CONTENTS OF No. XIV. ralist on board of H.M.S. 'Serpent.' . II. NERVE STRUCTURE AND FORCE. By Holmes Coote, 7. ENTOMOLOGY (including the Proceedings of the Entomo- 8. GEOGRAPHY (including the Proceedings of the Royal Geo- THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. APRIL, 1867. I. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PRATAS ISLAND, IN THE CHINA SEA. By DR. CUTHBERT COLLINGWOOD,* Naturalist on board of H.M.S. 'Serpent.' PRATAS Island is situated in lat. 20° 42′ N., and long. 116° 43′ E., and is of a horse-shoe shape, occupying the centre of the sunken or western part of the great Pratas reef. The reef itself is of a crescentic form, extending 13 miles to the eastward, and having a breadth from north to south of 12 miles, encloses a lagoon of about 10 miles in diameter, dotted over with numberless coral patches and shoals. It lies in the direct line of route between Manilla and Hong Kong, and is therefore a spot where many a good ship has been wrecked, especially upon its south-eastern side, which is too often concealed by the thick fogs which prevail during the N.E. monsoon. The Pratas reef and island were surveyed by H.M.S. 'Saracen,' J. Richards master commanding, in 1858, and at that time it was believed that vessels of 15 feet draught could enter the lagoon by the south channel, between the south side of the island and the south-west horn of the reef, but in our recent visit in H.M.S. Serpent,' Commander Bullock found that although only drawing 12 feet, she could not safely make the attempt, to my great disappointment, and consequently she was anchored on the edge of the reef, 3 miles south of the island, which thus sheltered the ship from the strong N.E. wind blowing at the time. Pratas Island is about a mile and a half long, and half-a-mile wide, and is only visible at a distance of 8 or 9 miles in clear It may be interesting to our readers to know that the author of the above article gave up his occupations in Liverpool about a year since, and volunteered as naturalist on board one of H.M.'s surveying ships in the China Seas. His friends will be glad to hear that in December last he was at Singapore, from which place he sent us the present article, and was about to proceed to Labuan, Sarawak, &c.-THE EDITORS. VOL. IV. L weather; not rising in its highest part more than 25 or 30 feet above the level of the sea, though the bushes which cover some parts give it an additional elevation of 10 feet or so. On Monday morning, April 30th last, Capt. Bullock and I, with Mr. Sutton, chief engineer of the Serpent,' visited the island, two hours' pull from the ship, and I spent the whole day in exploring its character and natural history features. It is formed entirely of coarse coral-sand or débris, generally shelving gradually, but in some parts having a steep bank about 3 feet high. The interior is rough and hilly, from accumulations of similar white sand blown up from the shore, and so overgrown is it with shrubs as to be in some parts almost impenetrable, though the soil might be supposed to be anything but favourable to vegetable growth, nothing but sand being anywhere visible, and that of the coarsest and loosest description. The bushes in some places approach very near the sea, and between them and the water's edge various flowers not unfrequently peep out from the inhospitable soil, including a potentilla, an anemone, a plantago, and some grasses. On the west side of the island is a deep indentation into which the sea enters, forming a shallow lagoon or bay, on the banks of which the vegetation assumes quite a park-like aspect; bushes, and even small trees, with spreading branches springing forth close to the ground, producing a scene of great luxuriance and some beauty. Amongst the bushes immense orthopterous insects (grasshoppers) flew about, exhibiting a deep-red underwing, and looking very much like small birds. To the shrubs also were attached numerous geometric webs, which were occupied by a species of spider belonging to the division Acrosoma, having a squarish abdomen, from the upper surface of which projected several spike-like processes. This was the only species of spider which came under my notice; and in its web there appeared to be as often another spider of the same species as any other kind of insect, the paucity of insect life on the island apparently driving them to cannibalism. A moth, whose expanse of wing was about an inch, and having small red and black spots upon the wing, was pretty numerous, and appeared to be the only lepidopterous insect, with the exception of a large clear-winged species, which was captured, but unfortunately escaped again. These, with some ants and a few carrion beetles, constituted the insect fauna, as far as could be determined during our single visit. Among the coral-débris upon the beach, were numerous masses of various sizes, consisting of rolled Astræas, Madrepores, &c.; and mingled with them were fragments of shells of a great many species of Conus, Cypræa, Turbo, Pinna, Hippopus, &c.; but none of them entire. Innumerable little Hermits (Paguri and Canobita) occupied the deserted shells of Natica and Neritine, and larger ones those of good-sized Turbines; but I saw no live shells upon the beach, |