350 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



To this account . but a few words need to be added. The mucus is 

 secreted not by the sides of the body, as was thought by Mr. Lord, but by a 

 special gland which opens just in front of the vent. During the mating 

 season some of our east-coast forms change their colors with great rapidity. 



The sea-horses and pipe-fishes are queer forms, covered with a bony 

 armor, but beyond this they differ considerably in appearance. The pipe- 

 fishes are long and slender, and in them the fish shape is almost lost ; while 



Fig. 324. — Left, pipe-fish {Sygnuthus); right, sea-horse {Hippocampus). 



in the sea-horses the body is stouter, while the shape is the most bizarre 

 of any of the fishes. There is absolutely nothing in the sea to which it can 

 be compared, and, as may be seen by the cut, the comparison to a horse is 

 very appropriate. One sees the equine head, and the long and gracefully 

 curving neck ; but there the resemblance stops, for the rest of the body of 

 the fish is composed of the long and curling tail. In the reproduction of 

 both pipe-fishes and sea-horses there is a feature to be noticed. As soon as 

 the female lays the eggs, the male takes them and transfers them to a 

 pouch beneath the tail, where they hatch, and at last escape. Dr. Lock- 



