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the Sepiada. The Sepia (Sepia vulgaris) may be said to be the commonest of our English cuttles. It is somewhat similar in appearance to the common Loligo, but larger and altogether more robust, and has a fin running down both its sides. Though the animal itself is but rarely seen on our coasts, except after a storm, yet the bone or shell with which it is furnished may be picked up in profusion nearly anywhere. This bone, sometimes called sepiostaire, is for the most part constructed of pure chalk. It is loosely contained under the mantle, on the dorsal side, the apex being situated near the end of the body. The bone seems to be curiously analogous to the backbone of vertebrates, and forms a sort of link between them and the invertebrata. Besides being of use to strengthen the Sepia's body, it is also serviceable in acting as a float to buoy the animal up. On examination through the microscope, it will be found to consist of shelly plates, kept a slight distance apart by a scries of innumerable small pillars. Viewed through the microscope, either as an opaque object or with polarized light, the effect is very pleasing. One surface is quite hard, while the other is so soft that a deep impression may be made with the nail. The largest-sized sepiostaire I have met with measures rather over seven inches in length and three in breadth. From its being of such a light substance, and formed into air-chambers, it is peculiarly fitted to enable the Sepia to float on the surface of the water without any muscular exertion, and so is a most indispensable adjunct to the animal; for, unlike the Octopus, the Sepia does not crawl along the bottom of the sea, but swims on the surface, disporting itself amidst a crowd of its fellows. In places on the sea-coast, the cuttle-bone is often given to canaries and other cage-birds, who seem to take a delight in drilling their beaks into the soft, chalky substance. It is also used as a dentifrice, and may frequently be purchased at perfumers' shops for that purpose. Forbes says that about the shores of the Eastern Mediterranean the common Sepia is so numerous that the "cuttlebones" may be seen in places heaped up by the waves into a ridge which fringes the sea for miles. Other peculiar belongings of the Sepia are its eggs, which may be found on the shore sometimes, after stormy weather. The eggs are strangely like a bunch of purple grapes, both in shape and colour; they are connected in bunches by a sort of footstalk. The ink from this species is of a more intense colour than that from other cuttles. From it was originally manufactured Indian ink, and the colour so largely patronized by Claude,-sepia. This ink has been found preserved in the fossil sepias, when none of its qualities were lost. A drawing of a fossil species, together with a description of it, was made out of the ink found therein; and a celebrated painter, on trying some of the ink, and not being

aware of its origin, asked where he could procure some more of so excellent a pigment. It is strange that this ink should lose none of its properties after the lapse of so many thousand years. The eyes of the Sepia are prominent, and, when taken from the living creature, of a pearly tint. In some parts of the South of Europe they are strung together when dry and hard, and worn as necklaces. The Sepia is very voracious, and as its food consists chiefly of fish and such crustaceans as crabs and lobsters, it is more especially an object of hatred to fishermen. It seems remarkable that an animal with so exposed a body should be able to overpower the hard-shelled crabs or lobsters; but such is the case, for the Cuttle makes use of its arms and tentacles to tie up the claws of the victim, and then proceeds to tear open the shell with its strong, horny jaws. Sepias are especially fond of visiting the nets which have been laid for fish, and, coming, as they gene. rally do, in great swarms, devour the greater part of their contents. A friend tells me that at Seacombe, in Devonshire, last August, the fishermen, thinking a shoal of fish was in the bay, put out their nets, and were greatly disgusted to find them filled with cuttles instead of fish. Two hauls were thus taken; the number caught exceeding 400. (To be continued.)

