168 ACANTHOPTERYGII. — GOBIAD^. 



her own dimensions. Mr. Yarrell obtained a 

 specimen seven inches long, full of young ready 

 for birth, which were one inch and a half long. 

 Mr. Neill, on the other hand, observed in the 

 market at Edinburgh, a female fifteen inches in 

 length, from which several dozens of living young 

 escaped ; and these were from four to five inches 

 long. Mr. Low, in his Fauna of the Orkney 

 Islands, observes, that when the fact of the vivi- 

 parous habit of this fish first fell under his notice, 

 he put a number of the small fry into a tumbler 

 of sea-water, in which he kept them alive for 

 many days, changing the water at every tide. 

 They grew considerably larger, and continued 

 very lively, until one hot day, when, unfortu- 

 nately forgetting to provide them with a fresh 

 supply of water, they died to the very last fish. 



SMOOTH BLENNY. 



The most common of our Blennies is the 

 S\\B.m\j (Blennius pholis,lji^i!i,), sometimes called 

 the Smooth Shan, an epithet probably alluding 

 to the absence of those fringed appendages to 

 the head with which all our other true Blennies 

 are furnished. Its form will be perceived from 



