THE SURMULLETS. 463 



as recommended by the faculty, is to lay the wound open 

 with a knife, and then to pour on it a continuous stream 

 of cold w ater from a height until the heat and inflamma- 

 tion have subsided. But the Bohus fishermen, Ekstrom 

 tells us, have a sovereign remedy of their own, and one 

 universally had recourse to, viz., " to rip up the belly of 

 the offending fish, which the unfortunate patient is fortli- 

 with made to swallow." 



The Striped Surmullet {Gulstrimmig llullm, Sw. ; 

 Gidstribed Mulle, Dan.; llullns Surtmdetm, Linn.), a 

 fish common to the Mediterranean, is scarce, not only 

 in our Skiirgard, but in the Scandinavian seas generally, 

 to the more southern of which it would seem to be con- 

 fined. One does not, at least, hear of its being taken 

 higher up than the Christiania Fjord. According to 

 Kroyer — the most painstaking, observant, and accurate 

 of all the ichthyologists whose works have come under 

 my notice — it is occasionally met with in the lower parts 

 of the Baltic. Its usual length with us is ten to twelve 

 inches, but elsewhere it reaches a much larger size. In 

 Sweden, as in other countries, this fish is highly valued 

 for the table. 



The Red Surmullet {31. barhaius, Linn.) is altogether 

 unknown on the Scandinavian coasts ; neither is it recog- 

 nised by Danish naturalists. 



The Grey Gurnard {Vanl'uj Gnoding, Knorrhane, Sw.; 

 Gnorr, Norw. ; Gma Knur, Dan. ; Trigla Gurnardus, 

 Linn.) is common in the Bohus Skiirgard, and on the whole 

 coast of western Scandinavia, from the Sound to beyond 

 the Polar Circle. It is also an inhabitant of the Baltic, 

 as high up at least as the province of Blekinge. Its 

 usual length on the Swedish and Norwegian shores is 

 from twelve to fourteen inches, seldom sixteen, but in 

 other countries it seems to attain to a nuich larger size. 

 It is believed to spa^n about Midsummer. Its flesh 



