390 THE ZOOLOGIST 



the skin of the neck, which is apt to become so stiff and dry as to cause it 

 to tear in the effort to skin the bird over the head. A few drops only will 

 suffice for the preservation of this part of the bird, except in the case of a 

 large crop full of decomposing food. When properly treated with this 

 solution, and properly cooled off in the first instance, birds will keep a week 

 even in warm weather in sufficiently good condition to make a fair skin. 



Dr. Alph^eus S. Packard, the well-known American entomologist, 

 who is now in London, has ready for the press a volume entitled " Lamarck, 

 the Founder of Evolution ; his Life and Work. With Translations of his 

 Writings on Organic Evolution." Dr. Packard has sought and obtained 

 much original material for his publication in France, and the work will 

 probably be published in England. 



In connection with the above, it is interesting to know that Darwin's 

 great work, ' The Origin of Species,' will be out of copyright in about a 

 couple of years, and that the publisher has decided to issue during the 

 coming autumn an edition in large type, well bound and well printed, at a 

 price which will bring it within the reach of all — half-a-crown. 



The monthly magazines still show by their contents that the ordinary 

 reader is interested in the many curious details of animal life. In the 

 June number of ■ Pearson's Magazine,' Rene Bache writes on fish-culture 

 in trains in the U.S.A., and describes the special railway-car used for the 

 transportation of fry and eggs, under the direction of the national " Fish 

 Commission." 



Supposing the car is drawn up at one of the Fish Commission's central 

 stations, and the captain of the car is to receive for transportation a cargo 

 of 2,600,000 young Shad, and 400,000 Shad eggs ; as quickly as possible 

 the newly-hatched Government Shad will be taken aboard in about one 

 hundred cans resembling milk-cans, each containing 20,000 fish. The 

 eggs, in similar shipping-cans, will be rapidly loaded ; the car will be 

 attached to a train, and the journey will commence. The captain of the 

 car and his four trained assistants must account for every one of the 

 3,000,000 lives entrusted to their care. This is no light responsibility, for 

 young fishes die on slight provocation, and it is not surprising that the 

 captain in charge of them all should be fairly overwhelmed with urgent 

 duties. He has already sent telegrams to the traffic manager of every line 

 over which he is to pass, making arrangements for the hauling of the car, 

 so that there shall not be a moment's unnecessary delay. He has tele- 

 graphed in advance to various points on the route for supplies of ice and 



