72 



NATUEAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



man) 7 new animals for the aquar- 

 ium. 



In April of the last year there 

 arrived in Berlin a consignment of 

 South American fishes which had 

 been captured and imported by 

 one of the members of this society. 

 Most of the fishes were submitted 

 to the care of Paul Matte, the ex- 

 perienced pisciculturist of Lank- 

 witz near Berlin. Among them 

 was one species which can be rec- 

 commended as a most desirable ac- 

 quisition for aquarianists. 



This is the Chanchito of the Bra- 

 zilians, a fish about 5 cm. broad 

 and 12 cm. long. It belongs to 

 the genus Chromides and to the 

 family Heros, but whether it is the 

 Heros facet us or some closely al- 

 lied species has not yet been fully 

 determined. The Chanchito which 

 is distributed throughout t h e 

 ponds, lakes and rivers about 

 Buenos Ayres has an attractive and 

 beautiful color,but it is impossible 

 to say precisely what this color is, 

 for the fish possesses in a remark- 

 able degree the power of changing 

 its hue. 



Usually it is brazen yellow with 

 perhaps a greenish tinge, and has 

 numerous black vertical bands and 

 black fins, yet the same fish can 

 suddenly turn perfectly white so 

 that even the vertical bands will 

 scarcely show, or it may display a 

 deep black median line or several 

 black spots and at the same time 

 its fins may become clear and 

 transparent, ornamented, occasion- 

 ally with a dark or reddish border. 

 Even the eyes change color. Us- 

 ually yellow they may under excit- 

 ment become blood red, to change 

 after a time to a very dark hue. In 

 short these changes of color are so 

 numerous and so varied that the 

 name "Chameleon fish" has, not 

 inaptly, been proposed for the 

 Chanchito in place of his South 

 American name, which signifies 

 "a pig" and was probably given to 

 him on account of his short clumsy 

 figure. 



The sexes are not distinguish- 

 able externally. 



The Chanchito should be kept 

 in water at from 10 to 20 degrees, 

 Reaumur, and fed on earth worms 

 and small living animals of all 

 kinds and minced meat. 



Their manners are as curious and 

 interesting as their color changes. 

 During the spawning season the 

 male and female stay close togeth- 

 er and circle around each other in 

 beautiful, graceful curves, their 

 fins outspread and their gorgeous 

 hues constantly changing. 



At length they choose a shaded 



corner of the aquarium and after 

 they have cleared it of all loose 

 sticks and dirt the female, by means 

 of an ovipositer 5 mm. in length, 

 attaches her eggs to the wall, and 

 these are immediately fertilized by 

 the male. Both fishes then remain 

 close to the nest and guard it care- 

 fully. After about four days the 

 young appear, though they remain 

 in their corner for two weeks or 

 more until the yoke is absorbed. 



The parent fishes are remarkably 

 assiduous in the' care of their 

 young. Even when they are pre- 

 paring for the second brood, which 

 occurs in about eight weeks, they 

 still keep a tender watch over the 

 half grown fry. Anything that ap- 

 proaches their nest corner is at once 

 attacked and, as I myself have ob- 

 served at Matte's basin, they will 

 even spring out of the water in 

 their efforts to strike at a finger 

 held near the surface. 



It is a beautiful sight to see the 

 troop of little fishes swimming 

 about before the old ones and 

 obeying every gesture of their pa- 

 rents. 



Herr Matte succeeded in raising 

 two broods of these interesting 

 fishes last summer. The young 

 were fed on Daphniae. 



America's First Newspaper. 



In answer to the query, What 

 was the first newspaper published 

 in America the Writer says: 



A copy of the first newspaper 

 ever published in America was 

 found by Rev. J. P. Felt, the his- 

 torian of Salem, in the Colonial 

 State Paper Office in London, 

 where he was looking for material 

 for his history. Till then it was 

 believed that the Boston News- 

 Letter was the original American 

 newspaper. 



The paper found by Mr. Felt 

 was published by Benjamin Harris 

 at the London Coffee House in 

 Boston, and was printed for him 

 by Richard Pierce, Thursday, Sep- 

 tember 25, 1690 — fourteen years 

 before the Boston News-Letter was 

 issued by John Campbell. 



It is headed Publick Occurrences, 

 and it is printed on three pages of 

 a folded sheet, one page being left 

 blank. There are two columns to 

 a page, and each page measures 

 about 7x1 1 inches. 



The paper was intended to be a 

 monthly journal, but in the first 

 issue the editor published some 

 news about local and military mat- 

 ters that led to its suppression by 

 the authorities. 



The Capture of a Golden Eagle. 



It was a gloomy looking morn- 

 ing of last month that I arose early, 

 expecting to visit a neighboring 

 river in pursuit of black bass, but 

 as dark clouds warned me of an 

 approaching shower, I was rather 

 uncertain whether or not to at- 

 tempt it. Nevertheless I had my 

 horse saddled, and taking with me 

 my little brother, I started towards 

 the river. I had scarcely ridden a 

 mile when the first drops of rain 

 began falling, and rather discour- 

 aged I turned my horse's head to- 

 wards home. 



As I approached a small body 

 of woods that border a low mead- 

 ow my attention was attracted by a 

 large bird which sat rather uncon- 

 cernedly in an oak tree a few yards 

 distant. At a glance I thought it 

 to be a large specimen of Cathartcs 

 aura but in this I was happily 

 mistaken. The large bird was 

 none other than Aquilla c/iryscetosf 



Telling my brother to ride home 

 for my gun, I cautiously crept be- 

 hind a fallen log and approached 

 the great bird within 40 yards. 

 The Eagle doubtless saw me, but 

 did not seem to show any uneasi- 

 ness whatever. There I lay, al- 

 most afraid to breath, expecting 

 every minute to see him lift his 

 great wings and sail silently away, 

 but in this I was again mistaken. 

 In the distance I could hear the 

 loud clattering of horse's hoofs, 

 and a few minutes later my broth- 

 er appeared on the scene, bringing 

 with him my trusty Parker. But 

 the cartridges! Looking in my 

 hunting bag I was much disap- 

 pointed to find that the largest 

 shot it contained was No g. Slip- 

 ping two shells in my gun, I again 

 crept behind the log, and approach- 

 ed the Eagle again within 40 yards. 

 He had not moved and was in the 

 same position as before. Taking 

 deliberate aim I fired and down 

 came the monarch, not dead, but 

 winged! I rushed towards the 

 bird, but was soon forced to re- 

 treat, as he showed fight, and I 

 was not anxious to become a vic- 

 tim of his sharp claws. 



After a great deal of trouble I 

 succeeded in carrying the bird 

 home alive. He was nicely mount- 

 ed by F. F. Howe, of Clyde, N.Y., 

 and now stands guard on my egg 

 cabinet. This is the first occur- 

 ence of this bird in our county 

 (Campbell). 



J. W. Daniels, Jr., 



Lynchburg, Va. 



