as ducks do, and that they have passed 
through the body of the duck and fallen 
into the water of this particular pond, 
still undigested. 
If that isn’t the right answer I must 
give it up. It may seem a very far- 
fetched way of accounting for the 
presence of this little fish ; but as there 
is no communication by water between 
one pond and another, I can think of no 
other. And, after all, this is the regular 
manner in which many plants reproduce 
themselves, and spread their seeds about 
the country. The seed itself has a hard, 
indigestible shell or husk, and this is 
covered over and enclosed in a soft, 
juicy fruit, generally of some bright, con- 
spicuous colour. The colour serves as 
an advertisement to the birds, in the 
same way as the flowers attract insects. 
