FOREST AND STREAM. 

Slatural History. 
THE IRISH SUN FISH. 
Ss 
N a recent issue of the New York Sun, notice was taken 
of five fishermen who were drowned off the Irish coast 
by the struggles of a Sun-fish, which the men were endeavor- 
ing to capture. 
An interesting discussion arose in Ireland between Mr. 
Brady, the Irish Inspector of Fisheries, in regard to the 
size and Character of the fish. The English and Irish in- 
spectors describe different kinds of fish, though both bore 
the same name. 
The Sun-fish spoken of by Mr. Brady, is the Selache max- 
éma or Basking Shark, which reaches a length of thirty or 
forty feet, and is the largest species of fish proper that 
swims in the sea. It exceeds the Tunny and the Sword-fish, 
and were it as ferocious as the White Shark, it would be 
‘the terror of the ocean. Luckily it never devours animals 
of any size and has neyer been known to attack man. This 
Shark lives in the northern Atlantic and its capture is re- 
gularly undertaken by the hardy Icelanders for the oil that 
is contained in the liver. It is a sluggish monster and can 
be easily approached by a harpooner. They wander, down 
as far as Portugal on the European coasts, and as far as 
New York along the shores of America. On account of 
its size no good figure of it has ever been taken. 
The Sun-fish that Mr. Walpole, the Irish Inspector means, 
was the Cephahlus or Orthagoriscus Mola, a remarkable fish 
also, looking like a huge head only, tailless and covered 
with a tough leathery hide beset with prickles, and belonging 
to the order of Plectognaths or solid jawed-fish, to which the 
well known Puffer, Swell or Baloon-fish also belongs. This 
fish basks sometimes apparently asleep on the sea and is 
often caught near our shores, reaching a weight of several 
hundred pounds. It is also called a Sun-fish, and some- 
times Moon-fish or Head-fish. 
If a positive scientific name, no matter how old, were 
always added to the popular name of an animal when it is 
noticed, much confusion would be avoided. 
EE 
Do Snakes SwaLLow THER Younc?— This curious 
question, ‘‘do snakes swallow their young?” is old, and 
first scientifically discovered in 1789, has we think been 
at last fully answered by Prof. J. Brown Goode of Middle- 
town University. Wisely availing himself of the columns 
of the American Agriculturist, he inserted a note in that pa- 
per asking for replies on this subject, and had no less than 
ninety-six answers. Of these fifty-six persons had seen the 
young enter the mother snake’s mouth, and in nineteen 
cases, the parent snake had been known to call her young to 
her; for the purpose of being stored away, save that instead of 
clucking like the hen, the snake hissed, we suppose, how- 
ever, inaquiet gentle way. That the scaly lizard is given 
too, to this strange habit, seems no longer doubtful. The 
category of snakes who have this peculiar habit is very 
large, including the mocassin, viper, the garter snake, and 
rattle snake, andit is quite probable that this habit extends 
through most of the genera. It yet remains to be shown 
whether this custom is shared by the egg-laying snakes. 
————— io 
A Most DEstRABLE FisH.—In reading a book about 
the Rio Dagua, published in New Grenada in 1826, which 
pretends to be thoroughly posted on all matters icthyolo- 
gical Tread as follows: ‘‘This river has in it a very curi- 
ous fish, called chalua. It has no scales. The head is like 
a frog, and in fact it resembles one all over. Its flesh is 
delicious. In its belly gold may be found, and frequently 
quité’a number of precious stones. The negroes spend 
much of their time in trying to catchthem. I have known 
a fortune made by a lucky person catching one!” Whence 
comes this legend? Pliny tells us that in India there were 
gold mines worked entirely by ants.—SAFFRAY’s TRAVELS. 
—Tour du Monde. 
<< 
Porson 1s Monusxs.—Mr. W. North Rice has been 
making a series of experiments on the best methods of pre- 
serving molusks, and at the same time to find a means of 
keeping the animals in a state of expansion, so as to obtain 
specimens exhibiting somewhat of alife-like aspect. Prussic 
acid, chloral, and morphia conium were tried on them. Di- 
luted prussic acid had little effect; one specimen immersed 
in diluted prussic acid on a Friday, was lively on Tuesday. 
A heavy dose of woorara had no appreciable effect; chloral 
had however an immediate action. The result of the ex- 
periments proved that in almost all the cases poisons had a 
contractile effect on molusks. 
