NONSUCH 



least by the shock of emergence and the weight of 

 the remaining yolk. Then frenzy seizes him and with 

 wild, uncontrolled movements of tail and fins he 

 dashes from side to side of the dish, and when he 

 comes to rest every movable part of him is oiled 

 and working smoothly. The ventral fins, which were 

 invisible in the egg, are going, the heart pumps 

 madly, the gills are fluttering, the tail moves tremu- 

 lously back and forth, the eyes roll slightly in their 

 sockets and the mouth is taking in the life-giving 

 fluid. Most interestingly, the movement of the pec- 

 toral or wing fins has changed from alternate to 

 simultaneous, both beating at the same time, an 

 approach to the steady, braced posture which very 

 existence will demand from them in the future. Two 

 days later and the anal fin shows rays distinct 

 enough to count, and the number of fourteen to- 

 gether with other characters marks our young fish 

 as Exonautes rondeletii, one of the four-winged 

 flyingfish. 



A flyingfish has been called a miracle, but only 

 in early human history do miracles spring full- 

 blown, like Jason's armed men, from beginnings or 

 nothings. In the world of Nature miracle is only 

 another way of spelling ignorance. We find that 

 most of our flyingfishes' relations are of exceedingly 

 active habit, jumping from the water upon the 

 slightest provocation. The ferocious gars with their 

 crocodilian jaws and teeth give such frenzied and 

 undirected leaps that fishermen are sometimes 

 maimed or even killed by the impact. 



72 



