148 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



[July 1, 1S70. 



come up from below the surface of the sea, and fell 

 upon the ear something like the tones of an iEolian 

 harp, rising and falling in regular cadence, and im- 

 pressing the mind with a sense of something distinct 

 from what had ever been experienced before. 



On the following morning a number of small fish 

 were seen swimming about the rudder, and upon 

 catching two or three, they were found to have an 

 attaching apparatus at the back of the head,' similar 

 to those I had seen in a fish in the West Indies, 

 called by sailors " sucking fish " ; and it is this 

 which I take to be the musical instrument. This 

 supposition is strengthened by the fact that if the 

 ear be laid upon an adjoining part of the vessel 

 while the sounds are heard, the source of them 

 appears to be in contact with the vessel, and no 

 longer at a distance, as when the ear is detached. 

 My idea is that these little creatures carry their 

 little harps upon their heads, and that they can 

 only play them when fixed upon a smooth surface 

 such as the bottom or sides of a ship, and that they 

 have no power of emitting any sound when swim- 

 ming about like other fish. I would ask,— May we 

 not have here, in these finny singers, as they may 

 be called, the origin of the myths about the 

 songs of sirens, mermaids, and similar fabulous 

 stories ? for in the ages when every natural pheno- 

 menon was personified and invested with a poetical 

 halo, this music of the sea would be the songs of 

 sirens, dwelling in caves and grottoes far down in 

 the depths. 



I would remark, in conclusion, that from what has 

 been written about the size and sounds of the 

 "drummer" fish, off the coast of America, it is 

 apparently of an entirely different kind from that in 

 the eastern seas. 



The same night on which the musical fish were 

 heard was distinguished by a still more remarkable 

 and very interesting phenomenon — a pulsation of 

 electric light, alternating with darkness, for a period 

 of nearly two hours, with a luminous sea, which 

 continued until midnight, by which time it had gra- 

 dually disappeared. Though the source of the light 

 which illuminates the sea is electric, I hold it to be 

 true, in opposition to the view generally held, which 

 is that ve have an animal source ; and I think it 

 will be discovered that the only purpose served by 

 ail animal life in the sea, when it is luminous, is 

 like that of the material of a torch, and that the 

 flame is electric light. I shall be glad to see some 

 of your scientific contributors giving their attention 

 to the subject. 



Shere, Surrey. W. C. F. 



Quekett Microscopical Club— Dr. Lionel 

 Peale, E.R.S., F.R.M.S., &c, is the President 

 elect of this Club for the ensuing year. 



CATERPILLAR NURTURE. 



nPHE Lepidopterist, if he takes a hearty interest 

 - 1 - in his favoured study, must devote a certain 

 portion of the time he allots to it to the rearing of 

 caterpillars. An "interesting and instructive" 

 pursuit — yes, undoubtedly it is, yet one which has 

 attached to it many disappointments and failures. 

 Admirable is it, we may grant, as an exercise for 

 patience ; a good cpiality rarely superabundant in 

 humanity, yet we should hardly recommend it as a 

 specific to an irritable and impetuous man, since 

 some small measure of patience is necessary to 

 induce any one to enter upon the preliminary 

 stages, by means of which he may advance by 

 slow degrees, until he becomes expert as a cater- 

 pillar breeder. Small beginnings are the way to 

 progress, and from feeding up such common fry as 

 Vapourers and Ermines, die may proceed to the 

 successful nursing of the rarer and more delicate 

 aud troublesome species ; for, odd as it seems, 

 choice larva? are usually the most difficult to bring 

 up, and the insect-hunter sometimes, when he 

 comes across one or two larvae of known rarity, is 

 compelled to look at them regretfully, not knowing 

 whether they are not already the prey of some para- 

 sitic enemy, which is fattening within them ; or 

 expecting that through some unexplainable cause, 

 they will pine away just as they are approaching 

 what shonld be .their maturity : a not uncommon 

 circumstance. 



Of course, to commence your work of breeding 

 by obtaining the eggs of butterflies aud moths, 

 wherever you can get them, and then watching for 

 the emergence of their infant progeny is the best 

 plan ; though it will not do to enumerate too posi- 

 tively your entomological chicks before they are 

 hatched, as eggs are sometimes unfertile, or the 

 shells will so harden that the young larvaj cannot 

 emerge. Nor, indeed, after they are hatched, can 

 you make at all sure of the number which you will 

 rear out of what may seem a very promising hatch. 

 In many species, the first thing done by the newly- 

 hatched larva is to nibble up its egg-shell, a strange 

 feat of mastication, and not at all what we should 

 consider proper for the delicate organs of the mouth 

 and stomach, ere they have made any trial of 

 vegetable food— much as inconsistent apparently as 

 it would be for a baby of the human race to attempt 

 to " chaw np " its rattle or its coral. However, that 

 done, the young larva is ready for something of a 

 softer nature. And now begins the trouble of the 

 feeder. " You may bring a horse to the water, but 

 you can't make him drink." So you may carefully 

 place a caterpillar on its proper food-plant, just in 

 the right stage of growth, yet it may determiuately 

 refuse to eat. It would be a natural inference, one 

 might say, that a very young caterpillar should 

 prefer tender and newly-developed leaves (if these 



