58 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



in which the fully formed young ones, skipping 

 the usual free-swimming stage in the open 

 water, are carried about on the mother's 

 body. 



A pretty sight is sometimes seen if we watch 

 one of the common sand-hoppers (Gammarus 

 locusta], an Amphipod crustacean, flattened 

 from side to side, which is always busy clean- 

 ing up on the shore. If we have caught the 

 right kind and put it in a saucer we may see 

 quite a crowd of young ones emerging from 

 the shelter of the mother's body, just like 

 chickens from under a hen. They swim about 

 like miniatures of herself, and as she slowly 

 moves they follow, never venturing to go 

 farther than an inch away. If we make a little 

 splash in the water in the saucer, they hurry 

 back below their mother, just like chickens 

 again. Looking at this in a broad way, 

 through a mental telescope, we see that living 

 creatures always answer back to surrounding 

 difficulties and limitations, and that one of the 

 most effective ways of answering back is for 

 the parents to look well after the children. 

 But who wants " morals" at the end of 

 stories ! 



