Hedge-hog, was discovered by Professor Buckland, who, having reason to suspect that it, occasionally at least, fed on snakes, in order to be satisfied of the truth of his conjecture, placed the common ringed snake and a Hedge-hog in a box together. At first, the Hedge-hog did not see the snake, when the Professor laid the former on the back of the latter, and in such a way as that it was in contact with that part of the ball where the head and tail met. As soon as the snake began to move, the Hedge-hog started, and opening himself up, gave the snake a vigorous bite, and instantly resumed his rolled state. It speedily repeated the bite, and followed it up, at the same interval as before, with a third bite, by which the back of the snake was broken. The Hedge-hog then, standing by the side of the snake, took up and passed through its jaws the whole body of the snake, cracking the bones audibly at every inch. This preparatory process being completed, the Hedge-hog commenced eating the serpent, beginning at the tip of the tail, and proceeding without interruption, though slowly, consumed it, just as one eats a radish, until about one-half of the victim disappeared. The Hedge-hog could not go further, from repletion, but finished the rest of the snake on the following evening.

It has been supposed that the Hedge-hog lives partly on vegetables, but there is no reason to believe it does so to much extent. M. de Buffon placed four young Hedge-hogs and their mother in a cage: for the first two days, the only food he gave them was some pieces of boiled beef, of which they sucked the juicy parts, but in all other respects left the meat entire; on the third day, he put into the cage several kinds of plants, as groundsel, bindweed, &c., but they

did not touch any of them. On the following day, he gave them cherries, bread, and bullock's liver; both the mother and the young sucked the latter very greedily, they likewise ate a small portion of the bread, but would not touch the fruit.

CEYLON DEER.

WHILE on a visit to the Coorg Rajah we strolled into a sort of park, in which he had a great number of curious animals, and among these were too small deer from Ceylon, the most beautiful little creatures I had ever seen. They were about the size of a fox, of a deep reddish brown, the body covered with bright spots, which gave them quite a refined beauty, as if they were creatures fit only to be the pets of royalty. This species of deer is the smallest of the cervine tribe, and has no horns, in some respects corresponding with the Cervus Guineensis of Linnæus. They abound in Ceylon, where they are taken in traps, and disposed of on the coast for a mere trifle. It is the most exquisitely formed creature that can be imagined, its small taper legs being scarcely larger than a lady's finger. Its flesh is esteemed a particular delicacy, and remarkably wholesome.

These tiny animals are caught in great numbers, in the interior of Ceylon, and almost daily taken to Columbo, and other towns, where they are sold for about two shillings. On the peninsula, they are esteemed a rarity, and are frequently purchased rather for the exquisite symmetry of their forms, than for the delicacy of their flesh, which, however, is far superior to that of any other deer. The Rajah had several, and highly valued them, having a great fancy for animals of all kinds. Those we saw were quite tame.-C.

RAVAGES OF INSECTS. FEW persons are aware of the extraordinary influence which even the smaller animals have on plants, and of the important service afforded to the vegetable kingdom, in maintaining a due balance of the various species, by the apparent desolation caused by animals; for here the most extensive havoc is often, like the fire of London, a most extensive blessing. Of these services, insects perhaps afford the most numerous and remarkable illustrations.

There is scarcely a plant that is not the peculiar habitat of one or more distinct species, and often the same plant is infested by several species. The oak is frequented by a variety of other insects besides the numerous species of Cynips, nor is this a solitary example, for it happens also to other plants. Furthermore, the insects themselves, or the discases they produce, frequently become very important articles of food, medicine, and commerce: for example, the Coccus (the cochineal insect), the Lac insect and the Cantharis (Spanish fly), the gall-apples of the Salvia pomifera (the apple-bearing sage), and the nut-galls of the Levant.

