LOCH CRERAtf. 



protest against the cruelty of fate, and ceased the 

 graceful movements of his tapering tail 



There had been no apparent retardation of the process 

 of incubation, and consequently it must be allowed that 

 these cold-blooded sluggish fish are extremely leisurely 

 in all their movements from the beginning, and that as 

 the eggs take so long to incubate when excluded, it is 

 more than probable our conjecture was correct, and that 

 the embryo eggs found in the fish in November are not 

 capsuled and ready for deposition until the usual spawn- 

 ing time in May and June. No wonder neither Couch 

 nor ourselves could incubate them before, seeing we 

 looked upon six or eight weeks as the time probably re- 

 quired, in place of as many months. 



When noting the various mosses to-day in their beauti- 

 fully-luxuriant development, we came upon the smooth 

 face of a rock up which the cushiony sphagnum had set 

 itself to climb. It was quite interesting to observe the 

 complete change in its apparent character, resulting from 

 the changed conditions of the physical problem it had 

 set itself to face. The soft moss had stretched itself out 

 to the utmost, clinging like ivy to the face of the rock, 

 and appearing as if pressed in a scrap book, so closely 

 did it spread itself on the stone. Several species had 

 behaved similarly under similar conditions, and the 

 extreme tenuity of the stems, as they strained upwards, 

 had extended to every filament, with the result that, 

 dusted as they were with a light moisture, they presented 

 a most ethereal appearance, and were in marked contrast 

 to their commonplace fellows pursuing the even tenor 

 of their uneventful, unambitious, gregarious ways. No 

 doubt these lower forms are less readily injured, and 



