The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-04-15
FINNY NURSLINGS
Progressive Stages in the Devel-'
opment OF Fish Life.
Tho sportive Actions OF tho Young Fry
Upon Their Escape from tho shoIi
AN Interesting Chapter for
Young Naturalists.

In course of time-ten or fifteen days
In many common forms-the little baby;
fish is fully formed within the egg and
soon is ready to emerge, says Longman's.
Magazine. If the weather be very cold:
4 the period of development may be pro-;
& longcd but the approach of the hatch
ing stage is usually intimatcd by the
continued movements of the impris-
oned cmbyro, impatient, apparently, to
enter upon its free life in the external
world of waters. All the changes under
gone by the developing fish may be OBJ
served without difficulty with a power
full lens and if an appropriate specimen
be secured the observer may be fortu-
nate enough to behold the little fish
= burst it's prison bonds. At the point of
I the thin, transparent shell where the
I tail OF the fish lies, n gaping opening
usually appears, and through it that
delicate member is pushed out like Il
J. 1g, CLASSY oar. After the tail the
body, with huge ball of yollz hanging
from the under side, follows; and lastly
the tiny blunt head protrudcs, 'lilse the
head of bulldog" as fisherman once
aptly described it. Sometimes the head
with its enormous staring eyes is
i pushed out first of all, while at other
times the tail and body are free, but the
large head remains incloscd. De-
Tspite all the struggles of the
Elyoung ashland they are often desperate
i enough during the Matching process
i the head may continue incloscd in its
CLASSY helmet and the unfortunate baby
4 1ish bravcly swims about. as pathetic {,
spectacle as the man in the iron mask"
Should it be SO fortunate as to become
completely liberated it's capcrs in the
water are as rapturoUs as the gambols
OF lamb. II has aspirations which
] cannot be checked. Ccaalossly it wrig-
a'glcs upward and then sinks quietly
down again, only to renew time after
n time the ascending movement. There
MS no monotony in its actions, for now it
kMay be scsAl plunging forward by Il
|3serics of jerks il, u horizontal direction,
Snow it spins round in spiral fashion,
8pnd only when tired of these varied cvo-
&iutions does it lie extended and in
Htctivc. swaying about in the cddying
#watcr. If our little whiting or had
Mock succeeds in reaching the surface it
#lvriggles around in endless circles or
8Atyanders aimlcssly from one spot to an
@Ypthcr. No Arladne make her advent to
f4fSiP eiiiS cW-OOTn IncScuS.
= Fut though the sen be wide it cannot
Atray far from all comprehensive;
,ountlcss millions of newly Matched
K orothcrs are swimming on every side
;$End the surface of the water often APP
f&ears to be quite alive with them.
s The young of most of our food fishes
fntcT nprn lifc very much IN this wa.
they are al, moreover, shaped after a
imilar manner, and apparently in
cndcd for n mode of existence that is
identical. All alike are
zS,ry rudimcntary creatures during their
Aarly days. Even the trained eye can,
lis a rule, detect no mouth-thc mouth.
Blsc the eyes of the young kitten, being
HI oscd for some timc-and the little fish
Seds by slowly absorbing it's stock of
y bod-yollS. The brains, gills, liver and
~ her organs SO necessary to the. adult
sh, are either uniformed or in very
Snmaturc condition; even the backbone
1a3 not n true backbone at this time, but
S3pears merely as an elastic rod, called
|ie notochord, the primitive representa-
I've of the bony vcrtebrai column.