ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
We finally inserted the gatfs once more, after 
a great deal of difficulty. The weight of the 
Mola listed the launch dangerously to one side, 
and at frequent intervals it opened its small 
round mouth and belched forth great quantities 
of small food particles and spray, covering us 
with a disgusting slime. 
It had been my hope to tow the fish into 
Avalon alive, but I soon saw this would be im- 
posible, due to the tremendous weight of its re- 
sistance. I was forced to shoot it with a large 
calibre revolver, which, although it did not kill 
it, subdued it sufficiently to allow of more ropes 
being fastened to it. 
We started at low speed for Avalon, the Mola 
towing behind, weaving back and forth in the 
water after the manner of a fan which has been 
thrown into the air. 
Upon our arrival at shore an attempt was 
made to hoist the sunfish onto the steamer pier, 
but the weight was so great that the block and 
tackle collapsed, and the fish fell into the sea. 
After some Herculean efforts, a cart was 
pushed into the water and the sunfish floated 
over it, when it was dragged up on the beach 
where a large crowd assembled to view it. 
There were no scales available to record its 
weight. The only thing for which I can vouch 
is the measurement. The Mola was over all— 
from tip of snout to end of caudal—ten feet, 
eleven inches; and in depth—from tip of dorsal 
to tip of anal—ten feet, nine inches. These 
measurements may be verified by Captain Hugh 
McKay and Mr. Ernest Windle, editor of the 
Catalina Islander. Myr. Windle in a letter to 
me, says: “At the time the fish was caught I 
asked several boatmen to estimate the weight 
of the sunfish. The estimates made were ‘from 
1,800 pounds to 2,000 pounds. The latter figure 
would be a safe estimate. I have seen a number 
of sunfish brought into Avalon, and yours was 
the largest.” 
ALBINOS 
By Ipa M. Metien 
HE albino lake trout, Cristivomer namay- 
cush, now on exhibition at the Aquarium, 
excellently illustrates some of the peculiar 
characteristics that accompany albinism in what- 
ever animal found. 
The most careless spectator cannot help notic- 
ing that they wholly lack color except for an 
occasional faint tinge of pink or pale purple. 
The lateral line, though distinct enough, is with- 
out a particle of pigment, and resembles a dotted 
indentation in wax. The eye is pure garnet; 
minus the black pupil to which we are accus- 
BULLETIN 
tomed in normal animals, it looks more like a 
drop of raspberry gelatin than sentient matter, 
and on close inspection proves to be pear-shaped, 
the apex of the pear pointing toward the mouth. 
The translucent cornea is not so conspicuous as 
in most fishes. In the albino rabbit the red pupil 
is set in a pinkish white iris; but in the albino 
trout the iris is apparently orange colored and 
can be seen only in a bright light and only at 
the apex before-mentioned. As far as can be 
discerned in the living specimens, the pupil 
occupies the visible. remainder of the eye-slit. 
The whole eye appears an unbroken garnet; 
moreover, as in most, if not all, albinos among 
the lower animals, it moves only at the owner's 
volition. The eyes of many human albinos ex- 
hibit an incessant. involuntary oscillation from 
side to side (nystagmus). 
Looking down on the fish from above the 
water, we plainly see the more superficial bones 
of the skull through the colorless flesh, and we 
also notice that the animal appears to feel 
rather than see its approach to the stone walls 
of the tank. 
In referring to the albino fish as an abnormal 
animal, we do not mean that it is less healthy 
than other fishes, or, barring certain handicaps 
presently to be mentioned, that it is less fitted 
for the struggle of existence. It has splendid 
physical vitality as a rule, reproduces its kind, 
lives as long under protection, grows as fast 
and does as well as other fishes. 
Under natural conditions an albino fish is 
handicapped in two serious ways. That the 
living garnet of its eyes is ravishingly beautiful, 
cannot be gainsaid; yet here, as so often else- 
where, beauty and utility are divorced, just as 
conversely, we find it rarely true that. ‘Hand- 
some is that handsome does.’’ Pigmentation is 
nature's protection against sunlight, and lack- 
ing normal eye pigment, the albino cannot see 
as well as other fishes, especially in a strong 
light, and, because of the almost uniform white- 
ness of its body, can be seen much better by 
enemies. In outdoor pools, ponds or lakes, we 
fancy Mr. Kipling’s Ethiopian observing that 
it “shows up like a bar of soap in a coal-hod.” 
Translated into terms of life and death this 
means, of course, that it is snapped up far more 
quickly by fish-eating birds such as kingfishers 
and herons, and by larger fishes. 
To say the very least, it is a freak of nature. 
and it is a misfortune to be an albino; and we 
may well rejoice that albinism is infrequent be- 
cause it is a latent, not a dominant trait, in in- 
heritance. That is to say, it is a character 
which, by judicious mating, can be bred out, the 
judicious mating consisting principally in pair- 
