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"Of carps and mullet why prefer the great,
Though cut in pieces ere my lord can eat,
Yet for small turbot such regard profess?

Because God made this large', the other less."

11. It has been truly remarked that mullets stand pre-eminent in the annals of human luxury, cruelty, and folly. In their feasts the Romans reveled over the dying surmullet, while the bright red color of health passed through various shades of purple, violet, blue, and white, as life gradually ebbed, and convulsions put an end to the admired spectacle. They put these devoted fish into crystal vessels filled with water, over a slow fire, upon their tables, and complacently regarded the lingering sufferings of their victims as the increasing heat gradually prepared them for their pampered1 appetites.

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12. Probably the changes which the blood underwent in the minute capillaries, as it was gradually deprived of its life-preserving oxygen, produced those varied hues which the poet has so well described:

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The

The striped red mullet, a beautiful fish of a pale pink color, but somewhat larger than the one known to the Romans, is found in considerable numbers on the English coasts. mullets, like the cod and some other fish which feed in deep water, are furnished with long feelers attached to the lower jaw, supposed to be delicate organs of touch, by which these fish are enabled to select their food on the muddy bottoms.

1 SAP'-ID, well-tasted; savory; palatable. 14 PAM'-PERED, fed to the full; glutted.
2 EP'-I-CURE, one who indulges in the luxu-5
ries of the table.

SES'-TERCE, a Roman coin, about four cents.

CAP'-IL-LA-RY, a small blood-vessel; see
Fourth Reader, p. 59, 60.

LES. IV. OTHER FAMILIES OF THE SPINE-RAYED FISHES.

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1. Mailed Gurnard, Peristedion malarmat. 2. Big Porgee, Pagrus argyrops. 3. Banded Ephippus, or Three-tailed Porgee, Ephippus faber. 4. The Sheepshead (famed for its exquisite flesh), Sargus ovis. 5. Streaked or Rock Gurnard, Trigla lineata. 6. Axillary Sea Bream, Pagellus acarne. 7. Bearded Umbrina, Umbrina vulgaris. (The Umbrina is given as the representative of the family of the Maigres, which includes our Weakfish, Corvinas, the Chub, King-fish, and the Drum, the latter noted for the loud drumming noise which it makes, and the cause of which is still a mystery.) 8. Common Mackerel, Scomber scomber.

1. Or the remaining numerous families of the spine-rayed division of fishes, most of which are represented in the accompanying illustrations, only a very brief description can here be given.

2. The Gurnards, or Mailedcheeks, which are abundant on our northern coasts, are a numerous family of marine fishes, which have received their common name from the growling or grunting noise which they make when sporting in the water, or when recently taken from it.

1. Ten- (or Nine-) spined Stickleback, The Sticklebacks-a division of Gasterosteus pungitiu 2. Four-spined the same family, so named from

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S., G. spinulosus. 3. Short-spined S.. G.

brachycentrus.

the spines which arm their backs

and fins are mostly small fishes, of from one to three inches in length, and very numerous both in fresh and salt water. They are exceedingly active and greedy, very destructive to small fish of other species, which they devour, and therefore very injurious in fish-ponds; and they also have furious contests with each other. The fifteen-spined stickleback, found on the English coasts, is noted for its nest-building propensities.* The following account of the fighting habits of the sticklebacks is given by a contributor to an English maga

zine:

3. "When a few are first turned into a large wooden vessel, they swim about, apparently exploring their new habitation. Suddenly one will take possession of a particular corner of the tub, or, as will sometimes happen, of the bottom, and will instantly commence an attack upon his companions; and if any one of them ventures to oppose his sway, a regular and most ferocious battle ensues: the two combatants swim round and round each other with the greatest rapidity, biting and endeavoring to pierce each other with their spines.

4. "I have witnessed a battle of this sort which lasted several minutes before either would give way; and when one does submit, imagination can hardly conceive the vindictive fury of the conqueror, who, in the most persevering and unrelenting way, chases his rival from one part of the tub to another, until fairly exhausted with fatigue. They also use their spines with such fatal effect, that, incredible as it may appear, I have seen one, during a battle, absolutely rip his opponent quite open, so that he sank to the bottom and died. I have occasionally known three or four parts of the tub taken possession of by as many little tyrants, who would guard their territories with the strictest vigilance; and the slightest invasion would invariably bring on a battle."

