THE USE OF A BEARD. 193 



or tliree times ; chiefly small specimens not more tlian 

 two inches, or three, in length ; but one among them 

 had attained the length of five inches, nearly the full 

 dimensions of the species. The small ones were Hack, 

 but the larger a dull, dirty grey. The most marked 

 peculiarity of this little fish is its armature ; it is 

 clothed, like a knight of the age of chivalry, in a suit 

 of plate-mail, cap-a-^ne. Every one of the bony plates 

 of which its lorica is composed is furnished with an 

 elevated central keel ; and as the plates run in regular 

 longitudinal series, the surface of the body is armed 

 with eight elevated sharp ridges running from head to 

 tail. The huge head bristles with spines and bony 

 points, and the nose terminates in a couple of spines 

 that stand up and curve backwards like the horn of a 

 Rhinoceros in miniature ; while the whole under-sur- 

 face of the head, which is flat, is covered with a beard 

 of horny, thread-like filaments, very numerous and 

 close-set, hanging perpendicularly downwards. Let 

 me not, however, be understood as speaking dis- 

 respectfully of this mental adornment; for I doubt 

 not it would be considered quite an elegant appendage 

 in Regent Street or Pall Mall. 



In the Aquarium the Pogge soon showed how ex- 

 clusively he is a bottom-fish. Though his fins are 

 ample, he has scarcely any power of swimming except 

 by strong muscular eflbrt, struggling upward for a 

 little distance, and sinking to the bottom the moment 

 the effort is relaxed. In general it lay motionless on 

 the ground, while I had it ; and I presume this is its 

 habit when at liberty. The beard-filaments are pro- 

 bably delicate organs of touch, endowed with a high 







