250 



Marvels of the Universe 



may be gathered from Mr. Charles Darwin's remarks in " The \'o3-age of the Beagle," that when 

 handled, one of these fish emitted from the skin of its belly a most beautiful carmine-red stain, 

 which remained permanently bright and irremovable from the fabric upon which it fell. 



Another feature of this most curious fish calling for wonder is that some of its \-arieties are 

 covered with spines almost as thickly as a hedgehog. These spines are quiescent as long as the fish 

 is unmolested ; but if it is caught and necessarily handled, they then come into play. But only 

 in connection with another peculiarity, which is perhaps the greatest of all shown by this fish. I 



allude to the power which it 

 has of self-inflation. On many 

 riccasions I have caught this 

 tish and thrown it on deck, 

 when immediately it has 

 emitted gurgling sounds such 

 as you hear when holding an 

 empty bottle, open neck up- 

 wards, under water. Coinci- 

 (lently with this, the body of 

 the fish gradually became 

 globular, the spines stood erect, 

 and having attained its full 

 distension, the creature re- 

 mained thus. In fact, the 

 passing of its life did not 

 affect its appearance ; after 

 death it still appeared dis- 

 tended and prickly. 



The trivial name Parrot 

 Fish is really unsuitable, be- 

 cause it only derives from 

 the beak-like appearance of 

 the teeth when the fish is in- 

 flated. But those teeth are 

 the common inheritance of 

 many tropical fish, and are 

 identical in their appearance 

 with varieties entirely distinct. 

 They are like human incisors, 

 [/!„ Mnj- itntbei. but far morc powerful ; and 



NORTHERN LIGHTS. ' t u i iv, ^ 



1 have known them to sever 



TKe variation in tKe colours of these Lights is probably due to the.ibreaking 



up of the rays in the aqueous vapour. COppCl WirC. 



THE AURORA BOREALIS, OR NORTHERN LIGHTS 



BY JfAX RAEBEL. 



Most of what we now know of the nature and origin of the Aurora Borealis we owe to the 

 Norwegian scientist, Professor Birkeland, who has succeeded, after years of observation and 

 experiment, in reaching definite hypotheses on the subject. 



In this paper I shall content myself with giving a short account of the scientific research on the 

 subject of the Northern Lights, adding a few particulars of my own observations. 



