TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 71 



onic minnows, still encased in the 

 egg membrane. 



This is a characteristic 

 phenomenon in the minnow — not 

 generally known — not even to 

 some observant naturalists — that 

 these piiiiutest of fish 'develop 

 their offspring alive, a character- 

 istic observed only in a few other 

 fish variety, as the majority of 

 fish hatch their eggs out after 

 they have been laid. The minnow-, 

 however, contains in its myriads of 

 diore or less advanced eggs a liv- 

 ing fish germ, in its mein- 



This phenomenon of our minnow 

 being a viviparous fish, is also 

 well known to my friend and for- 

 mer city bacteriologist, Dr. Chas. 

 A. R. Campbell, and we have both 

 made experiments in this line of 

 observation at the old Dreiss' la- 

 boratory on Alamo Plaza many 

 years ago. 



These fish have a very sharp 

 eyesight; and the eyes are, pro- 

 portionately, very large; and the 

 eye lens, on microscopic examina- 

 tion, is very complefte — a hyeline 

 and exceedingly refractive crystal 



Photomicrograph of Embryonic in Egg Membrane, Inside the 

 Minnow's Ovarium. (Considerably Magnified) 



braneous egg surroundini;, and as 

 seen in the microscopic photo here- 

 in. And, that they breed alive 

 young fish, can be easily seen if 

 an old female minnow be put in 

 a grlass of water and observed for 

 a few days or weeks — according 

 to the advanced cycle of develop- 

 ment — and it will be noticed that 

 gradually a number of young min- 

 nows swim around the glass of wa- 

 ter. In other fish species this 

 process is not witnessed, as the 

 ecrqs are first laid and hatched out 

 afterwards. 



line and oval-shaped disc. For such 

 reason, it is plausable how these 

 minute fish easily find their prey, 

 consisting of animalcules and veg- 

 etable matter; and they also feed 

 on the eggs and larvae of such in- 

 sects as the mosquito. And to the 

 latter they have easy access at 

 such places where the mosquito 

 deposits its . eggs, i. e., at places 

 near the water's edge, where the 

 small fish have access to reach the 

 eggs or larval mosquitoes. In its 

 embryonic state, and as seen on 

 the micrographic-photo herein, 



