136 PURRING OF MAIGRE. 



tember, 1868, my colleague, Spencer Walpole, Esq., 

 sent me a splendid specimen, caught by the coxswain 

 of the Ipswich hfeboat off Thorpe, in Suffolk. Mr. 

 Walpole wrote : " The fish, I think you wdll allow, is a 

 fine example, and its colour, I am told, was on its first 

 appearance so brilliant as to justify all that has been 

 written of the splendour of the appearance of the 

 maigre. Its weight was 84lbs., or 28lbs. more than 

 the example described by Mr. Couch, and 121bs. more 

 than the ane described by Nilsson, and also referred to 

 by Couch." The maigre is a tolerably frequent visitor 

 to the channel, but a much rarer visitor to the North 

 Sea. Two fine casts of this wanderer from the Medi- 

 terranean are in my museum at the Horticultural 

 Gardens. 



In December, 1868, a maigre w^as taken at Brighton, 

 measuring 5ft., and weighing TOlbs. It was bought by 

 Kichard Peek, Esq., M.P., from a man who had found 

 it floundering about in the shallow water. Mr. Peek 

 had it divided, and sent portions to his friends. It 

 resembled the flavour of something between a sturgeon 

 and salmon. 



The maigre is said to be able to make a noise under 

 water. This has been described as grunting, or pm^ring. 

 On placing my hand and arm down the throat of a 

 maigre, I discovered that the inner side of every gill- 

 arch was studded with little pyramid-shaped projections, 

 placed alternately, so that they would lock into each 

 other, like two combs. On drying and examining a 

 specimen of these under a glass, I find that this rough- 

 ness is caused by a vast number of very minute needle- 

 pointed teeth, set as close together as the hooks on a 

 teazle-head. There are also two sets of teeth (very 

 much in the shape of a sheep's kidney) on the upper 



