Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/213

Rh eggs or offspring; what arts of attack and defence; what manœuvrings and stratagems; what varied exhibitions of sagacity, forethought and care; what singular developments of instinct;—who shall tell? A few examples of these we are acquainted with, some of which have been, and others will be, mentioned in this volume;—but these have become known more by accident, "the fortune of the hour," than by research; and while they possess an enhanced interest from their rarity, they rather tend to whet and tantalize our curiosity than to satisfy it, confirming the presumption that such facts are not uncommon among fishes, though they do not much encourage our hopes of ever being able to draw aside the veil that conceals the chief part of the economy of this important Class of animals from the observation of man.