202 



A'^ TURR 



June 27, 1889 



striking testimony to the rapid development of telepliony. 

 Thirteen years ago the first rude model of a telephone 

 was brought from America by Sir William Thomson. 

 One year later, Graham Bell himself brought to Scotland 

 and exhibited first in Glasgow, and Mr. Preece brought 

 to England, the telephone receiver (then also used as 

 transmitter), almost exactly as it is now constructed. 

 But a vast amount of practical work of a most important 

 kind remained to be done before telephony could be made a 

 commercial success. Without, however, waiting for this 

 to be accomplished, a telephone line was immediately 

 installed by Sir William Thomson between his house at 

 the University and his laboratory, and between both 

 and the workshop of his instrument-maker, Mr. White, 

 in Sauchiehall Street, and this (now merged in the 

 Telephone Exchange) has been in daily use ever since. 

 From this very appropriate first practical beginning has 

 developed the present immense and continually extending 

 system, whose wires form a network above all our great, 

 cities, which plays so great a part in the transaction of 

 business, and even of ordinary domestic affairs, and 

 which now enables men in different cities at great dis- 

 tances apart to converse with one another by the living 

 voice. All this has taken place in little more than ten 

 years. Who knows what scientific wonders we may not 

 see before a.d. 1900? But it is mournful to reflect that, 

 as the applications of a scientific principle or invention 

 become more and more wonderful, the thing itself excites 

 so little interest among the people at large who continually 

 use it. This is, no doubt, in part due to our curiosity- 

 and admiration-stifling systems of education, and in part 

 to other causes, about which it is useless to speculate. 

 But true it is, " Familiarity breeds contempt," and, by the 

 ordinary member of the British public, the telephone 

 will soon be as much used, quite as little understood, and 

 regarded with just as little curiosity, as the wonderful 

 machine which he carries in his pocket from his boyhood 

 to the end of his life. A. Gray. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Morocco. By H. M. P. de la Martiniere, F.R.G.S. 

 (London: Whittaker and Co., 1889.) 



In this book, which has been translated directly from the 

 author's man^uscript, M. de la Martiniere records the im- 

 pressions produced upon him during journeys in the king- 

 dom of Fez, and to the Court of Mulai Hassan. He had 

 exceptional opportunities ofmaking himself acquainted with 

 the facts of social life in Morocco ; and in a simple, 

 graphic, and clever narrative he describes exactly what 

 he saw, and the inferences that may be reasonably drawn 

 from his observations. Upon the whole, his account of the 

 condition of the people is most unfavourable, and every- 

 one who studies the evidence he brings forward will admit 

 that the regeneration of Morocco, by whomsoever or in 

 whatever way it may be undertaken, will be no easy task. 

 One of the few bright spots in the author's picture is a 

 passage in which he praises what he calls the refined 

 taste of the Arabs of Morocco. This reveals itself in the 

 industrial products of the country, in the decoration of 

 the pavements and ceilings of their houses, and in the 

 skill with which they match colours in dress. They by 

 no means display the same aptitude for science, which is 

 generally regarded, from a religious point of view, as a 

 forbidden subject. On the other hand, alchemy flourishes, 

 and M. de la Martiniere says there are many rogues who 



trade upon the credulity of the public. Some good 

 route-maps and plans illustrate the text, and a preface is 

 contributed by Colonel Trotter. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[ The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions ex- 

 pressed by his correspondents . Neither can he undertake 

 to return, or to correspond with the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other fart of Nature. 

 No notice is taken of anonymous communications, ] 



The " Hatchery " of the Sun-fish. 



I HAVE thought that an example of the intelligence (instinct?) 

 of a class of fish which has come under my observation during 

 my excursions into the Adirondack region of New York State, 

 might possibly be of interest to your readers, especially as I am 

 not aware that anyone except myself has noticed it, or, at least, 

 has given it publicity. 



The female sun-fish (called, I believe, in England, the roach 

 or bream) makes a " hatchery " for her eggs in this wise. Select- 

 ing a spot near the banks of the numerous lakes in which this 

 region abounds, and where the water is about 4 inches deep, and 

 still, she builds, with her tail and snout, a circular embankment 

 3 inches in height and 2 thick. The circle, which is as perfect a 

 one as could be formed with mathematical instruments, is usually 

 a foot and a half in diameter ; and at one side of this circular 

 wall an opening is left by the fish of just sufficient width to admit 

 her body, thus : — 



The mother sun-fish, having now built or provided her 

 "hatchery," deposits her spawn within the circular inclosure, 

 and mounts guard at the entrance until the fry are hatched out 

 and are sufficiently large to take charge of themselves. As the 

 embankment, moreover, is Irailt up to the surface of the water, 

 no enemy can very easily obtain an entrance w ithin the inclosure 

 from the top ; while there being only one entrance, the fish is 

 able, with comparative ease, to keep out all intruders. 



I have, as I say, noticed this beautiful inscinct of the sun-fish 

 for the perpetuity of her species more particularly in the lakes 

 of this region ; but doubtless the same habit is common to these 

 fish in other waters. WiLLiAM L. Stone. 



Jersey City Heights, N.J., U.S.A., May 30. 



Black Rain. 



On Friday, April 12 last, the rain is stated to have come 

 down black during a thunderstorm at places distributed over a 

 considerable area in the County of (Jalway, King's County, and 

 County of Tipperary. 



I was in England at the time, and after my return to Ireland, 

 on hearing of the rain-water being black in the tanks at a friend's 

 house, I was at first sceptical as to its origin, as a heavy shower 

 after a spell of tolerably dry weather might have brought down 

 much dirt from the roofs, and hence I missed several oppor- 

 tunities of obtaining samples at once. 



