6o 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



[Mar., 1905. 



manager of the restaurant, it is possible to approach 

 him and playfully accuse him of fraud. He will, of 

 course, stoutly maintain that the description on the 

 menu is correct. He will nevertheless probably state 

 his intention of consulting the contractor who supplies 

 him with fish, and on your next visit will inform you 

 that the fishmonger has owned that you were quite 

 right, though only one person in a thousand, if that, is 



FifT- 4.- The Large Otoliths of the Haddock. 



aware of the difference between the two fish upon which 

 you have based your contention. 



As we have said before, otoliths have those charac- 

 ters which the collector of natural history objects is 

 accustomed to look for, and though brittle, they are 

 not perishable. They are not unwieldy; within limits 

 they present great variety of shape and size, if not of 

 colouring, and they form very pretty collections that 



Fl|f. J. The Ijirgc Otoliths of the WhltinR, 



cannot be brought together without just sufTicient 

 trouble to keep them from becoming too common. 

 There is fortunately another aspect from which such 

 a collection may be looked upon. \'cry little is known 

 about otoliths, and it is possible to form a very fair 

 idea of the structures and affinities of the fish whose 

 otoliths are found fossil by comparing them with ex- 

 amples from modern forms. As a matter of fact 



some of our modern fishes have been proved to have 

 existed at the time that the red crag, familiar to 

 visitors on the East Coast, was laid down. Very few 

 collections of any size exist, and as one is necessary 

 to the geologist who wishes to study fossil otoliths, 

 Mr. E. T. Newton has formed an extensive one for 

 his own use. It is surprising how much trouble may 

 be taken and even danger experienced in obtaining 



F.'g. 6 — The Large Otoliths or Kar Stones of the Hake (somewhat 

 enlarged). 



a new fish of which the tiny otolith only remains to 

 remind the enthusiastic collector. We give photo- 

 graphs of one or two other car stones which are easily 

 obtained. Those of the cod are a fair size, while 

 those of the hake (Fig. 6) are much larger, compara- 

 tively. Those of fiat fish (Figs. 7 and 8) are fairly 

 characteristic. Turning to one or two others we may 

 point out that the ear stones of the salmon are not 

 particularly large, though in certain freshwater fish, 

 such as the bream, the three stones are well developed 

 and are more of a size than in many marine fish. The 

 sagitta of the pike has several very elegant points. That 

 of the gurnard has a slit at one end, while that of the 

 wrass is practically Y-shaped. The sagitta has as 



Fig. 7 



irge Otoliths of the I'lalce. 



a rule a peculiar groove on one side which, as Mr. 

 Newton has found, presents features that are charac- 

 teristic of the different families of bony fishes. 



Occasionally, hirge otoliths, like those of the cod, 

 have been used as emljrf)i(lcry, while those of some 

 Mediterranean species have been mounted to form 

 jewellery. Probably the taste which has arisen for 

 ornaments made from irregular pearly masses known 



