NOtfeS AND QUERIES. 275 



Spotted Crake at Scarborough. — I had recently an opportunity of 

 examining a female specimen of Crex porzana, which was picked up dead 

 on the railway, near Scarborough, on the morning of April 29th, having 

 evidently flown against the telegraph-wires. It was in good condition, and 

 the ovaries contained eggs in an advanced stage of development. — William 

 J. Clajrke (44, Huntriss Row, Scarborough). 



FISHES. 



Development of Fishes. — At a recent meeting of the Natural History 

 Society of Glasgow, the last of the winter session, Prof. M'lntosh addressed 

 the Society on " The Development and Life-histories of some of the Food- 

 Fishes," and submitted a series of lantern-views illustrating the successive 

 stages from the unfertilised ovum to the adult fish. In the course of the 

 introductory remarks, he directed attention to three principal types of eggs, 

 distinguished by having their protoplasmic contents simple or accompanied 

 by few or many oil-globules. In the third type the numerous globules are 

 sometimes grouped in the form of a circular band surrounding the proto- 

 plasm. Pelagic eggs, or those set free in the deeper water, differ essentially 

 in many ways from ova deposited at the sea-bottom. The latter are subject 

 to various disadvantages, such as liability to be swept from their resting- 

 place and stranded, or destruction through the attacks of animal foes ; and 

 as they are generally deposited in clusters, and are occasionally brightly 

 tinted, they are readily discovered by fishes, such as the Haddock, which 

 prey upon the ova of other species. The eggs of the Lumpsucker, 

 commonly found on our shores, are generally devoured by Rooks and Crows. 

 On the other hand, pelagic eggs nearly always have a colourless yolk, and 

 so escape unseen in the water. They ar carried about by the currents, and 

 widely distributed throughout the shallower watars and bays. Taking the 

 Cod as a type of the food-fishes, Prof. M'lntosh illustrated and described 

 I the various stages in its life-history. After fertilisation, the protoplasm 

 | streams towards one end of the egg, where it collects so as to form a cap- 

 like disk. This, by a process of division and repeated subdivision, becomes 

 enlarged and flattened, and ultimately assumes the form of the embryonic 

 fish. The growth of the embryo, and the development of its eye, heart, 



! liver, notochord, &c, were minutely described, and reference was made to 

 the results of recent investigations successfully undertaken by Prof. Prince 

 and others. After the young fish has emerged from the egg, its mouth 

 remains closed, but it derives nourishment from the yolk-sac attached to 

 .attached to the abdominal part of the body, and carried about until it 

 becomes wholly absorbed. The mouth then opens, and the fish begins to 

 feed on the minute organisms which abound in the waters. Remarkable 

 Itchanges take place in the coloration of the growing fish. At one time the 

 colour is distributed in dark bands, at another it is spread in small blotches, 



