The romance of natural history, second series

Transcriber's Notes: Obvious printer error's have been corrected. Inconsistencies in Hyphenation and use of accents have been maintained. Italic text has been surrounded by _, t...

There was, at the same time, a quadruped, nearly allied to the elephants, but differing from them in some technical characters. With a body equally bulky, but considerably longe...

"I next detached the skin of the side on which the animal had lain, which was well preserved. This skin was of such extraordinary weight that ten persons found difficulty in tra...

And well may the colossus have inspired fear. The bones sent to London greatly exceed in bulk those of the largest horse. The leg-bone of a tall man is about one foot four inche...

Of course, if this was indubitable, the conclusion was inevitable, that the Giant Deer was not only contemporary with man, but was domesticated by him with other quadrupeds, and...

This savage animal must have early succumbed to man. The "Triads"[59] mention bears as living here before the Kymri came. The Roman poets knew of their existence here: Martial s...

The interest attached to this now extinct bird has induced some correspondents of the _Zoologist_ to attempt an enumeration of the specimens, both of the bird and of its eggs, (...

[56] The Welsh "Triads," supposed to have been compiled in the seventh century, say that "the Kymri, a Celtic tribe, first inhabited Britain; before them were no men here, but o...

"Many of your readers might, perhaps, like to see the facts connected with this phenomenon. They will be better understood in the words of the principal witness, as taken down b...

In an elaborate sculpture of the later Assyrian period, discovered by M. Botta at Khorsabad, a maritime expedition is portrayed, and the sea around the ships is filled with vari...

The _green_ hair in this description is the most suspicious element; it is so exactly that attributed to the poetical mermaids, and so entirely without precedent in the whole ra...

In the summer of 1851, the Académie des Sciences was interested (according to the public papers) with this question. In digging a well at Blois, in June of that year, "some work...

"Admitting, then, that Toads are occasionally found in cavities of wood and stone with which there is no communication sufficiently large to allow the ingress and egress of the...

The next account, by the Rev. A. C. Smith, of Yatesbury Rectory, Calne, is one of peculiar interest. The narrator actually witnessed the discovery. His investigation was pursued...

It is unfortunate that most of these and similar discoveries were "some years ago;" and that, instead of increasing in frequency with the increase of scientific research and com...

I was much interested in this mysterious reptile, and mentioned in the public papers my wish to possess a specimen. A gentleman of the vicinity, Mr Jasper Cargill, was so desiro...

A paper by Mr R Chambers on the subject adduces the additional testimony of facts observed by good naturalists, as Dickson and Curtis the eminent botanists, and Stothard the pai...

"The _Bucephalus capensis_ is generally found upon trees, to which it resorts for the purpose of catching birds, upon which it delights to feed. The presence of a specimen in a...

From the day when the solemn doom was pronounced,--"I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed," the serpent-form has begotten revulsion and...

A few years earlier than Bruce, Hasselquist, an enthusiastic young naturalist, and one of the pupils of Linnæus, had visited the East. He paid much attention to the subject, and...

Dr Davy asserts that in India, however, the poison fangs are _not_ extracted. He tells us that he has himself examined the snakes exhibited (which are always Cobras) and have fo...

In the Trogons of the tropical regions we see elegance of form combined with the most gorgeous colouring. Green and gold, crimson, scarlet, orange, and black, are the hues of th...

What shall we say to the Argus Pheasant, the bird of Malacca with the magnificent pinions? How fine a sight must it be to see this noble fowl displaying his coxcombery in the pr...

"There is one family of insects, the members of which cannot fail to strike the traveller by their singular beauty, the _Cassidadæ_, or tortoise beetles, in which the outer shel...

I have had the delight of seeing the _Poinciana pulcherrima_ in Jamaica, where it goes by the name of Flower-feuce, or sometimes, the "Pride of Barbadoes." It is, when in flower...

"It is the trees of older and loftier growth that exhibit the rank luxuriance of these wonderful epiphytes in the most striking manner. They are tormented by climbing plants of...

"An egg of this bird was brought to me on the 6th instant, which had been taken from the nest of the yellow bunting, at a short distance from this town, and the boy who got the...