128 PLECTOGNATHI. 



together it is inferred that they are solitary in their 

 habits, somewhat like the sturgeon — beino- in 

 some respects sturgeons in miniature. 



THE PIPE FISH. 



The tube of the mouth is long and slender, at 

 the extremity of which, is the minute opening of 

 the mouth. Eighteen plates enter into the com- 

 position of a hexagonal body, a little larger than a 

 goose-quill, and thirtysix in the tail, which is 

 square, but quite flexible. 



Their ordinary length is from six to ten inches. 

 Among the rocks at Nahant, after a storm, at 

 Cohasset, and at Boston light-house, all our 

 specimens have been procured. For preserva- 

 tion, the best mode is to dry them, as they loose 

 nothing by it, if brushed over by a varnish, in 

 which there is a mixture of aloes, to prevent the 

 depredations of insects. 



