Power of imitating Sounds in a Canary. A curious fact came under our observation, a short time since, in connexion with the power which some species of the feathered tribe have of imitating the articulation of the human voice. A lady, residing at the west end of the metropolis, wrote to Mr. Yarrell, stating that she had a talking canary, and requesting him to visit it, that he might be convinced of the fact. Having rereceived an invitation to accompany Mr. Yarrell, we called on the lady, and had an opportunity of witnessing a performance which greatly surprised us. The canary repeated words, and whole sentences, certainly as distinctly as any parrot we ever heard, and that as often and as naturally as its own song. The lady stated that she had reared the canary, which was a male bird, from the nest; and on one occasion, whilst addressing to it some endearing expressions, to her surprise it repeated the words after her, and has been in the daily habit of talking ever since, a period of about six months. We thought it worth while to notice this fact, not being aware that any similar instance is on record. Ed.

Birth of a Dromedary (Camèlus Dromedárius) at the Gardens of the Zoological Society. Within the last three weeks, one of the dromedaries at the gardens of the Zoological Society has produced young; and this interesting addition to the menagerie appears likely to thrive well. We believe this is the first instance of the entire period of gestation in the dromedary being passed in this country.

Remarks on the possible Origin of Ignis Fatuus.— In one of your late Numbers there appeared some discussion, and various opinions given, concerning the real nature of the Ignis Fatuus or Jack-with-the-lantern; a phenomenon very often seen, but of the real cause of its luminosity accounts are various and conflicting. One considers it to be an unctuous phosphorescent vapour arising from marshy ground; others, that it is an accidental combination of some inflammable gas, which becomes visible when floating in dense air; but the general opinion now appears to be, that it is a winged insect, which has some luminous member, or apparatus, attached to some part of its body, which renders the insect visible on nights.

That the insect is the mole cricket, as asserted by two witnesses, is feasible, in so far as mole crickets usually abound where the Ignis is most frequently seen; but this cricket, like its congeners, is ill calculated for flight of any long duration. I have lived near a rivulet, the banks of which were honeycombed by the inroads of these crickets, but never observed one of them on the wing. When digged out of the bank (which they often were, in forming drains), they would give a

convulsive kind of leap to regain the broken ground; but this was very imperfect flight. It may happen, however, that at certain seasons, during darkness, they may exercise a volant power, which they do not seem to possess by day: and, from their habit of living constantly in the dark, it is likely they may make their distant transmigrations, if any, in the night.

Travelling once by the Ipswich coach, I had for a companion a farmer, who, from his conversation, appeared to be a man of veracity. He had been, in his youth, a cattle drover and salesman in Smithfield market, but at the time of our journey was a Norfolk farmer.

On passing Dedham Vale, some one in the company mentioned that it was famous for Will-with-the-wisp seen dancing about on nights. My friend the farmer immediately exclaimed that all the world were mistaken with respect to this delusive light; for, said he, "it is nothing but a fly." My curiosity was raised to the highest pitch, as I had seen the "fire-flies" in India; and I naturally thought that something of the same kind might appear occasionally in this country. On further questioning him, he gave the following account: "I was once," said he, "driving a drove of cattle from Aylesbury to London; and, on my way from Little Missenden to Amersham opposite Shardeloes Park, a Will-with-the-wisp appeared hovering over the backs of my cattle when it was just getting dark. Sometimes it was on one side of the drove, and sometimes on the other; now it would be over the park pales, among the trees and bushes, and again hovering over the cattle. At last, it came so near, that I struck it down with my stick. I picked it up, but its light was extinguished, and it appeared to me exactly like a Moggy-long-legs [? Típula]. I carried it in my hat to the Crown Inn in Amersham, and gave it to Mr. Fowler, the landlord, who will tell you the same story if you apply to him."

Now, it so happened, that I knew Mr. Fowler perfectly well as a most respectable man; and, as I would have occasion to be at Amersham in about a month after my rencontre with the Norfolk farmer, I congratulated myself on the prospect of having gained the knowledge of a new fact in natural history.

Soon after my return into Buckinghamshire, I visited Mr. Fowler, but was sadly disappointed to find that he could remember no such circumstance of receiving an insect, or of any person bringing him one. Mr. Fowler added, that, as the circumstance happened several years back, and when he considered the motley group of drovers, waggoners, &c., who

crowded his large kitchen every evening, he might well forget a matter which was no part of his business to remember.

The above occurrences took place twenty-seven years ago; and from that time, till I saw the remarks in the Magazine of Natural History, I have not heard of any one else entertaining the idea that the Ignis Fatuus was emitted by an insect. As to the supposition of the male glowworm carrying the female is extremely improbable; the former being totally incapable of carrying the latter, as the male is a much smaller insect. These last may be easily collected by placing a lighted candle upon a table near an open window, in warm showery weather in the latter end of summer. To the light they mistakingly speed, only to meet disappointment: for it is the lamps of the other sex they are in quest of; and, therefore, that line in the amiable poet Thomson's Summer, viz.

"Among the crooked lanes, on every hedge
The glowworm lights his gem, :

should be rendered her gem; for, though the male has also two luminous vesicles attached to the posterior ring or joint of the abdomen, they are so very dim, that they can scarcely be seen, and certainly not at all while flying on nights, however near to a spectator.

