Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1900-05-09
FISHES WITH LUNGS.
QUEER CREATURES THAT LIVE Oh
LAND OR IN WATER.

:, QUEER CREATURES THAT LIVE o.
LAND OR IN WATER.
One Speeinen That Lives DurseA Un-
/ der the River Dea During the DRY
seasen-Inaia's ClinbiAg Perch and
saan's Inland Traveller.
Every one knows that most fishes
breathe in a different manner from
that OF the greater number Of animals
and that they get the oxygen necessary
for their life from the water and not
directly from the atmosphere. WateE
. dissolves q certain amount Of oxygen,
and the gills Of fishes take this out Of
the water as our lungs take It from
the mixed air we breathe. The gills
are bundles of fine blood vessels, COW
cred by . delicate membrane that per-
mits oxygen to pass through 1t to the
blood SO long as 1t Is moist, but usual
ly when q fish Is taken out Of water
the gills dry. and sufrocation follows.
The gills are very thin and may be
torn or injured by slight violence. Mud,
sand, sawdust or any OF the many SIM
liar impurities In water may lacerate
or irritate them, SO nature has put Ill
ters, like combs. just In front Of them
to strain such foreign matters out Of
the water before reaching the real gills.
These filters are called gill rakers"
and net as do the gratings put over
cutters to hold back trash that might
block them up, but the cutters graf
ings get clogged sometimes. and so do
the gill rakers. When this happens,
the fish must die, and 1t Is well known
that the sawdust in our streams has
been a chief factor In the destruction
Of our fresh water fishes.
But all fishes are not dependent on
their gills. Some Of them, like our
common carp and goldfish, come to
the surface now and then to take In
drafts Of air, and eels can travel over
land around dams or other obstruc-
tions. These efforts are trivial COM
pared with those Of some fishes found
In other parts Of the world.
These are the lung fishes, or dipnoi
as naturalists call them, and the &c
counts Of them seem to border on the
marvellous. In one group Of these ami
lung instead Of a mere float. rs 1t Is in
most fishes. and In some strange fishes
In India there Is hollow space In the
skull that acts as lung. the walls Of
1t having clusters Of blood vessels
about 1t. just rs the veSicles Of our
lungs have. These fishes can bury
themselves deep In the mud when the
dry season comes on and live through
1t till the rains ill the rivers again.
A fish In the Gambia river makes q
cocoon Of mucus and mud, In which 1t
hns been brought from Senegambia to
London, where the cocoon was gently
washed Off and the fish found to be
living. The naturalist Natterer dis
covered a similar fish In the Amazon,
but this one. the lepidosiren Of SCI
ence, Is one Of the rarest specimens
In museums.
In the United States there Is q fish,
the bowfin. that can be drowned by
q net below the surface Of
the water 80 that II cannot get to air.
DR.. Hector. the government gcologist
Of New Zealand. reported finding some
Gsh about 5la inches long among the
roots Of trees at depth of four feet
In stiff clay. The place where they
were found was some 81 feet above
The Hokitika river. where there had
been a backwater during a time Of
IICod. The mud fishes are common in |
New Zealand, and the early settlers
we're surprised to dig up fish with |
their potatoes. as farmers on Long Is |
and are said to be In doubt whether !
heir spades will unearth potatoes OF |
,lams.
The most famous Of the lung fishes
8 the climbing perch Of India that has
,ften been found severa! feet up the |
These animals migrate |
when their own streams fail |
md are captured In great numbers by
he natives. to whom they arS great
lelicacies. Ceylon has several species |
II them. The island Is dotted over
With bOgs Of thick, chocolate colored
mud. covered by n sod Of reeds and |
grasses. and this mud teens with fish.
The Cingalese clear OF a space and
wait till the fish come up to fill their |
lir bladder. when they catch them in
strong dip nets.
Sir John Bowring says that some !
ung fishes in Siam go rs much as
hree miles from water and that they !
nave been seen Tapping along a dusty
Dad.
The lung fishes constitute 4 wonder
'ul and interesting group of animals
md show the wide range through
which nature can adapt creatures to
heir surroundings. Biology is full Of ,
Iuch instances. but few are more strik-
ng than this.-Washington Star.