5. The tropical species of the large family of the "Scaly Fins," among which is included the New York porgee, are conspicuous for the extreme splendor of their coloring, which is thus spoken of by an eminent English naturalist, Dr. Hamilton:

"If," he remarks, "the feathered tribes of the equatorial regions are bedecked with the most brilliant and gorgeous hues, the neighboring oceans contain myriads of the finny race which in this respect excel them. Upon the group of the Chetodons, especially, Nature has most profusely lavished

*The fifteen-spined stickleback, a salt-water fish, often called the sea-adder, sometimes attains a length of six or seven inches. This fish deposits its spawn amid the fine growing sea-weed. Around the egg, which are of the size of small shot, it then gathers the branches, which it binds together in a compact mass with an exceedingly fine and tough elastic thread, which seems to be formed of some albuminous secretion. Other instances of this nest-building propensity are found in some Fifteen-spined Stickleback, nest and eggs. fresh-water fishes of Demerara, which not only construct nests of grass, but which also burrow in the banks of streams.

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these splendid ornaments. The purple of the iris,' the richness of the rose, the azure blue of the sky, the darkest velvet black, and many other hues, are seen commingled with metallic lustre over the pearly surface of this resplendent group, which, habitually frequenting the rocky shores at no great depth of water, are seen to sport in the sunbeams, as if to exhibit to advantage their gorgeous dress.

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6. "Several of the genera," farther remarks this writer, are moreover distinguished by an extraordinary habit of shooting their prey by projecting a liquid stream from their mouths. Thus the genus Chelmon contains a species six or eight inches in length, which, when it perceives a fly, or other winged insect, hovering near it, or settled on a twig, propels against it, with considerable force, a drop of liquid from its mouth, so as to drive it into the water.

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Long-beaked Chelmon, Chelmon longi

rostris.

7. "In attacking an insect at rest, it usually approaches cautiously, and very deliberately takes its aim. It is said to be an amusement with the Chinese in Java to keep this fish in confinement in a large vessel of water, that they may witness its dexterity. They fasten a fly, or other insect, to the side of the vessel, when the chelmon aims at it with such precision that it rarely misses its mark. The archer, again, belonging to another genus of this family, shoots his watery deluge to the height of three or four feet, and strikes almost without fail the insect at which it aims."

8. Although most fish soon die when taken out of their native element, yet some species are known to make their way over land from one piece of water to another; and, stranger still, there is one kind, a native of India, about the size and figure of a perch, and usually called the climbing perch, which has been known to climb bushes of considerable height. This it does by the aid of its long ventral fins, which it uses as feet. These fish are enabled to retain sufficient moisture to keep their gills moist and open for a considerable time; and it is well known that it is not the abundance of air, but the want of it, which kills fish when taken out of the water.

9. The Mackerel family, the most numerous of the bony fishes after the perches, includes more than three hundred species, mostly marine fish, crowding the surface of the ocean, especially in warm latitudes, and having an extensive range. Amid great diversities of size and form, extending from the little mackerel to the monster sword-fish, the numerous members of this family possess certain characters, such as very minute scales, and gill-covers without spines or notches, which give to the whole a family resemblance that is not easily mis

taken. The common mackerel is not only beautiful in form, but also, when seen in its native element, brilliant in coloring. (See cut, Fig. 8, p. 232.)

10. This family is one of the most useful to man, many of the species constituting excellent food, their size being considerable, and their reproduction enormous; and as they are brought periodically, by a wise provision of the Creator, from the depths of the ocean to shallow waters to deposit their eggs or spawn, they become the objects of highly valuable and inexhaustible fisheries. If the mackerel were dispersed over the immense surface of the deep, no effective fishery could be carried on; but, approaching the shore as they do from all directions, and roving along the coasts in immense shoals, millions are caught, which yet form a small portion compared with the myriads which escape.

11. The common tunny,* a large fish of the Mackerel family, often measuring ten or twelve feet in length, and sometimes weighing over a thousand pounds, is occasionally brought into the New York markets; but in the Mediterranean Sea the smaller species of this fish swarm at certain seasons of the year, and are taken in immense numbers. A favorite time for catching them seems to have been at the full of the moon, when, allured by the silvery light, they glide in great bands over the surface of the water. An ancient Greek poet thus alludes to their capture at this season:

"The nets have been thrown, and on careless fin

The moonlit tunnies will soon rush in."

The striped tunny, a smaller fish, is well known in Southern seas, where in great troops it pursues the flying-fish over the vast waters, as herds of wolves do the bison on our Western prairies.

12. The sword-fish,† another member of the great Mackerel family, usually measuring from eight or ten to eighteen feet in length, is an occasional frequenter of our waters. In 1840 the New York markets were abundantly supplied with this fish, whose flesh is preferred to halibut or sturgeon, which in flavor it somewhat resembles. The most striking feature in this fish is its long, sword-like muzzle, with finely-toothed edges, a powerful instrument which threatens every thing that approaches it. More than two thousand years ago the poet Sophocles thus alluded to it:

"What Fury, say, artificer2 of ill,

Armed thee, O Xiphias,3 with thy pointed bill ?"

* See engraving, page 237. ·

† See the representation of this fish (Xiphias gladius), page 237.

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