15 BERTRAM G. SMITH. 



The total absence of combat amongst the males accords with 

 the necessity for cooperation in the spawning act. Competition 

 amongst the males is limited to the struggle to get a position 

 next to the female ; in this contest the swiftest and strongest 

 succeed. 



In general the method of spawning is adapted to fishes with 

 gregarious habits, and would seem hardly likely to be developed 

 amongst fishes whose usual habit of life is solitary. 



The pebbles amongst which the eggs lodge afford them some 

 protection, though it appears that some of the eggs are eaten by 

 the parent fishes. The gradual subsidence of the water during 

 the latter part of the season must have left some of the eggs to 

 perish on the shore. That the method of spawning is, in general,^ 

 a successful one is attested by the abundance of these fishes in 

 this brook. 



A comparison with the habits of other inland fishes would be 

 impossible without reference to the unpublished work of Pro- 

 fessor Jacob Reighard. 

 Syracuse University, 

 April, 1908. 



LITERATURE. 

 Reighard, Jacob. 



'03 Tlie Function of the Pearl Organs of the CyprinidK. Science, N.S., Vol. 

 XVII., No. 431, p. 531. 



