June 9, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



319 



up investigations in the geologic department of archaeology with- 

 out adequate knowledge either of the processes and phenomena 

 of geology, or of the arts and habits of our aboriginal peoples." 

 I had supposed that such crass if^norance as this was confined, in 

 Mr. Holmes's judgment, to myself; but it seems that there are 

 others falling under a like condemnation. How fortunate it is 

 for the rising generation that Mr. Wm. H. Holmes has appeared 

 to set them quite right in regard to the prehistoric archaeology 

 of North America, Henry W. Haynes. 

 Boston, May 22. 



Preliminary Note on Eggs of Cottus Richardsoni. 



One finds in scientific literature so little relating to the habits 

 of even some of our best-known fishes, that reliable information 

 on piscine life-histories is much to be desired. 



The little miller's thumb (Cottus Richardsoni, Agassiz) was 

 found breeding plentifully in a large spring near Philadelphia on 

 Apr. 39, and a fine lot of material for future erabryological study 

 procured. 



The places selected for oviposition were invariably the foun- 

 tain-heads of small, lateral springs which emptied into the main 

 body of water, and where the water was freshest and coldest. 

 No eggs were found at more than a few feet distance from a 

 spring-head. In two or three cases the streams were so tiny that 

 the fishes must have been forced almost to squirm along to the 

 .nesting-place. The greatest number, however, were found where 

 a powerful current flowed from beneath an overhanging rock. 



A passage is forced beneath a stone, which may be a mere peb- 

 ble or a large boulder, and a small, shallow chamber hollowed 

 out of the underlying soil, unless the stone be so supported that 

 a natural chamber is formed beneath it. This accommodates the 

 fishes during egg-laying and impregnation; and later serves the 

 male as a resting-place. To the under side of the stone, which forms 

 the roof of the chamber, the eggs are attached, not singly and in 

 small clusters arranged in a single layer, as is the case with Batra- 

 ehus and other fishes of similar habit, but in an irregular, coherent 

 mass, in which the eggs are often piled up five or six deep, but in 

 most cases are only two or three. The eggs, while very firmly co- 

 herent, are loosely arranged, giving the mass a very porous struct- 

 ure, which permits a free flow of fresh water. This is the more nec- 

 essary since the eggs deeper in the mass are sometimes the first to 

 hatch, when they frequently escape through the passages between 

 the more superficial ones, the collapse of their own egg-membranes 

 making additional room for those which follow. The number of 

 eggs, and consequently the size and shape of the masses, varies, 

 the eggs numbering from 120 to 500. In most cases all of the 

 eggs in a mass were of approximately the same age; but several 

 times, eggs in two or three stages of development were found 

 together, the deepest, of course, being the most advanced. In 

 the cases of most fishes, as is well known, the eggs all hatch, un- 

 der favorable conditions, at the same time. Whether the several 

 lots are deposited by different females, or whether the eggs are 

 matured in several batches, and the female returns to complete 

 oviposition, I cannot say. 



The eggs when newly deposited are of a delicate, translucent, 

 pink color. They average one-tenth of an inch in diameter, being 

 large for the fishes' size, but are quite variable, and are often mis- 

 shapen by contact with their fellows. As usual, the axis of the 

 embryo passes through the lowermost pole, the dark, widely 

 separated eyes being prominent objects on this side of the egg. 

 There is no regularity about the direction of the embryonic axis, 

 which, in the different eggs of a mass, is found to point in every 

 direction. 



Some of the eggs hatched while being conveyed home, and the 

 young lived several days in an aquarium jar. They are very 

 active little creatures, darting about in a most lively manner, 

 often swimming to the surface and then sinking to the bottom, 

 where they rest for a moment, before undertaking another excur- 

 sion. This activity is exhibited from the time of hatching. 

 When first hatched they are nearly a quarter of an inch long and 

 far advanced in development. The pigmentation is very slight, 

 there being no prominent aggregations of chromatophores any- 

 where except in the eyes, which are densely pigmented. Branched 



pigment cells are scattered sparingly, especially on the dorsum of 

 the head. 



