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THE

NATURALIST'S

CABINET:

Containing
INTERESTING SKETCHES

ANIMA L HISTORY;

Illustrative of the
NATURES, DISPOSITIONS, MANNERS, AND HABITS,

OF ALT. THE MOST REMARKABLE

Quadrupeds, Birds, Fishes, Amphibia, Reptiles, fyc.

IN THE KNOWN WORLD.

REGULARLY ARRANGED, AND ENRICHED WITH NUMEROUS
BEAUTIFUL DESCRIPTIVE ENGRAVINGS. .

" Who can this field of miracles survey,
And not with Galen all in rapture say,
Behold a Cod, adore him, and obey?"

BLACKMORE.

IN SIX VOLUMES.
VOL. V.

BY THE

REV. THOMAS SMITH,

Kditor of a New and Improved Edition of Whiston's Joseplws, &c.

ALBION PRESS PRINTED:
.PUBLISHED BY JAMES CUNDEE,

]vy-Lane, Paternmt-r Row.

18f

CONTENTS.

VOL. V.

OF FISH IN GENERAL .... 1

THE WHALE 31

CACHALOT 48

.... DOLPHIN 50

PORPESSE 53

.... GRAMPUS 56

.... BELUGA 58

.... SHARK i . 59

BLUE SHARK 64

WHITE SHARK ibid

.... BASKING SHARK 6»

.... STURGEON 72

.... TORPEDO 81

.... FIRE FLARE, OR STING RAY . . Q3

THORNBACK, ROUGH RAY, SKATE,&c. 96

.... SEA ORB 99

.... ANGEL SHARK ..... 103

SPOTTED DOG FISH . . . .105

.... UNICORN . . . ' . . .107

LONG FILE FISH ..... ibid

.... SEA-HORSE 109

GOLD AND SILVER FISH . . . m

.... CARP 119

.... BARBEL . . . . . . .131

.... TENCH 13g

• • • • CHUB 140

.... DACE, OR DARE 143

.... ROACH 143

.... "BREAM 145

....BLEAK 147-

GUDGEON 149

CORYPHJENA 151

.... SALMON . • 1.153

. . ..TROUT . - ]6f5

SALMON-TROUT . . . . .172

.... PIKE 174,

CONTENT?.

Page

THE EEL 180

.... ELECTRIC OR NUMBING EEL, OR

GYMNOTUS . . . . .186

.... GRAYLING SOt

.... COD .20*

.... HADDOCK £09

.... LOACH 210

.... SMELT £1*

.... MULLET ....... 215

.... TURBOT 618

.... SOLE 281

.... HOLIBUT t2t

.... PLA1SE 2«S

DAB 22*

.... FLOUNDER 229

.... LAMPREY 226

.... THE MACKREL, OR MACKAREL . 231
.... THE BASTARD, OR HORSE MACKREL 237
.... T11UNNY ...'.. .' .238

.... PERCH 246

.... HERRING 250

.... PILCHARD 2C3

.... SPRAT ' 268

.... SHAD ibid

ANCHOVY 270

.... FLYING FISH 271

KITE FISH 275

.... SUCKING FISH £7«

cu/rroDON,' OR SHOOTING FISH . 279

.... SWORD FISH 281

.... THREE-SP1NED STICKLEBACK, OR

PRICKLEBACK . . . .884
.... TEN-SPIN KD STICKLEBACK . . 288
.... FIFJTKl.N -SP1NED STICKLEBACK, OR

(1KEAT STICKLEBACK . . . ibid

.... DOREE C9Q

.... Ol'AII 291

.... DORADO 29»

.... SEA-WOLF SfJ*

GAR, NEEDLE, AND PIPE FISH . 297

GURNARD, OR GURNET • 299

.... CUTTLE FISH 302

.... STAR FISM, OR SEA STAR . . 305
.... AUBOHESCENT STARFISH . . 307

SEA URCHINS SOB

THE FATHER LASHER 311

.... DRAGONET 313

.... OYSTER ....... 317

CONTENTS.

Page

SCALLOPS . . 324

MUSCLES ibid

THE PAPER NAUTILUS, OR ARGONAUT 327

BERNACLES 329

THE PIIOLAS . . . . i . . .331

DACTYLE PIIOLAS .... ibid

.... RAZOR FISH 335

CRABS 3JVT

LOBSTERS 34}

THE CRAW FISH ...... 3:>T

.... PRAWN 3G1

SHRIMP . ibid

.... SQUILLA ibid

SNAILS ....'.... 362
THE TROCHUS 3&1

Hi

THE

Jtaturaltst's Cafcrnet

CHAP. I.

" • • • The sounds and seas, each creek and bay
With fry innumerable swarm, and shoals
Of fish, that, with their fins and shining scales
Glide under the green wave."

MILTOW.

OF FISH IN GENERAL.

• • .... . . i .1

Introduction.

IT has been proved from experience, that the
very depths of the immense ocean contains my-
riads of creatures, to whose very form we are
almost strangers, and of whose dispositions and
manners we are still more ignorant. In their
construction, however, modes of life, and gene-
ral design, these creatures are as truly wonderful
as the inhabitants of either the land or air.

The structure of fish, and their conformation

to the element in which they are to live, are

eminent proofs of divine wisdom. Most of them

have the same external form, sharp at each end,

A 2

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Rapid motion of fish.

and swelling in the middle, by which configuration
they are enabled to traverse the watery element
with greater ease and swiftness. From their
shape jueu have taken the idea of those .vessels
which are intended to sail with the greatest
speed; but the progress of the swiftest sailing
ship, with the advantage of a favourable wind,
is far inferior to ihut of fish. Ten or twelve
miles an hour is no small degree of rapidity in
the sailing of a ship; yet any of the larger spe-
cies of the watery tribe would soon overtake her,
play round as if she did not move, and even ad-
vance, considerably before her.

The motion of fish being different from that
of fowls or quadrupeds, they require neither an-
terior nor posterior extremities, but are provided
with machines, consisting of a number of elastic
beams, connected by firm, membranes, and with
a tail of the same texture. Their tails are so
framed as to contract to a narrow space when
dravrn together to either side, and to expand
when drawn to a straight line with their bodies:
thus, by the assistance of this broad tail, and I lie
fins on their sides, they make their progression
much in the same way as a boat with oars on its
sides, and a rudder at its stein.

The fins of fish are denominated from their
situations. The pectoral fins are placed at a lit-
tle distance behind the opening of the gills, and
are large and strong, and serve as well to balance
the body as to assist the motion of the fish. The

a i r

OF FISH IN GENERAL.

Utility of the fins.

ventral fins are placed towards the lower part of
the body, under the belly, and serve chiefly to
raise or depress the fish in the water. The dor-
sal tins are situate on the ridge of the back, and
are very large in flat fish: their use, like the pec-
toral ones, is to keep the body in equilibrio, as
well as to contribute to its progressive motion.
The anal fins are placed between the vent and
the tail, enabling the fish to keep an upright
position.

In some the fins are much more numerous
than in others; a fish completely fitted for swim-
ming with rapidity .is generally furnished with
two pair on the sides, and three single ones, two
above and one below; yet it does not always
happen that the fish which has the greatest num-
ber of fins is the swiftest swimmer. The shark
is thought to be one of the swiftest, and yet has
no fins on his belly, while the haddock seems
more completely fitted for motion, and yet is
not near so swift a swimmer.

By means of their fins, the bodies of the fish
are duly poised: were these fins cut oft', the
fish can still swim, but will turn upon its sides or
its back, without being able to keep itself in an
erect posture as before. When the fish is in a
state of repose, it spreads all its fins, and seems
to rest upon the pectoral ones, or those near the
gills, and the ventral, or belly fins, near the bot-
tom ; it has the power of folding up its pectoral
fins, and by that means inclining to the side on

NATURALISTS CABINET.

The tail a chief instrument of motion.

which the fin is folded. To produce a retrograde
motion, tbe pectoral fins are struck in a contrary
direction. If the creature desire to turn, a blow
from the tail sends it about in an instant; but if
the tail strike both ways, then the motion is
progressive. And it is observable, that some fish
that have no fins at all, such as lobsters, dart for-
ward with prodigious rapidity by means of their
tail, which is now found to be the instrument of
progressive motion in all the aquatic species;
and when the tail is cut off, the fish gives itself
up entirely to the impulse of the water, being
deprived of all motion.

A slimy glutinous matter, with which fish are
in general furnished, defends their bodies from
the immediate contact of the surrounding fluid,
and which, likewise, in all probability, assists
their motion through the water. Beneath this,
in many kinds, is found a strong covering of
scales, that like a coat of mail, defends it yet
more powerfully ; and under that, before we
come to the muscular parts of the body lies an
oily substance, which also tends to preserve the
requisite warmth and vigor. The scales of this
cuticle are laid on one another like tiles on a
building, and the use of which is analogous to
the hair, wool, feathers, &c. of other animals,
and below which their proper cuticula and cutis
may be discovered.

In order to prove whether fish which are
formed for living entirely in the water, could

OP FISH IN GENERAL.

Experiments by Mr. Hawkshec.

subsist without air, Mr. Hawkshee made several
experiments, which are recorded in the philoso-
phical transactions. The fish he employed were
gudgeons: a species that are very lively in the
water, and can live a considerable time out of it.
Three of them were put into a glass vessel, with
about three pints of fresh water, which was de-
signed as a standard to compare the others by.
Into another glass, to a like quantity of water,
were put three more gudgeons, and thus the wa-
ter filled the glass to the very brim. Upon this
he screwed down a brass plate with a leather
below to prevent any communication between
the water and the external air, and, that it might
the better resemble a pond frozen over, he suf-
fered as little air as possible to remain on the
surface of the water. A third glass had the
same quantity of water put in it, which, first
by boiling, and then by continuing it a whole
night in vacuo, was purged of its air as well as
possible; and into this also were put three gud-
geons. In about half an hour, the fish in the
water from whence the air had been exhausted,
began to discover some signs of uneasiness, by a
more than ordinary motion in their mouths and
gills. Those that had no communication with
the external air, would at this time also fre-
quently ascend to the top, and suddenly swim
down again: and in this state they continued
for a considerable time, without any sensible al-
teration. About five hours after this observa-
2

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Supposed utility of the gills.

tion, the fish in the exhausted water were not so
active as before, upon shaking the glass which
contained them. In three hours more, the in-
cluded fish lay all at the hottom of the glass with
their bellies upwards; nor could they be made
to shake their fins or tail by any motion given
to the glass. They had a motion with their
mouths, however, which shewed that they were
not perfectly dead. On uncovering the vessel
which contained them, they revived in two or
three hours, and were perfectly well next morn-
ing; at which time those in the exhausted water
were also recovered. The vessel containing
these last being put under the receiver of an air-
pump; and the air exhausted, they all instantly
died. They continued at top, while the air re-
mained exhausted, but sunk to the bottom on
the admission of the atmosphere.

It is imagined that the gills offish are intended
for an operation somewhat similar to that of the
lungs in other animals; their motion is very an-
plogous to our breathing; yet the use of air to
these creatures is difficult to be assigned; and
the means of obtaining what they want is not
easily to be accounted for, or rendered intelligi-
ble. The general explanation of this phenome-
non is, that the fish first take a quantity of water
into their mouth, which is driven into the gills ;
these close and keep the water which is swal-
lowed from returning by the mouth, while the
bony covering of the gills prevents it from going

OF FISH IN GENERAL.

llemarks on the air-bladder.

through them, until the animal has drawn the

o

proper quantity of air from it; then the bony
covers open, and give it a free passage, by which
means also the gills are again opened, and admit,
a fresh quantity of water. If the fish be pre-
vented from the free play of its gills, it soon falls
into convulsions, and expires.

Notwithstanding this plausible explanation of
the respiration offish, it still remains a difficulty
not easy to be solved, What is done with this
air ? There seems to be no receptacle for con-
taining it, except the air-bladder or swim, which
many modern philosophers are of opinion is only
to enable the fish to rise or sink at pleasure, and
not destined to answer any vital purpose.

It should be observed that the air-bladder is ^
vesicle found in the bodies of all spinous, or bony
fish, though not in those of the cartilaginous or
cetaceous kind, situated towards the back of the
fish, opening to the maw or gullet, and composed
of one, two, or three divisions. It is thought
that the animal possesses a power of distending
or contracting this bladder, and of consequence
becoming specifically lighter or heavier than the
fluid in which it swims, and thence to rise to the
top, or sink to the bottom of the water at plea-
sure; and that such is its use, seems deducible
from the following experiment: — A carp being
placed in an air-pump, and the air exhaused, the
fish soon swelled to such a degree that his eyes
itarted from his head, and the bladder burst by

VOL. V. — NO. 30. B

10 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

*•

Opinion of ancient philosophers.

its expansion. The carp continued to live on
being thrown into water, but was unable after-
wards to rise to the top. The same circum-
stances are consequent upon any prick or wound
of the bladder by which the air may escape ; for
in such cases the fish continues to crawl at the
bottom. And such animals as river cray-fish,
oysters, lobsters, crabs, 8tc. that never quit the
bottom of the water, are found destitute of any
air-bladder.

Ancient philosophers have in general enter-
tained an opinion, that this vesicle does not
merely serve for the purpose of varying the spe-
cific gravity of fish, but for some purposes essen-
tially necessary to life. Dr. Priestley also con-
jectures, that they may serve some other inten-
tions in the animal economy, besides that of the
raising or depressing of the fish.

The most conclusive of the several argu-
ments on this side the question is, that all the
cartilaginous kind of fish want air-bladders, and
yet they rise to the top, or sink to the bottom
without any difficulty; and also, that though
most of the eel-kind have air-bladders yet they
cannot raise themselves in the water without
great difficulty.

Some interesting facts relative to this subject
of the air or swimming-bladder, have been com-
municated by Dr. Munro. This gentleman says
" It has long been known that in the flat fish
there is no swimming-bladder and in a few long-

OP FISH IN GENEHAL, 11

Facts communicated by Dr. Munro.

'shaped fish, as in the mackerel, he has also found
it wanting. It is likewise known, that in many
fish the air-bag communicates by a duct with
the oesophagus."

On examining this matter, he found in a stur-
geon a round hole, nearly an inch in diameter in
the upper and back part of the stomach, by
which it communicates with a very large air-bag.
In the salmon, he found a hole so large as to
admit readily the largest size goose-quill, leading
directly through the coats of the oesophagus into
the air-bag; and if, as in the carp, there are
two air-bags, the duct leads to the posterior bag,
from which there is a passage into the anterior.
From these circumstances he concludes, that
the air found in the swimming bladder, passes
into it through the above-mentioned ducts, and
they seem well suited for this purpose ; for, as in
the common horizontal situation of the fish, their
beginning is at the upper part of the stomach, it
is easy to conceive that the air which they take
in at their mouth, when they ascend, or that
which may by some more latent process be dis-
engaged from the water, is applied to the ducts ;
and that the fish, by an instinct of nature, distin-
guishes the irritation of air from that of water,
and propels the air into the air-bag, but excludes
the water. But in the cod and haddock, though
the air-bag is very large, and its sides remarkably
strong, yet the doctor was not able to discover
any communication of it with the mouth, oeso-

NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Observations by Dr. Munro.

phagus, stomach, or intestines. The air-bag was
not enlarged by blowing into the alimentary ca-
nal, nor could it be emptied without bursting it.
Further, on the inner side of the air-bag of the
cod, haddock, &c. was found a red-coloured
organ, the surface of which is very extensive,
composed of a vast number of leaves or mem-
branes doubled; but in thdse fish where the air-
bag communicates with the alimentary canaf,
this red body is either very small and simple in
its structure, as in the conger-eel, or entirely
wanting, as in the sturgeon, salmon, carp, Sec.
Hence, he thinks it reasonable to suppose, that
the air may be secreted from this red body,
somewhat in the same way it seems to be secreted
into the swimming-bladders of aquatic plants, or
perhaps into the air-bag of the egg of a bird as
the chick grows. Many naturalists, however,
may be of opinion, that the cod, haddock, &c.
has an air-duct, which has yet escaped ob-
servation.

.Dr. Munro, in all the fish which fell under his
dissection, found the heart to consist of but one
ventricle ; and that from the latter one artery is
sent out, which is entirely spent on the gills.
That from the gills, therefore, the returning
blood passes to all the other parts of the body,
without the intervention of a second auricle, as
in man. From his observations and experi-
ments, the doctor concludes, that the circulation
of the blood being carried on in the cartilaginous

OF PISH IN GENERAL. 13

Remarks on their sense of feeling.

fish in the same manner as the cetaceous and
bony, and the whole mass of blood passing
through their gills, they must breathe, or they
cannot possess the pulmo aibutarius, which natu-
ralists have assigned to them.

This gentleman, from the circumstance of very
large and numerous lymphatics being dispersed
upon the gills of the scales, and the additional
one that fish soon die when put into water from
which the air has been extracted, and yet that
such water is capable of washing off exhaled
matter from the gills, and of taking up phlogis-
tort readily, is led to suppose that the gills, or
lung's not only discharge hurtful matter, but
Serve also tb take in from the air, which is mixed
with the water somewhat necessary for life, the
precise nature of which has not as yet bee*
ascertained by any experiments.

The aquatic race of beings have in general
been placed in a very inferior scale of impor-
tance, on the score of animal faculties, to either
quadrupeds or birds. Their sense of feeling,
some think, must be very obscure, on account
of the scaly coat of mail in wbich they are wrap-
ped; but in reply it may be urged, that even
these scales may be endued with as great or nice
a power of sensation as can be imagined, for th£
sense of feeling is not properly connected with
softness in any organ, more than with hardness
in it.

14 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Observations on the smell offish.

With regard to smelling, a similar argument
may be used; indeed, how smells can be pro*
pagated in water cannot be proved, but that
is by no means a proof that they are not so;
on the contrary, as water is ibund to be capable
of absorbing putrid effluvia from the air, nothing
is more probable than that these putrid effluvia,
when mixed with the water, may affect the olfac-
tory organs of fish, as well as they affect ours
when mixed with the air. But this idea is car-
ried farther by a very eminent naturalist, who
asserts, that, " The olfactory organ in fish is
large, and they have a power of dilating and
contracting the passage as occasion requires. It
is chiefly by their acute smell that they discover
their food; and their sight appears to be of less
use than that sensation in searching for their
nourishment. If a fresh worm be thrown into
the water, a fish shall distinguish it at a con-
siderable distance ; and that this is not alone by
the eye is plain, from observing, that after the
same worm has been a considerable time in the
water, and lost its smell, no fish will come near
it ; but if the worm be now taken out, and a few
small incisions made into it, in order to transmit
fresh effluvia, the former effect will take place.
For it is supposed that had the creatures disco-
vered the bait with their eyes they would have
come equally to it in both cases."

Smell being the chief means whereby fish dis-
cover their food, they consequently allow them-

OF FISH IN GENERAL. 15

On their senses of touching and taste.

selves to be carried down with the, stream that
they may leisurely re-ascend against the current
of the water; thus the-odoriferous particles swim-
ming in that medium being applied more forci-
bly to their olfactory organ, produce a stronger
sensation.

Some naturalists have also supposed that fish
are incapable of distinguishing tastes. The pa-
late of most, they say, is hard and bony, conse-
quently incapable of the powers of relishing dif-
ferent substances ; and, accordingly, the voraci-
ous part of these animals have often been ob-
served to swallow the fisherman's plummet in-
stead of the bait. Indeed, no voracious animals
seem to be endued with much sensibility in this
respect, nor would it be probably consistent with
that way of promiscuously devouring every crea-
ture that comes within its reach, without which
they would not be able to subsist; though cer-
tainly the other kinds are as well able to dis-
tinguish their proper food from what is im-
proper, as other animals. With respect to those
senses of touching and taste, there can be little
room for remark: in all fish, however, external
openings for smell are very evident, generally on
each side in the osseous fish, and which on each
side of the head lead to a complex organ, the
surface of which is of considerable extent, and
upon a pair of large or olfactory nerves termi-
nate. " In some fish, as the haddock, the olfac-

NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Fish's brains — Acute sight.

tory nerve," says Dr. Munro, " in its course be-
tween the head and nose, passes through a cine-
ritious bull, resembling the cineritious or ashes-
like matter connected in our body to the olfac-
tory nerve within the cranium: consequently,
that there can be no doubt that they enjoy the
sense of smelling: but there is great reason to
believe, that suited to their surrounding element,
they are much more sensible of odorous bodies
dissolved in water, and applied by its medium,
than we should be, if the application of the ob-
ject was to be made to our organs of smell by
the same medium."

The fish's brains are sensibly smaller in pro-
portion to their bodies than in quadrupeds or
birds ; yet the nerves are as large, in proportion
to the several organs, as in those two classes.
There is found in fish the like principal division
into brain and cerebellum ; and these are hollow,
and bave ventricles within them.

Paily instances occur to prove that fish have
a very acute sight, not only of objects in the
water, but also of those in the air: their jumping
out of the water to catch flies is an abundant
proof of this ; and they will continue to do this
jn a fine summer evening, even after it is so dark
that mortal eyes cannot distinguish the objects
of their search.

It is remarked by Dr. Monro (whose experi-
ments and observations tend to establish the per-
fection of sight in fish) that the humours of the

OF FISH IN GENERAL. 17

Utility of the lens.

eyes of these creatures are proportionally in
greater quantity, or much larger than those of
animals living in air; the eye of the cod being
nearly of the same weight and depth, and its
axis of the same length as the eye of the ox.
The primary use of the almost completely sphe-
rical figure of the crystalline lens in fish, or great
convexity, especially of the anterior part of their
lens, which this gentleman found to project in
the cod about seven-fortieths of an inch beyond
the iris, is to take a large field of the objects
around them, which was particularly necessary,
as the motion of their neck is inconsiderable.

Four chief circumstances occur in order to
enable these aquatic animals to collect into a
focus on the retina, with the same length of the
axis of the eye as in the quadruped, the rays of
lights coming from the dense medium of the
water; viz.

1st, Their crystalline lens is more convex, or
composed of portions of smaller spheres than in
land animals.

2d!y, Their crystalline lens is, in correspond-
ing parts, much more dense than in animals
which live in air.

3dly, The lens in fish possesses power of re-
fracting light far beyond what has been calcu-
lated by authors, who have proceeded on the
supposition that powers were proportioned nearly
to its specific gravity.

And, 4thly, The vitreous humour offish being

VOL. iv. — NO. '31, c

18 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Observations on the hearing of fish.

lighter than that of land animals, the rays of
light issuing from their lens will be refracted in
a greater degree, or bi ought sooner to a focus.

Some naturalists have also imagined that fish
are totally destitute of hearing; but, on the other
hand, it is urged, that when kept in a pond, they
may be made to answer at the call of a whistle,
or the ringing of a bell; that they appear terri-
fied, and sink to the bottom of the water upon
any sudden noise, as thunder, or the firing of
guns. Most of the ancients were of opinion,
that fish had the sense of hearing, though they
by no means could ascertain the auditory pas-
sage, or determine the matter by experiment.
Aristotle, Scaliger, Nierembergius, Geoffrey,
and Johnson, are of the same opinion; and Dr.
George Serger (author of a dissertation on this
subject, in the German Ephemerides) says, that
" having been to take a walk with some of his
friends in the fine gardens of the Archbishop of
Saltzburg, the gardener conducted them to a
Tery clear piece of water, of which the bottom
was paved with stones of different colours, and
in which they did not at first see any fish; but
the man had no sooner rung a little bell, than a
multitude of trouts came together from all parts
of the pond, to take what the gardener had
brought them, and disappeared as soon as they
had eaten it up. The gardener assured his com-
pany that he always did the same, whenever he
bad a mind to give tlieiu any thing to eat. Hav-

OF FISH IN GENERAL.

Further remarks.

ing continued to walk about the garden half an
hour longer, and returning to the pond, they hud
again the pleasure of seeing all the trouts re-
assemble at the ringing of the bell."

A particular description of the organs of hear-
ing belonging to several species, is also given by
peofTrey, in his Dissertation sur 1'Organe de
1'Ouie, nor can it be thought that water is an
improper medium of sound, as daily experience
demonstrates, that sounds may be conveyed, not
only through water, but through the most solid
bodies.

One of the cetaceous division (the phocaena)
having been dissected by Dr. Munro, this gen-
tleman, after a very nice anatomical investiga-
tion, observes, with regard to the hearing of fish,
<l that while they float upon the surface of the
ocean, impression is made on the several parts
of their ear in the same manner as in man.'"

Many experiments have demonstrated, that
sounds are conveyed through water almost with
the same facility with which they move through
air. A bell which is rung in water returns
a tone as distinct as if it was rung in air. Der-
ham observed that it came a quarter deeper.
Naturalists in general had believed thai fish had
a strong perception of sounds at the bottom of
deep rivdrs; but the anatomical researches of
the above gentlemen clearly demonstrate the
auricular organ in these animals. Dr. Munro,
*n 1780, in order to judge of the effect of sounds

i- O

V »

CO NATURALIST S CABINET.

Effect of sounds in water.

in water, made the following experiments. He
employed two bells, the sounds of which he was
Used to; one of them a small tea-table bell, the
the other much larger and thicker, so that the
sound of it could be very well heard at the dis-
tance of a quarter of a mile. When these were
plunged under water and rung, he observed that
the sound of them was very sensibly graver; but
still the ringing tremor of both was very distin-
guishable. On performing an accurate experi-
ment, the tea-table bell was found in air the
highest G of a harpsichord; but in \vak-r it,
sounded a fifth false lower, or it sounded the C
sharp under' the G. After this he plunged his
head under the water while he rung the bell in
the air, and heard the sound of it distinctly. As
the tone of the bell is louder and more acute in
the air than in the water, its sound is necessarily
better heard when the head of the person mak-
ing the experiment is under the water and the
bell above it, than when the bell is rung under
the water while the head is above it. He next
plunged his whole body with the bells, holding
their handles in his hands, under the water, and
then rung them, and was surprised with the loud-
ness and distinctness of their sounds, and could
readily distinguish their different tones. In like
manner, when plunged under the water, he struck
two stones held in his hands against each other,
and was surprised with the shock communicaU d
to the ears.

OF FISH IN GENERAL.

Dr. Franklin's opinion.

By this last experiment is corroborated Dr.
Franklin's opinion, " That water will convey
sound farther and more readily than air, He
thinks he has heard a smart stroke of two stones
together under water, his ear being also under
water in the same river, near a mile: how much
farther it may be heard he knows not, but sup-
poses a great deal farther, because the sound did
not seem faint, as if at a distance, like distant
sounds through the air, but smart and strong, as
if present just at the ear."

Dr. Munro, afterwards, by means of a string
tied to the handle of the largest bell, and to an
inflated bladder, suspended that bell in a very
deep pool, six feet under the surface of the wa-
ter, and took hold of a cord twelve yards long,
which he had previously tied to the handle. He
then plunged under the water and pulled the
cord, and found the sound was instantly con-
veyed to his ears. In the last place, this gentle-
man thought of trying an experiment, to deter-
mine, whether air or water conveyed sound
quickest; but there being no lake near Edin-
burgh about eight hundred feet broad, he found
it impossible, independently of the difficulty of
constructing a proper apparatus, to perform the
experiment in a satisfactory and decisive way.
He, however, made the following experiment.
He charged three English pint bottles each
with about ten ounces of gunpowder. He then
inserted a tin tube four feet in length into

O

NATURALIST'S CAEINET.

Experiments by Dr. Munro.

each bottle, and prevented the water from
getting into the bottle by wrapping a piece
of wet bladder round the neck of it and the
neck of the tube which entered into it, and
tying the tube and neck of the bottle to each
other. After filling the tube with gun-powder,
he fixed to the top of it a piece of match
paper; and into the match paper, just over
the top of the tube, he put two ounces of gun-
powder. He then sunk the bottle near the side
of a lake to the depth of about two feet, and
went into the water at the greatest distance pos-
sible, which was about eight hundred feet, and
laid himself on his back in the water, with his
eais under its surface, and nose and eyes above
it. The match was then set fire to by another
person; and as it was midnight, he saw the flash
of the gunpowder contained within the match,
and soon after heard the noise of the explosion
of the gunpowder within the bottle. But he
found it impossible in this way to determine the
velocity of the sound with accuracy, as the gun-
powder in the bottle was not set fire to through
the tube sufficiently instantaneously as to have
the desired effect. The piece of water not being
extensive enough, and being unprovided with a.
proper apparatus, the only conclusion to be then
drawn was, that after the bottle burst, he heard
'one, but did not hear Uvo explosions: so tli:it
the water seemed to convey the sound nearly iu
'the sciu:e manner as the atmosphere.

OF FISH IN GENERAL.

Observations by J. Hunter.

To the ingenious J. Hunter, F. R. S. we are
indebted for the following minute description of
the organs of hearing in fish: " They are placed
on the sides of the skull, or that cavity which.
contains the brain; but the skull itself makes no
part of the organ, as it does in the quadruped
and the bird. In some fish, this organ is wholly
surrounded by the parts composing this cavity,
which in many is cartilaginous; the skeleton of
these fish being like those of the ray kind; in.
others also, as in cod, salmon, &,c. whose skeleton
is bone, yet the part is cartilaginous.

" In some fish this organ is in part within the
cavity of the skull, or that cavity which also con-
tains the brain, as in the salmon, cod, Sec. the
cavity of the skull projecting laterally, and form-
ing a cavity there.

" The organ of hearing in fish appears to grow
in size with the animal, for its size is nearly in
the same proportion with the size of the animal,
which is not the case with the quadruped, &c.
die organs being in them nearly as large in the
the growing foetus as in the adult.

" It is much more simple in fish than in all
those orders of animals who may be reckoned
superior, such as quadrupeds, birds, and amphi-
bious animals, but there is a regular gradation
from the first to fish.

" It varies in different orders of fish; but in
all it consists of three curved tubes, all of which
unite with one another : this union forms in
5

24 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Peculiar habits.

some only a canal, as in the cod, salmon, ling,
&c. and in others a pretty large cavity, as in the
ray kind. In the jack there is an oblong bag,
or blind process,* which is an addition to those
canals, and which communicates with them at
their union. In the cod, &c. that union of the
three tubes stands upon an oval cavity, and in
the jack there are two of those cavities; these
additional cavities in these fish appear to answer
the same purpose with the cavity in the ray or
cartilaginous fish, which is the union of the three

canals.

" The whole is composed of a kind of cartila-
ginous substance, very hard or firm in some
parts, and which in some fish is crusted over
with a thin bo-w lamella, so as not to allow them
to collapse: for as the shell does not form any
part of these canals or cavities, they must be
composed of such substance as is capable of
keeping its form.

" Each tube describes more than a semicircle.
This resembles in some respect what we find in
most animals, but differs in the parts being dis-
tinct from the skull.

" Two of the semicircular canals are similar
to one another, may be called a pair, and arc
placed perpendicularly; the third is not so long;
in some it is placed horizontally, uniting as it
vere the other two at their ends or terminations.
In the skate it is something different, being only
united in one of the perpendiculars.

OF FISH IN GENERAL. 25

Cursory observations.

" The two perpendiculars unite at one part in
one cavity, by one arm of each uniting, while
the other two arms or horns have no connection
with each other, and the arms of the horizontal '
unite with the other two arms of the perpendicu-
lar near the entrance into the common canal or
cavity.

" Near the union of those canals into the
common, they are swelled out into round bags,
becoming there much larger.

" In the ray kind they all terminate in one
cavity, as has been observed; and in the cod
they terminate in one canal, which in these fish
is placed upon the additional cavity or cavities.
In their cavity or cavities there is a bone or
bones. In some there are two bones: as the jack
has two cavities, we find in one of those cavities
two bones, and in the other only one; in the ray
there is only a chalky substance. At this union
of the two perpendiculars in some fish enters the
external communication, or what may be called
the external means. This is the case with all
the ray kind, the external orifice of which is
small, and placed on the upper flat surface of the
head ; but it is not every genus or species of fish
that has the external opening.

" The nerves of the ear pass outwards from
the brain, and appear to terminate at once on
the external surface of the swelling of the semi-
circular tubes above described. They do not
appear to pass through those tubes so as to get

VOL. v. — NO. 31. D

26 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

On the teeth of fish.

on the inside as is supposed to be the case in
quadrupeds ; I should therefore very much sus-
pect that the lining of those tubes in the qua-
druped is not nerve, but a kind of internal pe-
rioesteum."

Whether every species of fish be endued with
the organ* of hearing, especially those which are
deprived of eyes, as oysters, muscles, and all tes-
taceous fish with hard shells., certainly admits
of doubt : for though in some instances they
contract and shut themselves up within their
cells, this seems to be operated less by the sense
of hearing, than by that of feeling, which the
water may excite.

Although aquatic animals possess teeth, they
are not calculated for breaking the food into
small morsels, but rather to grasp their prey, and
hinder the creatures they have once caught from
escaping again; they feed chiefly on smaller li.xh,
or other animals that need no tritu ration in the
mouth, but spontaneously and gradually dissolve
into a liquid chyle ; there are also two round
bodies in the posterior part of the jaws, which,
as well as the basis of the bronchi, have a number
of tenter-hooks fixed in them in such a manner,
as that any thing can easily get down, but is hin-
dered from returning.

Tish not having any thing that can be called
a neck, the oesophagus, or gullet, is of course
very short, and scarcely distinguished from the
stomach; for in fact the food lies equally in

OF FISH IN GENERAL. 27

Remarkable for longevity.

both. The stomach is of an oblong figure ;
which, in large fish, is commonly found to con-
tain some larger ones, still retaining their natural
form, but when touched, melting down into a
jelly. From this, and the great quantity of
liquors poured into their stomachs, it is con-
cluded that digestion is solely brought about in
them by the power of a menstruum, and that no
trituration happens here. The guts are very
short.

No animals are more remarkable for longevity
than fish, which is philosophically accounted for
by Bacon, who observes, that " most of the
disorders incident to mankind arise from the
changes and alterations in tbe atmosphere; but
fish reside in an element little subject to change;
theirs is an uniform existence; their movements
are without effort, and their life without labour.
Their bones also, which are united by cartilages,
admit of indefinite extension; and the different
sizes of animals of the same kind, among fish,
are very various. They still keep growing ; their
bodies, instead of suffering the rigidity of age,
which is the cause of the natural decay of land
animals, still continue increasing with fresh sup-
plies; and as the body grows, the conduits of
life furnish their stores in greater abundance.
How long a fish that seems to have scarce any
bounds put to its growth, continues to live, is
not ascertained: perhaps, the life of a man would
not be sufficient to measure that of the smallest."
D 2

28 NATURALIST'S CABINET

How to know their age — Mode of dying.

Two methods have been devised tor determin-
ing the age of fish; first, by the circles of the
scales; secondly, by the transverse section of the
back bone. When a fish's scale is examined by
a microscope, it is found to consist of a number
of circles one within another, in some measure
resembling those which appear on the transverse
section of a tree, and is supposed to give the
same information. For, as the age of trees can
be told by the number of their circles; so that
of fish may be conjectured by the number of
circles in every scale, reckoning one ring for
every year of the animal's existence. The age
of fish that want scales may also be known by
separating the joints of the back-bone, and then
minutely observing the number of rings which
the surface, where it was joined, exhibits. The
Kev. Mr. White gives the following account of
the death of a fish. As soon as one dies, the
head sinks lower and lower, and the animal
stands, as it were, upon it, till becoming weaker
and losing all poise, the tail turns over, and at
last it swims on the surface of the water, with its
belly upwards. The reason why fish, when dead,
float in that manner is obvious; because, when
the body is no longer balanced by the fins of the
belly, the broad muscular back preponderates
by its own gravity, and turns the belly upper-
most, as lighter, from its being a cavity.

Voracity is the chief characteristic of these
aquatic animals. In most of them, the maw is

OF FISH IN GENERAL. 29

Voracity — Fruitfulness.

placed next the mouth ; and, though possessed
of no sensible heat, is endued vviih a very sur-
prising faculty of digestion. Its digestive power
seems, in some measure, to increase in. proportion
to the quantity ,of food with which the fish is
supplied. A single pike has heen known to de-
vour a hundred roaches in three days. Whatever
is possessed of life seems the most desirahle prey
for fish; some, which have but very small mouths,
feed upon worms, and the spawn of other fish ;
others, whose mouths are larger, seek large 'prey,
it matters not of what kind, whether of their own
species, or any other. Those with the largest
mouth pursue almost every thing that hath life;
and often meeting each other in fierce opposi-
tion, the fish with the largest swallow comes off
victorious, and devours its antagonist. As a
counterbalance to this great voracity, however,
fish are incredibly prolific. Some bring forth
their young alive, others produce only eggs : the
former are rather the least fruitful; yet even
those produce in great abundance. The vivipa-
rous blenny, for instance, brings forth two or
three hundred at a time. Those which produce
eggs, which they are obliged to leave to chance,
either on the bottom where the water is shallow,
or floating on the surface where it is deeper, are
all much more prolific, and seem to proportion
their stock to the danger there is of consump-
tion. Lewenhoeck declares, that the cod spawns
above nine millions in a season. The flounder

30 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Fish, solitary or gregarious.

commonly produces about one million, and the
mackarel above five hundred thousand. Scarce
one in a hundred of these eggs, however, brings
forth an animal: they are devoured by all the
lesser fry that frequent the shores, by water-fowl
in shallow waters, and by the larger fish in deep
waters. Such a prodigious increase, if permitted
to come to maturity, would overstock nature;
even the ocean itself would not be able to con-
tain, much less provide for, one half of its inha-
bitants. But two wise purposes are answered
by their amazing increase; it preserves the spe-
cies in the midst of numberless enemies, and
serves to furnish the rest with a sustenance
adapted to their nature.

Fish, like the land animals, are either solitary
or gregarious. Some, as trout, salmon, &c. mi-
grate to deposit their spawn. Of the sea-fish,
the cod, herring, &c. assemble in immense shoals,
and migrate in these shoals through vast tracks
of the ocean.

THE WHALE. 31

Immense magnitude.

CHAP. IL

" Hard by the shore a fisherman espies
Two mighty whalt* which swelling seas had tost
And left them pris'uers on a rocky coast;
One as a mountain vast and with her came
A cub not much inferior to his dam.

The bigger whale, like some huge carrock lay
Which wauteth sea room with her foes to play.

The shining steel her tender sides receive.
And there, like bees, they all their weapons leave ;
This sees the cub, and does himself oppose,
Betwixt the cumber'd mother and her foes."

THE WHALE.

THE whale is of the cetaceous order of fish,
which produce their young alive, and not from
ova; and being remarkable for its immense mag-
nitude, justly claims the first place in our account
of the inhabitants of the deep.

The ancients have described the whale as

being six hundred feet in length. At present it

is sometimes found in the northern seas ninety

feet in length, and twenty in breadth ; but for-

6 '

3<2 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description.

merly they were taken of a much greater size,
when the captures were less frequent, and the
fish had time to grow. Such is their bulk within
the arctic circle ; but in those of the torrid zone,
according to Adamson, where they are unmo-
lested, whales are still seen one hundred and
sixty feet long. There are many turnings and
windings in this fish's nostrils, and it has no fin
on the back. The head is very much dispropor-
tioned to the size of the body, being one third the
size of the fish ; and the under lip is much broader
than the upper. The tongue is composed of a
soft spungy fat, capable of yielding five or six
barrels of oil. The gullet is very small for so
vast a fish, not exceeding four inches in width.

There are two orifices through which it spouts
water to a vast height, and with a great noise,
especially when disturbed or wounded in the
middle of the head. The eyes are not larger
than those of an ox, .and when the chrystalline
humour is dried, it does not appear larger than
a pea. They are placed towards the back of the
head, being the most convenient situation for
enabling them to see both before and behind ; as
also to see over them, where their food is princi-
pally found. They are guarded by eye- lids and
eye-lashes, as in quadrupeds, and they seem to
be very sharp-sighted. Nor is their sense of
hearing in less perfection ; for they are warned
at great distances of any danger preparing
against them. The external organ of hearing is

THE WHALE. S3

Whaleboue.

not perceptible ; but as soon as tbe thin scarf-
*kin is removed, a black spot is discovered be-
hind the eye, and under that is the auditory ca-
nal, that leads to a regular apparatus for hearing.

The whalebone, as it is called, is placed on the
inside of the mouth, and is attached to the upper
jaw: it is of the same nature as horn, and is
composed wholly of animal substances. It is ex-
tremely elastic, and consists of thin plates of
some breadth, and in some species, of very con-
siderable length. These plates are placed in se-
veral rows encompassing the outer skirts of the
upper jaw, like the teeth in other animals. They
stand parallel to each other, having one edge
towards the circumference of the mouth, and
the other towards the centre or cavity. The
outer row is composed of the longest plates, and
these are in proportion to the different distances
between the two jaws, some being fourteen or
.fifteen feet long, but towards the anterior and
posterior parts of the mouth they are very short.
They rise for half a foot or more, nearly of equal
breadths, and afterwards shelve off from the inner
side till they come near to a point at the outer.
The exterior of the inner rows are the longest,
corresponding to the termination of the declivity
of the outer, and becoming shorter and shorter
till they severally rise above the gum. This
whalebone is continually wearing down, and re-
aewing in the same proportion.

Its tail is broad and semi-lunar ; and when the

VOL. v. — NO. 31. E

34 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Strength of the tail — Beautiful colours.

fish lies on one side, its blow is tremendous.
The tail alone it makes use of to advance itself
forward in the water; and it is surprising to see
with what force and celerity its enormous bulk
cuts through the ocean. The fins are only made
use of for turning in the water, and giving a di-
rection to the velocity impressed by the tail.
The female also makes use of them, when pur-
sued, to carry off her young, clapping them on
her back, and supporting them by the fins oi>
each side from falling.

This fish varies in colour; the back of some
being red, the belly generally white. Others are
black, some mottled, others quite white. Mar-
tin says, " that their colours in the water arc ex-
tremely beautiful, and their skin is very smooth
and slippery." The outward, or scarf skin of the
'whale is not thicker than parchment; but this
removed, the real skin appears of about an inch
thick, and covering the fat or blubber that lies
beneath: this is from eight to twelve inches in
thickness ; and is, when the fish is in health, of
a beautiful yellow. The muscles lie beneath,
and these, like the flesh of quadrupeds, arc very
red and rough.

It is asserted that the female courts the male,
and that only once in two years. Their fidelity
to each other exceeds that of most other ani-
mals, even the constancy of birds. " Some
fishermen," Anderson says, " having struck one
ef two whales, a male and a female, that were i»

THE WHALE. 35

Fidelity of the male and female.

company together, the wounded fish made a long
and terrible resistance; it struck down a boat
with three men in it, with a single blow of its
tail, by which all went to the bottom. The other
still attended its companion, and lent it every
assistance ; till, at last, the fish that was struck,
sunk under the number of its wounds, whilst its
faithful associate, disdaining to survive the loss,
with great bellowing stretched itself upon the
dead fish, and shared his fate.

The female goes with young nine or ten
months, and is then fatter than usual, particularly
when near the time of bringing forth. She ge-
nerally produces one young one, and never
above two. When she suckles her young, she
throws herself on one side on the surface of the
sea, and the young attaches itself to the teat.
She is remarkably careful of her offspring, which
she carries with her wherever she goes, and,
when hardest pursued, keeps it supported be-
tween her fins. Even when wounded, she still
clasps her young one, and when she plunges to
avoid danger, takes it to the bottom, but rises
sooner than usual, to give it breath again. The
following story, founded on historical authority
is related by Goldsmith and others. " A whale
and her cub had got into an arm of the sea,
where, by the defection of the tide, they were
entirely enclosed. The people on shore beheld
their situation, and drove down upon them in

36 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Maternal attection.

boats, with such weapons as. could be hastily
collected. The animals were soon severely
wounded, and the sea tinged with their blood.
After several attempts to escape, the old one
forced over the shallow into the depths of the
ocean. But though in safety herself, she could
not bear the danger that awaited her young one;
she therefore rushed in once more where the
smaller animal was confined, and resolved, when
she could not protect, at least to share its dan-
ger. The tide, however, coming in, enabled
both to escape from their enemies, though not
without sustaining an infinite number of wounds
in every part." Waller has introduced this anec-
dote in his Summer Islands, of which the motto
to the present chapter fonns a part.

The young one continues at the breast for a
year, during which time, they are called by the
sailors, short-heads. They are then extremely
fat, and yield above fifty barrels of blubber.
The mother at the same time is equally lean and
emaciated. At the age of two years they are
called stunts, as they do not thrive much imme-
diately after quitting the breast; they then yield
scarce above twenty or twenty-four barrels of
blubber: from that time forward they are called
sheill-tish,and their age is wholly unknown.

Every species of whale propagates only with
those of its kind, and does not at all mingle with
the rest; however, they are generally seen in

THE WHALE. 37

Its bitter enemies.

shoals, ot'different kinds together, and make their
migrations in large companies from one ocean to
another.

The sword-fish, the thresher, and a kind of
shark, are bitter enemies to the whales, which
are themselves shy and timid animals, being pos-
sessed of no weapons of defence or offence, ex-
cept their tails. They are gregarious, and their
principal food consists of some species of crabs
and medusa3. There is a small animal of the
shell-fish kind called the whale-louse, which
sticks to them; and, notwithstanding all their
exertions to get it off, it adheres to their bodies,
and lives upon their fat.

The spermaceti whale has a kind of fat called
spermaceti, which is found every where in the
body in small quantity mixed with the common
fat; but it is in the head that the greatest por-
tion is found. See Cachalot. The flesh of the
whale is very dry and insipid.

The fin fish is distinguished from the common
whale by a fin on the back, placed very low and
near the tail. The length is equal to that of the
common kind, but much more slender. It is
furnished with whale-bone in the upper jaw
mixed with coarse hair, but short, knobby, and
of little value. The blubber in the body is very
inconsiderable; it is extremely fierce, and the
capture of it both difficult and dangerous, on
which account it is entirely neglected by the
fishermen, who, on its appearance, retire out of

38 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Pike-headed whale — Musculus — Nar- whale.

those seas. The natives of Greenland, however,
hold it in much esteem, as it affords a quantity
of flesh which, to their palate, is very agreeable.
The lips are brown, and like a twisted rope; the
spout-hole appears to be split in the top of its
head, through which it blows its water with
much more violence, and to a greater height,
than the common whale.

The pike-headed whale, has a double pipe in
its snout, three fins like the former, and a hard
horny ridge on its back ; and the belly is full of
longitudinal folds. This species takes its name
from the shape of its nose, which is narrower
and sharper-pointed than that of the other whales.
It has been taken on the coast of Scotland of the
length of forty-six feet, and twenty in circum-
ference.

The musculus has a double pipe in its front,
and three fins ; the under jaw is much wider
than the upper one. It is frequently found along
the coasts of Scotland, and feeds upon herrings.

The nar-whale differs from the foregoing spe-
cies most materially by its large teeth pointing
directly forward from the upper jaw, from nine
to fourteen feet in length ; and of all the wea-
pons with which the marine animals are gifted,
this is doubtless the most formidable. The nar-
whale is seldom so long as the common whale,
much slenderer, and less abounding in blubber :
in other respects their manners and appetites are
perfectly similar; they arc harmless, peaceable,
G

THE WHALE.

Formidable weapon.

and rather avoid than seek contention. They
are gregarious, and seldom found alone ; but so
rapid in their flight, that they could seldom be
taken but for those very teeth which seem in-
"tended for their chief defence ; for when attacked
in a crowd, they are so embarrassed and locked
together by their tusks that some are certain of
falling a prey to the fishermen. This curious
weapon is commonly straight as an arrow,
about eight or ten inches in thickness, generally
wreathed like twisted bars of iron, and is whiter,
heavier, and harder than ivory, which it far sur-
passes in all its qualities. The extreme length
of them has induced naturalists to consider them
rather as horns than teeth, though in every
respect resembling the tusks of the boar and the
elephant. It springs from the left side of the
head, from a socket in the upper jaw, into which
its root enters above a foot and a half, and darts
directly forward in a line with the body. The
animal is generally found with but one of these
dreadful instruments. Nor is this defensive wea-
pon confined to the male sex, as both have been
found armed in the same manner.

By the whale tribe we are supplied with three
valuable articles, oil, whalebone, and spermaceti,
which renders the whale-fishery, in a commer-
cial point of view, of great importance to man-
kind. We shall therefore conclude this article
with a brief account of the whale fishery, which

40 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Whale fishery .

the reader will find has also been the subject of
our artist's pencil.

Whales are chiefly taken in the Northern
Seas. The English *ends out with every ship six
or seven boats ; each of these has one harpooner,
one man at the rudder, one manager of the line,
and four seamen to row it. In each boat there
are also two or three harpoons, several lances,
and six lines, each one hundred and twenty
fathoms long, fastened together.

As soon as the whale is struck with the har-
poon it darts into the deep, carrying the instru-
ment off in his body; and so rapid is its motion,
that if the line were to entangle, it would either
snap like a thread, or overset the boat : one man
therefore is stationed to attend only to the line
that it may go regularly out, ami another is also
employed in continually wetting the place it runs
against that the wood may not take fire from the
friction. It is very wonderful indeed, that an
animal so large should be able to cut through
the water with such velocity, his flight being as
rapid as that of an eagle.

On the whale's return to breathe, the har-
pooner inflicts a fresh wound, till at length, faint-
ing from loss of blood, the men venture the boat
quite up to him, and a long steeled lance is thrust
into his breast and other parts, which soon put
an end to his existence.

When the carcase begins to float, boles are

.

THE WHALE. 41

Mode of cutting up the carcase.

cut in the fins and tail, and ropes being fastened
into these, he is towed to the ship, where he
is fastened along the larboard side, floating with
his back on the water.

In order to take, out the blubber and whale-
bone, several men now get upon the animal with
iron calkers or spurs, to prevent their slipping,
and separate the tail, which is hoisted on deck.
They then cut out square pieces of blubber,
weighing two or three thousand pounds each,
which by means of the capstan, are also hoisted
up. These are cut into smaller pieces, which are
thrown into the hold, and left for three or four
days to drain. When all the blubber is cut from
the belly of the fish, it is turned on one side, by
means of a piece of blubber left in the middle,
called the cant, or turning piece. They then
cut out this side in large pieces as before, and
also the whalebone, with the gums, which are
presented entire, and hoisted on deck, where the
blades are cut and separated, and left till the
men have time to scrape and clean them. The
whale is next turned with its back upwards, and
the blubber cut out from the back and crown-
tone: they conclude the whole by cutting the
blubber from the other side. Before, however,
the remainder of the body i$ let to float away,
they cut out the two large upper jaw-bones,
which are hoisted on deck, cleansed, and fas-
tened to the shrouds, and tubs are placed under

VOL. v. — NO. 31. r

4$ NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Value of a whale.

them to receive the oil which they discharge £
which oil belongs to the captain.

In three or four days they hoist the pieces olf
blubber out of the hold, chop ami put them by
in small pieces through the bung-holes into the
casks.

A whale, the longest blade of whose mouth
measures nine or ten feet, will yield about thirty
butts of blubber; but some of the largest will
yield upwards of seventy. One of the latter is
generally worth about one thousand pounds ster-
ling; and a full ship of about three hundred ton*
burthen, will produce more than five thousand
pounds from one voyage.

Premiums on every whale that is taken, are
given to all engaged, from the captain to the men
who row the boats, which render them active in
the service of their employers.

The whale-fishery begins in May, and conti-
nues through the months of June and July; Inn
whether the ships have had good or bad success.
they must come away and get clear of the ice by
the end of August: so that in the month of Sep-
tember, at furthest, they may be expected home;
but the more fortunate ships often return in June
or July.

THE CACHALOT. 43

Description — Capacious throat.

THE CACHALOT,

OF which there are seven different species as
enumerated by Mr. Pennant. One of the lead-
ing characteristics of the cachalot is a number
of teeth in the under jaw, but none iu the upper.
It is by no means of such an enormous size as
the common whale. The blunt-headed cachalot
has ahead exceedingly out of proportion, mak-
ing in bulk one half of the whole body : this is
as flat at the end, and as thick there as in the
middle. It grows to the length of about sixty
feet, and the circumference of thirty. The tongue
is small, but the throat, in contradistinction to the
former tribe, is amazingly capacious, so that at
one gulp it can swallow shoals of the smaller fish
down its enormous gullet, which lias been de-
scribed as extensive enough to admit an ox.
Crantz says, that one of these creatures being-
struck, threw up a shark quite whole, and four
yards long; and at the same time there were
found in its stomach bones of fish that were a
fathom long. Of this kind must be the whale
that swallowed Jonah the prophet.

The cachalot race yields a smaller quantity of
oil than the common whale, which, however is
amply atoned for by its affording so abundantly
the two valuable articles of spermaceti and am-
bergris.

It, is in the cavities of the head of this species,

44 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

First discovery of the spermaceti.

that the spermaceti is taken, which cavities are
from twenty to thirty in number, and covered
with the common integuments or skin? The per-
fume called ambergris, is formed within its intes-
tines, and when the animal is sick, this is ejected
thence in large quantity.

The spermaceti is a fine, bright, white, and
semi-pellucid matter, composed of a fine sur-
faracious substance, formed into oblong flakes,
very light, soft, and unctuous to the touch, in-
flammable, soluble in oil, but not in watery men-
strua; of scarce any smell when fresh and fine,
and of a soft, agreeable, and unctuous taste.
The largest, firmest, and whitest flakes of it are
to be chosen. It is liable to become rancid and
yellowish in keeping; and the smaller fragments
contract this bad quality sooner than the larger.

It seems the first knowledge mankind had of
spermaceti, was the finding it swimming on the
surface of the water in the northern seas: and
we are not to wonder that people who knew no
more of its origin than what they were informed
of by those who found it so floating on the sea,
referred it to the mineral class, supposing it to
be bitumen formed in the bowels of the earth,
and thrown up from the bottom of the ocean, as
was the opinion of Schroder, and others of his
time. It was soon after discovered, however,
that the head of a peculiar species of whale af-
forded a fatty substance, which, when boiled,
and properly prepared, was analogous to this.

THE CACHALOT. 45

Spermaceti now made from any whale oil.

And here it was soon deduced, that the masses
of it first found were of the same origin; that
they had been formerly an oily matter in this
fish, which, getting loose, on the perishing of
the dead carcase, or by any other means, had
been washed and bleached by the salt water, and
the sun, into the form in which it was then
found. The opinion of its being the sperm, or
semen, of the whale, was about as early as the
first discovery that it belonged to that animal,
and seems to have been formed merely on ac-
count of its whiteness.

At first the spermaceti of the shops was made
from ^lie head of this fish; the oil obtained from,
its brain, and the diploe of the cranium, furnish-
ing the whole ; and hence the considerable price
it was then kept at. It was some time after
found out, however, that any whale oil would do
as well as this, which occasioned the price to fall
Considerably. At present it is made in England
from whale oil of any kind, the settling of our
oilmen's large vessels, particularly, which are
boiled with a quantum of German pot-ash, or
pearl-ashes, till white and firm ; and after several
other meltings, and a thorough separation of
what saline particles might have got into the
matter, it is, when cold, cut out with knives into
flakes. The process is easy, but it requires care,
and nice inspection towards the end: if not
enough boiled, it is apt to turn yellow, and soon
grow rancid.

41*7 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Best spermaceti — Amhersrris.

The best spermaceti, however, is from the ca-
vities of the cachalot's head. The first cavity is
filled with that spermaceti which is supposed of
tl>e greatest purity and highest value. Seven
barrels of the clearest spermaceti is generally the
produce of this cavity, which, when thrown upon
water, coagulates like cheese. There is also
another chamber or cavity, just over the gullet,
about seven feet high that affords a considerable
quantity, though of less value than the first. It
is observable, that in proportion as the oily sub-
stance is drawn from this part, it fills again from
every part of the body. The spinal marrow also
affords no inconsiderable quantity. This sub-
>tance ha* become not more an article of manu-
facture than a medicine; and of which candles,
cheaper, though not less elegant than wax, arc
plentifully made.

