128 PLECTOGNATHI. 



together it is inferred that they are sohtary in their 

 habits, somewhat hke the sturgeon — being 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. 



