September 16, 1910] 



SCIENCE 



379 



revealing their internal structure still remains 

 unwritten. Edwaed W. Berry 



Johns Hopkins University 



Fish Stories. By Charles Frederick Holder 

 and David Star Jordan. New York, Henry 

 Holt and Co. American Nature Series. 

 A most readable book indeed is this by 

 Holder and Jordan, interesting alike to the 

 lover of angling, the lover of nature and the 

 lover of good stories. A few short historical 

 chapters, by way of introduction, put us in 

 touch with the tellers of " fish stories " from 

 Jonah down to John Hance, including such 

 famous raconteurs as Pliny, Olaus Magnus, 

 Sir John Mandeville and Izaak Walton, while 

 a selection of the best of the classical yarns 

 leaves the reader in a proper spirit of apprecia- 

 tion for the modern ones that follow. 



But it must not be supposed that the book 

 is entirely a record of prevarication. On the 

 contrary, it contains much more of perfectly 

 good natural history, told in such a manner 

 that the unscientific reader can easily grasp 

 it, yet losing nothing in scientific accuracy 

 thereby — a rather unusual combination in 

 nature books. The untruths which serve as a 

 spicing for the work, are such " whoppers " 

 that even the most guileless and credulous 

 reader will have no difficulty in distinguish- 

 ing them as fiction. 



Instructive and entertaining chapters treat 

 of the occurrence, life histories and habits of 

 the various trouts and salmons, the seal, the 

 deep-sea fishes, coral-reef fishes, etc. In dis- 

 ^cussing the flying fishes, the authors support 

 the view that the propelling force comes from 

 the movements of the tail just as the fish is 

 leaving the water, and that the paired fins 

 act after the manner of an aeroplane. The 

 scientific world is by no means agreed upon 

 this point, as the authors admit, and many 

 good observers are equally as insistent that 

 the fins are moved in flight so rapidly as to 

 deceive the eye ordinarily. 



There is much information on the larger 

 fishes of the sea that will clear up the hazy 

 notions of the uninitiated, and a chapter is 

 well devoted to the sea-serpent. This classical 

 animal, which has given rise to more mis- 



understanding and downright prevarication 

 than perhaps any other animal, is shown to be, 

 under certain circumstances, a figment of the 

 imagination induced by over-indulgence in 

 the favorite " bait " of fishermen. The other 

 class of stories is shown to be due to the mis- 

 conceptions of untrained observers upon ob- 

 taining a partial view of various marine 

 animals. The great "oar fish" (Regalecus), 

 a long ribbon-like form with a high frill-like 

 dorsal fin, which reaches a length of at least 

 22 feet, and occurs in both the Atlantic and 

 Pacific oceans, is no doubt largely to blame 

 for these stories. The much smaller sea- 

 snakes, and perhaps some other elongated 

 forms may also be responsible in part. 



While the authors give us the benefit of 

 their experience in angling for various sorts 

 of fishes, they at the same time protest strongly 

 against the practise of " pot-hunters " among 

 fishermen, who take large numbers for the 

 sake of a record, and, being unable to make 

 use of them, allow them to rot on the bank. 

 " Trout-hogs, we call them, but in doing so we 

 owe apologies to the relatively well-behaved 

 swine." 



We can not help wishing there were more 

 such books treating authoritatively of other 

 animals in this delightful manner, imparting 

 so much reliable information and at the same 

 time affording the reader so much pleasure. 



R. C. O. 



The Freshwater Aquarium and its Inhabi- 

 tants. By Otto Eggeling and Frederick 

 Ehrenbeeg. New York, Henry Holt and 

 Co. 



Some idea of the popularity of the stand- 

 ing aquarium as an object of study and means 

 of recreation is afforded by the number of 

 recent books bearing on the subject. The re- 

 viewer is aware of something like a dozen such 

 issued within the past decade. The most 

 recent of these, and the one under discussion, 

 is largely a compilation simplified for the be- 

 ginner, and professes to be " a guide for the 

 amateur aquarist." 



There is some good advice to the beginner 

 concerning the form, placing, bottom, planting 



