LESSON XIII.-CARTILAGINOUS FISHES CONTINUED.
[Sturgeon, Chimæra, Ray, and Lamprey Families.]

STURGEON AND CHIMERA FAMILIES.-1. Common Sturgeon of the Atlantic, Acipenser sturio. 2. Northern Chimæra, Chimæra monstrosa. 3. American Lake Sturgeon, Acipenser rubicundus.

1. Or the Sturgeon family, the best known are the common sturgeon of the Atlantic, usually found in rivers which flow into the sea, and the fresh-water sturgeon found in the large lakes of North America. The fish of this family, like the sharks, are at once known by their long and angular body, which is defended by rows of large bony plates of a pyramidal form, with the apex pointed. In England and France the sturgeon was formerly regarded as a royal fish-that is, the property of the crown. The flesh is firm and compact, tasting somewhat like veal. The sturgeon seeks its food chiefly at the bottom of rivers, plowing up the mud with its long snout as a hog does the ground. It often does much damage by getting entangled in the nets of the fishermen, but is otherwise harmless.

2. The chimæras, or sea-monsters, which are rare fish, are remarkable for the singularity of their appearance, which gives as much the idea of a reptile as of a fish. The rays, or skates, which are still more remarkable in appearance, may be considered the flat fishes of the cartilaginous order. With few exceptions they are wholly marine fishes. Most of them have the pectoral fins so largely developed that they extend entirely around the head and body, to which they give a disklike form; the tail is slender, and the dorsal fins, when present, are generally remarkably small, and placed far back on the body.

3. The eyes of the rays are placed on the upper surface;

THE RAY FAMILY.-1. Common Torpedo, Torpedo vulgaris. 2. Many-spined Trygon, Trygon histrix. 3. Thornback Ray, Raia clavata. 4. Angel-fish, or Monk-fish, Aquatina angelus. 5. Eagle Ray, or Whip Ray, Myliobatis aquila.

but the mouth, nostrils, and branchial openings-the latter usually five in number, and arranged like those of the sharks -are on the under surface. The tail is usually covered with rows of spines, and in several species is additionally armed with a hard bony weapon in the shape of a long-headed lance. It is supposed that this weapon falls off at certain intervalsperhaps annually, to be replaced by another. The South Sea Islanders sometimes use it as a point to their arrows and spears; and the natives of Guiana are said to use the barbs of the fresh-water species of that country for the same purpose.

4. Although most of the members of the Ray and Skate family are only from one to three and four feet in length, yet some species, especially those of the horned or banksian ray, which are more familiarly known to sailors as sea devils or ocean vampires, attain to enormous dimensions. In the horned ray, the pectoral fins, instead of entirely embracing the head, are each prolonged considerably in front, so as to present the appearance of two horns; and the eyes are inserted on the circumference, not within it.

5. This fish, which usually lies concealed at the bottom of the sea, is said to have been found of such weight that seven yoke of oxen were required to draw it ashore. Voyagers report having seen it thirty or forty feet in length. Colonel

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Hamilton Smith relates that he once witnessed the destruction of a soldier by one of these immense rays, off the island of Trinidad. It appears that the soldier wished to desert, and, being a good swimmer, he had jumped into the sea from the vessel, which then lay at anchor near the entrance of the harbor. The circumstance occurred soon after daylight, and the man, being alarmed by the call of a sailor up aloft, endeavored to return to the ship; but the monster fish threw one of his fins over him, and he was never seen 'more.

6. In the Natural History of the State of New York we find it stated that this fish has been known "to seize the cable of a small vessel at anchor, and draw the vessel several miles with great velocity." The writer, Mr. De Kay, says: "An instance of this kind was related to me by a credible witness, as having occurred in the harbor of Charleston. A schooner lying at anchor was suddenly seen moving across the harbor with great rapidity, impelled by some unknown and mysterious power. Upon approaching the opposite shore, its course was changed so suddenly as nearly to capsize the vessel, when it again crossed the harbor with its former velocity, and the same scene was repeated when it reached the shore. These mysterious flights across the harbor were repeated several times, in the presence of hundreds of spectators." If this be a true fish story, even the Atlantic cable may have been torn from its moorings by some of these monsters of the deep.

7. Among the rays are a group of fish which possess electrical properties, and which are known as electric rays, or torpedoes. Although the torpedo is less powerfully electrical than the gymnotus or eel, it can benumb the arm of a person touching it; and this power it seems to exert at will, both as a means of defense and for the purpose of securing its prey. The angel-fish, or shark-ray, of which we have given a drawing, is classed by some among the sharks. It is more remarkable for the singularity of its form than for its beauty.

8. There is still another family of fishes of the cartilaginous division called Lampreys, resembling the eels in form. We have given drawings of several species. The sea-lamprey is esteemed by many as a delicious article of food. The lampreys occupy the lowest place, not only among fishes, but

THE LAMPREY FAMILY.-1. Glutinous Hag, or Myxine, Gastrobranchus cæcus. 2. The Pride, or Mud Lamprey, Ammocotes branchialis. 3. Common Lamprey, Pteromyzon marinus. 4. The Lancelot, Amphioxus lanceolatus.

among all vertebrated animals, showing the gradual approaches which one class of animals makes to another. Thus one species, the glutinous hag, is destitute of eyes. The lancelot, which has been classed among the lampreys, is the lowest link yet discovered in the scale of vertebrated life, as the skeleton is only a series of sacs, and there is a total want of brain, eye, and ear.

Here we close our description of the four great classes of vertebrate animals-mammalia, birds, reptiles, and fishes. In the sixth volume of this series we enter upon another great division of zoology-the Insect World-in which we shall find renewed evidence of that wisdom which has peopled every part of our globe with life adapted to the conditions for which it is destined. When we shall have arrived at those lowest links in the scale of animal life which connect the animal and vegetable kingdoms, we shall look with renewed interest upon the great whole. of animated nature; and as we trace upward, from the dividing line, a gradual elevation, until we arrive at the most intelligent of the brute animals, and there find the chain suddenly broken, we shall more fully realize the beauty of the Christian idea, that man belongs to an entirely different and immeasurably higher order of being, although perhaps the lowest in a series that rises upward-upward-through angelic hosts, until it takes hold of the throne of the ETERNAL.

LES. XIV.

-THE AQUARIA, OR DRAWING-ROOM FISH-PONDS.

1. DECIDEDLY the prettiest drawing-room ornament that has been invented of late years is the Aquarium, or ornamental fish-pond. This is usually a glass vessel, either circular or oblong, with a slate bottom, wooden or zinc pillars, and glass sides, and containing various kinds of sea-weed, fish, and marine animals of the lower organizations, all in the full vigor of life.

2. It is hard to say whether the process by which the present aquaria were developed, or that development itself, is the