112 Part second. 



qualities witli an appearance as charming as original. This creature 

 is far removed from waylaying enemies with snares and deceit, 

 nor, incredible as it may appear, is it waylaid by others. It will 

 certainly be no stranger to the reader, who knows the Sea-horse 

 (Hippocampus, fig. 154), if only from the dried examples which 

 are offered for sale in the sea-side towns. The shape of the animal, 

 resembling that of a chessman, is not much different dried from 

 living, but only by closely observing the fishes in life can one get 

 an idea of the grace of movement, of the idyllic family life and of 

 the comprehension of the proper relations between man and wife 

 shown by them. What a picture of philosophical introspection 

 they offer with the tail clasped round some piece of seagrass 

 or branch of coral and the head thoughtfully sunk on the 

 breast. How they move around with their bodies swaying in 

 graceful and elegant lines, borne along by the hardly noticeable 

 flickering of the back-fin; how they nod and bow and sway up 

 and down with expressive gestures; how they follow one another 

 or swim in pairs or coil their bodies together in gentle pastime! 

 This playfullness is most marked in the autumn which is their 

 breeding-season and then the couples may often be seen billing 

 together like a pair of turtle-doves, and at this time too they dress 

 in yellow or red instead of unassuming olive-green. "Yes, but 

 what is to follow?" you ask, "of course it is the same here as all 

 the world over: 'fiir den Spatz ist das Plasir, fiir die Spatzin sind 

 die Pflichten'!" On the contrary, it is just the reverse, honoured 

 defender of woman's rights! For the Sea-horses are most pro- 

 nounced feminists, and, truth to tell, egg-laying is the only domestic 

 duty which the husband has left over for the wife to do. As soon 

 as she has performed this unavoidable task, her husband hurries 

 up to enclose the eggs in a pouch formed by the skin on his under 

 side. Thus he carries them around until the children are old 

 enough to swim about alone. With a knowledge of their coming 

 independance the little ones let their father know, by the increasing 

 livliness of their movements, that it is time for them to come out. 

 Thereupon the worthy parent makes affirmative bows, which 

 cause his body to bend in and the pouch to open, and at each move- 

 ment a number of youngsters emerge until all are free and gaily 

 swimming around. There is nothing more charming than to see 

 a swarm of these little creatures, looking like question-marks, a 

 quarter of an inch in length. 



The Sea-horses belong to the "tuft-gilled" fishs or Lopho- 

 hranchiae, and another genus of the same group are the Pipe-fish, 

 Syngnathus (fig. 153). They inhabit the fields of sea-grass, the 

 dead leaves of which they imitate in form and colour. Particularly 

 talented in this respect is Nerophis, the smaller of the species to 

 be found in tank No. 25. It shows the same degree of resemblance 

 to the leaves of the sea-grass Cymodocea as the Stick-insect does 



