74 FROM FISH TO PHILOSOPHER 



gallon tins, respectively, neatly packed in smaU wooden 

 boxes, helped us to solve the problem of transportation. 

 By cutting out the tops of the tins and adding hinges 

 and handles to the boxes, we contrived shipping cases 

 that would pass oflBcial eyes in railroads, steamers, taxis, 

 and customs barriers, including those of Egypt and 

 France. We started for New York with thirty-two one- 

 gallon tins of mud, on which a small amount of water 

 was standing, and eight five-gallon tins containing about 

 six inches of water. Two or three fish were placed in 

 each of the tins of mud, and six to ten smaller fish in 

 each of the tins of water— a total of about one hundred 

 and fifty fish. 



The weather was unusually cold the first night as the 

 train passed over Mau Summit (8322 feet) on the way 

 to Nairobi, and about forty of the fish, some of which 

 had been placed in the line of draft from the ventilators, 

 were killed by undercooling. This unfortunate start 

 spoiled an otherwise near-perfect record: with the ex- 

 ception of one fish, which was found dead in the mud a 

 few days out of Mombasa— and which, from the extent 

 of decomposition, appeared to have been dead a long 

 time— there were no other casualties until after the fish 

 were in New York and divided between the New York 

 Aquarium and the laboratory. The period of transport 

 was about six weeks, the total period of storage in tin 

 containers some twelve weeks, and the distance via Nai- 

 robi, Mombasa, Port Said, Marseilles, Paris, and Le 

 Havre to New York, over eight thousand miles. 



These facts all certify the remarkable hardihood of 

 the lungfish. They had suffered repeated splashing and 

 jarring; those in water endured many changes of water 

 including slightly chlorinated water at Nairobi, ship's 

 distilled water at sea, and miscellaneous waters taken at 

 various ports; they endured prolonged and excessively 

 high temperatures in the Red Sea, and one box of mud 

 fell several feet and was turned upside down in a French 

 baggage car— and they were repeatedly poked at by cus- 



