366 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVER Y. 



which flowers of sulphur have afterwards been mixed ; and secondly, after 

 the earth has been placed around the object to be preserved, in pouring over 

 the earth a certain quantity of chloroform. The case must be in lead and 

 hermetically sealed. An interesting fact connected with the process is, that 

 it is not only useful in preserving dead bodies hi hermetically sealed cases, 

 but after remaining a certain time in this preparation, they resist the action 

 of the atmosphere. 



ARTIFICIAL PRODUCTION OF FISH. 



M. Coste, the French ichthyologist, communicated a curious and important 

 fact to the Academy of Sciences of Paris in its last sitting namely, that in 

 the cisterns for the artificial production of fish which he has established in the 

 College de Prance, a female trout produced by the artificial process, and aged 

 two years and a half, deposited in a few days 1065 eggs, and that they 

 were fecundated with perfect success, and with comparative little loss, by the 

 milt of a male trout, aged nineteen months, also produced artificially. This 

 is the first instance on record of artificially -produced trout having reproduced, 

 and having done so, not in a river or stream, but in a mere cistern in which 

 the water is only renewed. 



BEINE A POISON. 



M. Eeynal, of the Veterinary School at Ayort, France, has communicated 

 to the Imperial Academy of Medicine the results of investigations upon the 

 poisonous properties acquired by brine, after a considerable length of tune, 

 in which pork or other meats had been salted or pickled. The poisonous 

 properties, he states, are acquired in two or three months after the prepara- 

 tion of the brine, and its use then, mixed with food for any length of tune, 

 even although in small quantities, may produce death. A simple solution of 

 salt in water, after the same length of time, does not produce the same effect. 

 The poison acts as a local irritant, exciting violent intestinal congestion and 

 inflammation. It likewise increases the secretion of the skin and kidneys, 

 and exerts a direct effect upon the nervous system, giving rise to trembling, 

 loss of sensation, convulsions, &c. 



VIVIPAROUS FISHES. 



At a recent meeting of the Boston Society of Natural History, Prof. Agassiz 

 stated that, a few years since he had described . a new family of fishes, 

 Emliotocoidce, in which the mode of reproduction is viviparous. He had now 

 to announce the fact, that, in another family, and one well known, there is 

 likewise viviparous reproduction. He had recently been examining the 

 ovary of the common haddock, and had found the ova already passed the 

 stages of segmentation. He had not yet been able to examine them during 

 the latest periods of development, but he had no doubt that the embryos 

 were developed within the ovary. He thought, however, that the young 

 might be brought forth in some kind of an envelope, and thus escape observa- 

 tion. In the cod, whiting, and American hake, the ova likewise undergo 



