TAME FISH. 185 



stone enclosure, perhaps a hundred feet in diameter. The 

 islands are coral in their formation. There was a pool of water 

 full of fish inside the enclosure. I paid an English shilling for 

 admission inside, where I saw perhaps a hundred fish, thor- 

 oughly tamed, each one having a name, and each one answering 

 to the name by which he was called. One of them, I recollect, 



THE HIPPOCAMPUS. 



was called Dick I spoke to him as I would to a dog, and he 

 came and lifted up his head and allowed me to rub his back, 

 Just as you would a cat. Now, as I told you, if any body else 

 had told me that I wouldn't have believed it. But it is neverthe- 

 less true. There is just such a pool there, and they are so in- 

 telligent that they recognize their names." 



Possibly some of our readers remember the queer little fishes 

 Bamum exhibited some years ago, and which he called " sea- 

 horses " on account of the great resemblance of the heads to 

 those of miniature horses. These were labeled as coming from 

 the Gulf of Mexico, though in reality caught in New York Bay. 

 They were what are known to naturalists as the short-nosed 

 hippocampus, and beini^ peculiar we give an illustration which 

 will convey a better idea of their appearance than any mere de- 

 scription. They are commonly about five inches in length, and 



