240 Miscellaneous. 
escape of noxious gases, or of mineral substances held in solution ; 
and the editor of the newspaper ‘ Forest and Stream’ refers par- 
ticularly to a boiling spring which is said to exist off the coast. 
Others suggest the action of parasitic plants; and this appears to be 
the opinion of Dr. F. M. Endlich, who has made an analysis of 
the noxious water, and reports upon it as follows :— 
“‘ Having completed the examination of sea-waters from the Gulf 
of Mexico, so far as the scant supply would permit, I have the 
honour to offer the following report thereupon, the water in which 
the fish die being designated as A, the good water as B :— 
ze B. 
Speci ora viby seer ere a demir et: 1024 1-022 
Solid constituents (total), per-cent... 40780 41095 
Ferric compounds, per cent. ...... 01106 0:0724 
Injurious organic matter .......... ratio=3 ratio=2 
‘*T find that the water A contains a large quantity of Alew and 
Infusoria. It is eminently probable that the former may have had 
an injurious effect upon the fish. Specimens of the Algz have been 
submitted to Professor Goode, who will send them to some expert 
in order that their specific character may be determined. 
«¢ The ‘ dead fish’ in the possession of the United States’ National 
Museum are such that any examination of the organs of respiration 
will be of no avail. 
“T cannot find, even by spectroscopic analysis, any mineral con- 
stituents in the water A which could noxiously affect the fish. 
“‘ In my estimation the death of fish was caused by the more or 
less parasitic Algee, which are found in large quantities in water A, 
but do not occur at all in water B. 
‘In case the same phenomenon should recur, the presence of an 
expert in the questions involved, more particularly chemistry and 
botany, would most likely lead to definite results.” 
Rhizopods the Food of some young Fishes. 
Dr. Leidy reports that the young of some of the Suckers (Cato- 
stomide), Hypentelium, Myxostoma, &c., have been found by Mr. S. 
A. Forbes, of Illinois, to have the intestines packed with tests of 
Difflugia and Arcella, indicating that they feed on Rhizopods. In a 
slide containing material from the intestines of the young mullet 
(Myzxostoma macrolepidotum) from Mackinaw Creek, prepared by 
Mr. Forbes, Dr. Leidy distinguished Difflugia globulosa and D. acu- 
minata ; and in another of the food of Hremyzon succetta he found 
Difflugia globulosa, D. lobostoma, D. pyriformis, Arcella vulgaris, 
and A. discoides, besides another peculiar undescribed form.—Amer. 
Journ. Science, July 1881. 
