142 



THE AQUARIUM, OCTOBER, 1894. 



eric III. made him Lord Chamberlain, 

 a very high distinction ; about a year 

 ago he was nominated as President 

 of the German Fishery Society, but 

 declined the honor owing to his age. 



Traveling a great deal all over Eu- 

 rope in the interest of fish culture, he 

 collected much knowledge, and this, 

 together with his own experience in 

 that line, he embodied in his various 

 works on Fish and Fish Culture. 



He died in the harness. On the 

 evening of June 13 he came from his 

 ponds not feeling well, and the next 

 morning, June 14, he had ended his 

 useful life. His son, who succeeds 

 him, gives promise that he will carry 

 on the establishment in the spirit of 

 his father. 



"WHERE SNAILS ABOUND." 



The article under above heading in 

 last number of The Aquarium is from 

 the pen of Mr. Ernst .Ingersoll. It 

 had been sent to us without the author's 

 name being attached. — Ed. 



OBJECTED TO HIS BED'S LOCA- 

 TION. 



A young woman living on Brooklyn 

 Heights, who is a great lover of flowers, 

 employs a number of servants, to each 

 of whom she allots a small plot of ground 

 in the back yard to be used for a flower 

 •bed. Each one of them must attend 

 their own plot and arrange the flowers 

 according to their own judgment. As 

 an incentive she offers a couple of cash 

 prizes for the best kept plots. 



She had occasion to advertise for a 

 man the other day to do chores about 

 the house, and among the many apj^li- 

 cants for the situation was a lately 

 landed son of the Emerald Isle, named 

 Patrick. 



After answering numerous questions 

 satisfactorily Patrick secured the posi- 

 tion. Having in mind the comj^etition 

 for the prizes, and wishing Patrick to 

 enter the contest, she said to him, 

 " Now, Patrick, James will tell you 

 what to do, and will show you your bed 

 in the yard." 



" Phat's that," cried Pat, in astonish- 

 ment. " Me bed in the yard, is it ? 

 Divvil a bit will I slape in the yard for 

 annybody ! " 



How Fish Swim. — A recent writer 

 gives an excellent illustration which 

 makes it very obvious how fish swim. 

 Every one who has been to the seaside 

 must have noticed fishing boats pro- 

 pelled not by a pair of oars, but by a 

 single one, projecting from the stern. 

 The way it acts is thus : The oar is 

 placed immediately over the keel. The 

 blade is then placed in such a way that 

 it shall pass edgewise through the water 

 as the handle is moved toward the side 

 of the boat. Then, when the oar has 

 taken a sufficient sweep, it is turned, 

 so that the blade shall pass through the 

 water, as in ordinary rowing, while the 

 oar is brought back to its original posi- 

 tion. It is then made to pass edgewise 

 through the water, on the other side of 

 the boat, and so on. Now those strokes 

 which are made as the handle moves 

 from the middle to the sides tend to 

 give a backward motion to the boat, 

 while the other gives it a forward. But 

 as the oar meets with much more re- 

 sistance in the latter case than in the 

 former, the motion is progressive. All 

 this is exactly what takes place in the 

 swimming of a fish. The spines of a 

 fish tail are movable, and are capable 

 of being brought into such a position 

 that the fin shall meet with less resist- 

 ance from the water while the tail is 

 being bent than when it is being 

 straightened, and it is when the tail is 

 being straightened that the fish is pro- 

 pelled. 



