WHERE CURRENTS RIP 57 



chin. Nothing with a scaly or a hard skin seems 

 safe from these omnipresent crustaceans. I once 

 thought that after they had gro^vn for a time, they 

 must set up a certain amount of irritation, but I 

 have removed barnacles of good size from fish, 

 without finding any trace of lesions. Here too, 

 when I scraped a few off, neither in surface or 

 pigment was there any alteration noticeable from 

 the normal. 



I had this Hydrus painted, photographed, and 

 his method of swimming studied, then chloro- 

 formed him to put him out of his misery. He had 

 been feeding on two young Coryphsnas — the dol- 

 phin-fish of the ancients, which we found so abun- 

 dant hereabouts. 



This individual was quite as brilliant as my 

 Malay species, but absolutely unlike it in pattern. 

 The dorsal third was black, and the ventral surface 

 and much of the lower sides olive-green. Between 

 the two colors ran a broad band of bright chrome 

 yellow. On the long, flattened tail, this latter tint 

 dominated as a background, over which were 

 scattered a number of large spots and imperfect 

 bands of black. 



Besides the sharp keel to which the body nar- 

 rowed below, and the paddle-like tail, these snakes 

 are so intimately associated with an aquatic life 

 that they cannot survive protracted removal from 

 it. Why this is, no one has had sufficient curiosity 

 to ascertain. Its breeding habits are said to be like 

 those of the seal, as it is viviparous, and goes ashore 

 to bring forth its young in the crevice of some 



