A BROOD OF YOUNG FISHES. 701 



while the nest as a whole was secured in alco- 

 hol, as a memorial of our discovery. 



The next day I found two embryos in my 

 glass jars ; they moved occasionally in jerks, 

 and then rested a long time motionless on the 

 bottom of the jar. On the third day I had 

 over a dozen of these young fishes, the oldest 

 beginning to be more active. I need not 

 relate in detail the evidence I soon obtained 

 that these embryos were actually fishes. . . . 

 But what kind of fish was it ? At about the 

 time of hatching, the fins differ too much 

 from those of the adult, and the general form 

 has too few peculiarities, to give any clew to 

 this problem. I could only suppose it would 

 prove to be one of the pelagic species of the 

 Atlantic. In former years I had made a care- 

 ful study of the pigment cells of the skin in a 

 variety of young fishes, and I now resorted to 

 this method to identify my embryos. Hap- 

 pily we had on board several pelagic fishes 

 alive. The very first comparison I made gave 

 the desired result. The pigment cell of a 

 young Chironectes pictus proved identical 

 with those of our little embryos. It thus 

 stands, as a well authenticated fact, that the 

 common pelagic Chironectes of the Atlantic, 

 named Ch. pictus by Cuvier, builds a nest for 



