420 



SCIENTIFIC NE^A^S. 



[May 4, 1888. 



Jonah-like experience. There is another perfectly authen- 

 ticated record of the finding of seven wild ducks, as part 

 of the internal economy of an angler, and a fishing frog was 

 once seen valiantly attempting to swallow a loon, or great 

 northern diver, whilst others have been known to endea- 

 vour to devour cod-fish and conger-eels after they had 

 taken the fisherman's hook, a proceeding which some- 

 times resulted in a decidedly unusual "catch" for the 

 biped angler. The young fishing-frog is very extraordi- 

 nary in appearance, the filaments of the dorsal, ventral, 

 and pectoral fins being elongated to a much greater degree 

 than is the case in the mature fish, all the little distinc- 

 tive fringes being also more strongly accentuated. The 

 British species of the angler, Lophius piscatoriiis, is 

 found all round the corsts of Europe, and occurs some- 

 times as far south in the Atlantic as the Cape of Good 

 Hope. It is common on the West Coast of North 

 America, where it is found chiefly between Chesapeake 

 Bay on the south, and Nova Scotia on the north, being 

 rarely met with farther north than latitude 60", and it is 

 especially numerous off Newport, Rhode Island. 



Specimens up to 7 ft. in length have been taken in our 

 own seas, and one was caught off Christchurch, Hants, 

 in November last, which measured 5 ft. in length, 

 and weighed 50 lbs. In the Mediterranean, another 

 variety, the L. budegasse is frequently found, and on the 

 shores of China and Japan the angler of our own coasts 

 is replaced by a third variety, the L. sctigerons. 



Our illustration has been reproduced by kind permis- 

 sion of Dr. Francis Day, from " The Fishes of Great 

 Britain and Ireland," published by Messrs. Williams 

 and Norgate. 



Fire-Flies. — The light of the fire-flies of tropical 

 America seems to be dependent upon the will, as when 

 feeding or asleep it is not seen, attaining its greatest 

 brilliancy during activity and flight. The colour of the 

 light is a rich green, but, according to Dubois, the eggs 

 emit a light of a bluish tint. This naturalist has made ex- 

 tremely interesting experiments with Pyrophorus. The 

 eggs which he dried retained their luminosity for a week, 

 the light re-appearing when they were placed in water. 

 He ground the luminous organs in a mortar, after having 

 dried them in a vacuum, and then mixed them in boiled 

 water, the latter immediately becoming luminous. Dr. 

 Dubois concluded that the light of the P3'rophorus is 

 intended as illumination for itself alone. To prove this, 

 he covered one of the upper lights with wax, and the 

 animal moved in a curve ; when both spots were covered 

 the beetle soon stopped and then moved in an uncertain 

 manner, carefully feeling the ground with his antennas. 

 The spectrum of the light was extremely beautiful, being 

 continuous, without dark or brilliant rays. 



The Herring Fisheries. — M. E. Marbeau gives, in 

 the Review Francaise and in Cosmos, the following 

 account of the annual migration of the herring : — ■ 

 "From July ist to 20th the fish are to be found 

 from 20 to 30 leagues off the southern portion of the 

 Shetland Islands, between 57° and 60" N. latitude. 

 From July 20th to August 20th, opposite the coast of 

 Scotland, between Aberdeen and Leith, N. latitude 56S 

 to 57?. From August 20th to September 5th, along a 

 line parallel to and 50 to 70 miles off the coast between 

 Edinburgh and Newcastle, N. latitude 55° and 56°. 

 From September 5th to October 15th, to the north-east 

 of Hull, along the Dogger Bank, N. latitude 54° and 55°. 



From October 15th to November ist, about the Swarte, 

 Broken, Well, Ower, and Leman banks, and at the be- 

 ginning of the Gabbard bank, from 52° to 53*^ N. latitude. 

 In the space between the Haddock and the Sheringham 

 banks, at some miles off the English coast, a considerable 

 quantity of herrings may always be found from October 

 5th to 20th. From November ist to 15th, from 5 to 

 15 miles oif the Ruytingen bank, opposite Dunkerque. 

 From then to February ist, from two to four miles off 

 the French coast from Cape Gris-Nez past Boulogne, 

 Etaples Vergyer, Platiers, and as the season advances, 

 opposite Berck, Dieppe, and Fecamp. During February 

 the herring becomes increasingly rare. 



Male Animals Yielding MiLK.--Dr. Maitz Alsberg 

 [Humboldt), referring to a he-goat now living at Wenigen- 

 sommern, near Erfurt, which yields milk very similar to 

 ordinary goat's milk, but rather richer, remarks that both 

 in man and in all mammalia a time must have existed 

 when both sexes were equally capable of yielding milk. 

 This time is probably not very remote. 



A Giant Toad. — According to the Temps, a toad has 

 recently been found at Juiltac, in the department of the 

 Correze, weighing 66 lbs., and measuring nearly three 

 feet round the body. Its croaking is said to resemble 

 the barking of a dog. Our readers will kindly remember 

 to take this announcement with the proverbial " grain of 

 salt." 



Electric Actions in Plants. — M. Donnee has been 

 recently exploring the electric conditions of fruits by 

 means of a delicate multiplier. He finds that from the 

 pith of the cambium the successive layers of a tree 

 becomes less and less positive, whilst from the cambium 

 to the outer layer of the bark positive electricity again 

 increases. 



Bird-eating Frogs. — " Ubique" communicates to the 

 English Mechanic an instance of a bull-frog swallowing 

 a sparrow, at Hazareebagh, in Bengal. The sparrow 

 was heard uttering cries of distress, and the frog was 

 found with the tail and feet of the bird sticking out of 

 its mouth. By the next morning these had disappeared. 

 This reminds us of a case from South Africa which came 

 to our knowledge, where a sugar-bird was rescued only 

 just in time from the jaws of a large frog. 



Insects Simulating Minerals. — Mr. E. B, Poulton, who 

 has been engaged for some time in studying the manner in 

 which certain butterfl3'-pupa£ assume the colour of the sur- 

 faces to which they are attached, thinks it probable that 

 the gilded pupas of the Vanessa group (from the appear- 

 ance of which the word chrysalis takes its origin) re- 

 semble glittering minerals, such as mica. It is further 

 to be noted that their shape is very angular, resembUng 

 minerals. On the other hand, grey pupae resemble grey 

 and weathered rock-surfaces. Mr. Poulton finds no evi- 

 dence that these assimilations in colour have been 

 effected by anything like photographic action. 



Embryology. — At a meeting of the Philadelphia 

 Academy of Natural Sciences, Professor Ryder de- 

 scribed a ring-like prolongation of the placenta in 

 embryo mice and rats as indicating the descent of these 

 animals from lower types in which the placenta was 

 zonary. 



