Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-22

How the Under Eye Works Its Way to the
Side He Selects to BE His Back.
From Hsrpsrs Young People
Some Of you may have heard the saying "as
fat as founder" and have not stopped to
think. What wish TO tell you is why this fish
is fiat, and what happens because it is fat.
II you have ever seen one in market or else
where you know that the upper and under
parts Of its body are Of different colors and
that its two eyes are, strangely enough. both on
the same side Of the head. II You were to see
one in the water you would notice that it swan
not upright, as other fish swim, but lying over
on one side, with its eyes on top.
Now all these things-the fatness, the two
eyes together. the twisted mouth, the differ
emily colored sides, the peculiar swimming
come from the fact that the founder is not and
never has been an over-brave fish. We cannot
blame the poor creatures much, because they
have no way to defend themselves, as swo-dhsh
and some others have. Their neighbors enjoy
eating them; they know that they are weak, and
SO they took, ages ago, to hiding at the bottom
OF the water. This has been done so long that
now they have actually lost the power TO come
to the surface. Other fish rise and sink by
means Of an air bladder. Those OF our friends
that used theirs and rose were pounced upon
and eaten The poor scared ones that hid at
the bottom and saved their lives had no need OF
the rising apparatus, and now. as is always the
case when an organ is not used, they have
lost ii.
But when the founder took to his hiding
place at the bottom he did not settle himself at
all comfortably, according to our ideas OF 1sh
comfort Instead Of an upright position, with
the two sides equally up. he chose. for some
reason. to lie over entirely on one OF them,
with the other side up. This position accounts
for the differently colored sides. That on
which ha Law profacfAA alyaya from tho
sunlight and lost its color. The upper has come
to be the color Of the bottom on which he lives
be that color what it may. That il should be
SO Is not so strange as it seems. bright
founder shining on dark bottom is easily
seen by its enemies, and seized and eaten. The
same would be true of a dark fish in o bright
coral home. Those who lived to have families
Of their own were those whose color was most
like the color Of their home. Only the safest
color Was transmitted. and SO. the world over.
members OF this family are the color OF sand,
or mud, or gravel or shell. or coral, according
to the place of their abode. Some are even
knotted and rough, in a way that makes them
wonderfully like their home. We find. for the
same reason. arctic animals white. like snow,
and desert insects the color OF sand.
Another result Of the hatness Of this fst-fish
family to which the founder belongs is that its
eyes are both on top Of its head. We can best
see how they have gotten together. and how
other changes have taken place, by noticing the
growth Of young founder. In the very be-
ginning of its existence the baby fish is q clear,
transparent little thing. Itstwo eyes are where
well-regulated eyes should be- on opposite sides
Of the head, and it swims vertically in the
water, as do other fish. But in few DAYS the
influence Of a long line of founder ancestry is
felt. He. too takes to lying on one side-gen-
orally. but not always, the left. The exposed
skin darkens. In this position the view Of the
under eve is somewhat limited. and it squints
upward toward a larger one It begins to move:
it turns the corner and comes to the top. There
1t takes stand. The mouth twists upward and
the young fish swims along sidewise on the
hoftop,