FROG-FISHES. 175 



supplied to the water retained in the branchial 

 sac, directly from the air/'* 



Now in the Family before us the gill-rays and 

 the operculum are enveloped in the common skin, 

 and the aperture through which the breathed 

 water is discharged is a comparatively small hole, 

 situated behind the pectoral. This is small in 

 all the Frog-fishes, but in those species (such as 

 the genus Antennarius just mentioned), which 

 are most addicted to roving out of their native 

 element, the aperture is not only more than 

 usually minute, but is produced into a short 

 tube, which opens above each pectoral fin ; and 

 thus the gill-plates can be kept moist for an in- 

 definite period of time. 



Beautiful, indeed, are such combinations of 

 structure and of function, such adaptations of 

 part to part, and of organ to organ ! They speak 

 of the perfection of wisdom with which the whole 

 of creation is formed ; they loudly tell that one 

 infinite Mind planned and executed the whole 

 in all its details. Like the *' glorious voice" 

 uttered forth by the rolling spheres of heaven, 

 — the testimony of the meanest fish that hides 

 in the caves of ocean is heard **in Wisdom's 

 ear," declaring — 



" The hand that made us is divine." 



These fishes have indeed little claim to out- 

 ward elegance, either of form or colour. They 

 are characterized by a thick, heavy body, some- 

 times compressed, sometimes depressed, often 

 roughened, granulated, or covered with irregular 

 tubercles, but always destitute of scales ; the 



* Professor Owen. 