Ample as is the field, few and short are the examples which space will suffer us now to give; and it is to the less pleasing and apparently less profitable, although on the whole, not less important duties of insects, that the present paper will be devoted. There is truly something quite wonderful in the contemplation of the devastating power of agents that seem so insignificant; something which is, perhaps, more impressive and appalling than when the causes are apparently more equal to the effects.

When pestilence depopulates a land,-when barbarian hordes lay waste the fertile plains of civilized communities,-when savage beasts

devour and destroy flocks, herds, and harvests,-when floods, earthquakes, and volcanoes, submerge, ingulf, or bury towns, men, and plains,-awful as are the results, still there is something less bewildering, less astounding, in the contemplation of such catastrophes, dreadful as they are, because there would, in such cases, seem to be a more natural consistency between the deeds and the agents by which they have been done, than when we consider that creatures so small as locusts can strip, during one visitation, whole forests of their foliage, and destroy every trace of vegetation throughout an extent of several thousand square miles together; and, as was the case when the kingdom of Masinissa was thus scourged, cause upwards of 800,000 persons to die from famine. What are the ravages of beasts!-what the desolation even of earthquakes and volcanoes, when compared to such an unsparing annihilation of men, brutes and plants, by these powers of the air!

astonishment

Neither is our lessened, although its course be turned, when we compute their sums, when we find the swarms of these insects to be so vast and dense as to overshadow large tracts of country, and even to intercept the light of day. One of these living clouds, which was three whole days and nights, without apparent intermission, passing over Smyrna, must have been, according to accurate observations made at the time, three hundred yards in depth, upwards of forty miles in width, and nearly five hundred miles in length. Captain Basil Hall calculated, "that the lowest number of locusts in this enormous swarm must have exceeded 168,608,563,200,000;" and, "in order to assist the imagination, Captain Beaufort determined that this cloud of locusts, which he saw

Father feedeth them." Then, again, he tells us "that we are his sheep, and that He is our shepherd." And at another time he illustrates his kindness and compassion by referring to the care and protection afforded by a hen to her chickens; and further assures us, that not even a sparrow falleth to the ground without the knowledge of our beneficent Creator. These, and other illustrations of our Saviour's precepts, were taken from objects of nature, which probably immediately surrounded him, and may be admitted as a proof of the justice of the observation I have hazarded on the subject.

Throughout the whole of the New Testament the images taken from nature leave a stronger impression on the mind than almost any others. And sure I am that the close contemplation of those which assure us of the ever wakeful care and kindness of our Maker will bring with them a peaceful serenity of mind, which would be envied, if it could be justly appreciated, by persons who have hitherto thought but little on the subject.

I was occupied the other day, for a few moments, in reflecting on the benefits accruing to mankind, from a remarkable instinct impressed by the great Creator on that insignificant grub the silk-worm. What warmth and comfort does it afford to us! How useful, convenient, and, I may add, elegant, is the clothing we derive from it. But

the caterpillars of all the other tribes of moths and butterflies, when they have arrived at a certain state of maturity, show a restless disposition, and wander about and hide themselves in a variety of places in order to spin their cocoons, preparatory to their making their escape as moths, &c.; the caterpillar of the silk-worm, on the contrary, may almost be considered as a domestic insect, and is content to remain stationary in the open tray, or box, in which it may be placed. After consuming its immediate supply of mulberry leaves, it waits for a further quantity; and when the period is arrived for spinning its cocoon, instead of showing any migratory disposition, it seems to place itself with confidence under the care of man for the providing it with a suitable place for its convenience and protection. In the fly or moth state, the female is quite incapable of flight; and the male, although of a much lighter make, and more active, can fly but very imperfectly. This latter circumstance insures to us the eggs for the following season, thus completing the adaptation of the insect in its different stages to the purposes it is destined to fulfil for our advantage. To my mind this striking peculiarity in the habits of the silk-worm beautifully illustrates the care and kindness of the Almighty, in thus making an apparently insignificant reptile the means of conveying so many important benefits to man.