FATHER-LASHER. 81 



apertures; yet of them it is said (tome iv. p. 159), " Ces 

 chaboisseaux vivent tres long-terns hors cle 1'eau." 



Of fishes with large gill-apertures it is said, in the same 

 work (tome i. p. 519), that they die, " non pas faute 

 d'oxigene, mais parce que leurs branchies se dessechent ;" 

 and of the Herring, that they die the instant they are taken 

 out of the water. But may it not be objected to this view, 

 that desiccation of the gills could not take place in so short 

 an interval of time, and therefore could not be the cause of 

 death ? Dr. Monro calculated that the surface of the gills 

 in a large Skate was equal in extent to the whole surface of 

 the body of a man ; yet, with this extent of surface exposed 

 to the effects of desiccation, the different species of Skate are 

 remarkable for the length of time they are able to sustain 

 life after they are removed from water. Of fishes with small 

 gill-apertures, our common Loche, Cobites fluviatilis, and 

 our most common species of the genus Callionymns, both 

 die quickly. The Father-Lasher, with its large gill-aperture, 

 will live a long time out of water, as has been already no- 

 ticed ; yet, when taken out of the sea, if put into fresh water, 

 it dies instantly.* The reverse of desiccation takes place in 

 this instance : the gills are bathed with a fluid containing 

 more oxygen than sea-water, and which also yields that oxy- 

 gen much easier, yet death happens immediately. In this 

 last instance it may be inferred that the fish, unable sud- 

 denly to accommodate its respiratory organs to fluids of such 

 different densities as those of pure sea and fresh water, the 

 blood is imperfectly aerated, the brain is affected, convul- 

 sions ensue, and, if not released, it soon dies ; and, from the 

 previous examples, may we not conclude that the power of 

 fishes to sustain life for a time, when taken out of water, 

 must be referred to a principle of internal organization, and 

 is independent of the size of the gill-aperture. 



* London's Magazine of Natural History, vol. ii. p. 217 and 218. 

 VOL. I. G 



