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Cornugaya Directory 03
Page 02
The first care of the male stickleback, when he has acquired his
courting suit, is to build a suitable home for his future wives and
children. So he picks up stems of grass and water-weeds with his
mouth, and weaves them deftly into a compact nest as perfect as a
bird's, though some what different in shape and pattern, it rather
resembles a barrel, open at both ends, as though the bottom were
knocked out: this form is rendered necessary because the eggs, when
laid, have to be constantly aerated by passing a current of water
through the nest as I shall describe hereafter. No. 1 shows us such a
nest when completed, with the female stickleback loitering about
undecided as to whether or not she shall plunge and enter it. You
will observe that the fabric is woven round a fixed support of some
waving water-weeds; but the cunning little architect does not trust in
this matter to his textile skill alone; he cements the straws and
other materials together with a gummy mortar of mucous threads
secreted for the purpose by his internal organs.
Tradition says that it was she who chose the Virgin's name, and if
so, what a debt of gratitude do we not owe her for her judicious
selection! It makes one shudder to think what might have happened
if she had named the child Keren-Happuch, as poor Job's daughter was
called. How could we have said, "Ave Keren-Happuch!" What would
the musicians have done? I forget whether Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz was
a man or a woman, but there were plenty of names quite as
unmanageable at the Virgin's grandmother's option, and we cannot
sufficiently thank her for having chosen one that is so euphonious
in every language which we need take into account. For this reason
alone we should not grudge her her portrait, but we should try to
draw the line here. I do not think we ought to give the Virgin's
great-grandmother a statue. Where is it to end? It is like Mr.
Crookes's ultimissimate atoms; we used to draw the line at ultimate
atoms, and now it seems we are to go a step farther back and have
ultimissimate atoms. How long, I wonder, will it be before we feel
that it will be a material help to us to have ultimissimissimate
atoms? Quavers stopped at demi-semi-demi, but there is no reason to
suppose that either atoms or ancestresses of the Virgin will be so
complacent.
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