156 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



[Feb. 20, 1885. 



HIGHEST TEMPERATURES ENDURABLE BY 

 FISH. 



THE following nseful and interestin>,' experiment lias lately been 

 made by Mr. W. Oldhani Chambers, secretary of tlie National 

 Pish Culture Association, viz., that of testing the highest tciupcra- 

 iture at which fish can exist in water. The experiment, which was 

 'tried at South Kensington in the presence of various gentlemen 

 dntorested in the subject, furnishes to the public additional 

 important facta iu relation to the innate endurable power of tish. 



Two specimens of the following species were selected, namely, 

 "Carp, gudgeon, dace, roach, perch, minnow, golden tench, common 

 tench, trout, and salmon. It will be seen 'that the selection in- 

 cluded a range of considerable diversification, no partiality being 

 exhibited to species. On removal from their respective tanks in 

 •the Aquarium, the fish were placed collectively in a large wooden 

 receptacle, containing several g.-.llons of water, registering 53", 

 which was gradually increased by a continual steady infusion of 

 tot water through a pipe coiled round the bottom of the receptacle. 

 A careful survey of the fish was taken during the progress of the 

 .operation, in order that they might be immediately removrd on 

 sho^ving signs f>f expiration. 



It was not until the thermometer recorded 80° that any appre- 

 ■ciable change was observed in the condition of the fish, when it 

 became manifest that the rising temperature was beginning to 

 anake itself felt. It was noticed, moreover, that their movements 

 iad become languid, and that their general appearance exhibited 

 faintness and decreasing powers of vitality, with the exception of 

 the carp and tench, which seemed to pass unscathed from the 

 afflictions affecting tlieir confrcreg!, and to be oblivious to what was 

 ■transpiring around them. In the meantime the temperature was 

 increased, but not a single fish was overcome until 82' had been 

 •registered, when a perch saddenly became prostrated and rolled 

 •over helplessly on to its side. A supply of brandy had been placed 

 ■near at hand' for restorative purposes, so that immediately the 

 perch justified tlie usage thereof, it was removed from the hot 

 •water, doseil witli the aqua-vita^, and placed in a can of cold water. 

 This operation liad now generally to be performed upon the other 

 fish, which followed the example of their congener, in rapid sue- 

 ■cession, taxing to the utmost the alacrity of Mr. Chambers and 

 -assistants in their operations. Each fish was similarly treated in 

 ■tern on being removed from the hot water, and afterwards placed 

 iuits natural element, according to the following statement showing 

 the degree of temperature, together with the time of immersion and 

 a-emoval of the fish. 



It will be seen by the foregoing statistics that the common tench 

 and carp were the last to be removed, the former at 88°, and the 

 latter at 01' ; but the capacity for endurance shown by the Minnow 

 is well worthv of note, as is also that of the salmon, which has a 

 higii stand:ird of respiration, and therefore a greater necessity for 

 oxygen. Although the perch was the first to feel the^eft'ects of the 

 heat, the temperature to which it attained— viz^, 82° — was extra- 

 ordinary, considering its natural aversion to heat^ 



After the application of brandy, the fish remained in a semi- 

 inanimate state, some exhibiting no signs of life whatever, but lay 

 helplessly at the bottom of the tank in which they were replaced. 

 Tliey were thus left for several hours, -n-hcn, on inspection, they 

 •were all found to be swimming about iu their normal condition, 

 with the exception of onj dace, which expired^ On viewing them 

 it was impossible to detect any indication of their having ji.assed 

 • through such an ordeal as that experienced a short time previously. 

 — Fish Culture Jonrnal. 



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MIND AND BODY. 



[1593] — I cannot resist the temptation to ask "F. W. H." 

 (letter 1,5&0, in Knowledge of Feb. 0), through your journal (if 

 you will allow mo so to do), whether he is quite sure that what 

 he represents to be mere truisms are necessarily even truths ? 

 He says that it is impossible there should be such a thing as free- 

 will in man if we grant an Almighty will. Nov\-, does he put it 

 beyond the power of an Almighty will to will that there shall 

 be beings who shall have a will of their own ? Why should not 

 an Almighty Creator choose to limit his own will by the creation 

 of beings gifted with a power of free will ? Does it not seem to 

 be a limitation upon His Almightinoss to deny Him such a power? 

 To grant Him sucli a power seems to me not to limit His 

 Almightiness. I do not mean to say that this consideration fully 

 explains the mystery of free will in a creature (supposing it to 

 exist) existing together with a supreme will of an Almighty 

 Creator. But I think this consideration does show that what 

 " F.W.H." takes to be a truism need not necessarily be even true. 



William Fitzgerald. 



[1594]— I do not think that " F. W. H." (see his letter, 1580) 

 can expect J. W. Alexander, or any one else, to tell him what the 

 soul does when unconscious ; but if there be an immortal soul, 

 living independently of the body after death, I do not see that its 

 organs of sense need in any way be analogous to tliose the body 

 requires, when united to the soul during life on earth. 



These organs undoubtedly perish with the body at death, but that 

 is no reason why other totally different, and infinitely more exalted, 

 powers of perception may not be enjoyed by the immortal soul. 



Eve-witness. 



[What then becomes of personal identity ? — Ei>.] 



[1595] — As one of those who hold that the beliefs almost univer- 

 sally held are almost invariably erroneous, I greatly object to your 

 able correspondent, Mr. W. H. Jones, altering the lines of the 

 immortal Shakespeare. The great thoughts of all philosophers in 

 all times have been and are at present beyond the reach of the 

 mass of humanity, tlierefore the very rever.^e of universal. 



I am sorry to read Mr. .Jones's bcdy is comparable to a wooden 

 part of an instrument ; mine is eminently self-acting. My mental 

 faculties, my soul, are all within, interwoven, part and parcel of 

 my bodj'. I cannot, in fact, separate my mental existence from 

 my bodily one ; it is quite unthinkable to me. I have never 

 " received a blow on my mental faculties," although sometimes 

 one on my head. Dreams are, among savages, the fans et oric/o 

 of the idea of sonl and its separate existence. — Yours trnlv, 



F. W. H. 



The Nice Opera House, which was burned down about four 

 years ago, has been rebuilt. It seats 1,500 persons, and cost 

 ■£60,000. 



[1500]— The assumption that mind (or soul) and body are not 

 one but firo distinct and different, though conjoined, entities, has 

 long appeared to me to rest upon no real scientific basis. No 

 evidence whatever, but the mere assertion of vague hopes, analogies, 

 beliefs, aspirations, &c., has ever been produced during man's 

 history, so far as we know it, to inform him concerning the so- 

 called dual nature of his being. We have not yet got beyond an if 

 as to our relations to any future state ; and, as to our present phase 

 of existence, science has gone no further than to confess its in- 



