136 EUROPEAN HALFBEAK, 



without anything further having come to light, when the original 

 supposition appeared to be confirmed in an accidental research 

 on the coast of Essex, reported by Dr. Clark, of Ipswich, by 

 which a considerable number of similar fishes were obtained; 

 some of which were sent to Mr. Yarrell, and from which a 

 figure and description were derived, as contained in the second 

 edition of his "History of British Fishes." Again on a later 

 occasion, Mr. William Laughrin, A.L.S., of Polperro, obtained 

 a sight of a considerable number of these fishes, similar in size 

 to those mentioned by Mr. Yarrell, as they were in active 

 movement in one of those large pools on our rocky coast, which 

 are alternately left and covered with the tide; and he amused 

 himself in watching their actions, sufficiently near to be assured 

 of the exact form of these fishes, although he was not in 

 possession of means by Avhich to obtain them. 



But in addition to this I have been favoured with a com- 

 munication from J. S. Martin, Esq., of Weymouth, who kindly 

 sent me two examples, which I have closely examined, and of 

 which I took a figure with a description, which will be brought 

 into connection with that of another presently to be mentioned 

 of much larger size, of the taking of which I shall presently 

 give an account. Mr. Martin informs me that the two sent 

 were a portion of eight examples which were obtained alive 

 in the Isle of Wight, in the month of August; and although 

 six of them died soon, two of them lived for a time, and one 

 survived for a week, during which it swam in a lively manner 

 at the surface of the wafer among floating seaweed, with the 

 appearance of enjoying the bright sunshine. These examples 

 were about two inches in length; but even at this size it has 

 been supposed they might be no other than an early stage of 

 the growth of the Common Garfish; for some naturalists were 

 not at all disposed to believe that any one species of a usually 

 tropical family could have come habitually to the British coast; 

 and even to an eastward part of it for the purpose of shedding 

 its spawn, and that too without the parent fishes having been 

 discovered; and the difljerence of length in the upper portion 

 of the jaw was judged to be only the primitive condition of 

 that organ in the well-known British fish. The fact that these 

 little Halfbeaks were found to have their bones of a green 

 colour, like those of the Garfish, was supposed to add much 



