278 MALACOPTERYGII. SYNGNATHID^. 



to do them serious injury. Mr. Jesse mentions 

 a habit which implies the union of much sagacity 

 with voracity, and reminds us of the device of 

 the gregarious wolves in North America, which 

 surround a herd of bisons or deer, and gradually 

 force them to a precipice, that, being compelled 

 to leap down, they may be killed ; after which 

 the crafty pursuers descend and feed upon the 

 bodies at their leisure. " A large quantity of 

 Eels have been observed, in one of the Cumber- 

 land lakes, to form a circle round a shoal of 

 small fish in shallow water ; and after driving 

 them to the shore, they readily caught and fed 

 upon them. I have observed the same thing take 

 place in the canal in Hampton Court Park."* 



The excellence of these fishes is well known. 

 Immense numbers are consumed in London and 

 other large cities ; principally supplied by the 

 Dutch. One or more Dutch boats constantly 

 lie off Billingsgate ; others run back to Holland 

 for fresh supplies, each bringing a cargo of 

 15,000 to 20,000 pounds weight of live Eels. 



Family XII. Syngnathid^e. 



(Pipe-fisJies.) 



Peculiarities of structure and form, of economy 

 and manners, render this Family, though small 

 both in extent of species and individual dimen- 

 sions, one of very great interest. Their bodies 

 are long and slender, with the muzzle produced 

 into a tubular snout, just as in the Fistulariadce 

 among the Acanthopterygii, whence, like 



* Jesse's Scenes of Country Life, 351. 



