Chap. VIII.] SEXUAL SELECTION. 299 



the males are believed to die soon after fertilizing the ova. With 

 many species the males are of much smaller size than the females, 

 so that a large number of males would escape from the same net 

 by which the females were caught. M. Carbonnier, 52 who has 

 especially attended to the natural history of the pike {Esox lucius) 

 states that many males, owing to their small size, are devoured by 

 the larger females ; and he believes that the males of almost all 

 fish are exposed from the same cause to greater danger than the 

 females. Nevertheless, in the few cases in which the proportional 

 numbers have been actually observed, the males appear to be 

 largely in excess. Thus, Mr. R. Buist, the superintendent of the 

 Stormontfield experiments, says that in 18C5, out of 70 salmon 

 first landed for the purpose of obtaining the ova, upward of GO 

 were males. In 1867 he again " calls attention to the vast dispro- 

 portion of the males to the females. "We had at the outset at 

 least ten males to one female." Afterward sufficient females for 

 obtaining ova were procured. He adds, "From the great propor- 

 tion of the males, they are constantly fighting and tearing each 

 other on the spawning-beds." 53 This disproportion, no doubt, 

 can be accounted for in part, but whether wholly is very doubtful, 

 by the males ascending the rivers before the females. Mr. F. 

 Buckland remarks in regard to trout, that "it is a curious fact 

 that the males preponderate very largely in number over the fe- 

 males. It invariably happens that when the first rush of fish is 

 made to the net, there will be at least seven or eight males to one 

 female found captive. I cannot quite account for this ; either the 

 males are more numerous than the females, or the latter seek 

 safety by concealment rather than flight." He then adds that, by 

 carefully searching the banks, sufficient females for obtaining ova 

 can be found. 54 Mr. II. Lee informs me that out of 212 trout, 

 taken for this purpose in Lord Portsmouth's park, 150 were males 

 and 62 females. 



With the Cyprinida) the males likewise seem to be in excess ; 

 but several members of this family, viz., the carp, tench, bream, 



52 Quoted in the 'Farmer,' March 18, 1869, p. 369. 

 58 ' The Stormontfield Piscicultural Experiments,' 1SGG, p. 23. The 

 'Field' newspaper, June 29, 1867. 

 " 'Land and Water,' 1868, p. 41. 



