April 27, 1883.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



251 



The respiratory apparatus offers a structure which is as 

 yet unique in bony fishes. We find six pairs of internal 

 branchial clefts, and consequently five branchia-. These 

 latter are each formed of a double series of free lamelhe. 

 The water makes its exit from each side through a very 

 small orifice that forms a simple rounded cutaneous perfo- 

 ration, situated towards the level of the termination of the 

 bucco-pharyngeal infundibulum. Neither a hyoidean 

 apparatus nor opercular pieces are found. 



Without entering into a description of the organs con- 

 tained in the abdominal cavity, it is important to note the 

 complete absence of a swimming bladder. 



I propose to designate this lish by the name of Etcrijyha- 

 rynx peUcanoida. 



What place should it occupy in the ichthyologic series ? 

 This is a point difficult to judge of in the absence of more 

 complete information as to its anatomy, and particularly as 

 to its skeleton, which is not possible to examine in all its 

 details in a single specimen. 



It may be said that the fish offers affinities with the 

 AnacantJiini, with certain Physosiomi, such as the ScopelidtT, 

 the Stomiatkiie, and with the apodes. Although approach- 

 ing these latter in the absence of ventral fins and in the 

 imperfect opercular apparatus, it differs too much there- 

 from in its well-developed and free intermaxillaries to 

 allow it to be placed in that group. As regards the 

 Scopelido- and Stomiatidtr, all the known genera of these 

 families have a very widely opened branchial orifice. In 

 the first, the intermaxillary forms alone the free edge 

 of the upper jaw, and in the second, the maxillary enters 

 therein for a part It is to the Sropelkhr, then, that the 

 Eurypharynx is related, inasmuch as it does not exhibit 

 the hyoidean barbel that has up to the j)resent been 

 indicated as characteristic of the Siomiatido'. And of all 

 fishes placed in the Scopelidm by naturalists, it is with 

 the ilalacosteus nifffr that we should be tempted to com- 

 pare the animal under consideration, inasmuch as that fish 

 alone presents us with the simple arrangement of the sus- 

 pensorium noted above. But it is perhaps with the 

 Acanlhini that the affinities appear most real, either as 

 respects the form of the body, which recalls that of the 

 Jlacritrns, or as respects the absence of the ventrals, which 

 is habitual in certain animals of this group. So, too, several 

 OphididiC and all the Lycodula- — the latter with their 

 branchial orifice reduced, although not to the point that 

 occurs in our animal — furnish still another proViability in 

 favour of this view. However, the characters of the Eury- 

 pharynx are so decided that it must, in any event, be 

 regarded as the type of a new family of which it will be 

 the only representative, if future studies do not show that 

 it must be joined to the genus Malacosteus. — L. Yaillant, 

 in La Nature. 



The production of gold in Australia seems to have 

 diminished considerably since 1875, when the mines yielded 

 1,068,418 ounces. In 187G the quantity sank to 963,700 

 ounces. In 1877 the figure fell to 809,653 ounces; in 

 1878, to 758,040 ounces; and in 1879 to 758,947 ounces. 

 The year 1880 showed a slight improvement, as the yield 

 lose to 839,121 ounces; and 1881 was better still, with 

 858,146 ounces. 



A Large Steam Yacht. — A steam yacht, which it is 

 said will be one of the largest yet built, has been ordered 

 from Messrs. Shuttleworth k Chapman (Limited;, of Erith, 

 on behalf of Baron Arthur de Rothschild, of Paris, who 

 already possesses the yachts Eros and Passe-Parlout. This 

 new yacht is to be extremely fast, and to be fitted with all 

 the latest improvements. 



NEWSPAPER SCIENCE. 



By W. Slingo. 



A FORTNIGHT since, Mr. Proctor, in a powerful article 

 on "Lectures and the London Papers," complained of 

 the treatment accorded to scientific addresses by the London 

 Press. I think, however, that he will admit, on reflection, 

 that the question resolves itself to some extent into one of 

 supply and demand. I would not insinuate that a demand 

 on the part of the public for scientific information does not 

 exist, but that the matter which is supplied is of a descrip- 

 tion too inferior and slipshod to satisfy any demand, and 

 that it is seldom read, and rarely trusted.* It is within 

 the memory of every electrician that the panic in the gas- 

 share market five years since was mainly the result of a 

 brief but unwise confidence in newspaper science. I take it 

 that there is not a genuine scientist in existence but would, 

 if he had the choice, prefer no report to an incorrect one. 

 On the other hand, those who desire to air an absurd fad 

 are the readiest to welcome the assistance of the unscientific 

 press, because, in the first place, imposition is in such cases 

 an easy matter, and in the second no scientific reporter can 

 be induced to give them a hearing. I was much amused a 

 few months ago by a man who (ignorant that I had the 

 honour of representing Knowledge) said to me : — " I do 

 not want scientific opinion ; it is no use to me." " Give me 

 the British public," said he, " let them be my judges," and 

 accordingly he showed me laudatory newspaper opinions in 

 abundance. He may have been, and probably was, 

 conscientiously confident in the efficacy of his so-called 

 invention. But what is the result 1 The concern was in 

 reality a scientific fraud. A public company was formed, 

 and may even now, for all I know to the contrary, bo 

 in existence, but the few thousands of pounds sub- 

 scribed can never bring any yield, but will, as certainly 

 as this appears in print, do no good beyond effectively 

 proving the fallacy of the invention. 



To further demonstrate my point, I will quote a telegram 

 from "Our Own Correspondent" in Vienna, which ap- 

 peared in one of Saturday week's papers : — " An electrical 

 accumulator of a very novel character has just been 

 invented by Herr Prinz, who is known chiefly for his 

 discovery of a method of making artificial turquoises. 

 The inventor gave his first demonstration of his latest 

 discovery yesterday, and the experiments were attended 

 with complete success. lie first of all charged a substance, 

 weighing about four kilograiiuncs, the composition of which 

 he does not disclose, with electricity from a battery of six 

 chromef elements, the operation of cltarging taking fifteen 

 minutes. Then, disconnecting the battery, he inserted in 

 the electrically-charged substance a Swan incandescent 

 lamp. 77iis instantly gave a beautiful bright light, while 

 with the chrome elements in their original condition, only a 

 mild red light was obtained. The lam}) began to burn at 

 thirteen minutes to eight p.m., and it continued to give 

 out a steady light until two a.m. this morning.'!^ According 

 to Herr Prinz, the material he employs for the accumulator 

 can be manufactured at a very trifling cost" 



Can anything more preposterous than this be conceived ?- 

 According to this, the force which in the original battery 



• This is undoubtedly the case ; but although at present our daily 

 papers are not able to supply useful reports of anything scientific, 

 they might do something in the way of noticing what is being done, 

 especially in tho case of such an experiment as the one which I 

 have made in giving a, course of scientific lectures in St. James's 

 Hall.— K. P. 



+ Presumably bichromate of potash cells. 



t I wonder if, had the battery been kept on for thirty minutes, 

 the light would have lasted until 2 a.m. this afternoon ? — W. S. 



