31 SUPPLEMENT ON 



By observations made on the species while under the eye, 

 in preserves, and by collecting the remarks of fishermen, 

 we have acquired all that is known of the habits of fish ; 

 but it is probable that many of their most secret manners 

 have escaped observation in the depths where they pass 

 most of their lives. Some are solitary, others gregarious; 

 some traverse immense distances, others again are always 

 sedentary, never abandoning the deep where they com- 

 menced existence. The quality of the bottoms "determines 

 also the habitation of many species. Some are found only 

 along the rocky coasts of the sea; others continue in the 

 purer depths of the offing ; others again prefer stagnant pools, 

 turbid holes, or remain sunk in the mud or sand, and among 

 these several do not perish when the waters no longer cover 

 the places where they lie buried, provided the least moisture 

 remains. The stationary characters of some, as, for example, 

 of the rays and anglers, contrasts with the rapidity of motion 

 observed in others, but more particularly in the different spe- 

 cies of mackerels ; again, there are several, such as eels and 

 periopthalmi, who can live for some time in the air, and crawl 

 on the ground ; and the anabas, it is said, will climb up into 

 trees, and establish himself in the small collections of water, 

 which are gathered at the roots of the leaves of several kinds 

 of plants. Pirabebes and exoceti have pectoral fins, suffi- 

 ciently large to raise and sustain them in the air over a 

 given distance ; and finally, species that practise the most 

 remarkable act of instinct in the whole class, when pursuing 



And 1. x. ep. 30. 



" Piscina rhombum pascit et lupos vernas 

 Natat ad magistrum delicata muraena. 

 Nomenculator mugilem citat notum 

 Et adesse jussi prodeunt senes mulli." 

 Pliny notices the same fact. 1. x. c. 70. " Spectatur et in piscinis 

 Csesaris, genera piscium ad nomen venire, quosdamque singulos." 



