34 PERC1DE. 



sionally, that in the month of August 1819, five thousand 

 were taken in one night in Weymouth Bay. 



Mr. Paget and his brother in their sketch of the Natural 

 History of Yarmouth and its neighbourhood, say, that in 

 some Mackerel seasons the Red Mullet is abundant, in 

 others scarcely seen ; ten thousand were sent from thence to 

 the London markets in one week during the month of May 

 1831. 



The Striped Red Mullet spawns in the spring, and the 

 young are five inches long by the end of October. The food 

 appears to be selected from among the softer cmstaceous and 

 molluscous animals. In connexion with their food and the 

 search made for it, the long cirri articulated to the under 

 jaw require to be noticed. These cirri are generally placed 

 near the mouth, and they are mostly found in those fishes 

 that are known to feed very near the bottom. On dissecting 

 these appendages in the Mullet, the common Cod, and 

 others, I found them to consist of an elongated and slender 

 flexible cartilage, invested by numerous longitudinal muscular 

 and nervous fibres, and covered by an extension of the com- 

 mon skin. The muscular apparatus is most apparent in the 

 Mullet, the nervous portion most conspicuous in the Cod. 

 These appendages are to them, I have no doubt, delicate 

 organs of touch, by which all the species provided with them 

 are enabled to ascertain, to a certain extent, the qualities of 

 the various substances with which they are brought in con- 

 tact, and are analogous in function to the beak, with its dis- 

 tribution of nerves, among certain wading and swimming 

 birds which probe for food beyond their sight ; and may be 

 considered another instance, among the many beautiful pro- 

 visions of Nature, by which, in the case of fishes feeding at 

 great depths, where light is deficient, compensation is made 

 for consequent imperfect vision. 



