New-York tribune., 1880-06-20
SCIENCE FOR THE PEOPLE.
CORMORANT FISHING IN CHINA.

COrmorants are uSed for river fishing. The
most celebrated place for breeding them Is
1'anghsichen. The inhabitants are believed 10
possess q secret in communicating which
gives them special success The coImoMnts
book nnme is lu tzu, and the common name yu
wing (ish-hawk), or yu va (ish- crow. The
females lay yearly from three to nine eggs, Dut
the eggs of the first season (tlIst m0On) are the
only ones retained for Matching, which are
given to hens to hatch, as the female cOrmor@nt
is a careless HOtheT.
The eggs Of the second season are not used
the weather being too cold. The young BIRDS
are fist fed with mixture OF Deancuru anu
raw eels' flesh cut fine. The price of n male
is Idol. or 2dOl, and female hall as much'
When they have attained their full size a string
Is tied to one leg, the other end OF it being fas
tened to the bank of a pond or canal, Ihey are
then made to go into the water, the trainer
wlistling peculiar CALL aud using a bamboo
to force them. Small fish nIe thrown them,
upon which they pOunce gTeedily, as they nave
been kept on short allowance OF food. Ihey
are now called back by different whistle call.
and forced to obey by means OF the string. AS
they reach the shore more fish Is gwen tncn.
This teaching having been gone through daily
for n month, another four or five weeks are
spent in training the birds from a boat AT
the end Of this period the string is generally
dispensed with.
The teaching being completed the cOrmOrarts
are fed sparingly. A small hemp ring Is tlcd
round their necks to prev Vent them from sWal,
lowing large fish, and they are taken on board
the small boat Called cOrmOTant boat to the
number of ten or twelve. They are now as
dOcile as dogs, and sit perched on the SIDE or
the boat until they are sent into the water by II
whistle from the master. 1hey ave altcr
fish. and bring their priZcs to the boat firmly
held in their hooked beaks. When a fish is too
large for one bird three or more JOIN their forces
and capture 1t together. After fishing two or
three hours tho binds are allowed to come on
board and rest. AT the end OF the day the
hcmpcn string Is lOOScned or removed aito-
eetheI, and they are either allowed to fish for
themselves or are fed by the hand 0t Their
master. A cOImOrant holds out for five years.
TIE NEXT TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE.
A recent paper by Mr.. d. p. Todd, of The
american EphcmcriS office, gives some valuable
hints for the use Of the electric telegraph III
total solar cc'rscs. Taking as an example the
next total eclipse of the sun, on May l6, 1851,
it is remarked that the path of tolallty Hes AZ
NEST wholly Oh land. Beginning in Western
Africa, Wth nOrthpAStcily direction, 1t eros eS
Inner Egypt and the Red Sea, passing few
miles south of Bagdad and Tehcran and thence
traycrSIuC Central ASIA II leaves that COnil-
ncnt near Shanghai Thus several Wdry-Sep-
aratPd r. gons, connected by tclCgrapnlc cAD"S
nm land liucs, are upon the track of the central
eclipse Mr.. Todd rcmal KS that from FL
AkImym OH the Nile, n line runs north to
Alexandria. from which place Icherln Is
directly accessible by telegraph. From lche-
ian intlu tlN runs SOUlutUSt Nui"uRl i'i"'7
rIstan and IIndnSian to Madras. winch Is con
ncctcd by cabic-liacs with Singapore, Hong
kong. and Shanghai. lie points ont that an
additional advantage attaches to TINS eclipse
from the circumstance that there is Il dunllc
line of tclccIaIhic connection between Egypt
and Shanghai 10y way OF C"nsIaniln"plr,
VIENNA and Moscow, and thence bv the Russian
line through Siberia to Wladiwostok, and
thence to Shanghai.
Surprising. thcn, that an mira McTcurial
planet we've discovered during tOaIity III Egypt,
a duplIcat" message might he sent, to insure
beyond doubt that TIE discovery should be
known To observers 1T Shanghai. 1t II planet
were observed at FL -Akhmym, folty-ilNe MN
uies of absolute time eapSlng before the
shadow reaches lchcran, the p0si'IOn mi"ht he
te!cgraIhcd 10 the later station 30 as to give
tie observer abundant time 10 verify the dis
covery, while OhscIv vatI0ns at both places
might bc t'lc.1aphed to shanghai which the
shadow will not reach until more than twO
hours after lrnving Tchcran. Mr.. Todd thinks
the telegraph companies. with the courtesy
they have always shown IN scientific nndritak-
ings, would render every assistance III carrying
out such scheme.