130 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



mating closely to that of a dry field ; whilst the usual green dress of the 

 adults, though varying from a very light shade to a very dark one, serves 

 also, as Mr. Rope suggests, to protect the patriarchs of the pool amid the 

 herbage they love. But a favourite " rnizpeh " is a defunct cat or dog, 

 when the harmony of colour is less obvious. I have found the colour of 

 Bombinator igneus approximate closely to that of the muddy ditches in 

 which it revels. As to Mr. Rope not having found the Edible Frog in 

 running brooks, it was certainly plentiful in the stream (or caual) which 

 passed through the Villeneuve Marshes, where I made the above jottings 

 I found the best way of catching mature examples was to walk down the 

 stream, " marking" each Frog as he sprang into the water. Invariably the 

 Frog swam out towards the middle, but always turned back without 

 crossing, and hid its head in the mud of the near bank. When the Frog 

 had thus hidden its head like the ostrich of history, it was easy to capture 

 it with a quick " grab " of the hand. In this way I caught a baker's 

 dozen very quickly, after having spent a whole day in trying to take 

 them with a net. — Hugh A. Maophebson (Carlisle). 



The Natterjack Toad at Carlisle.— I am much interested by Mr. 

 Rope's account of the colony of Natterjacks at Coldfair Greeu. My friend 

 Mr. H. Holton, jun., tells me that he obtained a fine adult of Bnfo calami- 

 tosa at King Moor, near Carlisle, in August, 1882. It would be well to 

 ascertain whether the partiality to the sea (which, as Mr. Rope reminds 

 us, is well exampled by Bell's long-established locality on the shores of 

 Sol way) can be attributed to the distribution of any favourite food of the 

 Natterjack. I shall try to renew my acquaintance with this species on the 

 Solway this spring. — H. A. Macpherson. 



FISHES. 



The Salmon Disease. — In certain rivers the Salmon are affected by 

 an epidemic disease, which manifests itself in white patches upon the fish 

 where there are no scales. As the fungus grows a sore forms, which may 

 extend to the bone. According to Professor Huxley, the fungus is a 

 Saprolegnea, probably S. /erase, but of this there is no proof. The zoospores 

 from this fungus were never observed ciliated and motile ; but they are 

 exceedingly minute, and become rapidly disseminated. They are produced 

 in great numbers — a single fly infected with the fungus may bear 1000 

 fruiting hyphffl, which in one day may produce 40,000 zoospores. The 

 hyphffi seem not only to traverse the epidermis of the fish, but also to bore 

 through the superficial layers of the derma. The epidermis is entirely 

 destroyed. The only method of preventing the spread of this fungus 

 among Salmon is to remove every infected fish from the stream, though it 

 may not be worth while to adopt this method in practice. Although sea- 

 water kills the fungus when it comes in contact with it, if the latter has 



