MAIGRE. 107 



its usual purring sort of noise. A second specimen was taken 

 in a seine-net, at Start Bay, on the south coast of Devon, in 

 August 1823, as communicated to the Zoological Society by 

 the Rev. Robert Holdsworth. In September 1834, I saw a 

 fine specimen, five feet two inches long, in the collection of 

 Mr. John Hancock, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which had 

 been taken on the coast of Northumberland, and preserved 

 by himself ; since that time I have seen five fresh specimens, 

 four of which were brought to the London market, and I 

 have heard of four others ; these were taken along the line of 

 our southern coast, where they are sometimes called Stone 

 Basse, and occasionally confounded with the fishes described 

 at pages 8 and 19. Part of the flesh of these specimens was 

 eaten by several persons, and by all reported to be good, par- 

 ticularly by those who prepared their portions by stewing. 

 When plain boiled only, it was rather dry and tasteless. 

 The two hard bones usually found just within the sides of 

 the head in fishes are larger in proportion in the Maigre than 

 in any other fish, and were supposed, the older writers say, to 

 possess medicinal virtues. According to Belon, they were 

 called colick-stones, and were worn on the neck, mounted in 

 gold, to secure the possessor against this painful malady : to 

 be quite effectual, it was pretended that the wearer must have 

 received them as a gift ; if they had been purchased, they had 

 neither preventive nor curative power. These ear-bones are 

 well represented by Klein, tab. 4, D. D. 



The Maigre is seldom taken less than three feet, and some- 

 times as much as six feet, in length. It possesses many of 

 the internal characters of some of the Percidee, and has very 

 much the general external appearance of a large Basse. It 

 differs, however, in having the tongue and the whole of the 

 roof of the mouth quite smooth. The head is also shorter, 

 and more rounded in form than that of the Basse. The 

 mouth is furnished with one row of distinctly separated teeth 



