Odd Fish 173 



Fish may be met with in both very hot 

 and very cold waters. The common 

 carp, for instance, will survive for months 

 walled up in a block of ice, whilst at the 

 other end of the scale is the little Central 

 Arabian desert minnow that flourishes in 

 hot springs over four hundred miles away 

 from the nearest open water. It has 

 been suggested that the eggs have been 

 carried to these isolated springs in weeds 

 adhering to the claws of birds, and that 

 thus a race of fishes has been evolved 

 which can enjoy life in water at a 

 temperature of 110 F. 



All fish may in a sense be regarded as 

 poisonous, since their teeth and spines hav- 

 ing once punctured the skin are liable to 

 cause wounds, which, if neglected, become 

 septic. A few, however, are provided 

 with a genuine poison apparatus analo- 

 gous to that of our native adder. The 

 best known examples are the weever fish, 

 abundant all on sandy coasts. The 



