We recently received the pleasure of a visit from Herr H. Fruhstorfer, of Berlin. The last journey made by this entomological collector was to the Celebes. He is now engaged in working out his Celebesian Rhopalocera, and intends returning to the Malay Archipelago, towards the end of next year, on another entomological expedition.
At a meeting of the Dublin Microscopical Club, held on April 8th, Mr. W.F. Sinclair sent for exhibition two specimens of shagreen. The first was an example of white Asiatic shagreen, such as is used in some English sword-hilts and many Eastern. It was from the skin of Trygon sephen, or some closely allied species of Sting-ray. The principal sources of Asiatic shagreen are the Trygons or Sting-rays, and especially T. sephen, in which the tuberculated area is usually large in proportion to the total surface; and the tubercles (called in trade the "pearl"), though of various sizes, are arranged so as to present a pretty regular pattern, the lesser filling up the interstices of the greater. Their vertical axis, also, is usually at a right angle to the long axis of the fish, which is important to the sword-cutler, as the hilt covered with such shagreen gives a good "cut-and-thrust grip." The Japanese, the best artists in shagreen, usually arrange the two or three large spinal tubercles of this fish so as still further to improve the grip. Urogymnus asperrimus furnishes a skin used for some fancy articles. The Plectognathi, especially Triacanthus and Balistes, furnish a little, of small size and poor quality. Rays, amongst other merits, are much easier to skin than Sharks and Dog-fish; and on the Indian coast, men who never fail to skin Trygon sephen can scarcely be persuaded to do so with any other fish, unless it comes handy just when they want some shagreen. The second specimen was identified by Mr. Boulenger as belonging to Centrophorus granulosus, a deep-sea Dog-fish, widely distributed and especially abundant about Madeira. This is used for the hilts of the best English regulation swords.
