THE ZooLocist—FeEsBRuARY, 1872. 2947 
specimens of this skua, in the first year’s plumage, were shot on the same 
day by the same gentleman who obtained the two older specimens above 
referred to.—J. H. Gurney. 
Spotted Gunnel and Lesser Forked-beard near Penzance.— A spotted 
gunnel (Blennius gunnellus), or butter-fish, has been taken here with ten 
spots, the eighth faint in colour, but perfectly definite. I have also received 
the lesser forked-beard, the first specimen I have seen for several years.— 
Thomas Cornish ; Penzance, January 17, 1872. 
Supposed Hermaphrodite Fish.—The possibility of the occurrence of 
hermaphrodites among Vertebrata is a subject of such moment that my 
interest was greatly excited by the receipt of the specimens alluded to in the 
accompanying note, and handed to me by the editor for examination :— 
“ Kast Borough, Wimborne, Dorset, October 27. 
“Sir,—The inclosed was taken from the abdomen of as pretty a 43-Ib, 
jack as you ever saw. Is there not something strange about it? If I am 
right, I take it to be a milt and roe in the same fish. If I am wrong, and 
there is nothing very uncommon about it, I beg you will excuse my 
ignorance and my troubling you—G. Harvey.” 
The appearance of the specimens was precisely that of a partially-developed 
milt and roe. The ova in the latter were about the size of the heads of 
small pins, and were perfectly healthy, although, as might be expected, un- 
developed, the pike not generally spawning until March and April. The 
second body, about seven inches in length, appeared so obviously a milt or 
soft roe, that no one could on a cursory inspection have the slightest doubt 
respecting it; and I congratulated myself on possessing a specimen of the 
highest possible interest. To those of my readers who are microscopical 
observers I need not dilate on the wonderfully acute detective powers of the 
microscope, which reveals secrets concealed from the most accurate unaided 
vision, and shows us the true nature of the object under examination. The 
structure of the minute vibratile cells which make up the substance of the 
milt of a male fish is so marked that there is no possibility of mistaking it 
for any other organization. The removing of a minute portion of this milt 
on to a glass slide, the addition of a drop of water, and the bringing a one- 
fifth object glass to bear on it, revealed the fact that it was composed of 
adipose tissue, without the slightest sign of a vibratile cell. Hence there 
was but one conclusion, namely, that this object, which appeared so like a 
milt as to deceive the most attentive observer, was nothing more in reality 
than a roe which, from some cause or other, had become diseased, and had 
undergone what is known as “ fatty degeneration.” This case is particularly 
interesting, as illustrating the value of the microscope in Natural-History 
