CONGER. 347 



« 



proof of the exquisite sensibility of these parts in their various 

 functions; and the tongue admits of free action by means of 

 muscles which pass from it to the front, and also backward to 

 the beginning of the gullet. The stomach is long, but the 

 pyloric or lower orifice is near the entrance from the mouth; 

 air-bladder large, inflated, but not the full length of the cavity 

 which contains it; a duct or process from the surface is joined 

 to it, but its use scarcely appears obvious. 



This fish is liable to some remarkable varieties of structure, 

 among which has occurred a deficiency of the upper jaw bone 

 or snout, with the absence of the nasal plaits and barbs. But 

 a more frequent deformity is in the dorsal fin, which sometimes 

 begins far back, with its anterior end twined into a roll or 

 double circle; and on other occasions this fin is absent almost 

 as far back as the tail; which appears to have been the cause 

 of a mistake in supposing the A. mynis, or Ophis, natives of 

 the Mediterranean, to have been taken in England. When, as 

 sometimes happens, the tail ends abruptly, it seems to have 

 been caused by violence or accident. 