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children of a larger growth have been catching pickerel bait, in the way of cyprinoids generally, which they wouldn't sell, why the writer has "hooked" the golden minnows from the mass of roach, shiners, and dace. We admit a weakness for preserving them from such common uses; they seem to be all our own, for if Prof. Cope is right, we first detected their peculiarities, and submitting the fish to him, he named it. Then we only knew it as as a new species"; but now, as the months have rolled by, we have learned something con

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cerning it. Curiously enough, our collecting experience shows it to be most abundant in the Delaware and Raritan Canal. With abundance of natural watercourse all about it, it nevertheless is best pleased with the artificial stream, the tame, even banks of the canal, that have just grass enough about them to shelter such small fishes. We once left the realms of science and wondered if the fact of their own alimentary canal" being five times the length of their whole body, and so a prominent feature of their anatomy, made them prefer a canal to live in, on the principle of "a fellow feeling, &c. &c."; but enough of this and more of the zoology proper.

Popularly, i. e. with juvenile anglers, this pretty fish is known as the "Golden Minnow," and it is a very correct description of the fish's general appearance when living. The back and sides to the lateral line are dull golden-yellow, while down the back, on a line with the insertion of the dorsal fin, is a very beautifully bright line of polished gold. When taken from the water, these metallic tints are too noticeable to be overlooked, even by boys intent only on capturing a “big string"; and they show to great advantage in an aquarium.

A lover of deeper waters than cyprinoids usually prefer, they appear to be rare, judged only by the few that wander into the shallows and seek the company of the "red" and "silver fins." To find them abundantly they must be sought in waters of considerable depth, and resting on or very near the bottom, close to the shore generally, in patches of grass; but the shore must be a steep bank, with the current moving at a fair rate, keeping the water clear and cool.

If, while fishing for other kinds, we chance to drop the hook near them, they pounce upon it; and thus is explained the fact that these little fish are often caught by anglers who are after cels, catfish, and such larger kinds as frequent the bottoms of the streams. Just what particular kinds of food they prefer, we could never determine; but, judging from the length of the intestine, it must be something slow in digesting; and this brings up the question, was the bowel made thus so very long for the food, or did the food cause, by its presence, the lengthening of the bowel? Cyprinoids generally have an alimentary canal of ordinary length; all our New Jersey species have, except this golden minnow, and we incline to the belief that a predilection for some peculiar article of diet has lengthened, folded, and refolded this canal, until its present length suited the time required to take up the nourishment of the favourite food. Rather this than extra intestine was given to this one species, that it might live on something not suitable to a short-bowelled species. The known food of the Gizzard-shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) explains the strong muscular stomach possessed by that fish;

and the voracious appetite of the "Pirate" (Aphredodirus sayanus) may have much to do indirectly with the eight or nine cæca attached to the alimentary canal of that fish; but so far the golden minnow's diet is not sufficiently known to explain why so enormously long a digestive tract is a necessity.

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Speaking of cyprinoids generally, Prof. Cope remarks, "Differences of habit are associated with peculiarities of food and of the structure of the digestive system. Few families of vertebrates embrace as great a variety in these respects as the present one. There are carnivorous, insectivorous, and granivorous genera, which are distinguished as among mammalia, the former by the abbreviation, the last by the elongation of the alimentary canal; in the former the teeth are usually sharp-edged or hooked, in the latter truncate, hammer or spoonshaped." Guided by this, we should be led to believe that the Hybognathus, with its alimentary canal five times the length of the body, fed exclusively upon vegetable matter, but we do know that this is not the case; nor is our common roach a vegetable-feeder, in the strict sense of that term, as stated by many writers. We have generally found the whole length of the intestine filled either with mollusca entire, or, as the bowel nears the vent, with the emptied shells; the juices of the stomach and bowel having dissolved out the body of the animal. The Golden Minnow is an exception to the law (?) governing the regulation of diet with regard to the length of the alimentary canal.

Like the majority of our cyprinoids, this little fish becomes brighter in all his tints, and more active in all his movements, in the early spring; and the silvery sides putting on a ruddy tint, that in contrast with the permanent but now brighter golden, make our little pet second to none in general attractiveness.

Prof. Cope has given this species, as we have seen, the specific name of osmerinus, which refers to the fact of the specimens first submitted were found in company with the Frost-fish, or Smelt (Osmerus mordax), that ascend our rivers in immense numbers in February. The Golden Minnow does not, however, remain with them long, or follow them again to the sea. Indeed we think the association is occasional and accidental, rather than a habit of the species.

Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.A.

RAINBOWS. Some years ago I remember having scen three distinct rainbows. Of these two were concentric, but the other one intersected them. Will any of your numerous readers kindly explain the cause of the phenomenon?-Theophilus Bates.

* Cyprinidæ of Pennsylvania (Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc.," vol. xi. p. 333).

† Prof. Cope gives the length as four times, but it is fully five times in the Hybog, osmerinus.

Stilbe americana, Linné.

NEW BOOKS.*

SCIENTIFIC readers of all classes cannot com

plain for want of intellectual pabulum. It is both varied and abundant, served up in all kinds of

dishes, and garnished with all sorts of attractive surroundings. Nor can the most captious complain of the weak nature of the material supplied. In this respect it is unequalled in the history of literature.

Dr. Ross, whose work we have placed at the head of our list, modestly states in his preface his indebtedness to the great leaders of modern science, and seems to put forth his volume rather too tentatively. We assure him he need not be ashamed of his production. It is a valuable evidence of the not distant utilitarian application of the theory of evolution. Dr. Ross has proved sufficiently that what many regard as nothing but airy speculations, chiefly fruitful in their waste of time, may result in a more thorough knowledge of zymotic diseases, and there fore lead to the alleviation and possible extinction

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Fig. 10. Adult Male Orang.

"The Graft Theory of Disease." By James Ross, M.D. London: Churchill.

"Mind and Body." By Alexander Bain, LL.D. London: Henry S. King & Co.

"On the Conservation of Energy." By Professor Balfour Stewart. London: H. 8. King & Co.

"Man and Apes." By St. George Mivart, F.R. S. London: Hardwicke.

"The Smaller British Birds." By H. G. and H. B. Adams. London: George Bell & Sons.

"Waste Products and Undeveloped Substances." By P. L. Simmonds. London: Hardwicke.

"Where There's a Will There's a Way, or Science in the Cottage." By James Cash. London: Hardwicke.

"The Telegraphic Journal." Vol. 1. London: Henry Gillman.

Fig. 11. Face of Proboscis Monkey.

of the direst diseases to which poor humanity is liable. In this essay the author has quoted freely from the most distinguished of modern writers, so that, in this respect alone, the student will find it a valuable digest of opinions on the subject discussed. Dr. Ross is opposed to the theory that contagium particles are parasites in the zoological or botanical sense. On the contrary, he holds that contagium particles are living, in the sense of being portions detached from a living being: that they are not germs capable of giving origin either to higher forms of life, or to organisms like themselves, but that they are anatomical units modified and individualized by a diseased process, and capable of impressing upon the healthy organism with which they come into contact a succession of changes similar to that which preceded their own modification in the body from which they were detached. In short, the Doctor has applied Darwin's hypothesis of "Pangenesis" (which he shows is as old as Hippocrates) to the explanation of the phenomena of zymotic diseases. The last chapter, which deals with the probable mode in which zymotic diseases have been differentiated, is both valuable and

highly interesting. The author contends that contagium particles will differ in properties according to the kind of epithelial structure from which they originally descended. These correspond to the three great tracts into which the tissues may be divided-the skin, the respiratory, and the digestive mucous membranes; and therefore we have the three groups of zymotic diseases-epidemic, pulmonary, and intestinal. The clear and spirited style in which this book is written is a great advantage to the reader, to whom we can conscientiously recommend it as a genuine treat.

Fig. 1. Trobosc s Monkey.

Fig. 13. Chameck Spider Monkey.

It was indeed " 'a happy thought" to conceive the idea of giving to the world a complete library of scientific books on every department of modern science, each to be written by the most distinguished writers on the several subjects, English and foreign.

