POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



711 



" Exactly at the place where the skin seems 

 to be moving backward, a pair of ribs ex- 

 pands. This action enlarges or puffs out 

 the body, and by stretching loosens the skin 

 at that place. In this movement both ribs 

 in the pair act at the same time, just as the 

 two blades of the scissors open together. 

 Now comes a second movement of this pair 

 of ribs, in which action the two ribs alter- 

 nate with each other. One of them — say 

 the one on the right side — is pushed forward 

 and made to slip out of and in front of the 

 constriction made by the swelling, when it 

 immediately works backward, that is, against 

 the neck of the double receding skin. Now 

 the left rib makes a like advance, and in a 

 similar manner presses backward." Thus, 

 for every backward movement of the invert- 

 ing skin, there are three rhythmic move- 

 ments : First, the expansion of one pair of 

 ribs ; second, the swelling of the body at that 

 spot ; and, third, the pushing back of the skin 

 by the alternate action of each rib. " The 

 cast-off skin is presented inside out, so that 

 every scale is now seen on its under or con- 

 cave side, and this is also true of the eye- 

 scales. To all this there is one exception ,' 

 the last scale of the tail is a hollow pyrami- 

 dal or four-sided spike. . . . When the shed- 

 ding has reached this scale a sharp shake of 

 the extremity is sufficient, and the unevert- 

 ed spike is left inside of its everted skin." 

 The entire process witnessed by Professor 

 Lockwood took only half an hour, but he 

 says that if a snake is in poor health the 

 casting of its old clothes takes longer and is 

 a much more difficult matter. 



A New Food-Fish. — Among the many re- 

 markable results given in the last report of 

 the United States Fish Commission is the 

 discovery of a very important food-fish, en- 

 tirely unknown to our fishermen. It is a 

 large flounder, the Gbjptocephalus cynoglos- 

 sus, and is known in Europe as the pole or 

 craig. But in Europe it is far from being 

 plentiful, and is highly esteemed as having 

 some of the best qualities of the turbot, 

 especially the presence of that delicious ge- 

 latinous fat along the fins. Much of the 

 work of the Commission has consisted of 

 dredging in water of various depths. While 

 trawling with a beam at distances from five 

 to ten miles from the shore, the fish was dis- 



covered, and in great quantities ; so great, in- 

 deed, that a fifteen to twenty mmutes' drag 

 would sometimes furnish as many as five 

 hundred pounds of the fish. The reason 

 that this fish has not been known hitherto 

 is due to the fact that the beam-trawl, the 

 only apparatus by which it can be taken, is 

 not used by our American fishermen, as it 

 is by those of Europe. The mouth of this 

 large flounder is so small that a hook small 

 enough to be swallowed would not sustain 

 the weight of the fish. There is every rea- 

 son to expect that this fish will soon take its 

 place in our markets. The Commission have 

 also brought to light new sjxcies of food-fish- 

 es i. e., of fishes supposed hitherto as only 

 living in the colder waters of Greenland and 

 Scandinavia. These, too, American enter- 

 prise will yet bring to our markets ; but, to 

 do so, fishing must be carried on two or it 

 may be three hundred miles from the coast. 



I Improved Method of diving and staying 



; under Water. — The apparatus now in use 

 for supplying air to divers engaged in sub- 

 marine operations is both cumbrous and 

 j unsafe, the air-tube limiting the movements 

 j of the diver, and, by its liability to become 

 ! entangled and crushed, causing a risk that 

 the supply of air for respiration may be cut 

 j off altogether. A new method, in which 

 these drawbacks are escaped by dispensing 

 entirely with the air-tube and pumps, has 

 been invented by a Mr. Fleuss in England, 

 and lately exhibited at the Royal Polytech- 

 nic Institute in London. Dr. B. W. Rich- 

 ardson was given an opportunity to closely 

 watch its operation, and from his description 

 in " Nature " we glean the following account 

 of the experiments ; The pecuharity of the 

 method consists in the diver's taking a full 

 supply of air-food down with him, which 

 dispenses with pumping, no help being 

 needed except a signal-man and cord. Mr. 

 Fleuss is both inventor and diver. He de- 

 scends into the water in an orainary diver's 

 dress. It consists of helmet, breastplate, and 

 common water-tight armings and leggings. 

 On his shoulders he carries a weight of 

 ninety-six pounds, and on his boots twenty 

 pounds. A light cord is attached to the 

 helmet for signaling to the person above. 

 Before the mask is closed and the helmet 

 adjusted, an " ori-nasal mouthpiece," with 



