124 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Aprilj, 



animated nature is wafted, as on wings, to every corner of the 

 habitable earth. No mountain-fastness so remote, no wild so deso- 

 late, no ocean rock so lonely and so bare, but thither also float, 

 and there descend, the viewless elements of life dissolved in air. 

 The tiny lichen, that scarce stains the wave-worn cliff, in its wild 

 solitude is not alone. Its food is floated to it day by day; and 

 the same elements, sailing on the same winds, build up the deli- 

 cate tissues by means of which it lives, and furnish the oxalic acid 

 wherewith it excavates the grave that holds its dust when dead. 

 That dust, be it remembered, is the primitive humus, and the ear- 

 liest form of soil. It is derived, like the lichen itself, from the air, 

 and it confirms the saying of Liebeg, that it is not humus which 

 generates plants, but plants which engender humus. 



(To be continued.) 



ON PISCICULTURE. 



The importance of the artificial breeding of fish, which the 

 French have dignified with the name of pisciculture, is such that 

 we have thought well to bring before our readers some of the 

 results obtained in England and in Norway. For this we are in- 

 debted in the first place to a lecture recently delivered in London 

 by Frank Buckland, Esq., and published in The Journal of the 

 Society of Arts, for March 11, 1864. This lecture we have some- 

 what abridged. In the second place, we extract a very interesting 

 chapter from Rev. M. E. Barnard's Sport in Norway, giving 

 a description of the method of fish-breeding pursued in that coun- 

 try. Lastly, we copy from The Angler- Naturalist, an excellent 

 book by H. C. Pennell, lately published by Van Voorst, what the 

 author designates as Proved Facts in the History of the Salmon. 

 — Editors. 



On Fish-Hatching : By Frank Buckland. 



This is one of the most practical applications of the study of 

 natural history that has been brought to notice of late years. The 

 mode of hatching valuable fish, such as the trout and salmon, by 

 artificial means, is no longer an experiment. It has, I have been 

 pleased to see, been lately gazetted by public consent to the rank. 



