Page:Hardwicke's Science-Gossip - Volume 1.pdf/181

Fox-shark.—A specimen of the Thresher or Fox-shark is now being shown here at the moderate charge of two-pence each, having, unfortunately for itself, got entangled in a mackerel-rope, twisting the rope round its tail, or the net never could have held it. It was towed in about nine miles from the place of capture, and still shows slight signs of life. It is this species which is reported to assist the swordfish in attacks on the whale, the latter stabbing while the thresher administers violent blows. The tail is more than half the length of a fish, the fin running beneath it being just 7 feet long, while the total length from snout to tip is 13 feet 4 inches; the pectoral fins are 2 feet long, and the dorsal 1 foot 2 inches; two rows of rather small teeth in the lower jaw; those in the upper appear sunk in a groove. The skin is, of course, roughish when stroked "the wrong way" on the body and pectoral fins, but on the other fins it feels smooth in any direction. The individual in question is a male, and is, I believe, the first example of the species that has been taken on this part of the coast.—G. Guyon, Ventnor, Isle of Wight.

Great Slaughter of Fish in the Roden.—At an early hour on the morning of Sunday, the 21st May, a large quantity of fish were found lying dead on the bottom of the river Roden, near the town of Wem, Shropshire. On inquiries being made, it was found that the careless authorities of the Wem gas company had drained an old gas tank into the street sewer which empties itself into the river. On going down the river, the fish were found dead for miles, the bottom of the river being literally strewed with dead fish. Some very fine trout, weighing from two to five pounds, and pike from two to seven pounds each, were picked from the sides of the stream. Not a single fish was seen alive. Fears are entertained of the poisonous water reaching the Severn, where, if it should not have lost its hurtful properties, great damage will doubtless be done. No better trout streams than the Roden existed in Shropshire, and the greater part of it being preserved by Sir V. R. Corbett, Lord Hill, and others, there was always abundance of sport. Actions have been commenced by some of the river proprietors against the gas company for polluting the stream. When will the legislature be alive to the necessity of preventing the recurrence of wholesale fish murders like this? Until our streams and rivers are freed from sewage there will be but small chance of pastime to the angler, and much less of obtaining that which, in these days of dear beef and mutton, would be most acceptable—a supply of fish as food for the people.—R. A.

Reproduction of the Eel.—I think that W. Houghton, in your last number, does not satisfactorily account for "nothing like a row having ever been found in the eel," as stated by "E. B." at p. 118, and I cannot consider the fringes mentioned by W. Houghton as any proof that the eel is oviparous. Surely if the eel was oviparous as other fish are, a regular roe would long ere this have been met with. I have in my time caught some thousands of eels, but never met with one having a roe, and, in fact, have not heard of such a thing. I have been informed by a party who has long been accustomed to fishing for eels, and on whose statement I can place implicit reliance, that on more occasions than one, on his return from fishing at night, he has placed eels in a tub of water, and in the morning has found lots of young eels about the length of his thumb-nail swimming about in the water, and that he has occasionally found young ones of about the same size in the bag in which he brought his eels home. The same party also informs me, that not long since, on his cutting an eel asunder, he found several young ones in its stomach. As I am perfectly convinced of the truth of the above statements, I must, of course, range myself on the side of those who consider the eel as viviparous; and I am satisfied I could, on inquiry, procure plenty of credible evidence to establish the fact to the satisfaction of any jury.—H. C. S.

Extraordinary Voracity of a Trout.—As Mr. R. Jackson, jun., of Langdale, was on his way to the Windermere railway station, and when near to Dove's Nest, on the shore of Windermere Lake, he observed something floating on the water, which he at first supposed to be a pike; but on approaching the beach, he soon satisfied himself that it was a trout of no mean size, with not sufficient strength left to battle against the waves. With the aid of a stick which was procured near to, and by wading a short distance into, the water, Mr. Jackson succeeded in landing the now exhausted fish, which proved to be a fine great trout weighing one pound and a half, whilst tightly wedged in its throat was a perch measuring six inches in length, which the trout had been unable to gorge, and had by its voracious appetite brought itself to grief. It is a common practice to capture pike in Windermere Lake by means of a bait nearly half the size of themselves; but we think the oldest and most experienced fisherman will be unable to bring to record an incident like the preceding one, where a trout had been known to take for bait a perch weighing over three ounces.—Kendal Herald.

Things which are beautiful in themselves, independently of all association, will necessarily at al times be beautiful.