CAPTURE AMONG THE MOLLUSKS. in 



the condition of the apparatus at every moment. Figs. 1 and 3 repre- 

 sent two of the reflectors. That shown in Fig. 1 is used to light up 

 . the mouth, and is of such power as to render the teeth transparent, and 

 make them show every detail of their condition. Placed on the ex- 

 tremity of a probe inserted in the oesophagus, it makes it possible to 

 observe the condition of the stomach. Fig. 3 shows the reflector with 

 mirrors for use in laryngoscopy and rhinoscopy. This adaptation of 

 the instrument may be used by dentists to show the back part of the 

 teeth, without compelling the patient to assume a disagreeable position, 

 as in Fig. 2. The polyscopes are superior to every other device for 

 introducing light to all parts of the human body. With them the 

 source of light may be placed at as minute a distance as is desired 

 from the part to be examined without inconvenience to the operator. 

 With a slight modification the polyscope may be employed as the in- 

 strument for performing the very different operation of cauterization. 

 It is of service in other fields than those of medicine and surgery. 

 Captain Manceron, at St. Thomas of Aquinas, has used it to examine 

 the interior of shells and cannon. It is employed likewise in pow- 

 der magazines, and is a similar apparatus to that used by divers and 

 gatherers of oysters, corals, and pearls, to light up the bottom of the 

 sea. 



-4~~*- 



CAPTURE AMONG THE MOLLUSKS. 



MR. STEPHEN CLOGG has kindly forwarded us a box contain- 

 ing a shanny and a mussel, which he describes as having been 

 taken in the harbor at Looe, Cornwall, in exactly the position repre- 

 sented in the accompanying illustration. The shanny and mussel, our 

 correspondent writes, were taken by a fisherman who was gathering 

 mussels for bait at Looe. Mussels are found in great numbers at the 

 bottom of the harbor there, and the fishermen use a long-handled, 

 four-pronged fork for catching them. A boat is moored over the 

 spot on which the mussels are to be found, and the fork is employed 

 to bring them from below into the boat. In the case in question, our 

 correspondent assures us the shanny and mussel were brought up as 

 shown in our illustration. The fish was alive when taken, and its 

 head firmly fixed in the mussel. This certainly may be considered a 

 curious capture, and from the evidence it may be fairly assumed that 

 the shanny, seeing a tempting mussel with its mouth open, was induced 

 to pop his head in an operation which Master Mussel doubtless re- 

 sented by immediately closing its valves, retaining the fish in its dead- 

 ly grasp. A case in point of fish being taken in this way is mentioned 

 by Couch, in which Lacepede records an instance where, as he (Lace- 

 pede) supposes, a shanny had made an attempt to feed on an oyster 



