Marvels of the Universe 



20 1 



organs, for every movement of them — and they are scarcely ever at rest — sets fans in motion 

 which cause water to rush in and out over the gills through which the blood circulates and 

 is purified. 



The transparency of the Fairy Shrimp is one of the chief elements in its beauty, but this clear- 

 ness is not so thorough as to produce monotony. The basal joints of its feelers are coloured bluish- 

 green, and the tips are red. The termination of the tail also is red : and in the female the back 

 is tinted \\-ith blue. Our photograph represents a couple of shrimps not fully grown, so that in 

 some points the}- have not a full development of ornamentation. When mature they measure 

 from an inch to an inch and a half in 

 length. The}^ alwaj-s swim with their 

 backs downwards as shown in our photo. 



In spring — March or April — the female 

 deposits eggs, minute globules bristling 

 with spines, which probably enable them 

 the better to adhere to the walls of their 

 little pool. It is probable that these do 

 not develop until the autumn, for ruts are 

 mostly dried up ia summer tmie. It is 

 really most remarkable that an\' creature 

 not possessed of the means for migration, 

 in the form of wings or walking legs, 

 should choose pools of such temporary 

 character as these woodland ruts are. 



The movements of the Fairy Shrimp 

 are ver^^ quick, and it is by no means an 

 easy matter to capture a specimen, though 

 to watch its movements in a clear glass 

 vessel is well worth the attempt. 



P}K}tO hii\ 



THE FAIRY SHRIMP. 



The Fairy Shrimp is almost transparent. It i 

 and lives in puddles and cart-ruts. 



inch in length. 

 its back. 



[.1. Unl. 



. little more than an 

 It always swims on 



AXniALS WHICH GROW BACKWARDS 



BY W. P. PY'CR.\FT, F.Z.S. 



Nature teems with contradictions, real or apparent, and surely nothing more contrary to our 

 notions of the laws of growth can be found than is furnished by the history of the common fresh- 

 water eel on the one hand, and of a curious South American frog on the other. 



As touching the eel, it is now almost a matter of common knowledge that the adult eels leave 

 the fresh water when they have attained maturity and make their way down to the sea. Here they 

 make for the abysses of the ocean, spawn and die ; for no eel ever makes the return journey. The 

 young, orphaned before they are born, do not at first bear the least likeness to eels. As may be 

 seen in our illustration, they are, in the first place, much flattened from side to side, not cylindrical ; 

 in the second, their bodies are transparent, and they have white blood and no fins. As time goes 

 on they ascend towards the surface of the ocean and towards the light, and at the same time make 

 their way landwards. All the while they are growing bigger (see photograph). But at last a stage 

 is reached when a radical change of food is required, necessitating new jaws and teeth, and this 

 change cannot be effected without closing for repairs, so to speak. While the new mouth is growing 

 no food is taken. As a consequence, the material of the body itself is drawn upon to sustain life 

 during the fast ; so that, by a process of slow absorption, the body becomes gradually reduced in 

 length and changed in shape, the latterly compressed form giving place to the more familiar eel- 



