SOME STRANGE NURSING HABITS 347 
large eggs are carried on the under-surface of ‘the body of 
the female, where they form a shield-like mass extending 
from a short distance behind the mouth on to the pelvic 
fins. In some respects the position of the ova recalls a 
female fresh-water cray-fish in the breeding season; but 
a closer resemblance exists between the fish in question 
and the Surinam toad already described, although in one 
case the female bears her load upon her back, and in the 
other upon her abdomen. In both instances the eggs are, 
however, pressed into the soft spongy skin, the female 
cat-fish effecting this operation by lying closely upon the 
newly deposited spawn. Instead of being completely 
buried in closed cells, the eggs of the fish remain partly 
exposed, and are thus carried about till they are hatched; 
the rugosities then disappear from the skin of the abdomen 
of the parent, which resumes its normal smoothness. 
Everybody who has been in the habit of partaking of 
whitebait will probably have occasionally observed among 
the contents of his plate a long, slender, bony fish, with 
a pipe-like nose, which has evidently no claim to kindred 
with its neighbours. This fish is a young representative 
of the pipe-fishes, which, together with the so-called sea- 
horses, so well known for their habit of curling their tails 
round the stems of seaweed, constitute a family especially 
remarkable for the variety and curious nature of their 
nursery arrangements. Among these an Oriental genus of 
small pipe-fishes (Solenostoma) agrees with the fish last 
mentioned in that the female takes charge of the eggs. 
For this purpose she is provided on the lower surface of 
her body with a roomy pouch, formed by the coalescence 
of the pelvic fins with the skin of the abdomen. The 
inner walls of this pouch are furnished with long filaments, 
which aid in keeping the egg in position; and it is highly 