The ambergris is a solid, opake, ash-coloured,
fattv inflammable substance, variegated like
marble, remarkably light, rugged and uneven in
its surface, and has a fragrant odour when
healed, it is found swimming upon the sea, or
the sea coa>t, or in the sand near the sea coast;
« >p» ciallv in the Atlantic < )cean, on the sea coast
of Brasil, and that of .Madagascar; on the coast
of Africa, of the East Indies, China, .Japan, and
Molueco Islands; but most of the ambergris
which is brought to England, comes from the
Bahama islands, from Providence, &c. where
it is found on the coast. It is also sometimes

THE CACHALOT. 47

Ambergris supposed to proceed from sickness.

found in the abdomen of whales by the whale
fishermen, always in lumps of various shapes and
sizes, weighing from half an ounce to a hundred
or more pounds.

The persons who are employed in the sperma-
ceti whale fishery, confine their views to the
blunt-headed cachalot. Whenever they hook
one, they observe, that it constantly not only vo-
mits whatever it has in its stomach, but also
commonly discharges its faeces at the same time;
and if the latter circumstance takes place, they
are generally disappointed in finding ambergris
in its belly. But whenever they discover a bliuu-
headed cachalot, male or female, which seems
torbid and sickly, they are always pretty sure to
find ambergris, as the fish in this state seldom
voids its faeces upon being hooked. They like-
wise meet with it in the dead ones, which they
sometimes find floating on the sea. It is ob-
served, that all those whales, in whose bowels
ambergris is found, seem not only torpid aud
sick, but. are also constantly leaner than others;
so that if we may judge from the constant union
of these two circumstances, it would seem that a
larger collection of ambergris in the belly of
the whale is a source of disease, and probably
sometimes the cause of its death. As soon as
they hook a whale of this description, torpid,
sickly, or emaciated, they immediately either cut.
up the above-mentioned protuberance, if thero
be any, or they rip opq;i its bowels from the ori-

48 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Goodness of ambergris depends on its age.

fice of the anus, and find the ambergris some-
times in one, sometimes in different lumps, of
generally from six to twelve and more inches in
diameter, and from one pound to twenty or
thirty pounds in weight.

All ambergris, when taken out of whales, has
very nearly the same smell as the liquid ex-
crement of the animal, as well as the same black-
ish colour : and it is a matter of fact, that after
being taken out and kept in the air, all ambergris
grows not only . harder and whiter, but also
loses, by degrees, its smell, and assumes such an
agreeable one, as that in general has which is
found swimming upon the sea; therefore the
goodness of ambergris seems much to depend
upon its age; and the only reason why amber-
gris found floating on the sea is of better qua-
lity, is its greater age and longer exposure to the
air. It is more frequently found in males than
females ; the pieces in the latter being generally
smaller, and the quality inferior.

The cuttle-fish is the constant and natural food
of the cachalot. Of this the fishers are so well
persuaded, that whenever they discover any re-
cent relics of it swimming on the sea, they con-
clude that a whale of this kind is, or has been,
in that part. Another circumstance which cor-
roborates the fact isj that the cachalot, on being
hooked, generally vomits up some remains of the
sepia. Hence it is easy to account for the many
beaks, or pieces of beaks, o,f the sepia found in

THE CACHALOT. 49

Strange imitation of ambergris.

all ambergris. The beak of the sepia is a black
horny substance, and therefore passes undigested
through the stomach into the intestinal canal,
where it is mixed with the faces; after which it
is either evacuated with them, or if these latter
be preternaturally retained, forms concretions
with them, which render the animal sick and tor-
pid, and produce an obstipation, which ends
either in an abscess of the abdomen (as has been
frequently observed) or becomes fatal to the ani-
mal; whence in both cases on the bursting of
its belly, that hardened substance, known by the
name of ambergris, is found swimming on the
sea, or thrown upon the sea coast.

It is very remarkable, that this drug, which is
the most sweet of all perfumes, should be capa-
ble of being imitated in smell, by a preparation
of the most odious of all stinks. Mr. Hornbey
found, that a vessel in which he had made a long
digestion of the human faeces, acquired a very
strong and perfect smell of ambergris, insomuch
that any one would have thought a great quan-
tity of essence of ambergris had been made in it.
The perfume was so strong and offensive, that
the vessel was obliged to be removed out of the
laboratory.

VOL. v. — NO. 31.

50 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Description.

CHAP. III.

" But, past belief, a dolphin's arched back
Preserv'd Arion from his destirTd wreck ,
Secure he sits, and with harmonious strains,
Requites the bearer for his friendly pains."

TRANS. OF OVI».

THE DOLPHIN.

THE dolphin has an almost straight shape, the
back being very slightly incurvated, and the
body slender; the nose is long, narrow, and
pointed, with a broad transverse band, or projec-
tion of the skin on its upper part. It has twenty-
one teeth in the upper, and nineteen in the lower
jaw, somewhat above an inch long, conic at the
upper end, sharp pointed, and bending a little in.
They are placed at a small distance from each
othei ; so that when the mouth (which is very
wide) is shut, the teeth of both jaws lock into
each other: the spout-hole is placed in the mid-
dle of the head; the tail is semi-lunar; the skin
is smooth; the colour of the back and sides,

THE DOLPHIN. 51

Voracious, active, and roving.

dusky; the belfy whitish; it swims with great
swiftness, and its prey is fish. The dolphin is
longer and more slender than the porpesse, mea-
suring nine or ten feet in length, and two in
diameter.

Ail these species have fins on the back; very
large heads, like the rest of the whale kind; and
resemble each other in their appetites, their man-
ners, and conformation, being equally voracious,
active, and roving. No fish could escape them,
but from the auk ward position of their mouth,
which is placed in a manner under the head ;
and their own agility is so great as to prevent
them from being often taken. They seldom re-
main a moment above water though their too
eager pursuit after prey sometimes exposes them
to danger; a shoal of herrings often allures them
out of their depth, and they continue to flounder
in the shallows till knocked on the head, or the
returning tide comes to their relief. And when
taken they sometimes have a plaintive moan,
with which they continue to express their pain
till they expire.

A shoal of dolphins will frequently attend the
course of a ship for the scraps that are thrown
overboard, or the bernacles adhering to their
sides. They inhabit the European and Pacific
ocean.

This fish was in great repute with the ancients;
it was consecrated to the Gods, celebrated in the
G 2

52 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Ridiculous fables of the dolphin.

earliest time for its fondness of life human race,
honoured by the title of the sacred fish, and dis-
tinguished by those of boy-loving and philan-
thropist. It gave rise to a long train of ridicu-
lous fables. Scarce an accident could happen
at sea, but the dolphin offered himself to convey
to shore. By the seamen of the present day
they are held rather in abhorrence than esteem,
for their frolics on the surface of the water are
almost sure signs of an approaching storm.

In leaping out of the water, this fish assumes
a temporary curvature that is not natural to
them ; but which the painters and poets (who,
perhaps on this occasion borrowed from each
other) have constantly given them; and which
has indeed become too general an error.

" Upon the swelling waves the dolphins show
Their bending backs, then swiftly darting,
And in a thousand wreaths their bodies throv

Iphins show "\
darting, go, V
lies throw." )

The dolphin was formerly reckoned a deli-
cacy: Dr. Caius says, that one which was taken
in his time (in the reign of Elizabeth) was thought
a present worthy the Duke of Norfolk, who dis-
tributed part of it among his friends. It was
roasted and dressed with porpesse sauce, made
of crumbs of fine white bread, with vinegar and
sugar. The flesh, however, though tolerably
well tasted, is dry and insipid : the best parts are
near the head. It is seldom eaten now but when

THE PORPESSE.

Numerous in all the British seas.

young and tender. Dolphins are said to change
their colour before they die, and again after they
are dead.

THE PORPESSE.

THE general form of the porpesse very much
resembles that of the dolphin. It is however
somewhat less in size, and has a snout much
broader and shorter. It is generally from six to
seven feet in length; its body is thick towards
the head, but grows slender towards the tail,
forming the figure of a cone. In each jaw are
forty-eight teeth, small, sharp-pointed, and move-
able; and so placed that the teeth of one jaw
lock into those of the other. The eyes are small,
as is the spout-hole at the top of the head. la
colours the back is black, and the belly whitish,
but they sometimes vary.

Porpesses are very numerous in all the British
seas, particularly in the river St. Laurence, wheie
there is a white kind. Dr. Borsale in his voyage
to the Scilly Isles, observed a small species of
cetaceous fish, which he calls thornbacks, from
their broad and sharp fin on the back. Some of
these were brown, some quite white, others spot-
ted ; but whether they were only a variety of
this fish, or small grampusses, which are also
spotted, cannot be determined. The porpesse is
remarkable for the vast quantity of fat or lard

54 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Violence in pursuit of its prey.

that surrounds its body, and yields an excellent
oil. The nose being furnished with very strong
muscles, that enable it to turn up the sand for
eels and sea worms, it is thence in many places
called the sea-hog: and the animal sleeps with
its snout above the water.

These animals live chiefly on the smallej fish;
at the season when mackerel, herring, pilchards,
and salmon appear, the porpesses swarm, and
pursue them even up the rivers with great avi-
dity, following their game like a pack of hounds.
In Cornwall, during the pilchard season, they
often do much mischief, by an universal lacera-
tion of the nets, and interrupting the fishery. In
some places they almost darken the sea, as they
rise above water to take breath, which they do
very frequently. As the porpesses generally fre-
quent the rivers in shoal water, the natives of
Canada adopt the following method of catching
them. When the fishing season arrives, they
collect together a great number of sallow twigs,
or slender branches of other trees, and stick them
pretty firmly into the sand-banks of the river,
which at low water are left dry; this is done on
the side towards the river, forming a long line of
twigs at moderate distances, which at the upper
end is connected with the shore, an opening
being left at the lower end that they may enter.
As the tide rises it covers the twigs so as to keep
them out of sight; the porpesse, in quest of his
prey, gets within the line, where he continues

THE POKPESSE. 55

Simple mode of taking it.

his chase till he finds by the ebbing of the- tide,
that it is time to retire into deeper water. He
now makes towards the river, but the twigs being
then in part above the water, and so agitated by
the current, he no sooner sees them shaking
about than he takes fright and retreats back-
wards as far as he can. The tide still continuing
to ebb, he returns time after time, but never
being able to overcome his dread, rolls about
until he is deserted entirely by the water, when
those who placed the snare, rush out properly
armed, and in this defenceless state, overpower
him with ease. Thus a hundred of these huge
creatures have by this simple stratagem been
killed at one tide.

The porpesse was a royal dish even so late as
the reign of Henry VIII. and it continued in
vogue even in the reign of Elizabeth. It is said
to have been occasionally introduced at the tables
of the old English nobility. It was eaten with
sugar and vinegar. It is now, however, generally
neglected even by the sailors.

In America the skin of the porpesse is tanned
and dressed with considerable care: at first it is
extremely tender, and near an inch thick; but it
is shaved down till it becomes somewhat trans-
parent. It is made into waistcoats, and breeches
by the inhabitants, and is said also to make an
excellent covering for carriages.

Such is the violence of the porpesse in pursuit
of its prey, that it will follow a shoal of small

56 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Dexterity — Value — Well tasted when young.

fish up a fresh water river, from whence it finds
a difficulty to return. These creatures have been
often taken in the river Thames, both above and
below London-bridge; and it is curious to ob-
serve with what dexterity they avoid their pur-
suers, and how momentarily they recover their
breath above the water. It is usual to spread
four or five boats over the part of the river where
they are seen, and to fire at them the instant
they rise.

One porpesse yields about a hogshead of oil,
and therefore renders its capture an object of
consideration. The lean of the young ones is
also said to be well tasted, and not unlike veal.
They go with young ten months, seldom bring
forth more than one at a time, and generally in
the summer; from the ova found in this fish, a
kind of caviare is made, which is eaten as a
sauce, or with bread. It is conjectured that they
live about thirty years.

THE GRAMPUS,

CALLED by Pliny " an immense heap of
flesh armed with dreadful teeth," is from fifteen
feet long to twenty-five; and so thick in propor-
tion to its length, that one of eighteen feet
long is, in the thickest part, more than ten feet
in diameter. There are thirty teeth in each
jaw; those before are bluni, runnel, and slender;

THE GRAMPUS. 57

Ferocious disposition.

the farthest sharp and thick, and which lock into
each other like those of the porpesse. The
spout-hole is in the top of the neck; the colour
of the back is black, but on each shoulder is a
large white spot; the sides marbled black and
white, the belly of a snowy whiteness. The
back fin sometimes measures six feet in length.
They seldom appear on our coasts, but are found
in great quantities off the North Cape in Nor-
way, whence they are termed North Capers.
The grampus is of a very ferocious disposition,
and feeds on the larger fish. It fastens on the
whale like a dog on a bull, till the animal roars
with pain. It is so voracious as not even to
spare the dolphin or porpesse, and it is said also
to devour seals, which it occasionally finds sleep-
ing on the rocks, dislodging it by means of its
back fin, and precipitating them into the water.
From their agility, these fish are not often taken
They seldom remain a moment above water, but
their eager pursuits sometimes throw them off
their guard, and allure them into the shallow
waters. In this case the hungry animal fre-
quently continues to flounder about till either
knocked on the head by those who discover it,
or till the tide comes seasonably to it^ relief.

VOL. V. — NO. 31. H

58 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description — Value — Beauty .

THE BELUGA

IS from twelve to eighteen feet in length, has
a short head, blunt nose, very minute eyes, and
a small mouth, with thirty-six short blunt teeth;
the pectoral fins nearly of an oval form ; and be-
neath the skin may be felt the bones of five fin-
gers, which terminate at the edge of the fin in
five very sensible projections. The tail is divided
into two lobes, which lie horizontally, but do not
fork, except a little at the base, and it has no
dorsal fin. In swimming, this fish bends its tail
under it like a lobster, and works it with such
force as to dart along with the rapidity of an
arrow.

This fish is common in all the arctic seas, and
forms an article of commerce, being taken on
account of its blubber. There are fisheries for
them and the porpesse in the river St. Laurence.
A considerable quantity of oil is extracted from
them; and of their skin is made a sort of mo-
rocco leather, thin, yet strong enough to resist a
musket ball. They are usually caught in nets, but
are sometimes harpooned. They bring forth only
one young at a time, which is dusky, but grows
white in proportion to its age, the change first
commencing on the belly. They are apt to fol-
low boats, as if they were tamed, and appear
extremely beautiful, by reason of their resplen-
dent whiteness.

THE SHARK.

Description.

CHAP. IV.

" Increasing still the terrors of the storm,
His jaws terrific arm'd with threefold fate,
Here dwells the direful shark. Lur'd by the scent
Of steaming crowds, of rank disease and death,
Behold ! he rushing cuts the briny flood,
Swift as the gale can bear the ship along,
And, from the partners of that cruel trade
Which spoils unhappy Guinea of her sons,
Demands his share of prey — demands themselves."

THOMSON.

THE SHARK.

THIS voracious animal may justly be ranked
next to the whale in magnitude, as it is often
found near thirty feet in length, and of corres-
ponding weight and bulk. The skin is covered
with very slender prickles, and the upper part of
the tail is generally longer than the lower. Its
mouth and throat enormously wide, and capable
of admitting a human carcase ; which has been
repeatedly found in their bellies. Its head is
large and flatted ; its snout is long, and the eyes
large and goggling, projecting in such a man-
ner as to enable it to behold its prey on every
side. But the teeth are the most formidable
H 2

60 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Formidable teeth — Malignant aspect.

part of its composition ; they consist of six rows,
amounting to one hundred and forty-four in
number, hard, sharp-pointed, and wedge-like in
their form ; and the creature is possessed of the
singular power of erecting or depressing them at
pleasure. They lie flat in his mouth when at
rest, but by the help of a set of muscles he is
enabled to erect them when he wishes to seize
his prey; on which he can inflict at once an hun-
dred wounds.

The aspect of the shark is peculiarly expres-
sive of the malignity of his character; he is
dreaded by the lesser tribes, and is scarcely less
obnoxious to those apparently more powerful ;
for he surpasses the whale in strength and cele-
rity not more than he exceeds all the rest in his
insatiable appetites. His (ins are larger in pro-
portion than those of most fish ; and his skin is
rough, hard, and prickly, and of which shagreen
is made for covering instrument cases, &c. His
powers of destruction are only counterbalanced
by the difliculty he meets with in seizing his
prey; for his upper jaw projects so far over the
lower, that he is obliged to turn on one side in
order to accomplish his purpose; and thus afford
his affrighted virtims the only probability of
escape. The flesh is tough, coarse, and of such
a disagreeable smell, that even the young are
scarcely eatable. The body emits a phosphoric
light in the dark. The liver affords a few quarts
of oil.

THE SHARK.

Means employed to take him.

Mr. Pennant observes, that the female is
larger than the male in this tribe ; a ciscumstance
strongly characteristic of their nature, and form-
ing a striking agreement between them and birds
of prey. With respect to the fecundity of these
animals, Belonius says, that he saw a female
shark produce eleven live young ones at a time.

Among its singularities may be reckoned its
enmity to man, or rather its love of human flesh;
-which when it has once tasted, it never desists
from haunting those places where it expects the
return of the prey ; along the coasts of Africa,
where these animals are found in great abun-
dance, numbers of the negroes, who, for various
purposes, are obliged to frequent these waters,
are seized and devoured by them every year;
and it is added, that they manifest a preference
to the flesh of the black men. But though the
shark may be called a common enemy, he has
no opposition but from the human race, who
have contrived different methods to destroy him.
He often falls, however, a victim to his own ra-
pacity, by means of the stratagems employed to
take him; the metliod of doing which, with our
English sailors, is to bait a large hook with a
piece of pork, which is thrown into the sea by
a strong cord, strengthened near the hook by an
iron chain. Without this precaution the shark
would quickly bite the cord in two, and set him-
self at liberty. The struggle with temptation,
€S-en when this voracious animal is not pressed

NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Terrible in the agonies of death.

by the call of appetite, U amusing to observe.
He approaches, examines, and swims round it:
seems for a while to neglect it, as if apprehensive
of the delusion; but his voracity encreasing, he
returns as if ready to seize it, but apprehension
again drives him back: thus, like a youthful sin-
ner, he keeps agitated between desire and fear,
while the sailors continue to divert themselves
with his contending passions, till they make a
pretence of drawing the bait away, when propel-
led by every appetite at once, he darts rapidly at
the bait, and makes one ravenous gulp of it, hook
and all. When the hook is lodged in his maw,
his efforts are most strenuously, though vainly,
exerted to get free: he endeavours to cut the
chain with his teeth ; he labours with all his force
to break the line; and his exertions to disgorge
the hook, almost turn his stomach inside out;
until enfeebled by unsuccessful attempts, and
quite exhausted of his strength, he permits the
sailors to drag him out of his native element,
and dispatch him, which is done by repeated
and severe blows on the head.

In dragging him, however, on ship-board,
much caution is necessary; and much difficulty
and danger are frequently experienced: for in the
agonies of death he is terrible, and struggles
powerfully with his executioners: his head and
tail are secured and fastened at the same time;
but the hitter is afterwards frequently cut off with
an axe, to prevent his flouncing, the consequence

THE SHARK. 63

Anecdote by Dr. Goldsmith.

of which might be highly dangerous. And such
is the degree of vitality, or strength of the vital
principle in the shark, that he is killed with more
difficulty than almost any other animal in 'the
world ; it moves about long after the head is cut
off, and even when cut in pieces, the muscles still
preserve their motion, and vibrate for minutes
after being separated from the body.

We are told by Dr. Goldsmith, that a Guinea
captain was, by stress of weather, driven into the
harbour of Belfast, in Ireland, with a lading of
very sickly slaves, who took every opportunity
to throw themselves overboard, when brought
upon deck, as is usual, for the benefit of the fresh
air. The captain perceiving among others, a
woman slave attempting to drown herself, pitched
upon her as a proper example for the rest. As
he supposed that they did not know the terrors
attending death, he ordered the woman to be
tied with a rope under the arm-pits, and so let
her down into the water. When the poor crea-
ture was thus plunged in, and about half-way
down, she was heard to give a terrible shriek,
which at first was ascribed to her fears of drown-
ing; but soon after, the water appearing red all
around her, she was drawn up, and it was found
that a shark, (but of what species is not ascer-
tained) which had followed the ship, had bitten
her off from the middle.

64 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Descriptions.

THE BLUE SHARK.

THE body of this animal is of a fine blue co-
lour, dark on the back, lighter on the sides; the
fins and tail of a dirty blue; the belly, and all
the under part of the fish white. No orifices are
to be seen behind the eye, as is usual with fish
of this genus. Two white membranes, one to
each eye, perform the office of eye-lids. When
the head was placed downwards, a pretty large
white pouch came out of its mouth. JElian sup-
poses this to serve as an asylum to the young
brood in time of danger; and Mr. Pennant,,who
gives credit to the story, thinks that this fish,
like the opossum, may have a place fitted by na-
ture for the reception of her young. This, how-
ever, has been denied by some writers. In 1779
a shark of this species was caught on the coast
of Devonshire, the skin of which was stuffed and
deposited in the British Museum.

THE WHITE SHARK.

THIS shark has six rows of teeth, hard,
sharply-pointed, and of a wedge-like figure.
These he has the power of erecting and depres-
sing at pleasure. When at rest, they are quit*
flat in his mouth; but when his prey is to be
seized, they are instantly erected by a set of

6

THE WHITE SHARK. 65

Dreadful accident.

muscles that join them to the jaw. Thus, with
open jaws, goggling eyes, and large and bristly
fins, agitated like the mane of a lion, his whole
aspect is an emphatical picture of the fiercest,
deepest, and most savage malignity. These
creatures are the dread of sailors in all the hot
climates, where they constantly attend the ships,
in expectation of what may drop overboard, and
if, in this case, any of the men have that misfor-
tune, they must inevitably perish.

Mr. Pennant was informed by the master of a
Guinea ship, that a rage for suicide prevailed
among his slaves, from an opinion entertained
by the unfortunate wretches that, after death,
they should be restored to their families, friends,
and country. To convince them that their bo-
dies could never be re-animated, he ordered the
corpse of one that was just dead to be tied by
the heels to a rope, and lowered into the sea. It
was drawn up again as quickly as the united force
of the crew could do it; yet, in that very short
time, the sharks had devoured every part but the
feet, which were secured by the end of the cord.

Mr. Brook Watson, (an alderman of London)
was, in his youth, swimming at a little distance
from a ship, when he saw a shark making towards
him. Struck with terror at its approach, he im-
mediately cried out for assistance. A rope was
instantly thrown out; and while the men were
in the act of drawing him up the ship's side, the
monster darted after him, and, at a single snap,

VOL. v. — NO. 32. i

66 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Valour of a seaman,

tore off his leg. This dreadful accident our
readers will find is the subject of the annexed
engraving.

In the pearl-fisheries of South America, every
negro, to defend himself against these animals,
carries with him into the water, a sharp knife;
which, if the fish offer to assault him, he endea-
vours to strike into its belly ; on which it gene-
rally swims off. The officers who are in the
vessels keep a watchful eye on these voracious
creatures; and, when they observe them ap-
proach, shake the ropes fastened to the negroes
to put them on their guard. Many, when the
divers have been in danger, have thrown them-
selves into the water, with knives in their hands,
and hastened to their defence : but too often all
their dexterity and precaution have been of no
avail.

In the reign of Queen Anne, as recorded by
Hughes, a merchant ship arrived at Barbadoes
from England, some of the men of which were
one day bathing in the sea, when a large shark
appeared, and sprung forwards directly at them.
A person from the ship called out to warn them
of their danger; on which they all immediately
swam to the vessel, and arrived in perfect safety,
except one poor fellow who was cut in two by
the shark almost within reach of the oars. A
comrade and intimate friend of the unfortunate
victim, when he observed the severed trunk of his
companion, was seized with a degree of horror

2

THE WHITE SHARK. 6?

Whose friend was severed in two.

that words cannot describe. The insatiable shark
was seen traversing the bloody surface in search
of the remainder of his prey, when the brave
youth plunged into the water, determining either
to make the shark disgorge, or to be buried him-
self in the same grave. He held in his hand a
long and sharp-pointed knife, and the rapacious
animal pushed furiously towards him: he had
turned on his side, and opened his enormous
jaws, in order to seize him, when the youth,
diving dexterously seized him with his left hand
somewhere below the upper fins, and stabhed
him several times in the belly. The shark, en-
raged with pain, and streaming with blood,
plunged in all directions in order to disengage
himself from his enemy. The crews of the sur-
rounding vessels saw that the combat was de-
cided ; but they were ignorant which was slain,
till the shark, weakened at length by loss of
blood, made towards the shore, and along with
him his conqueror; who, flushed with victor}',
pushed his foe with redoubled ardour, and, with
the aid of an ebbing tide, dragged him on shore.
Here he ripped up the bowels of the animal, ob-
tained the severed remainder of his friend's body,
and buried it with the trunk in the same grave.

An Indian, on the coast of California, on
plunging into the sea, was seized by a shark;
but, by a most extraordinary feat of activity,
cleared himself, and, though considerably wound-
ed, threw blood and water at the animal to sh,r>'v
i 2

68 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Temerity of the South-Sea islanders.

his bravery and contempt. But the voracious
monster seized him with horrid violence a second
time, and in a moment dragged him to the bot-
tom. His companions, though not far from him,
and much affected by the loss, were not able to
render him any assistance whatever.

The West-Indian negroes often venture to
contend with the shark in close combat. They
know his power to be limited by the position of
of his mouth underneath ; and, as soon as they
discover him, they dive beneath, and in rising,
stab him before he has an opportunity of putting
himself into a state of defence. Thus do bold-
ness and address unite in triumph over strength
and ferocity. „

According to Captain Portlock's account the
South-Sea islanders are not in the least afraid of
the sharks, but will swim among them without
exhibiting the least signs of fear. " I have
seen," says that gentleman, " five or six large
sharks swimming about the ship, when there
have been upwards of a hundred Indians in the
water, both men and women : they seemed quite
indifferent about them, and the sharks never
offered to make an attack on any of them, and
yet at the same time would seize our bait gree-
dily; whence it is manifest that they derive their
confidence of safety from their experience, that
they are able to repel the attacks of those vora-
cious creatures.

Notwithstanding the voracity of these crea-

THE BASKING SHARK. C)Q

Description.

tures, it is asserted, that they will not devour
any feathered animal that is thrown overboard;
but that they will readily take a bait of a piece
of flesh fastened on an iron crook.

THE BASKING SIIJRK.

THIS, though a very large fish, possesses
none of the voracity and ferociousness that
mark the generality of the shark tribe. It will fre-
quently lie motionless on the surface of the wa-
ter, generally on its belly, but sometimes on- its
back ; and it seems so little afraid of mankind as
often to suffer itself to be patted and stroked.
Its body is slender, and from three to twelve
yards in length, of a deep lead colour above, and
white below. The upper jaw is blunt at the end,
and much longer than the lower. The mouth is
placed beneath, and furnished with small teeth;
these before much bent, and the remote ones
conical and sharp-pointed. On each side of the
neck are five breathing apertures. There are
two dorsal, two pectoral, two ventral fins, and
one small anal fin. Within the mouth, near the
throat, is a short kind of whalebone. The liver
is of such immense size as frequently to weigh
near a thousand pounds. From this a great
quantity of good oil is extracted; which renders
this shark an animal of considerable importance

70 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Derivation of its name.

to the Scotch fishermen: for, according to An-
derson, the oil of a single fish will sometimes sell
for twenty or thirty pounds sterling.

The basking shark (which derives its name
from its propensity to lie on the surface of the
water, as if to bask itself in the sun) frequents
our seas during the warm summer months, and
is not uncommon on the Welsh and Scottish
coasts, where they come in shoals usually after
intervals of a certain number of years. In the
intervening summers, those that are seen on the
Welsh coast are generally single fish, that have
probably strayed from the rest. They appear in
the Firth of Clyde, and among the Hebrides
about mid-summer, in small droves of seven or
eight, or more commonly in pairs. Here they
continue till the latter end of July, when they
disappear.

The food of these sharks seems to consist en-
tirely of marine plants and some of the species
of Medusae. They swim very deliberately, and
generally with their upper fins above water.
Sometimes they may be seen sporting about
among the waves, and leaping several feet above
the surface.

The natives of our northern coasts are very
alert in the pursuit, and very dexterous in the
killing of these fish. When pursued, they do
not accelerate their motion till the boat comes
ahno&t in contact with them, when the harpooner

THE BASKING SHARK. 71

Amazing rapidity when wounded.

strikes his weapon into the body as near the gills
as he can. They seem not very susceptible of
pain; for they often remain in the same place,
till the united strength of two men is exerted to
force the harpoon deeper. As soon as they per-
ceive themselves wounded they plunge headlong
to the bottom; and frequently coil the rope
round their bodies in agony, attempting to disen-
gage themselves from the fatal instrument by
rolling on the ground. Discovering that these
efforts are in vain, they swim off with such
amazing rapidity, that one instance has occurred
of a basking shark towing to some distance a
vessel of seventy tons burthen against a fresh
gale. They sometimes run off with two hundred
fathoms of line, and two harpoons in them ; arid
will employ the men from twelve to twenty- four
hours before they are subdued. As soon as they
are killed, the fishermen haul them on shore ; or,
if at a distance from land, to the vessel's side, to
cut them up and take out the liver, which is the
only useful part of their bodies. This is melted
into oil in kettles provided for the purpose; and,
if the fish be a large one, it will yield eight bar
rels or upwards.

72 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Description — Habits.

THE STURGEON.

THOUGH this large and fine-tasted fish is of
a form terrible to view, it is perfectly harmless;
the body, which is from six to eighteen feet in
length, is pentagonal, armed from head to tail
with five rows of large bony tubercles, each of
which ends in a strong recurved tip; one of
these is on the back, one on each side, and two
on the margin of the belly. The snout is long,
and obtuse at the end, and has the tendrils near
the tip. The mouth, which is beneath the head,
is somewhat like the opening of a purse, and is
so formed as to be pushed suddenly out, or re-
tracted. The upper part of the body is of a dirty
olive colour; the lower part silvery; and the tu-
bercles are white in the middle. The tendrils on
the snout, which are some inches in length, have
so great a resemblance in form to earth-worms
that, at first sight, they might be mistaken for
them. By this contrivance, this clumsy tooth-
less fish is supposed to keep himself in good con-
dition, the solidity of his flesh evidently showing
him to be a fish of prey. He is said to hide his
large body among the weeds near the sea-coast,
or at the mouths of large rivers, only exposing
his tendrils, which small fish or sea-insects, mis-
taking for real worms, approach for plunder, and
are sucked into the jaws of their enemy. He
has been supposed by some to root into the soil

THE STURGEON. 7$

Where found — Propensity for leaping.

at the bottom of the sea or rivers; but the ten-
drils above mentioned, which hang from his
snout over his mouth, must themselves be very
inconvenient for this purpose ,• and as he has no
jaws, he evidently lives by suction, and, during
his residence in the sea, marine insects are gene-
rally found in his stomach. From its quality of
floundering at the bottom of rivers, the sturgeon
has received its name (as Johnson observes) from
the Germans, the word stoeren signifying to wal-
low in the mud.

Sturgeons are found both in the European and
American seas. At the approach of spring, they
leave the deep recesses of the sea, and enter the
rivers to spawn ; and from May to July the Ame-
rican rivers abound with them. tf Here," says
Catesby, " they are often observed to leap to
the height of several yards out of the water,
which they do in an erect position, falling back
again on their sides with such noise as to be
heard in the still evenings to a great distance.
They have often been known, at these times, to
fall into the small boats or canoes of the Indians,
and sink them. On this account it is often dan-
gerous to pass the places that are much fre-
quented by them ; many instances have occurred
of people' losing their lives by this means. Some
of the Indians take advantage of this propensity
for leaping to catch them, by stationing them-
selves in tolerably large boats in the places where
they are seen, and receiving them as they fall."

VOL. v. — NO. 32. K

74 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Caught in nets — How killed by the Indians.

As sturgeons are not voracious fish, they are
never caught by baits, but in nets composed of
small cords, and placed across the mouth of the
river, but in such a manner, that whether the
tide ebbs or flows, the pouch of the net goes
with the stream. In some rivers of Virginia, the
sturgeons are found in such numbers that six
hundred have been taken in two days, with no
more trouble than putting down a pole, with a
hook at the end, to the bottom, and drawing it
up again, on feeling it rub. against a fish. They
are, however, chiefly killed in the night with
harpoons, attracted by the light of torches made
of the wood of the black pine. On the shores
are frequently seen the bodies of sturgeons that
have been wounded with the spears, and have
afterwards expired.

The Indians often kill them in the lakes in the
day-time. For this purpose there are usually two
men in a canoe, one at the stern to work it for-
ward, and the other at the head, with a pointed
gpear about fourteen feet long, tied to a long
cord that is fastened to one of the cross timbers
of the canoe. The moment a sturgeon is seen
within reach, the man at the head darts his spear
into the tenderest part of the body that he can
reach ; and if it penetrate, the iish swims off with
astonishing velocity, dragging the canoe along
the water aftrr it. If, however, the blow be
pretty well aimed, the fish does not go more
thau two or three hundred yards before he

THE STURGEON. 75

Devoid of spirit — Fecundity.

dies ; when the men draw up the line and take
htm. Sometimes, when sturgeons are seen to
lie at the bottom of the still water near the ca-
taracts, they are struck with a spear without a
rope, their place being marked, on their rising,
by the appearance of the shaft above the water.

Sturgeons annually ascend our rivers, in the
summer, particularly those of the Eden and Esk,
but in no great numbers. It is so spiritless a fish
thai, when caught by accident, as it sometimes
is, in the salmon nets, it scarcely makes any re-
sistance, but is drawn out of the water appa-
rently lifeless. One of the largest ever caught
in our rivers which weighed four hundred and
sixty pounds was taken in the Esk, about thirty
years ago. In 1758 one was taken in Italy,
which weighed five hundred and fifty pounds,
and was presented by the Duke Carpenetto to
the Pope. Pontoppidan asserts, that in Norway
the head of one only sometinies furnishes a ton
of oil, and that some have been caught there
weighing one thousand pounds.

The fecundity of these fish is exceedingly
great. Catesby says, that the females frequently
contain a bushel of spawn each ; and Leeuwen-
hoek found in the roe of one of them no fewer
than 150,000,000,000 eggs. The flesh is well
' known to be extremely delicious, greatly resem-
bling veal; and it was so much valued, in the
time of the Emperor Severus, that it was brought
to table by servants with coronets on their heads.

76 NATURALIST'S CABINET

Modes of pickling the sturgeon,

and preceded by music. Tnis might give rise
to its being, in our country, presented by the
lord mayor to the king. At present, the stur-
geons are caught in the Danube, the Wolga, the
Don, and other large rivers, tor various purposes.
When pickled, the flesh of the sturgeon is
more prized in England than in any of the coun-
tries where it is usually caught. The fishermen,
have two different methods of preparing it : the
one is by cutting them in long pieces length-ways,
and having salted them, by hanging them up in
the sun to dry: thus prepared, the fish is sold in
all the countries of the Levant, and supplies the
want of better provisions.

The other method, which is generally practised
in Holland, and along the shores of the Baltic,
is to cut the sturgeon cross-ways, into short
pieces, and put it into small barrels, with a pic-
kle made of salt and saumure; and in this man-
ner it is generally sold in England.

There is a celebrated epicurean food also pre-
pared from the hard roe of the sturgeon, under
the appellation of carfare, formed into small
cakes. It is made by freeing- the spawn from
the little fibres by which it is connected, and
which is washed in white wine, or vinegar, and
afterwards spread out to dry. It is then put
into a vessel and salted (crushing it down with
the hands) and afterwards inclosed in a canvas
bag to drain off the moisture. It is last of all,
put into a tub with a hole in the bottom, that

THE STURGEON, 77

Characteristics of the sterlet.

any remaining moisture rnay run of, pressed

down and closed for use.

The bones of the sturgeon are reported to be

so hard as to serve the American Indians for

rasps and nutmeg-graters. The skin makes a

good covering for carriages.

The sterlet is distinguished from the common

sturgeon by having only three rows of bony

scales, one down the back and one on each side.

The plates do not project so much, and are less

curved than those of the sturgeon.

This fish is found in great abundance in the

Caspian sea, the Wolga and Jaik. It is the
smallest of all the species of sturgeons ; seldom
exceeding four feet in length, and thirty-five
pounds in weight. Bruyne asserts, that it is the
most delicate fish of Russia. The caviare made
from its eggs is of such superior quality, that it is
reserved for the use of the imperial family. This
fish spawns in May or June. In August it re-
turns to the Caspian, which it leaves again in
spring, and ascends the Wolga, Jaik, and other
rivers that discharge themselves into it. It mul-
tiplies very fast, feeds upon worms and young
fish, but principally on the eggs of the sturgeon,
which it follows for this reason. Its flesh is
white, tender, and easy of digestion, and conse-
quently affords a wholesome food for sickly
persons.

There is another sort of sturgeon, distinguished

5

78 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

The buthenus — Huso.

by fifteen scaly protuberances, a native of Russia,
and called buthenus, in the technical language
of Linnaeus, but is probably the caviare sturgeon
of other writers.

The huso is a fish very much resembling the
sturgeon, and classed by Linnaeus under the
same genus, (accipencer :) it is a native of Russia
and the Danube; the body is naked, that is,
it has no protuberances; grows frequently to
twenty-four feet in length, and the skin is so
tough and strong, that it is employed for ropes,
in carts and other wheel carriages. Its flesh is
soft, glutinous and flabby ; but when salted ac-
quires a better taste, and turns red like salmon:
it is caught from October to January, and weighs
from seventy pounds to almost four hundred;
but is chieily taken for the purpose of furnishing
that useful commodity isinglass, so famous as an
aglutinant in medicine, as well as for the fining
of wines ; for both which uses, it appears that
this fish was known to the ancients. The Rev.
Mr. liingley and others deny, that any part of
the sturgeon will produce this commodity except
the inner coat of its air-bladder. They say, the
isinglas most common in our shops is made from
a species of dolphin called the beluga, an ac-
count of which, the reader will find in our de-
scription of the dolphin.

The art of making isinglass was long a secret
in the hands of the Russians; but has lately been

THE STURGEON. 79

Art of making isinglass.

discovered, and the following account of it pub-
lished by Humphrey Jackson, Esq. in the Philo-
sophical Transactions.

". All authors, who have hitherto delivered
processes for making isinglass, have greatly
mistaken both its constituent matter and pre-
paration.

" In my first attempt to discover the constitu-
ent parts and manufacture of isinglass, relying
too much upon the authority of some"chemical
authors, whose veracity 1 had experienced in
many other instances, I found myself constantly
disappointed. Glue, not isinglass, was the result
of every process ; and although in the same view,
a journey to Russia proved fruitless, yet a steady
perseverance in the research proved not only suc-
cessful as to this object, but, in the pursuit, to
discover a resinous matter plentifully procurable
in the British fisheries, which has been found by
ample experience to answer similar purposes.

" It is now no longer a secret that the lakes
and rivers in North America are stocked with
immense quantities of fish, said to be the same
species with those in Muscovy, and yielding the
finest isinglass; the fisheries whereof, under due
encouragement, would doubtless supply all Eu-
rope with this valuable article.

" No artificial heat is necessary to the produc-
tion of isinglass; neither is the matter dissolved
for this purpose; for, as the continuity of its
fibres would be destroyed by solution, the mas*

SO NATURALISTS CABINET.

Humphrey Jackson's remarks

would become brittle in drying, and snap short
asunder, which is always the case with glue, but
never with isinglass.

" The latter, indeed, may be resolved into glue
with boiling water; but its fibrous recomposition
would be found impracticable afterwards, and a
fibrous texture is one of the most distinguishing
characteristics of genuine isinglass.

" The sounds, or air bladders, of fresh-water
fish in general, are preserved for this purpose, as
being the most transparent, flexible, delicate sub-
stances. These constitute the finest sorts of
isinglass; those called book and ordinary staple,
are made of the intestines, and probably of the
peritonaeum of the fish. The beluga yields the
greatest quantity, as being the largest and most
plentiful fish in the Muscovy river; but the
sounds of all fresh- water fish yield more or less
fine isinglass, particularly the smaller sorts, found
in prodigious quantities in the Caspian Sea, and
several hundred miles beyond Astracan, in the
Wolga, Yoik, Don, and even as far as Siberia,
where it is called, He, or kla, by the natives,
which implies a glutinous matter; it is the basis
of the Russian glue, which is preferred to all
other kinds for its strength.

" Isinglass receives its different shapes in the
following manner:

" The part of which it is composed, particu-
larly the sounds, are taken from the fish, while
sweet and fresh, slit open, washed from their

THE STURGEON. 81

On making isinglass.

slimy sordes, divested of every thin membrane
which envelopes the sound, and then exposed to
stiffen a little in the air. In this state they are
formed into rolls about the thickness of a finger,
and in length according to the intended size of
the staple : a thin membrane is generally selected
for the centre of the roll, round which the rest
are folded alternately, and about half an inch of
each extremity of the roll is turned inwards.
The two dimensions being thus obtained, the two
ends of what is called short staple, are pinned to-
gether with a small wooden peg : the middle of
the roll is then pressed a little downwards, which
gives it the resemblance of a heart shape ; and
thus it is laid on boards, or hung tip in the air
to dry. The sounds, which compose the long
staple, are longer than the former; but the ope-
rator lengthens this sort at pleasure, by inter-
folding the ends of one or more pieces of the
sound with each other. The extremities are fas-
tened with a peg like the former, but the middle
part of the roll is bent more considerably down-
wards ; and, in order to preserve the shape of the
three obtuse angles thus formed, a piece of round
stick, about a quarter of an inch diameter, is fas-
tened in each angle with small wooden pegs in
the same manner as at the end*. In this state it
is permitted to dry long enough to retain its
form, when the pegs and sticks are taken out,
and the drying completed; lastly, the pieces of
isinglass are colligated in rows, by running pack-'
VOL. v. — NW. 32. L

63

NATURALIST S CABINET.

Jackson's remarks.

thread through the peg-holes for convenience of
package and exportation.

" The membranes of the book sort being thick
and refractory, will not admit a similar forma-
tion with the preceding; the pieces, therefore,
after their sides are folded inwardly, are bent in
the centre, in such a manner that the opposite
sides resemble the cover of a book, from whence
its name, a peg being run across the middle,
fastens the sides together, and thus it is dried
like the former. This sort is interleaved, and
the pegs run across the ends, the better to pre-
vent its unfolding.

" That called cake isinglass, is formed of the
bits and fragments of the staple sorts, put into
a flat metalline pan, with a little water, and
heated just enough to make the parts cohere
like a pancake, when it is dried ; but frequently
it is overheated, as such pieces, as before ob-
served, become useless in the business of fining.
Experience has taught the consumer to reject
them.

" It has long been a prevalent opinion, thai
sturgeon, on account of its cartilaginous nature,
would yield great quantities of isinglass ; but, on
examination, no part of this fish, except the
inner coat of the sound, promised the least suc-
cess. This being full of ruga, adheres so firmly
to the external membrane, which is useless, that
the labour of separating them supersedes the ad-
vantage. The intestines however, which in the

THE STURGEON.

83

Jackson's remarks.

larger fish extend several yards in length, being
cleansed from their mucus, and dried, were found
surprisingly strong and elastic, resembling cords
made with the intestines of other animals, com-
monly called cat-gut, and from some trials, pro-
mised superior advantages, when applied to me-
chanic operations."

84 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description.

CHAP. V.

The hook'd torpedo ne'er forgets his art,
But soon as struck begins to play its part;
And to the line applies his magic sides:
Without delay the subtile power glides
Along the pliant rod and slender hairs,
Then to the fisher's hand as swift repairs :
Aiuaz'd he stands, his arms of sense bereft,
Down drops the idle rod, — his prey is left :

JONES'S OPPIAK.

THE TORPEDO,

111 ERE are about twenty species of the ray,
of all which the torpedo, or electric ray, is ths
most remarkable, as it possesses some very dis-
tinguishing peculiarities. In the general struc-
ture of its body it has not been found to differ
materially from the rest of the rays. The elec-
tric organs are placed one on each side of the
graniuni or gills, reaching from thence to the se-
mi-circular cartilages of each great fin, and ex-
tending longitudinally from the anterior extre-
mity of the animal to the transverse cartilage
which divides the thorax from the abdomen, and

THE TORPEDO. 85

Number of columns in each organ various.

within these limits they occupy the whole space
between the skin of the upper and under sur-
faces. Each organ is attached to the surround-
ing parts by a close cellular membrane, and also
by short and strong tendinous fibres, which pass
directly across from its outer edge to the semi-
circular cartilages. They are covered above and
below with the common skin of the animal,
under which are longitudinal fibres spread en-
tirely over them. Each organ is about five
inches in length, and at the anterior end about
three in breadth. They are composed of perpen-
dicular columns, reaching from the upper to the
«ndcr surface, varying in length according to the
thickness of the parts of the body, from an inch
and a half to half an inch ; and their diameters
are from a fourth to a fifth of an inch. The
coats of the columns are very thin, and almost
transparent. The number of columns in each
organ varies considerably in different animals.
That of one that Mr. Hunter presented to the
Royal Society was about four hundred and se-
venty ; but in a very large torpedo the number
of columns in one organ was 1182. These co-
lumns were composed of films parallel to the
base of each, and the distance between each of
the columns were one hundred and fiftieth part
of an inch.

" If," remarks Mr. Hunter, (Phil. Trans.)
" we suppose these films to be charged with
electricity, and to be the 300th part of an inch

85 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Remarks by Mr. Hunter.

thick, and a middling-sized torpedo to contain
in both organs, on the whole, 1000 columns each
an inch long, and 0.03 square inches area at the
base, then 1000X 150X0.3= 4500 square inches.
Now it has been clearly proved that the capacity
of stout glass is thirty-six times less than that of
these organs; therefore both the organs of a
middling-sized torpedo will be equivalent to
4500X36 = 162,000 square inches, or 1125 square
feet of glass. — The nerves inserted into each or-
gan arise by three very large trunks from the
lateral and posterior part of the brain. These,
having entered the organs, ramify in every direc-
tion between the columns. The number and
magnitude are extremely great; and it is sup-
posed that they are subservient to the formation,
collection, and management of the torpedinal
fluid."

The head and the body of the torpedo are in-
distinct from each other, and nearly of a circular
form, two or three inches thick in the middle,
attenuating to extreme thinness on the edges.
The skin is smooth, of a dusky brown colour
above, and white underneath. The ventral fins
form on each side, at the end of the body, nearly
a quarter of a circle. The tail is short, and the
two dorsal fins are placed near its origin. The
mouth is small, and, as in the other species, there
are on each side below it five breathing apertures.

The electric rays are found in many of the
European seas, and the fishermen often discover

THE TOUPEDO.

Extraordinary toporific quality.

it in Torbay, and sometimes of such a size as to
weigh eighty pounds. They are partial to sandy
bottoms, in about forty fathoms of water, where
they often bury themselves by flinging the sand
over them, by a quick flapping of all the extre-
mities. In Torbay they are generally taken like
other flat-fish, with the trawl-net; and instances
have occurred of their seizing a bait. They
bring forth their young in the autumn.

This fish's benumbing or toporific quality is
one of the most potent and extraordinary facul-
ties in nature. The ignorant stranger might ima-
gine he is only handling a skate, when he is in-
stantly struck numb.

Upon touching the torpedo with the finger, it
frequently, though not always, happens, that the
person feels an unusual pain and numbness,
which suddenly seizes the arm up to the elbow,
and sometimes to the very shoulder, or head.
The pain is of a very particular species, and not
to be described by any words ; yet Lorengini,
Berelli, Rhedi, and Rheaumur, who all felt it se-
verely, observe it to bear some resemblance to
that painful sensation felt in the arm upon strik-
ing the elbow violently against a hard body;
though Rheaumur assures us that this gives but
a very faint idea of it.

Its chief force is at the instant it begins; it
lasts but a few moments, and then vanishes en-
tirely. If a man do not actually touch the tor-
pedo, how near soever he holds his hands, he

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Rheaumur's exposition.

feels nothing: — if he touch it with a stick, he
feels a faint effect: — if he touch it through the.
interposition of any pretty thin body, the numb-
ness is felt very considerably ; if the hand be
pressed very strong against it, the numbness is
the less, but still strong enough to oblige a man ,
speedily to let go.

Rheaumur accounts for this phenomenon in
the following manner : the torpedo, like other
flat-fish, is not absolutely flat; but its back, or
rather all the upper parts of its body, a little con-
vex : when it did not, or would not produce any
numbness in such as touched it, its back he
found, always preserved its natural convexity ;
but whenever it would dispose itself to resent a
touchj or thrust, it gradually diminished the con-
vexity of the back parts of the body, sometimes
only rendering them flat, and sometimes con-
cave. The next moment the numbness always
begins to seize the arm ; the fingers that touched
were obliged to give back, and the flat and con-
cave part of the body was seen again convex, and
where as it only became flat insensibly, it returned
to its convexity so swiftly that one could not per-
ceive any passage from the one to the other state.

The motion of a ball out of a musket is not
perhaps much quicker than that of the fish re-
assuming its situation ; at least the one is not
more perceivable than the other. It is from this
sudden stroke that the numbness of the arm
arises; and accordingly the person, when he be-

THE TORPEDO. 8Q

Of its toporific qnality.

gins to feel if, imagines that his fingers have
been violently struck. Rheaumur adds, that the
single stroke of a soft body could never effect
this; but in the present case there is an infinity
of strokes given in an instant. When the tor-
pedo is ready to strike its numbness, it slowly
flattens the outer surface of its upper part, and
the whole mechanism, which its force depends,
will be apparent. By that gradual contraction
it bends, as it were, all its springs, renders all its
cylinders shorter, and at the same time augments
their basis. But the contraction being made to
a certain degree, the springs again unbend; and
if a finger then touch the torpedo, it instantly
receives a stroke which shakes the nerves, sus-
pends, or changes the course of the animal spirit:
or, if the idea be more distinct, these strokes
produce an undulatory motion in the fibres of
the nerves, which clashes, or disagrees, with
what they should have in order to move the
arm ; and hence the inability we are under of
using the same, and the painful sensation which
accompanies it. Hence it is, also, that the tor-
pedo does not convey its numbness to any de-
gree except when touched on these great mus-
cles; so that the fish is very safely taken by the
tail, which is the part by which the fishermen
catch it.

Lorenzini and others, have endeavoured to ac-
count for the effect of the torpedo from toporific
effluvia: this Rheaumur objects to with a variety
VOL. v. — NO. 32. M

90 NATURALTSTS CABINET.

Painful sensations arising from

— ^ . _ __

of ingenious arguments; and especially observes,
that the torpedo conveys its numbness to the
hand through a hard solid body, but does not do
it through the air.

From Rheaumur's experiments, it is evident
that the torpedo numbs the hand of him that
touches it, by an effort. From what Kempfer
relates, as well as by all other accounts, the shock
received most resembles the stroke of an elec-
trical machine; sudden, tinkling and painful:
the shocks are entirely similar, the duration of
the pain is the same : yet still it exceeds all hu-
man knowledge how the electric matter is origi-
nally procured, how the animal contrives to re-
new the charge, or how it is prevented from eva-
porating it on contiguous subjects.

" The instant," says Kempfer, 4f I touched it
with my hand, I felt a terrible numbness in my
arm, and as far up as my shoulder. Even if one
tread upon it with the shoe on, it afiects not
only the leg, but the whole thigh upwards.
Those who touch it with their foot are seized
with a stronger palpitation than even those who
touch it with the hand. This numbness bears
no resemblance to that which we feel when a
nerve is a long time pressed, and the foot is said
to be asleep ; it rather appears like a sudden -va-
pour, which, passing through the pores in an in-
stant penetrates to the very springs of life, from
whence it diffuses itself over the whole body, and
gives real pain. The nerves are so affected, that

THE TORPEDO. 91

The baneful powers of this fish.

tfte person struck, imagines all the bones of his
body, and particularly those of the limb that re-
ceived the blow, are driven out of joint. All
this is accompanied with an universal tremor, a
sickness of the stomach, a general convulsion,
and a total suspension of the faculties of the
mind.

" In short/' continues our author, " such is
the pain, that all the force of our promises and
authority could not prevail upon a seaman to un-
dergo the force of a shock a second time. A
negro, indeed, that was standing by, readily un-
dertook to touch the torpedo> and was seen to
handle it without feeling any of its effects. He
informed us, that his whole secret consisted in
keeping in his breath: and we found, upon trial,
that this method answered with ourselves."

The baneful powers of this fish are known to
decline with its vigour; as its strength ceases,
the force of the shock seems to diminish, till at
last, when the fish is dead, the whole power is
destroyed, and it may be handled or eaten with
perfect security. Though when first taken out
of the sea, its force is very great, and not only
affects the hand, but even if touched with a stick,
the person sometimes feels himself affected.
This latent power is said to be more extensive in
the female than the male.

Dr. Ingenhouz had a torpedo for some time in
a tub of sea-water, which, from its being during
winter, seemed to be feeble. On taking it into
M 2

92 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Experiments by Dr. Ingenhouz and Mr. Walsh.

his hands, and pressing it on each side of the
head, a sudden tremor, which lasted for two or
three seconds, passed into his fingers, but ex-
tended no further. After a few seconds the same
trembling was felt again ; and again several times,
after different intervals. The sensation was, he
says, the same that he should have felt by the
discharge of several very small electrical bottles,
one after another, into his hand. The shocks
sometimes followed each other very quickly, and
increased in strength towards the last. Proba-
bly, from the weakness of the fish, the shock
could not be communicated through a brass
chain, though the usual contortion was evidently
made. A coated vial was applied to it, but could
not be charged.

It appears, from some experiments that were
made by Mr. Walsh on a very stout and healthy
fish, that, although it seemed to possess many
electric properties, yet, no spark whatever could
be discovered to proceed from it, nor were pith-
balls ever found to be affected by it. When it
was insulated, it gave a shock to persons likewise
insulated, and even to several that took hold of
each other's hands : this it did forty or fifty times
successively, and with very little diminution of
force. If touched only with one finger, the
shock was so great as to be felt in both hands.
Each effort was accompanied by a depression of
the eyes, which plainly indicated the attempts
that were made upon non-conductors. Although

2

THE FIRE FLARE. 93

Description.

the animal was in full vigour, it was not able to
force the torpedinal fluid across the minutest
tract of air, not even from one link of a small
chain freely suspended to another, nor through
an almost invisible separation made by a pen-
knife in a slip of tinsoil pasted on sealing-wax.

FIRE FLARE, OR STING RAY.

THE fire flare, which is the dread of the
boldest and most experienced fishermen, has
quite a smooth body, and of a shape almost
round, much thicker and of a more elevated form
in the middle than any other rays, but grows
very thin towards the edges. The nose is very
sharp pointed, but short; the mouth small, and
filled with granulated teeth. The tail is very
thick at the beginning, and has a spine about
one-third of the length of the tail from the body;
this spine is about five inches long, flat on the
top and bottom, very hard, sharp pointed, and
the two sides thin, and closely and sharply
bearded the whole way. The tail extends four
inches beyond the end of the spine, and grows
very slender at the extremity.

The Greek and Roman writers of ancient
times, with the exception of Aristotle, have given
a very terrible description of the spine of the
sting ray. .ZElian and Pliny assert, that there is
no cure for a wound inflicted by it. The former

94 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Singular property of the spine.

relates, that a thief, who had stolen one of these
fish, which he took for a plaice, was wounded by
its spine, and instantly dropped down dead. The
enchantress Circe, it is said, armed her son with
a spear, headed with the spine of the sting ray,
as the most irresistible weapon she could furnish
him with; and he afterwards unintentionally
slew with it his father Ulysses. Notwithstanding
the dreadful effects attributed to this formidable
weapon, the fishermen of Heligoland, according
to Schoneveld, entertain no apprehension of it;
end Kempfer informs us, that those of Japan
consider it the most certain remedy against the
bite of a serpent, if rubbed upon the wound ;
they, therefore, always carry one about them.
But this property is only possessed by such spines
as are cut from the animals when alive. Even
modern naturalists, (among whom is the cele-
brated Linnaeus) think the spine of this fish ve-
nomous : Dr. Bloch, however, ventures to differ
from them in this opinion, and asserts, that the
wound inflicted by the spine of 'the sting ray is
not more dangerous than that of any other simi-
lar instrument. This spine is employed by the
fish, not only as a weapon of defence, but to
wound other fish with it, in order the more
easily to seize and devour them. According to
Pliny, he is enabled by it to make himself formi-
dable even to the shark.

