CORRESPONDENCE 



Sewage or Filth-Fed " Fish." 



Bordering on our coast, the sea being contaminated by ever-increasing sewage- 

 outfalls, efflusive refuse and dirty rivers — too often only open drains artiiicially 

 fouled from source to mouth — may sooner or later cause the extinction of the 

 British trout and British migratory salmon by stopping their sojourn and spawning 

 in such sewage-spoilt streams. 



It was estimated in 1882 that local sewage and refuse had already so polluted 

 and poisoned the rivers of England — reckoned roughly at about 60,000 square miles 

 — that then (1882) upwards of one-sixth of these waters were incapable of supporting 

 fish-life. 



On the other hand, like some sea birds, many salt- and fresh-water fish frequent 

 and are fond of a moderate quantity of, sewage, whose warmth, products, and 

 contents also favour local aquatic vegetation. 



Sewage-fed oysters, besides other aquatic and amphibian animals usually eaten 

 either absolutely raw or else insufficiently cleaned and cooked, cause avoidable 

 parasitic diseases, fatal fevers and poisoning, which details are discussed in my 

 1893 treatise on " Foul Fish and Filth Fevers," that the United States Fish 

 Commission will shortly publish, and my article on " Sewage-Fed Fish " in Public 

 Health of June, 1894. 



It is imperative that immediately a Royal Commission, a Select Committee, or 

 at least a Parliamentary Return should be granted to inquire into and report upon 

 remedies to diminish the dangers to health, and the damage to property, food, and 

 sport caused by the augmenting sewage pollution of our inland and coastal waters. 



J. Lawrence-Hamilton, M.R.C.S. 



Sun or Moon ? 



Is not Orthagorisciis mola usually considered a sun-fish {vide Giinther 

 " Study of Fishes," p. 690) not a " moon-fish," as stated by your reviewer on p. 71 ? 

 II Wellington Road, Brighton. Edward Crane. 



July 7th, 1894. 



[SuN-FisH OR MooN-FisH. — The paper we referred to was "Note sur un 

 Poisson-Lune (Orthagoriscus mola, L.), de grandes dimensions, capture sur les cotes 

 du Portugal." What we know as the moon-fish is Ephippius gigas of the Antilles, 

 but there is no reason for supposing that Orthagorisci are called sun-fish in all parts 

 of the world. — Editor.] 



A Three-Toed Passerine. 



Sir, — I am much indebted to you for pointing out in your Editorial Note on 

 my paper (Natural Science, vol. v., p. 10) the interesting fact of the persistence of 

 the flexor lougus hallucis in three-toed birds. The note contains, however, a slight 

 mistake, viz., the statement that there is no three-toed passerine bird. CJiolornis, 

 a genus believed to be allied to Suthora, has but three toes. The suppressed toe, 

 however, is unfortunately not the hallux, but the fourth toe. For a three-toed 

 passerine of the kind you implied, I fear we must wait till an abnormality occurs. 



P~RANK Finn. 



