Feb. 1, 1S67.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



39 



It was, however, of little use to stand on guard with 

 my knitting-needle, I could hardly shield the whole 

 five from harm ; and to divert the attention of the 

 enemy I dropped large pieces of meat into its claws, 

 and so for a time succeeded in quieting him. Being 

 then called away I could only leave my poor fish 

 with too sure a dread that havoc would be made 

 amongst them soon. 



Returning a few hours after, I found that one fish 

 was missing, and although I could not see any 

 remains of it either in the jaws of the prawn or in 

 the aquarium, I had little doubt now as to the secret 

 of the disappearance of it and its predecessors, and 

 soon I had conclusive proof. I came suddenly upon 

 Master Prawn greedily eating another of {he fish, 

 quite a third of it being already nibbled up. Each 

 day has seen another fish victimized, and this evening 

 I could not find the last solitary survivor, and so 

 must conclude that all have vanished in the same 

 way. I do not believe that a single fish of this last 

 lot was caught by an anemone, although my anemones 

 of each kind have been widely expanded— luxuriating 

 in the new water. Even the fish whose body I found 

 in the grasp of an anemone was, I think, either 

 driven to its fate by the pursuing prawn or was 

 dropped dead into its clutches. I account for the 

 more rapid destruction of my previous lots of fish 

 by the fact that there were then nine or ten prawns 

 in the aquarium. 



I have given thus full an account of my trials and 

 failures, because to my mind two things are pretty 

 well proved— first, that sticklebacks will live and 

 thrive in sea water ; but, second, that if you wish 

 to keep them, you must either not have prawns with 

 them, or else select very young prawns, and stickle- 

 backs of a superior size and strength to them. I 

 should be very sorry to banish prawns from my 

 aquarium, as they are both handsome and useful,— 

 handsome in their varied movements, and in their 

 amber crystal bodies heightened with gold and 

 brown at the joints, and exceedingly useful as 

 scavengers. 



Before concluding, I should like to ask if any 

 philosophical or other reason has been found out 

 wherefore some few fresh-water fish will do well in 

 sea water, whilst the greater number, I believe, 

 perish almost instantaneously. E. S. 



ZOOLOGY. 



The Bereaved Dog.— A poor disconsolate dog 

 has been wandering about the scene of the late 

 catastrophe in Regent's Park, disdainiug all food, 

 and refusing to be comforted. His late master was 

 undoubtedly one of the drowned, but hitherto the 

 animal has owned no one, and is owned by none. 

 He excites pity from all who are led by curiosity to 

 the spot, not only on account of his faithfulness, 

 but from his intelligent appreciation of his loss, and 

 the manifestations of his grief. 



A Prolific Anemone. -In October, 1860, a brief 

 paragraph was inserted respecting a prolific ane- 

 mone, Sagartia Bellis, which I then had in my 

 aquarium. In the paragraph referred to it is stated 

 that the anemone had at one birth produced upwards 

 of 100 young. I have now to state that 'in the 

 following week it produced about 150 additional; 

 about four weeks after that it added 50 to the 

 number of its young ; and in the month of Decem- 

 ber it again increased its'numerous progeny by giving 

 birth to 50; immediately after which it sickened 

 and died. It had lived healthy and well in my 

 aquarium for about four years. — T. P. Barlcas, 

 Newcastle -on-Tyne. 



The Edible Bird's Nest so much prized by 

 the Chinese for making soup (and of which I-have 

 several specimens) resembles a mass of fibrous 

 isinglass matted together, and forming a small 

 shallow cup which the bird lines with feathers. 

 Large quantities of these nests are collected in Java, 

 the coasts of Papua, and the islands towards the 

 north end of Australia. The material with which 

 the bird builds this nest has always been a mystery 

 to Europeans. Charles Waterton would not 

 venture to hazard a conjecture whence the bird 

 obtains it. I can however set the matter at rest. 

 Some years ago, when passing northwards through 

 Torres' Straits, the [ship was daily anchored soon 

 after noon, as the sun's light then began to fall on 

 the submerged coral reefs at such an angle as to 

 obs cure them, and render the navigation dangerous. 

 Landing on the reefs and islets in search of shells, I 

 found at low water great numbers of the hideous 

 looking mollusc called "Trepang," and "Beche-de- 

 mer;" it looks like a gigantic slug, varying from 2 to 

 5 feet in length, and is as thick as my wrist ; it is 

 collected and smoke-dried for the China market, to 

 be made into soup. On taking up one of these 

 animals it is found to be covered with a very 

 tenacious slime, like white birdlime, which however 

 readily comes off the animal's skin, and floats up to 

 the beach in long streaks with the froth of the 

 rising tide. One afternoon my attention was 

 attracted to a flock of little brownish, ash-coloured 

 birds, who were busily engaged all along the edge 

 of the rising water, and as they were very tame, I 

 approached to within a few feet of them to see what 

 they were doing; and could distinctly see them 

 gathering with their beaks the white slime thrown 

 off by the " Trepang ; " numbers of them flying off 

 with it on their beaks, and new-comers twittering 

 and settling down at the edge of the water. The 

 bird is a diminutive martin, and builds its nest 

 against the face of the rock, just as the English 

 martin constructs its mud nest under the eaves of 



