AN INCUBATING FISH. 251 



Well, our pipe-fisli is a Basque in this respect. Strange 

 as it may sound to hear of a fish incubating like a 

 domestic hen, it sounds still funnier to hear that the 

 male fish performs that office, and he alone. 



How does he manage it ? Kemove that gentleman 

 from under the sheltering stone, and you will observe 

 a sort of marsupial pouch formed along his ventral 

 surface, in which lie an immense mass of eggs in 

 two layers of four strands, which completely fill the 

 pouch. Each egg, you observe, is divided into two 

 tolerably equal portions, one half being of a brilliant 

 scarlet, the other opaque white ; and occasionally you 

 may observe the scarlet portion divided into two. A 

 pretty sight, is it not ? Kemove the eggs, and you will 

 find that the pouch is a mere fold of the integument, 

 and that the eggs are as much outside the body as 

 those of a hen are, in the nest. So that the male fish 

 does veritably incubate ; and I hope the Syngnathiis 

 from this day forward will have an interest for you. 



Indeed, the fish-worl'd presents us with many ano- 

 malies, which press heavily on our generalisations, and 

 make us relinquish them one by one. As a sample, 

 let us consider this plausible passage, wherein maternal 

 emotions are constructed out of animal heat : " Still 

 more remarkable is the effect of a mere exaltation of 

 animal heat upon the instincts and affections of the 

 different races of the Vertebrata. The fishes absolutely 

 unable to assist in the maturation of their offspring, 

 are content to cast their spawn into the water, and 

 remain utterly careless of the progeny to be derived 