In every case the eggs were attended by the males, which 

 showed no disposition to desert their posts, but remained motion- 

 less, trusting to their protective coloration for concealment. 



Several of these males, which were thrown alive into a satchel, 

 seemed to suffer no inconvenience whatever through their ab- 

 sence from water for three hours, but were at once active when 

 placed in a dish. J. Peecy Mooee. 



Gophers and Moles. 

 In the course of his interesting ' ' Observations on Gophers and 

 Moles " in your issue of April 28, Mr. F. L. Washburn makes 

 mention of two moles which were fatally poisoned by eating 

 worms taken from an old manure heap. I presume that the 

 Oligocheta there identified as Lumbrieus fmtidus are equivalent 

 or closely allied to those known to fishermen on this side of the 

 water as "brandlings" (AUoldbopliora fcetida), commonly found 

 under manure and readily distinguished from the common earth- 

 worm {Lumbrieus terrestris) by their display of brilliant red 

 rings; and if this be so, I can add my testimony — founded on 

 disastrous personal experience — that the unsavory annelid is 

 toxic also to reptiles. This is somewhat remarkable, seeing that 

 it is devoured with impunity by fish and amphibians. During a 

 severe and prolonged frost, six or seven winters ago, when frogs 

 and common earthworms were not to be obtained, I incautiously 

 tendered a number of these brandlings to certain colubrine 

 snakes, wild with hunger from enforced abstinence after casting 

 their sloughs; they included several mocassins [Tropidonotus 

 fasciattis) , a Bordeaux snake (Coronella girondica) , two garters 

 (Tropidonotus ordinatus), two or three specimens of Lamenis 

 atrovirens, and a whole brood of little Japanese vibakaris (Tropi- 

 donotus vibakari), born in my vivarium and the sole representa- 

 tives of the species in Europe. The. result was that within a 

 very few minutes the whole lot, as well as a couple of South 

 African slowworms and a large apadous lizard, the "glass 

 snake" so-called (Pseudopus pallasi), were in violent convul- 

 sions ; and although by prompt and vigorous measures I forced 

 them to disgorge and got them all into hot baths as speedily as 

 possible, I lost eight out of my forty-three vibakaris, the Bor- 

 deaux snake, both slow-worms, olie dark green, and one garter — 

 hideous evidence of the baleful virulence of the foetidce and the 

 lamentable lack of instinctive discrimination on the part of the 

 reptiles. Evidently the conspicuous coloration of this worm is 

 not to be added to the list of protectives, since the creatures to 

 which it is most exposed, frogs, toads, etc., prey on it with 

 avidity. Serpents, as a rule, will not take worms unless they 

 have been "taught" to do so — such tuition, however, being 

 quite practicable. Arthuk Steadling, C.M.Z.S., etc. 



Watford, England. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Destructive Distillation. A Manualette of the Parafiin. Coal Tar, 

 Rosin Oil, Petroleum, and Kindred Industries. By Edmund 

 J. Mills, D.Sc. (London), F.R.S. Fourth edition. London, 

 Gurney & Jackson. 200 p. 8°. 

 Historically an ancient industry, this branch of scientific in- 

 vestigation has always proved most absorbing and as early as the 

 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries upon it was concentrated the 

 whole attention of the laboratory. Heat was considered in the 

 medium of a reagent and in the retorts of the alchemists vege- 

 table, animal, and mineral matter was subjected to "analysis." 

 The above work by Dr. Mills, now in its fourth edition, with 

 improvements including the results of much additional research, 

 is founded upon a course of lectures delivered in Anderson Col- 

 lege, Glasgow, and is illustrated by actual inspection of many of 

 the processes referred to. Since the appearance of the first edi- 

 tion, in 1887, the book has found its way into the hands of every 

 technical student and every chemist the world over. Dr. Mills 

 has become a recognized "authority" upon the subject, deserv- 

 ing and receiving the highest praise for his patient, earnest re- 

 search. The main sections of the book are indicated by the title. 



