170 THE COURTSHIP OF ANIMALS ^ 



manders — the male commonly executes a very animated 

 display which is followed by behaviour of a quite re- 

 markable character. The display, which is always 

 associated with vivid coloration, or the development 

 of fin-like frills along the back, takes the form of 

 amorous writhings and other gesticulations. At times 

 he will hit his mate with his snout, and at others he will 

 simply rub sides with her, as if to entice her to respond 

 to his advances. These evolutions may be followed by 

 an amplexus, an embrace. In some species, however, 

 these performances are followed by behaviour which 

 leaves one gasping with astonishment. 



To begin with, there is no act of pairing, no coitus, but 

 the male discharges a number of conical or bell-shaped 

 " spermatophores," each of which is crowned by a bunch 

 of spermatozoa, the male germs necessary to ensure 

 fertilization of the ova. These spermatophores adhere 

 to the bottom of the stream, and are gathered up by 

 the female, either directly, by placing herself in such a 

 position that they can be seized by the lips of the genital 

 opening, or by seizing the spermatophore, with its 

 fertilizing germs, between her hind legs and pressing it 

 home ! The more one contemplates this extraordinary 

 proceeding the more one marvels at the evolution of a 

 departure from the normal sexual relations so incon- 

 ceivably strange. Here one sees the purpose of the 

 aphrodisiac in its true light. But for these facts it would 

 have seemed certain that its primary object was to enable 

 the male to relieve desire and at the same time to accom- 

 plish its end — the fertilization of ova — without undue 

 waste. And this, in all the cases so far discussed, is possible 

 only when the female has become inflamed with a like 

 desire for coitus. But here the male finds relief, without 



