It speaks volumes for the sea-scorpions, who are small fish, that they
can hold their own in the same pool with the swimming-crabs.
Tank 4 contains big spider-crabs, who sit with their knees above their
heads, winking at you with their eyes and feelers; or scramble out
unexpectedly from dens and caves here and there, high up in the rocky
sides of the pool.
Nos. 6, 7, and 8 contain fish.
It really is sad to think how completely our ideas on the subject of cod
spring from the kitchen and the fish-kettle. (As to our cod-liver oil,
we know no more how much of it has anything to do with cod-fish than we
can guess where our milk and port-wine come from.) Poor cod! If of a
certain social standing, it's odds if we will recognize any of him but
his head and shoulders. I have seen him served up in country inns with a
pickled walnut in the socket of each eye; and in life, and at home, he
has the attentive, inquisitive, watchful, humorous eyes common to all
fishes.
Fishes remind me rather of Chinese, who are also a cold-blooded race:
slow, watchful, inquisitive, acquisitive, and full of the sense of
humour. There are fishes in the Great Aquarium whose faces twinkle again
with quiet fun.
Pages:
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183