FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



571 



serted stone quarries. The people who cul- 

 tivate them are said to practically live un- 

 derground, and are called champignonistes. 

 The beds are made as follows : A dry and 

 clean place near the mouth of the cave is 

 selected. The spot is covered with manure, 

 which is allowed to lie undisturbed for sev- 

 eral days. The manure is then thoroughly 

 worked over, all foreign matter being re- 

 moved, and then beaten and pressed down 

 into shape. After about a week the process 

 is repeated and the beds are watered. At 

 the end of another week the surface will be 

 brown and fermentation very active. At 

 this stage the first turning must be repeated, 

 when the mass is again allowed to rest three 

 days. It should then be soft to the touch, 

 but leave no moisture upon the hand. The 

 temperature requires to be carefully watched, 

 and the first heat of fermentation must be 

 allowed to pass off before the blanc or spawn 

 is sown. After the spawn is planted the 

 beds are covered with a thin layer of prepared 

 earth called goptage, kept well watered, and 

 in about forty days the mushrooms will ap- 

 pear. A bed will with proper attention pro- 

 duce a continuous crop for three months. 

 The seed, spawn, semence, or blanc (myceli- 

 um) is usually supplied by the market gar- 

 deners from old melon beds. It is sold in 

 the shape of a brick or cake, which, if 

 placed in a dry, airy place, preserves its vi- 

 tality for several years. The annual crop of 

 mushrooms in France is valued at about two 

 million dollars. 



Caviare in Rnssia. In Russia fish plays 

 a very important part in the economy of life. 

 On fast days, of which there are so many, it 

 is an indispensable article for the whole na- 

 tion, and on other days many of the people, 

 who are too poor to buy meat, depend on 

 fish as their only animal food. Russia's 

 numerous rivers and extensive coast line 

 make fish a cheap and common food there. 

 The most valuable products obtained from 

 fish in Russia are cod-liver oil and caviare ; 

 the latter coming mainly from the sturgeon. 

 The United States consul at St. Petersburg 

 is given as authority for the following de- 

 scription of the preparation of caviare : The 

 roe is taken out of the fish, and the egg bags 

 in which it is inclosed are removed by rub- 

 bing the mass on a sieve; the eggs pass 



through the meshes, while the skin does not. 

 When fish are in the first stage of decom- 

 position, the egg skins get so soft that they 

 can be readily separated from the roe, and 

 from these the low grades of caviare are 

 made. The caviare is next placed in brine. 

 The difference between the so-called fresh 

 caviare and the ordinary material put up for 

 keeping or export consists ifl the longer or 

 shorter time it is allowed to remain in the 

 brine, and also on the strength of the latter. 

 Immediately after the eggs have been rubbed 

 through the sieve, they are put through the 

 brine, and as soon as they are deprived of the 

 superfluous salt, are placed in tin jars or 

 cans and small wooden kegs, and the so- 

 called fresh caviare, which is high priced, is 

 ready for market. The cheaper kind is cured 

 in the brine and then put into linen bags and 

 pressed. This is called pressed caviare. 

 During ten months of 1 S95 Russia exported 

 4,658,448 pounds of pressed and 613,904 

 pounds of fresh caviare. 



Venomous Fishes. In many seas, espe- 

 cially those of the tropics, are found fish 

 provided with a poison apparatus, which con- 

 sists usually of a spine or spines more or less 

 erectile in character, and connected with a 

 poison gland. Prof. James D. Brunton gives an 

 interesting account of two of these fishes, the 

 Trachinis draco and Scorpoena scropha. They 

 are only poisonous as a serpent is poisonous 

 i. e., by wounding ; their flesh is good and 

 wholesome. Although the fish differ widely 

 in appearance, yet the poison produces the 

 same effect. The Trachinis draco is a hand- 

 some fish, not unlike a trout in general 

 appearance. Upon each of its gill covers is 

 situated the spine, connected with its poison 

 gland through a duct formed by the com- 

 bination of a groove in the spine and a very 

 thin membrane, which covers the latter 

 almost to its point. When the spine enters 

 a resisting body, the membrane is pushed 

 back, allowing the poisonous secretion free 

 access to the wound. The gland is small, 

 with nucleated colorless cells secreting a 

 transparent fluid. The Scorpoena, on the 

 other hand, is an unattractive-looking fish, 

 squat of body and having a large, misshapen 

 head. It may attain a large size, and is 

 called by the French fishermen "/e diable." 

 The special organ in this fish is connected 



