66 



aquatic mu 



Throughout the summer the owner 

 of the collection mentioned fed his 

 pets on flies, which he caught by placing 

 wire-net traps in likely situations. These 

 were taken with avidity. The lack of 

 fear shown as they snapped them from 

 the fingers made one think that at least 

 the first step had been taken in making 

 them tame. Sometimes the earthworm 

 was on the bill-of-fare, and during the 

 winter dry foods and scraped raw beef 

 kept them in the pink of condition. The 

 owner considered this tank the most in- 

 teresting of a number in his conservatory, 

 and from my experiences with the sun- 

 fishes I can understand his preference. 



The general body-color of the Blue- 

 spot is olivaceous, darkest above and 

 becoming yellowish or coppery below. 

 Each scale has a blue spot and a golden 

 edge, giving an impression of stripes ; 

 cheeks with blue markings, the opercular 

 small and dark with yellowish edging. 

 The fins are dusky, with green and blue 

 marking ; dorsal usually with a dark 

 spot ; anal edged with yellow or orange. 

 Considerable variation may be found in 

 the intensity of the colors, and at times 

 the vertical fins of highly colored indi- 

 viduals may have a strong suggestion of 

 yellow. 



On and after July i, the American 

 Railway Express Co. will keep a dupli- 

 cate copy of every receipt it issues when 

 receiving business from shippers. The 

 duplicates will be retained by the ex- 

 press company for the purposes of record 

 and reference, and will be held at the 

 shipping office. 



Sbippers who have been accustomed 

 to prepare their own receipts or who 

 have their own forms, have been request- 

 ed to make provision for supplying dupli- 

 cates of such receipts to the express 

 driver or receiving clerk who signs them. 



As a matter of convenience to ship- 



pers, the regular receipt forms of the ex- 

 press carrier will be revised to permit 

 their use in duplicate form. 



In cases where prepaid receipts are 

 now being issued in duplicate, the extra 

 copy being used as a record of charges 

 paid, a third copy will be required under 

 the new system, and in such instances 

 prepaid receipts will be issued in tripli- 

 cate. 



One of the objects of the new system 

 is to bring about better protection for 

 and methods of recording the movement 

 of express packages in transit, a matter 

 of great interest to aquarists. 



At the regular meeting of The Natur- 

 alists' Society of New South Wales, 

 Sydney, held on April 6th, in the as- 

 sembly room of the Department of Edu- 

 cation, Mr. H. E. Finckh delivered a lec- 

 ture on "The Aquarium, Its History and 

 Management," which was illustrated by 

 lantern slides. On April ioth the mem- 

 bers spent "An Afternoon Among the 

 Fishes," with Mr. Finckh, who has been 

 exceptionally successful in breeding na- 

 tive and exotic fishes under natural con- 

 ditions in his many picturesque ponds. 

 An illustrated article describing "The 

 Ponds of Hermes," as the estate of Mr. 

 Finckh is called, is in hand for publica- 

 tion in an early number of Aquatic Life. 



The regular meeting of The Philadel- 

 phia Microscopical Society was held on 

 May 27th. The constitution was adopt- 

 ed and the following officers elected : 

 President, Hugh F. Munro ; vice-presi- 

 dents, L. M. Dorsey and Louis H. Koch ; 

 secretary and treasurer, W. A. Poyser ; 

 Trustees, Dr. Thomas S. Stewart and E. 

 L. Gayhart. 



Mr. Koch talked on the application of 

 the microscope in mineralogy, exhibiting 

 specimens from his collection and ex- 

 plaining the methods of preparation and 

 study. 



