106 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
above the opening a glowing match or The Archer-Fish. 
shaving-that is to say, a match which has t^oREMOST in the rank of animal-hun- 
a bright spark at the end, but no flame. Jt< ^^^^ trappers, stands the archer- 
fish, the story of whose skill and cunning is 
so plainly told by the accompanying illus- 
tration. The brook-trout, owing to its 
slender form and marvellous muscular 
power, may leap its length above the water, 
and thus catch its food direct, and with no 
need of strategy. But with the archer-fish 
the case is very different. Nature has, it 
is true, given to it as hearty a love for in- 
sect food as is possessed by his more vigor- 
ous neighbor, the trout ; but, alas, for the 
gratification of this taste, its body is heavy, 
I and its fins and tail are none too powerful; 
The result of this will be, that the gas | and so, were there no other means for se- 
-which comes from the funnel will strike the | curing its food, this poor little fish might 
glowing coal above, and cause it to burn so i often go hungry to bed. But the same 
THE AKCHER-FISH. 
brightly tbat it will burst into flame — a re- 
sult which is evidence, together with cer- 
tain others, that the gas was oxygen. If 
carefully performed this experiment almost 
always succeeds. The best plants are those 
which grow in the water, either with the 
leaves submerged or otherwise. They must 
be exposed to bright sunlight, and two or 
three days may, in some cases, be necessary 
to obtain the needed amount of gas. 
wise Power which gave to one of His crea- 
tures this appetite, provided also metms 
whereby it might be gratified; and this is 
the way it is done: One of the myriad little 
bright winged insects, which swarm about 
the water-plants that fringe the edge of 
the crystal pool, having finished a sweet 
feast of honey, leaves behind him the blos- 
soms of the water-thyme and lily, and sails 
boldly out over the surface of the pond. 
