JcNE 1, 1883. 1 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



319 



I ^' MAG^2lNE0FSqENCE 



j PLAINiyWo RDED-fXAC T^v^^'^^RlBED^ 



LONDON: FRIDAY, JUJSJ^ 1, lsa3. 



OONTENTB OF No. 83. 



PAOB. 



The Great Inlornslional Fisheries 

 Exhibition. N'atural History 

 Departments. By John Ernest 

 Adr. Inlroductorv 319 



The "Birth and Oronth of Myth. 

 VIII. Bv Edward Clodd 320 



Fleusnt Hours »ilh the Micro- 

 scope. Bt H. J. Slack, F.Q.8., 

 F.R.M.S.' {.Itlu-trated.) 322 



The Amateur Electriciao. Bat- 

 teries. 1 323 



riGB. 

 Laws of Brightne.-<9. 11. By R. A. 



Proctor. {IthutraUd.) 324 



The Moon in a Three-inch Tele- 

 scope. (///iM.) Br F.R.A.8. ... 326 

 AseoftheMi«ouri. By E. P. West 327 



GeoloRv amon;; the Colliers 328 



Rational Urois 329 



Editorial Gossip 330 



Correspondence 331 



~ Mathematical ColumD 333 



Oar Che 



iCoIu 



333 



THE GREAT INTERXATIONAL 

 FISHERIES EXHIBITION. 



NATURAL HISTORY D E PA R T M EX T S. 



By John Ernest Ady. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



THE Teutonic name Jisc, allied to tlie Latin jiiscis, was 

 originally applied indiscriminately to animals which 

 live in water. It became necessary, however, in the de- 

 velopment of scientific nomenclature, to restrict the mean- 

 ing of the term, and Jish came to signify, in popular zoology, 

 an oviparous aijuatic animal, provided with gills, covered 

 with scales, and, most important of all, furnishing a vast 

 tribe of animals with a staple diet. From the earliest 

 historical records, we find that the value of fish as an article 

 of food impelled man to devise plans for their capture ; 

 economy led the way, and pleasure followed in its wake, 

 and thus arose, by degrees, the intricate arts of fishing, 

 with their multitude of observances, which have even 

 aflFected the laws of nations. Let us trace how these two 

 factors, utility and amusement, have been represented in 

 the valuable institution at South Kensington. 



The casual visitor to the Exhibition will, perhaps, be 

 bewildered with the e.xtensive and varied collection which 

 may meet his gaze, and ask — What has all this to do with 

 fish and fishing 1 Here, an exquisite case, the property of 

 Lady Brassey, resplendent with beautiful sponges, corals, 

 and shells, is placed at the head of a short corridor near 

 the tine art saloon at the principal entrance. The corridor 

 ends in one direction in a cul-de-sac, at the termination of 

 •which a blue-jacket (sailor?) is stationed vending tracts. 

 Let us suppose that the visitor is a student of natural 

 science. He sees, from Lady Brassey's splendid collection, 

 that fishing in its modern acceptation is not confined to the 

 zoological order Pisces, but that the same economy which 

 directed the fisher to the fish made him also a fisher of 

 pearls and corals, wherewith to furnish the a'sthetic tastes 

 of his fellow-creatures with food, and delight their senses 

 with beauteous forms and colours. Then, too, is not the 

 blue-jacket a " fisher of men " 1 



To the right-hand side, this corridor continues in an 



easterly direction, and the student comes face to face with 

 another beautiful cabinet, displaying a varied selection of 

 knives, forks, etc., mounted in lobster claws ; he is once 

 more reminded that, beside molluscs, corals, and sponges, 

 lobsters and their allies play some part in fisheries. Most 

 appropriately, this case precedes a series of similar stalls, 

 and the names, Crosse and Blackwell, in their midst, 

 reminds liim of the pleasures of the table, ere he arrives at 

 a well-appointed refreshment bar. 



Instead of continuing his circuit along the eastern 

 arcade, he ought to return to Lady Brassey's case, descend 

 the sliort staircase, and proceed down the long vista of 

 British sea fisheries exhibits, which extends in a westerly 

 direction for about 900 feet. It would be out of place 

 here to enter into a detailed description of the nuimrous 

 appliances — boats, tackle, cloths, ite. — which decorate the 

 divisions of this gallery in the most attractive manner, and 

 which cannot fail to elicit a fair share of his attention. 

 Sufiice it to say that he may pause with the crowd to glance 

 at Grace Darling's portrait, to wonder what ladies' stock- 

 ings, etc , produced on the hand-knitting machine, have to 

 do with fisheries, or, may be, to betake himself to a dining- 

 saloon which would satisfy the spirit of a gourmet, or even 

 a Vitellius. 



The long gallery is a thing of the past, and he finds 

 himself compelled to turn somewhere. To the right is an 

 open passage flanked oa one side by a refreshment stall, on 

 the other side by sheds with machinery in motion and for 

 the production of the electric light ; let him turn thither, 

 and ascend the staircase placarded " Aquarium." Every 

 step in this direction will be found replete with interest to 

 him. 



On the threshold of the aquarium he will linger, attracted 

 by a huge bill on which some of Dr. Hassall's admirable 

 drawings are reproduced, illustrative of the organic and 

 other impurities found in drinking water. It is an adver- 

 tisement for Maignen's patent " Filtre Ilapide ; " and so 

 efficiently does this apparatus purify and aerate water, that 

 even minute particles held in suspension, as in a solution 

 of potassium permanganate (Condy's Fluid) are effectually 

 removed from it The filter is also adapted to purify sea- 

 water, and render it suitable for aquaria in which living 

 fish may be reared, and fed on only such foods as are 

 suitable. In future papers we shall give a few illustrations 

 of the chief forms of substances, living and dead, which 

 are detrimentsjl to drinking and potable water. 



The aquarium, with its curious inmates and the model 

 tanks, showing the culture of fish and molluscs, are of vast 

 interest to the student of natural history, and will be care- 

 fully described in subsequent issues. The rooms surround- 

 ing and beyond the aquarium are occupied by exhibitors 

 of pisciculture, and of ornamental aquaria, and fish. 

 Amongst the latter we may here notice some very fine 

 examples of the horse-fish (llipjwcampus), procured from 

 the jSIediterranean Sea, and e.xhibited by Mr. King, of 

 Great Portland-street. 



The gallery of live stock comes to a close with Mr. 

 Thomas Bolton's living organisms for the microscope. On 

 Mr. Bolton's tables, a number of microscopes are carefully 

 adjusted over forms of plant and animal life. We desire 

 to draw special attention to these exhibits, for they bear 

 directly upon some of the great questions concerned with 

 the life-history of fish of all descriptions, the vicissitudes of 

 their existence, and the influence of many of the minuter 

 organisms upon their environment — questions which we 

 can only hope to elucidate with the aid of the microscope 

 brouglit to bear upon the details of minute structure. We 

 shall have occasion to repair to Mr. Bolton's section fre- 

 quently, and furnish our readers with illustrations taken 