—_—_—_—— 1 
BITE OF AN ADDER. 
biome nigeen sn 
jim number of the Lancet contains some interesting 
details of the treatment of a child bitten by an adder:— 
‘On July 6, G. L——, a little boy four years of age, was 
walking about seven p. m., with his father and mother. 
He loitered behind to look after a bird’s nest, when he was 
bitten on the first phalanx of the second finger of the right 
hand. The father on examining it, found it to be bleeding 
from two points pretty freely, but took little notice. Ina 
few minutes the finger and hand began to swell rapidly and 
turn black. The child however became rapidly worse, and 
about f€1 p. m. he was brought to Dr. Rech ati's house. 
On asking particulars the Doctor was told the child had 
been ‘venomed’ in his hand, but how they did not know. 
On inspection the hand and arm were found to be much 
swollen, of a dark livid hue; pulse almost imperceptible; 
pupils very much contracted; extremities perfectly cold; 
a clammy perspiration upon the lips and forehead; coma- 
tosed but easily roused. The bitten finger was soaked in 
aromatic spirits of ammonia, and the hand and arm 
well rubbed with the same; hot whiskey and water was 
given every ten minutes, and then the hand and arm were 
enveloped in hot flannels well sprinkled with oil and am- 
monia, and a mixture containing aromatic spirits of 
ammonia and chloric ether, to be taken every one or two 
hours, with hot brandy and water, was administered at 
intervals (because they had no whiskey, and being Sunday, 
could not get any.) July 7.—Nine a. m.: Hand and arm 
still more swollen, of a dark livid hue and extending; still 
comatose and relapsing immediately into the same state 
after being roused. Three p.m.: Arm and hands tense, 
with large blebs around the bitten part. Two incisions 
were made, one in the swollen finger letting out a quantity 
of yellowish serum, and one on the back of the hand. 
Warm poultices were constantly applied and the remedies 
continued. Ten p.m.: much the same. July 8.—Nine a. 
m.: The lividity of hand and arm extending into the axilla 
across the chest and back, and particularly down the right 
side. Three p. m.: The child now quite unconscious, not 
to be roused; tossing about the bed and extremely restless, 
screaming every now and then; pupils much dilated. Ten 
p. m.: The mother said the child had been much convulsed. 
Sulphuric ether was given, and the child being now much 
convulsed, at the suggestion of a friend some bromide of 
potassium was added; the bowels not having been opened 
since the accident, an enema of soap-and-water. July 9.— 
A very bad restless night; injection repeated with castor 
oil, Three p. m.: Bowels acted twice. Still unconscious. 
Hot whiskey-and-water and beef-tea and milk given. Ten 
p. m.: Pulse more distinct and a little firmer: the face 
flushed, and the extremities certainly warmer. July 10.— 
Nine p. m.: Hada much better night, slept for three hours, * 
and was conscious, answering questions readily, although 
looking about him with a startled look. Since then the 
child progressed most rapidly and satisfactorily, excepting 
that his hand was still much swollen, but discharged freely: 
the dark livid hue of the ‘skin down the right side, and 
especially over the left lobe of the liver, still remaining. Is 
almost well, his appetite is good, and wishes to run about; 
this, however, for the present, has been forbidden.” 
Mr. Buckland speaks highly of Dr. Bennett’s treatment. 
His theory of the action of snake poison, is similar to that 
of Dr. 8. W. Mitchell’s, of Philadelphia. They think that 
the blood copuscles separate from one another, something 
like the action of,a rennet on milk, and the vital pumping 
action of the heart ceases. Mr. Buckland recommends 
steaming the arm with water mixed with ammonia, He 
prefers champagne as a stimulant, instead of brandy or 
whiskey as being quicker to act. That an adder or viper 
bite will kill, is shown by a recent extract from the French 
papers, Joseph Wagner, a snake charmer in Paris, having 
died in the very short time of two hours, after having been 
bitten in the tongue by a viper. The Forest anD STREAM 
will be very glad to receive all information on the subject 
of treatment for snake bites. 
ee 
PaLbozoIc Fishes FROM Ounto.— Atthe meeting of the 
American Association held in Portland, Prof. J. 8. New- 
berry, of Columbia College, New York, exibited some 
beautifully preserved fossil fishes from the Devonian and 
carboniferous rocks of Ohio. Among them was a jaw 
eighteen inches long, and _ very massive, which belonged to 
a great bucklered fish called by him. dinicthys, or terrible 
fish, which resembled the coccosteus of the European old 
red sandstone, but was a hundred times as large. The 
specimen exhibited was the jaw of a new species of this 
genus, in which the jaws shut over each other like the 
blades of shears. This came from the Huron Shali, Lor- 
ain county, Ohio. e 
Dr. Newberry also exhibited a series of exquisitely pre- 
served small-scaled fishes from the cannel coal of Ohio. 
