The Frost Fish of New Zealand.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3425, 3 February 1890, Page 2

The Frost Fish of New Zealand.

■ The Lyttelton Times publishes the following interesting particulars of the frost fish Among the hundreds of Australian visitors who do us tho

honour of crossing the ocean in the hot season to "discover New Zealand," it was onca our privilege to know a gentleman who had come to this Colony with two special'and: avowed objeots,. He had determined to roll up a snowball once more, and also' to eat fro'stM. Unfortunately, in 'choosing' tho month of January for his visit, lie hadipade the first object difficult of attainment, and the second .impossible. For about the only point concerning tbe habits of that extraordinary creature, the hiku, or frost-fish, upon which scientific men' feee'ln to 'he agreed, is tbatitsiiamq.isflpservedly given it. It really is found either 1 iu frosty weatlicf o't ftlinost immediately after a tlmw has set in, No doubt it sometimes, with the best intentions,

arrives'a little too late for a frost ; owing to the absence of any submarine Captain Edwin, or system of - weather: forecasts. ■■'As a rule, however, it is picked up on tho beaches on clear frosty mornings. The question is, why does it come there ? Three explanations have been given. Bir James IJeotor opineß that it is led intothe shallows in the course of a too eager pursuit of its prey, ind finds .itself stranded before 'it knows where; it is. Dr Von Lendenfeld, in tho Journal of Science for May, 1884, q ; advances an ingenious, but somewhat "A unlikely theory that the. biku is a ( deep sea fish ivliich, at a certain season, is addicted io strajing. too near the surface of, the ocean, and consequently suffers internal injuries'.." wliioh oanse it to lise to the top.in a dying state, and so be helplessly washed ashore, AMr Bobson, however, whoso letter is quoted in Mr B. A. A. Sherrin'sinteresting "Handbookof the Fishes of New Zealand," declares that he has had- ocular demonstra-; tion of the truth of a third !i«bry, He declares that in Clifford Bay, near Cape Campbell, he has seen frost-fishes deliberately swim straight - for the boaoh and literally run them- v selves bead foremost, high and dry T. on the store. "I stood between a frost-fish and- the beach, and as lie ■ came on, turned him with a long stick, bead to sea, and. made liim swim, but in a minute or two ho turned again for shore-, going up high and dry as fast possible.". So thoro . was nothing left for bis would BeV' saviour to do but make a breaktasHw offhim. . Mr Robson thought at that tho fishe3 rau into the 'sand to rnb off parasites. Tbo notion -of » fish coming on shore to soratoh' him- ■ self is so delightful that we aro sorry 'tho '■obiervanf Bobson had later to discard it and fall back on tho assumption of soil-immolation. But why should the frest-fish kill themselves in cold weather? It cannot ' ' be for the same reason for which Frenchmen suppose that Londoners jump in crowds of Waterloo Bridge in foggy November. It is true that j frost-fisli are found in greatest , numbers on the shores of Otago, aud that we could understand any creature bat a fish finding lifo pall in an Otago winter. Buta'fish is ' ' just the exception. Altogether the blueish silvery; animal—the" stuffed specimen of which is so conspicuous in tho Fisheries Court-of the Dunedin Exhibition-remains a bit of a , mystery, The undoubted faot about it is that it is capital-eating,- '■■■ -,t

An Automatic Savings JBank^/i

The latest, and perhaps the most ingenious, application of the automatic principle is' to be found in a machine for banking purposes, invented and patented by. Mr John Hope, meobanicil engineer, 14 Water street, Liverpool. When a penny or two halfpennies aro pressed into Mr Hope's automatic bank, the depositor pulls out a drawer and. finds a printed ticket bearing a number in ' duplicate. Ho writes hiß namo and address on the ticket, which he then presses into a cavity in tho machine made to receive .it, keeping the other half with. the corresponding number. Thus, when those in charge of the automatic bank clear it of the. tickets in order to enter them in proper form in their books," each depositor has the duplicate of of the tickets bearing his name and address, In this way absolute accuracy is obtained, and depositors are credited with tlie exact amount thoi . have put into tho machine. fiadjh machine is capable of holding pennies or halfpennies,, the coins being received in tubes, which are so arranged that any attempt to pass base coins would be very easily detected. No second penny can be received by tho machine unlil the receipt for the first one has been duly removed by the depositor, ilrHppo claims for his invention that it is well suited not only as a feeder to tho Post Offico Savings Bank, but also for Penny Bank Associations, Bands of Hope, and other agenoies for the encouragement of thrift amougold and young. .. 111 From Egg t,o Chick.

j A French scientist who removed ) t hg shull on cither sidg of an egg ; without injuring the membrane,, ia '' ) patches aboul tho Bize of the diameter ; of a pes, and snugly ; fitted .the I openings with bits of glass, given the following report of tho wonderful . experiment :-I placed the egg wilk,, I the tjiaFs bull's eyes in nn inenbat* - run by clockwork and revolving onco • each hour, bo that I had the pica turn of looking through and watching the change upon the insido at the end of I each GO minutes, No changes were noticeable uulil after tho end of the J twelfth hour, when some of tho ime,4Jf| amenta of the head and body of chick * made their appearance. The heart appeared to beat at the ondof tho 24th hour, and in 48 hours two vessels of biood wero distinguished, the • pupations being quite visible. At tho 50th hour an auriclo ot the heart appeared, much vesembling a luce or nooso, folded down upon itself. At the end of 70 hours we. distinguished wings and two bubbles for tho brain, one for the bill and two others for the fore part and hind pait of the head. The lirer appeared at tho end of the fifth day. At tho end of 181 hours tho first voluntary motion was-observed. At tho end of 188 hours the lungs and stomach had become visible, M four hours later tho intestines, loins, and the upper mandible could bo distinguished. Tbo Blimy ma'ttor of tho brain began to take form <and becomo more compact at the beginning of the seventh day. At the l'JOth hour the bill first opened and the ilesb bogan to appear on the breast. At the 194 th the slernnm appeared. At tho 210 th hour the ribs had begun to put out from the back,tho bill was quite visible • as was also the gall bladder. At the beginning of tho 230 th hour tho bill had become green and it was evident V that the chick could have moved had Pfp

it been taken from tbo shell. Pour hours more and feathers bad commenced to shoot out and the skull to become gristly. At the 251 th hour the eyes appeared,'and a few hours later the ribs were perfect. At (lie 83Jat hoiirthoßpleoendrew iip to the stomach and the lungs to tbo chest, When tho incubator had turned the egg 885 times the bill was frequently opening and closing,as if the chick was gasping for breath, When 451 hours flkl elapsed wo heard the first cry of nre little imprisoned biped. From that time forward be grew rapidtyand came out a full fledged chiok at proper time,

Said Sir Edward Arnold in his Harvard lecture;—"ln Indin with is 300,000,000 inhabitants there never occurs a marriage of inclination, Yei there are more happy, marriages iu India, trioro heppy homes more pure domestic relations than 'tyany other part of the world, ■