66 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
jet G. When done playing, turn off the tap. place 
the bent tube h Into pipe, and blow as before ; 
turn the tap and the fountain will recommence. 
Of coui-se everything about this must be made 
tight and perfect, to insure success. The tanks 
18. — In answer to the request of F. E. F.. liaii- 
easter. Pa., I scud the enclosed designs for jnoiu)- 
grams. The combinations are simple, e;isily 
made, and are admirably adapted for scroll saw- 
ing and inlaying.— U. S. Navy. 
19. S. O. Gr.— ^Esthetic is a w^ord of many mean- 
ings at present. In the end we think it will mean 
a great improvement in all our surroundings in 
daily life, and a greater knowledge of what is 
beautiful and true in ourselves, our houses, and 
our dress. The dictionary says. "^Esthetics: per- 
ception of the beautiful."— Susie. 
Queries. 
•20. Big Boy. Utica. N. Y.— Thanks for your 
answer to my (luery, No. H. about woo(l-carving, 
given in last month's Young Scientist. I shall 
make use of the information to the advantage, 
I hope, of myself and brothers. May I apply 
again foi- information, and ask of you, or some 
of your readers who may be able, to giv(? the 
etymology of the word " derrick ? " 
Note.— Derrick, according to Webster, was ori- 
ginally an abbreviation of Theodoric, which in 
old Saxon w.as made Detrich, and in German 
Dietrich. Deri-ick, as now used, means simply a 
temporary cran(\ and is mostly used by builders 
and quarrymen. It was so called from Derrick, a 
celebrated Tyburn hangnum, who lived early in 
the Seventeenth Century, during Queen Eliza- 
beth's reign, and who Ix'headed the Eai'l of Essex 
in 1601. The term used to be an equivalent of 
'■ gallows." 
•21. M.iTiLD.^, Newark. N. J.— I desire to know 
what flowers and trees were dedicated to the 
heathen gods by the ancients, and also, if trees 
flowers or shrubs Avere ever dedicated to any of 
the saints in the Christian church. Any informa- 
tion on this subject will be duly appreciated. 
22. TomH., Providence. R. I.—Will some reader 
explain what is meant by a " divining rod," its 
uses. etc. ? 
23. Monograms.— T. H. P., P.rooklyn. N. Y. : T. 
W. T., Philadelphia, Pa.; and S. N. B.. New 
Britain, Conn., desire monograms of the letters 
sent. Will some of our clever readers send us in 
for reproduction ccnnbinations of the above let- 
ters. Use good black ink on smooth white paper. 
24. Nina, Toledo. O.— There is a method of 
transfering colored prints to glass, and giving 
them a semi-trnnsparent appearance. Will some 
reader of the Young Scientist inform me how 
the work is performed, and oblige? 
25. Teansit of Venus.- -RoBKTiT H.. Boston, 
Mass.— Will the Editor of the Young Scientist, 
or some competent reader inform me why so 
much "fuss" was made about the "Transit of 
"Venus." its significance, and how the results are 
obtained ? 
Note.— We take pleasure in referring Robert 
H. to an article on another page by Prof. Berlin 
H. Wright, whose skill in making abstruse astro- 
nomical problems clear to the most common 
minds is well known. This article on the Transit 
of Venus covers, we think, the whole ground em- . 
braced in the questions asked. A careful reading 
of the paper cannot but result in conveying valu- 
able information to the uninitiated in matters of 
a,stronomv. 
• o-» 
Mwxkt Icjjort. 
The Grerman Carp. 
Foremost amongst the novelties offered to our 
youug friends this season is the German carp. 
This now famous fish was originally found in the 
large rivers of Germany, where many years ago^ 
))y careful cultivation, selection and breeding, 
it was greatly improved in flavor, size and habit. 
Several new and greatly improved breeds have 
also been produced. The varieties best known 
in this country are the scale carp, leather carp, 
and mirror or king carp, wdiich is the most 
highly prized of all varieties of carp, either native 
or foreign, its flavor, when bred under proper 
conditions, ranking very high amongst fresh- 
water fishes. The German carp has been intro- 
duced as a table fish throughout Europe, Asia and 
Australia, and since the spring of 1877 up to the 
present time, large numbers have been dis- 
tributed t > all parts of the United States by the 
U. S. Fish Commissioners at Washington. The 
first importations of the German carp were 
brought over from Germany by the German fisit 
culturist. Her von Hessells, and Avere planted in 
the U. S. Commissioners breeding ponds at Wash- 
ington, whence, as they increased in numbers, 
they were distributed to the fish commissioners 
of each State, who again distributed them to all 
persons having suitable ponds, either natural or 
artificial, Avherein to breed them; not for orna- 
mentation or for the aquarium, but for the purpose 
of increasing the food supply of edible fish and 
reducing the cost of this article. All the varieties 
of the German carp are remarkably tenacious of 
life, and will undergo sudden and severe changes, 
of temperature, as a ]-ule, without injury. In 
moist and cool weather the leather and looking- 
glass carp can be transported alive long distances 
in what is known, among fish culturists, as " dry 
liacking," which consists of a packing of damp 
moss. The food of the carp is entirely of a vege- 
table nature, and, curious to relate, the leaves of 
tender and crisp lettuce is a favorite diet with our 
foreign fish friend, also bread, boiled potato> 
parings, rice, and the green scum that forms and 
floats on the surfaces of standing ponds, or grows 
on the stems and leaves of aquatic plants; all 
these he devours Avith much gusto. In fact, all 
vegetable refuse is acceptable to this very inter- 
esting fish. From the first importation of the 
German king carp I obtained some six small 
specimens no larger than the one shoAvn in the 
