346 MOSTLY MAMMALS 



them to her consort. Whereas there is nothing remarkable 

 about the structure of the female of this frog, the male 

 has a capacious pouch underlying the whole of the lower 

 surface of the body, which communicates with the exterior 

 by means of a pair of apertures opening into the mouth 

 on each side of the tongue. As soon as his partner has 

 deposited her eggs, the male frog takes them in his front 

 paws and transfers them to his mouth, whence they pass 

 into the great nursing-pouch, where they remain in perfect 

 security till hatched into young frogs, which make their 

 way into the world by the same passage. 



Peculiar as is this method of taking care of the eggs, it 

 is by no means altogether without a parallel in the animal 

 kingdom, although we have to go to the class of fishes to 

 find anything approaching a similar example. Among the 

 so-called cat-fishes {Silitridae), the males of several species 

 of the large tropical genus Arms take the eggs into their 

 mouth, whence they are transferred to the capacious 

 pharynx, where they remain until hatched. It is also said 

 that among the fresh-water fishes of the chromid family, 

 the males of the typical genus inhabiting the Sea of 

 Gahlee take charge of the eggs in a similar manner. 

 Indeed, among the comparatively few fishes that take any 

 care at all of their ova, the charge almost invariably falls 

 to the share of the long-suffering male, whose partner, 

 having laid the eggs, appears to think that she has done 

 quite enough in family matters, and is at full liberty to 

 enjoy herself as she pleases. 



Of the two definitely known instances in which female 

 fish take care of their eggs, one occurs among the aforesaid 

 family of the cat-fishes, in the genus Aspredo, represented 

 by some half-dozen species from the Guianas. In these 

 fish, none of which exceed a foot and a half in length, the 



