AN INCUBATING FISH. 237 



flock village gossips, copious no doubt in " experiences." He 

 does the " lying-in " with all pomp and circumstance. 

 Well, our pipe-fish is a Basque in this respect. Strange 

 as it may sound to hear of a fish incubating like a domestic 

 hen, it sounds still funnier to hear that the male fish per- 

 forms that ofiice, and he alone. 



How does he manage it ? Remove that gentleman from 

 under the sheltering stone, and you will observe a sort of 

 marsupial pouch formed along his ventral surface, in which 

 lie an immense mass of eggs in two layers of four strands, 

 which completely fill the pouch. Each egg, you observe, is 

 divided into two tolerably equal portions, one half being of 

 a brilliant scarlet, the other opaque white ; and occasionally 

 you may observe the scarlet portion divided into two. A 

 pretty sight, is it not ? Remove the eggs, and you will find 

 that the pouch is a mere fold of the integument, and that 

 the eggs are as much outside the body as those of a hen are, 

 in the nest. So that the male fish does veritably incubate ; 

 and I hope the 8i)ngnathus from this day forward will have 

 an interest for you.* 



Indeed, the fish-world presents us with many anomalies, 

 which press heavily on our generalisations, and make us 

 relinquish them one by one. As a sample, let us consider 

 this plausible passage, wherein maternal emotions are con- 

 structed out of animal heat : " Still more remarkable is the 



* In popular zoology a "marc's nest" is often alluded to ; but seeing that 

 one species of Syngnuthus is called the " sea-hoi-se," and that be incubates, the 

 question may be asked if a sea-horso incubates his eggs, why should not a 

 land-mare contrive a nest? It is true that mares do not habitually lay eggs, 

 but that is surely a trifle ! 



