in this same brook, which now had about one half its ordinary flow of water, and the frogs were dozing on the banks and leaping into the stream as unconcernedly as if nothing unusual had occurred.
Possibly the above simple narration of certain facts may seem to be of no special interest or importance, but there were two features of it that do not appear to have been treated of in general natural histories: the self-inhumation of the fish and frogs, and the wonderful promptness of the return of life to the temporarily depopulated areas. It does not seem unreasonable to suggest that as long as these inhumed animals could retain their moisture they could preserve their lives. Both the frogs and this one fish can withstand prolonged deprivation of food. I have tried the cruel experiment in one instance, and a mud minnow had no food for seven weeks, and had only lost two fifths of its weight when it died. As this is a period longer than the duration of any drought on record, when fish-sustaining streams were actually dry, it goes to show that this species is better prepared than any other to accommodate itself to certain geological changes when they come about. Curiously enough, the mud minnow looks more like a fossil than an ordinary brook minnow, is the sole representative of its genus, and is the only species of fresh-water fish found in both Europe and America.
While the drought destroyed much life, it more largely deported it, and I have, in many years of wandering about my home, seen nothing more positively wonderful than the promptness with which every nook and corner was repopulated when the autumn rains came. Vegetal as well as animal life responded at once. The fish were promptly in the brooks, the aquatic salamanders under the flat stones, and the frogs in their places, and on many an afternoon of sunny October days I heard their croaking, as if thankful for the return of the old-time conditions.
