810 



PllOCEEDINdli OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



VOL. XXVIII. 



Curiosity is naturally excited as to the manner in which the eggs are 

 transferred into the narrow-mouthed ovigerous sack of the male. 

 Many have watched, l)ut. so far as known, the only one who has caught 

 the female and male in the act of transfer was Dr. Filipo Fanzago. In 

 May, 1S74, the doctor observed the approach of the two in an aqua- 

 rium at Naples. The approach was not once for all, but oft repeated 

 and very short each time. The male remained passive and the ^gg- 

 l)urden(Kl female advanced toward him and pressed 

 the apei'ture for the extrusion of the eggs against the 

 mouth of the male's pouch. At the most a few eggs — 

 perhaps not more than a single one — were passed 

 from the female to the male and then she retreated. 

 After a not very long interval — it varied — she again 

 approached and another transfer was made. Five 

 times Fanzago ol)served this strange kind of copula- 

 FiG. (1.— SKA-HORSK tion in a short space of time (in breve spazio di 

 (Hippocampus tcuipo), but exactly how long is not stated. He 



HUDSoNius). Very , i j. i l i j. ' i .• iu i ^- i i. 



YOUNG WITH YELK- '^opccl to bc ablc to uiakc further observations, but 

 SAC. (After Lock- has left no other rccords. The eggs are doubtless 



fertilized during the act of transfer. 

 The ovigerous pouch is especially adapted not only for the reception 



of the eggs l)ut for the sustenance of the newly hatched offspring. 



Dufosse (1,S74) found that 



there was a lining nuicous 



membrane which had the fac- 

 ulty of secreting an arM'Iform 



fluid. Further, this function 



is liable to pathologic devia- 

 tion, in which case the bladder 



may become stopped up and 



the tish be unabh^ to control 



itself and carried to the surface 



of the water, where it remains 



helpless till death follows. 

 Lockwood (ISIJS), before the 



investigations of Dufosse, 



found out for himstdf that the 



pouch may actually COntril)Ute Fig. -.— Sea-horse (Hippocampus hudsonrs). Male 



• ' 4- 4^1 ' i- DLSCHARGING YOUNG FROM POUCH. (AFTER LOCK- 



ni som(» way to the sustenance wood) 



of the brood. '^At the time 



of receiving the spawn the Avall of the pouch is not less than 8 lines 



thick and well stored internally with fat. At the time of expulsion of 



the developed fry tiie same sack is not half a line thick and hangs 



tlaccid on the animal, a mei'e thin meml)rane.'' 



If the male would relieve itself of its burden it uses its tail. Lock- 

 wood has described the operation as he saw it. "Bending this ap- 



