140 DERBIO. 



Blueling; but near the end of the same book he clearly applies 

 the name to a different fish, which cannot be any other than 

 the Blue Shark, (line 749.) Nor can it be an objection to 

 this, that he represents this latter species as depositing its eggs 

 before they are hatched. The alleged love of the parent to 

 its young, and its habit of giving them shelter in its mouth — 

 "whatever may be judged of the truth of this trait of character 

 — is decisive on this point, and it was from a persuasion of 

 this that the translator in this instance renders the name of 

 Glaucus by that of the Blue Shark. 



This fish is common through the whole extent of the 

 Mediterranean, and was much esteemed for the table by the 

 people of Greece and Rome. Southward from thence, we are 

 informed that it is also found at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 and across the Atlantic Ocean on the coasts of Brazil; but it 

 is only in a single instance that it has been met with in our 

 own country. This example was caught by a fisherman of 

 Mount's Bay, in October, 1857, and from it several photographs 

 were taken, one of which is in my possession; but our figure 

 and description are from the fish itself, shortly after its capture. 

 Its peculiar habits are but partially known; but there is no 

 doubt this is the fish of which Pliny expresses the popular 

 belief that, in order to escape the heat of summer, it ceases 

 to be seen for the space of sixty days. Ovid refers to the 

 same habit, in saying of it, — 



"Et nunquam eestivo conspectus sidere Glaucus;" 

 "The Glaucus, never seen in summer's heat." 



The extreme length of the specimen was thirteen inches and 

 a half, and to the fork of the tail eleven inches and a fourth; 

 depth, immediately under the dorsal spines, three inches and 

 seven eighths. The body compressed, slender near the tail. 

 The under jaw a little the longest. Eye large, low on the 

 cheek; nostril midway between the eye and the snout. Vent 

 about an equal distance between the ventral fins and the 

 separate abdominal spines, or a little nearer the latter. The 

 lateral line at first slopes downward, and then passes with a 

 slight undulation to the tail. Seven elevated dorsal spines, 

 the hindmost united to the dorsal fin, and another in front, 



