172 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[August 1, 1S66. 



is found in one of the Zalyrinthici, known as the 

 Gourami (Ospkromemis olfax) of ichthyologists. In 

 the " Zoological Journal " (iv. p. 309), we find a 

 very interesting account of this fish from the pen of 

 General Hardwicke, who paid particular attention 

 to their habits during his residence in the Isle de 

 Erance. Where water-grass grows thickly, and 

 spreads its green flag-like leaves over the still water 

 of either pool or t tank, there the Gourami, at its 

 breeding season, is sure to be met with. These grass 

 culms the fish manage to entangle and twist together, 

 to form a kind of verandah, under which their all- 

 important domestic duties may be carried on safe 

 from prying eyes. The roe deposited, both male and 

 female hover round their treasure, and fight furiously 

 with any prowler that from design or by chance ven- 

 tures near. After some time, usually about a month, 

 the young fish emerge from the eggs, and as a hen 

 guards her chickens, in like manner the Gourami 

 keeps untiring watch and ward over her baby-brood 

 until they are old enough, and able to shift for them- 

 selves. 



I could adduce numerous instances of other nest- 

 building fishes. The little sticklebacks, known to 

 every schoolboy, are familiar examples ; but as the 

 habits and systems of stickleback nest-building 

 were ably recorded and illustrated in a previous 

 number of Science Gossip, anything I could say 

 would be but useless repetition. 



To the angler, who is only an angler as a sports- 

 man, and all honour to him too, but who does not care 

 to be a naturalist as well, a fish is only a fish, against 

 the cunning of which he pits his skill in arts of de- 

 ception, whether with artificial fly, worm, spoon- 

 bait, or what not, and regards the object of his 

 pursuit only in reference to its value in the matter 

 of size, or as to the sport it may afford. Should 

 the successful angler, or any one else, have the 

 results of his day's fishing set before him in quite 

 another phase — one which appeals to his mind via 

 his palate, he probably then thinks little more of a 

 fish than as something to be eaten, very delicious, 

 and beyond all praise. To the ichthyologist, a fish, 

 whether it leaps at the gaudy fly, or swallows the 

 tempting bait offered^ to lure it, as a sporting fish 

 ought, or whether it be as toothsome and appetizing 

 as the " venison of the sea," or glorious red mullet, 

 which made Quin desire a throat as long as Lombard 

 Street, and every inch a palate : in a word, be the 

 fish's qualities what they may, good, bad, or in- 

 different, to him, ichthyologically, it is only a cold- 

 blooded animal, possessing a vertebra, gills instead 

 of lungs ; fins and scales in lieu of feet, fur, or 

 feathers ; spending its life in the water, and de- 

 veloping its young from eggs. 



Under all three aspects, by all and every means, 

 think of a fish, if your tastes and inclinations lead 

 you, my young friends, so to do ; but what I have 

 sought to do in writing about " odd fishes," is to 



bring before you certain members of the scaly tribes, 

 in which there are other qualities entitling them 

 to every consideration, beyond those embodied in a 

 strictly ichthyological, gastronomical, or piscatorial 

 point of view ; hoping thereby that you may be in- 

 duced to dive deeper into the countless mysteries to be 

 found in all God's creatures, from the Diatom to the 

 Elephant, if you will but look for them ; to discover 

 for yourselves the uses, as well as the structure of, 

 unfamiliar appendages and anatomical peculiarities. 

 Everything, depend upon it, has a use, and we may 

 sit in the studio and think over it- for an indefinite 

 time, and after all be none the wiser ; but ramble 

 into the haunts and home of the beast, or whatsoever 

 form of life it may be that so puzzles you, play the 

 spy upon its actions, learn its habits, and it will aid 

 you more, even though only a few days be devoted 

 to such observations, than will whole years of indoor 

 study. Who, I ask, would ever have given a fish 

 credit for being the embodiment of a home-loving, 

 nest-building, egg-carrying creature, discharging 

 every parental duty in a highly exemplary and 

 praiseworthy manner, unless our finny friends had 

 been visited when at home, or, better, transferred 

 to places wherein their habits could be watched, 

 and what they did recorded from day to day ? 



There are hosts besides, quite as "odd fishes" 

 as those I have referred to, and if I have succeeded 

 in inducing any of my younger readers, by thus ad- 

 ministering a wholesome stimulus to curiosity, to 

 trace out the oddities of odd fishes for themselves, 

 my aim is attained. I. K. Loud, E.Z.S. 



The Importance of Immediately Recording 

 Observations. — A pretty long experience in such 

 matters has convinced me that they act wisely and 

 well who, having used their opportunities to the 

 best of their power, communicate the results of 

 their observations to the world without waiting for 

 a period (never perhaps to arrive) when they may 

 themselves have the credit of completing and per- 

 fecting them. It is better, whilst the freshness of 

 recollection is undimmed, and the mind is in a posi- 

 tion to draw a correct parallel between older and 

 quite recent observations, and thus to give our 

 descriptions the necessary development, to throw 

 into them whatever there may be of value in our 

 peculiar experience or habits of investigation, and 

 frankly to invite our fellow-labourers to do in our 

 stead what we would gladly have done but for 

 some inevitable want of health, leisure, or oppor- 

 tunity. Were this course more generally followed 

 in the sciences, both of observation and experiment, 

 I am persuaded that by grasping at less we should 

 attain more— even in personal reputation— and should 

 unquestionably advance the interests of knowledge. 

 —Professor James Forbes 's " History of Norway and 

 its Glaciers." 



