24 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 



ing itself, but is used by the natives. They powder 

 the leaves and mix them with sand and lime; the 

 mixture is then scattered by divers in holes and 

 caves where fish are plentiful. The fish become 

 stupefied and immediately rise to the top where 

 they are caught by the natives in small fish-nets. 



There are certain kinds of fish which for pur- 

 poses of safety attach their eggs to aquatic plants, 

 and as a result the seaweed forests are covered with 

 millions of fish-eggs and nests. The close proxim- 

 ity of these plants and fish results frequently in 

 the imitation by the fish of both the appearance 

 and the habits of the plant. An interesting exam- 

 ple of this is the case of a strange fish which 

 strongly resembles the sargasso, among which it 

 lives and builds its nest. This floating nest is the 

 repository of the fish's eggs. The young hatch 

 in their floating cradle, which not only affords 

 them bits of green food to eat, but acts as a hid- 

 ing-place against larger fish, for, as they are so 

 strikingly like the plant of which their nest is 

 composed, they are easily concealed. 



Perch invariably attach their nests to floating 

 plants. 



There are other fish, like the stickleback, which 

 build then- nest of "weed" and attach it to a sta- 

 tionary water plant, where it looks very much like 



