108 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 
verse, which professes completeness, to a scientific one which 
acknowledges its imperfections ; but all have finally been victo- 
rious, and have taken their place as the inalienable intellectual 
heritage of man. 
You have all heard a child trying to pick out a tune ona 
penny whistle ; you have all heard a skilled musician play one 
of Beethoven’s sonatas. It always seems to me that these two 
performances give a very fair illustration of the difference between 
the theory of the universe with which our forefathers had to be 
cc ntent, and that which itis our privilege to know something of : 
the one is a series of disconnected and distressing discords, the 
other of subtle and mutually dependant harmonies. As Dryden 
prophetically sings in his noble “Song for St. Cecilia’s Day ”— 
‘* From harmony, from heavenly harmony 
This universal frame began : 
From harmony.to harmony 
Through all the compass of the notes it ran, 
The diapason closing full in Man.” 
ON LEPIDOPUS CAUDATUS, GUNTH (FROST-Fism@ 
> 
By Dr. R. v. LENDENFELD.* 
-— <> 
The variety of this Acanthopterygian species occurring on the 
coasts of New Zealand, and known by the name of Frost-fish, is 
distinguished by its manner of life from other fishes, as it is never 
taken with nets, but is frequently cast up on the beach during 
the winter season. 
This fish is ribbon-like and trapeziform, deepest close behind 
the head, and gradually tapering away, and of a silvery colour 
throughout. The large eyes stamp it as a deep-sea form. 
The specimens thrown on the beach attain alength of 120 to 150 
cm.; they are never found smaller. 
With the intention of finding out the reason why these fish 
are thrown on the shores in great numbers and only ata particu- 
lar season of the year, I examined several specimens. I found 
males and females in part, with fully developed sexual elements, 
and in part without mature ova or spermatozoa. In all likeli- 
hood, in these latter cases, the sexual elements had been parted 
with only a few hours previously. It would seem to follow from 
this that the time at which the deposition of the roe and milt 
takes place corresponds with the time of year at which the fish 
are cast up on the shores. A second and more important con- 
clusion arrived at in this investigation was, however, that in every 
case the swimming bladder was burst, and a great internal hemor- 
rhage was apparent. I have no doubt that at the time of depo- 
sition of the ova, the males and females seek protected places at 
* Zoologischer Anzeiger, VI., Jahrg. p. 559 (22nd Oct,, 1883). 
