293 PERCOIDES. 



says it lies concealed in the weeds, allowing 

 the lines to float above its head, which so much 

 resemble a favorite species of marine worms, that 

 the fishes being deceived by them, are successful- 

 ly decoyed into the capacious vortex which is 

 open to receive them. 



That the sturgeon practises a similar method 

 seems generally admitted by naturalists. Pliny 

 goes still farther by allowing the httle fishes to 

 " swallow the hait,^^ w^hen the concealed dragon 

 draws them in by shortening the line. Dog-fish 

 are mentioned by some writer, as their favorite 

 food, which, by the way, w^e are right glad to 

 hear, as they are the robbers and murderers that 

 keep many species from visiting our shores. When 

 the intestines are taken out and the shell of the 

 head dried, it becomes diaphanous, in which con- 

 dition boys put a candle inside, and make use of 

 it as a scarecrow lantern. 



Perhaps in fishing six months another might 

 not be caught, so that they may be considered as 

 prone to concealment. From the nature of the 

 organization of the viscera, it is certain they are 

 destructively voracious ; confined to deep, dark, 

 muddy bottoms, and never disposed to wander far 

 from localities which yield a tolerable subsistence. 



