Natural History, fyc. 427 



1 Several dozens of strong lively fish, four inches in length, were 

 transferred with great care from the. nets into large vessels (some of 

 the vessels, to vary the experiment, being of earthenware, and others 

 of wood and metal) filled with water taken from the Thames at the 

 time of catching the fish. At the expiration of twenty minutes 

 nearly the whole of them were dead, none survived longer than half 

 an hour, and all fell to the bottom of the water. On examination, 

 tin' air-bladders were found to be empty and collapsed. There was 

 no cause of death apparent. About four dozen specimens were then 

 placed in a coffin-shaped box, pierced with holes, which was towed 

 slowly up the river after the fishing boat. This attempt also failed: 

 all the fish were dead when the vessel had reached Greenwich. Mr. 

 Yarrell was told by two white bait fishermen, that they had several 

 times placed these fishes in the wells of their boat, but they inva- 

 riably died when brought up the river. The fishermen believe a por- 

 tion of sea- water to be absolutely necessary to the existence of the 

 species, and all the circumstances attending this particular fishery 

 appear to prove their opinion to be correct*.' 



18. To RESTORE THE ELASTICITY OF A DAMAGED FEATHER. 



A feather when damaged by crumpling may be perfectly restored by 

 the simple expedient of immersing it in hot water. The feather 

 will thus completely recover its former elasticity, and look as well as 

 it ever did. This fact was accidentally discovered by an amateur 

 ornithologist of Manchester. Receiving, on one occasion, a case of 

 South American birds, he found that the rarest specimen it contained 

 was spoilt, from having had its tail rumpled in the packing. Whilst 

 lamenting over this mishap, he let the bird fall from his hands into 

 his coffee-cup ; he now deemed it completely lost, but, to his agree- 

 able surprise, he found, that after he had laid it by the fire to dry, 

 the plumage of the tail became straight and unruffled, and a valuable 

 specimen was added to his collection. 



19. ORNITHOLOGY.' 



At a late meeting of the committee of Science and Correspondence 

 of the Zoological Society of London, Mr. Vigors, the secretary, 

 called the attention -of the committee to a gallinaceous group of 

 America, which supplied in that continent the place of Quails in the 

 Old World. Of this group, or the genus Ortyx of modern authors, 

 which a few years back was known to ornithologists by two well- 

 ascertained species only, he exhibited specimens of six species viz., 

 Ort. Virginianus and Californicus^ which had been the earliest de- 

 scribed, the former by Linnaeus, the latter by Dr. Latham ; Ort. Ca- 

 a species lately figured, named in Sir W. Jardine's and 



* Trans. Zool, Soc. Lond. p. 14. 