In describing the formations which contain these fossil 
fishes, Dr. Newberry said: ‘‘ That the sediment of the lower 
Silurian sea contained no fish remains, but of all the classes 
o: invertebrate animals in abundance. The rulers of this 
sea were gigantic cuttle-fishes, of which the shells are now 
called orthoceras. 
-In the upper Silurian sea, fishes existed in Europe, but 
none have yet been found in the sediment of this sea in 
America. When the waters of the upper Silurian sea were 
withdrawn into the basins which have always been ocean, 
perhaps amillion of years elapsed before they came back to 
the Devonian sea. In that sea were hosts of fishes, many of 
them of large size, clad in scale and plate armor, and pro- 
vided with formidable jaws and teeth. These plated fishes 
were the rulers of the Devonian sea. 
In the sea of the carboniferous age, sharks were the 
largest and most powerful of fishes, and were the tyrants of 
the ocean, as now. In the bays, lakes, and rivers of the 
carboniferous continent were many small scaled ganoids, 
like those exhibited. The garpike is the modern represen- 
tative of these.” 
$$ $$ ——___—_ 
Fully $100,000 having been subscribed by private individ- 
uals in New York for the establishing of a Museum of 
Natural History in Central Park, this handsome amount 
was further supplemented by $500,000 appropriated by 
the authorities, towards the common end of erecting a 
suitable fire-proof edifice, and the Department of Parks 
was authorized to set apart from the public lands a loca- 
tion. In accordance with this law Manhattan Square will 
be used for this purpose. The plan very wisely will be 
one which will permit of future additions. The great 
object in the plan of the museum will be to allow the public 
full room for the examination of the collections, and at the 
same time to afford the student an opportunity of prosecu- 
ting his studies. The famous collection of birds belonging to 
Verroux, of Paris, has been partially purchased, together 
with that belonging to Prince Maximilian of Neuwield. 
These two collections are of the most comprehensive charac- 
ter, and particularly rich in South American birds. Most 
liberal donations have been made of shells, corals and min- 
erals, and it has received as one gift a collection of 200,000 
insects. $275,000 is quitea small estimate to-day, of the 
whole collection. It is hoped that the building will be com- 
pleted in 1874, and that in 1875 it will be opened*to the 
public. : 
a tte 
In Kansas, last week, there was a herd of buffaloes that 
took three hours to pass a given point, and strange to say 
nobody was destroying them either. : 
THE DINGO. 
a 
N Australia, a country particularly characterized by a 
] total absence of all large quadrupeds, the kangaroo ex- 
cepted, the dingo is a notable animal, and perhaps the most 
perfect type of the original dog known. The dingo is 
a sprightly creature, about the size of the ordinary lurch- 
er, twenty inches to two feet high, and about three feet 
from the tip of the nose to the root of the tail. The bod 
is moderately thick, with head tapering, muzzle pointed, 
and ears short and erect. The tail, which when not irrita- 
ted, is either carried horizontally or erect, is bushy, some- 
what resembling that of a fox, from which animal’s appen- 
dage in question, it differs only in not having the bushy 
hair all around. When irritated or about to attack its prey, 
its tail is generally lowered. In color it is either a reddish 
yellow, or black and tawny. The yellow, however, ap- 
pears to be the most common variety. His face possesses 
less of that sly, mistrustful and treacherous expression which 
is so charcteristic in that of the wolf, and his manners dis- 
play less repugnance to meet the advances of mankind, 
The black or rather black-and-tan variety is smaller than 
the yellow, and seems to be one step nearer to the domestic 
animal. Their habits, however, are much alike, and their 
main characteristics are excessive fierceness and daring, 
accompanied by a considerable amount of cunning. Like 
wolves they usually hunt in packs, and often commit great 
havoc among the flocks of the settlers. They are said to be 
very tenacious of life, and an account said to be well au- 
thenticated, of a dingo which was found still alive, having 
crawled under a bush to protect its skinless hody from the 
sun, four hours after it was shot and skinned, would seem 
to show that the animal was possessed of that charac- 
teristic to such an extreme degree that the story of the 
dog that was turned inside out, and then tnrned back again, 
and lived for several years after without experiencing any 
ill effects from the operation, would seem to be quite 
possible; doubtless the animal was a dingo! Attempts 
are occasionally made by the colonists to domesticate this 
animal, but success has only been partial; they have a 
propensity to destroy any animal they can master, and at 
the first opportunity generally make for the bush. One 
brought to this country, and said to be tame, immediately 
on being let loose made a desperate attack on a donkey, 
which it bit and tore in a most savage manner. One about 
forty years since got loose one night and did considerable 
damage amongst some sheep in the neighborhood of Dublin. 