I take the liberty to add a report which I have lately heard respecting a very strange phenomenon witnessed by a most respectable authority; namely, Mr. White, chief officer of the preventive service on the Scarborough station, and which cannot well be reconciled with accounts of the Ignis Fatuus as described by others.

One clear starlight night, as that gentleman was proceeding from his house to the cliff where one of his men, named Trotter, had the "look out," he passed a plantation in his way, in which he heard a loud crash among the trees, as if it had been the fall of an aerolite. There was no appearance of northern lights; but he saw before him what he thought were balls of fire, about the size of an orange, appearing and disappearing with an undulating motion, about 5 ft. or 6 ft. from the ground; not accompanied by any noise, nor did they move over the hedges; but he observed other luminous appearances shooting across the road and sky, emitting a hissing noise like a rocket, but not so loud. The same appearances (particularly the latter), which, like "the fiery cressets" that filled the air at the birth of the redoutable Owen Glendower, had so frightened the man Trotter, that he had actually hid himself for fear of them. (Extracted from a letter lately received from Mr. White's youngest son.)

How can the above appearances be explained with reference to the other accounts published concerning the Ignis Fatuus? -J. Main. Chelsea, September 18.

Ignis Fatuus. Your correspondent R. Chambers, F.L.S., having suggested, in his paper on this subject (n. s. page 353.), the probability that this phenomenon proceeds from the light emitted by certain insects. while on the wing, I avail myself of the present opportunity of stating one or two instances that have come within my own observation, which may serve to corroborate the fact mentioned by Mr. Chambers.

In the days of my boyhood, the Jack-o'-lantern, or Willwith-the-wisp, as this phenomenon was more commonly termed in Derbyshire, was, in one particular spot, in the spring of the year, of frequent occurrence. My late father, who frequently made observations upon these merry-dancers, and observes, in one of his papers, he was fully convinced that the Ignis Fatuus was nothing more than male glowworms at play, like gnats in the sunbeams.

In the spring of 1813, I was riding between Sleaford and Lincoln, when a Jack-o'-lantern caught my attention, proceeding in the same direction as I was travelling. Its motion was irregular, sometimes near the surface of the ground, and then suddenly rising to the height of five or six feet. I followed very cautiously for some distance, being determined, if possible, to obtain a near view of my luminous guide. As the night was rather dark, I had every thing favourable for observation. At length it rested just at an angle in the road. I dismounted, and proceeded very cautiously, in the hope of capturing it; but in this I was disappointed; for, on my near approach, whether from the noise I made, or some other cause, it suddenly rose from its resting-place, about two feet from the ground, cleared a high bank, and pursued its course in a direct line over the adjoining fields. The broad and deep dikes rendered pursuit fruitless; but my eyes followed its almost butterfly motion till the glimmering taper was lost in the distance. I have on one occasion witnessed a very similar flight, if I may so term it, of the Ignis Fatuus in Derbyshire, and near the same spot I have frequently captured female glowworms.

On my father once being appealed to for the cause of the Jack-o'-lantern, he said it was, he had no doubt, "the male glowworm bearing on amorous wing his joyous partner."

Whether the Ignis Fatuus is a meteor, or whether it proceeds from luminous insects, is a phenomenon of great interest and worthy of investigation. The following extract from the Kentish Gazette may not be out of place here:-" On Tuesday

evening, July 4. 1837, the old castle, at the southern entrance to the city of Canterbury, appeared as if a stream of red light was issuing from the old ruins. On repairing to the spot, it was discovered that the light emanated from an innumerable swarm of small insects which had collected on the walls, and about the old ruins. They disappeared at sunrise next morning. A similar phenomenon was witnessed in the same place about thirty years ago."— W. H. White. July 27. 1837.

[The above paragraph appeared in one of the London papers as a quotation from the Kentish Gazette, but we have some reason for believing the statement to have been a mere fabrication. Ed.]

Origin of the Ignis Fatuus.-The July Number of your Journal is just lying before me; and, among the many interesting articles it contains, I have found one which, I think, ought to be refuted, as it tries to explain the phenomenon of the Ignis Fatuus by the phosphorescence of insects. From your remark at the end of the article, it sufficiently appears how little you are swayed by the opinion of the author. However, I have observed the meteor too well myself to give the least credit to any attempt of ascribing such effects to such causes; not to mention that the season at which Ignes Fatui are commonly observed (November) is one when scarcely an insect, except the Phala na Nóctua brumària, is able to stir. The light of the fire-fly, though moving, is but a spark, and that of the glowworm does not change its place. As for the mole cricket, it certainly haunts boggy meadows; but the insulated observation of a farmer of Simpringham cannot, I think, militate against the negative testimony of the many who, like myself, have kept that animal in confinement during long periods, without observing in it the least phosphorescence. I may say that I have taken great trouble, and spent many a night, to observe the Will-with-a-wisp in its haunting-places; yet, though in dark and misty weather I had often seen lights moving, and had many a time fallen into swamps and quagmires, I had never come near enough what I thought a Jacko'-lantern to observe it closely, or even to become fully convinced of the existence of the phenomenon from my own experience. However, in the year 1818, I was fortunate enough to get a fine view of the Ignes Fatui operating on an extensive scale. I was then at Schnepfenthal, in the Duchy of Gotha; and in a clear November night, between 11 and 12 o'clock, when I had just undressed, the bright moonshine allured me to the window to survey the expanse of boggy meadows which spread two or three English miles in length, by a quarter of a mile,