The wound that is inflicted by an animal's tail
has, no doubt, something terrible in the idea,

THE FIRE FLARE. 95

Capable of inflicting a terrible wound.

and may from thence alone be supposed to be
fatal ; terror might add poison to the pain, and
call up imaginary danger; hence the negroes
universally believe that the sting is poisonous:
yet they never die in consequence of the wound,
and the simplicity and slightness of the remedy
sufficiently argue the innoxiousness of the wound ;
for by opening the fish, and laying it to the part
injured, it effects a speedy cure. Hence there is
sufficient cause to declare against its venomous
qualities, notwithstanding the assertions of most
of the fishermen, and the opinion of some men
of learning : the spine of the ray seems to be in
fact a weapon of offence, capable of inflicting a
very terrible wound, and attended with very dan-
gerous symptoms ; but not possessed of any de-
gree of poison. The spine has no sheath to pre-
serve the supposed venom on its surface ; nor
has the animal any gland that separates the nox-
ious fluid. It is fixed to the tail as a quill is into
the tail of a fowl, and is annually shed in the
same manner ; it may therefore be necessary for
the creature's defence, but cannot be necessary
for its existence.

Spears and darts, says Mr. Pennant, might
in very early times have been headed with the
spine of the fire flare, instead of iron. Even in
the present day it is used by some of the Ame-
rican tribes to point their arrows.

The fire flare is found in almost all the Euro-

9(5 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

One examined by Mr. Pennant described.

pean seas, the Eastern and American; it does
not arrive at the bulk of the other species of
rays. Mr. Pennant says, that which he examined
was two feet nine inches from the tip of the
nose to the end of the tail; to the origin of the
tail one foot three inches; the breadth one foot
eight. The colour of the upper part of the body
is a dirty yellow, the middle part of an obscure
blue; the lower side white, the tail and spine
dusky. The sting ray is observed to shed its
spine annually; sometimes the new one appears
before the old spine has dropped off, which give*
the fish the appearance of having three tails.

THE THORNBACK, ROVGH HAY,
SKATE, &sc.

THE thornback, or prickly ray, has its spines
disposed in three rows upon the back; a trans-
verse cartilage in the belly; the head and body
tery flat and depressed ; the figure of the body,
exclusive of the tail, is nearly square; the tail
long and slender, but a little depressed or flatted ;
the belly altogether plain, but rising a little in
the middle into a convexity; the eyes stand on
the uppermost part of the body, at a considerable
distance from the beak, are a little protuberant,
and covered with a simple naked skin ; the mouth
is situated on the under side of the body, and lies

THE SKATE. 97

Singular virtue of the flesh.

in a transverse direction ; is very large, and stands
at the same distance from the extremity of the
beak as the eyes do.

The rough ray has its spines spread indiscri-
minately over the whole hack.

The sharp-nosed ray has ten spines that are
situated towards the middle of the back.

The skate has the middle of the back roueh,

o •*

and a single row of spines on the tail. This is a
well-known fish, long and flat, if not caught be-
fore his full growth, when he is from five to six
feet in length. His skin is black, and so very hard
and rough, that it is often employed in polishing
wood and ivory like the skin of a sea-dog. This
fish is extremely voracious, and armed with ter-
rible teeth; nevertheless he has recourse to stra-
tagem in catching his living food, by concealing
himself under the sands. The French make of
its ashes an excellent soap for a certain cutane-
ous disease which is generally cured by sulphur,
and by them called Savon d'slnge. Pliny attri-
butes to the flesh of this fish a singular virtue,
when applied fresh to the necks of women, — that
of preventing them from growing too large: it is
certain it was very much used by the Romans:
and Rondelet, one of the first naturalists of the
sixteenth century, assures us, that he tried the
experiment with success.

It is well known that the English fishermen
have often caught ray-fish that have weighed
VOL. v. — NO. 32. w

98 NATURALISM'S CABINET.

Labat's account of a prodigious ray.

above two hundred pounds : and yet that weight
is trifling, compared to- their enormous bulk in
other parts of the world. Among many instances
we need only adduce the account given by Labat
of a prodigious ray, speared by the negroes at
Guadaloupe.

" This fish," says he, " was thirteen feet eight
inches broad, and above ten feet from the snout
to the insertion of the tail, which was itself in
proportion, being no less than fifteen feet long,
twenty inches broad, at its insertion, and tapering
to a point. The body was two feet in depth :
the skin as thick as leather, and marked with
spots, which spots in all of this kind, are only
glands that supply a mucus to lubricate and
soften the skin. This enormous fish was utterly
unfit to be eaten by Europeans; but the negroes
chose out some of the nicest bits, and carefully
salted them up as a most favourite provision."

The ray-fish generate in May and April, and
the females are prolific to an extreme degree;
no less than three hundred eggs having been
taken out of the body of a single ray, covered
with a tough horny substance, which they ac-
quire in the womb, by the concretion of the
fluids of that organ. When come to maturity,
they are excluded, only one at a time, at inter-
vals of three or four hours. These eggs, or
purses, as the fishermen call them, are usually

THE SEA ORB.

Industry of Dutch fishermen.

cast about the beginning of May, and they con-
tinue casting most part of the summer.

When the breeding time ceases, which is about
October, they are become very poor and thin ;
but they soon begin to recover, and gradually in-
crease in goodness until the following May, when
they have reached the highest state of perfection.

The Dutch fishermen, who are indefatigable
in their pursuits, begin their operations very
early in the winter, in which the English succeed
them, but seldom with equal success. The me-
thod is by lines, and is certainly fatiguing and
dangerous; but the value of the capture gene-
rally repays the pain. The skate and thornback
are very marketable articles, good food, and their
weight, which is from ten to two hundred pounds
weight, amply repays the trouble.

THE SEA ORB.

THE general marks of this creature are, that
its figure is almost round; that it has a mouth
like a frog, and is from seven inches to two feet
long. It is covered with long thorns, which
point on every side; and when the animal is en-
raged, it can blow up its body as round as a
bladder. There are several varieties of this
unshapely and extraordinary creature. Some
N 2

NATURALIST S CABINET.

Varieties — Formidable and generally venomous.

threaten only with their spine; others are de-
fended with a bony helmet that covers the head;
some with a coat of mail from the head to the
other extremity; and others again armed offen-
sively and defensively with bones and spines,
Their armour is in all cases formidable, and the
greater number of them venomous in their
nature.

The centriscus includes two species; one havr
ing its back covered with a smooth bony shell,
which ends in a sharp spine, under which is the
tail. It is a native of the East Indies. The
other, which is found in the Mediterranean, has
a rough scabrous body, and a straight extended
tail. In both, the head gradually ends in a narr
row snout, the aperture is broad and flat ; the
belly keel-formed, and the belly-fins united. It
wounds with its fins.

The ostracion cornutus is found in the Indian
Ocean ; it has a long spine in front of each eye,
and one on each side the vent, pointing to the
tail ; the body quadrangular, reticulated with a
raised line ; the tail very long.

The five-spined coney fish is also supposed to
be an inhabitant of the Indian Ocean. The
body is triangular, and retriculated by sunk lines
into hexangular and heptangular meshes, each
bound a little within the line by a black stripe ;
before each eye a short strong spine; a third on
the middle of the back., and one oa each side the

THE SEA ORB. 101

Five-spined coney fish — Old wife.

belly near the vent; the body from the vent to
the tail covered with a soft smooth skin ; the tail
round at the end.

This genus has, probably, the power of draw-
ing the defenceless parts under the bony coat of
the body at the approach of danger. It seems
necessary that the parts of the body to which the
fins are attached, should be covered with a pli-
able skin, especially that part of the body near
the tail; as fish move forward less with the as-
sistance of their fins, than by the motion of their
body sideways; which is exemplified in the com-
mon method of impelling a cock-boat, by mov-
ing sideways an oar at the helm.

The old wife, (a native of the above sea) is of
a triangular body, the back sharp ; the bony coat
on the head and body divided by striae into many
hexangular meshes: the areas rough with nuine^
rous granule, ranged in concentric lines; the
skinny cover of the body near the tail, and tail
fin, marked with largish spots; a strong spine on
each side the belly, pointing towards the tail.

A fish, apparently the same as the above, ex-
cept that it has an oval crust upon its tail, is men-
tioned among the rarities preserved in Gresham
College.

These animals display as much variety in their
size as in figure; some are not bigger than a
foot-ball, and others as large as a bushel; and
Fhen enraged, can inflate to a considerable de^

102 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Abhorrent figure of all the species.

gree, and become as round as a globe. They
can flatten and erect their spines at pleasure, and
increase the terrors of-their appearance in propor-
tion to the approach of danger: for on being
provoked or alarmed, the body that before
seemed small, swells to the view, the animal visi-
bly increases in size, its prickles stand erect, and
threaten the invader on every side. They are
often caught by the Americans, merely for the
barren pleasure of destroying them. They bait
a line and hook with a piece of sea crab, which
the ostracion approaches with flattened spines;
but on feeling its mistake, rage takes possession
of the creature, the spines become erect, and it
is effectually armed at all points, that no one
dare venture to lay hold of it, but they drag it
to some distance from the water, where it soon
expires.

A kind of bag or bladder filled with air is
found in the belly of most of these animals, by
the inflation of which the animal swells itself in
the manner above-mentioned.

The figure of the sea orb, and all its species is
so very abhorrent, that scarce any one would wish
to experience them as food, in which case, how-
ever, they are absolutely poisonous. The natives
of these countries where they are found, hu-
manely and carefully inform strangers of their
danger: yet the admonition was lost upon a cer-
tain sailor at the Cape of Good Hope, who not

THE ANGEt SHARK. 103

Description.

relying on what the .Dutch had told him, was
resolved to make the experiment, and break
through a prejudice which he supposed was
founded on the animal's deformity. He tried
and ate one, but his rashness cost him his life;
he instantly fell sick, and died a few days
after.

THE 4NGEL SHARK.

THIS is unlike the common sharks, being

distinguished by its flat body, which forms the

connecting link, as it were, between the genus

of rays and that of sharks, as it partakes of the

figure of both. The head is of a circular form,

and rather broader than the body. The mouth

is wide, and is situated at the extremity of the

head. Like the sharks, the old fish of this

species have more teeth than the young ones.

Thus two angel sharks, only a foot long, in the

possession of Dr. Bloch, had only two rows of

teeth in the upper jaw, and three in the lower ;

while Willoughby and Rondelet assert, that

there are three in the former, and five in the"

latter. The fins are large and wide, and their

resemblance to wings has probably procured this

fish the denomination of angel. Of a certain

portion of the skin the Turks make the most

104 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Erroneous assertions by Aristotle.

beautiful shagreen for watch-cases, and in Italy
it is used for polishing wood and ivory.

It is asserted by Aristotle, that the angel-shark
possesses the property of changing colour, and
of assuming that of the fish which it is about to
seize ; this, however, is equally unfounded with
his assertion, thai in imminent danger the female
receives her young into her body. It is more
probable, as Oppian relates, that she covers them
with her fins for the purpose of affording them
protection. According to Rondelet, the eggs of
this fish when reduced to powder are a sovereign
remedy for diarrhoea: for though the angel-
shark produces her young alive, she belongs
to that class of cartilaginous fish, which hatch
their eggs within their own bodies, whence the
young are excluded when they arrive at a pro-
per state of maturity.

In spring and autumn the female usually pro-
duces seven or eight young ones, and Gronovius
asserts, that she sometimes has thirteen, which
are upwards of eight inches in length. The flesh
of this fish is bad, and is bought only by the
lowest classes of the people on the Mediterranean
coasts.

The angel-shark is found in the Mediterranean
and German Ocean. On the English coasts it
is frequently caught of the weight of one hun-
dred pounds, and in the Mediterranean of one
hundred and sixty. In the Dutch seas it u

THE SPOTTED DOG-FISH. 106

Description.

sometimes found of enormous magnitude. It
attains the length of six or eight feet, and be-
longs to the class of voracious fish. As it usu-
ally resides at the bottom of the ocean, it princi-
pally preys upon plaice and rays, which are often
found in its stomach. It is bold enough even to
attack men, and Pennant relates that a fisher-
man who had taken one in his net was severely
wounded, in consequence of imprudently ven-
turing too near it. It is caught by a hook baited
with flesh.

THE SPOTTED DOG-FISH.

THE spotted dog-fish, which belongs to the
family of sharks, is long and slender, round in
the middle, and flat towards the tail. The head
is small, and ends in a short blunt point. The
tail is long, and the mouth very large. Its jaws
are furnished with three rows of sharp-pointed
teeth; the palate is rough, as well as the tongue,
which is cartilaginous. Close behind the eyes
are the aqueous apertures, and near these are the
openings of the gills. The anus is between the
ventral, or belly fins, where are also situated two
cartilaginous substances. As these are found
only in the males, naturalists have imagined
them to be the sexual members; but Dr. Bloch,
who dissected them with great care, (and to
whose indefatigable perseverance the science is

VOL. v. — NO. 32. o

106 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Voracity — How taken — Tenacious of life.

greatly indebted) discovered them to be a kind
of hands. They are composed of two bones,
and a long cartilage, which can be removed from
each other by means of the muscles, as in the
rays.

The dog-fish inhabits both hot and cold cli-
mates; it is found in the British and Norwegian
seas, in the Mediterranean, at the Canary Islands,
the Cape of Good Hope, and at the Line. It
grows to the length of five or six feet, and is one
of the voracious class of fish, which are formida-
ble even to man, whom it ventures to attack; for
which reason, the sailors when they bathe, take
precautions to preserve themselves from its rapa-
city. Osbeck relates, that in the stomach of a
dog-fish he found several hens, with their fea-
thers, which had been thrown overboard, besides
a number of bonitos.

This fish is taken with strong cords, to which
are fastened hooks baited with a piece of bacon,
or a hen. It is so tenacious of life, that after
the head and tail are cut off, and the entrails
taken out, the body continues to move for an
hour. The flesh is hard and oily; for this reason
it is eaten only in cases of necessity, and when
the fish is young. It is cut in slices, and soaked
in water till the oil is extracted, which may be
known by the grease ceasing to float on the sur-
face of the water. Its skin is used for polishing
by cabinet-makers.

The dog-fish is of the viviparous kind, and

THE LONG FILE FISH. 10?

Descriptions.

nine or ten young ones are said to have been
found in the belly of the female. She excludes
them one at a time, and the fishermen declare
that she is always pregnant. According to Pen-
nant, the females are much larger than the
males.

THE UNICORN.

THE head of the unicorn consists but of one
ray ; and we are told by Catesby, that the guts of
this fish are full of small shells, and coraline sub-
stances, which, by the strength and hardness of
its jaws, it is enabled to grind very small. They
mostly frequent those seas among the Bahama
Islands, where the corals are in greatest plenty.
These fish are not eaten, being accounted poi-
sonous.

THE LONG FILE FISH.

THE body of the long file fish is not very
deep; the skin is divided by smooth furrows
with small rough scale-like spaces: each of these
on the sides have a small spine pointing towards
the tail; the first dorsal fin has three spines, the
first of which is very large and rough in front,
like a file, and hence the English name; the
third very short, and situated at a considerable
o 2

108 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Singular property of the first dorsal fin.

distance from the other two; the skin of the
back and belly at the base of the dorsal and anal
fins drawn out and compressed; pectoral fins
small; dorsal and anal fins triangular, and situate
nearly opposite each other; the tail even at the
end.

A singular property is possessed by the first
dorsal fin of this fish, which is, that no force can
depresss the first spine; but if the last be depres-
sed in ever so gentle a manner, the other two
immediately fall down with it ; and as instanta-
neously as when a cross-bow is let off by pulling
the trigger. One sort, found in the Mediterra-
nean, near Rome, is on that account called prsce
balestra, (the cross-bow fish.)

There is another species mentioned by Wal-
cott, the body of which is much compressed and
deep; the rays of the first dorsal fin, spiny; the
first ray very long and rough; first dorsal fin
and the back from its base black; rest of the
body and the head a golden yellow; skin rough;
tail rough ; and in the place of each ventral fin a
long rough spine.

Also another species, (named hispidus by na-
turalists) is found in Carolina; the head fin of
which is not radiated, and there is a round black
spot in the tail fin. The body is rough, and
bristly towards the tail. The spine, or horn, is
situated between the CVLS; and instead of a belly
fin it has a jagged sharp spine.

Several more species, or varieties, are found

THE SEA-HOUSE. 10Q

Description — Different Species.

in the Indian Ocean, and at Ascension Island,
all which, together with the unicorn, go by the
general name of the belistes.

THE SEA-HORSE.

THE head of the sea-horse bends towards its
belly, and from its form, gives name to the ani-
mal, which never exceeds nine inches in length,
and is about as thick as a man's thumb. The
whole body seems to be composed of cartilagi-
nous rings, on the intermediate membranes of
which several prickles are placed. The snout is
a kind of tube, with a hole at the bottom, to
which there is a cover that the animal can open
and shut at pleasure. Behind the eyes are two
fins that look like ears; and above them are two
holes that serve for respiration. The tail gene-
rally curls downward ; along the ridges is a row
wf tubercles; the whole animal is speckled; and
while alive it is said to have hair on the fore part
of its body, which falls off when it is dead. This
animal more resembles a sea-horse than a fish.

One species of this fish is common in th<?
Mediterranean and Western Ocean; but in place
of tubercles it has short spines. There is also
another species, which is smooth, without spots,
and is found in the Straits of Sunda, in the East
Indies.

110 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Singularity of its figure.

The ancients, probably impressed by the singu-
larity of its figure, entertained an opinion that
the sea-horse was exceedingly venomous. " On
the sea-coast near Pozzuoli, in Italy/' says a mo-
dern traveller, " are found certain little dried
animals called cavalli marini, about the length
of ones thumb; its head resembles a horse's, and
its body terminates in a tail like that of a shrimp.
The ladies make use of them to increase their
milk."

GOLD AND SILVER FISH. Ill

Description.

CHAP. VI.

" Midst the tide

Two beauteous forms were seen to glide.

The genii of the stream ;
Their scaly armour's Tyrian hue
Through richest purple to the view

Betray'd a golden gleam."

GRAY.

GOLD 4ND SILVER FTSH.

THESE beautiful fish are a species of carp,
and on account of their brilliant colours esteemed
the most elegant of all the finny tribes. The
male is of a bright red colour from the top of
the head to the middle of the body ; the rest is of
a gold colour, but it is so splendid that the finest
gilding (according to Father Le Compte) cannot
approach it. The female is white, but her tail
and half of her body resemble the lustre of silver.
Father Du Halde, however, observes, that the
red and white colours are not always the distin-
guishing marks of the male and female; but that
the females are known by severalwhitespots which

112 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Brilliant colours — liveliness.

are seen round the orifices, that serve them as
organs of hearing, and the males by having these
spots much brighter. The nostrils c*f the gold
fish are double, wide, and placed near the eyes.
The body is covered with large scales, and the
tail is forked; but there is no fish in which the
fins vary so much. The colour of the gold fish
changes with age. In the first years it is gene-
rally black, a colour very rardy found among the
inhabitants of the watery element. In the course
of a few years more, silver spots make their ap-
pearance, and gradually increase till they cover
the whole body. It then turns red, and becomes
more beautiful the older it grows. Sometimes,
indeed, it turns red before it assumes the silvery
hue, and in some instances the fish is red from
the very first.

These fish are natives of a lake not far from
the high mountain of Tsienking, near the city
of Tchangou, situated in the province of Che
Kiang, in China, in about thirty degrees twenty
three minutes of north latitude. From this place
they were transported to the other provinces of
that empire, to Japan, and at length to Europe.
In China and Japan, every person of fashion
keeps them for ornament, cither in the basins
which decorate the courts of their houses, or in
porcelain vases. The beauty of their colours,
arid the liveliness of their motions, afford much
entertainment, particularly to the ladies, whose
pleasures, by reason of the cruel policy of that
3

GOLD AND SILVER FlStf. US

% ' -

When first introduced into England.

country, are extremely limited, and who take
great delight in feeding them. About the year
1691 they were first introduced into England,
but were not generally known till 1728. A great
number were then brought over and presented to
Sir Matthew Dekker, by whom they were distri-
buted in the vicinity of the metropolis, whence
they have found their way to most parts of the
country. They are now perfectly naturalized,
and breed as freely in open waters as the com-
mon carp: a large quantity are bred in the gar-
dens of Bagnigge Wells, near Pancras, Middle-
sex; the water in which they live being a mix*
ture from the chalybeate, and cathartic springs
of this place; in all probability these waters are
congenial to their nature. They have also been,
introduced with some success into France, Hok
land, and several cities of Germany, where they
grow very fast. On this subject M. Oelrichs of
Bremen, says, " I possess a considerable number
of gold fish, the offspring of eight which I re-
ceived from M. Rouwe. 1 keep them in a small
basin about thirty-six feet long, which 1 had
made on purpose for them, and where they live
extremely well. I have not observed that a sin-
gjeone has died. The eight first, which were only
about half the length of a man's finger when I
received them, have grown so much that two of
them are now the size of small herrings. The
young ones do not grow very fast, .perhaps, be-
voi.. v. — NO. 33. i1

114 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Proper food when kept in glasses.

cause the basin is overstocked. The old fish
were blackish when I received them; at present
two are quite red; another begins to turn red,
and is black only on the back; the remainder
have not changed their colour. Among the
young ones, I have at different times, remarked
some that were quite red when they were scarcely
of the length of a finger. It is the red fish alone
that become silvery, but only when they grow
old ; the red colour turning pale by degrees,, till at
length it changes to white. The red spots begin
to appear at the end of the tail, and are very
striking to the eye, particularly in those fish that
are black. I feed them like carp, with white
bread."

Gold fish when kept in glasses, or china vases, are
fed with cake, bread crumbled very fine, hard yolks
of eggs reduced to a powder, hashed pork, and
snails, of which they are said to be very fond : they
also eagerly devour flies that are thrown to them.
Some have imagined that they need no aliment :
it is true, indeed, they will subsist for a long time
without any apparent food, but what they can
collect from pure water frequently changed : yet
they must draw some support from animalcuke,
and other nourishment supplied by the water ;
because, though they seem to eat nothing, yet
the consequences of eating often drop from them ;
nnd that they are best pleased with this jejune
diet, may ensily be confuted, since if you toss

GOLD AND SILVER FISH.

Manner of their moving.

them crumbs of bread,, they will seize them with
great readiness, not to say greediness; however,
bread should be given sparingly, lest, turning
sour, it corrupt the water. They will also teed on
the water plant lemna, (duck's meat) and also on
small fry. In summer, their water must be
changed twice a week, and oftener when the
weather is very hot and close. Whilst this is done
it is necessary to remove the fish into another
vessel, but they must always be taken out by
means of a net, for the least handling would de-
stroy them. In winter, it is sufficient to give
them fresh water once in a week or fortnight.
In ponds whose bottom consists of mud, or clay,
they need not be supplied with food ; but if the
bottom be sandy, they must be fed with bread
made of hempseed flour, dung, or wheat bread.
These fish are fond of shady places ; it is there-
fore advisable to throw them a branch of some
tree as a shelter, observing that it should be of
such a kind as not to communicate any bad taste
to the water, which would destroy the fish.

When gold fish want to move a little, they
gently protrude themselves with their pectoral
fins ; but it is with their strong muscular tails ohly
that they and all fish shoot along with such in-
conceivable rapidity. In these vessels, the dying
of fish may be observed with accuracy ; as soon
as the creature sickens, the head sinks lower and
lower, and it stands as it were on its head ; till
L 2

116 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

How kept in China — Docility.

getting weaker,. and losing all poise, the tail turns
over, and at last it floats on the surface of the
water with its belly uppermost.

When dead these fish lose all their lustre. It
is the general opinion that the eyes of fish are
immovable, but these apparently turn them for-
ward or backward in their sockets according to
their inclinations. They take little notice of a
lighted candle though applied close to their heads,
but bounce and seem much frightened by a sud-
den stroke of the hand against the support where-
on their bowl is hung, especially when they have
"been motionless, or perhaps asleep. As fish have
no eyelids, it is not very easy to discern when
they are sleeping or not, because their eyes are
always open.

In China these fish are kept in ponds, or large
porcelain vessels, by almost every person of dis-
tinction. In these they are very lively and active,
sporting about the sarface of the water with great
vivacity ; but they are so very delicate that, if
great guns are fired, or any substances giving out
a powerful smell, as pitch or tar, are burned near
them, numbers of them will be killed. In each
of those ponds or basins where they are kept, there
is an earthen pan, with holes in it, turned upside
clown. Under this they retire when, at any time,
they find the rays of the sun too powerful.

When gold fish are kept in ponds, they are
pften taught to rise to the surface of the water at

GOLD AND SILVER PISH. 11?

Fruitfulness in warm countries.

the sound of a bell, to be fed, for they are very
quick of hearing. The Chinese use a small
whistle for calling them together, and it is said
that they learn to know the step of the person
that feeds them, and make their appearance
when they hear him coming at a distance. At
Pekin, for three or four months of the winter, or
whilst the cold weather lasts, the fish in the ponds
are not fed at all. They are able during that
time, to get the small quantity of food they re-
quire in the water. In order to prevent their be-
ing frozen, they are often taken into the houses,
and kept in china vessels, till the warm weather
of spring allows their being returned to their
ponds with safety. When gold fish are fed in
China, (which is during the summer months)
their food consists of balls of paste, and the
yolks of eggs boiled very hard.

In warm countries these fish multiply fast, pro-
vided care be taken to collect their spawn, which
floats on the water, and which they almost en-
tirely devour. This spawn is put into a particu-
lar vessel exposed to the sun, and preserved there
until vivified by the heat. Gold fish, however,
seldom multiply when they are kept in close vases,
because they are then too mitch confined. In
order to render them fruitful, (according to the
advice of Le Compte, and other celebrated na-
turalists who have bred them), they must be put
into reservoirs of considerable depth, in some

118 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

The spawn collected by the Chinese.

places at least, and which are constantly supplied
with fresh water."

"Ata certain time of the year," says Grosier,in
his description of China, "a prodigious number
of barks may be seen in the great river Yang-tse-
hiang, which go thither to purchase the spawn
of these fish. Towards the month of May, the
neighbouring inhabitants shut up the river in se-
veral places with mats and hurdles, which occupy
an extent of almost nine or ten leagues, and they
leave only a space in the middle, sufficient for the
passage of barks.

"The spawn of the fish, which the Chinese can
distinguish at first sight, although a stranger could
perceive no traces of it in the water, is stopped
by these hurdles ; the water mixed with spawn
is then drawn up, and after it has been put into
large vessels, it is sold to merchants, who trans-
port it afterwards to every part of the empire.
This water is sold by measure, and purchased by
those who are desirous of stocking their ponds
and reservoirs with fish.

" The fry, when first produced, are perfectly
black, but they afterwards change to white, and
then to gold colour. The latter colours appear
first about the tail, and extend upwards. The
smallest fish are preferred for vases, not only
from their being more beautiful than the larger
ones, but because a greater number of them caa
te kept. In order to display their movement*

THE CARP. H9

Description.

and beautiful colours at a distance, large and
wide vases of white glass are principally used.
When thus enclosed they seldom exceed six 01
eight inches in length, but in ponds they grow to
twelve or fourteen inches."

THE CJRP.

THE mouth of this fish is toothless ; their gills
have three rays, and their belly fins frequently
nine. Their form is somewhat thick, and their
colour blue-green above, greenish-yellow mixed
with black on the upper part of their sides, whit-
ish beneath, and the tail yellow or violet. The
scales are large. On each side of the mouth
there is a single beard, and above this another
shorter. The dorsal fin is long, extending far
towards the tail, which is forked. They are
found in the slow rivers and stagnant waters of
Europe and Persia, and here principally in deep
.holes, under the roots of trees, hollow banks, or
great beds of flags, &c. They do not often ex-
ceed four feet in length, and twenty pounds in
weight ; but Jovius mentions some caught in the
Lago di Como, in Italy, that weighed two hun-
dred pounds each ; and others have been taken
in the Dniester five feet in length. Near Ange-
burg, in Prussia, they are caught weighing forty
pounds. At Dortz, in the Mew Mark, on the

120 NATURALISTS CABINET.

• Various sizes in various places.

frontiers of Poinerania, one was caught weigh-
ing thirty-eight pounds. In 1711, another was
taken at Bishopshausen, near Frankfort on the
Oder, measuring two ells and a half in length,
and one in breadth ; it weighed seventy pounds,
and the scales were as large as a shilling. Mrs.
Garrick informed Sir John Hawkins, that she
had seen, in her own country (Italy), the head
of a carp served up at table, sufficient to fill a
large dish. fylr. Ladbroke, from his park at
Gatton, presented Lord Egremont with a brace
that weighed thirty-five jjounds, as specimens,
to ascertain whether the Surry could not vie with
the Sussex carp. In 179S, at the fishing of the
large piece of water at Stourhtad, where a thou-
sand brace of killing carp were taken, the largest
was thirty inches long, upwards of twenty-two
broad, and weighed eighteen pounds. In the
river Dniester, they grow to such a size that knife
handles are made of their bones.

Carp are supposed to have been brought to
this country by Leonard Mascal, a Sussex gen-
tleman, (in which county, perhaps, this fish
abounds, more than in any other), about the year
1514, and it is remarked in an old distich, enu-
merating some good things, of which this island
was destitute prior to that period, that

" Turkies, carps, hops, peckcrcll, and beer,
Carne into England all in one year."

This, however, the Rev. Mr, Daniel, in his

THE CARP. 121

Their flavour differs according to their residence.

" Rural Sports/' proves to be erroneous, " for"
says this author, " in the Boke of St. Albans,
printed at Westminster, by Wynken de Worde,
in 1496, that carp was mentioned as a dayntous
Jishe although scarce." From whence they were
transplanted cannot be ascertained. Russia wants
these fish at this day, and in Sweden the}' are
only in the ponds of persons of distinction. Po-
lish Prussia, is the chief seat of the carp, where
they abound in the rivers and lakes, and are
taken of a great weight — are an article of com-
merce— are brought by the merchants from the
waters of the noblesse, and are conveyed in
well-boats, to the two first mentioned countries.

Carp are found in gentle currents, lakes, and
ponds. Their flavour differs according to the
waters in which they reside, and causes them to
be distinguished by the names of river, lake, and
pond carp. The first are accounted the best,
and the last the worst ; those inhabiting a lake^
or pond, through which runs a stream, that fur-
nishes them with a continual supply of fresh wa-
ter, are far superior to any others. Their colour
indicates in what water they have been caught.
The carp of rivers, or large lakes, are generally
yellow, while those of the ponds are dark green,
or inclined to black. The latter commonly have
a. taste of mud, but this they lose if put into clear
water a few weeks, or left for some days in a cage
in the current of a river.

Carp, from their quick growth and vast in-

VoLi V. — NO. 33.

12*3 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Value — Docility — Longevity.

crease, (for the roe when taken out has frequently
been fount? to weigh more than the fish,) are the
most valuable of all fish tor the stocking of ponds ;
and if the breeding and feeding of them were
better understood, and more practised, the ad-
vantages resulting from them would be very
great. A pond stocked with these fish would be-
come as valuable to its possessor as a garden.
By being constantly fed they may be rendered so
f.uniliar as always to come to the side of tin*
pond where they are kept for food. Dr. Smith,
speaking of the Prince of Comic's seat at Chan-
tilly, in his ' Tour to the Continent,' says, " The
most pleasing things about it were the immense
shoals of very large carp, silvered over with age,
like silver fish, and perfectly tame, so that, when
any passengers approached their watery habita-
tion, they used to come to the shore in such num-
bers as to heave each other out of the water, beg-
ging for bread, of which a quantity was always
kept at hand on purpose to feed them ; they
would even allow themselves to be handled." Sir
John Hawkins was assured by a clergy man, a
friend of his, that at the abbey of St. Bernard,
near Antwerp, he saw a carp come to the edge
of its pond at the whistling of the person who
fed it. Other wonderful stories are told of the
docility of this fish.

Carp are remarkable for their longevity. Le-
del says, that in the ponds of Lusntia, there are
carp two hundred years old. Button declares,

THE CARP. 1£3

Time of spawuiug — Fecundity.

that he himself saw carp in the fosses of Pont-
Churtruin, that were known to be upwards of
one hundred and fifty years of age. In the
King of Prussia's garden at Charlottenbmg,
there are carp remarkably old, of which we
shall make hereafter mention. Gessner relates
an instance of one that was a hundred years
old, and the pond in the garden of Emu-
nuel College Cambridge, contained a carp that
had been an inhabitant more than seventy years.
.Like other fish of this genus, carp live upon
plants, mud worms, and aquatic insects.

Carp spawn in June, and sometimes in May,
when it is a forward spring, seeking places co-
vered with grass or plants, for depositing its eggs.
One female is usually accompanied by three
males. At this season the river carp proceed in
4shoals towards the still waters which communi-
cate with the river, and if their course be stopped
by a dam or weir, they leap over it, when it
does not exceed the height of four to six feet.
After they have spawned, they return to the ri-
vers. Though exposed to the voracity of several
kinds offish, and aquatic birds, they multiply
very fast ; in a carp weighing only nine pounds
and three quarters, Dr. Bloch found two hun-
dred and thirty-five thousand eggs. Soon after,
be says M. von Schlegel sent him one of the
carp with which he used to stock his ponds, in-
forming him ;.t the same time that he was at a
loss how to get rid of the young fry, which were
0.2

124 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Two bastard species — Forster's remarks.

so numerous as to deprive each other of the ne-
cessary food. A few fish only produced a hun-
dred thousand young carp. The last mentioned
carp weighed nineteen pounds ; and its eggs one
pound fourteen ounces. A drachm of these eggs
contained one thousand two hundred and ninety-
five, so that the whole roe c'ould not consist of
less than six hundred and twenty-five thousand
and six hundred. The carp in M. Sch level's
ponds grow to a great size, which Bloch attri-
butes to the abundance of the plant called Naya,
which grows in them.

A mixed breed is produced by the carp with
the gible and crusian, two varieties of the carp
genus, which never attain the size of the carp,
but are considerably larger than the two latter
fish. These bastard species seldom weigh more
three pounds, and always have the head and tail
of the male parent. It is supposed they are in-
capable of continuing the breed.

Mr. J. Rheinhold Forster, in the Philosophical
Transactions for 1771, says, in Polish Prussia, and
many other parts of Germany, where the sale of
the carp constitutes a part of the revenue of the
nobility and gentry, the proper management of
that fish is reduced to a kind of system, founded
on the experience of several generations. The au-
thor here communicates all the particulars which
he has been able to collect from the practice of
these experienced breeders and feeders of carp,
and from his own observation. He recollects to

THE CARP.

Capable of living out of water.

• iuve seen some of these fish, thus treated and
maintained, above a yard long, and of twenty
five pounds weight: but had no opportunity of
ascertaining their age. " In the pond, however,
at Charlottenburg," he adds, ." a palace belong-
ing to the king of Prussia, I saw7 more than two
or three hundred carp, between two and three
feet long; and I was told by the keeper they
were between fifty and sixty years standing. They
were tame, and came to the shore in order to be
•fed ; they swallowed with ease a piece of white
bread of the size of half a halfpenny roll."

This fish is extremely tenacious of life, as it is
capable of not only living for a considerable time
out of water, but of its growing fat in its new
element. Mr. J. R. Forster has seen the experi-
ment successfully tried, and attended to the
whole process, in a nobleman's house where he
then resided, in the principality of Anhalt Des-
sau. " The fish," he says, " being taken out of
the water, is wrapped up in a large quantity of
:wet moss, spread on a piece of net, which is
then gathered into a purse; in such a manner,
however, as to allow him room to breathe. The
net is then plunged into water, and hung up to
the ceiling of a cellar. At first the dipping must
be repeated every three or four hours; l>ut after-
• wards the carp need only be plunged into the water
once in about six or seven hours. Bread soaked
in milk is first given him in small quantities. In
•» short time the fish will bear more and grow fat

12(5 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Cimningness of the carp.

under this seemingly unnatural treatment."—
This strange account is partly confirmed by
Mr. Daines Barrington, in a note, who mentions
the practice of a certaJn fishmonger near Clare-
market, who, in the winter, frequently exposes
a bushel at least of carp and tench for sale, in the
tame dry vessel, for six or seven hours ; many
of which are not suld, and yet continue in health,
though breathing nothing but air during the
time above-mentioned, for several successive
days.

From the spawn of this fish, caviare is made
for the Jews, who hold the sturgeon in abhor-
rence. The carp is extremely cunning, and on
that account is sometimes styled the river-fox.
When attempted to be taken by nets, they will
sometimes leap over them, and escape that way;
at other times they will immerse themselves so
deep in the mud as to let the net pass over them.
They are also very shy in taking a bait ; yet at
the spawning time they are so simple as to suffer
themselves to be tickled, handled, and caught
by any body who will attempt it.

Having observed that the carp is the most
raluable of all fish for stocking of ponds ; we
shall now give some directions for so doing. —
The females do not begin to breed till eight
«r nine years old ; so that in breeding-ponds
a supply must be kept of carp of that age.
Tne best judges allow, that in stocking a breed-
ing-pond, four males should be allowed te
3

THE CARP. 127

Observations on carp-ponds.

twelve females. The usual growth of a carp is
<o two or three inches in length in a year; but
in ponds which receive the fattening of common
sewers, they have been known to grow from five
inches to eighteen in one year. A feeding-pond
of one acre extent will very well feed three hun-
dred carp of three years old, three hundred of
two years, and four hundred of one year old.
Carp delight chiefly in ponds that have marley
sides ; they love also clay-ponds well sheltered
from the winds, and grown with weeds and long
grass at the edges, which they feed upon in the
hot months. Carp and tench thrive very fast in
ponds and rivers near the sea, where the water is
a little brackish ; but they are not so well tasted
as those which live in fresh water. Grains, blood,
chicken-guts, and the like, may at times be
thrown into carp-ponds, to help to fatten the
fish. To make them grow large and fat, the
growth of grass under the water should by all
possible means be encouraged. For this pur-
pose, as the water decreases in the summer, the
sides of the pond left naked and dry, should be
well raked with an iron rake to destroy all the
weeds, and cut up the surface of the earth : hav-
geed should then be sown plentifully in these
places; and more ground prepared in the same
manner, as the water fails more and more awav.
By this means there will be a fine and plentiful
growth of young grass along the sides of the
pond to the water's edge; and when the rain?

NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Mr. Tail's method of fattening carp.

fill up the pond again, this will be all buried un-
<!or water, and will make a feeding place for the
fish, where they will come early in the morn-
ing, and will fatten greatly upon what they find
i here.

Mr. Tull, famous for his improvements in hus-
bandry, communicated to Sir Hans Sloane the
method of fattening carps by castration. The
rastrated carp being put into water with six live
ones, seemed only a little less brisk in swimming*
The castrated carp is said to excel the others in
delicacy of flavor as much as a capon docs a cock^
or a fat ox exceeds a bull.

Of the sound or air-bladder, a kind of fish-
glue is made, and a green paint of their gall.

The carp is held in great esteem by most of
the eastern nations. The great Mogul, before.
he goes to war, or undertakes any affair of im-
portance, prays with his hands resting on a large
carp.

In a domesticated state these fish require some
attention, particularly in winter, when care must
in- taken that they be not stifled for want of air
hmt>ath the ice. When a pond is fro/en, some
of the water should be let off, so as to leave a
vacancy between it and the ice,- but when the
frost is not very intense, holes made in the ice
will be found sufficient. These holes, however,
should not be made too near the basin, lc!,t
the carp be disturbed, when they may leap upon
the ice, and perish with cold. When :i pom!

THE CARP. 129

Subject to two diseases.

begins to be frozen, the carp seek the deepest
part; they there make holes in the form of a ba-
sin, in which they bury themselves, crowding
as close to each other as herrings in a cask ; arid
thus they pass the winter without motion or food,
It has been found that a carp weighing three
pounds and a half, does not lose above a quarter
of a pound during this long fast.

If lightning strike upon a pond or lake, it has
been observed that the fish die in the course of
a few days ; but this may be prevented by im-
mediately letting off the water, and introducing
fresh : very few of the fish perish when this pre-
caution is taken *

Carp are subject to two diseases, called the
small-pox, and the moss. The former consists
of pustules which appear between the skin and
the scales, and is seldom mortal. The latter
shews itself in small excrescences resembling
moss, which are perceptible on the head and down
the back. Of this disease, caused by corrupted
waters brought by violent rains, the carp fre-
quently die. The only remedy for it is to renew
the water of the pond. The carp likewise fall
sick, if a great quantity of snow-water run into
the pond in consequence of a sudden thaw. But
if they have a sufficiency of fresh water in sum-
mer, if the season be not too hot, and if in winter,
care be taken to prevent their being stifled un-
der the ice, the proprietor need be under no ap-

VOL. V. — NO. 33. B

ISO NATURALIST'S CABINET.

The frog an enemy to the carp.

prehension either of disease, or any other incon-
venience.

The frog is a mortal enemy to the carp, more
so by destroying its spawn, than by fastening
himself on its head, a circumstance which has,
however, been strongly asserted as a fact, and
that the carp pines away in consequence of the
close adhesion of the frog, which cannot be se-
parated from the head of the fish without extreme
force, or killing.

" The angler's patience," says the author of
Rural Sports, " will be peculiarly called forth, in
attempting to beguile the large carp, although
small ones will generally bite eagerly : the rod
and line should both be long, and of the strong-
est materials. A quill float, a hook of size cor-
responding to the bait, and whipt to good silk-
worm-gut, on which one shot should be placed,
twelve inches from it. Three rods may be em-
ployed ; one with the bait at mid-water, another
a foot or less from the bottom, and the third to
lie upon it, when the line and lead are not dis-
covered, as in the two former ; the places in-
tended to be fished in should, the night before,
be ground-baited with grains, blood, and broken
worms, incorporated together with clay ; the
hook-baits should be red worms, taken out of
tan, flag or marsh worms, green peas so boiled
as to soften but not to break the skin, and throw-
ing some in now and then; when this bait is

THE BARBEL. 131

Description.

used (which should be with one on the hook to
swim a foot from the ground), in case of a bite,
strike immediately. A large carp upon taking
the bait, directly steers for the opposite side of
the pond or river.

THE BARBEL.

THIS fish, which is a native of all the south-
ern countries of Europe, is distinguished from
the other species of carp, by the projection of
the upper jaw beyond the lower, and by the
barbs or wattles at the mouth, from which it de-
rives its name in almost every language. In
form it very much resembles the pike. The
head is oblong, and terminates in a point. The
upper lip is strong, and the fish can project or
contract it at pleasure. The four beards are at-
tached to the upper jaw ; the two situated near
the end of it are shorter than the others. . The
scales are of a pale gold colour, edged with
black ; they adhere very firmly to the skin, and
according to Richter they exceed five thousand
in number. The colour of the back is a pale
olive, the belly is silvery, and proceeds without
protuberance nearly in a straight line, so that
when it reaches the bottom, the mouth at the
same time touches the ground. The back
is a little arched, from the middle of it rises
one dorsal fin with ten rays, of which the first is
R 2

NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Food — Different sizes.

the largest. The tail is forked, and between it
and the anus rises another fin, supported by se-
ven rays.

The barbel lives upon snails, worms, and small
fish. Dr. Bloch says that he found a young
perch in the mouth of a large barbel. It is like-
wise fond of human flesh, for in 1683, after the
siege of Vienna, when the bodies of the Turks
and animals were thrown promiscuously into the
Danube, the barbels were seen to flock in great
numbers around the human carcases, and were
most of them taken. With such a variety of
food it is not surprising that the barbel's growth
should be very quick. In the Oder, barbels are
caught three feet in length, and weighing six or
eight pounds. Those in the Weser weigh from
twelve to fifteen; and Pennant says, that they
are sometimes found of the weight of eighteen
pounds. In the Weser, the. flax which is soaked
in the river makes them so fat, that they are not
at all inferior in flavour to salmon. As they fol-
low the flax, the fishermen take advantage of
this circumstance to catch great quantities of
them. In the river Aik, the barbel fishery is
one of the principal occupations of the Cossacks
during winter. The barbel is found in most of
the other Russian rivers and lakes, and, here it
is sometimes caught of thirty pounds weight. In
summer a barbel of that size costs but five or
eight copecs ; but in winter it will fetch from
thirty to forty. At Astracan and Terek, th?

THE BARBEL. 133

Season of spawning — False assertion.

ton -rue of the barbel is pickled, afterwards put
into barrels,, and sent to Petersburg. The Cos-
sack* who inhabit the country adjacent to the ri-
ver Hi ulck, make isinglass with the sound or air-
hiadder of the barbel, but it is much inferior in
quality to that obtained from the sturgeon. The
barbel does not breed till it is four or five years
old. The season of spawning is in May, and
in June, if it be a backward spring. It then
ascends the rivers, depositing its eggs underneath
ithe stones, in places where the current is most
rapid. While it is young, the barbel is in danger
from all the voracious fish, particularly the loche.
In a fish weiging three pounds and a, half, caught
in the month of April, that is, a short time pre-
vious to the season for spawning, Dr. Blocli
found a roe not exceeding three quarters of an
ounce in weight, containing eight thousand and
twenty-five eggs of the size and colour of grains
of millet.

Some writers assert that the eggs of this fish
are of a poisonous quality, and occasion fatal ac-
cidents to those who eat them ; but experience
proves that this opinion is fallacious. Dr. Bloch
states that he himself, and all his family, ate of
the eggs of the barbel without sustaining the
smallest inconvenience in consequence.

Klein speaks of a king of the barbels, as of a
particular species, distinguished from the others
by the great length of his fins. But as he con-
s, that he never saw but one of the kind

134 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Seldom eaten but by the poorer sort.

. . — , — — — — , — » -.

and that in a collection at Dresden, and as other
writers make no mention of this fish, the length
of its fins was probably the effect of accident, or
a trick of some vender of natural curiosities.

The barbel is so extremely coarse as to have
been overlooked by the ancients ; yet Pliny, in
mentioning one reported by Mutianus to have
been caught in the Red Sea, that weighed four
score pounds, exclaims, " Oh ! what a price he
would have borne among our gluttons here
with us." These fish are the worst and coarsest
of fresh water fish, and are seldom eaten but by
the poorer sort of people, who sometimes boil
them with a bit of bacon to give them a relish.
Their roe is very noxious, and consequently may
affect some who eat it with vomiting, &,c.

They frequent the still and deep parts of rivers,
and live in society, rooting like swine with their
noses in the soft banks. The barbel is so tame
as to suffer itself to be taken by the hand ; and
people have been known to take numbers by
diving for them. In summer they move about
during night in search of food ; but toward au-
tumn, and during winter, some insist that they
confine themselves to the deepest holes ; but this,
is erroneous, as the fishermen would take them
with nets at that season as well as other fish, if
they were then in the water ; but they are always
found in rivers near the sea.

If there be any difference in the taste of the
flesh they are most in season the latter end of

THE TENCH.

Nice feeders — Description.

summer, but, in fact, they are not worth no-
tice, except from the sport the angler derives
from the catching of them, and which, from,
their being so strong and determined when hook-
ed, is very great.

Their biting months commence in May, and
continue until September; the time from sun-
rise to ten in the morning, and from four in the
afternoon to sun-set. The rod must be very
strong ; and the baits are to be lob worms well
scowered, and new cheese cut in small squares,
for barbel though free, are nice feeders.

Three of the largest barbel ever caught at
Hampton, by angling, were taken in 1793, by a
gentleman of Burlington-street, and which weigh-
ed thirty-nine pounds.

THE TENCH.

THIS, according to Artedi, is a species of the
carp, and is thick and bulky in proportion to its
length. The colour of the back is dusky; the
dorsal and ventral fins of the same colour; the
head, sides, and belly, of a greenish cast, most
beautifully mixed with gold, which is in its great-
est splendor when the fish is in highest season.
They love still waters, and are rarely found in
rivers ; they are very foolish, and easily caught.

This is one of those fish that prefer foul and
3

136 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Esteemed by some and despised by others.

weedv waters ; and its haunts in rivers are chiefly
a m on .a: \vccds, and in places well shaded with
rushes. These fish thrive best in standing wa-
ters, where they lie under weeds near sluices and
pond heads. They are much more numerous in
pools arid pits than in rivers ; but those taken in
the latter are tar preferable for the table. They
begin to spawn in June, and may be found
spawning in some waters till September, The
best season is from that time till the end of May.

These fish do not often exceed four or five
pounds in weight. Mr. Pennant, however, men-
tions one that weighed ten pounds. Tench are
in great repute with us as a delicious and whole-
some food ; but in Guernsey they are considered
bad fish, and in contempt called Schoemaker.
Gessner even says, that it is insipid and unwhole-
some. Like the barbel, it was unnoticed by
early writers, and Ausonius, by whom it was first
mentioned, treats it with that disrespect which
evinces the capriciousnessof taste.

The slime of the tench is supposed to possess
such healing properties among the fish that, it
is said, the pike, on this account, never attempts
to sei/.e it, though he devour, without excep-
tion, all the other species that he is able to over-
come : thus Mr. Diaper in his piscatory eclogue^
poetically says,

" Tin1 pi!."', fell tyrant of ttie liquid plain,-
\Vitii ravenous waste devours his fellow train :
Yot, liowso'er with raging famine pin'il,
The tentli h* spares, a medicinal kLd >

THE TENCH. '137

Supposed properties of its slime.

For when by wounds distrcst, or sore disease,
He courts the salutary fish for ease ;
Close to his scales the kind physician glides,
And sweats a healing balsam iiom his sides."

This incident has been the origin of many cu-
rious stories: however, this self-denial of the pike
may be attributed to a more natural cause ; the
tench are so fond of mud as to be constantly at
the bottom of the water, where probably they
^re secure fiom the voracious attacks of their
neighbour.

These fish are sometimes found in waters where
the mud is excessively fetid, and the weeds so
tbick that a hand-net can scarcely be thrust
down. In these situations they grow to a large
size, and their exterior becomes completely ting-
ed by the mud. Their flavour from this, if
cooked immediately on being taken out, is often
very unpleasant ; but, if they are transferred
into clear water, they soon recover from, the ob-
noxious taint.

A Tench was taken at Thornville Royal, in
Yorkshire, in 1802, of such an enormous size,
and so singular in its shape, as to be accounted
rather a lusus natitra thaa a regular product. A
piece of water which had been ordered to be
filled up, and into which wood and rubbish had
been thrown for some years, was directed to be
cleared out. So little water remained, and in
such quantity were the weeds and mud, that it
was expected no fish would be found except

VOL. v» — NO. 33. s

138 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Singular tench taken at T hornville Royal.

perhaps a few eels ; but, greatly to the surprise
of the persons employed, nearly two hundred
brace of tench, and as many of perch were dis-
covered. After the pond was supposed to be
quite cleared, an animal was observed to be un-
der some roots, which was conjectured to be an
otter. The place was surrounded, and on mak-
ing an opening, a tench was found of most sin-
gular form, having literally taken the shape of
the hole in which he had of course been many
years confined. His length was two feet nine
inches, his circumference two feet three inches,
and his weight near twelve pounds. The colour
was also singular, his belly being tinged with
vermilion; like that of a char. This extraordi-
nary fish, after having been examined by many
gentlemen, was carefully put into a pond. At
first it merely floated, and after a while it swam
gently away. When Mr. Daniel produced his
" Rural Sports" it was alive and well.

Notwithstanding this account was authenti-
cated by persons of veracity, the following wit-
ticisms of incredulity, in prose and verse, ap-
peared in the public prints.

<e The yel/ow-bellied TENCH of Thornville
House, in Yorkshire, which is supposed to have
lain so many centuries, and lived under the roots
of some ancient trees, without water, is to be
lirt'ssed at that celebrated mansion, as soon as an
instrument is procured in which a proper kettle of
jish inav be auide of this amphibious animal : it

THE TENCH. 139

Consequent witticisms.

is to be served up with sauce pi guent, at a kind of
Arthur's RoundTable, to a select corps of Knights

of the long bow."

THE TENCH OF THORNVILLE ROYAL,

"A TRUE STORY !!!

" O' the marvelous,

At Thornville house,
We read of feats in plenty,

Where with long bow

They hit, I trow,
Full nineteen shot in twenty.

" Their fame to fix,

'Mid:>t other tricks,
In which they so delight, Sir,

These blades, pray know/

The hatchet throw
Till it is out of sight, Sir.

" Of beast and bird 4

Enough we've heard,
By cracks as loud as thunder,
So now they dish,
A monster fish,
For those who bite at wonders,

" The scullion wench

Did catch a tench,
Fatter than Berkshire hogs, Sir,

Which, pretty soul,

Had made a hole,
Snug shelter'd by some logs, Sir !

" Sans water he

Had liv'd d'ye see,
Beneath those roots of wood, Sir !

And there, alack,

Flat on his back,
Had lain since Noah's flood, Sir !
S 2

140 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Simple, and caught without difficulty.

" Now he's in stew

For public gout,
And fed with lettuce-coss, Sir,

In hopes the town

Will gulp him down,
With good humbugging sauce, Sir !"

These fish are very simple, and are usually
caught with a line without difficulty. The baits
generally adopted are the small red worms taken
out of rotten tan, wasp maggots, or marsh worms.
The season for angling is from September to
June. The fish will bite during the greater part
of the day, but the expert angler generally at-
tends as early and late as possible.

THE CHUB.

THIS fish, which is also called chevin nob, or
boiling, very much resembles the carp, but is of
a longer form, the body is oblong, rather round,
and is of a pretty equal thickness in the greater
part of the slope ; the scales are large ; the irides
silvery ; the cheeks of the same colour ; the
head and back of a deep dusky green ; the sides
silvery, but in the summer yellow; the belly
white ; the pectora] fins of a pale yellow ; the
ventral and anal fins red, and the tail forked, of
a brownish hue, but tinged with blue at the end.
It is altogether a handsome fish ; but not in.
esteem for the table, being very coarse, and whea

THE CHUB. 141

Chief haunts — General weight.

out of season, full of small hairy bones ; the roe
however, is very good, and this fish, stewed as
carp will, it is said, deceive a connoisseur. Its
name is derived from the shape of the head, cop
being an old English word for head, and the
French and Italians know it by a name synony-
mous with ours.

The haunts of these fish are rivers whose bot-
toms are of sand or clay, or which are bounded by
clayey banks; in deep holes, under hollow banks,
shaded by trees or weeds. They are also found
in the Esk, a river noted for the chrystalline
clearness of its waters, flowing over a rocky bot-
tom. These fish often float on the surface, and
are sometimes found in deep waters, where the
currents are strong. In ponds fed by a rivulet
they grow to a great size. They seldom, how-
ever, exceed the weight of four or five pounds:
though Salvianus speaks of them as encreasing
to eight or nine.

They deposit their spawn in April ; and are in
greatest perfection during the months of Decem-
ber and January.

The chub does not afford the angler so much
diversion as the trout ; when he seizes a bait, he
bites so eagerly, that his jaws are often heard to
chop like those of a dog. He, however, seldom
breaks his hold, and when once he is struck, is
soon tired. The time of angling for chub is from
August to March, but best in the winter months.
In mild cloudy weather the chub will bite all day j

142 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Description — Liveliness- — General weight.

in hot weather from sunrise till nine o'clock; and
from three in the afternoon till sunset. In cold
weather the best time is the middle of the day.
The baits are various kinds of worms, grasshop-
pers, blue-bottles, beetles, and almost any natu-
ral or artificial fly.

DACE, OR DARE.

THE head of dace is small, the irides of a
pale yellow ; the body long and slender ; the
back varied with dusky, and a cast of yellowish
green ; the sides and body silvery ; the ventral,
anal, and caudal fins are sometimes of a pale red
hue, and the tale is very much forked. These
fish are gregarious and very lively ; during sum-
mer they are fond of playing near the surface of
the water. They are generally found where the
water is deep, and the stream gentle, near the
piles of bridges. They also frequent deep holes
that are shaded by the leaves of the water-lily ;
and under the foam on the shallows of streams.

Dace seldom weigh more than a pound and a '
half, being seldom above ten inches long : al-
though in a list of fish sold in the London mar-
kets, with the highest weight of each, commu-
nicated to Mr. Pennant, there is an account of
one that weighed a pound and a half; and ac-
cording to Linneeus, it grows to a foot and a half
in length.

THE ROACH. 143

Fecundity — Time for angling.

