564 



THE OCEAN WORLD. 



follows : " When they swim," he says, " they preserve a vertical 

 position, but their tail seems on the alert to seize whatever it meets 

 with in the water, clasping the stem of the sea-weeds. Once fixed, 

 the animal seems to watch attentively all the surrounding objects, 

 and darts on any prey presenting itself with great dexterity. When 

 one of them approaches the other, they interlace their two tails, and 

 it is only after a struggle that they can separate again, attaching 



Fig. 371. The Sea-horse (Hippocampus brevirostris). 



themselves by the lower part of the chin to some weed in order to 

 release themselves. They have recourse to the same manoeuvre 

 when they wish to raise the body, or when they wish to wind their 

 tail round some new object. Their two eyes seem to move indepen- 

 dently of each other, like those of the chameleon. The iris is bright 

 and edged with blue." 



The sea-horses have the pectoral fins so formed as easily to 

 sustain the body in the water ; they are, in fact, winged fishes, and 

 probably originated the famous winged courser of mythology, after 

 which they are sometimes named. They rarely exceed four inches in 



