1352 THE STORY OF THE UNIVERSE 



and as part of their life and habits, to voluntarily 

 leave the water and disport themselves on land. Of 

 such abnormal fishes, the most famous is the climb- 

 ing perch or Anabas scandens of India, which in- 

 habits the Ganges, and is also found in other Asiatic 

 ponds and rivers. These fishes may be seen to leave 

 the water and to make their way overland, support- 

 ing themselves in their jerking gait by means of their 

 strong spiny fins. They appear to migrate from one 

 pool to another in search of "pastures new," espe- 

 cially in the dry season, and when the water of their 

 habitats becomes shallow. 



The Hindu name applied 4:o these fishes means 

 "climbers of trees"; and although statements have 

 been made both by travelers and natives that the 

 climbing perch has been found scaling the stems of 

 trees, these accounts, we fear, must be regarded as of 

 equal value with the native belief that the fishes fall 

 in showers on the land from the skies. Of the power 

 of the fishes to live for five or six days out of water, 

 however, no doubt can be entertained; and their 

 ability to support life under these unwonted condi- 

 tions is explained by the fact that certain bones of 

 the head are curiously contorted so as to form a laby- 

 rinth, amid the delicate recesses of which a supply 

 of water is retained, for the purpose of keeping the 

 gills moist. 



Another group of fishes, also inhabiting India, 

 and possessing powers of existing "out of water," is 

 the Ophiocephalidae ("snake-headed") ; a family 

 allied to the Mullet group. It would appear, from 

 some observations on these fishes, that they are en- 



