Nov. 1, 1SG5,] 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



2G1 



plunging the end of the longer tube in a vessel of 

 water. Tiie instrument may now be fixed in this 

 position, as an intermittent jet of water begins to 

 flow at once, continuing until the flask is empty. 

 The column of water in the longer tube will be seen 

 to be alternately rising and falling, from which 

 phenomena an explanation has been given of the 

 cause of the intermittent flow. — Popular Science 

 Review. 



FISH TATTLE. 



The Douse, or Vauiable, ojb Baltic Cob-fisii 

 {Morrhua callarias). — This Cod is rare in the British 

 islands, Yarrell never having seen it, but in the north 

 of Europe it is abundant, and I get it from the Baltic 

 Sea at Kiel, and less abundantly from Heligoland. 

 Consequently, the Hamburg aquarium always con- 

 tains living specimens, and it thrives well in captivity, 

 as indeed most fishes will thrive, if kept in large 

 tanks furnished with a constantly running stream of 

 water, and a proper supply of food. The Dorse 

 under my care consume great quantities of oysters, 

 mussels, earthworms, dead fresli-water fish, prawns, 

 shrimps, and indeed all animal matters except sea 

 anemones, which no fish that 1 know of will touch, 

 if ever so hungry. Indeed, these Cods have with 

 me grown so rapidly as to become a nuisance, from 

 their habit of devouring all other fish — even their 

 own species — lesser than themselves, in the same 

 tank, and I had to return some of them to the sea 

 and get smaller ones in their place. But cme of the. 

 original stock I retained, and it grew from five to 

 thirteen inches long in a year. It became quite tame 

 — or rather fearless — and it would at feeding time 

 regularly lie on the top of one particular flat stone, 

 and take its oyster or mussel out of my fingers. I 

 am afraid to add that it would then allow me to 

 stroke its head, as I may be disbelieved by those 

 persons who did not see it ; but so it certainly was ; 

 I stroked its head with my hand every day, as regu- 

 larly as I stroke that of my cat. This fish at length 

 went ihe way of most pets ; it sprang over the side 

 of its tank one night, and next morning it was found 

 on the floor, dead and stiff. I sent some to the 

 aquarium of the Zoological Society of London, and 

 I hear that they soon died. — W. Alford Lloyd, 

 Zoological Gardens, Hamburg. 



The "Germon" (Orcynus alalonga).—Y)^. Scott 

 has recorded the occurrence of this rare flsh on the 

 coast of Devonshire. Three specimens had before 

 this been taken on the English coast, and the fish is 

 figured in " Couch's British Eishes " (vol. ii., pi. 84 

 p. 100). It is the Long-finned Tunny of some 

 authors, and is abundant on the south coasts of 

 Europe, where it is the object of extensive fisheries. 

 Tlie specimen captured was twenty-four inches in 

 length and weighed twelve pounds. It somewhat 

 resembles a gigantic mackerel. 



Muller's Topknot.— In the second week of 

 September last, while fishing with a net off Caldy 

 Island, Pembrokeshire, we caught a specimen of 

 Muller's Topknot, about ten inches in length, a fish 

 very rare in those parts, and unknown to any of the 

 fishermen. — E. K. B. 



The Sturgeon.— On Thursday, the 5th inst., a 

 fins specimen of that rare fish in English waters, the 

 Sturgeon, was left stranded by the receding tide 

 near Aveton Gifford Bridge, on the Devonshire Avon, 

 three or four miles from the coast of Bigbury Bay. 

 The fish was six feet ten inches in length. It was 

 captured by a labourer, who, as I am informed, sold 

 it to a neighbouring miller for five shillings, the 

 purchaser forthwith sending it by train to Loudon 

 and realising £15 by its sale there. It may be 

 worth remarking that the Sturgeon is one of the 

 very few existing species of the Ganoid order, to 

 which so large a number of our fossil fishes are 

 referable. — Horace Waddington. 



EisH Scales for the Microscope.— The eel 

 affords a beautiful object for this purpose. The 

 scales are covered by a thin " skin" which may be 

 slightly raised with a knife and then torn off. The 

 required portion may then be removed ; or if a piece 

 of skin can be procured as stripped off in cooking, 

 the scales may be easily taken from the inner surface. 

 They must then be washed and thoroughly cleaned. 

 After drying, soak for a day in turpentine, and mount 

 in the ordinary manner with balsam. This is a good 

 polarizing object; but the interest, and I think the 

 beauty, is increased by procuring a piece of eel's 

 skin with the scales hi situ, washing and drying 

 under pressure, and mounting in balsam as before. 

 The arrangement of tiie scales produces beautiful 

 "waves" of colour, which are quite soothing to the 

 eye after examining some of the very gorgeous salts, 

 &c. — Dacies on Mountiag. 



Light in the Ocean. — I am often reminded of 

 the small amount of light existing in tlie sea, by 

 noticing that when I first receive crabs, lobsters, 

 and some other similar animals, their shells are 

 quite clean, but after I have had them for some 

 time in the aquarium under my care here, they 

 become gradually covered with conferva and other 

 parasitic plants, the growth of which depends upon 

 the amount of light they obtain; and yet the tanks 

 are darkened to an extent which does not do more 

 than permit the animals to be seen. There is never 

 any glare of light ; the front halves of the tops of 

 the tanks are boarded over, so that the light enters 

 only by the hinder halves, and even then some blinds 

 are carefully drawn over them. In addition, these 

 Crustacea are permitted to hide in holes in the rock- 

 work of the tanks. It is only when they are taken 

 out of the tanks and placed in reservoirs completely 

 darkened, that the pai'asitic plants die away. — IF. 

 ALj'ord Lloyd. 



