mth the Vaagmaer of Iceland, 217 



on the supposition that the identity is established, that the 

 man who caught it alive, on a sandy beach, expressed to 

 Mr. Strang his intention of eating it; which, as our na- 

 tives are not very prone to experiments of that sort, probably 

 implied previous experience on the subject. Mr. Strang 

 tells me that he remembers at least a dozen of specimens 

 driven on shore by bad weather, varying in size from 1 to 

 6 ft., and that the country people call it, not unaptly, the deal 

 fish. I add the description of one found on the beach of 

 Sanday, Dec. 2. 1817, by Mr. Lindsay, tutor to Mr. Strang's 

 family: — 'Length 4^ ft. ; breadth 8 in.; thickness 1 in., 

 thin at the edges, viz. back and belly. Length of the head 5 in., 

 terminating gradually in a short snout. Tail consists of eight 

 or nine fin bones or rays, the third ray 7 in. long, the rest 4 iru 

 The dorsal fin reaching from the neck to the tail, rays 4 in. 

 long. On each side of the fish, from head to tail, a row of 

 prickles pointing forward, distance between each J in. Under 

 edge fortified by a thick ridge of blunt prickles. Pectoral fins 

 1 in. long, lying upwards. Skin rough, without scales (^). Co- 

 lour a leaden or silvery lustre; dorsal fin and tail blood- 

 colour. The skin or covering of the head like that of a 

 herring ; several small teeth ; gills red, consisting of four 

 layers. Heart ^ in. and red ; liVer 2i in. ; stomach 4J in., 

 full of a gelatinous substance ; flesh perfectly white. Spine in 

 the middle of the fish ; dorsal fin connected with the spine 

 by bones, as in a flounder. Thin towards the back and belly, 

 and wears very small towards the tail. Eyes and brain out.' " 

 Though the preceding descriptions do not embrace all the 

 particulars in the history of this fish which the systematical 

 zoologist may desire, there is, nevertheless, as much inform- 

 ation communicated as could reasonably be expected in the 

 peculiar circumstances of the case. The remarkable thinness 

 and pliancy of the fish, the absence of ventral and anal fins, 

 the small pectoral fins, the extended dorsal fin, the forked tail 

 fin, and the red colour of the two latter fins, together with 

 the silvery hue of the body, leave little room to doubt that 

 it is the Vaagmaer of Olafsen's Voyage to Iceland, p. 592, 

 s. 43. A translation of the description of the fish by that 

 author, with a copy of the figure (kindly furnished by a 

 friend, for I have not had an opportunity of consulting the 

 original) has indeed furnished materials for removing all 

 suspicion on the subject. Olafsen states that it is rare even 

 in Iceland ; it seems to approach shore at flood tide in those 

 places where the bottom is sandy and the shore not steep, and 

 where it remains until left dry. The inhabitants, he adds, 

 consider the fish as poisonous, because the ravens will not 



