i86 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



GAE-PIKES, OLD AND YOUNG. 



By Professor BURT G. WILDER, 



OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 

 II. 



THE writer's opportunities for observing the motions of the adult 

 gar were too brief to enable him to describe them accurately. 

 It is to be hoped that this lish may soon be placed in some public 

 aquarium. But the motions of several young gars were carefully 

 watched daily during three weeks. 



The movements of the little gars, even the smallest, were very 

 unlike those of the common little fishes, minnows or cattishes, which 

 were placed with them. These latter seemed agitated, and splashed 

 about in an indeterminate way. But the little gars, though they 

 went like arrows when disturbed, usually remained almost at rest, or 

 moved slowly about with a dignified, almost solemn air, as if con- 

 scious of very ancient and honorable lineage. They also have, as 

 was remarked by Prof. Agassiz, the power of moving the head upon 

 the neck ; and occasionally the whole body was thrown into two or 

 three undulations, resembling those of a short serpent ; and so im- 

 pressive is the air of supercilious self-possession that one might 

 almost imagine them shrugging their shoulders at other creatures, 

 including the bipeds of recent creation, who study their move- 

 ments. 



To sounds in general they paid no attention. But a tap upon the 

 side of the vessel usually caused them to start and open the mouth, 

 sometimes two or three times in succession. 



It has already been said that the little gar first taken was recog- 

 nized as such ; yet the resemblance to the adult was mostly in the gen- 

 eral elongated form of the body, and in several other respects there 

 were marked differences. First, in color. The old gar is a bluish ash- 

 color, or light gray ; darker above, and lighter below, but with no dis- 

 tinct patches. All of the young gars presented a distinct though ir- 

 regular dark stripe along the side of the body and head, crossing the 

 eye. The belly, too, -was almost white, and strongly contrasted with 

 the darker regions. 



Second, the smallest ones had no scales at all; but with one, 108 

 millimetres (about four and a quarter inches) long, the hinder half 

 of the body showed outlines of the scales in process of formation, 

 and the larger ones had the armor more or less fully developed. At 

 about tlie same time the upper and lower borders of the tail become 

 protected by several pair of pointed plates, i\\Q fulcra. 



The third and most striking peculiarity of the young gars con- 



