FISHES. 291 



was with some difficulty that I found that part of the es- 

 tablishment in whicli the '^ Mud-fish" was to be seen. At 

 lengtli, after manfully resisting the temptation of music in 

 passing through the great transept, 1 gained an interview 

 with his Mudship, and must confess myself agreeably sur- 

 prised at his much more pleasant appearance than the * Lon- 

 don News' figure had led me to expect. 



The Lepidosiren is on the whole rather a graceful fish 

 than otherwise, and the mud colour, or greenish chocolate, 

 is well set off by numerous symmetrically arranged lines, 

 and some well defined leopard-like spots. Its chief pecu- 

 liarity consists in the two pairs of limbs, which are neither 

 legs nor fins, properly so called, but are flexible jointed 

 filaments, bordered by fin-hke fringes, and occupying the 

 positions of the pectoral and ventral fins of ordinary fishes, 

 such as the salmon. They are used in swimming; the 

 scythe-like sweep of the anterior pair giving them great 

 power in propelling the body forwards ; which is effected 

 at a rate which may be considered rapid for its propor- 

 tionate weight and size. On the back, and on both sides 

 of the tail, is a continuous fin-like keel, like that of the tad- 

 poles of frogs and newts, which further assists in progres- 

 sion. The body is eel-like, but not so much so as in 