Dace are exceedingly prolific. They spawn
in March, and are in season three weeks after-
wards. They improve, and are good about Mi-
chaelmas, but are best in February. In this
month, if, when just taken out of the water,
they are scotched and broiled, they are said to be
even more palatable than a herring. Their flesh,
however, is generally insipid, and full of bones.

These fish afford great amusement to the an-
gler. The baits are various kinds of wdrms, and
the common flesh-flies. The season for angling
is from April to February, but best in the win-
ter. In hot weather, the time is early and late
in the day : in cold weather, during the mid-
dle ; and in mild cloudy weather, the whole of
the day.

In the Mersey, near Warrington, a fish called
the graining is taken, which very much resem-
bles the dace, but is slenderer, and the back
shorter, the usual length not exceeding eight
inches. The colour of the back is silvery, with
a bluish cast; the eyes, ventral and anal fins are
paler than those of the dace, but the pectoral fin
is redder, and they -ire much better eating.

THE ROACH.

THIS, which is a handsome fish either in or
fresh out of water, has large eyes, the circle of
which resembles gold colour, and the iris red. It

144 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Simplicity — When in season.

is deep but thin, and the back elevated; the side-
line bends much on the middle towards the belly,
and the tail is a little forked.

This fish is found chiefly in deep still rivers,
where it is often seen in large shoals. In summer,
it frequents shallows near the tails of fords ; or
lies under banks among weeds, and shaded by
trees or herbage, especially where the water is
thick. As the winter approaches, these haunts
are changed for deep and si ill waters.

The roach is so silly a fish that it has acquired
the name of the water-sheep, in contradistinc-
tion to the carp, which from its subtilty is term-
ed the water-fox. " Sound as a roach," is a pro-
verb that appears but indifferently founded. It
is, however, used by the French as well as by
us.

The flesh of this fish, though reckoned very
wholesome, is in little esteem, from the great
quantity of bones. The roe, which is green and
boils rod, is remarkably good. Roach are in
season from Michaelmas to March, their scales
are then very smooth ; but when they are out of
season, these feel like the rough side of an oys-
ter-shell. Their fins are generally red, when the
animals are in perfection. They spawn towards
the latter end of May, producing, it is said, above
54,000 ova, and for three weeks after are un-
tvholesome. They begin to recover in July, but
it is Michaelmas before they are eatable. They
are said to be best in February or March. These

THE BREAM. 145

Food — Usual weight — 'Description.

fish differ greatly in goodness, according to the
rivers in which they are caught. None are good
that are kept in ponds.

Roach feed on aquatic plants and vermes.
Their usual weight is from half a pound to two
pounds. Some, however, have been known to
weigh as much as five pounds.

The baits used in catching roach are various
kinds of worms, flies, and pastes ; a roach will
generally attend the fly to the surface, there gaze
on it for a moment, and then take it. The time
for angling is, in mild cloudy weather, all the
day : in hot weather only in the mornings and
evenings ; and in cold weather, during the mid-
dle of the day.

THE BREAM.

THIS well-known fish is broad, with a small
head, smooth at the top, large eyes, a small lea-
ther mouth, no teeth, but a lozenge-like bone to
help its grinding; the palate is soft and fleshy,
resembling that of the carp ; it is covered with
curious net-work scales, on which it has some-
times abundance of minute whitish tubercles ; it
has a hog-back, of a colour between blue and
black ; the sides of the largest are yellowish, and
the belly inclining to red; is extremely deep and
thin in proportion to its length ; the tail is very

VOL. V. — NO. 33. T

J46 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Where found — Time of spawning.

large, and something in the form of a crescent.
The flesh is soft and clammy, yet by some rec-
koned of easy digestion, and more nourishing
than carp; the choice parts are the belly and
head, and the best way of preparing it for table
is by pickling it like salmon. Though neglected
by the English, this fish is highly esteemed by
the French.

Bream are found in slow-running deep rivers,
but chiefly in extensive ponds, where, although
they grow tardily, they will attain the weight of
three or four pounds (they have been known to
weigh eight), and if the water and air suit them,
they will get very fat : they are great breeders,
for it is observed the melter has two melts, and
the spawner two large bags of spawn, from which
are deposited upwards of 130,000 ova: conse-
quently they are only fit to be put into ponds as
food for pike, perch, Sec.

Bream spawn about the latter end of June ;
some prefer them in May, others in September,
having then had their summer food; but the ge-
neral opinion is that they are most in season
when big with roe. It is affiimed that bream
and roach will breed together, but this is posi-
tively coBtradictfi£b;y the Rev. Mr. Daniel.

This fish affords great diversion to the angler.
The baits used arc the red paste ; also paste
made of brown bread and honey, gentles, wasp-
grubs, flag- worms, and they are great lovers of

THE BLEAKi 147

In great agonies at certain seasons.

red worms, green flies, and grasshoppers with
their legs cut off, in June and July.

Bream swim together in shoals, and may be
caught in a gentle stream, the water being rather
thick, and a good gale of wind. In ponds, the
higher the wind and the rougher the waves, the
better. Of rivers, the Mole in Surry, about
Dorkingbridge, and upwards, is noted for large
bream, as also the Medway in Kent ; and they
prefer the deepest and widest places. It is ra-
ther surprising that this fish is not mentioned in
some of our natural histories.

THE BLEAK,

BY some termed the fresh-water sprat, and*by
others the water-swallow, on account of its nim-
bleness in catching flies, is from two to five or
six inches in length ; the head is small, and the
skull transparent; the eyes large, with a blood-
coloured spot on the lower side ; the irides of a
pale yellow ,• the under jaw the longest, the gills
silvery; the body is slender, and greatly compres-
sed sideways, not unlike that of the sprat ; the
sides and belly silvery ; the fins pellucid, the la-
teral line rather crooked ; the scales are large,
and fall off very easily ; the tail is forked.

At certain seasons the bleak seems to be in
great agonies ; they tumble about near the sur-
face of the water, and are incapable of swimming

TS

148 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Small fish called white-back.

far from the place ; but in about two hours they
recover and disappear. Fish thus affected, tlu>
Thames fishermen call mad bleaks. They seem
also to be so troubled with a species of thegordias,
or hair worm, that they rise to the surface and
die. They are exceedingly restless, their haunts
being sometime in deep still water, and at other
times in the streams: they are very common in
many of our rivers, and assemble in shoals. They
are supposed to be always in season except
when spawning, which is said to be in May, from
which they recover in about three weeks, and
are in highest perfection in autumn. Artificial
pearls have been made from the scales of this
fish, and likewise of the dace.

During the month of July, (say Goldsmith and
remnant) there appear in the Thames, near
Blackwall and Greenwich, innumerable multi-
tudes of small fish, known to the Londoners by
the name of white-bait. They are esteemed very
delicious when fried with fine flour, and occa-
sion, during the season, a vast resort of the
lower orders of epicures to the taverns at the
places they are taken. There are various suppo-
sitions concerning these fish, all of which termi-
nate in reckoning them the fry of some other
fish. Mr. Pennant thinks they are of the carp
genus, though he cannot determine the species
to which they belong. They certainly have a
greater similarity to the bleak than to any other
species ; yet he thinks they cannot be the young

THE GUDGEON. 149

Two species, the gobio and scorpio.

fry of that, because the bleak is found in many
of the British streams, but the white- bait is only
in the Thames.

THE body of this fish is round ; the head
broader than the body, with two little holes be-
tween the eyes, one before the other ; the gill-
membrane with six spines.

The principal species of the gudgeon is called
the gobio, or river bull-head, which is very com-
mon in all our clear brooks ; it lies almost always
at the bottom, or under a stone : it deposits its
spawn in a hole which it forms among the gravel,
and quits it with great reluctance. It feeds on
water insects, lledi says that this fish has no air-
bladder. It seldom exceeds the length of three
inches and a half. The head is large, broad, flat,
and thin at its circumference, being well adapted
for insinuating itself under stones : on the mid-
dle part of the covers of the gills is a small crooked
spine, turning inwards. The eyes are very small ;
the irides yellow ; the body grows slender to-
wards the tail, and is very smooth. The colour
of this fish is as disagreeable as its form, being
dusky, mixed with a dirty yellow ; the belly
whitish. The taste, however, is excellent.

There is another species called the scorpio,
or father-lasher, which is not uncommon on the
3*

150 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Time to angle for the gudgeons.

rocky coasts of this island ; it lurks under stones,
•and will take a bait. — It seldom exceeds eight
or nine inches in length. The head is large,
and has a most formidable appearance, being
armed with vast spines, which it can oppose to
any enemy that attacks it, by swelling out its
cheeks and gill-covers to a large size. The
nose, and space contiguous to the eyes, are fur-
nished with short sharp spines ; the covers of the
gills are terminated by exceeding long ones,
which are strong, and very sharp pointed. The
mouth is large ; the jaws covered with very small
teeth ; the roof of the mouth is furnished with
a triangular spot of very minute teeth.

This latter species is very frequent in the
Newfoundland seas, where it is called scolping j
it is also as common on the coast of Greenland,
in deep water near the shore. It is a principal
food of the natives, and the soup made of it ii
said to be agreeable as well as wholesome. Be-
gidcs these there are four other species,.

Gudgeons bite freely, from the latter end of
spring until autumn ; the time commences in
gloomy warm days, from an hour after sun rise,
to within the same time of its setting: during the
rest of the year, the middle of the day when it is
warmest. The baits are small red worms, gentles,
aud blood worms.

THE CORYPH;ENA. 151

The bine and parrot fish.

THECORYPH&NA.

OF this fish there are twelve species, most of
which are natives of foreign seas. The general
characters are, the head is declined and trun-
cated ; the membrane covering the gills has six
rays, and the back fin runs the whole length of
the hack. The most remarkahle are the blue and
parrot fish. The former is described by Catesby
as having its head of a very odd structure, re-
sembling that of the spermaceti whale; the mouth
is small, each mandible armed with a single row
of even teeth, so closely joined, that they seem
entire bones; the iris of the eye is red. On the
back is a long pliant fin, somewhat indented on
the edge ; behind the gills are two fins, one under
the abdomen, and another behind the anus. The
tail is forked, and the whole fish entirely blue. They
are taken on the coasts of the Bahama islands,
and in most of the seas between the tropics.

The parrot fish has a large month, paved as it
were with blunt teeth, closely connected, after
the manner of the sea-wolf. The body is co-
vered with green scales ; the eyes are red and
yellow ; the upper part of the head brown, the
lower part, and the gills blue, bordered with a
dusky red ; a streak of red extends from the
throat behind the gills, at the upper end of which
is a bright yeiknv spot. The fins are five in
number, one extending almost the length of the
J?ack, of a bay or cinnamon colour ; there are

1.52 NATURALIST'S CABINET

More esteemed for beauty than for taste.

two behind the gills blended with black, green
and purplish colours, with the upper edge verged
with blue ; under the anus extends another long
narrow green fin with a tint of red through the
middle of it ; at the basis of the tail, on each side
is a long narrow spot. The tail is long, forked
and green, wiih a curved red line running through
the middle, parellel to the curve, and ending in
two points.

This fish is more esteemed for beauty than for
the delicacy of its taste. They are taken on the
coasts of Hispaniola, Cuba, and the Bahama
Islands.

THE SALMON. 153

Description.

CHAP. VII.

The springing trout in speckled pride.
The salmon — monarch of the tide.
The ruthless pike intent on war,
The silver eel and mottled par.

•MOLI.tr.

THE SALMON.

THE salmon, which was known to the Romans,
but not to the Greeks, is a soft-finned abdominal
fish. They are distinguished from other fish by
having two dorsal fins, of which the hindermost
is fleshy and without rays ; they have teeth both
in the jaws and in the tongue, and the body is
covered with round and minutely striated scales.
The colour of the back and sides is grey, some-
times spotted with black and sometimes plain ;
the covers of the gills are subject to the same va-
riety, and the belly is silvery. The nose is sharp
pointed, and in the males the under jaw some-
times turn up in the form of a hook.

Rapid and stony rivers, where the water is free
from mud, are the favorite places of most of the

YOL. v. — NO. 33. v

NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Extraordinary leaps.

salmon tribe, the whole of which is supposed to
afford wholesome food for mankind.

This fish seems confined in a great measure to

the northern seas, being unknown in the Medi-

terranean, and in the waters of other warm cli-

mates. It Jives in fresh as well as in salt waters,

forcing itself in autumn up the rivers, sometimes

for hundreds of miles, for the purpose of deposit-

ing its spawn. It abandons the seas where it finds

an abundant sustenance, ascends the rivers de-

populated by man, endeavors by every kind of

artifice to escape the snares of the fisherman, and

all this solely for the purpose of finding a conve-

nient place for depositing its eggs. In these pe-

regrinations it ir> that salmon are caught in the

great numbers that supply our markets and

tables. Intent only on the object of their jour-

ney, they spring up cataracts and over other ob-

stacles of a very great height. This extraordinary

power seems to be owing to a sudden jerk that

the fish gives to its body from a bent into a

straight position. When they are unexpect-

edly obstructed in their progress, it is s;iid they

swim a few paces back, survey the object for

some minutes motionless, retreat, and return

again to the charge ; then, collecting all their

force, with one astonishing spring over-leap every

obstacle. Where the water is low, or sand-banks

intervene, they throw themselves on one side, and

in that position soon work themselves over into

the deep water beyond. On the river Li (lev in

THR SALMON. 155

Whimsical experiment.

Ireland there is a cataract about nineteen feet
high : here, in the salmon season, many of the
inhabitants amuse themselves in observing the
fish leap up the torrent. They frequently fall
back many times before they surmount it, and
baskets made of twigs are placed near die edge
of the stream to catch them in their fall.

At the falls of Kilmorack in Scotland, where
the salmon are very numerous, it is a common
practice with the country people to lay branches
of trees on the edges of the rocks, and by this
means they often take such of the fish as miss
their leap, which the foaming of the torrent not
unfrequently causes them to do. And the late
:Lord Lovat, who often visited these falls, taking
the hint from this circumstance, formed a deter-
mination to try a whimsical experiment on the
same principle. Alongside one of the falls he
ordered a kettle full of water to be placed over a
fire, and many minutes had not elapsed before a
large salmon made a false leap, and fell into it.

AS soon as these fish have arrived at a proper
place for spawning in, the male and female unite
in forming in the sand or gravel a proper recep-
tacle for the»r ova, about. eighteen inches deep,
which they are also supposed afterwards to cover
up. In this hole the ova lie till the ensuing
spring, (if not displaced by the floods,) before
they are batched. The parents, however, im-
mediately after their spawning, hasten to the salt
water, now extremely emaciated. Toward the
u a

156 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Season of spawning — Wonderful sensibility.

end of March the young fry begin to appear;
and gradually increasing in size, become, in the
beginning of May, five or six inches in length,
when they are called salmon-smelts. They now
gwarm in the rivers in myriads ; but the first
flood sweeps them down into the sea, scarcely
leaving any behind. About the middle of June
the largest of these begin to return into the rivers;
they are now become of the length of twelve
or sixteen inches. Toward the end of July they
are called gilse, and weigh from six to nine
pounds each.

The season of spawning, which lasts but six or
eight days, takes place in the month of May, in
the southern countries as well as in Great Bri-
tain. In the north, in Sweden for instance, it
does not happen till July. It is worthy of re-
mark, that the salmon can again find the spot
•where it has once spawned, in the same manner
as the swallow knows the house where she has
built her nest. This circumstance is proved by
an experiment made by De Lalande, who pur-
chascd twelve salmon of the fishermen of Cha-
teaulin, (a small town of Lower Brittany, where
sometimes four thousand are caught in a season)
fastened a copper ring round the tail of each, and
set them at liberty again. The fishermen after-
wards informed him that the first year they took
five of the fish thus marked, three the second
year, and the same number the third. The
princes of the East, who are generally fond of

THE SALMON. 157

Troubled with insects called salmon-lice.

fishing, frequently fasten rings of gold or silver
round salmon, and again throw them into the
water. It was by means of these fish that the
communication of the Caspian Sea with the
Northern Ocean, and Persian Gulf is said to have
been discovered.

As soon as the ice begins to melt on the coasts,
the salmon seeks the fresh waters, and is conse-
quently found towards spring in the greatest
numbers in such rivers whose mouths are nar-
row, because their waters run out farthest into
the sea. In the warm countries of Europe, it
arrives as early as the months of February and
March ; in the northern regions not before April or
May. The salmon prefers those waters which
have a bottom of sand, or pebbles, and a rapid
current ; it remains there till towards autumn,
and leaving its progeny behind, returns to the
sea. Sometimes, however, it passes the winter
in the fresh waters, in Sweden particularly, where
the rivers are frozen early, and the ice prevents
its return. The fishermen have observed, that
the salmon fishery is likely to be very productive
when they have abundance of insects' adhering
to the gills, called salmon-lice ; experience hav-
ing shewn that the salmon then enter the rapid
rivers in the greatest numbers, in order to get
rid of these troublesome companions. Very
soon after the salmon have left the sea, these in-
sects die and drop off.

The salmon when entering the rivers, as Dr.

158 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Mode of taking their long voyages.

Bloch remarks, usually appear in companies,
forming two lines, resembling the sides of a
triangle, in the following order: the largest,
which is usually a female, takes the lead ; at the
distance of a fathom come two others, and the
remainder follow in the same order, so that if
the troop consist of thirty-one, there are fifteen
on each side. When their ranks are broken by
a fall, a dyke, or any noise, as soon as the ob-
stacle is surmounted, they appear again in the
former order. But if they come to a net, they
make a halt ; some endeavour to escape under-
neath, or on the sides ; and if one of the troop
find a passage, the others follow, and form again
in the same order as before. The females com-
monly go first, the largest of the males follow,
and the rear is composed of the smallest fish.
These troops are sometimes so large, that by
uniting their strength, they break through the
nets that oppose them, and escape. They make
a great noise as they advance, keeping in the
middle of the rivers, and near the surface, ex-
cepting in stormy, or "very hot weather, when
they retire to the bottom of the water, and pas*
un perceived.

Such are the remarkable long voyages of this
fish. They pass, for example, from the North
Sea into the Elbe, and proceed as far as Bohe-
mia through the Mulda, and into Switzerland up
the Rhine. When about to leap over a dyke
or fall that opposes them, resting upon large

THE SALMON. 159

Alarmed at any strange noise.

stones, they take up their tails in their mouths
(this, however, is contradicted by Mr. Pennant);
then suddenly straitening their bodied, they
strike the water with great force, and thus rise
five or six feet above the surface. Near the sea,
while their strength is unditninished, they are
capable of springing the height of fourteen feet,
and three times that distance horizontally. In
leaping large falls they sometimes miscarry, as
has been already observed, but after resting a
short time, they make fresh efforts, till tliey ac-
complish their aim, or if convinced that it is im-
possible, they return by the way they came.
After these leaps they always fall on their sides,
holding up their heads for fear of hurting them.
When these fish perceive a sea-dog, (which is
an enemy of the species) upon the coast, or hear
any strange noise, they instantly return to the
sea. This was the case in Sweden, in the year
1743, where the report of some pieces of artil-
lery fri.;ntened them, and made them turn back.
•According to the observations of Giessler, the
salmon advances but about four miles in twentv-
four hours, and when the sun shines, not above
half that distance, at such times amusing itself^
and sporting on the surface of the water. This
calculation can scarcely be correct, considering
th. long voyages it .makes in the space of a
month or six weeks. It does not enter the Rhine,
for instance, before the month of February, and
by the cad of March it is caught at Rushiem, a
3

160 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Salmon fishery on the Tweed.

small village in the territory of Baden, having
in the intermediate time proceeded at least five
hundred miles, reckoning all the curvatures and
sinuosities of the river. When the salmon wants
repose it usually seeks a large stone, against
which it rests its tail; and if followed by any
noise in its progress , assumes that posture till
the danger seems to be past.

At the spawning time these fish become lean
and emaciated, but on their return to the sea
they acquire their proper bulk in a very little
while; having been known to be considerably
more than double their weight in about six weeks.
They have been taken in England of the weight
of seventy-four pounds, and in Sweden of eighty,
and Denis says that he saw salmon six feet long
in Louisiana. Their food consists of the smaller
fish, insects, and worms; for all these are
used with success, as baits, by the angler for
salmon.

The following particulars relative to the salmon
fishery on the river Tweed, are extracted trom
Mr. Pennant :

" The capture in the Tweed, about the month
of July is prodigious; in a good fishery often a
boat load and sometimes near two are taken in a
tide ; some few years ago there were above seven
hundred fish taken at one haul, but from fifty to
a hundred is very frequent.

" The season for fishing in the Tweed begins
November the thirtieth ,- but the fishermen work

THE SALMON. l6l

Salmon fisheries in Scotland, &c.

Very little till after Christmas; it ends on Mi-
chaelmas day, yet the corporation of Berwick,
who are conservators of the river, indulge the
fishermen with a fortnight past that time, on ac-
count of the change of the style.

ef There are on the river forty-one considera-
ble fisheries, extending upwards, about fourteen
miles from the mouth (the others above being of
no great value) which are rented for near five
thousand four hundred pounds, per annum. The
expense attending the servants' wages, nets»
boats, &c. amounts to five thousand pounds
more, which together, make up the sum ten
tjiousand four hundred pounds. Now in conse-
quence, the produce must defray all, and no less
than twenty times that sum of fish will effect it,
so that two hundred and eight thousand salmon
must be caught there one year with another."

Scotland possesses great numbers of fine fish-
eries for salmon, both on its eastern and western
coast. The laws against killing it were in former
times so severe in that country, that the third
offence was made capital, by a law of James the
fourth. Ireland likewise abounds with this fish;
the most considerable fishery in that part of the
United kingdom is near Coleraine, at Cranua,
on the river Ban, which in 1754 was rented for
six hundred and twenty pounds per annum. In
the year 1760, about three hundred and twenty
tons were taken in this fishery. The chief Eng-
lish rivers for salmon are the Tyne, tUe Trent,

VOL. v. — NO. 34. x

162 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

How taken — Salmon-hunting.

the Severn, and the Thames. They are some-
times taken in nets, and sometimes by means of
locks or weirs, with iron or wooden gates, so
placed in an angle, that being impelled by any
force in a direction contrary to that of the stream
they open, let the fish or whatever else pushes
against them through, and again by the force of
the water or their own weight, close, and prevent
their return. Salmon are also killed in still water,
by means of a spear with several prongs,which the
fishermen use with surprising dexterity. When
this is used in the night, a candle and lantern, or
a wisp of straw set on fire, is carried along, to
the light of which the fish collect.

One Graham, a person who farms the sea-
coast fishery at Whitehaven, has adopted a suc-
cessful mode of taking salmon, which he has ap-
propriately denominated salmon-hunting. When
the tide is out, and the fish are left in shallow
waters, intercepted by sand-banks, near the
mouth of the rivers, or when they are found in
any inlets up the shore, where water is not more
than from one foot to four feet in any depth, the
place where they lie is to be discovered by their
agitation of the pool. This man, armed with a
three-pointed barbed spear, with a shaft of fif-
teen feel in length, mounts his horse, and plunges
at a swift trot, or moderate gallop, belly-deep
into the water. lie makes ready his spear with
both hands ; when he overtakes the salmon, he
lets go one hand, and with the other strikes

THE SALMON. 163

Dangerous salmon fishery in Norway.

the spear, with almost unerring aim, into the
fish. This done, by a turn of the hand he
raises the salmon to the surface of the water,
turns his horse's head to the shore, and runs the
salmon on dry land without dismounting. This
man says that, by the present mode, he can kill
from forty to fifty in a day : ten are, however,
no despicable day's work for a man and horse.
His father was probably the first man that ever
adopted the method of killing salmon on horse-
back. (See the annexed engraving.)

In Norway, in the province of Christiansand,
among some craggy and steep mountains, is a
very remarkable and extremely dangerous salmon
fishery on the river Mendel, near the bridge of
Bieland, which is built on beams that project
over the river. Not far from this bridge towards
the north, close to a farm-house called Foss, the
river precipitates itself from an over-hanging
crag, and forms a very large cataract. The fish-
ermen venture beneath the arch of this fall, float-
ing in wicker-baskets fastened to a beam, to pre-
vent their being swallowed up in the abyss. If
this beam were to break, the fishermen would be
lost, and if they full among the rocks, which
frequently happens, they are drawn out scarcely
alive, below the cataract. But if the beam re-
main firm, they tloai upon their flat baskets
quite under the arched rock, the hollows of
which the salmon inhabit. They drive them out
to the number of twenty, or upwards, and whca

164 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Mode of preserving salmon ou the continent.

they appear at the aperture, they are there
caught.

Since large nets have heen used in Norway,
the salmon fishery has become an object of con-
siderable importance. These nets extend aleng
the coast in the form of semicircles, or triangles
and sometimes seven hundred fish are taken at
a single haul. Two thousand fresh salmon are
frequently carried to Bergen in one day. Great
numbers of salmon are likewise caught in Swe-
den, in the Gulf of Bothnia, near Lapland, and
also in Holland, at the mouths of the Rhine and
the Maese.

A common method of preserving salmon prac-
tised on the continent, is by smoking them. For
this purpose the fish is cut open, the head is cut
off, and the spines of the back taken out ; it is
then left four days in salt, and after being clean-
ed and dried, is exposed to the smoke for three
•weeks, or a fortnight. Care must be taken to
keep it in a dry place. Salmon of eighteen or
twenty pounds are the most proper for smoking,
small ones spoil too soon, and the large fish will
not readily take the smoke,

These fish when taken out of their natural ele-
ment very soon die ; to preserve the flavour they
must be killed us soon as they are taken out of
the water. The fishermen usually pierce them
near the tail with a knife, where they soon die
with loss of blood. It has been observed that
this fish will keep for several weeks without spoil-;

THE SALMCfN. 16.5

Aversion to carrion and any thing red.

ing, though its flesh is extremely fat. Bloch
says, that he has frequently received fresh salmon
packed in straw, from the distance of above
three hundred miles, and that after being ex-
posed to the air, it has kept sweet for some weeks
longer. He likewise asserts, that in the intes-
tinal canal of the salmon is usually found a worm,
two or three feet long. He also found that the
roe of a fish weighing twenty pounds, contained
twenty-seven thousand eight hundred and fifty
eggs.

Such an abundance of different species of sal-
mon come up the rivers of Kamtschatka, as to
force the water before them, and even to dam.
up the streams in such a manner as sometimes to
make them overflow their banks. In this case,
when the water finds a passage, such multitudes
are left on the dry ground as would, were it not
for the violent winds so prevalent in that coun-
try, assisted by the bears and dogs, soon pro-
duce a stench sufficiently great to cause a pesti-
lence.

These fish are said to have an aversion to any
thing red, so that the fishermen are generally
careful not to wear jackets or caps of that colour.
Pontoppidan says also that they have so great a
dislike to carrion that, if any happen to be thrown
into the places where they are, they immediately
forsake them : the Norwegian remedy for this
is to throw intp the water a lighted torch, and

166 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

General description.

this is looked upon by the inhabitants as having
the desired effect.

THE TROUT.

THE general shape of the trout is rather long
than broad ; in several of the Scotch and Irish
rivers, they grow so much thicker than in those
of England, that a fish from eighteen to twenty
two inches, will often weigh from three to five
pounds. This is a fish of prey, has a short round-
ish head, blunt nose, wide mouth, filled with
teeth, not only in the jaws, but on the palate
and tongue ; the scales are small, the back ash
colour, the sides yellow, and when in season, is
sprinkled all over the body and covers of the gills
with small beautiful red and black spots ; the
tail is broad.

There are several sorts of trouts differing in
their size, shape and hue ; but the flesh of the
best is either red or yellow, when drest ; the fe-
male has a smaller head and deeper body than
the male, and is of superior flavour, In fact,
the colour of the trout and its spots vary greatly
in different waters, and at different seasons.

This fish, although very delicate, and at pre-
sent well knovrn, was in no esteem among the
ancients. It abounded in most of the lakes of
5

THE TROUf. 167

Time of, and preparation for spawning.

the Roman empire, yet is only mentioned by
writers on account of its beautiful colours.

In some rivers trouts begin to spawn in Octo-
ber; but November is the chief month of spawn-
ing. About the end of September they quit the
deep water to which they had retired during the
hot weather, and make great efforts to gain,
the course of the currents, seeking out a proper
place for spawning. This is always on a gravelly
bottom, or where gravel and sand are mixed
among stones, towards the end and sides of
streams. At this period they turn black about the
head and body, and become soft and unwhole-
some. They are never good when they are big
with roe, which is contrary to the nature of most
other fish. The}r multiply very fast, though they
produce much less spawn than any other fish,
which is probably owing to the voracious fish in
those cold streams where they reside, and they
would be still more numerous if they were not
so greedy as to devour each other. After spawn-
ing they become feeble, their bodies are wasted
and those beautiful spots, which before adorned
them, are imperceptible. Their heads appear
swelled, and their eyes are dull. In this state
they seek still waters, and continue there sick, as
it is supposed, all the winter. There are in all
trout rivers some barren female fish, which con-
tinue good throughout the winter.

These fish begin to leave their winter quarters
in March, or sometimes earlier, if the weather

168 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Habits — Supposed term of the trout's existence.

be mild, and approach the shallows and tails of
streams, where they cleanse and restore them-
selves. As they acquire strength they advance
still higher up the rivers, till they fix on their
summer residence, for which they generally
eh use an eddy hehind a stone, a log, or bank,
that projects into the water, and against which
the current drives. The also frequently get into
the holes under roots of trees, or into deeps that
are shaded by boughs and bushes. They are
quick swimmers, and, like salmon, leap to the
height of five or six feet, to surmount any ob-
stacles in their passage.

Trouts in a good pond will grow faster than
in some rivers ; and a gentleman who kept them
in ponds, to ascertain the progress and duration
of their lives, asserts that at four or five years
old they were at their full growth. For three
years subsequent to this they continued with lit-
tle alteration in size ; two years after, the heads
seemed to be enlarged, and the body wasted,
and in the following winter they died. Accord-
ing to this computation, nine or ten years seem
to be the term of their existence.

In several of the northern rivers, trouts are
taken as red and as well tasted as charr ; and their
bones, when potted, like those of charr, have
dissolved. These are often very large: one of
them was caught some time ago that measured
twenty-eight inches in length. — A trout was
taken in the river Stour, in December 1797*

THE •rftouT. 16&

Season for fishing — peculiar variety.

which weighed twenty-six pounds, and another,
some years ago, in Lough Neagh, in Ireland, that
weighed thirty pounds.

Trouts are said to be in season from Match to
September. They are, however, fatter from the
middle to the end of August than at any other
time.

This fish is not easily caught with a line, being
at all times exceedingly circumspect. The baits
used are worms or artificial flies. The season for
fishing is from March till Michaelmas. Cloudy
weather is generally preferred for angling, but
there is no particular time of day.

In countries where this fish abounds, it is
pickled in the same manner as salmon, or salted
like the herring. At the source of the Orbe,
which rises in a rock in the canton of Bern, in
Switzerland, are found trouts which have the
taste of crabs, and are of a very superior flavour
if dressed when just taken.

In several countries the sovereigns have re-
served to themselves the right of fishing for trout,
and have forbidden it to be caught under severe
penalties. In Saxony the fishing for it is prohi-
bited, under pain of imprisonment ; in other pro*
vinces of Germany it is punished with the loss of
a hand, and in the kingdom of Congo, in Africa,
with death.

A variety of the trout naturally deformed, hav-
ing a singular crookedness near the tail, is found

VOL. V. — NO. 34. T

170 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Gillaroo trout — Brown trout.

in two or three of the pools in North Wales.
Some of the perch in the same country have a
similar deformity. In two or three of the lakes of
Ireland there is another variety called the gillaroo
trout. The stomachs of these trouts are so ex-
cessively thick and muscular as to bear some re-
semblance to the organs in birds called gizzards.
These stomachs are sometimes served up to table
as trouts' gizzards. In the common trout the sto-
mach is uncommonly strong and muscular; for
as well as small fish and aquatic insects, the ani-
mals live on the shell-fish of the fresh waters; and
even take into their stomachs gravel or small
stones, to assist in comminuting the testaceous
part of their food.

The brown trout is merely a variety of the com-
mon trout, from which it differs not only in its
colour, but likewise in the place of its abode.
The head is large, and of a dark brown colour.
The upper jaw projects a little beyond the lower,
tind both of them are furnished with sharp teeth,
The iris of the eye is blue, and the pupil black,
with a red border. The back is round, the sides
are brown, and like the head are covered with
\iolet spots. The belly is white, and larger than
that of the common trout. Like the latter, it
inhabits streams whose water is pure, and cold,
and which have a gravelly bottom ; the only dif-
ference is, that it prefers shady brooks. Ir.F f.esh
turns; red when boiled, and i* better tasUd than

THE TROUT. 171

Another ki'id — Pur fish.

that of the common trout. In other respect*
it perfectly resembles that fish.

There is also in the Tweed, another kind of
trout, called the bull-trout, of a large size, and
proportionably longer than the whirling. This
trout is found only in the months of January and
February ; often weighing twelve pounds, and is
sold in London, during these early months, for
salmon.

Another species of small fish is found in those
rivers that abound with trout and salmon, and
is commonly known by the name of par-fish.
They appear in the month of April, and continue
till November, during which time they increase
from two or three inches to five or six. They
are caught with worms or the artificial flv.
They are most probably the same fish with the
samlet of the Wye, and the snmson of the Severn,
both of which the}' resemble perfectly in shape
and colour; and the same notion prevails in res-
pect to them as of the par, that they are only of
the male sex.

But the opinion of their being the fry of the
salmon, or else an abortive production of that
fish which does not breed, seems to be clearly
negatived by Mr. Pennant. To this may be ad-
ded, that near the river of Aber, in Carnarvon-
shire, a small stream falls perpendicularly from a
rock three hundred feet high ; above this fall the
par, the samlet, or samson, are in great plenty,
y 2

172 NATURALIST'S CASTNET.

Description— Habits — food.

but no salmon was ever seen above the cataract ;
consequently, the species in question which are
very numerous, and constantly breed there, can-
not be the abortive or mature offspring of that
fish.

THE SALMON-TROUT,

SO called from its resemblance to the two
fish whose names it bears; it attains the size of
a small salmon, is spotted in the same manner
as the trout, and like it spawns in winter. Like
the salmon it sometimes inhabits the sea, and
sometimes the rivers ; it likewise ascends into
the latter to deposit its spawn. The salmon-
trouts, however, do not quit the sea so early
as the salmon, being seldom seen in the rivers
before the month of May. They spawn in
the same manner as salmon, in November or
December ; but as the rivers are then frozen,
they do not retire to the sea till after the thaw.
Like all other fish of the same genus, they live
upon aquatic insects, worms and small fish,
and are fond of rapid streams, with a bottom,
of sand and gravel. Their flesh is red, and
well tasted, particularly before the spawning sea-
ton. Its quality depends in a great measure on

THE SALMON-TROUT. 173

Considerable size — Quality of emitting light.

the greater or less degree of purity of the streams
in which the fish are taken ; their colour and
spots vary extremely from the same cause. They
die soon after they are taken out of the water.
They are also known by the name of whitlings,
and many have supposed them to be young sal-
mon, which opinion has been proved to be ill
founded.

Salmon-trouts attain a considerable size ;
weighing sometimes eight or ten pounds. Dr.
Bloch describes one that was twenty-inches in
length, an inch and a half thick, and which weigh-
ed five pounds and three quarters. This gentle-
man discovered, that this fish, like several kinds
of sea fish, possesses the quality of emitting
light in a dark place, and that the palate, tongue,
gills and eyes, were endowed with that property
in an eminent degree. When touched with the
finger those parts cast a considerable light, and
when any other part was rubbed with the same
finger, that quality was likewise communicated
to it. The luminous matter, the Doctor imagines
is contained in the slimy substance which covers
those parts, for the flesh does not afford the
smallest appearance of light. He kept the
fish eight days, and this luminous property
diminished in proportion as the viscous matter
was dried up.

The salmon-trout is preserved by salting, pick-
ling, and smoking. It is an excellent dish, its

174 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Description.

flesh being tender and of a good flavour, particu-
larly when fat. The same kind of worm, only of
smaller size, is found in the intestinal canal of
this fish, as in the salmon. According to Pon-
toppidan, the trout is subject to consumption, the
head is then large, the body meagre, and the intes-
tines covered with pustules.

THE PIKE.

THE head of the pike is very flat, the eyes small
and of a gold tinge ; the upper jaw broad and
shorter than the lower which turns up a little at
the end, and is marked with minute punctures;
the teeth are very sharp, disposed not only in the
point of the upper jaw, but in both sides of the
lower, in the roof of the mouth, and has often
three rows upon the tongue, and even down to
the orifice of the stomach ; the gape of the jaws
is wide, although loosely connected ; they have
on each side an additional bone like the jaw of a
viper, which renders them capable of greater dis-
tention when the prey is swallowed : the body is
long, the back broad and almost square when in
its best state ; the belly is always white. When
in high season their colours are very fine, being
green, spotted with bright yellow, and the gills

THE PIKE. 175

Solitary fish — Extreme voracity.

are of a most vivid red ; out of season the green
assumes a grey appearance, and the yellow spots
turn pale. The dorsal fin is placed low on the
back.

This fish was little known to the ancients. It
is said to have been introduced into England in
the reign of Henry VIII. and was then so rare
that a pike was sold at double the price of a house
lamb. This however is contradicted by the Rev.
Mr. Daniel, for the reasons mentioned in our
description of the carp. They are now common,
in most of the lakes in Europe, Lapland, and the
northern parts of Persia, where they sometimes
measure upwards of eight feet in length. They
are solitary fish, never congregating like some of
the other tribes.

Scarcely any fish of its size in the world can
equal the pike in voracity. One of them has
been known to choak itself in attempting to
swallow another of its own species that proved
too large a morsel : and it has been well authen-
ticated that, in Lord Gower's canal at Trentham,
a pike seized the head of a swan as she was
feeding under water, and gorged so much of it
as killed them both. Walton says, " I have
been assured by my friend Mr. Seagrave, who
keeps tame otters, that he has known a pike, in
extreme hunger, fight with one of his otters fora
carp that the otter had caught, and was then
brought out of the water."

176 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Considerable weight of some.

Boulker, in his " Art of Angling/' informs us
that his father caught a pike that was an ell long,
and weighed thirty-five pounds, which he pre-
sented to Lord Cholmondeley. His lordship di-
rected it to be put into a canal in his garden,
\vhich at that time contained a great quantity
offish. Twelve months afterward the water was
drawn off, and it was discovered that the pike
had devoured all the fish except a single large
carp, that weighed between nine and ten pounds,
and even this had been bitten in several places.
The pike was again put in, and an entire fresh
stock of fish for him to feed on ; all these he de-
voured in less than a year. Several times he was
observed by workmen, who were standing near,
to draw ducks and other water-fowl underwater.
Crows were shot and thrown in, which he took
in the presence of the men. From this time the
slaughtermen had orders to feed him with the
garbage of the slaughter-house ; but being after-
wards neglected he died, as it is supposed, for
want of nutriment.

A pike was caught in the river Ouse (Decem-
ber 17(>5) that weighed upwards of twenty-eight
pounds, and was sold for a guinea. When it was
opened, a watch, with a black ribband and two
seals, were found in its body. These, it was
afterwards discovered, had belonged to a gen-
tleman's servant, who had been drowned in the
river about a month before.

THE PIKE. 177

Its remarkable longevity,

Marvellous accounts of the fierceness of this
fish is related by various authors. Gessner says,
that a famished pike in the Rhone seized on the
lips of a mule, and, was, in consequence, dragged
out of the water; and that people, while washing
their legs, had often been bitten by these vora-
cious creatures.

The largest pike that is supposed to have been
ever seen in this country, was one caught on the
draining of a pool at Lillishall lime-works, near
Newport, that had not been fished in the memory
of man: it weighed above 170 pounds.

If the accounts of different writers on the sub-
ject are to be credited, ihe longevity of the pike
is very remarkable. Gessner goes so far as to
mention a pike whose age was ascertained to be
267 years. It was said to be caught in Suabia,
in the year 1523; it was extremely large, and
had a Very aged appearance. On examining it,
they found a brass ring in one of his nostrils, on
which was read a Latin inscription, the purport
of which was, " The emperor, Frederic II. has
thrown me into his pond with his own hands, the
5th of October, 12()r2. From hence they con-
cluded, that this pike had inhabited that pond
for above 260 years. The eggs of this fish are
highly unwholesome, and even dangerous; but
their fat, liver, gall, and jaw-bones pulverised,
are useful in physic.

The pike has been poetically styled the tyrant

VOL. v. — NO. 34. z

178 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Dreaded by all other fish.

of the watery plain ; and, in fact, in proportion
to his strength and celerity, he is the most active
and voracious of the fiesh water fish. He will
attack every fish less than himself, and is some-
times seen choaked by attempting to swallow
such as are too large a morsel. It is immaterial
of what species the animal it pursues appears to
be, whether of another or its own ; all are indis-
criminately devoured ; so that every fish owes
its safety to its minuteness, its celerity, or its
courage: nor does the pike confine itself to feed
on fish and frogs, it will draw down the water-
rats and the young ducks as they are swimming
about. Pikes frequently swallow fish as large as
themselves, as may be seen from the instances
already given in our preceding pages of their
remarkable voracity. They seize them always
by the head, and digest one part of their prey
before they can draw into their mouths the
other. What is very remarkable, the pike hav-
ing ravaged a pond, will attack and devour one
another. For this reason they are dreaded by
all other fish ; and the small ones shew the same
uneasiness and detestation at the presence of
their tyrant, as the little birds do at the sight of
an hawk or an owl. When the pike lies asleep
near the surface, as is frequently the case, the
lesser fish are often observed to swim round it
in vast numbers, with a mixture of caution and
terror.

THE PIKE. 179

Aftbrds the angler good sport.

As the pike is reckoned a good dish, his days
are greatly abridged : the larger he is, the coarser
the food, and vice versa. On the Continent,
where they are caught in great abundance, they
are dried, and exported to other countries for
sale. They are extremely prolific; about one
hundred and fifty thousand ova being found in
the body of a female pike. They spawn in March
or -April.

Pikes afford the angler good sport, being bold
biters. For trolling the rod should be twelve or
fourteen feet long. The best baits are gudgeons
or dace of a middling size; the bait should never
be thrown too far. Pike are to be allured by a
large bait, but a small one is more certain to
take them. The largest pike ever known to be
caught by trolling, was in Scotland in 1784, by
Colonel Thornton ; it wanted only two ounces of
fifty pounds weight. He was an hour and a
quarter on the line before he submitted to his
fate. There was a wound upon the belly, from
whence was taken a hook which had then work-
ed itself through the skin ; for upon the dis-
coloured part being pressed, the hook appeared,
and was extracted; and it was ascertained that
he had swallowed and broke away with that hook
ten years before.

Pike are often taken while lying asleep on the
surface of the water, by means of a snare at the
end of a pole gently passing over their head,
z 2

180 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description.

which by a sudden jerk draws close, and brings
them to land.

THE EEL.

EELS have a smooth head and tubular nos-
trils ; their gill-membrane has ten rays ; the body
is nearly cylindrical, smooth, and slippery. The
tail and the back and anal fins are united : the
spiracle is behind the head or the pectoral fins.
— There are about nine species of the eel, most
of which are found only in the seas. This fish
was neglected by the Romans, but highly esteem-
ed by the Sybarites.

The common eel forms evidently a connecting
link, in the chain of nature, between the ser-
pents and fish, possessing not only, in a great
measure, the serpent form, but also many of their
habits.

This fish is frequently known to quit its ele-
ments, and to wander, in the evening or night,
over meadows in search of snails and other prey,
or to other ponds for change of habitation. This
will account for eels being found in waters that
have not been in the least suspected to contain
them. An instance of this rambling spirit of the
eels is mentioned in Plott's JSatural History of
Staffordshire; and, from the following couplet

THE EEL. 181

Capable of climbing over any obstacle.

translated from Oppian, it appears to have been
known to the ancients;

" The wand'ring eel,

Oft to the neighbouring beach will silent steal."

The eel is possessed of the power of climbing
over any obstacle ; for by applying their gluti-
nous and slimy bodies to the surface of the ob-
ject they desire to surmount, they creep up with-
out difficulty. Mr. Anderson, in the Philosophical
Transactions, says that, in June 1746, while he
was viewing the flood-gates belonging to the
water-works of Norwich, he observed a great
number of eels sliding up them, and up the adja-
cent posts, to the height of five or six feet above
the surface of the water. They ascended with
the utmost facility, though many of the posts
were perfectly dry, and quite smooth. They first
thrust their heads and about half their bodies out
of the water, and held them against the wood-
work for some time ; Mr. Anderson imagine still
they found the viscidity of their bodies sufficient-
ly thick, by exposure to the air, to support their
weight. They then began to ascend directly up-
wards, and with as much apparent ease as if
they had been sliding on level ground : this they
continued till they had got into the dam above."

Anderson, in his production called " The
Bee," relates a singular instance of the migra-
tion of young eels from one part of a river to
another. " Having occasion," says our author,

182 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Remarkable migration of yonng eels.

V to be once on a visit at a friend's house on
Dee-side, in Abcrdeenshire, I often delighted to
walk by the banks of the river. I one day ob-
served something like a black string moving
along the edge of the river in shoal water. Upon
closer inspection I discovered that this was a
shoal of young eels, so closely joined together
as to appear, on a superficial view, one continued
body moving briskly up against the stream. To
avoid the retardment they experienced from the
force of the current, they kept close along the
water's edge the whole of the way, following all
the bendings and sinuosities of the river. Where
they were embayed, and in still water, the shoal
dilated in breadth, so as to be sometimes near a
foot broad ; but when they turned a cape, where
the current was strong, they were forced to oc-
cupy less space, and press close to the shore,
struggling very hard till they passed it.

" This shoal continued to move on night and
day, without interruption, for several weeks.
Their progress might be at the rate of about a
mile an hour. It was easy to catch the animals,
though they were very active and nimble. They
•were eels perfectly formed in every respect, but
not exceeding two inches in length. I conceive
that the shoal did not contain, on an average,
less than from twelve to twenty in breadth ; so
that the number that passed on the whole, du-
ring their progress, must have been very great.
Whence they came, or whither they went, I

THE EEL. 183

Usual haunts — destructive to ducks.

know not. The place I remarked them at was
six miles from the sea, and I am told that the
same phenomenon takes place every year about
the same season."

The ancients imagined that these fish were
either created from mud, or that the scrapings
of their bodies, which they left on the stones,
were animated and became young eels: this and
other extravagant notions were also entertained
by some moderns.

The usual haunts of eels are in mud, among
weeds, under roots or stumps of trees, or in holes
in the banks or the bottom of rivers. They are
partial to still water, and particularly to such as
is muddy at the bottom. Here they often grow
to an enormous size. One that was caught near
Peterborough, in the year 1667, measured a yard
and three quarters in length; and in 1799* one
was taken out of the Kennet, near Newbury,
which weighed fifteen pounds.

When kept in ponds they have been known to
destroy young ducks. Sir John Hawkins, from
a canal near his house at Twickenham, missed
many of the young ducks; and, on draining, in
order to clean it, great numbers of large eels
were found in the mud. In the stomachs of
many of them were found, undigested, the heads
and part of the bodies of the victims.

Eels are viviparous, and seldom come out of
their hiding-places but in the night, during which
time they are taken with lines that have several

184 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Impatient of cold — tenacious of life.

baited hooks. In winter they bury themselves
deep in the niud, and, like the serpent tribe, re-
main in a state of torpor; and they are so impa-
tient of cold, as eagerly to take shelter in a vvhisp
of straw flung into a pond in severe weather.
This has sometimes been practised as a mode of
catching them.

These fish are so tenacious of life, that their
parts will continue to move for a considerable
time after they are skinned and cut into pieces ;
and no other fish whatever will live so long out
of the water as these. Mr. Swallow having oc-
casion to go from Petersburgh to Moscow, where
eels are a great rarity, ordered same to carry as
a present: upon being taken out of the water,
they were thrown upon the ground to be frozen,
and soon appeared quite dead, and almost a piece
of ice : they were then packed in snow, and when
he arrived at Moscow, (which was four days
after,) the eels being put into cold water, and so
thawed, discovered gradually signs of life, and
soon perfectly recovered.

Eels are best in season from May to July, but
may be caught with a line till September. When
the water is thick with rains, they may be fished
for during the whole day ; but the largest and
best are caught by night-lines. The baits are
wasp-grubs, or dew-worms, minnows, or gud-
geons. The most considerable fisheries in our
islands are supposed to be those on the river Ban
in Ireland.

THE EEL. 185

Silver eel — grig — black eel — sand-eel.

Eels vary very much in their colours, from a
sooty hue, to a light olive green, and those
which are termed silver eels have their bellies
white, and throughout a remarkable clearness.
There is another variety known in the Thames
by the names of grigs, and about Oxford by that
of grigs or gluts. These are scarce ever seen
near Oxford in the winter, but appear in spring,
and bite readily, which the common eels in the
neighbourhood will not. They have a larger
head, a blunter nose, thicker skin, and are less
fat than the common sorts; are in less estima-
tion, and seldom exceed three or four pounds
weight. The black eel has a large head, a black-
back, and yellow belly ; the flesh is reckoned
unwholesome, especially when taken out of mud
in standing waters.

The sand-eel seldom exceeds a foot in length.
The head is compressed, and narrower than the
body; the upper jaw is narrower than the under,
the body is cylindrical with scales, hardly per-
ceptible. There is but one species of the sand-
eel, viz. the tobianus, or launce, a native of Eu-
rope. This fish gathers itself into a circle, and
pierces the sand with its head in the centre. It
is found in most of our sandy shores during some
of the summer months; it conceals itself, on the
recess of the tides, beneath the sand, in such
places where the water is left, at the depth of
about a foot; and is in some places dug out,, and
in others drawn up by means of a hook contrived

VOL. v. — NO. 34. 2 A

186 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description by the Into. Dr. Garden

for that purpose. They are commonly used as
baits for otb,er fish, vbut they are also very delir
cate eating. These fish are found in the stomach
of the porpesse ; an argument that the last roots
up the sand with its nose, as hogs do the ground.

THE ELECTRIC OR NUMBING EEL,
OR GYMNOTUS.

OF this extraordinary fish, which hears a great
resemblance both in shape and colour to the
common eel, the following very accurate de-
scription was given by the late Dr. Garden, of
Charlestown,in South Carolina:

" The largest of these fish was three feet eight
inches in length, when extending itself most, and
might have been from ten to fourteen inches in,
circumference about the thickest part of th,e
body. The head is large,. flat, smooth, and im-
pressed here and there with holes, as if perforated
with a blunt needle, especially towards the sides,
where they are more regularly ranged in a line
on each side. The rostrum is obtuse and rounded.
The upper and lower jaws, are of equal length,
and the gape is large. The nostrils are two on
each side, the first large and tubular, and elevated
above the surface; the other small and level with
the skin, placed immediately behind the verge of
the rostrum, at the distance of an inch asunder.
The eyes are small, flattish, and of a blueuih

THE ELECTRIC EEL. 19?

Of this extraordinary fish.

color, placed about three quarters of an inch
behind the nostrils, and more towards the sides
of the head. The whole head seems to be well
supported, but whether with bones or cartilages
I could not learn. The body is large, thick, and
roundish, for a considerable distance from the
head, and then gradually grows smaller, but at
the same time deeper to the point of the tail,
which is rather blunt. There are many light-
colored spots on the back and sides of the body,
placed at considerable distances in regular lines,
but more numerous and distinct towards the tail.
When the fish was swimming it measured six
inches in depth near the middle, from the upper
part of the back to the lower edge of the fin, and
it could not be more than two inches broad on
the back at that place. The whole body from
about four inches below the head, seems to be
clearly distinguished into four different longitu-
dinal parts or divisions. The upper part or back
is roundish, of a dark color, and separated from
the other parts on each side by the lateral lines,
which taking their rise at the base of the head,
just above the pectoral fins, run down the sides,
gradually converging, as the fish grows smaller,
to the tail, and make so visible a depression or
furrow in their course, as to distinguish this from
the second part or division, which may be pro-
perly called the body, or at least appears to be
the strong muscular part of the fish. The second
division is of a lighter, and more clear

188 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Description by the late Dr. Garden

color, than the upper or back part, and seems to
swell out somewhat on each side, from the de-
pression of the lateral lines; but towards the
lower or under part is again contracted, or sharp-
ened into the third part, or carina. This carina,
or keel, is very distinguishable from the other
two divisions, by its thinness, its apparent lax-
ness, and by the reticulated skin of a more grey
or light color, with which it is covered. When
the animal swims gently in pretty deep water,
the rhomboidal reticulations of the skin of this •
earina, are very discernible ; but when the water
is shallow, or the depth of the carina is contract-
ed, these reticulations appear like many irregular
longitudinal plicae, or folds. The carina begins
about six or seven inches below the base of the
head, and gradually widening, or deepening, as
it goes along, reaches down to the tail where it
is thinnest. It seems to be of a strong muscular
nature. Where it first takes its rise from the
body of the fish, it seems to be about one inch
or one inch and a half thick, and is gradually
sharpened to a thin edge, where the fourth aivd
last part is situated ; viz. a long, deep, soft, wavy
fin, which takes its rise about three or four inches
at most below the head, and runs down along
the sharp edge of the carina to the extremity of
the tail. When it first rises it is not deep, but
gradually deepens or widens as it approaches the
tail. It is of a very pliable, soft consistence,
and seems rather longer than the body. The

THE ELECTRIC EEt.. 18'J

Of this extraordinary fish.

situation of the vent in this fish is very singular,
being placed underneath, and being about an incli
more forward than the pectoral fins, and conse-
quently considerably nearer the rostrum.

" There are two pectoral fins, (if I may call
them so,) placed one on each side, just behind
the head, over the foramina spiratoria, which are
small, and generally covered with a lax skin,
situated in the axillae of these fins. These fins
are small for the size of the fish, being scarcely
an inch in length, and of a very thin delicate
consistence, and orbicular shape. They seem to
be chiefly used in supporting and raising the
head of the fish when he wants to breathe, which
he does every four or five minutes, by raising his
mouth out of the water. This shews that he has
lungs and is amphibious, aad the foramina spira-
toria seem to indicate his having branchiae like-
wise; but this I only offer as a conjecture, not
being certain of the fact. I must now mention
the appearances of a number of small cross
bands, annular divisions, or rather wrinkles of
the skin of the body. They reach across the
body down to the base of the carina on each side;
but those that cross the back seem to terminate
at the lateral lines, where new rings take their
rise, not exactly in the same line, and run down
to the carina. This gives the fish somewhat of a
worm-like appearance; and, indeed, it seems to
have some of the properties of this tribe; for it
has a power of lengthening or shortening its

lf)f) NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Possessing some properties of worms.

body to a certain degree for its own conveniency,
or agreeably to its own inclination. I have seen
this specimen, which I have measured three feet
eight inches, shorten himself to three feet two
inches; but besides this power of lengthening or
shortening his body, he can swim forwards or
backwards, with apparently equal ease to him-
self, which is another property of the vermicular
tribe. When he swims forwards, the undulations
or wavy motions of the fin and carina begin from
the upper part, and move downwards; but when
he swims backwards and the tail goes foremost,
the undulations of the fin begin at the extremity
of the tail, or fin, and proceed in succession from
that backwards to the upper parfof the body : in,
either case he swims equally swift. Every now
and then the fish lays himself on one side, as it
were, to rest himself, and then the four divisions
of the body above-mentioned are very distinctly
seen; viz. the vermiform appearance of the two
upper divisions; the retiform appearance of the
carina ; and the last, or dark colored fin, whose
rays seem to be exceedingly soft or flexible, and
certainly at the command of the strong muscular
carina. When he is taken out of the water, and
laid on his belly, the carina and fin lie on one
side, in the same manner as the ventral fin of the
tetraodon does when he creeps on the ground."

