108 



EECEEATIVE SCIENCE. 



jM? JSToleworthy's Cf< 



orner. 



The Affection of Fish. — As cold-blooded as a 

 cod, as senseless as a fish, are proverbs which go far 

 to deny any overflow of affection to the piscine race. 

 Those of our readers who, having aquatic vivaria, are 

 in a position to observe the inhabitants thereof, may 

 tell us better. Walton, copying from old Burton, tells 

 us of several very long-lived fish, and of some which 

 were so fond of him who fed them, that they would 

 rise at his call. Pennant has a story of the blue 

 shark permitting its young when attacked to take re- 

 fuge by swimming down its throat; however that 

 may be, the question of the return is the most diffi- 

 cult. The descensus is easy enough, no doubt. 

 There is another reason against fish having affec- 

 tion, to which, notwithstanding the classical story of 

 a Nubian having tamed an oyster ivhtch folloioed 

 him about like a dog (?), we are inclined to give much 

 weight. This is their amazing fecundity. A single 

 child is nearly always a pet, i.e., a spoilt child. A 

 lai'ge family has very little affection wasted upon its 

 individual members. How can any one — fish, flesh, or 

 fowl — ^love 100,000 little ones at once ? Yet, as has 

 been often quoted, Leuwenhoeck found 9,000,000 eggs 

 in a single cod ; Petit 300,000 in a carp ; Hamer the 

 same number in a tench ; in a mackerel 500,000 ; in 

 a flounder, 1,357,000. M. Rousseau took from a stur- 

 geon 1,567,000 eggs. Shell-fish are not so prolific ; 

 nevertheless, a lobster yielded 7,227 eggs; a prawn, 

 3,806; a shrimp, 3,057. This, we imagine, should settle 

 the question of the affection of very prolific fish. Of 

 the affection of the cetacea there can be but little doubt. 



Abundance of Fungi. — In the south-eastern 

 counties of Ireland, there has this year been an 

 extraordinary increase in the number of mushrooms, 

 with which the pastures have been literally whitened. 

 On the hUls, and wherever the grass is of a few years' 

 standing, they have been so numerous that several 

 might be found in every square yard. The people 

 have gathered immense quantities for immediate use, 

 and for the manufacture of catsup. In some places 

 whole cart-loads have been seen thrown away, simply 

 because more had been gathered than could be used. 

 Nor have other kinds of fungi been less numerous. 

 A very dry season was succeeded in the beginning of 

 August by heavy rains, and tlie growth of fungi imme- 

 diately followed. The immense abundance lias never 

 been equalled in the memory of even the " oldest 

 inhabitant." 



Naturalist's Telescope. — Mr. Noteworthy is re- 

 minded that until the opticians prepare an instrument 

 expressly for out-door observations, much may be done 

 with the ordinary single opera-glass, purchaseable any- 

 where for about 12». M. Mr. Noteworthy has long 

 had one lying in an old drawer, and until reminded of 

 it by the letter of a reverend friend, had altogether for- 

 gotten its use and value. To see a tomtit pick the 

 seeds from a clump of hemp plants is alone worth the 

 cost of one of these excellent instruments. 



Origin of Words. — The history of a word, like 

 the honest history of any man or thing, will tell you 

 much ; but to know the history of many, they should 

 be more wisely spelt. Look at the word "Admiral," for 

 instance. What business has it with that letter " d " ? 

 Milton, no mean authority, always spells it " Amiral." 

 Satan towers above his fellows, 



" Like the mast of some tall Amiral." 

 Its origin is thus given : — In opposition to the 

 Venetian galleys used in protecting the Crusaders 

 in the eleventh century, the Turks sent out a gene- 

 ral governor of the fleet, an Emir or Evieral. The 

 Venetians, in adopting the ofiicer, took also his name. 

 Bailey gives the derivation thus : — Amir, Arabic, " gover- 

 nor ;" oKioff, Greek, " of the sea." Johnson says, " from 

 the Freilch 'Amiral,' of uncertain etymology." The 

 French derive it from "Amir," and are logical in their 

 spelling. If so, why, we ask, do we use the df 



EocK-woRK FOR Fern Cases, ETC. — Don't forget 

 that pumice-stone is very light, free from pernicious 

 ingredients, and of a suitable colour for miniature rock- 

 eries, without necessitating the trouble of washing 

 over with Portland cement. Better still for fern cases 

 is the petrified moss from Scarborough, Cloughton, 

 Nidderdale, Knaresborough, etc., which you may get 

 in quantity either at those several places or at the 

 London shops where shells and curiosities are sold. 



Appearance of a Star under the Telescope. — 

 There is much difference between a star and a planet, 

 as seen through a telescope. In looking at the latter the 

 body is visible ; in the former it is only a concentrated 

 light, the body itself being too far away in space to be 

 seen. In order to focus a star, the tube must be 

 drawn out untU the object is reduced to its minimum 

 size ; it will then be shorn of its rays, and will put on 

 a somewhat planetary appearance ; the smaller the 

 telescope the less planetary will the star appear. If a 

 telescope be not achromatic, it will not be possible to 

 focus a star so as to free it frova false light. In look- 

 ing at a planet eveiy additional power used increases 

 its size, but in looking at a star the contrary (from the 

 reason given above) takes place ; the star diminishes 

 in size, yet increases in brightness, and this diminu- 

 tion must go on until telescopes are constructed so 

 large and powerful as to reduce a star to a mere point ; 

 after this any additional power would increase the 

 size, as then the body itself would be seen. 



Pistol Camera. — Mr. Skaife is reported to have 

 invented a photographic apparatus which takes pho- 

 tographs instantaneously, and has been named the 

 " Pistol Camera," from the rapidity with which "when 

 presented," it " goes off." Is this shooting the sun, 

 shooting the moon, or shootuig the shadow? 



Nature's Bountiful Provision. — We may obtain 

 a tolerable insight into Nature's care for her children, 

 by considering the fertility of two animals only, the 

 pigeon and the rabbit. It is fairly calculated that a 

 single pair of pigeons might produce, indirectly, in four 

 years, 14,760 others. In the same period of timeacouple 

 of rabbits would have originated 1,'^74,840 bunnies. 