To persons visiting the dingo in the day time he usually 
appears harmless and playful. The yellow dingo, however, 
in the Irish Zoological Gardens is said to be rather a wicked 
fellow to strangers. He dislikes the crowd and will not 
permit anyone to make free with him if many persons are 
present. When angry, he does not growl nor show his 
teeth like the dog, but lowers his tail and licks his lips, 
while his hair stands erect from his head to his stern; his 
ears are thrown back and his whole countenance assumes 
an expression of distrust not tobe mistaken. When pleased 
he whines, utters a sort of a bark, jumps and frisks about, 
fawns and displays all the marks of genuine canine 
delight. When good humored heisa dog; when vexed 
he is a wolf. In New Zealand and Society Islands is a breed 
of dogs somewhat resembling the dingo; in fact some 
naturalists consider them descendents of the latter, from 
which, however, they differ in having much larger heads 
and shorter tails; their eyes are extremely small and their 
coat long; and their food principally consists of fish and 
fruit. requent attempts have been made to cross the din- 
go with the wolf, but_as far as can be ascertained they have 
been unsuccessful. The former, however, as well as the 
latter, have been crossed with the domestic dog, and in 
Australia, the produce of the dingo and dog crossed can be 
met with frequently.—Land and Water. 
es ee 
Tue Ocropus.—Mr. Henry Lee, the most pleasant contri- 
butor to the Land and Water, is studying the octopus a 
fond. The octopus at Brighton has been spawning, and 
is nursing her eggs.. Old statements of her not feeding du- 
ring her period: of incubation, Mr. Lee considers as incor. 
rect. In the tank where the female octopus dwells are 
seen others of the same species and they consume 
twenty-five crabs per diem. The octopus has no need 
to go around roaming for food. With one or more 
of her arms she sucks fast hold of her rock, and the remain 
ing arms are ever in search of what they may devour, and, 
sad is the fate of any crab within her reach. “Instantly the 
crab is seized, and too fondly clasped to her bosom, for he is 
ground to pieces. The female octopus sometimes turns the 
mouth of her syphon-like tube, as a fireman does the 
nozzle of his hose pipe, and lets on a jet of water on her 
eggs. The eggs of the sepia are grape-like in form, and 
mature rapidly. Soon after emerging from its shell, the 
little octopi, hardly a minute old, will eject their milix- 
like fluid over the fingers which try to catch them. Mr. 
Lee who has been attentively watching all the movements 
of the octopus, states that ‘its action when seizing prey, 
is very like that of a cat pouncing on a mouse, and hold- 
ing it down beneath its paws. The movement is as sudden, 
the scuffle as brief, and the escape of the prisoner even less 
probable. The fate of the crab is not really more terrible 
than that of the mouse, or of a minnow swallowed by a 
perch; but there is a repulsiveness about the color, form, 
and attitudes of the octopus, which invest it with a kind of 
tragical terror. 

TATTERSALL’S.—Tattersall’s is the clearing house of the 
Turf. Itis to the Ring what the Clearing House is to 
bankers, what the Stock Exchange is to brokers and men 
of business; and standing, like the Stock Exchange, beyond 
the pale of the law, it is governed by a committee of its 
own nomination, possessing the double powers of a court 
of law anda court of honor. Like the Stock Exchange, 
too, Tattersall’s has its Bulls and Bears, its millionaires and 
its ‘‘legs,” its plungers and its defaulters. It, has more- 
over, its days of business and its settling days; and it may 
be added that Tattersall’s, like the Stock Exchange, is, in 
its present form, and on its present scale, an organized de- 
velopment of one of the characteristic traits of the age, a 
trait which is as strongly marked in the city clerk who 
dabbles in stocks on a salary of £300 a year, as in the noble 
who throws away an income of £300,000 a year by making 
fnpok ona stable of yearlings. Tattersall’s, is, with the 
Stock Exchange, the only place in London where a woman 
has never yet been seen.—Gentleman’s Magazine. 
Natural lemonade from the acid springs at the geysers is 
sold in San Francisco. ae 

