THE EVERGLADES 129 



species it is more or less ossified. The vertebrae 

 have ball and socket joints, like those of the ser- 

 pents, and wholly unlike those of all other fishes 

 (inverted cone). The head moves on the neck 

 independently of the body. The scales of the gar 

 pikes are so hard that fire may be struck from 

 them with a piece of steel, and they are arranged 

 in diagonal rows running from the back down- 

 ward and backward. They are very curiously 

 fitted together, in some cases being fastened to 

 each other by a system of hooks; they do not lap 

 over as in regular fishes but form instead a coat 

 of armor. A remarkable fish indeed ! 



I never look at one of these strange creatures so 

 abundant in the Glades, but I am reminded of the 

 serpents and feel more and more sure that they 

 developed from these ancient fishes. The sight of 

 some survivor from the early dawn of life always 

 fills me with awe and reverence. A few Brachy- 

 opods pr lamp shells still inhabit our seas though 

 they developed and lived in myriads in the old 

 Cambrian ocean, among the very earliest forms 

 of life known to inhabit our world. Two of their 

 genera, Lingula and Discina, which are among 

 the oldest genera known survive to-day and living 