This fish delights in clear water, and for this
reason keeps near the stony shores of the sea and
the mouths of rivers, which it likewise ascends,

THE ELECTRIC EEL. 1Q1

Its singular power of eleetr'rfying.

and sometimes ventures into the lakes with which
they communicate. It frequently comes to the
surface of the water to fetch breath, and when
deprived of fresh air it soon dies. Its flesh is fat
and of a good flavor; that of the back is firm and
full of small bones; but that of the belly is soft
and of a glutinous quality. It is eaten both by
the whites and the negroes. The peculiar species
of electricity, or galvanism, exerted at pleasure
by this singular animal, has, with justice, attractr
ed the attention of naturalists. Torpedo-like, it
gives a shock to any body, or number of bodies
connected together.

Mr. Richer, who, in 1671, was sent to Cay-
enne, by the Academy of Paris, to conduct some
mathematical observations, was the first that
made known the wonderful properties of the
electric eel to the philosophers of Europe. " I
was greatly surprised," says he, " to see a fish
three or four feet in length, resembling an eel,
which, when touched with a finger, or even with
a slick, benumbed the arm and the part of the
body next to it, in such a manner that any per-
son making the experiment remained a quarter
of an hour without being able to move it. I was
an eye-witness of this effect, and have even felt
it myself, having one day touched with my finger
a-fish of this kind that was still alive, and in the
possession of some savages, who had wounded it
with an arrow, by means of which they had
it out of the water. I could.jiot learn the name

192 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Remarks by Messrs. Ingrain and Gravesend.

of the fish from them : they say that it strikes
the other fish with its tail, hy which it benumbs,
and afterwards devours them ; which is very pro-
bable, considering the effect which it produces
on men when they touch it."

Richer's account, however, was received with
such a degree of cautious scepticism in Europe,
that, for seventy years, not the smallest notice
was taken of this fish by any naturalist, till about
the middle of the last century, M. de la Conda-
mine, in his " Travels in America," mentions a
fish producing the same effects as that described
by Richer. In a letter, (dated February, 1?£0,)
Mr. Ingram furnished some more authentic in-
formation relating to this fish, which he calls the
torpedo ; though from his description it is obvious
that he alluded to the electric eel. lie imagined
that the fish probably has an electric atmosphere
ground it, because when he offered to touch it
with a piece of iron, his arm felt such a violent
shock before it came in contact, that he was ob-
liged to drop the iron. But Mr. Gravesend first
discovered that this shock was caused by electric
matter. In a letter to Professor Allemand,
dated Rio Issequebo, 22d of November, 1755,

he says: —

"This fish produces the same effect as an elec-
tric shock communicated by the Leyden jar, hut
with this difference, that no spark is observed let
the shock be ever so strong : for if the fish be
large it infallibly ^nocks down those who touch

THE ELECTRIC EEL. 193

Undeniable proofs of its electricity.

it, and they feel the shock through the whole
body."

Gronovius soon afterwards published some ex-
periments, which an acquaintance of his had
made in America upon an eel of this kind, which
prove undeniably the animal electricity of the
fish. By these experiments it likewise appeared
that the electric fluid is communicable to several
persons, if the first touch the head of the fish,
and the last, who must be at a certain distance,
hold one hand in water ; but that no shock is
conveyed when the fish is touched with electric
substances, as sealing-wax or silk. Muschen-
brock, who was an advocate of a-iimal electricity,
acquainted his friend Nollet with these circum-
stances. Still, however, great doubts were enter-
tained of the existence of that fluid, and the sin-
gular effects produced by this fish were attributed
to certain muscles, of the same nature as those
which Reaumur asserted that he discovered in
the torpedo. Not long after, an additional argu-
ment in favor of animal electricity was furnished
by the experiments of Vander Lott, who shewed
that by touching this fish with different metals a
powerful shock was felt, but that none was per-
ceived if it were touched with sealing wax, &c.
Fermin went still farther ; he proved by experi-
ment that fourteen slaves, who had hold of each
other, felt the shock at the same time, when the
first touched the fish with a stick, and the last

VOL. v. — NO. 34. 2 B

194 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Experiments by Dr. Williamson.

held his hand in water. The experiment of Dr<
Bancroft were equally satisfactory.

Dr. Williamson, in a letter inserted in the
Philosophical Transactions, says, that on touch-
ing an electrical eel with one hand, a sensation
is experienced similar to that arising from touch-
ing the conductor of an electrical machine ; with
a short iron rod the same was felt, but less power-
fully. While another person provoked the fish,
Dr. Williamson put his hand into the water, at
the distance of three feet from it, and felt an
unpleasant sensation in the joints of his fingers.
Some small fish were thrown into the water, and
the animal immediately stunned and swallowed
them. A larger fish was thrown in, which he
stunned likewise, and attempted to swallow, but
from its size he could not do it. Dr. Williamson
put his hand into the water, and had another fish
thrown in at some distance. The eel swain up
to it, and at first turned away without offering
it any violence ; after a little time he returned,
and looking stedfastly at it a few seconds, gave
it a shock, by which it instantly turned upon its
back, and became motionless. Dr. W. at that
very instant felt the same sensation in his fingers
as when he put his hand into the water before.
A fish was afterwards struck, but not quite killed ;
when the electric eel p.erceived this he returned,
and at a second shock, evidently more severe
than the former, rendered it motionless. On
2

THE ELECTRIC EEL.

Extraordinary instance recorded by Mr. Bryant.

touching it with one hand so as to provoke it,
and holding the other in the water at a little
distance, a severe shock was felt through both
the arms, and across the breast, similar to that
from a charged jar. Eight or ten persons, with
tbeir hands joined, experienced the same, on the
first touching the head, and the last the tail of the
fish. A dog being made a link in this chain, at
the instant of contact uttered a loud yell. When
the eel was touched with silk, glass, or any
other non-conductor, no shock whatever was felt.
From a long series of experiments, it appeared
to Dr. Williamson that these properties partook
so nearly of the nature of electricity, that what-
ever would convey the electrical fluid would also
convey the fluid discharged by the eel, and vice
versa. He, however, was never able to observe
that any spark was produced on contact. This
mode of defence the fish never adopted except it
was irritated ; and the doctor has passed his hand
along the back and sides from head to tail, and
even lifted part of its body out of the water, with-
out tempting it to injure him.

Mr. Bryant, in a letter also inserted in the
Phil. Trans, mentions an instance of the shock
being felt through a considerable thickness of
wood. One morning, while he was standing by,
as a servant was emptying a tub, in wh-ich one of
these fish was contained, he had lifted it entirely
from the ground, and was pouring off the water
to renew it, when he received a shock so violent
• 2 B 2

J96 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Consequences of touching this fish.

as occasioned him to Jet the tub fall. Mr. Bryant
then called another person to his assistance, and
caused them together to lift up the tub, each
laying hold only on the outside. When they
were pouring off the remainder of the water,
they each received a shock so smart that they
were compelled to desist.

Many have been knocked down with the sud-
den stroke. One of these fish being shaken from
a net upon grass, an English sailor, notwith-
standing all the persuasions that were used to
prevent him, would insist on taking it up; but
the moment he grasped it he dropped down in a
fit, his eyes were fixed, his face became livid,
and it was not without difficulty that his senses
were restored. He said that the instant he
touched it, " the cold ran swiftly up his arm into
his body, and pierced him to the heart."

Likewise a negro, who attempted to grasp a
large fish firmly with his hands, had, in conse-
quence, a confirmed paralysis in both his arms,
as recorded by Mr. Flagg.

Dr. Garden, speaking of the singular property
of this fish, says, " the person who is to receive
the shock must take the fish with both hands, at
some considerable distance asunder, so as to form
the communication ; otherwise he will not receive
it ; at least I never saw any one shocked from
taking hold of it with one hand only ; though
some have assured me that they were shocked
by laying one haiid,^4iim. I myself have taken

THE ELECTRIC EEL. 1Q7

Remarks on these electric shocks.

hold of the largest with one hand often, without
ever receiving a shock ; hut I never touched it
with hoth hands, at a little distance asunder,
without feeling a smart shock. 1 have often re-
marked, that when it is taken hold of with one
hand, and the other hand is put into the water
over its body, without touching it, the person
received a smart shock ; and I have observed the
same effect follow, when a number joined hands,
and the person at one extremity of the circle
took hold of, or touched the fish, and the person
at the other extremity put his hand into the
water over the body of the fish. The shock was
communicated through the whole circle as smart-
ly as if both the extreme persons had touched
the fish. In this, it seems to differ widely from
the torpedo, or else we are much misinformed of
the manner in which the benumbing effect of
that fish is communicated. The shock which
pur Surinam fish gives, seems to be wholly elec-
trical ; and all the phenomena, or properties of
it, exactly resemble those of the electric aura of
our atmosphere, when collected, as far as they
are discoverable from the several trials made on
this fish. This stroke is communicated by the
same conductors, and intercepted by the interpo-
sition of the same original electrics, or electrics
per se, as they are called. The keeper of these
fish informed me, that he caught them in Suri-
nam river, a great way up, beyond where the

1QS NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Observations by Dr. Garden,

salt water reaches, and that they are a fresh
water fish only. He says, that they are eaten,
and by some people esteemed a great delicacy.
They live on fish, worms, or any animal food, if
it is cut small so that they can swallow it. When
small live fish are thrown into the water, they
first give them a shock, which kills or so stupifies
them, that they can swallow them easily, and
without any trouble. If one of these small fish
after it is shocked, and to all appearance dead,
be taken out of the vessel where the electrical
fish is, and put into fresh water, it will soon re-
vive again. If a larger fish than they can swallow
be thrown into the water at a time when they are
hungry, they give him some smart shocks, till he
is apparently dead, and then endeavor to swal-
low or suck him in ; but after several attempts,
finding he is too large, they quit him. Upon the
most careful inspection of such fish, I could
never see any mark of teeth, or the least wround
or scratch upon them. When the electrical fish
are hungry, they are pretty keen after their food ;
but they are soon satisfied, not being able to
contain much at a time. An electrical fish of
three feet and upwards in length, cannot swallow
a fish above three, or at most three inches and a
half long. I am told, that the electrical fish is
sometimes found in the river Surinam, upwards
of twenty feet in length, and that the stroke, or
shock, proves instant death to the person who
Deceives it."

THE ELECTBIC EEL. 199

By Capt. Stedman, and Mr. Hunter.

Captain Stedman's account differs from the
above in one material point : he says, that it is
by no means necessary to grasp the animal with
both hands to receive the shock, having himself
experienced the contrary effect. For a small
wager he attempted several times to seize an
electrical eel with one hand, and at every trial he
had a severe shock, which extended to the top
of his shoulder ; and after about twenty different
attempts, to no purpose, he was compelled to
desist.

Mr. Hunter, in his ingenious investigation of
this animal, observes that the organs which pro-
duce this wonderful accumulation of electric
matter, constitute nearly one half of that part of
the flesh in which they are placed, and, perhaps,
compose more than one third of the whole ani-
mal. There are two pairs of these organs, one
on each side. Their structure is very simple and
regular, consisting only of flat partitions, with
cross divisions between them. The partitions are
thin membranes placed nearly parallel to one
another, and of different lengths and breadths.
Their distances from each other differ with the
size of the fish ; in one of two feet four inches in
length they were found to be one twenty-ninth of
an inch asunder. They appear to answer the
same purpose with the columns of the torpedo,
making walls or butments for the subdivisions,
and are to be considered as forming so many

20O NATURALIST^ CABINET.

Electric sparks produced by Mr. Walsh.

distinct organs ; they are very tender, and easily
lacerated. These are furnished with many pairs
of nerves appropriated to their management; but
how these surprising effects are produced hy
means of such organs, in a fluid also extremely
ill-adapted to the purpose, has not, nor perhaps
ever will be ascertained.

Notwithstanding the existence of the electrical
property was proved by these experiments in a
most satisfactory manner, many naturalists still
maintained a contrary opinion because there was
no visible spark. Mr. Walsh, celebrated for his
observations on the electricity of the torpedo,
was unable to produce any spark from that fish.
That gentleman, however, having obtained four
electric eels from Surinam, at length succeeded
in rendering the sparks visible, and describes the
method in a letter to M. le Roi. He laid a piece
of metal, cut into two parts, upon glass; the fish
being then taken out of the water and excited,
he distinctly saw the electric sparks pass from
one piece of metal to the other. There can be
no doubt of the accuracy of this experiment, for
Sir John Pringle and Mr. Magellan likewise
assured M. le Roi that they, as well as several
other persons, had seen the sparks pass as above
described, and that the experiment was repeated
ten or twelve times with the same result. Mr.
Magellan adds, that twenty-seven of the company,
taking hold of each other's hands, formed a circle,

THE ELECTRIC EEL. «0l

How taken and kept.

and the person at one extremity having touched
the eel, they all received a shock similar to that
produced by a Ley den vial.

This fish is taken in nets, and when the fisher-
men have catight a large one they kill it with a
club, to prevent being exposed to the effects of
its electric property. At Surinam young ones
are kept in capacious vessels made for the pur-
pose, and are fed with small fish or worms. In-
sects are their favorite food; these they swallow
with great avidity the moment they are thrown
into the water. A considerable quantity of vis-
cous matter oozes from the skin of this fish,
which renders it necessary to change the water
at least once a day. A pipe is affixed to the
vessel, by means of which the water is drawn off:
on this occasion the fish is sometimes left whole
hours dry and motionless, but yet if touched in
this state it communicates as strong a shock as
before.

. Notwithstanding Dr. Garden's assertion, that
specimens of the electric eel have been seen that
were upwards of twenty feet in length, and whose
shocks would be instant death to any man who
unfortunately received it ; yet Captain Stedman,
who, from his long residence in South America,
where these fish are principally found, was ena-
bled to make accurate enquiries on the subject,
contradicts this gentleman.

VOL. T.— NO. 34, 2 c

CO2 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description.

THE GRAYLING

IS a fish of very elegant form ; the body is less
deep than that of the trout; the head small, with
protuberant eyes, the irides of which are silvery,
speckled with yellow ; the mouth is of a middle
size, and the upper jaw the largest. The teeth
arc very minute, seated in the jaws and roof of
the mouth, and feel like a line file; the head is
dusky, the covers of the gills of a glossy green,
vet when in prime perfection, the.se parts are
blackish, (differing in this respect from all other
fish, being least beautiful when most in season);
the back is of a dusky green, inclining to blue ;
the sides of a fine silvery grey (from which it
eierives its name); yet when first taken they sec in
to glitter with spangles of gold, and are marked
with black spots irregularly placed. The side
line is nearly straight; the scales are large, and
the lower edges dusky, forming straight rows
from the head to the tail, which is much forked ;
the large dorsal fin is spotted, the other fins are
plain ; it is rather hog-backed, find, from the
nose and belly touching the ground together, it
is supposed that this fish feeds mostly at the
bottom.

The grayling haunts rapid and clear streams,
particularly' such as flow from mountainous coun-
tries : it is found in those of Derbyshire, Shrop-
shire, Yorkshire, Sec. In Lapland, ('where, it is
very common,) the inhabitants use it* entrails,.

THE GRAYLING.

Much esteemed — how to be angled for.

instead of rennet, to make the cheese, which they
get from the milk of the rein-deer. The grayling
seldom exceeds sixteen inches in length. AVe
are told by Pennant, as a singular instance, that
one was taken near Ludlow which was about
half a yard long, and weighing four pounds, six
ounces. Near Shrewsbury, however, one was
caught which weighed full five pounds.

These fish are in great esteem, and their flesh
is white and palatable all the year. They are in
season from September to January, (some say
they are best in October, others in December,)
and cannot be dressed too soon after they are
caught. Graylings lurk close all the winter, and
begin to be very active, and to spawn in April or
early in May ; at which time, and during the
summer, near the sides and at the tails of sharp
streams, they will take all the flies that trout are
fond of: they rise bolder than the trout, and if
missed several times, will still pursue ; but though
so sportive after the fly, yet when hooked they
are quite inanimate, and the sides of the mouth
are so very tender, that unless nicely treated
when struck, the hold will frequently be broken.
In September they retire to the lower end of still
holes, just where the water becomes shallow,
where they will lake a fly at the top, which
should be small. Walton says that they will
take a minnow, but experienced anglers have
never found this bait successful. These fish bite
xhiring the whole of cool, cloudy clays j but the
2 c 2

504 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Description.

preferable time in spring and summer are from
eight in the morn until twelve, and from four in
the afternoon until after sunset ; and from Sep-
tember to January in the middle of the day.

As the grayling is so swift a swimmer, as to
disappear like the passing shadow, it is by some
called the umbran; and by others, on account of
an imaginary scent proceeding from it similar to
that of thyme, it is also named thymallus.

THE COD.

THE head in the cod fish is smooth ; the
color on the back and sides is of a dusky olive,
variegated with yellow spots ; its belly is white ;
its sides have a long white line running their
whole length, from the gills to the tail, which at
the abdomen is curved, but elsewhere is straight;
its scales are very small, and adhere firmly to the
skin; its eyes are large; at the angle of the lower
jaws there hangs a single beard, which is short,
seldom exceeding a finger's length ; its tongue
is broad ; it has several rows of teeth, like the
pike ; and in the palate, near the orifice of the
stomach, and near the gills, it has small clusters
of teeth. It has three back fins, two at the gills,
and two at the breast, and two others behind the
anus; and the tail is plain.

These fish are found only in the seas of the
northern parts of the world ; and the great ren-

THE COD. 205

Favorite situations — Chief fisheries.

dezvous for them are the sand-banks of New-
foundland, Nova Scotia, and New England.
These shallows are their favorite situations; for
here they are able to obtain great quantities of
worms, a food that is peculiarly grateful to them.
Another cause of their attachment to these
places is their vicinity to the polar seas, where
they return to spawn. There they deposit their
roes in full security, and afterwards repair, as
soon as the first more southern seas are open, to
the banks for subsistence ; consequently the cod
may justly be placed at the head of the migra-
ting, or wandering tribe offish. Few are taken
north of Iceland, and the shoals never reach so
far south as the straits of Gibraltar.

Previous to the discovery of Newfoundland,
the principal fisheries for cod were in the seas off
Iceland, and off the western islands of Scotland.
To the former of these the English resorted near
four centuries, and had no fewer than one hun-
dred and fifty vessels employed in the Iceland
fishery in the reign of James I.

At present the chief fisheries are in the bay of
Canada, on the great bank of Newfoundland,
and.off the isle of St. Peter, and the isle of Sable.
The vessels frequenting these fisheries are of from
a hundred to two hundred tons burthen, and will
catch 30,000 cod or upwards each. The hook
and line are the only implements used to take
the fish ; and this in a depth of water of from

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Newfoundland fishery.

sixteen to sixty fathoms. The great bank of
Newfoundland is represented to be like a vast
mountain, above five hundred miles long, and
near three hundred broad ; and the number of
British seamen employed upon it is supposed to
be about fifteen thousand. The best season for
fishing is from the beginning of February to the
end of April ; and though each fisherman takes
no more than one fish at a time, an expert hand
will sometimes catch four hundred in a day.
The employment is excessively fatiguing, from
the extreme coldness of the climate, and the im-
mense weight of the fish. The heads of the cod,
as soon as they are caught, are cut off; they are
opened, gutted, and salted ; they are then sto\v-
ed in the hold of the vessel, in beds five or six
yards square, head to tail, with a layer of salt to
each layer of fish. "When they have lain here
three or four days to drain off the water, they
are shifted into a different part of the vessel, and
again salted. Here they remain till the vessel
is loaded. Sometimes they are cut into thick
pieces, and packed in barrels, for the greater
convenience of carriage.

In the Newfoundland fishery, the sounds, or
air-bladders, are taken out previously to incipient
putrefaction, washed from their slime, and salted
for exportation. The tongues are also cured;
and brought in barrels containing four or five
hundred pounds weight each. From the liven
a great quantity of oil is extracted.

THE COD. 207

How taken by the natives of Norway.

The natives of Norway lake this fish off their
own coast, in strong pack-thread nets, which
have meshes four inches square, and are about a
fathom or fifteen meshes deep, and twenty fathom
long. They use, according to the weather, from
eighteen to twenty-four of these nets joined, so
that they have sometimes upwards of four hun-
dred fathom of net out at a time. They fish in
from fifty to seventy fathom water, and mark the
places of the nets by means of buoys. The after-
noon is the time when the nets are generally set;

9

and, on taking them in on the following morning,
it is no uncommon thing to obtain three or four
hundred fine cod.

In Lapland and some of the districts of JXor-
ttay, the cod and torsk, (another species of this
fish,) which are taken in the winter, are carefully
piled up, as they are caught, in buildings con-
structed for the purpose, having their sides open,
and exposed to the air. Here they remain frozen
until the following spring, when the weather be-
coming more mild, they are removed to another
building of a like construction, in which they are
prepared for drying. The heads are cut off, and
the entrails taken out, and the remainder of the
body is hung up in the air. Fish caught in the
spring are immediately conveyed to the second
house, and dried in the above manner. Those
that are caught during the summer season, on
account of the heat of the weather can onlv lx*

208 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

General food — Extreme fecundity.

preserved by the common methods of curin"-
with salt.

Cod feed principally on the smaller species of
the scaly tribes, on worms, shell-fish, and crabs;
and their digestion is sufficiently powerful to
dissolve the greatest part even of the shells which
they swallow. They are very voracious, and
catch at any small body they observe moved by
the water, even stones and pebbles, which are
often found in their stomachs.

These fish are so extremely prolific, that Leeu-
\venhoek counted above nine millions of eggs in
the roe of a middling-sized cod fish. In the Eu-
ropean seas they begin to spawn in January, and
they deposit their eggs in rough ground among
rocks. Some continue in roe till the beginning
of April. They recover very quickly after spawn-
ing, and good fish are to be taken all the sum-
mer. When they are out of season, they are
thin-tailed and lousy.

Cod frequently grow to a very great size; the
usual weight being from fourteen to forty pounds.
The largest that is known to have been taken in
this kingdom was at Scarborough, in the year
177o; it measured five feet eight inches in length,
and five feet in circumference, and weighed se-
venty-eight pounds.

Cod fish are chosen for the table, by their
plumpness and roundness near the tail; by the
depth of the hollow behind the head^ and by the

THE HADDOCK. 209

Description — Numerous on the Yorkshire coasts.

regular undulated appearance of the sides, as if
they were ribbed. The glutinous parts about the
head lose their delicate flavor after the fish has
been twenty-four hours Out of the water.

THE HADDOCK.

THIS well-known fish is a species of the cod;
it has a bearded mouth, and three fins on the
back ; the upper jaw longest, and the tail a little
forked. On each side of the body, just beyond
ihe gills, there is a dark spot, which the super-
stitious assert is the impression of St. Peter's
finger and thumb, when he took the tribute
money (at the command of his master) out of
the mouth of a fish of this species, and which has
ever since been continued to the whole race of
haddocks.

Immense shoals of this fish arrive on tha York-
shire coasts about the middle of winter ; which
are sometimes known to extend from the shore
near three miles in breadth, and in length from
Flamborongh head to Tinmouth castle, near fifty
miles, and perhaps even much farther north-
wards. The Rev. Mr. Bingley relates the fol-
lowing circumstance, in order to give an idea of
their numbers: — "Three fishermen, within a mile
of the harbor of Scarborough, frequently loaded
their boat with them twice a day, taking each
time about a ton offish." The large ones qui;

VOL. v. — NO. 25. % D

£10

When in and out of season — Whiting.

the coast as soon as they are out of season, and
leave behind them great plenty of small ones : —
the former are supposed to visit the coasts of
Hamburgh and Jutland during the summer.

Haddocks seldom grow to any great size ; they
very rarely become so large as to weigh twelve
or fourteen pounds ; and they are esteemed more
delicate eating when, they do not exceed three
pounds in weight.

These fish, during stormy weather, are said to
take shelter in the sand or mud, or among the
sea-weeds. They feed on various small marine
animals, and frequently become fat on herrings.
The females deposit their spawn on the sea-weeds
near the shore.

The larger ones begin to be in roe in Novem-
ber, and continue so for somewhat more than
two months : from this time till May they are
reckoned out of season, and are not good. They
then begin to recover. The small ones are ex-
tremely good from May till February; and those
that are not old enough to breed, for even two
months afterwards.

The whiting is another species of the cod, but
without a beard.

THE L04CII

IS a slimy fish, without scales, and of rather a
long make; the mouth is small, placed beneath,

THE LOACH. 211

Description — Where found.

and has no teeth : it is bearded like the gudgeon
and the barbel, having on the upper mandible
six small beards, one at each corner of the mouth,
and four at the end of the nose. The color of
the head, back, and sides, is in some white, in
others of a dirty yellow, very elegantly marked
with large spots, consisting of numberless minute
black specks : the pectoral, dorsal, and caudal
fins are also spotted, the belly and ventral fins of
a pure white, the tail broad and rather rounded.
The eyes are in the upper part of the head ; the
gill-covering membrane has from four to five
rays ; and the body, which is smooth and slip-
pery, is nearly of an equal thickness through-
out.

The loach is found in several of our small
rivers, keeping at the bottom on the gravel, upon
which it feeds, and on that account is in some
places called the groundling. It is frequent in
the stream near Amersbury in Wiltshire, where
the sportsmen, through frolic, swallow it down
alive in a glass of white wine. The flesh is sin-
gularly nutritious, and from that circumstance,
and from its being grateful to the palate, it is
recommended to the sick. One of the largest
ever heard of by Mr. Pennant was four inches
and three-quarters in length, but they seldom ex-
ceed three inches. The females are generally
full of spawn during the summer. This fish,
(which is used as a bait for others, particularly
2 D ii

212 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Two species — The hepsetus and menidea.

for eels,) is taken with a small red worm, the bait
touching the ground.

THE SMELT.

THERE are two species of this soft-finned,
abdominal fish ; which derives its name from
having, in the opinion of some, the scent of a
•violet, of others, that of a cucumber; and so
strange is the disagreement respecting the smell
of this fish, that the Germans bestowed upon it
the name of stinck-fish. In Wales and the north
of England, it bears the name of sparling, derived
from the French eperlan.

The first species, called the hepsetus, has about
twelve rays in the fin next the anus. It is found
in the northern seas, and is very plentiful in the
sea near Southampton, as well as on other coasts
of our island. The length is about five inches,
and the tail is much forked. It is a beautiful
little fish, semi-pellucid, covered with scales ; the
color silvery, tinged with yellow; beneath the side
line is a row of small black spots, and the under
jaws rather prominent; in the front of the upper
are four large teeth ; the tail is forked ; the flesh
is tender, and of a delicate taste.

The other species, called the menidea, has
twenty-four rays in the fin next the anus. This
is a very small pellucid fish, with many black

THE SMELT.

Observations by Mr. Pennant.

points interspersed ; it has many teeth in the
lips, hut none in the tongue or jaws. It is found
in the fresh waters of Carolina.

*l This fish," says Mr. Peqnant, speaking in
general terms of the smelt, " inhabits the seas of
the northern parts of Europe ; but, he believes.,
is never found so far south as the Mediterranean;
the Seine is one of the French rivers which re-
ceive it; but whether it is found south of that
there is no authority to decide. If the observa-
tions of navigators, (who have generally too much
to engage their attention, to think much of the
minutiae of natural history,) can be depended
upon, smelts are taken in the Straits of Magellan
measuring twenty inches in length, and eight iu
Circumference.

" They are met with in the seas that wash our
coasts the whole year, and seldom go far from
(shore, except when they ascend the rivers, which
they do with the tide, and in proof of which it
is remarked, that they appear a long time before
they spawn, being taken in abundance in the
Thames and Dee in November and two succeed-
ing months; in other rivers not until February,
and in March and April they spawn, and are
•very prolific : after which they all return to the
salt water, and are not seen in the rivers till the
next season. It has been observed, that they
never come into the Mersey, so long as there is
any show water in its current ; and that in spring
and the beginning of summer they will run far-

214 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Of various sizes — How angled for.

ther up than in the decline of the year ; they are
also to be met with in the docks that are opened
for the reception of ships. The smelt is of a
very beautiful form and color, the head is trans-
parent, and the skin in general so thin, that with a
good microscope the circulation of its blood may
be seen."

These fish vary greatly in size; the largest
Mr. Pennant ever heard of was thirteen inches
long, and weighed half a pound.

We are told by Walton, that some'years ago,
in the month of August, such vast quantities of
smelts came up the Thames, that women and
children became anglers for them ; and that in
one day, between London Bridge and Green-
wich, no fewer than two thousand persons were
thus employed.

The smelt is to be angled for (when the tide
runs up is preferable) with a paternoster line,
having five or six hooks so many inches from
each other, and baited differently. The best baits
are very small shrimps not boiled, or the tail of a
boiled one ; next to these are gentles and red
paste ; also that made of boiled shrimps, fine
white bread, and a little honey, cadis, blood-
worms; and they will sometimes take a bit of
their own species. Some crumbs of bread
should now and then be thrown in to keep
them together.

THE MULLET.

Description.

CHAP. VIIL

" The lavish slare

Sis thousand pieces for a mullet gave,
A sesterce for each pound."

BRYDSN-.

THE MULLET.

MULLETS are something like dace in their
shape, but much thicker. The head is almost
square, and flat on the top ; the nose blunt and
lips thick ; they have no teeth, only the upper
lip is a little rough, as is also the tongue; be-
tween the eyes and the mouth is a hard callous;
the pupil of the eye is black, encircled with a
small silvery line ; the color of the back is dusky,
varied with blue nnd green ; the sides silvery,
marked with broad dusky parallel lines, reaching
from head to tail, which is much forked. The
scales are large and deciduous, aud are also upon
the covers of the gills and head, and extend as
far as the nostrils. The largest are nearly half a
yard long, and the flesh is excellent.
3

NATURALIST'S CABIKET.

Highly esteemed by the Romans.

The red mullet, among others, was highly es-
teemed by the luxurious Romans, who valued it
in proportion to its size, not that the larger was
inore delicious, but being more difficult to be
procured. Horace tells us that Austiirius Celer,
a man of consular dignity, gave at the rate of
C4l. 11s. 8d. for one; and that mentioned by
Juvenal, (see the motto to this chapter,) cost
481. 8s. 9d. It was common for a Roman to
insist upon the fish being brought before him,
that he might see him breathe his last, and thus
liave ocular demonstration of its value. Indeed
Seneca says, that the mullet was not worth a
farthing, except it died in the hand of the guest*
Such was the luxury of the times, that there were
stews even in the eating rooms, so that the fish
could at once be brought from beneath the tableK
and placed upon it, where the mullets were put
|n transparent vases, that when expiring the
changes of their rich color might entertain the
company, who all agreed that nothing was more
beautiful than a dying mullet. Apicius had the
art of preparing them for the table in a manner
still more acceptable to these epicures, by suf-
focating them in the exquisite Carthaginian
pickle, and afterwards procuring a rich sauce
from their livers.

These fish are found in great plenty on several
of our sandy coasts, and they particularly haunt
those small bays that have influxes of fresh
water. They coiue iu great shoals into the river*

THE MULLET.

Cuuningness — How taken — Boturgo.

with the tide during the summer, and keep root-
ing like hogs in the sand or mud, leaving their
traces in large round holes, but return back when
the water ebbs, never stopping in the rivers.
They are very cunning, and when surrounded
with a net, the whole shoal frequently escapes
by leaping over it, for when one takes the lead,
the others are sure to follow.

Mullets are to be angled for as the tide comes
in, before the water gets thick, with the same
artificial flies as are used for trout in preference
to any other bait. When the water is discolored,
the angler should use a small red worm, or
gentles, and fish, within two feet of the bottom,
with strong tackle, as the mullet, when hooked,
will struggle vigorously.

Near Martigues, in the south of France, abun-
dance of this fish are taken in weirs made of
reeds placed in the shallows; of the milts of the
males, (which are there called alletants,) and of
the roes of the females, (called botar,) is made
boturgo: the materials are taken out entire,
covered with salt for four or five hours, then.
slightly pressed between two boards, washed, and
at last dried in the sun for fourteen days.

The best kind comes from Tunis, in Barbary;
it must be chosen dry and reddish. The people
of Provence use a great deal of it, the common
way of eating it being with olive oil and lemon
juice. There is also a great consumption of it
through the Levant.

VOL. v^ — NO. 35. 2 £

218 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description — Imperceptible in the sand.

THE TURBOT.

THE turbot, like some others of the flat-fish,
giows to a great size. Flat-fish swim sideways,
on which account they are styled pleuronectes
by Linnaeus. The eyes of all of them are situ-
ated on one side of the head, and it is a curious
circumstance, that while the under parts of
their body are of a brilliant white, the upper
parts are so colored and speckled as, when they
are half immersed in the sand or mud, to render
them imperceptible. Of this resemblance they
are so conscious, that whenever they find them-
selves in danger, they sink into the mud, and
continue perfectly motionless. This is a circum-
stance so well known to fishermen, that within
their palings on the strand they are often under
the necessity of tracing furrows with a kind of
iron sickle, to detect by the touch what they are
not otherwise able to distinguish. Not being
rapacious, or furnished with any weapons of
defence, these fish owe their security to this
stratagem ; while the thornback and rays, that
are carnivorous and armed with strong spines,
although flat-fish of a different class, are marbled
with lighter colours, that they may be perceived
and avoided by less powerful fish.

Turbot and holibut are in many parts of this

country sold indiscriminately for each other ;

they are, however, perfectly distinct, the upper

parts of the former being marked with large, un-

5

THE TURBOT. 219

Manner of fishing off the Yorkshire coast.

equal, and obtuse tubercles, while those of the
other are quite smooth, and covered with oblong
soft scales, that firmly adhere to the body. The
greatest weight of the turbot is about thirty
pounds.

In the northern parts of the English coast,
and some places off the coast of Holland, turbots
are found in greater abundance and excellence
than in any other parts of the world. Lying
here, however, in deep waters, they are seldom
to be caught but by lines.

The manner of fishing for turbot off the York-
shire coast is as follows ; three men go out in
each of the boats, each man provided with three
lines ; every one of which is furnished with two
hundred and eighty hooks, placed exactly six
feet two inches asunder. These are coiled on
an oblong piece of wicker- work, with the hooks
baited, and placed very regularly in the centre
of the coil. When they are used, the nine are
generally fastened together so as to form one
line with above two thousand hooks, and extend-
ing near three miles in length. This is always
laid across the current. An anchor and buoy are
fixed at the end of each man's line. The tides
run .here so rapidly, that the fishermen can ©nly
shoot and haul their lines in the still water at the
turn of the tide ; and therefore, as it is flood and
ebb about every alternate six hours, this is the
longest time the lines can remain on the ground.
When the lines are laid, two of the men usually
2 B?

220 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

General bait for taking turbots.

tvrap themselves in the sail and sleep, whilst the
third is on watch to prevent their being run
down by ships, and to observe the weather; for
sometimes storms come on so suddenly, that
they find it difficult to gain the shore even with-
out their lines. The boats for this purpose are
each about a ton burthen ; somewhat more than,
twenty feet in length, and about five in width.
They are well constructed for encountering a
boisterous sea, and have three pair of oars, and
a sail, to be used as occasion requires. Some-
times larger boats than these are used, which
carry six men and a boy. When the latter
come to the fishing-ground, they put out two of
the smaller boats that they have on board, which
fish in the same manner as the three manned
boats do, save that each man is provided with a
double quantity of lines ; and instead of waiting
in these the return of the tide, they return to the
large boat, and bait their other lines ; thus haul-
ing one set and shooting another at every turn,
of the tide. The fishermen commonly run into
harbor twice a week to deliver their fish.

The general bait used for taking turbots is
fresh herring cut into proper-sized pieces, which
they bite most readily ; they are also partial to
the smaller lampreys, pieces of haddock, sand-
worms, muscles, and limpets ; and when none of
these are to be had, the fishermen use bullock's
liver. They are so extremely delicate in their
of baits, as not to touch a piece of herring

THE SOLE.

Mode of tanning nets — Description.

or haddock that has been twelve hours out of
the sea.

The hooks are two inches and a half long
in the shank, and near an inch wide betwixt the
shank and the point. They are fastened to the
lines upon sneads of twisted horse-hair, twenty-
seven inches in length. The line is made of
small cording, and is always tanned before it r»
used.

For tanning nets a quantity of oak bark is
boiled; the liquor is then strained off, and fur-
ther boiled till it has contained such a consist-
ence, that, when a little is dropped on the
thumb nail it will become thick as it cools. The
nets are then put into a large vessel, and this
liquor is poured while hot upon them. They are
suffered to lie four-and-twenty hours, when they
are taken out and driedv The same process is
repeated three times. Nets that have undergone
this operation, are supposed to last thrice as Jong
as they would without it.

THE SOLE,

THIS well-known and delicious fish is remark-
able for one very extraordinary circumstance ;
among various other marine productions, they
have been known to feed on shell-fish, although
they are furnished with no apparatus whatever
in their mouth for reducing thern. to a state cal-
5

222 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Extraordinary food — Where found — Description.

culated for digestion. Some that were purchased
by Mr. Collinson, (as his letter inserted in the
Phil. Trans, states,) had their bellies hard and
prominent, appearing to be filled with rows of
some hard substance, which, on being opened,
were found to be shell-fish. These, from the
bulging of the shells and the intervening inter-
stices, gave the intestines somewhat the appear-
ance of strings of beads. On further examina-
tion, some of them were found nearly dissolved,
others partly so, but many of them whole. The
most usual food of soles is the spawn and young
of other fish.

These fish are found on all of the British
coasts ; but those of the western shores are much
superior in size to what are taken, in the north,
since they are sometimes found of the weight of
six or seven pounds. The principal fishery for
them is in Torbay.

THE HO LI BUT.

THE bolibut, (of which mention has beert
made in our description of tbe turbot,) is, in re-
spect to its length, the narrowest of any of this
genus except the sole. It is perfectly smooth,
and free from spines, either above or below. The
color of the upper part is dusky ; beneath, of a
pure white. It would be useless to count the
rays of the fins of this genus, not only because

THE PI.AISE.

Voracity of the holibut.

they are so numerous, but because nature ha»
given to each species characters, independent of
these rays, sufficient to distinguish them by.

This is the largest of flat fish ; some have been
taken in our seas weighing from one hundred to
three hundred pounds ; but much larger are
found in Newfoundland, Greenland, and Iceland,
where they are taken with a hook and line in very
deep water. They are part of the food of the
Green landers, who cut them into large slips, and
dry them in the sun. They are common in the
London markets, where they are exposed to sale
cut into large pieces. They are very coarse eat-
ing, except the part that adheres to the side fins,
which is extremely fat and delicious, but sur-
feiting.

Holibuts are the most voracious of all flat
fish; there have been instances of their swallow-
ing the lead weight at the end of a line, with
which the seamen were sounding the bottom
from on board a ship.

THE PLAISE.

PLAISE are very flat, and much more square
than the generality of flat fish. Behind the left
eye is a row of six tubercles that reaches to the
commencement of the lateral line. The upper
part of the body and fins are of a clear brown,

224 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Descriptions.

marked with large bright orange-colored spots;
the belly is white.

These fish are very common on most of our
coasts, and sometimes taken of the weight of fif-
teen pounds ; but they seldom reach that size,
one of eight or nine pounds being reckoned a
large fish. The best and largest are taken off
Rye on the coast of Sussex and in Ireland ; also
off the Dutch coasts. They are watery eating,
but are, notwithstanding, admired by some. They
spawn in the beginning of February.

THE DAB

IS found with the preceding species, but is less
common. It is generally of an uniform brown
color on the upper side, though sometimes
clouded with a darker. The scales are small and
rough, which is a character of this species. The
lateral line is extremely incurvated in the begin-
ning, then goes quite straight to the tail. The
lower part of the body is white.

This fish is in best season during February,
March, and April : they spawn in May and June,
and become flabby and watery the rest of sum-
mer. They are superior in quality to the plaise
and flounder, but rather inferior in size.

THfc FLOUNDER.

Time of spawning — When in season.

THE FLOUNDER.

THE color of the upper part of the body of
this fish is a pale brown, sometimes marked with
a few spots of dirty yellow; the belly is white.
It may be easily distinguished from the plaise, or
any other fish of this genus, by a row of sharp
small spines that surround its upper sides, and
are placed just at the juncture of the fins with
the body : another row marks the side line, and
runs half down the back.

Mr. Pennant mentions his hearing of a floun-
der that weighed six pounds, but one half that
size is not common.

These fish spawn in May and June, and are
in season the rest of the year. They swim in
shoals, and bite freely at alt hours in the day,
but particularly on the rise of the waters by flood
or tide, and in warm weather, with a little wind,
and are to be fished for with a strong line and
good girt at the bottom, as some of them are
large and struggle much. The best places to
angle for them are by the sides and at the tails
of steep streams, where the bottom consists of
fine gravel sand or loam, or in still places of the
same quality near the banks; two or three rods
may be used with a bullet on the lines, to lie on
the ground in the streams ; and when in still
water, a shot or two on the line, and the hook
small. Brandlings that are taken from rotten tan,
well scoured, are the best baits : they will taki^
VOL. v. — NO. 35. 2 F

226 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description.

the lob-worm, and even the minnow, a floun-
der weighing twenty-three ounces having been
caught, in 1799* with the latter.

This fish inhabits every part of the British Sea,
and is found, although at a great distance, in all
the rivers that communicate with it ; numbers of
them that are not taken lose themselves, conti-
nuing and breeding with vast fecundity in the
rivers, and those grow to be the largest and best
flavored. They will likewise live in ponds, and
are a profitable fish to stock them with, as they
soon get fat, will live many hours out of their
element, and consequently may be carried to a
great distance; but they will not breed when
confined.

THE LJMPREY,

IS of a lighter color and clumsier make than
the eel, which, however, it much resembles in its
general appearance ; but its mouth has a greater
likeness to that of a leech, it being round, and
placed rather obliquely below the end of the
nose. This fish has also a hole on the top of the
head, through which it spouts water like the
cetaceous tribe. On each side are seven holes
for respiration ; and the fins are formed rather
by a lengthening out of the skin, than any set of
bones or spines for that purpose.

THE LAMPREY. 22?

In great esteem with the ancients.

Naturalists distinguish between the lampein
and the lamprey ; the former they say has a single
row of little teeth in the verge of its mouth, be-
sides the lower large ones : it grows to about a
foot and a half, though most of those usually
caught are under that standard. The latter has
about twenty rows of teeth, and grows to two
feet and a half, or more, in length.

A species of the lamprey was in great esteem
with the ancients. We are told by the Roman
writers, that a senator of rank had attained to
very great celebrity for his taste in good eating,
and the luxury of his table : his fish in particular
were distinguished for flavor and feeding. Au-
gustus became his guest, and found that fame
had done justice to his merits — his lampreys were
indeed of excellent taste. The emperor was de-
sirous to know by what means he gave them so
fine a relish : the epicure was happy to instruct
the emperor, and told him, " that it was his
custom to throw into his pond such of his slaves
as had at any time displeased him." Augustus
did not admire the receipt, for he instantly order-
ed all the man's ponds to be filled up ; and per-
haps many of our readers would not be sorry,
could we have informed them that the owner
had been thrown in with the rest of the rubbish.

The lamprey of the Italians agrees with the
ancient fish, in being kept in ponds, and con-
sidered by the luxurious as a very great deli-
cacy,

228 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Remarkable preparation for spawning.

Muralto, in his very minute description of the
lamprey, makes not any mention of lungs : yet
from some peculiarity in its formation, this ani-
mal generally swims as near as possible to the
surface ^ and it might be easily drowned by
being forcibly kept under water for a consider-
able time. The. absolute necessity it is under of
breathing in the air, must convince the attentive
observer that it really has lungs ; and it is very
probable £that the two red glands tissued with
nerves, (described by Muralto as lying towards,
the back of the head) are no other than the lungs
of the animal.

This fish usually leaves the sea the beginning
pf spring, in order to spawn, and after a stay of
a few months, it returns again to the sea. The
species known among us is differently estimated
according to the season in which it is caught, or
the place where it has been fed. The best season
for them are the months of March, April, and
May ; and they are usually taken in nets with
salmon, and sometimes in baskets at the bottom
of the river. Those that leave the sea to deposit
their spawn in fresh waters are the best ; those
that are entirely bred in our rivers, and that have
never been to sea, are considered as much infe-
rior to the former. These fish's preparation for
spawning is a remarkable circumstance in their
natural history. Previous to their depositing
their spawn, they make holes in the gravelly
bottom of rivers ; and if they meet with a stpne,

THE LAMPREY. 229

The female's attention to her brood.

of considerable magnitude, their power of suc-
tion is particularly serviceable and successively
exerted in removing and throwing it out. Like
other flat fish, the lampreys are produced from
eggs, but are not, like most others, left to chance
for their maturation, for the female remains near
the place where they are excluded. One single
brood is the extent of the female's fertility ; and
she, according to llondolelius, may be frequently
seen playing about them, and after some time
she conducts them in triumph back to the ocean ,
at least such as have sufficient strength for that
purpose; the remainder continue in the fresh
water until they die, or are caught ; but their
flavor never equals that of such of them as have
undergone a sea voyage. Those lampreys which
are caught after they have cast their spawn, are
found to be flabby, and of little value, and par-
ticularly so at the approach of hot weather. In
many parts of Ireland the people will not venture
to touch them. Those caught in the English
Severn are considered as the most delicate of all
other fish whatever; and it has been an old cus-
tom for the city of Gloucester to present the king
annually with a lamprey pie; and as the gift is
made at Christmas, the difficulty of procuring a
sufficient quantity is so very great, that the cor-
poration have sometimes been obliged to pur-
chase them at a guinea a piece.

This fish was in high demand among our fore-
fathers: so late as the reign of Henry V. we find

230 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Peculiar power of adhesion.

that a specific power was granted to two persons
to buy, take, and provide all the live lampreys
they could, in or out of the Seine, between
Rouen and Harfleur : and to two others, the like
power between Lislebon and Harfleur; so that it
should seem Henry V. was not afraid of the ill
effects of eating this fish, which cost Henry I.
his life.

The lamprey is remarkable for its peculiar
adhesion; for as its mouth is formed very much
resembling that of the leech, so, like that crea-
ture, it has the property of sticking close to, and
sucking any body it is applied to. Such is its
extraordinary power in adhering to stones, that
it is said one which weighed but three pounds
stuck so firmly to a stone of twelve pounds, that
it remained suspended at its mouth, from which
it was separated with difficulty.

This wonderful powrcr of suction in the animal,
is ascribed to its exhausting the air within its
body bv the hole over the nose, while the mouth
js closely fixed to the object, and permitting no
air to enter. If this be really the cause, the
weight which the fish will be able to sustain may
pretty accurately be determined ; for it will be
equal to the weight of a column of air of the
«ame diameter as the mouth of the fish. This
power of adhesion may probably be somewhat
increased by that slimy substance with which its
body is all over smeared, like the eel ; a substance
that serves equally to preserve its skin soft and,

THE MACKREL. 231

Short duration of the lamprey's life.

pliant, as to keep it in a proper degree of warmth
in the watery element. Two lymphatic glands,
extending on each side from the head to the tail,
serve to separate this mucus, and furnish it in
great abundance.

The lamprey has no other intestines than one
great bowel, running from the mouth to the
vent, wide in the middle, but narrow at both ends.
The simplicity of its appetite perfectly corre-
sponds with the simplicity of its conformation,;
for its food seems to be either slime and water,
or such small insects as are scarcely visible.
When it comes into our rivers, it is hardly per-
ceived to eat any thing; though in its native
element, the sea, perhaps its appetite may be
more active.

The existence of the lamprey is of very short
duration: after casting her eggs, she becomes
flabby and exhausted, appears prematurely old,
and two years generally puts a termination to her
natural life.

THE MACKREL, OR MACKAREL,

THE common mackrel has a thick, round,
fleshy body, but tapering towards the tail, which
is bifurcated. Its body is of a very elegant form,
and beautifully variegated with the brightest hues
of blue, green, and a silvery whiteness. Death
in some measure impairs the colors, but it by
2

NATURALIST'S CASINET.

Several varieties, and various sizes.

no means obliterates them. Several varieties of
this fish inhabit the ocean : they belong to the
voracious class, and some of them grow to a very
great size. As they are found in the German
ocean, the Baltic and Mediterranean, it is not
surprising that the ancient naturalists were ac-
quainted with them. Aristotle mentions six, and
Pliny seven kinds. Subsequent naturalists have
reckoned upwards of thirty, but of these varie-
ties only three are found upon our coasts : these
are the common mackrel, the bastard or horse-
mackrel, and the thunny.

The mackrel of the Baltic and Mediterranean
seas are smaller than those of the German ocean,
seldom exceeding a foot in length, and weighing
about a pound. In the latter they sometimes
measure two feet, and Pennant mentions an in-
stance of one taken on the English coast that
weighed five pounds. In general they seldom
exceed two pounds.

The mackrel is also found round the Canary
islands, at Surinam and St. Croix in the West
Indies, and in many other parts of the ocean. It
is one of those gregareous fish that appear in
immense shoals at regular periods, and it is at
the same time one of the most delicate and useful
of those that visit our coasts. It is, however, so
very tender, as to be unfit for long carriage. In
winter they keep themselves concealed in the
depths of the sea, and in spring repair to the
shores either to breed or in quest of food, which

THE MACKREl. 233

Pursues herrings — Emits a phosphoric light.

is more easily obtained there than in the ocean.
Anderson and several others assert, that in winter
it inhabits the Northern ocean, and that in Spring^
like the herring, it passes the coasts of Iceland,
Scotland, and Ireland, where the shoal divides
into two bodies, one of which repairs to the
Spanish seas, and the other to the coasts of Hol-
land and the Baltic. In this case the mackrel
would have to make a longer voyage than the
herring; for it is found -even in Egypt, Japan, at
Surinam, and about all the islands of North and
South America.

To some nations the mackrel fishery is an ob-
ject of considerable importance. In June and
August the .Dutch markets abound with this fish,
and during the whole summer it is extremely
plentiful in those of England, but particularly iii
the month of June, which is the time of spawn-
ing. As the mackrel is fat and soon spoils, it is
the only fish permitted to be sold publicly in this
country on Sundays. In Norway, it appears in
vast quantities in the spring, to the no small
mortification of the fishermen, as it pursues the
herrings with the utmost avidity, and frequently
frightens them away : indeed, their voracity has
scarcely any bounds.

This fish emits a phosphoric light when fresh
from the sea ; it soon dies when taken out of the
water, and even in the water, if it advance with
too much impetuosity against the net. It is
caught with that instrument, or with a hook

VOL. v. — NO. 35. 2 G

234 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Modes of fishing for niackrel.

baited with small herrings and pieces of other
kinds of fish or flesh. In some places it is taken
by lines from boats, as during a fresh gale of
wind it readily seizes a bait. It is necessary that
the boat should be in motion in order to drag
the bait along (a bit of red cloth, or a piece of
the tail of a mackrel,) near the surface of the
water. The great fishery for mackrel is on some
parts of the west coast of England. This is of
such an extent, as to employ in the whole a
capital of near 20O,OOOl. The fishermen go out
to the distance of several leagues from the shore,
and stretch their nets, which are sometimes seve-
ral miles in extent, across the tide, during the
night* The meshes of these nets are just large
enough to admit the heads of tolerably large fish,
and catch them by the gills. A single boat has
been known to bring in after one night's fishing,
a cargo that has sold for near seventy pounds.

Besides these, there is another mode of fishing
for mackrel in the west of England, with a ground
seine. A roll of rope of about two hundred fa-
thoms in length, with the net fastened to the end,
is tied at the other to a post or rock on the shore.
The boat is then rowed to the extremity of thi&
coil, when a pole fixed there, leaded heavily at
the bottom, is thrown overboard. The rowers
from hence make as nearly as possible a semi-
circle, two men now continually and regularly
putting the net into the water. When they
come to ihe other end of the net, where there is

THE MACKREL. 235

Said to be lonil of human flesh.

another leaded pole, they throw that overboard.
Another coil of rope, similar to the first, is by
degrees thrown into the water, as the boatmen
make for the shore. The boat s crew now land,
and with the assistance of persons stationed there,
haul in each end of the net till they come to the
two poles. The boat is then again pushed off
towards the centre of the net, in order to prevent
the more vigorous fish from leaping over the
corks. By these means three or four hundred
fish are often caught at one haul.

These fish are said to be fond of human flesh.
Pontoppidan relates that a sailor, belonging to a
ship lying in one of the harbors on the coast of
Norway, went into the water to wash himself,
when he was suddenly missed by his companions.
In the course of a few minutes, however, he was
seen on the surface with vast numbers of mackrel
fastened on him. The people went in a boat to
his assistance ; and though, when they got him
up, they forced with some difficulty the fish from
him, they found it was too late, for the poor fel»-
low very shortly afterwards expired.

Mackrel deposit their spawn among the rocks
near the shore ; their fecundity is truly surprising.
Bloch says, that in the month of June the roe of
a mackrel weighing one pound and two ounces,
contained five hundred forty-six thousand, six
hundred and eighty-one eggs.

In spring their eyes are covered with a white
film, that grows in the winter, and is regularly
2 G 2

NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Good eating — How preserved.

oast at the beginning of summer. During this
time they are said to be nearly blind.

The mackrel is very good eating ; but as it i$
fat, and consequently difficult of digestion, it is
' not fit for weakly persons or valetudinarians. In
Italy it is preserved by pickling, and in Norway
and England by salting. In this country it is
salted in two ways : after the intestines are taken.
out, the vacancy is filled with salt, and the fish
are then packed in casks with a layer of salt and
a layer offish alternately; or they are immersed
in brine, and left till sufficiently impregnated
with it, when they are packed in barrels, in the
manner already described. A passage in Colu-
mella and Pliny prove that this method of pre-
serving mackrel is of great antiquity, and was
known to the Romans. In Scotland they are
prepared like herrings, and for this purpose the
largest and best fish are selected. It was with
this fish that the Romans composed their cele-
brated pickle, called garum. That from Carthar
e;ena was held in particular estimation, and Strabo
asserts that great numbers of mackrel were caught
at that place. According to Pliny this garum
was a very important article of commerce in that
country, being not only an excellent sauce, but
likewise employed in me'dicine in diseases of the
liver and other complaints.

In the Mediterranean the roes of this fish are
used for cavier: the blood and slime are first
washed off with vinegar, and the sinews an4

THE HOESE MACKREL.

Similar to the common mackrol.

skinny part taken away. They are then spread
out for a short time to dry, and afterwards salted
and hung up in a net, to drain some of the
remaining moisture from them. When this is
finished, they are laid in a kind of seive till
thoroughly dry and fit for use.

THE BASTARD, or HORSE MACKREL,

LIKEWISE denominated the scad by Pen-
nant, very much resembles in fonn the common
mackrel. On the side it has sixty-eight scuta, or
bony plates, placed one over the other like the
tiles on the roof of a house, and each of which
is armed with a sharp point curved towards the
tail. The upper part of the eye is covered with
a film or cuticle.

This fish is not more than seven or eight
inches long near Kiel, on the coast of Holstein ;
but on our shores its usual length is a foot, and
two feet in the Mediterranean. It was not
known to the ancient naturalists, or not distin-
guished by them.

The horse maekrel is a voracious fish. Wil-
loughby found the small fish called the launce in
its stomach. Like the common mackrel it is
gregarious, and appears in shoals in the spring
upon the sea coasts. As it spawns at the same
time, it is sometimes caught with the mackrel,
both by net and line. The flesh of this fish is

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Description.

not so tender nor so fat as that of the preceding
sort, and is said to be difficult of digestion.
However, at Kiel, where it is caught in the
spring, it is considered a dainty dish. In Italy
it is held in no estimation. It is usually salted
in the same manner as the herring.

THE THUNNY.

THE body of this fish is round, thick, and
fleshy, but at the head and tail it tapers nearly
to a point. The skin of the back is very thick
and black, and that of the sides and belly silvery,
tinged with light blue and pale purple. The tail
is crescent-shaped, with the tips far asunder;
and the spurious fins between the dorsal fin and
the tail, (which mark the species,) are from eight
to eleven in number. This was a fish so well
known to the ancients, as to form one of the
greatest articles of their commerce. It was highly
esteemed by the Romans. At present it is found
in the German ocean and the Mediterranean,
and on the coasts of Guinea, Brasil, the West
India islands, Chili, and China. Its ordinary
length is two feet; but sometimes it attains a
monstrous size. On the Guinea shore it is found
of the length and size of a man ; those caught on
the coast of Brasil are frequently seven feet long.
Pennant describes one of seven feet ten inches,
which was five feet seven inches in circum-

THE THUNNY. 239

Opinions of various writers — General food.

ference, and weighed four hundred and sixty
pounds. Schoneveld mentions another taken on
the coast of Holstein eight feet and a half long.
Aristotle speaks of a thunny that weighed fifteen
talents, equal to six hundred and fifty-two of our
pounds ; and Cetti asserts that it is not rare to
catch them of one thousand or even eighteen
hundred pounds. The former erroneously asserts
that this fish grows so fast, that its daily increase
in magnitude is perceptible to the eye : he is
also mistaken in fixing the duration of its life at
two years. This fish is probably the largest in-
habitant of the deep that is used as food by man.
Its extraordinary magnitude has caused some
writers to consider it as a species of whale.

