CliAV Mll.LKT.S. 



327 



middle (if tlie last century and the present time. At 

 tlie end of the last eentuiy one specimen was found 

 on the Cornish coast. 



All the Atlantic specimens thnt hnve been exniiiin- 

 ed, were females. This wns also the sex of the oidy 

 specimen yet found in Sweden, the above-mentioned 

 specimen from Burholm, off Koster in the north of 

 B<:)lnisl;'in. in tliis specimen tiu're was not the least 

 trace of food in tlie stomach or the intestinal canal. 

 In tlie specimen examined by 1 Iancock and Embleton, 

 the ca'cal prolon<;;ition of the bottom of the stomach 

 contained a few partially-digested o\a. 



If it is renlK- the case, as has been assumed, that 

 the females approacli tlie b;nd\S and coasts in order to 

 deposit their eggs, and thus trespass upon regions where 

 the pressure is too slight to suit them, still it is re- 

 markable that the males do not fall victims to the same 

 misfortime just as often. We may, therefore, equally 

 well accept the other assumption made in order to 

 account for the appearance of these tishes at the sur- 

 face, that they have been driven by disease or some 

 enemy — perhaps in pursuit of some prey — beyond 

 the limits of the pressure necessary to their existence. 



The eggs of these fishes are small and fine as those 

 of the Cod, and are contained in enormous numbers in 



the ovaries, which may be a metre long and an inch 

 broad. As yet, however, we can scarcely decide with 

 cert,'iint\' the time of year at which the eggs are ripe. 

 A specimen about 3 metres long, which was taken on 

 the coast of Yoi'kshire on the 23rd of April, is stated 

 to have had ripe roe; but even in the month of August 

 the Ilitteren specimen contained "eggs fine as a grain 

 <jf sand." The spawning-season is thus doubtful, but 

 is supposed bv Collett to occur during the summer 

 or autumn niontlis. It is a matter of doubt, however, 

 whether the dee])-sea fishes are in this i-espect subject 

 to the iutlueiice of the seasons. 



"The riesh is white and fine," say Haxcock and 

 Emi5LETOX. "The smell of the fish," says Lindkoth, 

 "was almost like that of raw fish in genei'al, but when 

 the skin was sci'aped clean of flesh, the fibres of the 

 latter dissolved into mucus and Avater, which soon be- 

 came rotten. The flavour of the flesh did not seem 

 especially good, l)ut somewhat oft'ensive, this being pro- 

 bably due to the repugnant smell diffused during the 

 process of cleaning the skin. When boiled, the flesh 

 was more firm and compact, like that of the Eel, but 

 entirely destitute of fat and almost tough. The dogs 

 refused to eat it, whether raw or boiled. 



MUGILirORMES. 



Bodij terete or compressed like that of the Perches. Tiro dorsal Jlns, separate from each other", the frst short 

 and eoiitahilng few or weak spinous rays, the second in form and position analogous to tlie anal fin. Ventral 



fiis of typical structure ('/,-,), tiat ahdoniinal. 



According to Gunther's'' establishment and defini- 

 tion of this series of families, it includes fishes of very 

 different habits. Some of them, the family Sphyrcenidm, 

 belong to the most pronounced fishes of prey, with 

 large gape and huge jaw-teeth, and compi'ise the barra- 

 cudas of the tropical seas"', which even venture to attack 

 persons bathing. Others, on the contrary, the Afhe- 



rinidce, TetragonuridcE and Mugilidce, are feebly armed 

 or even without true jaw-teeth, and live only on weak 

 victims or decomposing substances. The former were, 

 therefore, ranged both by Cuvier' and (V)rE'" among 

 the Perches, in spite of the fact that they have lost 

 the immediate connexion between the ventral fins and 

 the shoulder-girdle. The latter, even by Cuvier', were 



" lu this respect Tetragonurus is exceptional. 



' Cat. Brit. Mas., Fish., Si/st. ^[ijn. Acanth. Fishes, p. VIII; Introd. Studi/ of Fish., p. 499; Haiib. Ichih., p. .155. 

 •■ One species, Sphyrccna spet or vulgaris, belongs to llie Mediterranean and the Atlantic outside it, and is only slightly, if at all, 

 different from one of the North American species. 



'' Re.gne Animal, nouv. ed., tome II, p. 1.56. 



' Trans. Araer. Philos. Soc, Philad., new. ser., vol. XIV, p. 472. 



^ L. c, p. 230. 



