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H-ARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE-GO S S 1 P. 



it will be interesting to observe whether he will be 

 as chivalrous as the representatives of his race 

 spoken of in the paper to which we have alluded. 

 These conjoined ventrals appear to be quiescent 

 when their proprietor is swimming horizontally, 

 but they are in great requisition when, by a 

 succession of upward leaps, reminding one of 

 the rising lark, he brings himself to the surface 

 of the water: on these occasions they seem 

 to be sharply contracted and flattened in, so as to 

 throw a little column of water downwards. 



The Blennies, Gobies, and Dragonets, though 

 placed in the same family, Gobiadce, by some writers, 

 are really three distinct groups. These can never be 

 mistaken for each other by anybody versed in ichthy- 

 ology ; but as we gossip for the young, and for those 

 who are not blessed with extensive libraries, and as 

 both Gobies and Blennies are commonly found to- 

 gether in the same tidepool, we do not hesitate to 

 point out their distinctive characteristics. The 

 Gobies may be known at once by the union of the 

 ventral fins, and they have two distinct dorsals; 

 while the Blennies have but one dorsal. This being 

 bilobate in some species, may be mistaken for two 

 by people who are not given to close observation. 

 The ventrals are free, and of very unimportant di- 

 mensions, "formed of two rays only," and placed 

 close up to the throat, in front of the pectorals, they 

 look like a clergyman's bands, and are mere ap- 

 pendages. The pectorals are largely developed, and 

 they climb and hop and walk with them (if one 

 may thus apply the expression) in an awkward 

 jerking manner. The pectorals of the fish are the 

 homologues of the arms of man, and the ventrals of 

 the class Pisces bear the same relation to the legs 

 of Homo. A few years ago a poor afflicted specimen 

 of the latter genus, a Cul-de-jatte with an imploring 

 pain-wearied face, haunted (and perhaps still 

 haunts) the sunny side of Regent Street : unable to 

 swim, he compared disadvantageously with his 

 aquatic analogue ; but his terrestrial locomotion was 

 performed like that of the mud-scuffling fish ; 

 he was a human blenny, and propelled himself over 

 the muddy stones by means of his strong arms, his 

 well-developed pectorals ; while his withered legs, 

 weak ventrals, " of two rays only," hung powerless 

 and useless in front of him, as " mere appendages." 



Fig. 92. The Blenny. 



The name Blenny is an old one ; we find it in 

 Aristotle, and the meaning of fiXivvoi; is slime or 

 mucus. The same fish is called by another Greek 

 writer the fiXiwos or fiauov— from the latter word 



its French name [Baveuse) is probably derived. 

 Our own Blenny (fig. 92), recently deceased, was 

 unlike any we have seen described anywhere; he 

 was of an olive-green on the back, with blue shades 

 here and there, and bright white spots, and he had 

 gorgeous spots on his fins : he was something like 

 Montagu's Blenny, but the crest w r as wanting ; and 

 he certainly was not a "shanny": he was a very 

 friendly, sociable little fellow, and lived in peace 

 with the prawns and sticklebacks ; the slightest tap 

 on the glass would bring him forth, and he would 

 follow the finger about and take food from the hand. 

 He was exceedingly sensitive to the vibrations of 

 stringed instruments ; the softest note of a violin 

 threw him into a state of agitation, and a harsh 

 scrape or a vigorous staccato drove him wild, causing 

 him to dart about and leap violently out of the 

 water. The big Bock-Goby, who was for seven 

 months his obstreperous companion, became so 

 addicted to eating his neighbours, and caused such 

 ruinous cataclysms in the mimic ocean-garden after 

 he had grown to be five inches in length, that 

 sentence was passed upon him ; he was netted and 

 dropped into a large freshwater bath, in which un- 

 natural medium he was bound (according to the 

 books) to die forthwith without any pain; but, 

 with the exception of a somewhat quicker aud more 

 laboured action of the gills, he appeared to be 

 nothing disconcerted by thirty-six hours' immer- 

 sion. Having thus, at the peril of his life, refuted 

 the popular notion that sea-gobies die instantly if 

 transferred to fresh water, and having been de- 

 prived of liberty for many months for our behests, 

 we felt under an obligation to him ; besides, what 

 right have we to destroy a life wantonly— ay, even 

 though it be but the little life of a mute helpless 

 Goby ? So we put him into a jar, and on a bright 

 evening in the merry month of May, when all 

 Nature was rejoicing in the balmy glow of spring, 

 we set him free in his own unfettered sea, among 

 the bright rippling wavelets of the glistening 

 Solent, wishing him all the happiness that it may 

 be within the capacity of one of his race to enjoy. 

 Perhaps by this time he has found a sympathetic 

 Gobeina, and they twain may have arranged to 

 build a nest and to rear whole troops of little Gobi- 

 kins amongst the sheltering stems of the forests of 

 laminaria. 



Here is Gobius albus, the White Goby ; and two 

 of the Dragonets — Callionymus Dracunculus, the 

 " Sordid Dragonet," and C. Lyra, the " Gemmeous 

 Dragonet." The first is very common ; the latter > 

 which is less frequently met with, is brilliantly 

 coloured, is easily acclimatized, and thrives in cap- 

 tivity. The branchial aperture, which is but a small 

 orifice on each side near the nape of the neck, will 

 distinguish Callionymus from the other genera. 



Here is a curious fellow, with a pentagonal body, 

 an elongated head and snout, and a tapering, snaky 



