SPINOUS PIPE-FISHES. 199 



eggs or offspring ; what arts of attack and defence ; 

 what manoeuvrings and stratagems; what varied 

 exhibitions of sagacity, forethought and care ; what 

 singular developments of instinct; — who shall 

 tell ? A few examples of these we are acquainted 

 with, some of which have been, and others will be, 

 mentioned in this volume ; — but these have become 

 known more by accident, " the fortune of the 

 hour," than by research ; and while they possess 

 an enhanced interest from their rarity, they rather 

 tend to whet and tantalize our curiosity than to 

 satisfy it, confirming the presumption that such 

 facts are not uncommon among fishes, though they 

 do not much encourage our hopes of ever being 

 able to draw aside the veil that conceals the chief 

 pare of the economy of this important Class of 

 animals from the observation of man. 



