TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 



75 



not be right to kill these little plaice and liliputian 

 dab-fish, for a little fish grows to be a great one." 



And he pointed with his finger to five or six little 

 Pleuronectes, about half an inch long. 



" Look at them well,'* said Le'on, holding them in 

 his hand, " and tell me how their eyes are placed." 



" Like the eyes of other land-plaice I beg pardon, 

 I should say, other plaice from the sea. I fancy, 



COMMON SHKIMP ! f','*/ <></(! nt 



however, that these have their eyes placed in not 

 quite so straight a line as their larger relatives. .To 

 what is that due ?" 



" To their peculiar habits. When born, they are 

 symmetrical in shape, like other fish ; then gradually 

 the habit of resting on the sand compels the fish to 

 carry the head on one side, which thus becomes 

 deformed and then quite fixed." 



"A sort of permanent wryneck, then! It is cer- 

 tainly very strange. But now it is my turn. Another 



