SHEATFISH. 75 



anticipation of modern discovery; and it is also found in some 

 other rivers of Africa, and in Asia. But the question arises 

 whether this fish is capable of living for a short time in the 

 open sea; and it scarcely amounts to an answer to this, when 

 it is said that it has been occasionally found in the Baltic, for 

 it is known that the water of that inland sea is much less salt 

 than that of the ocean, and in its upper part it is almost 

 entirely fresh. 



It is affirmed, however, that the Sheatfish has been taken in 

 an Irish river; but the example was not seen by a scientific 

 naturalist, nor was a figure of it drawn; and therefore it is 

 for the assistance of future observers that we extract what Mr. 

 Thompson has recorded of the facts of the case. "That this 

 species has in a single instance been taken in Ireland I am 

 disposed to believe, on the following testimony: — On inquiry 

 (October, 1840,) of William Blair, who has for many years 

 been fisherman, etc., at Florence Court, whether he had ever 

 met with any rare fish, he described an extraordinary one, of 

 which he could never learn the name, that he took twelve or 

 thirteen years ago in a tributary of the Shannon, near its 

 source, and about three miles above Lough Allen. His des- 

 cription was so graphic and particular that Lord Enniskillen, 

 on hearing it, immediately suggested its applicability to the 

 Silurus; and on Yarrell's figure being shewn to the intelligent 

 captor of the specimen, he at once identified it as in all 

 respects rej)resenting his fish, except in the head and mouth 

 not being large enough. Professor Agassiz, who was present, 

 on being appealed to, stated that these parts were certainly 

 not represented of sufficient size in the figure. The fish was 

 seen struggling in a pool in the river after a flood, and "with 

 the long worm-like feelers from its mouth;" and its general 

 appearance was looked upon as so hideous, that the persons 

 who first saw it were afraid to touch it. The specimen was 

 at least two feet and a half in length, and eight or nine 

 pounds in weight. Although unfortunately lost to science, it 

 for two or three years — or until the skeleton fell to pieces — 

 adorned a bush near the scene of its death. The species was 

 not known as an inhabitant of any of the neighbouring waters 

 by the persons of the district. The distribution of the Silurus 

 (jlanis on the Continent of Europe is somewhat anomalous, as 



