HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE- G OSSIP. 



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suspended from the lower brandies of fruit-trees, 

 as also hangiug on the faces of walls and rocks. 

 The Limax arborum also suspend themselves during 

 the act of procreation. I have also a faint idea 

 that I have seen L.jlavus suspended, but of this I 

 cannot speak certainly, and I think that the mucus 

 of this species would not be sufficiently viscid to 

 sustain this animal unless it underwent some 

 change for a special purpose. L. maxlmus is easily 

 to be distinguished from L. arborum by its greater 

 opacity, and being covered with large, dark, irre- 

 gular blotches of colour. For some years I have 

 taken great interest in these animals, which are not 

 generally favourite objects of study, and have come 

 to the conclusion that no others are capable of 

 forming threads. I imagine your correspondent's 

 specimens must have been a variety of L. arborum. 

 —John E. Daniel. 



The Congo " Snake." — This curious animal, about 

 which there is an interesting account in the August 

 number of Science-Gossip, is by no means a snake, 

 though so called, but a true saurobatrachian, 

 closely allied to the Proteus and Siren, though 

 these last two have permanent gills, while the Congo 

 Snake has deciduous gills. And this fact cannot 

 be too much insisted on, because the red corpuscles 

 of the blood of the Congo Snake {AmpJduma tri- 

 dactyluni) are the largest ; whereas in our books of 

 comparative anatomy the largeness of those corpus- 

 cles in Batrachians is incorrectly asserted to be 

 related to the permanency of the gills. The Am- 

 phiuma at the llegent's Park is between two or 

 three feet in length, and as thick as your waist, 

 having grown at least six times larger than it was 

 when first received there. It is carnivorous, and 

 feeds freely, and spends most of its life in the 

 water. The other species, which has only two 

 Gngers to each limb, was originally described under 

 the name of Amphiuma means by the illustrious 

 Cuvier, and from a recent note by Mr. Sclater in 

 Nature, would seem to be accepted as a distinct 

 species; but Tschudi and other eminent zoologists 

 regard it as merely a variety of Amphiuma tridacty- 

 him. At present, however, we know too little of 

 these curious creatures to be certain on this and on 

 many other points relating to them. In the notice 

 already quoted from Science-Gossip, the words 

 Axolott and Sirenian are misprints for Axolotl 

 and Siredon. Axolotl was the name first given, 

 probably from a native name, to the animal now 

 well known to zoologists as Siredon mexicamim, or 

 Siredon axolotol, which of course has nothing to 

 do with any " Sirenian," this last belonging to the 

 group of herbivorous cetaceans.— G. G. 



Gold-fish Breeding.— Replying to W. Elliott, 

 in the June number of Science-Gossip : To breed 

 gold-fish in any numbers your pond ought not to be 



less thau S ft. wide and 24 ft. deep, with a smaller 

 tank 2 ft. deep near the centre, for the fish to 

 go in when the pond is cleaned out. The following 

 plants should be placed in the pond : three of Falis- 

 neria spiralis, two of the Water-soldier (Stratiotes), 

 two of the Water-lily, and three plants of the 

 Anacharis, which is the best plant I have 

 discovered for a pond that will cause gold-fish to 

 breed in it. The fish will always find food where 

 the Auacharis grows, and will eat it, hide in it, and 

 spawn on it. I lent a gentleman a self-air-acting 

 can some five years ago to bring home two dozen 

 of gold-fish from Paris. I was to have half the fish 

 for the loan of the can. Two dozen were put in the 

 can at Paris ; only nine fish arrived safe : I would 

 not take any of the fish from him, as he was making 

 a new pond, and I was fitting up a fresh-water and 

 a salt-water aquarium for him. I placed two of 

 the smallest of the gold-fish in the fresh-water 

 aquarium ; the remaining seven gold-fish I placed 

 in the new pond. The fish lived all right, but did 

 not spawn in the pond. The gentleman came to 

 me some eighteen months after, saying he could 

 not get the fish to spawn. I asked him if he had 

 placed any plants in the pond, and he said he had 

 not ; whereupon I told him he could not expect to 

 get the fish to spawn if no plants were in the 

 pond. I asked him to allow me to place six plants 

 in the pond, and was allowed to do so, and placed 

 the following six plants • one Valisneria spiralis, 

 one Water-soldier, two Water-lilies, two Anacharis, 

 all in plant-pots surrounded with rockery to keep 

 them steady. Some time after I visited the pond, 

 and found the plants growiug most beautifully, 

 particularly the Anacharis. I did not see the pond 

 again for some months, when the gentleman sent 

 for me, and we visited the pond together. I found 

 the pond full of young gold-fish. There were thou- 

 sands of them. We got a dip-net, and thinned 

 them out for a minute ; the gentleman did not like 

 to destroy them in that way, so another large pond 

 was built, and the fish thrown-into it. Thousands 

 of fish have been given away from these ponds. 

 The Anacharis plants when grown too large should 

 be taken out twice a year. When the plant has 

 grown too long, nip off some of the young sprouts, 

 and place them in some fresh earth in pots, to 

 replace the old plants, which may be thrown away. 

 This plant grows very fast. I would not recom- 

 mend it for a very large pond or sheet of water, as 

 it will soon choke it up, unless swans are kept 

 there. Those birds feed on it, and thrive well. 

 I think our aquarium tanks are too small for the 

 spawn of gold-fish to come to anything. I kept 

 a large tank for twelve years, and never got any 

 young gold-fish from their spawn, after trying all 

 sorts of ways. To keep the gold-fish healthy in the 

 aquarium you must only give them a small fly or a 

 small red worm ; if you can get enough plants of 



