TINKER. 177 



Gasterosteus having nine spines on the back, and coloured 

 red about the lower jaw, cheeks, gill-cover, and base of the 

 pectoral. I have to regret that my ignorance of the Swedish 

 language prevents my understanding a single word of the 

 description, but the plates in this work are the most scrupu- 

 lously accurate of any natural history representations I have 

 yet seen, and therefore I take the evidence as perfectly 

 conclusive, that the G. pungitius, or 'Sma Spigg' of Sweden, 

 is a fish the male of which assumes a red breast in the 

 breeding season. There is no doubt that the G. pungitius of 

 Linnaeus, Cuvier, and of the 'Fishes of Scandinavia,' is one 

 and the same fish. Well then, we arrive at this conclusion, 

 that there is on the continent of Europe a fresh-water Gas- 

 terosteus, which has constantly nine dorsal spines, (but Nilsson 

 assigns it ten,) which has keeled scales on the sides of its 

 tail, and the male of which, in its nuptial livery, is red about 

 the gills and breast, like the familiar G. aculeatus. 



"Now for the contrast: we have in the ditches round London 

 myriads of a very minute fresh-water fish, known to every boy 

 who goes a stilling by the name of Tinker; this fish has nine 

 spines on the back, a perfectly smooth tail, and the male in 

 nuptial livery is of the most intense velvety black, never by 

 any chance exhibiting the slightest tinge of red. Turning 

 again to Cuvier I find appended to the description of G. 

 pungitius the following note, (translated:) There is also in 

 our streams a species nearly akin, (G. Icecis, Cuvier,) which 

 is without this arming: and in the subsequently published 

 "Natural History of Fishes," by Cuvier and Valenciennes, (v. 

 iv,) this smooth-tailed species stands as G. pungitius, the G. 

 pungitius of the animal kingdom being omitted altogether. 



"Mr. Yarrell has given two figures of a G. pungitius in the 

 first and second editions of his admirable history; neither of 

 the cuts gives an exact idea of our familiar little Tinker, but 

 that in the first edition comes the nearest. The description in 

 both editions is the same, and is comprised in a very few 

 words. The colour is described as a yellowish or olive green 

 on the back; sides and belly silvery white, with minute specks 

 of black; fins pale yellowish white." 



Mr. Newman then goes on to describe the fish as found 

 near London. The separate spines are nine in number, and 



