138 Dr. HanCock on the Mullets of Guiana, 



which is used for this purpose : — " Locus ubi capiuntur. In 

 lacurn quendam propries Martegues in Gallia magna vis mu- 

 gilum quotannis stato tempore, nimirum exeunte vere in- 

 greditur," &c., p. 275. The species here alluded to, how- 

 ever, must be regarded as very uncertain ; we can hardly 

 suppose it identical with our common grey mullet, which, 

 I believe, is chiefly caught only at sea, and that far from 

 land. 



In respect to the number of the rays of the fins* in his 

 statement, they are as follow :***■ o> aaaaiaioi m zAomiJ em 



Dorsal, y^; Pectoral, 18; Ventral, 1; AnaV/o 5 



which compare with those at page 136. The small muscular 

 stomach and appendices are also mentioned. This description 

 appears chiefly to be taken from Rondelet, and not from his 

 own observation. He adds, ** Alga tantum ac herbis mugilem 

 vesci aiunt, vel limo. Piscibus certe omnino abstinet. Am- 

 nes subit testibus Aristotele, Strabone, Galeno, Plinio. Idem 

 nos experientia docet ; nam in Garumna, Rhodano, Sequana, 

 Ligeri, capiuntur. Rondeletius." 



I imagine that, from some cause or other, the mullet was 

 seldom brought to this market in Willoughby's time, otherwise 

 that industrious author would have made us better acquainted 

 with it. Others, mentioned by Rondelet, are not sufficiently 

 defined to enable us to form any tolerable opinion as to the 

 species. 



The grey mullets are said to be taken abundantly atTorbay, 

 and off the Isle of Wight, frequently along with the mackerel, 

 with which it appears to associate, or to have similar haunts 

 and habits ; that they enter the mouths of rivers, especially in 

 a dry time when the water is brackish, in the Thames up to 

 Woolwich, and the Medway to Rochester bridge, &c. ; but 1 

 do not know if the grey mullet ascends by the small streams, 

 into ponds and stagnant pools, to breed or deposit its ova in 

 the manner of that described by Willoughby ? 



Respecting the.^. cephalus we find many allusions amongst 

 the Roman writers, which may be ranked with those cited by 

 M. Cuvier, and in Dr. Brewster's Journal of Science for Janu- 

 ary, 1830, vide pp. 63 and 64, respecting ** the mullets of 



