384 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



greyish brown, the Sea-Horses swam slowly about, propelled by 

 the quivering action of the dorsal fin. Some lay anchored on the 

 bottom, their tails curled round the seaweed, and the intelligent 

 little horse-heads swaying this way and that in a charming man- 

 ner (c/. Plate VI.). These weird-looking fish, with their truncated 

 snouts and crested heads, bore a remarkable resemblance to the 

 knight or rook in a set of chessmen, whilst their odd appearance 

 was heightened by their deeply sculptured bodies, and their tails 

 prehensile, like that of a Chameleon. Some of the Sea-Horses 

 wandered over the seaweeds like cattle in a meadow ; others 

 rose or sank quietly, their buoyant bodies moving gently in the 

 still water. The Dutch keeper informed me that these fish had 

 come from Bordeaux, and did not seem to think that they would 

 do well in the cold weather. 



The remaining marine tanks contained Sea-anemones — a 

 subaqueous flower garden ; Sea-Scorpions (Cottus scorpius), with 

 immense heads armed with spines ; also more King-Crabs and 

 Herring. 



The large and well-lighted room at the end of the aquarium 

 hall was mainly devoted to a living collection of tropical fish, 

 and I went systematically round all the tanks, examining the 

 contents of each. Here were to be seen some Japanese Gold- 

 fish (Carassius auratus var. japonicus), each of which was adorned 

 with three tails. Here also the gorgeous Paradise Fish (Poly- 

 acanthus viridiauratus) from China, richly striped with ultra- 

 marine-blue and bice-green. These Paradise Fish had bred in 

 the aquarium, and were the largest I have ever seen, The North 

 American Chsetodon (Mesogonistius chcetodon) and the Striped 

 Sunfish (Apomotis obesus) were exhibited close by, as were also 

 examples of the armour-clad Callichthys (Callichthys asper) from 

 Surinam, whose gaping mouths were fringed with long barbules, 

 and whose roughened bodies were enmailed with greenish scales. 

 The Chameleon Fish (Heros sp.) — dull coloured enough at the 

 time of my visit — was also on view. There was also an example 

 of the Indian Perch (Anabas scandem), which is alleged to climb 

 trees. The gem of the tropical collection, however, was the 

 lovely Speckled Callichthys (Callichthys punctatus), a fish of ex- 

 quisitely beautiful shape, and golden green in colour, mottled 

 with greenish black. These more delicate species were all 



