SOME "COLD-BLOODED" LOVERS 169 



The unusual activity of a male of this species was the 

 first thing to attract attention to his movements. 

 Watched more closely, he was found to be dodging a 

 female and making frantic efforts to swim round so as 

 to oppose her path. This done, he closed up and 

 immediately commenced to apply the bastinado to her 

 head. The movements were so rapid that nothing more 

 than a blurred image of these strange whips was visible. 

 As soon as she escaped his attentions, he set about circum- 

 venting her again, and again succeeded : and this most 

 extraordinary performance was repeated many times 

 during my watch. 



Turning to the Amphibia, the descendants of that 

 stock which must be regarded as the ancestors of the 

 Reptiles, the version of the sexual role which is 

 adopted in these pages, that " Sexual Selection " in the 

 older. Darwinian sense, does not exist, finds further 

 support. 



Among the tailless Batrachians — the Frogs and their 

 kind — there is no " display " immediately preceding the 

 act of pairing. The males seize upon the females and 

 hold them in a close embrace which lasts for a very pro- 

 longed period, covering many days or even weeks, until 

 the extrusion of the eggs, which he impregnates by 

 successive emissions of the fertilizing element. What 

 controls the orgasm no one has yet succeeded in dis- 

 covering, but this is an important point, for it is essential 

 that the seminal fluid should not be emitted until the 

 moment the eggs are set free. The pairing act is here 

 purely instinctive, as is shown by the fact that if a Frog 

 in embrace be removed and replaced on some inanimate 

 body, this will be treated as though it were a female. 



With the tailed Batrachians — the Newts and Sala- 