This "International Series," as they are fitly termed, is now in due course of publication. The two volumes on our list are good examples of the nature of these productions. They are handsomely and attractively got up, so as to make one's library look a trifle more cheerful than hitherto. Who could better write on the physiological and psychological relations of mind and body than Professor Bain? Or at whose hands could we expect a more thorough and exhaustive knowledge of the "Conservation of Energy" than from those of Balfour Stewart, the popular Professor of Owen's College,

Manchester? These works possess the rare value of being strictly popular and strictly scientific, and indicate that such a combination is not impossible. The limits of space forbid us to do more than to bring this series before the notice of our readers with our strongest recommendations.

Those who read Mr. Mivart's articles in the pages of the Popular Science Review, on "Man and Apes," will be pleased to see them appear in the handsome volun.e form in which the publisher has now issued them. The articles have been considerably enlarged, and fully illustrated. Mr. Mivart, as the author of that charming work, the "Genesis of Species," will always obtain a hearing, not only from. scientific men proper, but also from those who do not profess to be scientific, and yet who are deeply interested in the leading theories and discussions of the day. The present volume is especially valuable to students as containing by far the fullest and completest comparison of man with the Quadrumana that has yet appeared. It has been the custom to compare the human frame with what was considered the highest member of the ape family, but Mr. Mivart clearly shows the fallacy of such a method. Of all the monkey tribe, the Gorilla is believed to be that most nearly approaching man in its structural peculiarities-to be, in short, the veritable "missing link." Although Mr. Mivart seems inclined to grant the generally high zoological position of the Gorilla, he argues that the nearest approaches in structural peculiarities to man's frame are not to be found in any particular species, but are scattered throughout the entire series of Quadrumana, not even excepting the half-apes. After devoting some space to the zoological position of the Gorilla. the author proceeds to notice the various degrees of resemblance to man which the different kinds of

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the doctrine of evolution as applied to the human

"The Smaller British Birds" is an édition de luxe, got up in the most attractive style of green and

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Fig. 14. Young Orangs.

apes exhibit. The Chimpanzee is universally acknowledged to be "anthropoid," especially in its juvenile condition. It and the Gorilla represent the highest apes of Western Africa, just as the Orang is the highest quadrumanous representative in Borneo and Sumatra. The figures of the latter we have borrowed from Mr. Mivart's book give a good idea of the generally more human likeness seen in the younger stages of the anthropoid apes. This is seen again in the face of the baby "Moor monkey" (fig. 16). Of all the monkey family that which approaches man most nearly in the conformation of its nasal organ, is the "Proboscis Monkey," a native of Borneo. In the attenuated form of the limbs, the monkeys furthest removed from humanity appear to be the "Chameck Spider Monkeys," whose prehensile tails and slender legs show how truly they are adapted, not to a ground, but to a terrestrial life. Mr. Mivart compares every part of the human frame with that of the monkeys in general, and finds some point of near resemblance in one or another of this numerous group, but never all the points in any one member. Nay, some of the species, as the Orang, for instance, diverges more from man, as regards its skeleton, than does any other latisternal ape. The author concludes that the teaching of the skeleton, as well as of all the other parts, seems to be that resemblance to man is shared in different and very unequal degrees by different species of quadrumana, rather than that any one kind is plainly more human than any of the others. In cerebral development, the Gorilla is inferior both to the Orang and the Chimpanzee; the difference between the brain of the Orang and that of man being one of degree, and not of kind. On the other hand, the author shows that the difference between the mind of man and the psychical faculties of the Orang is a difference in kind, and not one of mere degree! These facts, the author believes, militate against the supposition that man has been derived from the monkey family by the Darwinian process of "natural selection," but he does not think they are antagonistic to a belief in man's origin by the larger and more comprehensive process of evolution. The latter part of the book is devoted to this question, and there the reader will find able arguments for considering this fact of man's physical peculiarities being shared among so many members of the Quadrumana, advanced in favour of

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Fig. 15. The Chimpanzee.

gold, and gilt edges, and having an interior worthy of the exterior as regards artistic effect. Our "Smaller British Birds" in point of fact comprehend

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