The thunny, according lo Rechler, was, among
the ancients, an emblem of conjugal fidelity, and
usually formed a part of repast at the celebration
of a wedding. The Greeks consecrated it to
Diana.

The male of this species is thought to attain a
greater size than the female, as M. Cetti assures
us. that soft roes are always found in the largest
taken on the coast of Sardinia. Their ordinary
food is herrings; but they likewise pursue mack-
rel, and watch for the herrings that escape from
the nets of the fishermen. Their greatest enemy
is the shark.

Aristotle and Pliny tell us, that the thunny,
in the clog-days, is tormented by an insect of the
size of a spider, and the figure of a scorpion,

240 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Tormented by an insect — Voyages.

which fastens itself underneath the fins of the
belly. When stung by this insect the thunny
becomes furious, and, as Oppian asserts, leaps
upon vessels and upon the shore. The skin of
the thunny under the fins of the belly is ex-
tremely soft, which is the reason assigned for
the insect fixing upon it in preference to other
fish.

These fish, according to the vulgar notion, go
from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, hut
Cetti declares that great numbers are found in
winter in the sea of Sardinia. They enter the
Mediterranean about the vernal equinox, travel-
ling in a triangular phalanx, so as to cut the
waters with their points, and to present an ex-
tensive base for the tides and currents to act
against and impel forwards.

They repair to the warm seas of Greece to
spawn, steering their course thither in shoals of
several hundreds along the European shores ; and
though these fish are so large, their ova do not
exceed in size a grain of millet. They spawn in
depths of about one hundred feet, avoiding the
shores where the sea is not so deep. On their
return they approach the African coast: the
young fry is placed in the van of the squadron
as they travel. They come back from the east
in May, and abound about that time on the
coasts of Sicily and Calabria. In autumn they
steer northward, and frequent the neighbourhood
of Amalphi and Naples. During these voyages

THE THUNNY. 241

Italian tonnaros, or nets.

they make a great noise ; and, according to Plu-
tarch, go close together in regular rows like her-
rings ; which explains what Pliny says concern-
ing the fleet of Alexander the Great. " The
vessels being unable to pass through such an
army of fish, which could not be dispersed by
any noise, however great, they were obliged to
form in order of battle, and to advance against
them as against an enemy."

There are considerable thunny fisheries in va-
rious parts of the Mediterranean, where they are
caught with a large net in the form of a sack,
called in Italy tonnavo. The principal person in
this fishery is called rais, or grand commandant,
who must be perfectly acquainted with every
circumstance relative to the capture of the thun-
ny. According to a pre-concerted plan, an im-
mense edifice is formed with a net extended in
the open sea, with such solidity, that amidst the
most violent tempest it remains immoveable as
a rock. It is about the beginning of the month
of April that the fishermen prepare these ton-
naros. They form a kind of maritime fortress,
which they erect at a great expence, with large
nets, and fix to the bottom of the sea with
anchors and leaden weights. Some idea may be
formed of a tonnaro, from the following account
given by M. Cetti, who says, that in a light boat
with ten oars, it took him three quarters of an
hour to go from one extremity to the other.
These tonnaros are always constructed in tli<r
VOL. v. — NO. 35. 2 H

242 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Tliunny iishery in parts of the Mediterranean;

streights between rocks and islands, to which
places the thunnies resort in the greatest num-
bers. The entrance of these passages is carefully
closed with nets, excepting a small aperture called
the outer door of the tonnaro. This door leads
to the first chamber, or the hall, as it is denomi-
nated. As soon as the fish have gone into the
hall, the fishermen, watching for them, close the
outer door by dropping a small piece of a net,
which prevents their escape. They then open
the inner door of the hall, which leads to the
second apartment, called the antichamber. To
drive them into this chamber the following arti-
fice is employed ; the fishermen take a handful
of gravel, which they throw at the fish, and this
they repeat till all the thunnies arc in the divi-
sion called the antichamber* The thunny is so
timid, that when he feels the gravel he is fright-
ened, and takes refuge in the antichamber.
Sometimes, however, the gravel is not sufficient;
therefore, to effect this purpose, they let down
into the sea a frightful figure made of a sheep-
skin. Should this expedient be found unavailing,
the chamber is closed with a strong net, and the
fish are driven in by force. When they are all
in the antichamber, the inner door is likewise
closed, and the outer one is opened, for the ad-
mission of another company. Some of these
tonnaros are composed of a great number of
chambers, each having a particular name; but
the; Uist of them is alwuys denominated the

THE TIUTNNY. 243

An important object to Sardinia.

chamber of the dead, and is composed of stronger
nets and anchors than the others. When a suf-
ficient quantity of thunnies is collected, they are
all made to pass through the other chambers
.into that of the dead, where the battle com-
mences. The fishermen, and sometimes people
of distinction, armed with a pike, there attack
these defenceless animals. Driven to despair the
latter become furious, throw up the water, break
the nets, and frequently dash 'out their brains
against the rocks, or the bouts of their adver-

The thunny us to the people on the coasts of
the Mediterranean, what the herring is to the
nations of the north. The number of those that
enter that sea by the streights of Gibraltar, is
computed at four hundred thousand. Immense
quantities likewise enter by the Dardanelles from
the Black sea. Within the last thirty years the
thunny fishery has become an important national
object to Sardinia, about forty-five thousand be-
ing caught annually upon an average. All these
are taken by means of a dozen tonnaros. Jage*
man, in his " Letters on Italy," relates, that at
Porto Louis alone, the yearly produce of the
thunny fishery is twenty thousand Italian crowns.
Even in the time of the Greeks and Romans
the thunny fishery was carried on to a great
extent at the Cape of Byzantium, as we learn
from Aristotle, ./Elian , Sirabo, and Pliny. With
the decline of the arts and sciences this fishery

O ri O

ip *f •

244 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Timid, though formidable in appearance.

also declined. The Spaniards, who formerly ap-
plied themselves with much assiduity to fishing,
likewise monopolized the thunny fishery. Ac-
cording to some writers, this fish was formerly
so esteemed for the advantages, of commerce
\frhich it procured, that the coins of Spain and
Italy bore its impression. On the Spanish coast
were maintained seventeen tonnaros, the most
celebrated of which was that near Conil. In
one single day, however, that kingdom lost the
rich thunny fishery, which passed into the hands
of other nations. This was the memorable day
on which the city of Lisbon was destroyed by an
earthquake ; whereby a great quantity of sand,
and other marine substances, was detached from
the African coasts and lodged on those of Eu-
rope ; so that the sea on the Spanish shores be-
came considerably shallower, while the harbors
of Tetuan and Sale in Barbary were emptied out
and perfectly cleansed. The ensuing spring,
when the thunnies passed from the ocean into
the Mediterranean, they found the Spanish
shores almost choaked up with sand ; they there-
fore kept at such a distance from the coast, that
it would have required nets of an immense length
to catch them. The Thunny fishery was then
transferred to Naples and Sardinia.

Though this fish appear formidable from its
monstrous bulk, yet it is so timid, that when
once caught it gives the fishermen very little
trouble : for when it perceives the first efforts

TlfR THUNNY. 245

iviten both Ire-ili ;md pickled.

ineffectual, it submits to its fate without resist-
ance, and remains quietly in the net. It is eaten
both fresh and pickled. To salt it the fishermen
hang it up by the tail, cut it open, and after
taking out the entrails, and separating the flesh
from the spine of the back, they cut it in pieces
and put it into brine. Great quantities thus pre-
pared -are sent to Constantinople. This trade
was formerly much more considerable than at
present, the herrings of Holland and England,
the caviar of Rusfjia, and the anchovies of Trance,
being now substituted for the thunny. It was
particularly esteemed in Italy, where different
names were given to the different parts of the
fish. The small lean pieces cut lengthwise were
denominated tarentalla, and the fat pieces from
the belly, ventresca and sorra.

The thunny frequents the English coast, but
not in such numbers as are found in the Medi-
terranean. It is frequently met with in the lochs
of Scotland, where they come in pursuit of the
herrings, and often during the night strike into
the nets, and do considerable damage. When
the fishermen draw these up in the morning, the
thunny rises at the same time towards the sur-
face, ready to catch the iish that drop out. On
its being observed, a line is thrown into the
water, having a strong hook baited with a her-
ring, which it seldom fails to seize.

The quantity of these fish that is annually
consumed in the two Sicilies almost exceed* the

£4(5 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

^ | __ j . . _ •-• - - - - • -- • - • - - — i

The flesh of the thunny varies in every place.

bounds of calculation. Its flesh varies incredi-
bly, differing almost in every place and in every
depth; sometimes it is firm and sometimes flabby;
in some places it resembles veal, and in others
pork. When taken in May they are full of
spawn, and are then esteemed unwholesome, as
being apt to occasion headaches and vapors : to
prevent in some measure these bad effects, the
natives fry them in oil, and afterwards salt them.
The pieces, when fresh, appear exactly like raw
beef; but when boiled they turn pale, and have
somewhat the flavor of salmon. The most deli-
cate parts are those about the muzzle. What
the inhabitants are not able to use immediately
are cut into slices, salted, and preserved in large
tubs, either for sale or winter provisions.

PERCH.

THE body of this fish, which was highly es-
teemed by the Romans, and still admired as firm
and delicate, is deep, the scales very rough, the
back much arched, and the side line approaches
near to it; the irides are golden, the teeth small,
disposed in the jaws and on the roof of the
mouth, which is large; the edges of tke coven
of the gills serrated, on the lower end of the
largest in a sharp spine ; and the head is said to
consist of no fewer than eighty bones. The
corn's of the perch are beautiful, the back ami

THE PERCH. 24?

Extreme voracity — Usual weight — Haunts.

part of the sides being of a deep green, marked
with broad black bars pointing downwards ; the
belly is white, tinged with red ; the ventral fins
of a rich scarlet, and the anal fins and tail (which
is a little forked) of the same color, but rather
paler.

Perch are gregarious; and, contrary to the
nature of nearly all fresh water fish that swim in
shoals, they are so voracious as to attack and
devour even their own species. They grow slow-
ly, and are seldom caught of extraordinary size.
The largest that was ever heard of in this coun-
try was caught some years ago in the Serpentine
river in Hyde Park ; it weighed nine pounds.
Another was taken in Dagenham Breach, which
weighed eight pounds. The usual weight is not,
however, more than from half a pound to two
pounds; and their general length is from about
ten to sixteen inches, which is considered large.
At Malham Water, not far from Settle in York-
shire, the perch grow to five pounds weight and
upwards ; and this remarkable circumstance at-
tends them, that the large fish are all blind of one
or both eyes.

Perch are found in clear swift rivers with peb-
bly or gravelly bottoms, and in those of a sandy
or clayey soil. They seem to prefer moderately
deep water, and holes by the sides of or near to
gentle streams, where there is an eddy; the hol-
lows under banks, among weeds, and roots of

trees ; the piles of bridges, or ditches and back

2

£48 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Great diversion tor ihe angler.

streams that have a communication with some
river. They will also thrive fast in ponds that
are fed by a brook or rivulet. They are exceed-
ingly tenacious of life, having been known to
survive a journey of near sixty miles, although
packed in dry straw. They live chiefly upon
the smaller fish, but are in their turn the prey
of the pike, but more of eels, and likewise of
clucks. It is, however, generally believed that
the pike will not attack a full grown perch, on
account of the spiny fins on its back, which this
fish always erects on the approach of an enemy.
The smaller perch, however, have been frequent-
ly used with success, (as the Rev. Mr. Daniel
remarks,) as bait for the pike.

Perch spawn, according to many opinions, in
February or March, but certainly in April or
May. They are said usually to deposit their
spawn, sometimes to the amount of two hundred
and eighty thousand ova, while rubbing them-
selves against some sharp body.

The perch affords the angler great diversion,
the season for which is from April to January ;
and the time from sunrise till ten o'clock, and
from two o'clock till sunset ; except in cloudy
weather, with a ruffling south wind, when they
will bite all day. The baits are various kinds of
worms, a minnow, or grasshopper. So voracious
are these fish, that, it is said, if an expert angler
"find a shoal of them, he is sure of taking every
one. If, however, a single fish escape that has

THE PE&CH.

A singular deformed variety.

felt the hook, all is over; this fish becomes so
restless as soon to occasion the whole shoal to
leave the place.

In winter the perch is exceedingly abstemious,
and during that season scarcely ever bites, ex-
cept in the middle of a warm, sun-shiny day*
In clear weather in the spring, sometimes a
dozen or more of these fish may be observed in,
a deep hole, sheltered by trees and bushes. The
angler may then observe them striving which
shall first seize his bait, till the whole shoal are
caught.

In a lake called Llyn Raithlyn, in Merioneth-
shire, there is a singular variety of the perch, the
back of which is hunched, and the lower part of
the back-bone next the tail is strangely distorted.
It is remarked by the Hon. Daines Barrington,
(according to some specimens which he had re-
ceived,) that they were not only crooked near
the tail, but for about one third of the whole
length of their body ; and had likewise a very
remarkable protuberance on each side, which he
had opened with a knife, but it did not materially
differ from other parts of the flesh, and when
dressed, there was nothing in the taste to distin-
guish them from the common kind, which are
as numerous in this pool as the deformed fish.
Some of the crooked perch have likewise been
found in the small Alpine lakes of Sweden.

VOL. v. — NO. 35. 2 T

2,50 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description — Nurne'ous in the northern latitudes.

THE HERRING.

THE common herring is distinguished from
the other fish of the same tribe, by the projection
of the lower jaw, which is currccl, and by having
seventeen rays in the vent fin. The head and
mouth are small, the tongue short, pointed, and
armed with teeth; the covers of the gills gene-
rally have a violet or red spot, that disappears
soon after the death of the fish, which survives
a very short time when taken out of its natural
element; hence the adage in common use, " as
dead as a herring." These fish vary greatly in
their size. Pennant says, he was informed that
there is sometimes taken near Yarmouth a her-
ling distinguished by a black spot above the
pose, which had been seen of the great length of
twenty-one inches and a half.

Herrings are found in the greatest abundance
in the highest northern latitudes, tn those in-
accessible seas that are covered with ice for a
great part of the year, they find a quiet aud sure
retreat from all their numerous enemies. The
quantity of insects which those seas supply is
immensely great. Thus remotely situated, and
defended by the icy rigor of the climate, they
live at ease, and multiply continually, coming
put from thence in innumerable shoals, partly
in spring and partly iu autumn, to the surface
of the water, and proceeding to the mouths
of the rivc^i* for the purpose of spawning and

THE HKRR1NG. 251

Astonishing fecundity — When first pickled.

seeking their food there. Their enemies are,
however, numerous, which seems to be the happy
contrivance of providence to keep them within
bounds, for their fecundity is astonishing: it has
been calculated, that if the offspring of a single
herring could be suffered to multiply unmolested
and undiminished for twenty years, they would
exhibit a bulk of ten times the size of the earth.

This fish, which is in such general use, being
seen both at the table of the rich and in the cot-
tage of the poor, was known to our ancestors at
a remote period. They, however, did not derive
from it that advantage which succeeding ages
have been enabled to do. It did not then, as at
the present day, form a considerable branch of
commerce; the method of preserving it, from
corruption, by means of sea salt, being then un-
known. Towards the close of the fourteenth
century, that secret was accidentally discovered
by William Beuckel, of Biervliet, near Sluys, in
Holland, and from his name is derived the term
pickle, which we have borrowed from the Dutch.
Beuckel died in 1397, and a hundred and fifty
years afterwards, the emperor Charles the Fifth,
to shew his regard for this benefactor of man-
kind, celebrated the invention by eating a her-
ring on his tomb.

It is generally believed, that in winter the

herrings retire to the Arctic, or Icy ocean, and

that they depart from hence on their migrations

to the southern parts of Europe, and to America.

2i 2

£52 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Supposed causes of their migrations.

The more immediate cause of migration is vari-
ously accounted for. Leuwenhoeck says, that
the Channel every year teems with an innumer-
able quantity of worms and little fish, on which
the herrings feed ; that they are a kind of manna,
which these fish come punctually to gather up ;
and when they have entirely cleared the seas in.
the northern parts of Europe, they descend to-
wards the south, where they are invited by a new
stock of provisions. Anderson is of opinion, that
they would never depart from their most desi-
rable retreat in their icy, northern entrenchments,
did not their numbers render it necessary for
them to migrate ; and as with bees from a hive,
they are compelled to seek for other retreats.

Another opinion is, that they remove for the
sake of depositing, their spawn in warmer seas,
that will mature and vivify it more assuredly
than those of the frozen zone.

Respecting the manner of migration, a cele-
brated naturalist says, " the herrings being fright-
ened by the numerous enemies which pursue
them, retire to the Arctic ocean, where those
enemies cannot live beneath the ice for want of
air. But as they multiply prodigiously in that
sea, they are obliged, by the scarcity of food, to
send off colonies at the beginning of every year.
These colonies, after clearing the ice, extend in
a vast body some hundred miles in breadth ; but
meeting with numerous enemies by the way,
they are attacked, dispersed, and separate ii

THE HERRING.

Manner of iu miration.

two divisions: that to the right sheering off to
the west, the left proceeding eastward. The
former pressing close to each other, seek an asy-
lum on the coasts of Iceland, where they arrive
about the month of March ; then turning west-
ward, they arrive at the great bank of Newfound-
Jand, after which it is not ascertained what be-
comes of them. The other division proceeds
southward* and forms two columns, one of which
descends along the Norwegian coasts, through
the Sound and Belt into the Baltic; the other
steers westward to the Orkney and Shetland
islands. The latter column is again divided into
two brigades; one portion turning towards Ire-
land and Scotland, then making the circuit of
Ireland, enters the Atlantic, passes through the
Channel, and arrives on the coasts of the Nether-
lands. The other part, following the east coasts
of Scotland and England, passes into the north
sea, where the two columns unite. At length,
after these vast shoals have fed the inhabitants of
all the coasts bordering on the Baltic and the
German ocean, the remainder assemble in the
latter and again disappear. At last, as no traces
of them are afterwards found on the Europe&u
coasts, it is presumed that they return to their
native deeps."

Bloch, however, ventures to call in question
the accuracy of this hypothesis, though inge-
nious, and generally adopted. " The herring," he
asserts, " never, or at least very rarely, appears

5

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Bloch's observations.

on the coasts of Iceland ; it is caught all the
year round in the countries bordering on the
Baltic sea and German ocean." He likewise says,
11 that it is impossible for the fish to make a cir-
cuit of several thousands of miles in such a short
space of time ;" and asks, " why, if the herrings
were frightened from the Arctic ocean by the
whales, they should go many hundreds of miles
after the danger has ceased ; why they should
return, and expose themselves again to the per-
secutions of their formidable enemy ; and how it
happens that we can discover no traces of their
return ? But," adds this author, " all these dif-
ficulties vanish, if we attentively observe nature
in all her operations. In common with other
fish, the herrings leave their usual abode in the
spawning season, and repair to places, that are
more convenient for the purpose. Like them
they quit the smooth bottom of the ocean to
seek spots rendered rugged and uneven by the
actions of the currents, in order there to deposit
their spawn. When the season approaches, it is
this instinct, and not the dread of the whales,
that impels them to seek those places. They
spawn in different bodies at three different times,
and usually according to their age. Besides
this, as the season of spawning happens later or
earlier, according to the temperature of the water
and the air, it is easy to account for the appear-
ance of the herring at different times. For
example, in the Baltic and on the Norwegian

THE HERRING.

Empty, virgin, and full herrings.

coasts, there appears in the spring a small kind
of herring that has just spawned; in summer a
larger kind succeeds, which in autumn is follow-
ed by a smaller species which is just ready to
spawn. Therefore these three kinds are deno-
minated by the Dutch dealers, empty herrings,
virgin herrings, and full herrings. The first are
such as have spawned in the spring, the last
spawn in autumn and winter, whereas the virgin
herrings spawn in summer. It is ascertained that
the fish of seas and lakes, which pass in spring
into the rivers, do not return till autumn to their
usual place of abode. The same is doubtless the
case with herrings, and this is the cause of their
dispersion in winter. It is likewise possible that
the herring, which is a small sea fish, spawns
more than once a year, like several small river
fish. Nature employs different means for attain-
ing the same end : thus, a* the small fish often
become the prey of the larger kinds, it is neces-
sary that the former should multiply much faster
than the latter; and this end is answered by their
more frequent reproduction. The same observa-
tion has been made respecting small birds, and
several other species of animals. This prodigious
multiplication has induced some writers to ima-
gine that this fish breeds beneath the ice of the
Arctic ocean ; but when we reflect on the im-
mense space assigned to the herring for its abode,
we shall not be surprised' at the prodigious quan-
tity of these aoiinals, and their extra.ordjpary

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Capricious visits — Order of proceeding.

multiplication, which makes good the immense
quantities that are daily consumed."

Indeed it appears from one circumstance, that
these creatures are governed by a choice iti
respect of the shores they pitch upon ; or that
having fixed upon a shore, they will frequent it
for several seasons, or indeed for several ages,
and then most capriciously forsake it. For some
ages the shores of Norway were the resort for
herrings, as the banks of Newfoundland are for
cod, and thousands of European ships resorted
thither ; but some short time previous to the year
16(X>, they forsook the Norwegian coasts, and
made the shores of Germany their annual resort,
where the Hanse towns derived much advantage
from their capture and sale. For above a cen-
tury, however, their greatest colonies have visited
the British Channel and the Irish shores, though
for their apparently capricious desertion it will
not be easy to assign a cause. This we may ob-
serve, that from the earliest accounts of time, the
blessing of their annual visitation has never been

O

withdrawn from the whole, though it may have
been denied to particulars.

The shoals of herrings proceed in regular
order like the salmon ; two or three days after
spawning they return to the open sea, making a
noise like a violent shower of rain. No tish is
exposed to greater persecution than the herring;
man in particular maintains a continual war
against it, not only on the coasts, but even send-

THE HERRING. 25?

Exposed to persecution — Principal food.

ing whole fleets in quest of them into the open
sea. A species of the whale destroys them by
thousands. The birds likewise dart upon num-
bers of them when near the surface of the water,
and indicate to the fisherman those places where
he may throw out his nets with a prospect of
success.

The herring, however, which is so frequently
exposed to the voracity of other animals, belongs
itself to the class of voracious fish. Its principal
food consists of small crabs. Neucrantz found
in its stomach several that were but half digest-
ed. The herring is likewise fond of worms,
and the Norwegian fishermen frequently find its
stomach full of small lobsters. When this is the
case, the fish is commonly thought to have some
disease, in consequence of the tendency to spoil
before it is salted. The method to prevent this
accident, is to leave the fish in water for some
time, till the food in the stomach be entirely
digested. They are likewise supposed to feed on
a crustaceous sea insect called oniseus marinus;
and, as they may be caught with an artificial fly,
it appears that they sometimes seize winged in-
sects.

This fish may be removed into waters which it
has not been accustomed to frequent, as has
been successfully tried in Sweden. The removal
of the spawn alone is sufficient to produce this
effect, as may be seen by a passage in Kalm's
Travels. " Franklin," says that author, " related

VOL. v.— wo. 36. <& K

258 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Franklin's successful experiment.

to me the following fact. In that part of New
England where his father lived, two rivers dis-
charge themselves into the sea; in one of these
were caught great quantities of herrings, while
none were observed in the other, though their
mouths were at a very small distance. It was
remarked on the contrary, that the herrings
annually ascended the former to deposit their
spawn. Franklin, who lived between the two
rivers, tried whether it were not possible to make
the herrings ascend the other river likewise. With
this view he look the nets to which the spawn of
the fish adhered, and put it into the other river,
where it produced young fry. The experiment
was attended with the desired success, and after-
wards herrings were every year caught in that
river. This circumstance induces us to believe
that fish are fond of returning to their native
place, or such situations as they visit the first
time upon leaving the sea, for the purpose of
spawning."

Such is the ancient date of the commerce in
herrings, that, according to Madox, in 1 195, the
town of Dunvvich was obliged to deliver twenty-
four thousand herrings to the king. In the thir-
teenth century the Icelanders carried on a great
trade with this fish, and obtained a grant of the
King of England, for themselves and the Holr
landers, securing to them the privilege of fishing
on the coast near Yarmouth. By a decree of
Kric VI. King of Denmark,, we find that a com-

THE HERRING. 259

A great trade formerly carried on with this fish.

incrce in herrings was likewise established in the
Baltic about the same period. This decree
granted to the Humburghers a certain district in
the island of Schonen, where they might remain
during the herring fishery, and erect booths at
the time of the fair. In the fourteenth century
a fair for herrings was established at Yarmouth;
Edward III. in 1357, ordered that the fishermen
should sell their herrings only in that town. The
Dutch, who had before purchased the herrings
on the coasts, of Scotch fishermen, and supplied
other nations with them, were in consequence
obliged to send out vessels themselves to the
fishery. In the same century, we are told by
Maizieres, the trade in herrings was very consi-
derable on the Norwegian coast. He says, that
in this country above three thousand men as-
sembled in the months of September and October
to fish for herrings : this is still one of the prin-
cipal branches of national industry, and brings
into that kingdom annually several tons of gold.
Deal, of which wood the Norwegians make their
casks, communicates to the herrings a taste that
js riot generally liked, but of which the Poles are
extremely fond. A few years since, the Danish
government ordered that the casks used for her-
rings should be made of oak ; but a great de-
crease was soon observed to take place in the
quantity sold. The Poles found that the herrings
wanted the usual flavor, and the Danish govern-
ment was obliged to annul its command.
2 K 2

260 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Dutch fishery.

A commerce still more considerable is car-
ried on by the Dutch with this fish : Mr. Garle-
son asserts, that it is a gold mine to that nation j
and it is a fact, that the Dutch receive more
money for this article, than Spain from her
mines of Peru and Mexico. At first, as we have
already seen, the Dutch purchased herrings of
the Scotch fishermen. Their industry, and the
judicious regulations that were adopted, soon,
gave their herrings a decided preference, not
only to the Scotch, but even to those of Flan-
kers, which were celebrated for their excellent
quality. Their fishery at present is not, however,
so extensive as formerly. In 1416, the first large
net was made at Hoorn, and from that period
the Dutch have sent out busses to the fishery.
In 1552, the town of Enckhuysen alone employ-
ed one hundred and forty vessels in fishing for
herrings; and in 1C01, the whole republic sent
put one thousand five hundred busses for the
same purpose. Since that time the commerce
has declined. In 1736, only two hundred and
nineteen busses and thirty-one yachts were em-
ployed; and in 1773, the Dutch sent out no
more than one hundred and sixty-nine busses.
The fishery would have declined still more, had
not the states of Holland, in 1775, proposed a
premium of five hundred florins for each buss
that went out to fish for herrings. Notwith-
§tanding its decrease, this fishery still continue^

THE HEUTIING.

Importance of herring oil to Sweden.

a considerable branch of industry, and a fiords a
subsistence to ten thousand men.

Within these last fifty years, the Swedes, who
formerly procured their herrings from other na-
tions, have paid more attention to the fishery and
commerce with that fish. In 1745, a company
was established for this fishery, which was encou-
raged by government, and has brought its her-
rings into great repute, particularly those of
Gottenburg. In 1764, that town sent to Ham-
burgh twenty vessels laden with herrings, which
were thought equal in quality to those of Hol-
land. From that place alone were exported in
3782, two hundred thousand tons of herrings,
and from twenty to twenty-two thousand tons of
oil. To make one ton of oil, from twenty to
twenty-three tons of herrings are required ; and
some estimate may be formed of the importance
to Sweden of herring oil, since between the years
1760 and 1764, the value of the oil made in that
country exceeded two millions of crowns.

The Danes export to Germany, not only the
herrings which they take in spring and autumn
on the northern coasts of Jutland and the island
of Ferro, but likewise send vessels to the coasts
of Scotland. In 1767, a herring company was
established at Altona, which at present employs
fifty busses. A great quantity of smoked herrings
is also sent from Holstein to Hamburgh, and other
neighbouring towns.

262 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Occasional quantities of herrings.

A company for the herring fishery was, in,
177O, formed at Berlin; in 1770, busses were
sent from Embden to the coast of Scotland ;
their number has been increased from year to
year, so that fifty busses annually left that port
before the present war.

The trade in herring* is very great in England
and Scotland, and the value of those exported
from Glasgow alone, is computed at twenty
thousand pounds.

In the year 177:], the herrings were in such
immense shoals on the Scotch coasts for two
months, that it appears from tolerably accurate
computations, no less than 1(550 bout-loads were
taken in Loch Terridon every night. These
would amount to nearly 20,000 barrels.

The herrings likewise once swarmed so greatly
on the west side of the isle of Skye, that the num-
bers caught were more than could possibly be car-
ried away. After the boats were all loaded, and the
country round was served, the neighbouring far-
mers made them up into composts, and manured
their ground with them in the ensuing season.
This shoal continued to frequent the coast for
many years, but not always in numbers equal to
these.

About forty years ago, the herrings came into
Loch Urn in such amazing quantities, that from
the narrows to the very head, about two miles,
it was quite full. So many of them were pushed

THE HERRING. 263

British herring fisheries.

on shore, that the beach for four miles round
the head was covered with them, from six to
eighteen inches deep : and the ground under
\vater, as far as could be seen when the tide was
out, was equally so. So thick and so forcible
was the shoal, as to carry before it every other
kind of fish ; even ground-fish, skate, flounder,
&,c. were driven on the shore with the first of the
herrings, and perished there.

The principal of the British herring fisheries
are oft" the Scotch and Norfolk coasts ; and in
our seas the fishing is always -carried on by nets
stretched iu the water, one side of which is kept
from sinking, by means of buoys fixed to them
at proper distances ; and, as the weight of the
net makes the side sink to which no buoys are
fixed, it is suffered to hang in a perpendicular
position like a screen ; and the fish, when they
endeavour to pass through it, are entangled in
its meshes, from which they cannot disengage
themselves. There they remain till the net is
hauled in, and they are shaken or picked out.
The nets are never stretched to catch herrings
but during the night, for in the dark they are to
be taken in much the greatest abundance. When
the night is dark, and the surface of the water
considerably ruffled by the wind, the fishermen
always assure themselves of the greatest success,
ftets stretched in the day-time are supposed to
frighten the fish away. In order to strengthen
the nets, and render the threads more compact,

£64 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

How preserved by the Scotch.

they are all tanned ; for an account of which
operation, see the article Turbot.

When the fishermen on the Scotch coast have1
plenty of salt, herrings sell for about six shillings
a barrel. As their salt is expended, the price
falls to five, four, three, two, and one shilling pel-
barrel, sometimes even to six-pence or eight-
pence ; below which prices the men will seldom
shoot their nets, as a less price is not sufficient
to indemnify them for the trouble of catching
them ; but it sometimes happens that a barrel of
fine fresh herrings may be purchased for a single
chew of tobacco. A barrel contains from six
hundred to sixteen hundred fish, according to
their size. After the nets are hauled, the fish are
thrown upon the deck of the vessel, and each of
the crew has a certain task assigned to him.
One part is employed in opening and gutting
them, another in salting, and a third in packing
them in the barrels in layers of salt. The red
herrings lie twenty-four hours in the brine; they
are then taken out, strung by the head on little
wooden spits, and hung in a chimney formed to
receive them ; after which a fire of brush-wood,
which yields much smoke, but no flame is kindled
under them, and they remain there till sufficiently
smoked and dried, when they are put into bar-
rels for carriage.

Herrings become very soon tainted after they
are dead; in summer they are insensibly worse
for being out of the water only a few hours; and

THE PILCHARD. 26.5

Description — Numeipus on the western coasts.

if exposed only a few minutes to the rays of the
sun, they are quite useless, and will not take the
salt. There are about eleven species of the her-
ring, the principal of which are as follow.

THE PILCHARD.

THIS is a smaller species of herring : the chief
difference between them is, that the body of the
pilchard is round and thick; the nose shorter in
proportion, turning up, and the under jaw shorter.
The back is more elevated, and the belly not
so sharp. The scales also adhere very closely,
while those of the herring easily drop off. The
dorsal fin in the pilchard is also so backward,
that the fish, when held up by it, dips from an
horizontal line forward; but when the herring is
held up by its dorsal fin, it remains in equili-
brio.

About the middle of July the pilchards appear
in vast shoals off the coasts of Cornwall. These
shoals remain till the latter end of October, when
it is probable they retire to some undisturbed
deep, at a little distance, for the winter. It has
been, supposed, but improperly, that, like the
herring, they migrated into the Arctic regions.
If pilchards performed any migration north-
wards, we should certainly have heard of their
being occasionally seen and caught on their pas-
sage; but of this we have HO one authenticated

VOL. v. — NO. 36. 2 L

266 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Pilchard ftshery.

instance. The utmost range of the pilchards
seems to be the Isle of Wight in the British, and
Ilfracomh in the Bristol Channel. Forty-five years
back, Christmas was the time of their departure,
which alteration in time is a very singular fact,
authenticated by Dr. Maton.

Dr. Borlase's account of this fishery is as fol-
lows:— " It employs a great number of men on
the sea, training them thereby to naval affairs ;
employs men, women, and children, at land, in.
salting, pressing, washing, and cleaning ; in
making boats, nets, ropes, casks ; and in all the
trades depending on their construction and sale.
The poor are fed with the offals of fhe captures,
the land with the refuse of the fish and salt, the
merchant finds the gains of commission and ho-
nest commerce, the fisherman the gains of the
fish. Ships are often freighted hither with salt,
and into foreign countries with the fish, carrying
off, at the same time, part of our tin. The usual
pj-oduce of the number of hogsheads exported
each year, for ten years, from 1747 to 1756 in-
clusive, from the four ports of Fowey, Falmouth,
Penzance, and St. Ives, — it appears that Fowey
has exported yearly 1732 hogsheads ; Falmouth,
14,631 hogsheads and two thirds; Penzance and
Mounts-bay, 12,149 hogsheads and one third;
St. Ives, 1,282 hogsheads; in all amounting to
29,795 hogsheads. Every hogshead, for ten
years last, together with the bounty allowed for
each hogshead exported, and the oil made oil t

THE PILCHARD. 2(57

Dr. M Eton's observations.

of each hogshead, has amounted, one year with
another, at an average, to the price of one pound
thirteen shillings and three-pence; so that the
cash paid for pilchards exported has, at a me-
dium, annually amounted to the sum of 49,532/.
10s."

Dr. Maton, in the first volume of his " Obser-
vations on the Western Counties," informs us
that he and a friend hired a boat to go out and
see the pilchard-fishing at Fowey, near Looe, in
Cornwall. " The fishing-boats," says our author,
".which are pretty numerous, are usually stationed
in ten fathoms water, and clear of all breakers.
Light sail-boats keep out at a little distance be-
fore them, to give notice te the fishermen of the
approach of a shoal. Persons are also frequently
stationed on the neighbouring rock to watch the
course of the fish; these are called huers from
the circumstance of their setting up a hue to the
fishermen. The nets, which are seines, are some-
times two hundred fathoms or more in circum-
ference, and about eighteen deep. Some of them
are said to hold upwards of two hundred hogs-
heads of fish, each containing about three thou-
sand. About thirty thousand hogsheads are
here looked upon as a tolerably good produce
for one season; but it happens now and then
that the fishery almost entirely fails." About ten
years before our author was at this place, the
fishermen and their families had been compelled
to live for some time solely on limpets and other
21.2

2fl8 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Descriptions.

shell fish, which they cannot in any other cir-
cumstances be prevailed on to eat.

The dog-fish are great enemies to the pilchards,
often devouring them in amazing numbers.

THE SPRAT

IS a native of the European seas, greatly re-
sembling the herring, though a good deal smaller,
and having thirteen rays in the back fin. They
are caught in the Thames from the beginning of
November till March, and afford a very season-
able relief to the poor of the metropolis.

Sprats are sometimes pickled, and rendered in
flavor scarcely inferior to anchovies, from which
they are only to be distinguished by their bones
being indissoluble. At Yarmouth they are cured
like red herrings.

THE SHAD

HAS a forked snout, and black spots on its
sides : it frequents the river Thames about the
latter end of May, or the beginning of June, and
is considered a very coarse and insipid fish. The
Severn, however, affords it in very great perfec-
tion; and on its first appearance, which is usually
in May, or in very warm seasons in April, it is
esteemed a delicacy, especially in that part of

THE SHAD.

Severn and Thames shad — Twaite.

the river that flows near Gloucester, where they
are taken in nets, and often sell dearer than
salmon. The London fishmongers distinguish
the Severn from the Thames shad by calling the
former alose. The old fish come from the sea
into the river in full roe, but where they spawn
is not determined, for their fry has not yet been,
ascertained. The Severn shad is sometimes,
though rarely, caught in the Thames. They con-
tinue in the Severn about two months, and are
succeeded by a variety called the twaite, which
is taken in great numbers, but held in as little
regard as the shad of the Thames. The chief
difference between these varieties are, that the
twaite has three or four black spots on the sides,
placed one under the other; if only one spot, it
is always near the gill. The weight of the shad
is seldom less than four pounds ; that of the
twaite never exceeds two. Ancient naturalists
say, that the shad is a fish of passage of the Nile;
that it is also found in the Mediterranean, near
Smyrna, and on the coast of Egypt, near Ro-
setta^ and that in the months of December and
January it ascends the Nile as high as Cairo,
where the people stuff it with pot-marjoram;
and when dressed in that manner, it will nearly
intoxicate the eater.

270 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description — Where found.

THE ANCHOFY

IS about three inches long, though mention
is made of some being six inches and a half.
The nose is pointed ; the edge of the jaws finely
serrated, the upper being longer than the under;
the eyes large; the body round and slender;
the back of a dusky green color ; the sides and
belly of a silvery white ; between the ventral
fins it has a long pointed scale, and the tail is
forked.

At different seasons it frequents the Atlan-
tic ocean and the Mediterranean sea, passing
through the Straights of Gibraltar towards the
Levant in the months of May, June, and July.
The greatest fishery is at Gorgano, a small west
isle of Leghorn, where they are taken at night
in nets, into which they are allured by lights
fixed to the stern of the vessels. When cured,
their heads are cut off, their gall and guts taken
out, and then salted, and packed in barrels. It
scarce needs be mentioned, that, being put on
the fire, they dissolve in almost any liquor. They
are well tasted when fresh.

Of the other species of herring, which are
chiefly natives of China, Surinam, Asia, &c
little is known to interest the reader.

TH-E FLYING FISH. 2? I

Description — Utility of its wings.

THE FLYING FISH.

THE winged flying fish, if we except its head
and flat back, has, in the form of its body, a
great resemblance to the herring. It is generally
nine inches long, and full four round at the
thickest part. The skin is uncommonly firm,
and the scales are large and silvery. The pec-
toral fins are very long; and the dorsal fin is
small, and placed near the tail, which is forked.
The eye, in consequence of the largeness of the
head, is admirably situated for discovering dan-
ger or prey ; and when pushed out of the socket,
which the fish can do considerably, its sphere of
vision is greatly increased.

The flying fish inhabits the European, the
American, and the Red seas; but is chiefly
found within the tropics. The wings, with which
they have the power of raising themselves into
the air, are nothing more than large pectoral
fins, composed of seven or eight ribs, or rays,
connected by a flexible, transparent, and gluti-
nous membrane. They have their origin near
the gills, and are capable of considerable motion
backwards and forwards. These fins are used
also to aid the motion of the fish in the water;
and if we are to judge from the great length and
surface of the oars, comparatively with the size
of the body, the fish should be able to cut their
way through the water with great velocity.

272 NATUKALIST'S CABINET.

_ »

Capable of flying and swimming.

The fore part of the body is fortified just
behind the gills by a flat bone on each side,
answering all the purposes of clavicles and sca-
pulae in land animals ; and on the posterior part
of it, the articulation is made with the wing.

In flying, as it is termed, not only the wings
and fins of these fish are much expanded, but
also their tails ; they skim along the surface of
the deep somewhat in the manner of a swallow,
but in straight lines; and from the blackness of
their backs, the whiteness of their bellies, and
forked expanded tails, they have much the same
appearance. They fly fifty or sixty yards at one
stretch; and repeat the exertion again and again
by a momentary touch of the surface, which
gives them new vigor for a new departure. They
generally rise in shoals ; and are found in great
quantities between lat. 13 deg. and 10 deg. N.
and from 20 to £0 W. as also between the tro-
pics in the Atlantic, and in the Indian ocean ;
and the power of exerting itself in both elements,
is said to furnish one of the most entertaining
spectacles those seas can exhibit. The efforts to
seize on the one side, and the arts of escaping
on the other, are perfectly amusing. The shark,
the porpoise, the dolphin, and the dorado, are
seen upon this occasion darting after their prey,
which will not leave the water, while it has the^
advantage of swimming, in the beginning of the
chase; but, like an hunted hare, being tired at

THE FLYING FISH. 2?3

Persecuted by fish and birds.

last, it then has recourse to another expedient
for safety, by flight. The long fins, which began
to grow useless in the water, are now exerted in
a different manner and different direction to that
in which they were employed in swimming; by
this means the timid little animal rises from the
water, and flutters over its surface for sixty or
seventy yards, till the muscles employed in.
moving the wings are enfeebled by that parti-
cular manner of exertion, and the fish is obliged
to immerge into its own element. In a short
time, however, they have acquired a fresh power
of renewing their efforts in the water, and the
animal is capable of proceeding with some velo-
city by swimming ; but still the active enemy
keeps it in view, and drives it again from the
deep, till at length the poor little creature is seen
to dart to shorter distances, to flutter with greater
effort, and to drop down at last into the mouth
of its fierce pursuer ; but, should it escape from
its enemies of the deep, the tropic bird and the
albatross, the booby and the man of war, are for
ever on the wing to seize it.

It has been inconsiderately remarked, that
" all animated nature seems combined against
this little fish, which possesses the double powers
of swimming and flying only to subject it to
greater dangers. If it escape its enemies of the
deep, it is only to be devoured by the sea fowl,
which are waiting its appearance in the air." Its
Destiny is, however, by na means peculiarly se-

VOL. v. — NO. 36. 2 M

274 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Slender flying fish — Great flying fish.

vere : we should consider that, as a fish, it often
escapes the attack of birds ; and, in its winged
character, the individuals often throw themselves
out of the power of the aquatic race.

They are frequently either unable to direct
their flight out of a straight line, or else they
become exhausted on a sudden ; for sometimes
whole shoals of them fall on board the ships that
navigate the seas of warm climates.

This fish was known to the ancients, for Pliny
mentions it under the name of hirundo, and re-
lates its faculty of flying. The taste of it some-
what resembles mackrel.

The slender flying fish corresponds with the
preceding in having the sides of the belly ridged,
but from which it may be discovered at first
sight by the slenderness of the body and the
great length of the ventral fins. This species has
been generally confounded with the former, or
overlooked. Probably the ventral fins may assist
its flight. It is not known what ocean or sea it
inhabits.

The great flying fish agrees with the slender
one in the great length of its ventral fins, but
differs in having a thick body. This fish is near
two feet long, the common flying fish not more
than eight, nor the slender sort more than six-
inches.

THE -KITE PISH. 275

Description — Where found.

THE KITE FISH.

THIS has a kind of resemblance to the flying
fish. The head is square; two strong spines at
the hinder part gill cover ending in a long strong
spine ; the body roundish and slender ; on the scales
run lengthwise a scalloped thin ridge ; between
the dorsal fins a single short spine; the ventral fins
very large, reaching to the tail ; four appendages
under the throat, united in a web; the tail forked;
and its length one foot and a half. When fresh
taken, the back is either a light or dusky red; the
belly white, and the ventral fins prettily spotted.

The kite fish inhabits the Atlantic and Indian
oceans, and the Mediterranean sea. When pur-,
sued by the dorado, &c. it quits the water, and
by means of its ventral fins flies in the air about
a stone's cast.

It is common in the fish markets of Italy,
Sicily, and Malta.

2 M 3

276 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description.

CHAP. IX.

The nffikingjtth -"beneath, with secret chains
Clung to the keel, the swiftest ship detains.

JONES'S OPPJAW.

THE SUCKING FISH.

THERE are only three known species of the
sucking fish ; these are occasionally seen in the
Mediterranean sea and the Pacific ocean. The
common sucking fish, which inhabits most parts
of the ocean, is usually about a loot in length ;
the head large, equal in bigness to the body,
which grows smaller gradually to the tail, which
is small. The back is convex and black, and thg
belly white. It has six fins, two growing from
behind the gills, two more under the throat, a
long one on the back, and opposite to it, under
the belly, another of the same form and size; the
tail is forked.

What this fish has peculiar to itself is, that the
crown of the head is flat, and of an oval form,
with a ridge, or rising, running lengthways ; and

THE SUCKING FISH. 277

Fabulous notions — Power of adherence.

crossways to this, sixteen ridges, with hollow
furrows between, by which structure it can fix
to any animal or other substance, as they are
often found adhering to the sides of ships, and
the bodies of sharks and other large fish. But
the notion that this small fish was able to stop a
ship under sail, or a whale in swimming, is
entirely fabulous ; all they can do is no more
than what shells, or corals, and other foulnesses,
which make her sail somewhat the slower. Abb6
Portis says, that once sailing in ihe gulf of
Venice in A small bark, the man at the hekn sud-
denly called to his companion to kill a remora,
vv.hich had fixed itself to the rudder, and which
did then, as he had often experienced, sensibly
both retard and alter the course of the vessel
Thus, what might have happened to a boat, is
by Oppian and Pliny transferred to a galley, or
ship.

The sucking fish inhabits most parts of the
ocean, and is often found so strongly adhering to
the sides of sharks, as before observed, by means
of the structure of its head, as not to be got oft'
without great difficulty. " Five of them," says
Catesby, " have been .taken from the body of a
single shark. I have also seen them," adds he,
" disengaged, and swimming very deliberately
near the shark's mouth, without his attempting
to swallow them, the reason of which I am not
able to give." St. Pierre says, he has put some
2

578 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Used for catching other fish.

of them on an even surface of glass, from which
he could not afterwards remove them.

Among other absurd notions which the an-
cients entertained of this fish, they also fancied
that, in what manner soever it was administered,
it was fatal in affairs of love, deadening the
wannest affections of both sexes.

The Indians of Jamaica and Cuba formerly
used the sucking-fish in the catching of others,
somewhat in the same manner as hawks are
employed by a falconer in seizing birds. They
kept them for the purpose, and had them regu-
larly fed. The owner, on a calm morning, would
carry one of them out to sea, secured to his
canoe by a small but strong line, many fathoms
in length ; and the moment the creature saw a
fish in the water, though at a great distance, it
would dart away with the swiftness of an arrow,
and soon fasten upon it. The Indian, in the
mean time, loosened and let go the line, which
was provided with a buoy that kept on the sur-
face of the sea, and marked the course the suck-
in"- fish had taken; and he pursued it in his
canoe until he perceived his game to be nearly
exhausted and run down. He then, taking up
the buoy, gradually drew the line towards the
shore; the sucking fish still adhering with so
inflexible a tenacity to his prey as not easily to
be removed. Oviedo says, he has known turtle
taken by this mode, of a bulk and weight that no
single man could support.

THE CH:RTODON. 279

Description — Princip;il species — Food.

Sucking fish are often eaten, and much ad-
mired : in taste they are said very greatly to
resemble fried artichokes.

THE CII31TODON, or SHOOTING
FISH.

THE head and mouth of the chastoda are
small, and they have the power of pushing out
and retracting the lips so as to make a tubular
orifice. The teeth are mostly bristle- shaped,
flexile, movable, closely set, and very numerous.
The gill-membrane has from three to six rays.
The body is scaly, broad, and compressed ; and
the dorsal and anal fins are generally terminated
with prickles.

The principal species of this fish is the beaked
chaetodon, which frequents the shores and mouths
of rivers in India, and about the Indian islands.
It is somewhat more than six inches in length,
and is of a whitish or very pale brown color,
with commonly four or five blackish bands run-
ning across the body, which is ovate and com-
pressed. The eyes i.re large, and .the irides of a
golden color; the snout is lengthened and cylin-
drical; the dorsal and anal fins are very large,
and on the former is a large eye- like spot.

The beaked chaetodon, or shooting fish, feeds
principally on flics and other small insects that
hover about the waters it inhabits; and the mode

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Remarkable mode of taking its prey.

of taking its prey is very remarkable. When it
sees a fly at a distance alighted on any of the
plants in the shallow water, it approaches very
slowly, and with the utmost caution, coming as
much as possible perpendicularly under the ob-
ject ; then putting its body in an oblique direc-
tion, with the mouth and eyes near the surface,
remains a moment immovable. Having fixed
its eyes directly on the insect, it shoots at it a
drop of water from its tubular snout, but with-
out showing its mouth above the surface, from
whence only the drop seems to rise. This is
done with so much dexterity, that, though at the
distance of four, five, or six feet, it very seldom
fails to bring the fly into the water. With the
closest attention the mouth could never be dis-
covered above the surface, although the fish has
been seen to eject several drops, one after an-
other without leaving the place, or in the smallest
apparent degree moving its body.

M. Hommel, the governor of the hospital at
Batavia, near which place this species is some-
times found, was determined, if possible, to con-
vince himself of the truth of this singular action
by ocular demonstration. For this purpose he
ordered a large wide tub to be filled with sea
water ; he then had some of these fish caught
and put into it, and the water was changed every
other day. After a while they seemed reconciled
to their confinement, and he then tried the ex-
periment. A slender stick, with a fly fastened«at

THE SWORD FISH. 281

Description — Only two species.

. . „ . . .

the end, was placed in such a manner on the side
of the vessel, as to enable the fish to strike it ;
and it was not without inexpressible delight that
he daily saw them exercising their skill in shoot-
ing at it with amazing force, and seldom missing
their mark.

The flesh of this species is white, and very
good eating. l

THE SWORD FISH.

THE head of this fish is furnished with a long,
hard, sword-shaped upper jaw, whence it takes
its name. The mouth has no teeth ; the gill
membrane is eight-rayed; and the body is round-
ed, and has no apparent scales.

Sword fish are very large and powerful ani-
mals, often growing to the length of twenty feet
and upwards. Their voracity is unbounded, for
they attack and destroy almost every thing living
that comes in their way. The larger fish they
penetrate with their Jong snout, few of which,
when within sight of them, can either withstand
or avoid its shock. There are but two species,
one of which is only found in the European seas ;
the other, called the Indian, or broad-finned
sword fish, inhabits the Brasilian and East Indian
seas, and also the Northern ocean. The body is
of a silvery blueish white, except the upper parts
of the back, and the head and tail, which are of

VOL. v. — NO. S6. % if

NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Remarkable circumstance.

a deep brown. The skin is smooth, and without
any appearance of scales. From the long sharp-
pointed process in front of the head, it would
seem, on a cursory view, to be allied to the Eu-
ropean species; but it differs from this in having
an extremely broad back fin, and two long
sharp-pointed appendages proceeding from the
thorax. It frequently grows to the length of
twenty feet and upwards, and is a very powerful
fish.

In l?2o, when his Majesty's ship Leopard,
after her return from the coast of Guinea and
the West Indies, was ordered to be cleaned and
refitted for the Channel service, in stripping off
her sheathing the shipwrights found in her
bottom, pointing in a direction from the stern
towards the head, part of the sword or snout
of one of these fish. On the outside this was
rough, not unlike seal-skin, and the end, where
it was broken off, appeared like a coarse kind of
ivory. The fish, from the direction in which the
sword lay, is supposed to have followed the ship
when under sail. It had penetrated through the
sheathing; which was an inch thick ; passed
through three inches of plank, and beyond that
four inches and a half into the timber. The
force requisite to effect this (since the vessel
sailed in a direction from the fish) must have
been excessively great, especially as no shock
was felt by the persons on board. The workmen
on the spot declared it impossible, with a hammer

THE SWORD FISH. 283

Another extraordinary account.

of a quarter of a hundred weight, to drive an
iron piu of the same form and size into that
wood, and to the same depth, in less than eight

/ \ ' a

or nine strokes, whilst this had. been effected by

only one.

•
A letter was written to Sir Joseph Banks, as

President of the Royal Society, from the captain
of an East Indiaman, about twenty years ago,
accompanied with an account of another instance
of the amazing strength which thiiTfish occasion-
ally exerts ; the bottom of this ship having been
pierced through in such a manner that the sword
was completely embedded, or driven through its

i j n

whole length, and the fish killed by the violence
of the effort. A part of the bottom of the vessel,
with the sword embedded in it. is now lodged in

, o

the British Museum.

The sword fish and the whale are said never to
meet without coming to battle ; and the former
has the repute of being always the aggressor.
Sometimes two of them join against one whale,
in which case the combat is by no means equal.
When the whale discovers the sword fish dart-
ing upon him, he dives to the bottom, but is
closely pursued by his antagonist, who compels
him again to rise to the surface. The battle
then begins afresh, and lasts till the sword fish
loses sight of the whale, who is at length com-
pelled to swim off, which his superior agility
allows him to do,

The whale, as we are told by some navigators,

a N2

<284

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Battles between the sword fish and whale.

• • — ' ' "

at the sight of this animal seems agitated in an
extraordinary manner, leaping from the water as
if with affright; wherever it appears, the whale
perceives it at a distance, and flies from it in the
opposite direction. The whale has no instrument
of defence except its tail, with which it endea-
vors to strike the enemy, and a single blow taking
place would effectually destroy its adversary ; but
the sword fish is as active as the other is strong,
and easily avoids the stroke; then bounding into
the air, it falls upon its enemy, and endeavors
not to pierce with its pointed beak, but to cut it
with its toothed edges. The sea all about is soon
dyed with blood, proceeding from the wounds of
the whale; while the enormous animal vainly
endeavors to reach its invader, and strikes with
its tail against the surface of the water, making
a report at each blow louder than the noise of a
cannon.

The sword fish, however, in piercing the
whale's body with his tremendous weapon, sel-
dom does any great damage to the animal, not
being able to penetrate much beyond the blub-
ber.

THE THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK,
or PRICK LEBACK.

THIS species of the sticklebacks seldom ex-
ceeds two inches in length, and is very common

THE THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK. 285

Description — Enemies to other fish.

in many of our rivers, particularly in those of
Lincolnshire. They have three sharp spines on
their back, according to their name, which are
their instruments both of offence and defence,
and are always erected on the least appearance
of danger, or whenever they are about to attack
other fish, The body near the tail is somewhat
square, and the sides are covered with transverse
bony plates. Their usual colors are olive green
above, and white on the under parts; but in
some individuals the lower jaw and the belly are
of a bright crimson. These fish likewise abound
on the Prussian coast near Dantzick, where they
are used for making oil, but more especially for
feeding ducks and fattening swine.

Notwithstanding the smallness of their size,
they are, by feeding with great voracity on the
fry and spawn of other fish, greatly detrimental
to the increase of almost all the specie? imiong
which they inhabit. Mr. Arderon, of Norwich,
informs us in the Phil. Trans, that one uaicli he
had in a glass devoured in five hours no fewer
than seventy-four young dace, each about an
inch and a half long, and of the thick JK-SS of a
horse-hair, and would have done the same every
day, had they been given to it. Tiie fi^h was
put by Mr. Arderon into a glass jar of water,
with some sand at the bottom, for the purpose
of trying some experiments on it, as weli as fbr
the sake of ascertaining its manners, as far as
possible, in a confine^ state. For a few days it

CSfi NATURALIST'S CABINET.

frequently numerous in the river Wellatid.

refused to eat; but, by frequently giving it fresh
water, and by coming often to it, it began to eat
the small worms that were now and then thrown
into the jar; soon afterwards it became so fami-
liar as to take them from the hand; and at last
it even became so bold, as, when it was satiated,
or did not like what was offered to it, to set up
its prickles, and strike with its utmost strength
at the fingers, if put into the water to it. It
would suffer no other fish to live in the same jar,
attacking whatever were put in, though ten times
its own size. One day, by way of diversion, a
small fish was put to it. The prickleback imme-
diately assaulted and put it to flight, tearing off
part of its tail in the conflict; and, had they not
been then separated, he would undoubtedly have
killed it. These diminutive fish do not easily
fall a prey to the other voracious tenants of the
deep, who are afraid of its spines. It has been
observed by several naturalists of celebrity, that
they are very much tormented with worms in the
intestines.

