304 Analyses of Books. [Oct. 



is fair, they are seen to spring from the bosom of the deep, pass 

 over a space of thirty or forty feet, and plunge into the water to 

 rise again in a moment, and flit over the same distance. Some- 

 times this may proceed from wantonness, and sometimes proba- 

 bly from an impulse to escape from the voracious inhabitants of 

 the deep ; but it seems surprising that a fish so scantily provided 

 with fins should be able to make such an extraordinary leap ; 

 for the pectoral fins, instead of reaching nearly to the tail, as in 

 the flying-fish, are very small ; and though well adapted by their 

 figure to raise and. direct the head, cannot afford assistance in 

 supporting the body in the air. The whole motion is effected 

 by the action of the tail and finlets alone, and is more properly 

 a leap than a flight. This is a most excellent fish for the table." 



E. SpkyrcBna, sea pike ; " Besides these I have met with a 

 species which I have never seen described, unless it be the 

 Esox Brasiliemisy Lmn. Syst. Nat. It was taken by me in the 

 harbour at Polperro, in July, 1818, as it was swimming with 

 agility near the surface of the water. It was about an inch in . 

 length, the head somewhat flattened at the top, the upper jaw 

 short and pointed, the inferior much protruded, being at least 

 as long as from the extremity of the upper jaw to the back part 

 of the gill-covers. The mouth opened obliquely downward ; 

 but that part of the under jaw which protruded beyond the 

 extremity of the upper, passed straight forward in a right line 

 with the top of the head. The body was compressed, lengthened, 

 and resembled that of the garpike, E. Belone : it had one dorsal 

 and one anal fin placed far behind, and opposite to each other ; 

 the tail was straight. The colour of the back was a bluish- 

 green, with a few spots ; the belly silvery.'' 



Miigil CephaluSf grey mullet; Clupea Harengus, herring; 

 C, pilchardus, pilchard; C. Alosa, shad, alewife of the west; 

 C Sprattus, sprat ; Cyprinus LeuciscuSy dace ; — it is doubtful 

 whether this fish be an original native of Cornwall. 



BranchiostegousFishes: Cyclopterus Lumpus, lumpfish ; 

 C. Cornuhtemis, Jura Sucker; — " 1 have seen two varieties of 

 this fish, if they were not distinct species : in one the snout is 

 shaped hke a spatula ; in the other, it was shorter, and ended in 

 a point. The body and head are wide and depressed, with the 

 eyes at the sides, and before each a double fleshy process, about 

 the tenth of an inch long, in a fish that measured two inches ; 

 there is a fleshy tubercle close behind these processes. The 

 lips membranous, the lower jaw a httle the shortest, opening 

 with a very wide gape. Behind the head are two dark spots, 

 each with a bluish speck in the middle. The body tapers to the 

 tail; the dorsal and anal fins begin at a third of the whole 

 length from the tail, and run back to that part ; the pectorals 

 are far behind ; the tail round. The sucking apparatus is formed 

 of two circles, one before the other, furnished with numerous 

 ▼cry small tubercles. The colour is dusky, sometimes crimson; 



