282 Jonvnal of Comparative Neurology and PsycJiology. 



mentioned that in the adult skate the writer of this criticis^m has ob- 

 served a number of meduUated nerve fibers in the nerve in (luestion. 

 It is to be hoped that more information will be gained respecting 

 the precise origin and termination of this ner\e, also the precise nature 

 of its ganglionic enlargements. o. s. s. 



Reighard, J. The Natural History of Amia calva Linnaeus. Art. IV, pp. 

 57-109, pi. 7. 



The very commendable general standpoint of this work was to 

 study the natural history and especially the behavior of a fish in its 

 natural habitat. Practically all the observations and experiments re- 

 corded were made in the field. That this method of working is neces- 

 sarily a tedious and laltorious one and produces results slowly will be 

 apparent to everyone. The present paper stands as a model to show 

 further that the method is capable of producing just as exact and de- 

 tailed results as any laboratory work can, and of solving problems 

 which never could be solved in the laboratory. The paper is not alone 

 valuable as a considerable contribution to knowledge in a field where 

 very little has been known, but also as an indication of the possibili- 

 ties in work on the behavior of aquatic organisms in their natural en- 

 vironment. 



Amia calva, the form chosen for study, is a fish which spawns in 

 "nests." It was this habit which first aroused the author's interest in 

 the subject, and the bulk of his work on the natural history of the fish 

 has to do with its habits during the l)reeding season. A very careful, 

 detailed description and analysis of its behavior during this period 

 takes up the larger part of the paper. The nests are shallow circular 

 areas on the bottom cleared of vegetation, and are built by the males, 

 usually at night. Each nest is the property of a single male and is 

 guarded by that male. If a female does not appear the male will 

 finally abandon the nest. The S})awning usually occurs at night and 

 is intermittent. The females are not seen on the spawning grounds 

 except when spawning. The behavior during the actual process of 

 spawning is described. After the eggs are laid the male fish guards 

 the nest until the larvae are about 12 mm. long. This stage is reached 

 in about eighteen days, and at about this time the larvae leave the nest. 

 AVhile in the nest the larvae develop peculiar progressive swarm move- 

 ments. The individual larvae aggregate in a closely packed group, 

 which from a distance looks like a solid black mass. Within this 

 swarm group individuals behave much as do Para/nccia caught in a 

 drop of weak acid. When an individual comes by chance to the 

 boundary of the swarm it reacts and turns back into the swarm again. 



