63 



In the present sul>ject— thelowest of the vertebrates, fish— there is established 

 a clear deduction from its inferior— the highest invertebrate class, the Cephalo- 

 podus mollusks. The lowest rank of fish, the lamprey, lias only a rudimental 

 skeleton, a sort of gelatinous cord. Its affinity with the mollusk, is not only 

 recognised in the skeleton, but in the skin, which ejects an abundant secretion 

 when the animal feels in danger ; in the process of respiration being carried on 

 through the gill-apparatus, independent of the mouth ; and from the eight fila- 

 ments extending round the lips of some species ; which Professor Owen considers 

 " to represent the eight arms of one of tlie mollusks (Cephalopoda Dibranchiata), 

 but arrested in their development, by reason of the preponderating size of the 

 caudal extremity of the body, which now forms the sole organ of locomotion." 

 One of this family — the lanoelet — is the lowliest of all fishes ; its organization is 

 so very humble, that it has even been mistaken for a mollusk, and not of the 

 highest class either. Here then we see the fish emerging from a lower grade by 

 an almost imperceptible gradation ; and the connection with a higlier, the reptiles] 

 is clearly established in the salamander and the frog, whose early lives are pa.ssed 

 as fishes ; for the tadpole, whether the young of the salamander or the frog, is a 

 tadpole, a real fish — breathing by means of gills, and incapable of living out of 

 the water. Subsequently undergoing a wonderful metamorphosis, and becoming 

 a true reptile, cannot invalidate its fisli-like youth ; but onl}' shews, tliat though 

 a step higher in creation, it is very closely allied to the race below it. 



It is strange, that even now, the sciences enlighten but a comparatively nar- 

 row horizon ; and this seems the more extraordinary, as neither their utility, nor 

 the amusement derived from their pursuit, can be questioned ; and because in 

 the earlier historic ages, we find traces of the cultivation of many of them. But 

 there is a spirit of enquiry now abroad, which bids fair to wipe away the stigma 

 from our own times. 



The Ichthyology of the Ancients is sufficiently confused. That they had some 

 knowledge of it, as well of other branches of Natural History cannot be denied ; 

 they even made collections. Alexander gave orders to all huntsmen, birdcatchers, 

 fishermen, and others, to send whatever creatures they could procure to Aristotle. 

 Apuleius, caused all kinds of animals— particularlj' fish — to be brought to him, 

 that he might study their anatomy, and thus determine their characteristic 

 peculiartiies. 



It appears, indeed, highly probable, that the researches of the ancients, on 

 this subject, were far more extensive than we can glean from the fragments of 

 their works which have survived to our day ; as from these, it is known, that fish 

 was a more highly esteemed delicacy than either fowl or four-footed beast. Their 

 culinary preparations are more frequently of fish than of other creatures. The 

 fasting of the Greek monks was abstinence from what the}' considered the greatest 

 of delicacies — fish ; and if, at the present day, we go through the markets of 

 Greece, we find a largf! preponderance of scales over featliers. Indeed, Strabo, 

 Plutarch, and otiicrs, tell us of a people called Ichthyoph.agi (fisli-eaters), who, 

 although they possessed cattle, made no other use of them but to feed their 

 fishes ! 



