, 1876-12-02
SPARKS OF SCIENCE.

al AAcANy
SPARKS OF SCIENCE.
TIE PILOT-TIStT.
In almost all tropical n1ld temperate seas
there Is often seen, following III the wake Of
vessels, small, hnndsomc1y-tolored gracefully
shaped fish, which Is popt.larly named the Pilot,
or pilut-FIsh. II belongs to the genus !f,a,t-
crd'cs, and, accofding to GIll, n. daetor Is the
onIy species dlstngulshnble with certainty. II
rarely nttatns more than foot III length, and
In the carly Btagus OF growth Is marked with
scvcn cross-hallds OF blnck. Its flesh Is very
delicate, In favor resembling the maclicrcl. IT
Is sald that the fish has been often known to
follow a vessel from Alexandria, in Egypt, to
ports Ia Great Britain.
II derives It's common name from the fact Ut
It's frequent association with The shark, which IL
has been supposed to guide In search Of prey.
1t prolably sucks the company Of the larg er md
more roracious fish in order to feed on the
waste morec1s dropped by the shark In its
bounteous meals, while its object In hoyeriug
near vessels Is to obtain thc catabso refuse that
is thrownoycrboard. Dr.. Bennett remarks ofits
habts: ~ have observed thnt, II several sharks
swim together, the pllot.'IsEes n1e generally a1-
sent; whcreas, on solitary shnTk being seen,
It is equally rare to tlrd Il unacconpaniest ty
one Or more Of these repntcl guides. -.
The only method BY which could procure this
fish was, that, when capturing shark, WIS
awnrc these faithful little fishes would not Tor
sake him until he WIS taken on board: there
fore, BY kcspIng the shark, when hooked, H. the
water Until he was exhausted, or, as the sailors
t:rm It, drowned tile plot-ils1 kept close to
the surface Of tic water over the thurk. and, by
the MD Of . dipplng-net axrsl to the end Of .
onE lor|;,,t stsk WIS enabled to sseure IT with great
In the last number Of the american iaturalist,
tie following incident Is related: tEtcycn ycars
ago, while on voyage from India to this coun-
Try, We were f,cset by many calms while cross
ing the 'lt,,c,' On one Of these occasions, while
some Of the passengers were atnising them
selves looking over tho stern oi the vessel, two
beautiful pl1ot-fishes t.fauera'esD were seen,
and soon utter portion Of an unusually lurssi1
pork WIS thrown overheard. When II touched
= approarh i, uua then suddenly dart under
tho vessel. Soon very largc shark appeared
cured, the sailora drew him OH lc.k. When
suitable opportunity was given for examining
lln, these two pllot-ilshcs wcro sten attached
to the body. at what particular portion they
attached themselves a1ll unable to say. They
werr removed aud placed In buekct Of salt wa.
ter, where they SWAN about us II nothing lad
happened"
BRITISH ARCTIC EXPEDITION.
principal results obtained by the naturaltsts
accompanying tho late British Arctic cxptdi-
tion; A tolerlbly exhaustive series Of spccl-
mems and observations illustrative Of the
geology, pctrology, and palnoutology Of the
whole of the American coast Of Smiths Sound
north of 10 deg. Lat, and of thr shores Of the
Polar Bas!n from Cape Union to Cape Joseph
Henry. Tho characteristic rocks along Smiths
Sound are SllurIan litnestoncs, aboun1lnE In
fossils. Moccnc beds, Inrlosiug thick scam
Of conl, extend as fnr north rs 81
deg. II min. y. Lat; md the shales
aud limcstoncs. contain abundant remains OF
the tora OF their epoch, proving the existence,
temperate climate Within 90 ,allcs of the pule.
The promunloFy of Joseph Henry Is composed
Of carbonfcruls llmestos,es. Fostplloecnc beds
ot great thickness were found, some at the
that great aud ruptu change III tue elevation
OF the int.l must have taken plnre.
The Gora Of the regions visited proved richcs
than wns anticipated, nra 1etweeil twenty and
thirty surrtes OF lowering Plants were obtained
between 81 and 50 deg, N. Lat. The coire-
t!uns little farther south were vured and inter-
cstmE. -. ..........
carefully, and the dgcdEe ar1 trawl used At
every Opportunity. \ large collection Of marine
Invertebrates Nas made: while ascrfesnf Eounl-
lnvs :rotn Datlln's bay to &, deg. ~ Min. N.
Int. nas been preserved. lnscct-life was col,par-
atlrely abundant, aud many species were Oh;
tanned. Few fshes were captured. but u small
salnlonotd was found IT. the frcsl.-watcr hikes as
far north as " deg. 20 min. n Lat. Few spc-
cies Ut birds weru found III tho extrcHle north.
The breeding habits Of the knot were discover
ell, aud thc cgEs aud young Ct tue santltrlss!g
were prortlreti. Among mammals, tho Arctic
fox, ern1lhr, ,uusS.ox, Polar-hare, and lcmning
were observed as fur lnrth as the shores Ut the
Polar Basin. Thy littlu htspid seal was seen
nNrth Of Capc unt0n, but no cetacenns we're
met With beyond Cape 6ahilct
ANTIsErT1CS AND DISISFECI.1NTs.
Thu committee appointed by the Russian tiov.
cr7lmcrt, at the st. Petersburg Medical Aeall-
e,ny, to test the ynlue of various anticipates and
dsinfcetants, l,.vc arrived ut tho following COLI
illusions; |. Carb6lie acid Ia the most ctslclent
preventive Of the development Of a.n'non!acal
gas, putrescencc, and of the lowcr organisms In
organic matter uuler decomposition; and ia,
hence, tho best dtsinfcctaut g VItriol, suits Of
xtnr, and rlanoal, aro thu best deo1"rizcrs for
| usc iu case Of matter undergoing pttrcfactton.
tlon BECAUSE Ut tho isolated state of thcnal
IN them, and Of their constituent II quicklime,
which ahsorbs tho moisture always present
/ III putrcia"ton. Thcy also abAortl aulnc part OF
tho gases and share other properties common to
rarboIc distnfcctants. !. Chloride Of lime aud
| peslnauguIlata Of potash ulfelly destroy tho
tower ORGANISMS In ,putrid liquids. s.. The
lIsnfectants restore tllu putril processes In or
gante botlaes, but their Influence Is only tenn
porary: AS a mcana of purifying air In dwell
tugb their effect IL very small II not absolutely
| ut], BECAUSE Ut the very srlnll degree Of con.
celitratlon Of their ingredients that run bu used
| without tuiurtng thu health nt inhabitants.
| 0. For unililiabitcd buildings tho beat disn-
! fectants art nitrous acll aud chlorine.
AWARD OF MEDALS.
The Council OF tue London Royal society has
| awarded the following nlet9als for thu present
| year, which were presuntotl at the anniversary
| meeting Of the Society, OIL the 3oth ult.: "fhe
| Cop,cy modal to l'rut. Claude Bernard For.