212 THE INFANCY OF ANIMALS 



so that the eggs hang suspended. In other cases the 

 outer sheath produces threads, or cords, which are attached 

 to the egg at opposite poles and fasten themselves either 

 with the other eggs laid at the same time, or with foreign 

 objects, as in the case of the gar-fish {Belone), the saury 

 pike {Scombresox), and the flying-fishes {Exocetus). In 

 some of the gobies the egg develops at the lower pole a 

 bunch of fibres, which serve to anchor it to some stone 

 or lump of rock on the sea-floor. Only a few eggs are 

 laid at a time, and these are deposited, one by one, to 

 form a little cluster of small spindle-shaped bodies. 



In a number of species the eggs are deposited in masses 

 held together in a gelatinous matrix. In the perch such 

 masses take the form of a long tube, recalling the egg- 

 chain of the common toad, and this, in like manner, is 

 attached to weeds at the bottom of the stream. In the 

 case of the marine angler or fishing-frog {Lofhius pisca- 

 torius) the eggs are laid in masses of from 25 to 30 feet 

 long, even longer, and about 10 inches broad, forming 

 a sort of floating raft which drifts about at the surface 

 of the sea, at the mercy of wind and waves. This being 

 so, it is not surprising to find that such rafts contain an 

 enormous number of eggs. In a raft 36 feet long and 10 

 inches broad the number of eggs was computed to amount 

 to 1,345,000 ! 



More commonly the eggs are laid separately on the floor 

 of the sea or stream, though thousands may be deposited 

 at a time, as in the case of the salmon. Sometimes, as 

 in the case of the herring, they are adhesive, sticking to 

 shingle and rock on the sea-floor. 



In a large number of species the ova are shed in enor- 

 mous numbers and float, each by itself, at the surface of 

 the sea. Such eggs are always remarkable for their extra- 



