inadequate for the purpose; and I once applied it to the side of a cylindrical glass shade, of which it could not embrace so much as a third of the circumference, and sure enough it maintained its position for some time, gradually sliding down until it gave way. The palm was very much depressed, always clean and glistening, surrounded by five papilliform growths, those near the roots of the fingers serving as points of opposition to them, the fingers never closing beyond the

palm." "Mr Robb had one of your species in his possession for a considerable while. It devoured grasshoppers and even the fierce Mantis greedily, as well as moths, little as it was; but I never saw mine muster courage enough to attack either grasshoppers or mantis, though nearly twice as large as Mr Robb's. No doubt mine would by and bye have become less particular and more daring."

In compliance with the wish of some of our naturalists who have desired to see somewhat more of the anatomy of this genus, I have added another plate (Plate V.), giving a view of the viscera of the species I described, at least of two of the most important parts of the viscera. One of these is the stomach and intestinal canal, in which it will be observed that, unlike those of other insectivorous animals, there is a rather long cœcum. This is of interest, from the circumstance that the absence of the cœcum in the insectivora has been attempted to be accounted for on the hypothesis, that had it been present, injurious consequences might have arisen from angular fragments of the elytra or hard parts of insects lodging in the cœcum and occasioning a fatal obstruction in the same way that in our own species death is occasionally caused by obstruction in the intestinal canal, originating in the presence of a fish bone or some trifling impediment of that nature being lodged in the cœcum. Here we have an undeniably insectivorous animal with a cœcum proportionally six times larger than that in the human species.

Another point in which the Galago differs from the normal character of insectivorous animals is, that it has only one superior vena cava. None of the insectivora, properly so called, have only one. I have added a sketch of the origin of the subclavian and carotid arteries, to show that there is a short innominate artery, in this approximating to the arrangement of the same vessels in the human species.

The lungs also correspond to the structure of these organs in the human species, the right having three lobes and the left two; in this respect also differing from the rodents, which have always more, and sometimes many lobes.

There are eight true ribs, three false ribs, and two floating

ribs.

The dental formula is

I have had a little hesitation whether to say three præ-molars and three molars, or two præ-molars and four molars. The distinction between the posterior præ-molar and anterior molar is so slight, as to allow the formula to run either way without implying any great error in judgment in the describer.

In the more close examination which I have now given to this animal, I find a structure in the front of the upper jaw which I had previously overlooked, and which is not represented in the figure of the roof of the mouth which I gave in last number. It is two small orifices (as large, however, as the root of the superior incisors), situated in the middle space between the two incisors on each side, but a little behind their line. Their position suggests an analogy to Jacobson's vesicles in the horse; and on tracing their origin, we find that they lead to the nasal orifice, expanding before they reach it into a sort of sac, which appears to communicate by a narrow and short canal with the nasal orifice, in this respect differing from Jacobson's sac, which does not communicate directly with the exterior. To make this structure plainer, I have again given a figure of the roof of the mouth, in which these orifices are delineated, and also of a vertical section showing the form of the sac and its apparent communication with the nostril. I say apparent, because the tissues in my specimen are hardly in a sufficient state of firmness to allow me to speak with absolute confidence. The result appears to be, that there is here a communication between the nostril and the roof of the mouth, immediately and closely behind the symphysis, and almost in the line of the incisor teeth. What may be the use of this structure, I must leave to my Old Calabar friends to discover, contenting myself in the meantime with pointing out its probable existence.

Explanation of Plate.

1. Figure of body opened, showing-a, the stomach-b, the small intestinesc, the cœcum-d, the diaphragm-e, the heart-f, the innominate artery the subclavian arteries-h, the carotids.

2. a, the roof of the mouth showing the orifices analogous to Jacobson's-b, vertical section of symphysis showing the sac from which the orifices proceed, and its apparent communication with the external nostril.

103

REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Christianity contrasted with Hindu Philosophy. By JAMES R. BALLANTYNE, LL.D., Professor of Moral Philosophy, and Principal of the Government College at Benares. 8vo, pp. 236. London: James Madden, 1859.

As a part of its educational system in India, intended for the enlightenment of the natives, the English Government maintains several colleges, which embrace both an English and an Oriental department. In these institutions, instruction in the English language and literature is afforded to such native youths as desire it, while they are at the same time taught their own vernacular dialects. In the Sanscrit department, the learned language of India, and its literature as contained in the various Sastras, form the subjects of tuition. The Sanscrit colleges of Calcutta, Benares, and Poona contain a considerable number of native professors, who teach Sanscrit grammar, Hindu philosophy, law, mathematics, &c. Formerly, these native professors were left very much to themselves, to teach their own subjects in their own way; and no attempt was made to impart to the students any other education of a more enlightened character. Latterly, however, an endeavour has been made to introduce an improved system, and to make the Sanscrit students in some degree acquainted with English science and literature. The Calcutta

Sanscrit College is directed by an enlightened Brahman; Dr Haug, a learned orientalist from Germany (formerly an assistant of Baron Bunsen in some departments of his literary labours), has just gone out to superintend the Sanscrit studies at Poona; and the author of the work before us, Dr J. R. Ballantyne, has for the last fourteen years presided over the Sanscrit as well as the English department of the College at Benares. He is a man well fitted for this duty; and his labours in the Sanscrit department have been carried on in the most liberal and enlightened spirit.

The natives of India, the inheritors of an ancient civilisation, cannot be properly treated as if they were a tribe of savages. Learned men, whose ancestors had more than two thousand years ago cultivated and methodised the principles of grammar, and had initiated various systems of philosophical speculation, which have been discussed and modified by the successive generations of their descendants, cannot be dealt with as if their minds presented a tabula rasa, on which their European instructors could