Do fish sweat? –Bill Bow, San Francisco

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Freshwater fish have the opposite problem. They’re saltier than the water around them and thus have a tendency to absorb water. They combat this by absorbing what salt they can through special cells and getting rid of extra water by excreting large amounts of, well, pee. This can be a real problem if you are traveling with a freshwater fish on a long car trip. On the plus side, freshwater fish never (well, almost never) drink. If you get a little hammered some night and are presented with the choice of having fish from Sheboygan or Jersey City drive you home . . . well, not to cast aspersions, but I know which one I’d pick.

Meanwhile, eelskin-wallet makers are scrambling to save their hides, so to speak. Katie says at least one company has come out with a polyester clasp. But for some it’s too late. Two companies reportedly have already gone belly up. A slimy business, if you ask me. I think the whole thing stinks.