86 



RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



of crimson across one or two plates ; the 

 keel at the centre is sometimes striped 

 ■with crimson spots ; interior rose-red, paler 

 at the margins. Length one-half inch, 

 breadth three-tenths. 



Found in the maws of fishes and on stones 

 dredged from deep water. Habitat from 

 Connecticut to Greenland, Iceland, Nor- 

 way, and Great Britain. 



All Chitons when disturbed roll them- 

 selves up into a ball, and on this account 

 are sometimes called sea-woodlice. In col- 

 lecting the smaller kinds it is better not to 

 try to separate them from the shell or stone 

 to which they may be attached, but take 

 home shell and stone together. If the ani- 

 mal is killed when rolled up in a ball, the 

 shell cannot be straightened again without 

 breaking it ; the only way is to place the 

 Chiton between two boards after it has 

 straightened itself, and kill it with hot 

 water, and let it remain between the boards 

 until the shell stiffens in this position, other- 

 wise its tendency is to roll up, even when 

 the animal is dead. 



Order Ndcleobranchiata. 



These are pelagic animals, swimming by 

 means of fin-like lobes of the foot ; some 

 have a transparent, glassy shell, others 

 have no shell at all. There are three fam- 

 ilies, five genera and about fifty species, all 

 absent from our fauna. 



This chapter completes the description 

 of all the species of mollusca which inhabit 

 Rhode Island, belonging to the first sub- 

 class of Gasteropoda. 



{To be continued.) 



An Uncommon Fish. 



Since the last issue of Random Notes, 

 there has been secured, from a seine in 

 Greenwich Bay, a specimen of Selene 

 vomer, or, as it is more popularly called, the 

 Moon Fish or Horse Head. The latter 

 name is particularly applicable, as the face 

 bears a striking resemblance to those seen 

 on ancient coins representing the Roman 

 charger, a resemblance carried still fur- 

 ther by the mane-like disposition of the 

 dorsal fins. In the general outline the 

 Horse Head is of an irregular pentagonal 

 form, nearly as deep as it is long, and so 

 compressed, that the greatest distance from 



side to side measures no more than the di- 

 ameter of the eye. 



The most striking features, however, are 

 the elongated portions of the dorsal and 

 ventral fins. By actual measurement the \ 

 dorsal filaments are in length more than 

 twice the depth of the fish. These fila- 

 ments are remarkably like the waxed-ends 

 of a shoemaker. The Cobbler Fish is the 

 nearest relative to the Horse Head. 



Though the present species is immature, 

 measuring only three inches in length, 

 specimens from other localities have been 

 found of nearl}^ twice this size. 



In its geographical distribution this 

 animal is found in the warmer seas of both 

 the Atlantic and Pacific, its northern limit 

 being, heretofore. Long Island Sound. — 

 H. C. BuMPus. 



The Click Beetle, Skip Jack, or Spring 

 Beetle. 



BY H. H. VEITCH. 



There are man}- different kinds of beetles 

 in Worcester Count}', known nnder the 

 above names, and all belong to one familj'^, 

 the Elateridce. It is of the genus Agn'otes 

 that I would write in particular. Tlie dif- 

 ferent species of this genus are the parents 

 of the wire-worms that abound in most gar- 

 dens, and are considered b}' farmers so in- 

 jurious to A^egetation. 



These beetles ma}- be found in the field 

 or garden from June to September among 

 piles of rubbish or rotten sods. They lay 

 their eggs in July and August, attaching 

 them to the roots of vegetables, such as 

 potatoes, corn, beans, peas, etc., in little 

 clusters containing fort}' or more. These 

 hatch out in September and October, and 

 the .young larvae find sufficient food to last 

 until spring in the decomposing roi>ts to 

 which the eggs are attached. 



In cultivating my garden in May I have 

 often turned over clusters of these wire- 

 worms adhering to the roots upon which the 

 eggs were deposited the previous summer. 

 At this stage of their development they are 

 about an eighth of an inch in length, and 

 not exceeding a horse-hair in thickness. 

 They now separate, and in future it is each 

 one for itself. 



When a year old, they acquire the shin- 