Such amazing shoals of this fish come in the
river Welland, near Spalding in Lincolnshire, as,
during their progress up the stream, to appear in
a vast body occupying the whole width of the
river. These are supposed to be the overplus of
multitudes collected in some of the fens. When
this happens they are taken as manure for the
land ; and an idea may be formed of their num-
bers from the circumstance that a man, employed

THE THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK. 287

Pennant's remarks — Habits — Time of spawning.

by a farmer to catch them, got, for some time,
four shillings a day by selling them at a half-
penny a bushel. Mr. Pennant informs us, their
appearance in those parts is not annual, like that
of the herring or mackrel, but takes place after
an interval of seven or eight years. The cause
of these periodical visits is conjectured to be, the
vast quantities which have bred in the interme-
diate time upon some of the adjacent shoals or
banks, where (small as they are) rinding them-
selves straitened for room, immense colonies are
dispatched from the mother-settlement in search
of a more commodious habitation.

The great exertions they use, in getting from
one place to another, where obstacles intervene,
are very extraordinary ; for, though the largest
among them is seldom known to be more than
two inches in length, they have been seen to
spring a foot and a half (nine times their own
length) in perpendicular height from the surface
of the water, and in an oblique direction much
farther.

These fish spawn in April and June on the
aquatic plants; they multiply very fast, but
are very short-lived, scarcely ever attaining the
third year. They are too small, and perhaps
too bony, to be of any essential service as food
to mankind.

288 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Descriptions.

THE TEN-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

THIS is still less than the three-spined stickle-
back, never exceeding an ounce and a half in
weight. Bloch declares that it is the smallest fish
that exists, and the only kind that is useless to
man. It is found in the Baltic sea and German
ocean, and in all the bays and creeks communi-
cating with them. But it is seldom taken, being
so small as to pass through the meshes of the
net; and even if the fishermen find any of them
among a net of other fish, they throw them away
as good for nothing.

THE FIFTEEN-SPINED STICKLE-
.BACK, or GREAT STICKLEBACK.

THIS fish, which is the largest species of the
sticklebacks, is slender, being only an inch thick
and nine in length ; the snout is long, and the
body of a pentagonal figure towards the tail,
which is flat. The mouth is small, and the upper
jaw projects beyond the lower. The gills and
the bony plate on the belly are brown upon the
upper part, silvery and streaked upon the lower.
It has two pectoral fins, one dorsal, rising in a
triangular form from the middle of the back.
Between this and the head are fifteen distinct
spines inclined towards the tail, which, when de-
pressed, are insensible to the touch. The fins of

TttE FlFfEEN-SHNED STICKlElUcK.

•Jt-~ — ___________^^___^__________________

Where found — Habits — How caught.

the belly consist of two spines, the foremost or*
which is the longest. In the fin at the anus there
is also a curved spine, but the other fins are soft
and ramified.

The fifteen-spined sticklebacks, like the last
ftientioned species, are found in the Baltic sea
and German ocean ; they are very common iri
Holland, and also near Lubeck in the duchy of
Holstein. M. Bloch says, that their ordinary
size does not exceed seven inches, and that he
has found small crabs in their stomach. The
great stickleback does not ascend the rivers like
the other kinds, never leaving the sea, where it
is taken among other fish. Large quantities are
sometimes caught by kindling a fire on the shore,
which draws them in shoals to the nets. A kind
of lamp oil is extracted from them, and what
remains is used a« manure. They are, however>
frequently eaten by the poor.

The first who published a description of this
fish was Schoneveld. Succeeding naturalists have
bestowed on it a small portion of attention, other-
wise Linnajus, Mr. Pennant, and their copyists,
would not have asserted that the fins of the belly
are wanting. M. Bloch describes the roe as con*
listing of two cylindrical parts, joined together at
the umbilical aperture, and containing one bun*
dred and eighty four eggs of a pale yellow color,
as large as grains of millet.

YOL. V. — NO. 36. 2 O

290 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description — Excessive voracity.

THE DOREE.

THE doree, which is known by a brown spot
on each side, in shape somewhat resembles a
flounder. The head is flat laterally, and the
mouth immoderately large. Both the back and
belly are armed with sharp points, the former has
a single row of them to the second dorsal fin,
from which, to the tail, it has a double row of
unequal length. The scales are very small and
thin, which has caused some ichthyologists to
doubt their existence. The spots on the sides
have made the doree a rival of the haddock for
the honor of St. Peter's touch when he took the
tribute money from its mouth. Aldrovandus says,
that it was frequently hung up in Roman catho-
lic churches, on account of the sanctity which
this circumstance was supposed to have imparted
to it. It grows to the length of a foot, or a foot
and a half;, and weighs ten or twelve pounds.

This fish is found in the German ocean. It ie
a native of the Mediterranean, so that when Ovid
speaks of it as a " rare fish," it must be presumed
that he alludes to the quality of its flesh. At
Hamburg it is called by the fishermen the king
of herrings. Its excessive voracity causes it to
bite at every kind of bait. It is found on the
shores, whither it pursues the fish that frequent
them for the purpose of spawning.

The flesh of the doree is an excellent dish,
especially when" fat, but from its hideous appe»F-
3

THE OPAH. 2QI

Dr. Mortimer's description.

ance, it is said to have been banished from the
English tables, till introduced by the celebrated
comedian and epicure Quin ; since whose time
it has been justly esteemed one of the greatest
delicacies.

THE

WHICH, though belonging to the genus of
doree, far exceeds that fish in magnitude, mea-
sures three or four feet in length, upwards of
two in breadth, and sometimes weighs one hun-
dred and forty pounds. It is so much compressed
laterally, that its greatest thickness does not ex-
ceed four inches.

The following is an account drawn up by Dr.
Mortimer, and inserted in the Phil. Trans. (1750)
relative to one which was taken on the coast near
Leith, in Scotland. " This fish is smooth-skinned,
has no scales or teeth ; it has one erect fin on its
back, which arises below its neck, and runs with-
in a little of its tail ; on each side, about the
middle, between its back and belly, a little for-
ward of the vent, runs one fin within a little of
the tail ; the tail is large and forked ; the eyes are
large, the irides are scarlet, encompassed with a
circle of gold color verged with scarlet ; its nos-
trils are placed above its eyes ; the back and
upper part of the body quite to the tail, was of a
idark blue or violet color : these and the sides of
2 o 2

292 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Dr. Mortimer's account.

the body, which were of a bright green, were all
speckled with oblong white spots ; the chaps
were of a pale red ; the nose, gills, and belly,
were of a silver color, and all the fins of a bright
scarlet. It was three feet seven inches long, and
three feet ten inches round the thickest part ; it
weighed eighty-two pounds. Its mouth was
small, its tongue thick, almost like the human
tongue in shape, but rough and thick set with
beards or prickles which pointed backwards, so
that any thing might easily pass down, but could
not easily slip back again; therefore these might
serve instead of teeth for retaining its prey or
food ; its gills resembled those of the salmon ;
its body grows very taper towards the tail, and
from being compressed to ten inches thickness,
becomes near the tail almost round, and about
three inches thick. The whole shape of this fish
much resembles that of the sea-bream, but it
differs in size, being much larger, and in not
having teeth or scales. The fin standing erect
on the back has some aculei next the neck, and
rises up to eight inches, but in the middle dimi-
nishes to one inch, and near the tail rises again
to three inches ; the belly fin, opposite to this,
spreads three inches near the tail, and diminishes,
towards the vent; the tail fin is forked, and
spreads twelve inches ; the gill fins are nine
inches long and three wide at their basis. It
seems to be a new species of fish not yet de-»
by any author,"

THE DORADO.

Brilliant appearance.

Another fish of this species was taken near
Newcastle in 1767, and Mr. Harrison has de-
scribed it in the British Zoology. A third,
weighing an hundred and forty pounds, was
caught at Brixham, in Torbay, in J772. A dried
specimen of the opah is preserved in the British
Museum. It is three feet five inches in length,
and measures one foot seven inches where
broadest.

The opah is one of the most beautiful of the
inhabitants of the deep ; its color being a trans-
parent scarlet, burnished over with gold, and
variegated with oblong silver spots, of various
sizes. The fins are likewise of the same beautiful
scarlet color as the body, so that the appearance
of this fish is uncommonly brilliant.

This fish is not mentioned by Linnaeus or
Willoughby, from which it may be presumed to
be a rare fish every where. Only four or five of
this species have ever been taken on the English
ahores. Pennant describes the flesh as resemblin«-
beef in taste and appearance, and says, that the
breast consisted of a sharp bone, similar in form
to the keel of a ship.

THE DORADO

IS one of the most beautiful, most active, and
most voracious of the spinous kind ; they are in
a state of continual warfare, always employed

so*

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Extreme beauty — Fierceness.

either in defending themselves against the shark,
or darting after the smaller fish. It is chiefly
found in the tropical climates ; is about six feet
long, yet not thicker than a salmon ; and, fur-
nished with a full complement of fins, cuts its
way through the water with amazing rapidity.
Its eyes are placed on each side of the head,
large and beautiful, surrounded with circles of
shining gold ; the back enamelled all over with
spots of a blueish green and silver ; the tail and
fins of a gold color, and all together possessing
such a brilliancy of tint as nothing but Nature's
pencil could produce. It is an enemy to the
winged flying fish.

THE SEA-WOLF

IS a most ravenous and fierce fish, and, when
taken, fastens on any thing within its reach j
the fishermen, dreading its bite, endeavor, as
soon as possible, to beat out its fore teeth, and
then kill it by striking it behind the head.
Schoneveld relates, that its bite is so hard, that
it will seize an anchor, and leave the marks of it*
teeth in it. It seems to be confined to the nor-
thern part of the globe, being found in the sea
of Greenland, in those of Iceland and Norway,
on the coasts of Scotland and of Yorkshire, and
lastly, in that part of the German ocean which
washes the shores of Holland.

fKTE SEA-^Otf.

Description.

The sea-wolf grows to a large size ; those on
the Yorkshire coast are sometimes found of the
length of four feet ; according to Dr. Johnson,
they have been taken near Shetland seven feet
long, and even more. The head is a little flatted
on the top; the nose blunt; the nostrils are very
small ; the eyes small, and placed near the end
of the nose. The teeth are very remarkable,
and finely adapted to its way of life. The fore
teeth are strong, conical, diverging a little from
each other, stand far out of the jaws, and are
commonly six above and the same below, tbougli
sometimes there are only five in each jaw ; these
are supported within side by a row of lesser teeth,
which makes the number in the upper jaw seven-
teen or eighteen, in the lower eleven or twelve.
The sides of the under jaw are convex inwards,
which greatly adds to their strength, and at the
same time allows room for the large muscles with
which the head of this fish is furnished. The
grinding teeth of the under jaw are higher on
the outer than the inner edges, which inclines
their surfaces inward ; they join to the canine
teeth in that jaw, but in the upper are separate
from them. In the centre are two rows of flat
strong teeth, fixed on an oblong basis upon^the
palate and nose. The teeth of the anarrhicus
are often found fossil, and in that state called
busonites, or toad-stones; these were formed/
much esteemed for their imaginary virtues, and
Were set in gold, and worn as rings. The two

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Description — Food.

bones that form the under jaw are united before
"by a loose cartilage, which mechanism, admitting
of a motion from side to side, most evidently
contributes to the design of the whole, viz. a
facility of breaking, grinding, and comminuting
its testaceous and crustaceous food. At the en-
trance of the gullet, above and below, are echi-
nated bones; these are very small, being the less
necessary, as the food is in a great measure com-
minuted in the mouth by aid of the grinders.
The body is long, and a little compressed side-
ways ; the skin smooth and slippery, it wants the
lateral line. The pectoral fins consist of eighteen
rays ; the dorsal fin extends from the hind part
of the head to the tail; the rays in the fresh fish
«re not visible; the anal fin extends as far
as the dorsal fin. The tail is round at its end,
and consists of thirteen rays. The sides, back,
and fins, are of a livid lead color, the two
first marked downwards with irregular obscure
<}usky lines ; these in different fish have differ-
ent appearances : the young are of a greenish
cast.

This fish feeds almost entirely on crustaceous
animals and shell fish, such as crabs, lobsters,
prawns, muscles, scollops, large whelks, &c.;
these it grinds to pieces with its teeth, and swal-
lows with the lesser shells. It does not appear
they are dissolved in the stomach, but are voided
with the faces, for which purpose the aperture
pf the anus is .wider tban in other fish of the

Til* GAR FISH.

Description — Where found — Appellations.

same size. It is full of roe in February, March,
and April, and spawns in May and June.

This fish has so disagreeable and horrid ah
appearance, that nobody at Scarborough, except
ihe fishermen, will eat it, and they prefer it to
holibut. They always before dressing take oft*
ihe head and skin.

THE GAR, NEEDLE, AND PlPE FISH,

THE gar fish belongs to the class of needle
fish, which denomination they have received
from the extreme length of their bodies in pro-
portion to their thickness. They have no scales,
but scuta or bucklers, with several angles. The
hexagonal form of the body and the anal fin,
are the distinguishing characters of the gar fish,
The body is composed of eighteen scuta, and trie
tail of thirty-six, which form as many joints;
the tail is square. It is found in the North and
Baltic seas ; it scarcely exceeds the length of a
foot and the thickness of a finger. Besides the
appellations of needle fish and gar fish, it is
sometimes called by those of shorter pipe and
horn fish.

The needle fish are natives of the ocean, and
the North and Baltic seas. They are usually
found in deep places near the coasts, where they
are caught along with other fish. They produce
then young in a perfect state, one after the other,

VOL. v . — NO. 36. 2 P

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Pipe fish — Sea adder, or little pipe.

from eggs hatched in their bodies, like the sharks
and rays. Having but little flesh they are fit
only for baiting lines, and they are the more
proper for this purpose as they are tenacious of
life, and it is well known that fish bite more
eagerly at a living bait than at a dead one.

The pipe fish is another species of the needle
fish. Its body is of an heptagonal form, and is
covered with twenty scuta; the tail is hexagonal,
and consists of forty-three. These scuta are of
the nature of horn, and form seven angles, three
of which arc on each side, and one in the middle
of the belly. This fish is caught in the iNorth
and Baltic seas, and grows to the length of two
or three feet. Like the gar fish, it is used as a
bait. Pennant and Gronovius make but one
species of the gar and pipe fish; but, besides the
difference in size, the figure of the heptagonal
bucklers of the latter, forms a marked distinction
between them and those of the former, which
are hexagonal.

The sea adder, or little pipe, is nearly round,
having only some Tery small and scarcely per-
ceptible angular projections on the sides. It has
but one fin, and the body is divided into joints
like that of the common worm. It grows to the
length of two feet, and is not thicker than A
swan's quill. It inhabits the North and Baltic
seas, and is of the same nature as the two former
fish.

THE GURNET. 299

Description.

CHAP. X.

" If I be not ashamed of my soldiers I am a sou&'d gurnet.

SHAKESPEAR.

THE GURNARD, or GURNET.

GURNARDS are known by the articulated
processes situated before the pectoral fins. These
are separated from each other, consist of several
small joints, and remain in the position in which
they are berK, so that they have very justly been
called fingers by many writers ; the fish, doubt-
less, use them to lay hold of their prey. The
head of the gurnard is large, and the tail small ;
the former is cased with a bony substance, which
serves for a helmet, and has several sharp points
upon the top of the head and on the sides. Se-
veral species, likewise, have two spines in the
front. These fish are carnivorous ; when touched
they erect the dorsal fin to defend themselves by
means of the spines with which it is armed ; at
the same time they compress their bodies, and
expel the water and air with a considerable noise.

300 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Grey gurnard — Red gurnard.

In the western parts of the British coast, where
it is most frequently caught, the meaner sort of
people parboil, and afterwards steep it in pickle,
calling it a " sous'd gurnet," a dish which was
consequently never esteemed, as appears from
FalstarTs words, (Henry IV. Part II.) which are
prefixed to this chapter.

The grey gurnard has a long tapering body,
and a larger head than the other species of gur-
nards. On the sides of the head are observed
several stars, consisting of a great number of
small silvery points, streaked at intervals with
red. It is found in the German ocean, in the
Baltic, and on the coasts of South America. In
the Baltic it is usually about a foot and a half in
length, but on the English shores from two to
three feet. Frezier relates, that it is found in
great numbers on the coast of Chili, in the road
of Valparaiso, and that its flesh is of very good
flavor. The gurnard inhabits the bottom of the
sea, where it seeks crabs and muscles. It spawns
in May and June. At that season it repairs to
the coasts, where it deposits its eggs. The gur-
nard is so voracious as to bite at « bait of any
kind of fish, or even at a piece of red cloth.

The red gurnard receives its name from its
brilliant red color, and is distinguished by a
black spot on the first dorsal fin. It is found in
the same waters as the grey gurnard, and also
near the Cape of Good Hope. It does not ex-
ceed a foot in length. It is extremely beautiful

THE GURNARD. / SOI

Sapphirine gurnard — Flying gurnard.

in the water ; when taken out of the water, if the
sun chance to shine upon it, the various hues
with which it appears tinged form a truty charm-
ing spectacle. The red gurnard is a voracious
fish ; it appears on the coast in spring to deposit
its. spawn. Its flesh is much more firm and ten-
tier than that of the grey gurnard, being very
white in season, which is in spring, and during
the months of June and July; and it possesses
the advantage of having scarcely any hones. It
is remarkable that the red gurnard retains it*
beautiful color even after being boiled.

The sapphirine gurnard is a beautiful fish, and
remarkable for the great breadth of the pectoral
fins, which are of a pale green, finely edged and
spotted with a rich deep blue. The dorsal fins
are lodged between two rows of spines, of a ser-
rated form ; the back is of a greenish cast ; the
sides are tinged with red, and the belly is white.
It is about two feet long, is found in the same
seas, and lives on the same kind of food as the
two preceding species. It inhabits the deep
water of the open sea, and by the great size of
its pectoral fins is enabled to swim with extra-
ordinary rapidity. The flesh of the sapphirine
gurnard is rather hard. In Denmark it is salted,
dried in the open air, and used for victualling
ships.

The flying gurnard is a highly singular and
beautiful species, according to Dr. Shaw's ac-.
count of it. Its length is about twelve inches j

302 NATURALIST S CABINET.

Description.

the color crimson above, pale or whitish beneath;
the head blunt, and armed on each side with two
very strong and large spines, pointing back-
wards ; the whole body covered with extremely
strong cari Dated and sharp-pointed scales, so
united as not to be distinctly separable ; the first
dorsal fin pale violet, crossed with deeper lines,
and at its origin two separate rays longer than
the rest; the second dorsal fin pale, with the
rays barred with brown; the pectoral fins ex-
tremely large, transparent, of an olive green,
richly varied with numerous bright blue spots ;
the pectoral processes six in number, and not
separate, as in other species, but united into the
appearance or' a small fin on each side the thorax;
the tail pale violet, with the rays crossed by dusky
spots, and strengthened on each side the base by
two obliquely transverse bony ribs or bars. It is
a native of the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and In-
dian seas, where it swims in shoals, and is often
seen flying out of the water to a considerable
distance.

THE CUTTLE FISH.

THESE are, comparatively, large animals,
some being two feet long and upwards. Their
structure is very remarkable. The body is cy-
lindrical, and, in some of the species, entirely
covered with a fleshy sheath; in others, th$

THE CUTTLE TISH.

Possessed of great adhesive power.

sheath reaches only to the middle of the body.
They have eight tentacula, or arms, besides two
feelers, as they arc called, which are much longer
than the arms. Both the feelers and arms are
furnished with strong circular cups or suckers,
by means of which the animal seizes its prey,
and firmly attaches itself to rocks or other hard
substances. To do this it applies their surface,
extended and plain, to the surface of the body,
and then drawing them up in the centre by
muscles contrived for the purpose, a vacuum is
formed, and they adhere by the pressure of the
external air. The adhesive power is so great,
that it is more easy to tear off the arms than
separate them from the substance to which they
are fixed. If these arms happen by any chance
to be broken off, they are soon afterward re-
produced. The animals are also furnished with
a hard, strong, and horny mouth, resembling,
both in texture and substance, the beak of a
parrot ; with this they are enabled to break the
shells of limpets and other shelled animals, on
which they feed. In the back, under the skin,
there is a kind of bone composed of thin parallel
plates, one above another, and separated by little
columns arranged in quincunx order. This bone
is oval, thick toward the middle, and thin at the
circumference. It is extremely light, and gene-
rally elastic, and in the living animal transparent
like glass ; the surface, in some species, is marked
with longitudinal furrows. This bone, on account

3

NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Remarkable for emitting un iiik\ iluid.

of its lightness, is sometimes called sea foam, or/
*ea biscuit.

There is a vessel in the belly of these fish that
contains a quantity of dark or inky fluid, which
the animal emits, on contraction, when alarmed.
This not only tinges the water so as to conceal
its retreat, but is at the same time so bitter as
immediately to drive off its enemies. Swammer-
da-m was of opinion that the Indian ink is nothing
more than this black fluid in an inspissated state>
with the addition of perfumes. If Indian ink be
dissolved in water in any considerable quantity*
in the space of a few days it acquires a very
high degree of putridity, clearly indicating its
being formed of some animal substance ; and no
other seems to be so well calculated to compose
it as this.

The young are produced from eggs deposited
on the sea weed, in parcels exactly resembling a
bunch of grapes. These are at first white, but
after their impregnation by the male they be-
come black ; they are round, with a little point
at i be end, and in each of them is contained a
cuttle fish, surrounded by a gelatinous fluid.

The female is always accompanied by the
male, and when she is attacked lie will brave
every danger, and attempt her rescue even at the.
hazard of his own life. As soon as ^he observes
her partner to be wounded she immediately
escapes, her timidity not suffering her to afford
him any assistance. When these animals are

THE STAR FISH.

Officinal cuttle fish— Eight-armed ditto.

dragged out of the water, they make a noise
somewhat like the grunting of a hog.

The officinal cuttle fish was in great esteem by
the ancients as food, and it is even yet used as
such by the Italians. The bone in the back,
when dried and pulverised, is employed by silver-
smiths for moulds, in which they cast their small
work, as spoons, rings, 8cc. It is also convert-
ed into that useful article of stationary called
pounce.

The eight-armed cuttle fish of the hot climates
sometimes becomes of such a size as to measure
twelve feet across its centre, and to have each
of its arms between forty and fifty feet long.
When the Indians go out in their canoes in
places frequented by these cuttle fish, they are
always in dread of their flinging their arms over
and sinking them ; on which account they are
careful to take with them an ax to cut their arms
off.

THE STAR FISH, or SEA STAR,

ARE usually found on the sand, or among the
rocks on the sea shore, considerably below high-
water mark. Their covering is a coriaceous
crust, which defends them from the attacks of
the smaller animals ; and they have five or mor.e
rays proceeding from a centre in which their
mouth is situated. Every ray is furnished with a

VOL. v. — NO. 37. 2 9

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Powers of reproduction.

prodigious number of tentacula, or short soft and
fleshy tubes, which appear to be of use not only
in taking prey, and in aiding the motion of the
animal, but also in enabling it to adhere to rocks
and other substances, by which it withstands the
force of the waves. In a single animal these
tentacula have been found above fifteen hundred
in number; and, when the star fish are thrown
on their backs, these may be observed to be
pushed out and withdrawn in the same manner
as snails do their horns. The progressive motion
of the star fish, which is with their rays, is very
slow ; and by the undulation of these they are
enabled to swim. They possess considerable
powers of reproduction ; for if by any violence a
ray is broken off, for most of them are vc%ry
brittle, in the course of a short time a new one
will appear. The mouth is armed with bony
teeth, that are used in seizing and breaking the
shells on which the animals feed ; from hence a
canal extends to each of the rays, runs through
the whole length, and becomes gradually nar-
rower as it approaches the extremity.

We are informed by a late writer, that if the
star fish be drowned in brandy or spirits of wine,
and the rays kept flat and expanded during the
time, it is easy afterward to extract, by means
of a pair of forceps, the stomach and intestines,
entire through the mouth.

THE STAR FISH* 30?

Extraordinary mode of catching its prey.

THE ARBORESCENT STAR FISH.

THIS is a very singular species, which is
occasionally found in most seas, but never in
any great number. It is described by Shaw as
having five equi-distant, thickly-jointed processes
proceeding from its centre, each of which is
divided into two other small ones, and each of
these into two others still smaller; and this mode
of regular subdivision is continued to a vast ex-
tent, and in the most beautiful gradation of mi-
nuteness, till at length the number of extreme
ramifications sometimes amount to several thou-
sands. One specimen, that measured three feet
across, had five hundred and twelve extremities
to each ray ; so that in this the whole number
was two thousand five hundred and sixty. By
this most curious structure the animal becomes>
as it were, a living net, and is capable of catcb>
ing such creatures as are by nature destined for
its prey, by the sudden contraction of its innu-
merable ramifications; and the unfortunate ob-
jects are secured by these beyond ail possibility
of escape.

The color of this fish when it is alive, or but
just dead, is a reddish or deep carnation, but on
being dried it becomes somewhat grey. It
should be dried in the shade, in some open place,
where the wind has free access to it; for in the
sun it is apt to dissolve, and if placed too much
in the shade it frequently becomes putrid.

308 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Description.

This fish should be taken far out in the sea in
order to be preserved whole and undamaged for
cabinets, and the fishermen ought to be careful
not to break off any of the limbs, and to prevent
the animal from contracting and entangling its
outer and most slender branches. The fisher-
men of the Cape of Good Hope get six, and
sometimes even ten rix-dollars for one of these
star fish.

SEA URCHINS.

THESE inhabitants of the sea, called also sea
hedgehogs, are generally round, and shaped like
a somewhat flattened ball. Their exterior is a
bony crust, usually furnished with movable spines,
by which they are defended from injury, and by
means of which they have their progressive mo-
tion ; these are often very numerous, amounting
in some species to upwards of two thousand.
The mouth is placed beneath, and in most of
the species has five valves or teeth.

The common sea urchin, which lodges in cavi-
ties of rocks just within low-water mark, on most
of the British coasts, is nearly of a globular shape,
having its shell marked into ten partitions or
divisions, not much unlike those of an orange.
The mouth is situated in the lower or under part,
and armed with five strong and sharpened teeth.
The stomach and intestines, which are of consi-

SEA URCHINS. 309

Manner of moving — Tenacious of life.

derable length, are disposed in a somewhat cir-
cular form, and the whole body is supported
entirely by a set of upright bones or columns.
On the outside of the shell is a prodigious num-
ber of sharp movable spines, of a dull violet and
greenish color, curiously articulated, like ball or
socket, with tubercles on the surface, and con-
nected by strong ligaments to the skin or epi-
dermis with which the shell is covered. The
spines are the instruments by which the animal
conveys itself at pleasure from one place to an-
other ; and by means of these it is enabled to
move at the bottom of the water with great
swiftness. It generally employs those about the
mouth for this purpose, keeping that opening
downward ; but it is also asserted to have the
power of moving forward by turning on itself
like a wheel. When any thing alarms these
animals, they immediately move all their spines
toward it, and wait an attack, as an army of
pikemen would with their weapons. The num-
ber of muscles, fibres, and other apparatus neces-
sary to the proper management of these must be
very gxeat, and are exceedingly wonderful. So
tenacious are the sea urchins of the vital prin-
ciple, that, on opening one of them, it is no
uncommon circumstance to observe the several
parts of the broken shell move off in different
directions. The ancients, according to Oppian,
believed that if they were even cut up with
knives, and the mangled parts thrown into the

310 NATURALIST'S CAB.INET.

Contractile power — Cursory remarks.

sea, the respective parts would immediately join,
and the animal be restored to life again.

There are, between the spiries, and disposed
in a continued longitudinal series on the several
divisions or regions of the shell, an infinite num-
ber of v.ery small foramina, communicating with
an equal number of tentactila placed above them.
These are the instruments by which the creature
affixes itself to any object, and stops its motions.
They are possessed of a very high degree of con-
tractile power, and are furnished at the extremi-
ties with an expansile part, which may be sup-
posed to operate as a sphincter, or as the tail of
a leech, in fastening the animals securely to
rocks and other substances to which they choose
to adhere.

The shell of this animal, when deprived of the
spines, which often fall off" after its death, is of a
pale reddish tinge, and the tubercles on which
the spines are fixed appear like so many pearly
protuberances on the surface.

These animals were used by the Romans, who
dressed it with mead, parsley, mint, and vinegar.
At Marseilles, and in some other towns on the
continent, this species is exposed for sale in the
markets as oysters are with us, and is eaten boiled
like an egg. It forms an article of food among
the lower class of people on the sea coasts of
many parts of this country, but does not seem to
have made its way to the tables of the opulent.

THE FATHER LASHER. 311

Description — Where found.

THE FATHER LASHER.

THE head of this fish is armed with very
strong and extremely sharp spines, the largest of
which are situated on the hind part, and the
smallest before. The mouth is large, and the
jaws, as well as the roof of the mouth, are beset
with very sharp teeth. The body suddenly tapers
towards the tail, and instead of scales it is covered'
with small sharp-pointed scuta, which render it
rough to the touch ; these scuta, or excrescences,
are much smaller in the female than in the male.
The belly is large, and white in the female; in
the male it is yellow, variegated with white. In
the latter, the pectoral fins are much larger than
in the former, so that the two sexes may easily
be distinguished at first sight. The rays of the
ventral fins are striped in the female with black
and white, but in the male they are of a red flesh
color and spotted with white.

The father lasher is an inhabitant of the Baltic
and Northern seas, particularly on the coasts of
Greenland, Newfoundland, and Siberia; it is
likewise found in the Mediterranean sea. In
southern latitudes it is scarcely a foot in length,
but in the Norwegian seas, we are informed by
Pontoppidan, that it sometimes measures two
fathoms. It usually keeps at the bottom, and
appears on the surface of the water only when
pressed by hunger and in quest of food. It
swims with great rapidity by means of its large
2

312 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Rapacious disposition — Easily taken.

pectoral fins. When first caught, if held in the
hand, it makes a strong and peculiar sound by
the expulsion of air through its mouth. During
this action the mouth is opened to the utmost
width, the fins are extended, and the whole body
is agitated with a tremulous motion.

In summer the father lasher repairs to the
coasts, but in winter keeps in the deep waters.
It is bold, but its voracity renders it imprudent,
so that it may be easily taken with a line. It is
of such a rapacious disposition as even to attack
fish much larger than itself, and pursues in par-
ticular young salmon and herrings. It is fre-
quently taken with torsk and other sea fish,
which it follows into the nets. The season for
spawning is Pecember and January, and it de-
posits its eggs among sea weed.

This fish is not eaten in some countries, from
an idea that its flesh is of a venomous quality.
This opinion, doubtless, originates from the dan-
ger which in certain cases attends a wound with
its spines. In Denmark it is reckoned difficult
of digestion, and is used as food only by the poor.
In Norway nothing but the liver is used, and
from this an oil is extracted. The Greenlanders,
however, esteem it as food, and give it to the
sick as a very wholesome nourishment. They eat
it boiled, dried, and sometimes even raw ; they
are likewise very fond of its eggs.

THE DRAGONET. 313

Several species — Oemmeoua dragonet.

THE DR4GONET.

THERE are several species of. this fish, all of
which have their eyes vertical approximated ;
their gill-covers shut, with a small aperture on
each side the neck ; the gill-membrane six-rayed;
the body naked; and the ventral fins very re-
mote. They inhabit the North sea, the Medi-
terranean, and Indian seas ; belong to the class
of voracious fish, and seldom exceed a foot in
length.

The gemtneous dragonet is distinguished by
the extraordinary length of the first ray of the
first dorsal fin, which is equal to that of the whole
body. The head is oblong, broad, arched above,
and flat below ; the mouth wide, and the teeth,
small and numerous. The body is of a tapering
form, smooth, and free from visible scales ; the
pectoral and ventral fins are of a remarkably thin
and delicate texture, they are large and of a
round figure. The dorsal fin is of a triangular
form, having seldom more than four or five
rays, the first of which extends far beyond the
rest.

According to the descriptions of various natu-
ralists, we find that, like most other fish, the
dragonet varies considerably in color in different
individuals. Those caught in the Mediterranean
are sometimes spotted with brown and blue, am}

VOL. v.— NO. 37. Q R

314 NATURALISTS CABINET.

Where found, and how caught.

sometimes with red; and, according to the fish-
ermen, the males are distinguished by a variety
of colors, while the females are confined to two,
brown and red. When in full perfection, how-
ever, this fish generally corresponds with Mr.
Pennant's description; the pupils of the eyes
being rich sapphirine blue ; the irides, fine fiery
carbuncle; the pectoral fins light brown; the
side line straight; the colors of the fish yellow,
blue, and white, making a beautiful appearance
when fresh taken; the blue is of an inexpressible
splendor, the richest cosrulean, glowing with a
gemmeous brilliancy; and the throat black.

The gemmeous dragonet is found in the Medi-
terranean, in the British seas, and German oceanr
It grows to the length of twelve or fourteen
inches ; its flesh is white, and of a good flavor.
The season for catching it is summer. It is
caught by net, and in North America at the
same time with the herring. Muller asserts,
that it lives upon, small leeches, and stellae ma-
rinas.

We are told by Pontoppidan, who, as he
never saw the dragonet alive, was, no doubt,
misinformed, that these fish raise themselves in
troops some yards above the surface of the sea,
and that they can fly the distance of several
gun-shots. But the pectoral and ventral fins are
too small, in comparison with those of other
flying fish, to enable the dragonet to support it-
self for any length of time in the air.

THE DRAGONET. 315

Sordid dragonet — Pennant's remarks.

The head of the sordid dragonet, which, from
its strong resemblance to the gemmeous drago-
net, has been by some considered the same spe-
cies, is considerably more arched than that of
the latter, and the first ray of the dorsal fin of
the sordid dragonet is only as long as the head
of the fish. In the sordid that fin is blackish,
and in the gemmeous dragonet it is spotted
with yellow and blue. The latter is twelve or
fourteen inches in length, but the former never
exceeds eight inches, and its colors are less
varied.

" The first dorsal fin of" this fish," says Mr.
Pennant, " has four rays, the first setaceous,
extending a little higher than the others; the
last very short ; the two first rays and webs yel-
low, the others black ; the second had ten soft
rays, their ends extending beyond the webs,
which were pellucid ; the pectoral fins consisted
of twenty rays, and were ferruginous, spotted
with a deeper cast of the same ; the ventral fins
consisted of five broad and much branched rays,
like those of the first species ; the anal fin was
white, and had ten rays ; the tail had ten rays,
bifurcated at their ends, and the ray next the
anal fin very short. In color this species is far
inferior to the fqrmer, being of a dirty yellow
mixed with white dusky spots ; the belly is en-
tirely white. Miiller asserts, that it is cinereous,
and the tail fin yellow, in some instances adorned
with two black stripes.

2 ii 2

316 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Where found.

According to Linnaeus, the sordid dragonet is
found near Rome, Genoa, and Lisbon ; Pennant
places it among the British, and Miiller among
the Danish fish, and Duhamel discovered it on
the coasts of Normandy. By the French fisher-
men it is supposed to be the female of the gem-
meous dragonet.

SHE I* I.

THE OYSTER. 317

Description.

CHAP. XL

' The prickly star creeps on with full deceit,
To force the ouster from his close retreat."

JONES'S OPPIA*.

THE OYSTER.

OYSTERS are bivalve shell fish, having the
valves generally unequal. The hinge is without
teeth, but furnished with a somewhat oval cavity,
and mostly with lateral transverse grooves. They
adhere to rocks, or, as in two or three species, to
roots of trees on the shore.

These shell fish are formed with organs of life
and respiration, with intestines which are very
voluminous, a liver, lungs, and heart. They are
self-impregnated, and the shells, which they soon
acquire, and to which they are strongly attached
both above and below, serve them for their fu-
ture habitation. Oysters breathe by means of
gills; they draw the water in at their mouth, a
small opening in the upper part of the body,
drive it down a long canal that constitute the
base of the gills, and so out again, retaining the
air for the necessary functions of the body.

518 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Edible oyster — Spawning time.

The edible oysters inhabit the European and
Indian seas, and are well known as a palatable
and nutritious food. Most of our coasts pro-
duce them in great abundance, but the coasts
chiefly celebrated are those of Essex and Suffolk,
Here they are dredged up by means of a net,
with an iron scraper at the mouth, that is
dragged by a rope from a boat, over the beds.
As soon as taken from their native beds, they are
stored in pits formed for the purpose, furnished
with sluices> through which, at the spring tides,
the water is suffered to flow. This water being
stagnant, soon becomes green in warm weather,,
and, in a. few days afterward, the oysters acquire
the same tinge, which renders them of greater
talue in the market ; but they do not acquire
their full quality, and become fit for sale, till the
end of six or eight weeks.

Oysters usually cast their spawn, or spats, as
the fishermen call them, in April or May, upon
rocks, stones, shells, or any other hard substance
that happens to be near the place where they lie,
to which the spats immediately adhere. These,
till they obtain their iilm or crust, are somewhat
like a drop of a candle, but are of a greenish
bue. The substances to which they adhere, of
whatever nature, are called culteh. From the
spawning time till about the end of July, the
oysters are said to be sick, but by the end of
August they become perfectly recovered. Du-
ring these months they are out of season, and are
$

THE OYSTER.

Cursory remarks.

bad eating. This is known, on inspection, by
the male having a black and the female a milky
substance in the gill.

Oysters are not reckoned proper for the table
till they are about a year and half old; so that
the brood of one spring are not to be taken fox.
sale till at least the September twelve months
afterward. When younger than these happen
to be caught in the dredge, they are always
thrown into the sea again. The fishermen know
the age of oysters by the broader distances or
interstices among the rounds or rings of the con-
vex shell.

The oysters in the pits of course always lie
loose, but on their native beds they are in gene-
ral fixed (from the time they are cast) by .their
under shell ; and their goodness is said to be
materially affected by their being laid in the pits
with the flat shell downward, not being able iu
this position to retain sufficient water in the shell
for their support.

It is asserted by the French, but apparently
without proof, that the English oysters, which
are esteemed the best in Europe, were originally
procured from Concalle Bay, near St. Male.

The oyster fishery of our principal coasts is
regulated by a court of admiralty. In the month
of May the fishermen are allowed to take the
oysters, in order to separate the spawn from the
quitch, the latter of which is thrown in aguia
to preserve the bed fot the futare. After ibi*

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Oyster fishery — Locomotive faculty.

numth it is felony to carry away the cultch, and
otherwise punishable to take any oyster between
whose shells, when elosed, a shilling will rattle.
The reason, of the heavy penalty on destroying
the cultch is, that when this is taken away, the
<Ki>e will increase, and muscles and cockles will
breed on the bed and destroy the oysters, from
gradually occupying all the places on which the
spawn should be cast. There is likewise some
penalty for not treading on and killing, or throw-
rug on shore any star lish that happen to be seen.
These, when collected in any numbers, arc very
destructive to the oyster beds, inserting their
rays, as the shells lie open, and devouring the
animals within.

The Abbe Dicquemaire, who attended minute-
ly the manner of these as well as of several other
marine animals, assures us that they have a power
of moving themselves, and this by the singular
effort of ejecting water with considerable force
from their shells. They thus are able either to
throw themselves backward or to start aside in a
lateral direction. He says that any person may
aim ise Ivimself with the squirting and motions of
oysters, by putting them in a plate placed in a
horizontal position, which contains as much sea
water as is sufficient to cover them.

The oyster has been represented by many au-
thors as an animal destitute not only of locomotive
faculty, but of every species of sensation. The
above naturalist, however, has shown that it can

THE OYSTER. SQl

Pearl oysters and pearl fisheries.

perform movements perfectly consonant to its
wants, to the danger it apprehends, and to the
enemies by which it is attacked. Instead of
being destitute of sensation, oysters are even
capable of deriving some knowledge from expe-
rience. When removed from situations that are
Constantly covered with the sea, from want of
experience they open their shells, lose their,
water, and die in a few days ; but, when taken
from similar situations, and laid down in places
from which the sea occasionally retires, they feel
the effect of the sun's rays, or of the cold air, or
perhaps apprehend the attacks of enemies, and
accordingly learn to keep their shells close till
the tide returns.

All oysters, and most shell fish, are found to
contain pearls ; but that which particularly ob-
tains the name of the pearl oyster, has a large
strong whitish shell, wrinkled and rough without,
and within smooth, and of a silver color. From
these the mother of pearl is taken, which is no-
thing more than the internal coats of the shell
resembling the pearl in color and consistence.
This, however, is of very little value, compared
with the pearl itself, for the obtaining of which
there are several places called pearl fisheries,
both in Asia and America; those'of the latter
place have indeed gone much of late into disuse ;
and the principal one now in Asia is in the Per-
sian Gulph, near the isle of Bahren; " where,"
says Goldsmith, " the wretched people that are

VOL. v. — NO. 37. 2 s

322 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Dr. Goldsmith's remarks

destined to fish for pearls, are either negroes, oir
some of the poorest of the natives of Persia.
The clivers are not only suhject to the dangers
of the deep, to tempests, to suffocation at the
bottom, to being devoured by sharks, but from
their profession universally labor under a spitting
of blood, occasioned by the pressure of air upon
their lungs in going down to the bottom. The
most robust and healthy young men are chosen
for this employment, but they seldom survive it
five or six years. Their fibres become rigid,
their eye-balls turn red, and they usually die
consumptive. It is amazing how long they arc
seen to continue at the bottom. Some, as we
are assured, have been known to continue three
quarters of an hour under water without breath-
ing, and to one unused to diving, ten minutes
•would suffocate the strongest. They fish for
pearls, or rather the oysters that contain them,
in boats twenty-eight feet long ; and of these
are sometimes three or four hundred at a time,
with each seven or eight stones, which serve for
anchors. There are from five to eight divers
belonging to each, that dive one after another.
They are quite naked, except that they have a
net hanging down from the neck to put their
oysters in, and gloves on their hands to defend
them while they pick the oysters from the holes
in the rocks, for in this manner alone can they
be gathered. Every diver is sunk by means of a
stone, weighing fifty pounds, tied to the rope by

THE OYSTER. 323

On the pearl fishery.

which he descends. He places his foot in a kind
of stirrup, and laying hold of the rope with hi$
left hand, with his right he stops his nose to
keep in his breath, as in going down he takes in.
a very long inspiration. When at the bottom,
they give a signal to those in the boat to draw
up the stone, which done, they go to work, fill-
ing their net as fast as they can ; and then giving
another signal, the boats above pull up the net
loaded with oysters, and shortly after the diver
himself, to take a new inspiration. All the oys-
ters are brought on shore, where they are laid in
a great heap till the pearl fishery is over, which
continues during the months of November and
December."

The fishing season being over, they then ex-
amine every oyster for the pearls; but they are
not always alike successful, for some seasons turn
out infinitely more advantageous than others, not
entirely arising from the numbers they obtain,
bat from their value, which increases not only
in proportion to their size, but also in their
figure and color; some are found of an oblong,
others nearly round ; some are white, others have
a yellowish shade; others are of a led color, and
some, though vere rarely, are met with as black
as jet.

2s?

324 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Peculiar habits — Characteristics.

SCALLOPS.

THE scallop has the power of progressive
motion upon land, and likewise of swimming on
the surface of the water. When this animal
happens to be deserted by the tide, it opens its
shell to the full extent, then shuts it with a
sudden jerk, by which it often rises five or six
inches from the ground : in this manner it tum-
bles forward till it regains the water. When the
sea is calm, troops or little fleets of scallops are
often swimming on the surface. They raise one
valve of their shell above the surface, which be-
comes a kind of sail, while the other remains on
the water, and answers the purpose of a keel by
steadying the animal, and thus preventing its
being overset. When an enemy approaches
they instantly shut their shells, plunge to the
bottom, and the whole fleet disappears. By
what means they are enabled to regain the sur-
face cannot be ascertained.

MUSCLES.

THIS tribe is distinguished by the shell being
bivalve, without any tooth in the hinge, but fn
having the hinge marked with a longitudinal
hollow line, and by the animal being generally
to some substance by a byssus, or silky

THE MUSCLE. S2.5

Mode of adherence — Instruments of motion.

beard. Some of the muscles penetrate into the
interior of calcareous rocks, where they reside
out of the reach of danger. Others adhere by
their beard to the exterior of rocks or stones;
and so very tenacious is their hold, that, in the
larger species, they cannot be separated without
considerable exertion. One species is gathered
from the depths of the sea, by divers trained for
the purpose, on account of the pearls that are
found within the shells. Of these the ancient
Romans were extravagantly fond.

.All the muscles have, for an instrument of
motion, a tongue or foot capable of considerable
elongation, and also of being shortened into the
form of a heart. This is marked with a longitu-
dinal furrow, and completely enveloped in a
sheath formed of transverse and circular fibres of
an obscure purple color. When the animal feels
inclined to change its place, it thrusts the foot
out of the shell, and raises itself on its edge ;
then, by reaching this to as great a distance as
it will extend, it uses it as a kind of arm, draw-
ing the body up to it, and thus it proceeds till it
has found a convenient situation. If the muscle
be inclined to make this its residence, the instru-
ment of its motion is now put to a very different
employment, in spinning those silky threads that
fix it firmly to the spot; and, like a ship at an-
chor, enables it to brave all the agitations of the
water. This it accomplishes by seizing with its

S26 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Common, or edible muscle.

point the gluten supplied by a gland situated
under its base, and drawing out, through the
furrow, into threads. When the muscle is thus
fixed, it lives upon the little earthy particles, or
upon the bodies of such smaller animals as the
water transports to its shells.

The common, or edible muscle, is found ad-
hering to rocks both in the European and Indian
seas, but it grows to a much greater size between
the tropics than northward. It abounds on the
British shores, being the most common of shell
fish, and is generally esteemed a rich and whole-
some food; but to some constitutions it often
occasions disorders, the symptoms of which are
great swellings, eruptions of blotches or pimples,
shortness of breath, convulsive motions, and
sometimes even delirium. This unwholesome
quality has been attributed to a small species of
crab that sometimes is found in the shells of the
muscle. It seems, however, not to have its seat
in any thing essential to the muscle ; for, when
accidents of this kind have happened, some per-
sons have been affected, and others have not,
•who have eaten at the same time, and at least in
equal quantity. The following remedy is recom-
mended for any illness occasioned by eating mus-
cles. Take two spoons-full of oil, and one of
lemon juice, (or, in want of this, about two of
vinegar,) which must be well shaken together,
and swallowed as soon as any of the symptoms
take place.

THE PAPER NAUTILUS,

Pearl muscle — Description.

The pearl muscle has a flattened and nearly
orbicular shell, about eight inches long, and
somewhat more in breadth. The color of the
exterior is very various, being in some indivi-
duals sea-green, in others chesnut, or even bloom,
color, with white rays, and sometimes whitish
with green rays. The young shells resemble
scallops, having ears as long as the shell. The
pearl is a calculus, or morbid concretion, which
is produced no-t only in this, but sometimes even
in the common oysters and muscles ; but in these
it is generally very small, and of little value.
It is found both in the body of the animal and
in the shells on the outside of the body. For
particulars relative to the fishery for pearls, see
our account of Oysters.

THE PAPER NAUTILUS, or ARGO-
NAUT.

THIS species, which is six or eight inches in
length, and but little either thicker or stronger
than paper, is found in the Mediterranean sea,
and in the Indian ocean. It is the famous nau-
tilus of the ancients, and is supposed, in the
early ages of society, to have furnished the ori-
ginal idea of navigation. When it means to
sail, it discharges a quantity of water from its
shell, by which it is rendered lighter than the
surrounding medium, and of course rises to the

.328 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Mode of sailing — Extraordinary sagacity.

surface. Here it extends two of its arms up-
ward, which are eacli furnished at their ex-
tremity with an oval membrane that serves as
a sail. The other six arms hang over the sides
of the shell, and supply the place either of oars
or rudder.

Multitudes of these curious animals may be
sometimes seen in some places, when the sea is
not agitated by winds, diverting themselves by
sailing about in this manner; but as soon as a
storm rises, or any thing gives them disturbance,
they retract their arms, take in as much water
as renders them somewhat heavier than that in
which they swim, and then sink to the bottom.
Several of them were observed by M. Le Vaillant
on the sea near the Cape of Good Hope ; and>
as he was desirous of obtaining perfect specimens
of the shells, he .sent some of his people into the
water to catch l hem; but, when the men had got
their hands witi'im a certain distance, they al-
ways instantly sank, and, with all the art that
could be employed, they were not able to lay
hold of a single one. The instinct of the animal
showed itself superior to all their subtilty ; and,
when their disappointed master called them away
from their attempts, they expressed themselves
not a little chagrined at being outwitted by a
shell fish.

The shell of al]l this tribe is univalve, spiral,
involute, and mecobranaceous, with only a single
cell.

THE BERNACLES. 329

Chambered, or pearly nautilus — Common, ami goose bernaclea.

The chambered, or pearly nautilus, belongs to
a different tribe, and bears very little resemblance
to the paper nautilus, (which, as before remarked,
is the real nautilus of the ancients,) either in its
construction or habits. This animal, if seen de-
tached from its shell, might be mistaken for an
eight-armed cuttle fish, the principal difference
consisting only in the shape of those arms that
are used as sails. •

BERNJCLES.

THE two shells of this tribe that are best
known are the common bernacle, which is found
adhering in vast numbers to rocks, and to oysters
and other shell fish, and the goose bernacle, so
well known from the fables, of its producing the
bernacle goose. (See vol. iii. p. 230.) The ani-
mals contained in these shells, (which are fixed
at the base, and consist of more than two unequal
and erect valves,) as well as in those of all the
other species, have twenty-four claws or tenla-
cula, all joined in pairs near the bottom, and
inserted in one common base. The twelve long-
est stand somewhat erect and arched, arising
from the back part of the animal; they appear
like so many yellow curled feathers, clear, horny,
and articulated ; every joint is furnished with
two rows of hair on the concave side. They are

VOL. v. — NO. 37. 2 T

330 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Claws, trunk or proboscis, mouth, &c.

of use in catching prey, and the animals are con-
tinually extending and contracting these arched
hairy claws, which serve as a net. The twelve
smallest are placed, six on each side, in front of
these : they are more pliable and more thickly
set with hairs than the others, and seem to per-
form the office of hands. The trunk, or pro-
boscis, rises from the middle of the base of the
larger claws, and is longer than any of them.
This the animal moves with great agility in any
direction ; it is tubular, transparent, and com-
posed of rings lessening gradually to the ex-
tremity, where it is surrounded with a circle
of small bristles, which are likewise movable.
Along the inside of this transparent proboscis
appears the spiral dark-colored tongue, which is
extended and contracted at pleasure. The mouth,
formed not unlike a contracted purse, is placed
in front between the smaller claws, within the
folds of which are six or eight horny lamina?, or
erect teeth ; under this lie the stomach, intes-
tines, and tendons, by which the animal adheres
to the shell.

The goose bernacles consist each of five shells.
They adhere in clusters to the bottoms of vessels

J

and old timber, by means of tubes that in ap-
pearance are like some of the corallines. See
vol. iii. p. 230— 2.'KJ.

THE DACTYLE PHOLAS. 331

General description.

THE PHOLAS.

THE animal herein contained is called an
ascidia, and has a shell of two valves, that open
widely at each end, with several lesser ones at
the hinge. The hinges are folded hack, and
united by a cartilage; and in the inside, beneath
the hinge, there is an incurved tooth.

The pholades perforate clay, spongy stones,
and wood, while very young ; and, as they in-
crease in size, they enlarge their habitation
within, and thus become imprisoned. They are
always found below high-water mark, and a
mass of rock may sometimes be seen wholly
perforated by them. They have two orifices or
openings capable of elongation in the manner of
a proboscis ; one of these is supposed to be the
mouth, and has the faculty of spouting water.
Most of them contain a phosphorescent liquor,
of great brilliancy in the dark, which also illu-
minates whatever it touches or happens to fall
upon.

THE DACTYLE PHOLAS.

THIS species has an oblong shell, marked
with somewhat spinous stripes. When full grown
it is about an inch and a quarter long, and near
five inches broad. It is of a whitish color, and,
2 T 2

332 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Extraordinary powers of penetration.

in external appearance, has a distant resemblance
to a muscle. It is found in the greatest quantity
at Ancona in Italy ; also along the shores of
Normandy and Poitou in France, and upon
some of the coasts of Scotland. It is highly
admired by the luxurious, who esteem it a great
delicacy.

The great powers of penetration of these ani-
mals, compared with their apparent imbecility,
have justly excited the astonishment of philoso-
phers and naturalists in all ages. When divested
of their shell they are roundish and soft, with
no instrument that seems in the least fitted for
boring into stones, which they are known to do,
or even for penetrating the softest substance.
They are, indeed, each furnished with two teeth,
but these are placed in such a situation as to be
incapable of touching the hollow surface of their
stony dwellings. They have also two corners to
their shells that open and shut at either end; but
these are totally unserviceable to them as miners.
The instrument with which they perform all their
operations, and by means of which they bury
themselves in the hardest rocks, is only a broad
fleshy substance, somewhat resembling a tongue,
that is seen issuing from, the bottom of the shell.
With this soft yielding instrument, while yet
young and small, they work their way into the
substance of the stone, and tlv^y enlarge their
apartment as their increasing size renders it ex-
pedient.

THE DACTYLE PHOLAS. 333

Its uncommon perseverance and patience.

Many philosophers, however, have been in-
duced to suppose, from the apparent unfitness
of this animal for penetrating into rocks, and
there forming a habitation, that they entered the
rock while it was yet in a soft state, and, from
the petrifying quality of the water, that the whole
rock afterward hardened round them by degrees.
This opinion, however, has been confuted in a
very satisfactory manner by Dr. Bohads, who
observed that many of the pillars of the temple
of Serapis at Puteoli were penetrated by these
animals ; whence he justly concludes that the
pholades must have pierced into them after they
were erected ; for no workman would have la-
bored a pillar into form, if it had been honey-
combed by worms in the quarry. In short,
there can be no doubt but that the pillars were
perfectly sound when erected, and that these
animals attacked them during the time in which
they continued buried under water, from the
earthquake that swallowed up the city.

Hence the pholades afford a wonderful in-
stance of perseverance and patience. Furnished
with the bluntest and softest augre, by slow suc-
cessive applications, it effects what other aijimals
are incapable of performing by force, penetrating
the hardest bodies only with its tongue. When,
while yet very small, it has effected an entrance
and buried its body in the stone, it there con-
tinues for life at its ease; the sea water that
enters at the little aperture supplying it with

334 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Slow motion — Immured state.

luxurious plenty. Upon this seemingly thin diet
it by degrees grows larger and larger, and soon
finds itsflf under the necessity of increasing the
dimensions of its habitation and its shell.

The motion of the animal is remarkably slow;
its progress keeps pace with the growth of its
body ; and, in proportion as k becomes larger, it
makes its way farther into the rock. When it
has got a certain way in, it then turns from its
former direction and hollows downward ; till, at
last, when its habitation is completed, the whole
apartment resembles the bowl of a tobacco-pipe;
the hole in the shank being that by which the
animal entered. Thus immured, it lives in dark-
ness, indolence, and plenty; it never removes
from the narrow mansion into which it has
penetrated, and seems perfectly content with
being inclosed in its own sepulchre.

Notwithstanding the pholas is thus shut up, it
is not so solitary as might naturally be supposed,
for though it is immured in its hole, without
egress, when grown to a great size, and incapa-
ble to get out by the way it made to get in, yet
many of this kind often meet in the heart of the
rock, and sometimes above twenty are discovered
within a few inches of each other.

THE RAZOR FISH.

Description — Peculiar motions.

THE RAZOR FISH.

THE shells of these fish are bivalve, oblong,
in shape somewhat resembling the handle of a
razor, and open at both ends. The hinge has
a small and sharp reflected tooth, sometimes
double, not inserted into the opposite valve.
The animals are similar to the pholades.

