some object, such as a shell or stone, to expel the 

 tiny young. It was not maintained, however, that 

 this operation is a parturient process, but is merely 

 a mechanical help in the labor of extruding the 

 progeny. 



I am quite certain, nevertheless, that nothing re- 

 sembling these performances took place during the 

 delivery of the young hippocampids that first saw 

 the light in the tanks of my laboratory. So far as 

 the evidence of this particular male is concerned, 

 there was nothing in his behavior to indicate that 

 he was even aware of the necessity of ridding him- 

 self of his burden — if, indeed, such necessity may 

 be said to have existed. For the young I saw issu- 

 ing from his pouch escaped easily and in the hap- 

 hazard manner of bees coming out of the aperture 

 of a hive — some singly, some in pairs and some in 

 groups — and at no time was there any sensible 

 effort on his side to assist their departure. 



As to how many females had chosen him for 

 the depositary of their eggs, prior to his capture 

 in the trawl, cannot, of course, be determined. 

 But the number of connubial contacts must have 

 been comparatively large — possibly more than a 

 score; for fully twenty-five young sea-horses were 



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