animals which
feed upon blood and flesh, the mole is always very thirsty.--_Monthly
Mag_.

* * * * *

CLIMATE OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

The climate of the British dominions in the south of Africa is one of the
finest in the world. The average height of the barometer is above thirty
inches, and the average summer heat at noon is about 78 deg. It resembles
the climate of Italy, but is rather warmer and dryer. It is so dry, that
draining is little required for the ground: on the contrary, it is
necessary to retain moisture as much as possible, and even irrigation is
desirable, more especially from the grasses. The mountains abound in
springs, but the supply of water is scanty and precarious, from the want of
energy and skill in procuring that essential article. Such a scarcity
frequently arises, that the cattle perish from thirst, and the people
themselves are in danger of a similar fate.--_Gill's Repository_.

Sea Pens.

[Illustration: Sea Pens.]

The cuts represent two fine Sea Pens--_Silver and Red_, with Sections.

Of all the Sea Pens yet known, the first is one of the largest and most
curious in its appearance; being of a beautiful silvery white, elegantly
straited on each of the feather-like processes, with lines or streaks of
the deepest black. It is extremely rare, and is a native of the Indian
Seas. The accompanying Engraving is copied from a fine specimen in the
British Museum.

* * * * *

THE RED SEA-PEN IS

Of a very beautiful appearance, and is found on the British coast. The
animal consists of a flattened stem, or body, which is furnished with an
internal bone, and dilates into an expanded part, consisting of several
pinnae, or lateral branches, which are divided on their inner edges into a
number of tubular processes, through each of which is protruded a part of
the animal, resembling the head of a hydra or polype; the whole animal may,
therefore, be considered as a very compound or ramified union of polypi,
the bodies of which are contained in the naked part or stem, and from
thence ramify into a vast number of processes, each furnished with its
particular head. The animal emits a very strong phosphoric light, and it is
even so luminous, that it is no uncommon circumstance for the fishermen to
see the fish which happen to be swimming near it merely by the light of the
Pens. Its colour is a bright red crimson, and the general