Several of the bivalved shell fish have the
power of performing a progressive or retrogade
motion, by an instrument that has some resem-
blance to a leg or foot, and called the tongue ;
but the razor fish can, at pleasure, make this
assume almost every kind of form, as their exi-
gences require. By this tongue they are not
only enabled to creep, to sink into the mud, or
disengage themselves from it, but to perform a
motion which no one could suppose was practi-
cable for shell fish.

All the species of razor fish are incapable of
progressive motion on the surface ; but they dig
a hole or cell in the sand, sometimes two feet in
depth, in which they can ascend or descend at
pleasure. The instrument, or tongue, by which
they perform all their motions, is situated at the
centre. It is fleshy, cylindrical, and tolerably
long. When necessary, the animals can make
the termination of the tongue assume the form
of a ball. The razor fish, when lying on the
surface of the sand, and about to sink into it,

336 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Dextrous motions — Aversion to salt.

extends its tongue from the inferior end of the
shell, and makes the extremity of it take the
form of a shovel, sharp on each side, and termi-
nating in a point: with this instrument the ani-
mal cuts a hole in the sand. After the hole is
made, it advances the tongue still farther into
the sand, makes it assume the form of a hook,
and with this hook, as a fulcrum, it obliges the
shell to descend into the hole. In this manner
the animal operates till the shell totally disappears.
When it chuses to regain the surface," it puts the
termination of the tongue into the shape of a ball,
and makes an effort to extend the whole tongue,
but the ball prevents any farther descent, and
the muscular effort necessarily pushes the shell
upward till it reaches the surface or top of the
hole. It is amazing with what dexterity and
quickness these seemingly awkward motions are
performed.

Notwithstanding the razor fish lives in salt
water, it has a most remarkable aversion to salt.
Should a little be thrown into the hole, the ani-
mal instantly quits its habitation. But it is still
more remarkable, that if the animal be once
seized with the hand, and afterwards allowed to
retire into its cell, salt will then be strewed in
vain, for the fish will never again make its ap-
pearance. If it be not handled, by applying
salt the animal may be made to come to the
surface as often as a person pleases, and fisher-
men often make use of this stratagem. This

THE CRAB. 337

Description.

conduct indicates more sagacity than could be
expected from an animal of this low order.

CRABS.

CRABS have in general eight legs, (some,
however, have six or ten,) besides two large
claws, which serve the purposes of hands. They
have two eyes, situated on tubercles projecting
from the head, and movable in any direction.
When the extremities of these are viewed with a
glass, they are found to be composed of a multi-
tude of lenses, like the eyes of insects. For a
sense of touch they are furnished with antennae,
and palpi, or feelers. They have likewise a heart,
with arterial and veinous vessels, and branchiae,
or gills for respiration. Their jaws are trans-
verse, strong, and numerous ; and the stomach
is furnished with internal teeth.

These animals regularly cast their shell once a
year. This is a process that occupies some time,
and seems to be attended with much pain. Du-
ring the operation, and for a little while after-
ward, their skins are soft, in consequence of
which multitudes of them are devoured by aqua-
tic animals, now stronger than themselves. At
this time those calcareous concretions, vulgarly
called crab's eyes, are found in their stomachs.
When any of thg claws are broken off they are
reproduced.

VOL. v. — NO. 21. 2 u

338 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

General food — Manners.

Crabs live chiefly in the sea; some, however,
inhabit the fresh water, and a few live in a great
measure on land. They feed variously on aqua-
tic or marine plants, small fish, molluscae, or
dead bodies. The females carry their ova under
their tail, which, for that purpose, in many of
the species, is much broader than that of the
males.

The land, or violet crabs, are natives of the
Bahamas, and of most of the other islands be-
tween the tropics. They are in shape somewhat
like the black-clawed crab, and the largest mea-
sures about six inches from the body. They
vary in color, but are commonly of a blackish
•violet; some are entirely black, others red, and
others variegated. They are distinguished from
other species of crabs by having the joint of the
leg spinous, and the second or third furnished
with tufts of hair.

Some are poisonous ; and several people have
died of eating the crabs, particularly of the black
kind. The light-colored are reckoned best, and
when in full flesh, are very well tasted. In some
of the sugar islands they are eat without danger,
and no small help to the negro slaves, who, on
many of these islands, would fare very badly
without them.

These crabs live in the clefts of rocks, the
hollows of trees, or in holes which they dig for
themselves in the mountains. About the months
of April and May in every year, they descend in

THE LAND CRATJ. 339

Regularity of their processions.

a body of some millions at a time to the sea-
coast, in order to deposit their spawn, and at this
season the whole ground seems alive with them.
They march in a direct line to their place of
destination, and are said seldom to turn out of
their way on account of intervening obstacles;
even if they meet with a lofty wall or a house,
they will attempt to scale it; if they arrive at a
river, they wind along the course of the stream,
In their procession they are generally divided
into three battalions, and observe all the regu-
larity of an army under the guidance of an expe-
rienced commander. The first of these consists
of the strongest males, which march forward to
clear the route, and face the greatest dangers.
The main body is composed of females, which
are sometimes formed into columns fifty or sixty
yards broad, and three miles deep. The first
division is often obliged to halt from want of
rain, and the females never come from the
mountains till the rains have set in for some time.
Three or four days after these, the rear-guard
follows, a straggling undisciplined tribe, consist-
ing of males and females, but neither so robust
nor so vigorous as the former.

Their marches take place chiefly in the night,
but if it rain during the day, they always profit by
it. When the sun is hot they invariably halt till
the evening. When terrified they run back in a
confused and disorderly manner, holding up and
clattering their nippers with a threatening atti-
2 u <2

340 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Preparations for spawning.

tude ; and if they are suffered to catch hold of
the hand they will sometimes tear off a piece of
the skin. If in their journey any one of their
body is so maimed as to be incapable of pro-
ceeding, some of them always fall upon and
devour it. They march very slowly, being
sometimes three months or upward in gaining
the shore.

On their arrival at the coast they prepare to
cast their spawn ; for which purpose they go to
the edge of the water, and suffer the waves
to wash twice or thrice over their bodies. They
then withdraw to seek a lodging upon land. In
the mean time the spawn is excluded in a bunch
from ,the body, and adheres to the under parts
of the tail. This bunch becomes as large as a
hen's egg, and exactly resembles the roe of a
herring. In this state they again, for the last
time, seek the shore, and shaking off the spawn
into the water, leave it to the waters, and the
heat of the sun, to be brought to maturity.
About two thirds of the eggs are devoured by
the shoals of fish which annually frequent the
shores in expectation of this prey. Those that
escape are hatched under the sand ; and, not
long after this, millions of the little crabs may
be seen quitting the shore, and slowly travelling
up to the mountains.

On their return the old ones are feeble, lean,
and so inactive, that they are scarcely able to
crawl along, and their flesh at this time changes

THE LAND CRAB.. 341

Curious operation of casting their shells.

its color. Many of them are obliged to continue
in the level parts of the country till they recover,
making holes in the earth which they block up
with leaves and dirt. In these they cast their
old shells, which they leave, as it were, quite
whole, the place where they opened on the belly
being unseen : at that time they are quite naked,
and almost without motion for six days together,
when they become so fat as to be delicious food.
They have then under their stomachs four large
white stones, which gradually decrease in pro-
portion as the shell hardens, and, when they
come to perfection, are not to be found. It is
at that time that the animal is seen slowly
making its way back ; and all this is most com-
monly performed in the space of six weeks.

These crabs subsist on vegetables, and, except
when impelled by the desire of bringing forth
their young, seldom venture from their moun-
tainous retreats. At this season the inhabitants
of the islands where they are found wait in eager
expectation for their descent, and destroy some
thousands of them ; they disregard the bodies,
and take only the spawn that lies on each side
of the stomach within the shell, about the thick-
ness of a man's thumb. The animals are, much
more valuable for eating on their return, after
they have cast their shells. They are taken in
the holes ; and also sought for by night, when
when on their journey, by flambeaux. The in-
stant the crabs perceive themselves attacked,

549 NATURALISTS CABINET.

How canght — Dr. Darwin's remarks;

they throw themselves on their back, and with
their claws pinch most dreadfully whatever they
happen to fasten on ; but the dextrous crab-
catcher seizes them by the hinder legs in such
a manner that the nippers cannot touch him.
They are also caught in their holes by the sea
side, by so fixing a stick as to prevent their
escaping, and soon afterwards the tide enters the
holes, and the animals are drowned. Wafer says
that the inhabitants of some of the Caribbee
islands, when they have caught them, put them
for three days into a piece of potatoe ground,
in order to render them more firm, and better
eating.

The black-clawed, or eatable crab, is found on
the rocky coasts both of Europe and India ; and
is the same that is introduced to our tables, being
in greater esteem as food than many others of
the tribe. These animals are remarkable for their
changing their shells and broken claws. The
former is done once a year, and that usually
between Christmas and Easter. During the
operation they retire among the cavities of rocks
and under great stones ; and Dr. Darwin says,
(from the authority of a friend who had Leeu
engaged in surveying the sea coasts,) that a hard-
shelled crab always stands sentinel to prevent the
sea insects from injuring the rest in their defence-
less state; and that, from his appearance, the
fishermen know where to find the soft ones, which
they use for baits in catching fish ; adding that.

THE BLACK-CLAWED CRAB. 343

Sagacity — Changing shells.

though the hard-shelled crab, when he is on his
dut}r, advances boldly to meet the foe, and will
with difficulty quit the field, yet at other times
he shews great timidity, and is very expeditious
in effecting his escape ; if, however, he be often
interrupted, he will pretend death, like the spi-
der, and' watch an opportunity to sink himself
into the sand, keeping only his eyes above. In
the under part of the shell a crescent-formed
suture may be observed, which opens at the cast-
ing of the shell, and leaves a space sufficient for
drawing out the whole body; the thorax soon
after drops its breast-plate, and then the legs
quit their crustaceous coverings. The body is
now only enveloped in a soft skin, not unlike wet
parchment; and the animal is so helpless, as for
a while to be incapable of motion, but lies be-
tween the rocks till it has acquired sufficient
strength and hardness to bear the weight of its
body, and convey itself from place to place to
perform its usual functions. The old shell is left
in two divisions, one that covered the body, and
the other that inclosed the legs. Dr. Darwin
asserts that the stomach and intestines are also
cast with the skin, and that the first food the
animal takes after recovering its strength is the
old stomach. It sometimes happens that the
shell hardens prematurely, and fixes the animal
a prisoner in his crevice, for fishermen have
often found them thus immured. When crabs
are out of health they do not change their shells

344 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Curious observation — Irascibility.

regularly, the old shells always remaining till
they have recovered their proper strength and
vigor.

The fishermen, when they take a crah that i*
not in good condition, return it to the sea, and
sometimes mark it on the back with a sharp-
pointed instrument, or the end of a knife; and it
is very surprising that this mark may not only he
seen to remain on the old shell, but that it is
also found impressed on the subsequent new one.
These men also say that, when crabs have had
their shells marked, and been carried out to the
distance of two or three miles, and thrown among
others, they will always find their way back
again : this the men have often observed by
catching them in their former haunts.

These animals are naturally very quarrelsome,
and frequently have serious contests by means of
of those formidable weapons, their great claws.
With these they lay hold of their adversary's
legs, and wherever they seize it is not easy to
make them forego their hold. They frequently
retain some part of the leg or limb as a token of
victory.

In order to prove the extreme tenacious dis-
position of the crab, a fisherman, in the presence
of Mr. Collinson made, by irritation, a crab seize
one of its own small claws with a large one. The
foolish creature did not distinguish that it was it-
self the aggressor, but exerted its strength, and
soon cracked the shell of the small claw. Feeling

frHB HERMIT fcilAS.

Entertaining manners.

itself wounded, it cast off the piece in the usual
place, but continued to retain the hold with the
great claw for a long time afterward.

It is asserted by fishermen that the crab will
live confined in a pot or basket for several
months, without any other food than what is
collected from the sea water, and that even in
this situation it will not decrease in weight*

The hermit> or soldier crab, another species, is
Usually about four inches long* It has no shell
behind, but is covered down to the tail with a
rough skin, terminating in a point* It is armed
with two strong hard nippers before, one of
which is as thick as a man's thumb, and so
strong as to be capable of inflicting a very severe
wound. Having no shell to any part but its nip-
pers, this animal supplies by art what is denied
to it by nature; for, taking possession of the de-
serted shell of some other animal, it occupies
that till, by becoming too large for its habitation,
it is under the necessity of changing it,

It is highly entertaining to observe this ani-
mal in some countries busily parading the sea
shore, along that line of pebbles and shells which
is formed by the farthest wave ; still, however,
dragging its old incommodious habitation at its
tail, unwilling to part with one shell, even though
a troublesome appendage, till it can meet whk
another more convenient. It stops first at one
shell, turns it, passes by; then goes to another,
contemplates that for a while, and, slipping its

VOL. v. — NO. 37. 2 x

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Mutual combats — Sand crab.

tail from the old habitation, tries on the new.
This also is found inconvenient, and it quickly
resumes the old one. In this manner it frequent-
ly changes, till at length it finds one light, roomy,
and commodious. To this it adheres, though the
shell be sometimes so large as to hide both the
creature's body and claws.

Many trials and combats, however, are some-
times sustained by this crab, before he is thus
completely equipped; for there is often aeon-
test between two of them for some favorite shell,
to which they are rivals. They both endeavor
to take possession ; striking with their claw, and
biting each other till the weakest is compelled to
yield. The victor then takes possession, and in
his new acquisition parades backward and for-
ward on the strand before his envious antago-
nist.

This animal, whenever caught, emits a faint
rry, but pinches forcibly with its claws; nor is
there any mode of getting disengaged from
these but by either breaking them off or heating
the shell. It feeds on fish and insects. It is
called the hermit, from the idea of its retiring
into a cell ; and the soldier, from its dwelling in
a tent.

The sand-crab is but of a small size ; its color
light brown or dusky white. It has eight legs
and two claws, one of which is double the size
of the other : these claws serve both to defend
and feed themselves \\ith. The head has t\vo

THE CRAB. S47

Red-mottled crab — Rough-shelled crab.

square holes, which 'are receptacles for its eyes,
out of which it thrusts them and draws them in
again at pleasure. Their abode is only on the
sandy shores of Flathera, and many other of the
Bahama islands. They run very fast, and retreat
from danger into little holes they make in the
sand.

The red mottled crab has a round body; the
legs longer and larger than in other kinds; the
claws red, except which, the whole is mottled in
a beautiful manner with red and white. These
crabs inhabit the rocks hanging over the sea;
they are the nimblest of all others, and run with,
surprising agility along the upright side of a
rock, and even under the rocks that hang hori-
zontally below the water. This they are often
necessitated to do for escaping the assaults of
rapacious birds that pursue them. These crabs
never go to land, but frequent mostly those parts
of the promontories and islands of rocks in and
near the sea, where by the continual and violent
agitation of the waves against the roeks they are
always wet, continually receiving the spray of
the sea, which often washes them into it ; but
they instantly return to the rock again, not being
able to live under water, and yet requiring more
of that element than any of the crustaceous kinds
that are not fish.

The rough-shelled crabs are pretty large, an4
are commonly taken from the bottom of the sea

348 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

The red-clawed, pea, and common crabs.

in shallow water; the legs are small in proportion
to the body ; the two claws are remarkably large
and flat. The whole shell is covered over with
Innumerable little tubercles like shagreen ; the
color is brown, variously stained with purple.

The red-clawed crab is of a small size and
brown color; it has two claws of unequal big-
ness, red at the ends, and eight legs, which seem
of less use to them than in other crabs, for when
on the ground they crawl -with a slow pace,
dragging their bodies along ; but they are most-
ly seen grasping with their claws, and hanging
to some sea plant, or other marine substance.

The pea crab has a round, smooth thorax, en-
tire and blunt; its tail is of the size of the body,
which commonly is the bulk of a pea. It inha-
bits the muscle, and has unjustly acquired the re-
pute of being poisonous. The swelling after
eating of muscles is wholly constitutional ; for
one that is affected by it, hundreds remain un-
injured. Crabs either of this kind, or allied to
them, the ancients believed to have been the
consentaneous inmates of the pinna, and other
bivalves, which being too stupid to perceive the
approach of their prey, were warned of it by
their vigilant friend.

The common crab has three notches on the
front; five serrated teeth on each side; the claws
elevated; the next joint toothed; the hind feet
tubulated ^ the color a dirty green, but red

THE COMMON LOBSTEK. 34§

Velvet crab — Horrid crab.

boiled. It inhabits all our shores, and lurks un-
der the algae, or burrows under the sand. It is
sold, and eaten by the poor of our capitals.

The velvet crab has the thorax quinqueden-
tated ; the body is covered with short, brown,
velvet-like pile, and the claws with minute tuber-
cles ; there are small spines round the top of the
second joint; the hind legs are broadly ovated.
This is among the species taken notice of by
Aristotle on account of the broad feet, which, he
says, assist them in swimming, as web feet do
the water fowl. It inhabits the western coast of
Anglesea.

The horrid crab has a projecting, bifurcated
snout, the end diverging; the body is heart-
shaped ; and the claws and legs covered with
long and very sharp spines. It is a large species,
and inhabits the rocks on the eastern coasts of
Scotland.

LOBSTERS.

THE common lobster has a smooth thorax,
short serrated snout, very long antennas, and
between them two shorter ones; bifid clans,
and fangs large, the greater tuberculated, the
lesser serrated on the inner edge; four pair
of legs, six joints in the tail ; tail-fins round-
ed. The pincers of one of the lobster's
large claws are furnished with knobs, and those

350 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Annual operation of casting their shells.

of the other are always serrated. With the for-
mer it keeps firm hold of the stalks of submarine
plants, and with the latter it cuts and minces its
food very dexterously. The knobbed, or numb
claw, as the fishermen call it, is sometimes on
the right, and sometimes on the left side indiffer-
ently. It is more dangerous to be seized by
them wtith the cutting claw than the other ; but,
in either case, the quickest way to get disengaged
from the creature is to pull off its claw.

Like the rest of their tribe, they annually cast
their shells. Previously to their putting off the
old one, they appear sick, languid, and restless.
They acquire an entirely new covering in a few
days; but during the time that they remain de-
fenceless they seek some lonely place, lest they
should be attacked and devoured by such of their
brethren as are not in the same weak situation.
At the same time that they cast their shell they
change also their stomach and intestines.

In casting their shells, it is difficult to con^
ceive how the lobsters are able to draw the fish
of their large claws out, leaving the shells of
these entire, and attached to the shell of their
bodv, in which state they are constantly found.
The fishermen say that, previously to the opera-
tion, the lobster pines away till the fish in its
large claw is no thicker than the quill of a goose,
which enables it to draw its parts through the
joints and narrow passage near the trunk. The
pew shell is membranaceons at first, but it

THE COMMON LOBSTER. 851

How and where caught — Extremely prolific.

dens by degrees. Lobsters only grow in size
while their shells are in their soft state.

These animals are found on most of the rocky
coasts of Great Britain. Some are caught with
the hand, but the greater quantity in pots; a
sort of trap formed of twigs, and baited with
garbage. These are formed like a wire mouse-
trap, so that when the lobster gets in, there is no
return. They are fastened to a cord sunk into
the sea, and their place is marked by a buoy.
They are caught in such plenty on the coast
"of Northumberland, that, about the year l?6y,
the sum paid for the annual exports from New-
biggin and Newton by the sea, (exclusive of
those from Holy Island, which produce annually
a very considerable sum,) amounted to near
1500/. This circumstance was stated by John
Creswell, Esq. of Creswell, who for many years
had made the payments for them from one fish-
monger in London, on whose account all the
most valuable fish from the coast of Northum-
berland were shipped.

Lobsters are extremely prolific ; Dr. Baster
counted i 2,444 eggs under the tail of a female
lobster, besides those that remained in the body
unprotruded. They deposit these eggs in the
sand, where they are soon hatched. The female,
or hen lobster, does not cast her shell the same
year that she deposits her ova, or, in the
common phrase, is in berry. When the ova
first appear under her tail, they are small,, and

352 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Of the ova when deposited.

extremely black; but they come in succession
almost as large as ripe elder-berries before they
are deposited, and turn of a dark brown color,
especially towards the end of the time of her de-
positing them. They continue full, and deposit-
ing the ova in constant succession, as long as
any of that black substance can be found in
their body, which, when boiled, turns of a beau-
tiful red color, and is called their coral. Hen-
lobsters are found in berry at all times of the
year, but chiefly in winter. It is a common
mistake, that a berried hen is always in perfec-
tion for the table : when her berries appear large
and brownish, she will always be found exhaust-
ed, watery, and poor. Though the ova be cast
at all times of the year, they seem only to come
to life during the warm summer months of July
and August. Great numbers of them may then
be found, under the appearance of tad-poles,
swimming about the little pools left by the tide
among the rocks, and many also under their
proper form from half an inch to four inches in
length.

Lobsters, like some of the crabs, are said to
be attached to particular parts of the sea. They
are able to run nimbly upon their legs or small
claws in the water, and if alarmed they can
spring, tail foremost, to a surprising distance,
almost as swiftly as a bird can fly. The fisher-
men can see them pass about thirty feet, and,
by the swiftness of their motion, it is supposed

THE COMMON LOBSTER. 353

Agility — Claws lost by sudden noise.

that they may go much farther. When fright-
ened, they will spring from a considerable dis-
tance to their hold in the rock ; and, what is not
less surprising than true, will throw themselves
into their hold in that manner, through an en-
trance barely sufficient for their bodies to pass,
as is frequently seen by the people who endea-
vor to catch them at Filey Bridge, near Scarbo-
rough.

At thunder claps, or on the sound of cannon,
lobsters absolutely lose their claws, and the fish-
ermen are often jestingly threatened with a salute
by the sailors. The restoration of claws thus lost
may always be observed, for these never again
grow to their former size. When the claws of
lobsters become inconvenient from being by any
mean§ injured, they always break them off.

However different in figure the lobster and
crab may seem, their manners and conformation
are nearly the same. Though devoid of red blood
circulating through their veins, or any warmth
in their bodies, they possess all the voracity of
the finny tribe, and whatever they seize upon,
that has life, is sure to perish, though ever so
well defended ; they even devour each other,
and in some measure may be said to feed upon
themselves, as the old stomach which they cast
upon changing their shell is generally the first
morsel that serves to glut the new.

As soon as the offspring of these creatures
leave their parents, they immediately seek for

VOL. V. — NO. 38. 2 Y

3.54 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Manners oi' young lobsters.

refuge in the smallest clefts of rocks, and in such
like crevices at the bottom of the sea, where the
entrance is but small, and the opening can be
easily defended. There, without seeming to take
any food, they grow larger in a few weeks time,
from the mere accidental substances which the
water washes to their retreats. By this time also
they acquire an hard, firm shell, which furnishes
them with both offensive and defensive armour ;
they then begin to issue from their fortresses,
.and boldly creep along the bottom in hopes of
meeting with more diminutive plunder: the
spawn of fish, the smaller animals of their own
species, but chiefly the worms that keep at the
bottom of the sea, supply them with plenty.
They keep in this manner close among the rocks,
busily employed in scratching up the sand for
worms, or surprising such heedless animals as full
within their reach, and leading a life of security,
except from each other; for, like other fish, the
largest are the most formidable of all enemies to
the stnall.

The operation of changing the shell is not only
very painful, but also very dangerous, for many
of them die under it. For some days previous
to the change the animal becomes torpid and
motionless ; just before casting its shell it throws
itself upon its back, strikes its claws against each
other, and every limb seems to tremble; its feel-
ers are agitated, and the whole body in violent
motion; it then swells to a great degree; the

THE COMMON LOBSTER. 355

Sutc of imbecility when changing their shell.

shell opens first at the junctures of the belly, and
by a similar operation it is discharged of its claws,
and in a short time the creature is at liberty, but
so weak that it continues for some time motion-
less, possessing the softness and timidity of a
worm, and they fall a prey by hundreds to the
dog fish, the cod, and the ray. This state of im-
becility, however, remains for a short time, and
when the lobster is completely equipped in its
new shell, it will appear to have increased above
a third in its size; and we are astonished how
the deserted shell could have contained so large
an animal as that which entirely fills up the
new.

It is supposed, in order to account for the
speedy growth of the shell, that the lobster pos-
sesses in itself a fluid of a petrifying quality; but
this is, in fact, only explaining one mystery by
another. Who can forbear exclaiming, in the
words of Goldsmith, " let us pause a little, to
reflect on the wonders this extraordinary crea-
ture otters to our imagination ! an animal with-
out bones on the inside, yet furnished with a
stomach capable of digesting the hardest sub-
stances, the shells of muscles, of oysters, and
even its own ; an animal gaining a new stomach
and a new shell at stated intervals ; furnished
with the instruments of generation double in
both sexes, and yet with an apparent incapacity
of uniting ! Without red blood circulating through
the body, and yet apparently vigorous and ac-
2 Y 2

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Plated lobster — Atam ditto. — Flea ditto.

tivc! But most strange of all, an animal endow-
ed with a vital principle that furnishes such limbs
as have been cut away, and keeps continually
combating, though in constant repair, to renew
its engagements ! Yet these are but a small part
of the wonders of the deep, where Nature sports
without a spectator."

The plated lobster has a pyramidal, spiny
snout; the thorax elegantly plated, each plate
being marked near its junction with short striae ;
the claws much longer than the body, thick,
echinated, and tuberculated ; the upper fang tri-
fied ; only three spiny legs on their sides, and the
tail broad. The largest of this species is about
six inches long. It inhabits the coasts of Angle-
sea, under stones and fuci. It is very active,
and, if taken, flaps its tail against the body with
much violence and noise.

The atam lobster has a slender body; filiform
antennae ; three pair of legs near the head, be-
hind which are two pair of oval vesicular ; beyond
are three pair of legs, and a slender tail between
the last pair. It is very minute, and the help
of the microscope is often necessary for its in-
spection.

The flea lob«ter has five pair of legs, and two
claws imperfect, with twelve joints of the body.
It is very common in fountains and rivulets ;
swims very swiftly in an incurvated posture on
its back ; embraces and protects its young be-
tween its legs, but does not leap.

THE CRAW FISH.

Description — NutriiueiUa) in consumptions.

The locust lobster has tour antenna;; two pair
of imperfect claws, the first joint ovated; the
body consists of fourteen joints, in which it dif-
fers from the former. It abounds in summer on
the shores beneath stones and algsc, and leap*
about with vast agility.

THE CRAW FISH,

ANOTHER species of lobsters, has a project-
ing snout, slightly serrated on the sides; a smooth
thorax; the back is smooth, with two small spines
on each side; the claws large, beset with small
tubercles ; the two first pair of legs clawed, the
two next fubulated ; the tail consists of five
joints, and the caudal fins are rounded.

The flesh of the craw fish is cooling, moisten-
ing, and adapted to nourish such as labor under
consumptions. Though they are variously dressed,
yet no parts of them are eatable except their
claws and tails. Soups are frequently made of
them, which are rendered still more medicinal
by the addition of herbs, snails, or other sub-
stances, according to the intention of the physi-
cian. The flv'sh is accounted best in the summer
months ; bu^ the delicate flavor of these fish de-
pends in a g/eat measure on their food. When
they have w^ll-tasted food, their flesh preserves
the relish f>f it; but when they feed on other
fhingiv, ttfey are flfteu rendered of no value

NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Where found — Various food.

by the flavor communicated to their flesh by
them.

There are great quantities of these fish in the
river Obra, on the borders of Silesia; but the
people find them scarcely eatable, because of a
bitter aromatic flavor, very disagreeable in food.
It has lately been observed, that the calamus
aromaticus STOWS in vast abundance on the banks

O

of that river, and that these creatures feed very
greedily upon its roots. These have a very re-
markable bitterness mixed with their aromatic
flavor, while fresh, which goes oft' very much
in the drying; and on comparing the taste of
these roots with that of the craw fish, there re-
mains no doubt of the one being owing to the
other.

They also abound in the river Don, in Mus-
covy, where they are laid in heaps to putrify,
after which the stones called crabs eyes are pick-
ed out. These animals are very greedy of flesh,
and flock in great numbers about carcases
thrown into the water where they are, and never
leave them while any remains; they also feed
on dead frogs when they come in their way. In
Switzerland there are some craw fish which are
red when they are alive, and others blueisb.
Some kinds of them also will never become red
even by boiling, but continue blackish.

The craw fish discharges itself of its stomach,
and, as Geoffrey thinks, of its intestines too.
These, as they putrify arrtf dissolve, serve for

THE CRAW FISH. 359

Capable of acquiring new claws.

food to the animal; during the time of the refor-
mation, the old stomach seems to be the first
food that the new one digests.

In the breaking of the claw of the common
craw fish, it has been observed that, in about
a day or two after the piece is cast off, a red
membrane, not unlike a bit of red clotb, closes
up the aperture. This is at first plain, but, in
the course of four or five days, it assumes a
convexity, which gradually augments till it takes
the appearance of a small cone, of about a line
in height. It continues, however, to stretch out,
and in ten days it is sometimes more than three
lines, or about a quarter of an inch high. It is
not hollow, but filled with flesh, and this flesh
is the basis or rudiment of a new claw. The
membrane that covers the flesh performs the
same office to the young claw as the membranes
do the foetus of the larger animals. It extends
in proportion as the animal grows ; and, as it is
tolerably thick, we can perceive nothing but a
lengthened cone. When fifteen days are elapsed,
this cone inclines toward the head of the animal.
Jn a few days more its curvature increases, and
it begins to assume the appearance of a dead
claw. This claw, though at the end of a month
or five weeks it has acquired the length of six
or seven lines, which is more than half an inch,
is still incapable of action. The membrane in
which it is inclosed becoming gradually thinner
in proportion as it extends, gives an opportunity

36O NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Extraordinary reproduction — I low taken.

of observing the parts of the claw, and it is
then plain that this conical substance is not a
simple congeries of flesh. The moment is now
arrived when the claw begins to be brought
forth ; the membrane at last bursts, and the new-
claw, though still soft, appears without incum-
b ranee or investment. In a few days more it is
covered with a shell, and, though still delicate,
and not the half of its former length, it is able
to perform all the natural functions. It has
likewise been discovered that, whether the claw
lias been lopped oft' at the fourth aiticulation,
or any where else, the animal in a short time
recovers all that it had lost. The same reproduc-
tion takes place also in the horns ; but, if the tail
is cut oft, the animal survives a few days only.

Craw fish are found in many of our rivers,
lodged in holes which they form in the clayey
banks; and their presence is generally esteemed
an evidence of the goodness of the water. They
are frequently taken by means of sticks split-at
the end, with a bait inserted in the cleft, and
Ktuck in the mud at the distance of a lew feet
from each other. These sticks, after remaining
some time, are taken up, generally with an ani-
mal adhering to each. They are gently drawn
out of the mud, and a basket is put under them
to receive the animals which always drop off
when brought to the surface of the water..

THR SUILLA.

Descriptions.

THE PRAWN.

PRAWNS Jiave a, long serrated snout, bend-
ing upwards ; three pair of very long filiform
feelers j claws small, furnished with two fangs ;
smooth thorax ; five joints to the tail ; middle
caudal fin subulated, two outmost flat and round-
ed. It is frequent in several shores among loose
stones ; sometimes found at sea, and taken on the
surface over thirty fathoms depth of water ; cine-
reous when fresh, and of a fine red when boiled. '

f\i<n'.ili:n '}•?!•>

- ' ' • .~ ~ '...,<;- .i'jilf

•

THE SHRIMP.

SHRIMPS possess long slender feelers, and
between them two projective laminae ; the claws
have a single - hooked movable fang; they
have three pair of legs; seven joints in the tail;
the middle caudal fin subulated, the four others-
round and fringed; a spine on the exterior side
of each of the outmost. These animals inhabit
the shores of Britain in vast quantities, and are
the most delicious of the genus.
''•'

THE SQUILLA.

THIS has a snout like a prawn, but deeper
and thinner; the feelers longer in proportion/ to*
VOL. v. — NO. 58. & &

NATURALISTS CABINET.

Turbinated shell fish.

the bulk; the sub-caudal fins rather larger. This
animal is, at full growth, not above the bulk of
the shrimp.

The squilla inhabits the coast of Kent, and it
sold in London under the name of the white
shrimp, as it assumes that color when boiled.

SNJILS.

IN searching into the history of the turbi-
nated shell fish, or those of the snail kind, we
are naturally led to bring forward at the head of
them the garden snail, as one whose peculiarities
it has been more easy to develope, than those
who are perfectly of a similar form and nature,
but whose residence is chiefly at the bottom of
the deep. Indeed these, as well as crabs, lob-
sters, shrimps, prawns, &c. are ranked as insects
by our most celebrated naturalists; but as such
are by the fishmongers considered as fish, we
have thought proper to conclude this volume
with an account of shell fish in general.

The snail, to the mere transient observer, ap-
pears to be little more than a lump of inactive
matter, loaded with a crustaceous covering, and
totally insensible to all the objects with which
it is surrounded ; but, upon a more close inspec-
tion, it will be found to be possessed of every
faculty that can be possibly requisite for the life
it is formed to lead ; that its organs of life are
furnished in as ample a manner as are to be

THE SNAIL.

Common and peculiar qualities.

found ill any animal of the largest dimensions;

that it has a tongue, brain, salival ducts, glands,

nerves, stomach, and intestines ; also liver, heart,

and blood vessels, with a purple bag that sup-

plies a red matter to different parts of the body,

together with strong muscles that hold it to tbe

shell, and which are hardened like tendons at

their insertion. Thus far, it may be said to pos-

sess qualities in common with other animals ;

but, besides these, it has several peculiarities;

the most striking of which is the having its eyes

placed on the points of the largest horns. When

the snail is in motion four horns are plainly seen,

the two topmost considerably bigger than the

others, and at the extremities of those are the

two eyes, which appear like bright black spots;

they are of a bulbous figure, have but one coat,

and three humors which are common in the 63-68

of other animals, namely, the vitreous, aqueous,

and crystalline, are in these very indistinctly

seen. The animal possesses the power of direct-

ing its eyes to any object it will, and to preserve

them from injury, can instantaneously contract

them under the belly. Under the small horns is

situated the mouth, and although the idea of

teeth may appear inconsistent with an animal of

such soft substance, it nevertheless possesses no

less than eight, with which it is enabled to de-

vour leaves, and many other substances seeming*

Jy harder than itself; indeed, upon particular

occasions, it will even bite off pieces of its own

1 55 3

5(54 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Both male and fehialc — Young snails.

shell with them. The next peculiar quality is
that of their being both male and female, and
that while it impregnates another, is capable o'f
being impregnated itself.

At the expiration of eighteen days they pro-
duce their eggs, which they hide with great
caution and industry under the earth. These
eggs are round, white, and covered with a soft

: shell ; they 'produce them in very great numbers',
and they are stuck together by a kind of slime,
not in a thick bu'nch, but rather, as it has been,
said, like a bunch of grapes. On quitting the

.egg, the animal has a' very small shell on its
ba«k, with only orie convolution ; this very soon
enlarges, and the circles increase with the growth
of the animal; never, however, exceeding fot/r
rounds and a half in the garden snail, though
there are sea snails which sometimes have no
less than ten. The first circle remains in its ori*
ginal state, and the animal always adds to the
shell at the mouth which it increases as it grows
in size, and until it is sufficiently large to contain,
its whole body.

Snails are possessed not only of a power rif
retreating into their shell, but of mending it
when broken. Sometimes these animals are
crushed seemingly to pieces, and to all appear-
ance utterly destroyed ; yet still they set theni-

-selves to work, and in a few days mend all their
numerous breaches. The same substance by
which the shell is originally made, goes to the

^

THE SNAIL. 36.5

General food — Locomotive faculty — Tenacious of life.

re-establishment of the ruined habitation. The
shell thus mended has a mottled appearance, all
the new pieces being much whiter than the old
fabric.

These animals are very voracious; they chiefly
subsist upon the leaves of plants and trees, but
are very delicate in their choice. At the ap-
proach of winter they bury themselves in the
earth, or retire to some hole, to continue in a
torpid state during the severity of the season.

Their locomotive faculty is by means of that
broad muscular skin which commonly projects
round the mouth of the shell ; this they put out
as far as they are able, and then, by a kind of
contraction, draw the shell after ; besides this,
they have a great advantage from the slime with
which they are so copiously furnished; this they
constantly emit whenever they move, and which
not only smooths their way, but enables them
also to ascend or descend trees in search of food,
or wherever their inclinations direct them.

These animals are remarkably tenacious of
life ; they have been known to revive after hav-
ing lain in a cabinet fifteen years; and, what is
more extraordinary, though a basin of them has
been filled with boiling water, and when that was
poured off the basin rilled again with more hot
water, the next morning they have been seen
crawling about, some on the edge of the basin,
some on the table, and others eating !

3(>6 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Water snails — Esculent snail.

There are about fifteen kinds of the sea snails,
eight of the freshwater snail, and five of the
land snail, all of which bear a strong resem-
blance to the garden snail. The water snails,
however, both river or sea, are found in some
things to differ very materially. In the first
place, all snails which live in water are furnished
by nature with a contrivance that enables them
either to rise to the surface, or sink to the
bottom of the water ; this is performed by open-
ing and shutting the orifice on the right side of
the neck, which is supplied with muscles for that
purpose. The snail sometimes gathers this aper-
ture into an oblong tube, and stretches it above
the surface of the water, in order to draw in or
expel the water, as it finds occasion ; by dilating
it this animal rises, and by compressing it sinks
to the bottom. Some are also found viviparous,
while others lay eggs in the usual manner ; and
the former not only bring forth their young
alive, but with their shells upon their backs ;
which, strange as it may appear, has been in-
contestibly proved by an experiment of Swam-
merdarn.

Among the Romans the esculent snail consti-
tuted a favorite dish ; but, according to Varro's
account, who says that the shells of some of them
would hold ten quarts, they had it of a size infi-
nitely larger than any now known.

THE TROCHtlS. 36?

Description. — Enemy to all the shelly tribe.

THE TROCHUS,

WHICH is commonly considered of the snail
species, has no mouth whatever, but simply a
kind of trunk, which, in proportion to the size
of the animal, is very long; this trunk is fleshy,
muscular, supple, and hollow; its extremity is
bordered with a cartilage, and toothed like a
saw. These snails are a predatory species, and
Very justly been stated to be among the shelly
tribe, what the tiger, eagle, and shark are to
beasts, birds, and fish. The whole race of shelled
animals, with every possible means, endeavor to
avoid their approach, conscious, as it were, that
whatever may be their size, their destruction is
inevitable, as the strongest covering is not proof
against the power of this rapacious enemy. The
shell is very thick, and the animal very clumsily
formed, yet it proceeds with greater swiftness
than almost any other shell fish, seizing its prey
with astonishing facility, and scarcely ever suf-
fering the object it once has in pursuit to escape.
Having once closed on the shell, however thick,
it almost instantaneously penetrates with its
augur-like trunk. Thus fixed, all efforts to
escape on the part of the other is entirely use-
less ; if it expand, and come to the surface, the
trochus comes up also; and if it plunge to the
bottom, the fell destroyer still maintains its hold.

S68 NATURALIST'S CABINET.

Voracity.

In this manner it will adhere, until with its
trunk it has sucked all the substance of the other
fish, even for days and weeks ; nor ever quit its
prey until it has so done, unless the other begins
to putrify.

END OF VOL. V.

INDEX.

A *as*

ADAMSON, his remarks on whales - - - 32
Anchovy, the ...... 270

Anderson, Mr. on the fidelity of whales - - - 34

• . . on eels - * . _ jgi

• •. . on mackrel . 333
Ambergris, where found - . - - 46

strange imitation of . _ .49
Argonaut. See Paper Nautilus.

Aristotle, erroneous assertions by - - . . ^94

• . his account of a thunny - 039

B

Bacon's remarks on the longevity of fish - . -27

Barbel, the, coarseness of - . . _ _ jg^

- description of - ... jgj
. • . different sizes of . j. ^32

. how angled for . . . j<j£

Bastard, the, description of - . i 237

• voracity of - . ibid
Beluga, the, description of - - . . - 58
Bernacles, description of - - 323

. goose - - . S30

Bingley, Rev. Mr. his observations on haddocks - . 209

Bleak, the, description of - . 147

. . mad - - _ 4. . . J45

Bloch, Dr. his remarks on barbel - ... 133

• . .on carp - - . - 1 '_'•

VOL. T. B

INDEX.

Past

Bloch, Dr. his remarks on dog fish - - i«5

on fire flares • • 94

. . on fifteen spined sticklebacks - 289

on herrings - - 253

. . . .on salmon trout ... 173

Borsale, Dr. his account of the pilchard fishery - - 266
. saw a smnM -pecies of cetaceous fish, which he

calls lliornbacks - - - 53

Boulker's account of a large pike . 176

Buffon's remarks on carp ..... 121

Buthemus, the, description of - - 78

Cachalot, the, description of - - , 43

its food - . • • 48

Carp, the, description of - - - - 119

, . destroyed by the frog .... 130

. . mode ul latUning .... 123

. . quick growth of - ' - - - - 721

remarkable lor longevity ... is>g

. . subject to two diseases .... 129

. . various sizes of - • - - .120

wonderful stories of • • • 122

Carp-ponds ..... l<j6

Catesbj's remarks on the leaping of sturgeons - - 73

.... their fecundity - • 75

Centriscus, the, ...... iOO

Ceiti, M on the thunny ..... 2S9

Chcetodon, the, description of 270

the beaked - • • • ib.

. delicacy of its flesh - 281

..... its remarkable mode of taking its prey 280

Chub, the, description of - - 140

its haunts, &c. ..... 141

Cod, the, description of - - - - 204

. . fecundity of ... 208

. . how taken by the natives of Norway - - 207

INDEX.

Pag9

Cod, the, principal fisheries for - • « 205

Coney fish - .... i()Q

Coryphceua, the, description qf - * - 151

esteemed only for its beauty - 152

Crabs - - - 337

. black-clawed or eatable .... 342

. . common - - 348

. . hermit or soldier ..... 345

. horrid ...... 349

. . land or violet ..... 333

.... operation of their casting their shells - 311

.... preoarations for spawning - - 340

.... their regular marches - - 339

. pea -...-.- 348

. . . red-coloured - - » • ib.

. . red mottled -.---- 347

. . rough shel'ed - - *• - - ib.

. . sand ...... 346

. velvet f 349

Crawfish, the, - - " : - 357

. . . capable of acquiring new claws - - 359

. . food of - - . ; 358

.how taken, &c. • • - 360

Cuttle fish ....... 302

emit an inky fluid - 5 • ' •• .1 - 304

their power of adherence ... 303

eight-armed - .... 305

. . officinal - • - - - ib.

D

Dab, the, description of . . . . 034,

Dace or Dare, description of - . • 142

. exceedingly prolific - . - 143
Dactyle phoias. See Phoias.

Daniel, Rev. Mr. his remarks on carp ... jgo

Darwin, Dr. his observations on crabs ... 343

Dog fish, the, spotted .... 105

B2

INDEX.

Page

Bogfisb, the spotted, tlieir voracity and tenaciousness of life 106

Dolphin, the, description of - 50

. . its voracity, activity, &C. r 51

. . . revered by the ancients - r - ib.

. . . ridiculous fables of r - -52

Dorado, the, description of - - 293

Doree, the, description of - - r - 290

Dragonet, the, description of - 313

. . . gemiueous - - - - ib.
. . . sordid .... 315f

Dream, the, description of • •- - -145

. . where found, &c. r r - 146

E

Eel, the black T - - - 185

. . the common - - - - 1 80

.... destructive to ducks - 183

.... remarkable migrations of - 182

.... tenacious of life - - 184

. . the electric or numbing - - - 186

described by Dr. Garden 187 — 19O

• •••.. wonderful properties of - 191

. • the sand - - - - 185

. . silver - - - - ib.

Father Lasher, the, description of - Sll

. . . . its voracity, &c. - - 312

Finfish - 37

Fireflare, the, description of 93

. . . singular property of its spine - 94

Fis-h, general description of - - - -3

. . acute signt of - - -« 16

. . manner of their dying - - 28

. . rapid motion of • -. - 4

, . remarkable for longevity - - 2f

INDEX,

fish, solitary or gregarious - -

, . their brains - - !•

, . their sense of feeling - -

.... hearing - -

. . , smelling- -

.... tasting - -

. . their stomachs, guts, &c. -

teeth - - f

-f . voracity and fruitfulness of

. . utility of their air-bladder -

.... fins - •

. gills -

.... lens -

. tail - .

Five-spined coney fish •, *

flounder, the, description of *

'Fly ing fish

f . capable of flying and swimming
. . persecuted by both fish and birds

great -

slender - -

Forster, J. R. his remarks on carp -
Franklin, Dr. his opinion on sounds corroborated
, . . successful experiment by -

Garfish , T - * * 29T

Garden, Dr. on the electric eel - - 187

Gobio or river bull-head, Ihe ... 149

Gold-fish - - - - 111

. how kept • - 114,116

. their beautiful colours ... 112

... fruitfulness - - i - 1 17

. . . manner of moving - • -115

Goldsmith, Dr. his story of a whale and her cub - - 35

. . . . . of a shark and a woman - 63

t . . his remarks on pearl fishery - - 321.

INDEX.

Graham, his successful mode of taking salmon
Grampus, the, description of
. . .its agility , food, ferocity, &c.
Gravcsend, Mr. on the electric eel
Grayling, the, description of

how angled for .

Gronovius on the electric eel .

Grosier on gold-iish - -

Gudgeon, live ...
Gurnard or gurnet, the -

. the flying
.... the grey -

. the red - -

.... the sapphirine .
Gymnotus. See Eel, electric.

H

Pag*
iw

56
57
192
2()2
203
193

118
1-19
'299
301
o' 0
ib,
301

2ft9

Haddock, the, description of

Hawkins, Sir John, story communicated to him of the carp - 1^2

Hawkshee, experiim-n .s l>y - - - 7

Hepselus, the, ... - 212

Herring, the ... 250

. astonishing fecundity of - - - 251

... exposed to persecution ... 257

; . . how preserved by the Scotch - - 264

. . . migrations of - - - - 252

. visits of 256

•

. . the empty .... <?55

.full - - - - ib.

. . . virgin - - • ib<

Herring fisheries, British - - - - 263

Herring oil, of great importance to Sweden - - 261
Herring, great trade in, carried on both now and formerly 259, 260
Holibut, the - - 218,222

Horamel, M. on the choctodon - - 280
Jlughes's account of a valiant seaman who revenged the

deatli of a comrade that was devoured by a shark - 66

INDEX.

Page

Hunter, J. observations by . . : .25

. . his remarks on the electric eel . .199

on the torpedo . . 85

Huso, the, description of . . .73

I and J

Jackson, Mr. observations by . « .79

Ingenhouse, Dr. his experiments . . .91
Ingram on the electric eel .... 192

Isinglass, art of making . . . .78

K

Kite fish 275

Klein on barbels . 133

Lamprey, the, description of . . . 226

. . . esteemed by the ancients . . 227

female, her attention to her brood . . 229

. . . peculiar adhesion of . . . 230

short-lived . . . . S31
Lasher. See Father Lasher.

Leuwenhoek on herrings « . . 254

Loach, the, description of .... 210

where found ... - 211

Lobsters . . . ' . 349

. . how and where taken . . . 351

* . lose their claws by sudden noise . . 353
. . mode and pain of casting their shells . 350, 354

. ova of . . , . 352

. . atam ..... 356

* . flea . . . . ib.
. . locust ..... 357

. plated . . . . .356

Long file fish . . . . .107

. tarious species of ... IQQ
3

INDEX.

Ptgt

torinzini on the torpedo. . .89*

Lovat, Lord, his whimsical experiments on salmon . 153

M

Mackrcl, description of 4 f . 231

. . emit a phosphoric light . . . . 233

. . fond cf human flesh . . / 235

varieties and different sizes of « . 232

the horse. See Bastard.

Mackrel-fishery . . . < .23*

Magellan, Mr. his remarks on the electric eel . . 200

Martin on whales . . . * .34

Maton, Dr. l.is remarks on the pilchard fishery . . 267
Mortimer, Dr. on the Opah .... 291

Mullet, the, description of . . . .215

.. . . esteemed by the ancients . . .216

. . . how angled for . . < . 217

lluller on the dragonet t 314

Munro, Dr. facts communicated by . . 10

. . . experiments by . . . 19, 21
Musalto on the lamprey .... 228

Musales, description of . . . 324

. . their manner of adherence and motion . . 325

, . common or edible „ . 326

. pearl . . . . .527

Musculus, the . . • . .38

N

Narwliale, the, description of * . .38

Nautilus. See Paper Nautilus

ifeedle-fish, description of . . 4 . 297

o

Old wife, the .
Opah, the, description of

INDEX.

Pcrft

Cpah, its brilliant appearance . . . 293

Ostraceon ..... 100

Oysters . . . . .317

. edible ..... 318
'. . pearl . . . . .321

Oyster fishery . . . .319

Paper nautilus or argonaut, the, description of . . 327
• .... its mode of sailing, &c. . 3251

• • • • • «. chambered or pearly . 329
Pearl fisheries . . . 521
Pennant's remarks on sharks . 61, 65
. . . on angel sharks . . . . 1 05
. . on barbels . . . .132

on carps . . . .148

• ? on the dorado . . . . 293
. . on the dragoaet . . . .314
. . on fireflares • . . 9.j, 96
. . on flounders .... 225
. . on smells . . . •. . 21.'>
. . extract from . . . .160
Perch, the, description of . . . . 2 16

. great diversion for the angler . . 248

. . voracity and usual weight of . 247

. . singular deformed variety of . . 249

Pholas, the, description of . . . . 381

' . the dactyle . . . . ib.

. . its powers of penetration . . . 332

. . % its slow motion . ; . . 33-4

Pike, the, description of . . .174

dreaded by all fish . , .173

, . good sport for the angler . . .179

, . its voracity . . . .175

. remarkable longevity of . . . 177

Pike-headed whale . . . . ."8

Pilchard, the, description of ... 265

VOL. Y. C

INDEX,

Pilchard fishery '...,. 266
Pipe fish ..... 298

• little . . . . . ib.

Plaise, description of . . . 223

Pontoppidan's remarks on the dragonet . . 314

. . . . .on salmon . , . 165

- . . . .on sturgeons . , .75

Porpesse, the, description of . . .53

. • . anciently a royal dish . . .55

. . . feeds on smaller fish . . .54

how taken by the natives of Canada . ib.

. . . .value of . . .56.

. . . violent in pursuit of its prey . . 54;

Prawn, the .... ,. 36\
3?rickleback. See Stickltback.

Ray, electric. See Torpedo.

. . prickly. See Thornback.

• • rough . . , ; : 97

. . sting. Sec Firfflare,

Bay fish . . . , . 9a

Razor fish . . . . . 535

. . their aversion to salt . . . 336

Rheaumur's remarks on ihe torpedo . , .88

Richer's account of the electric eel . . ±9
Roach ...... 143

. . its simplicity, &c. . . , .144

Salmon . . , . , •» ; 155

. averse to carrion and any thing red . . 1 1>5*

, - . e;.>i!j alarmed . . . .159

, . how (Ti-berved . , . .164

, . long voyages of . . . 158

, their extraordinary leaps ... , 154,

INDEX.

Page

Salmon, troubled with insects . -. t l.W

. wonderful sensibility of . . . 156

Salmon fisheries in Ireland . . . .161

in Norway . 163

in Scotland . , . .161

on the Tweed . . . 160

Salmon hunting ..... 162

Salmon trout . . . . .172

. attain a considerable size . . . 173

. capable of emitting light . •. . ib.

Scad. See Bustard.

Scallops ..... 324

Scorpeo, the . . '. . .149

Sea-adder, the . . . . 298

Sea horse, the . . . . .109

. . .its singular figure . . . 11()

Sea-orb, the . . . •. .99

. . . abhorrent figure of . . . 10$

. varieties of . . . lOO

Sea-urchins ..... 308

. their contractile powers . . .310

. manner of moving . . . 309

Sea-wolf, the ..... 294

. its food, &c. . . , . 296

Shad, tlia ..... 268

Severn ..... 269

Thames . : . . ib.

Shark, the, description of ; , .59

destroyed with great difficulty . .62

how taken by English sailors . .61

its formidable teeth and malignant aspect . 60

. its love of human flesh . . .61

tenacious of life . . . 63

. . angel, description of . , .103

.... where found, &c. . . . 104

. the basking, description of . .69

. . .its food . . .70

, its rapid motion when wounded . 71

'

INDEX.

ftogi

Shark, the bine, description of '. . 64

. . white . ' . . .

. . . Aid. Watson's leg tore off by one .

one killed by a valiant seaman . .

Shooting-fish. See Chxtodon.

Shrimp, the ..... 361

Silver-fish. See Goldfish.

Skate, description of . . .97

Smejt or sparling, description of . . 21$

.... various sizes of . . . 214

Snails . . . . . x 362

. locomotive faculty of . . 365

. . peculiar qualities of . . . . 363

. . esculent ..... 366*
. . water . , . . . ib.

„ , young ..... 36-i
Sole, the, description of . • . . 221

Spermaceti, first discovery of . . .44s

Sprat, the . » . 263

Squilla, the ..... 361

Star-fish or sea-star, the .... 305
. . . ; their powers of re-production •' . 306

. . . .the aborescent . . . 307

their extraordinary mode

of catching their prey ib.

Sterlet, the, description of . . .77

Stickleback, the, three-spined . . . 23-1

..'.... enemies to other fish . $85

numerous in the river Welland 287

. the ten-spined .... 288
. . . the fifteen-spined or great . . ib.

Sturgeon, the, description of . . .72

. . . caught in nets . . .74

. . . fecundity of . . . .75

. . . how killed by Indians . . .74

. .' . bow pickled in Holland, &c. . • 76

its propensity for leaping . . 73

Sucking-fish . . 27fi

INDEX.

Pagt

Sucking-fish, the, fabulous notions of . . . '277

. . . its power of adherence . . it>.

.... used for catching fish . . QT8

Sword-fish, the . . . . ./SWi

. . the Indian or broad- finned . . . ib.

« • . coifiVsts between it and (lie whale . . '^S.'J

. . extraordinary accounts of . . 282, 'J83

Tench, description of . . . 1S5

. esteemed by some and despised by others . 13<5

. . singular1 one taken at Thornville Royal . .137

. supposed properties of its slime . . ib.

Thoruback or prickly ray, the, description of . , %

Thornbacks, so called by Dr. Borsale . . .53
Thornton, Col. caught by trolling/the largest pike ever known' 179

Thuifhy, the, description of . . . . 2:>8

. . . eaten both ffesh and pickled . . 245
. . . how taken .... 241

, . . thnid, though formidable in appearnnce . 244

. . . tormented by an insect . . . 239

. . voyages of . . . « 240

Tlmnny fisheries . . . . . Q4t

Torpedo, the, description of . • . 8*

. . . extraordinary toporific quality of . . 87

. . .its baneful powers , . . .91
. . . painful sensations arising from the touch of . 10

. . . remarks on its toporific quality . gy, 8i>

Trochus, the, description of . . . . 367

•. .its voracity .... 3fft

Trout, the, description of . . . 16(>

. . . peculiar variety of . . . 16(7

supposed turn of its existence . . Io3

Tull, Mr. his mode of fattening carp . . . 128

Turbot, description of . . . .218

• . general bait for . . » . 2,0

INDEX.

Page

Burbot, how taken off the Yorkshire coast . . 219

l"waite, the, description of . . . . 269

u

tJnicorn, the, description of . » * . 107"
Urchins. See Sea-urchins.

w

Walsh, Mr. experiments by . . . x 92i

» . his remarks on the electric eel ' . 200

Whale, the, description of . . 4 31

4 . . enemies to . . .37

. 4 . female, her attention to her young . . 35

4 • . how cut up i . . .41

4 4 .its beautiful colours . . 3-j.

* . . strength of its broad and semi-lunar tail . 35

. . . value of . . . .42

t . . where the whalebone is placed . . 33

Whale fishery . < . . .40
Whale, pike-headed. See Pike-headed whale.

Wrhales, young, called shortheads while sucking . 36

called stunts when two years old . ib.

White-bait, a species of small fhh . . . 148
Whiting, the, description of ... 210

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