396 State Board of AGi;irui>TrRE, &c. 



inhabit the water had any existence, oceans and seas were 

 populated with monsters, various in form, shape and size. 

 These, unless we give credit to the frequent stories we hear 

 about sea serpents, some of which we nuist acknowledge 

 are well verified, have almost entirely disappeared, and 

 have given place to other and more useful species. 



There seems to be considerable confusion amonff the 

 writers on comparative anatomy in regard to the classifica- 

 tion of fishes. This is not strange, perhaps, in view of the 

 almost incredible variety and number of forms. One popu- 

 lar writer on Zoology, in alluding to the causes which pro- 

 duce so great a difference in the character, temperature and 

 density of both salt and fresh water, says : " We need no 

 longer be astonished at the infinite variety in the forms and 

 endowments of the finny tribes, or surprised that some of 

 them are of shapes that to our ignorance appear monstrous 

 and deformed, while others are very paragons of elegance 

 and beauty. Many fishes, indeed, are adorned b}^ the hand 

 of nature with every kind of embellishment — variety in 

 their forms, elegance in their ])roportions, diversity and 

 vivacity in their color ; nothing is wanted to attract 

 the attention of mankind. The splendor of every metal, 

 the blaze of every gem glittei- upon their surfaces ; 

 iridescent colors, breaking and reflecting in bands, in spots, 

 in angles, or in undulating lines, always regular or symmet- 

 rical, graduating or contracting with admirable eflfect and 

 harmony, flash over their sides. For whom have they 

 received such gifts ? they who can at most barely perceive each 

 other in the twilight of the deep, and even if they could see dis- 



