56 MALACOP. ABDOM. CARP FAMILY. 



duced to ponder, manna-croup, and such like articles: 

 occasionally they are supplied with a bed of moss or 

 turf. 



" I ask what warrant fixM them (like a spell 

 Of witchcraft, fix'd them) in the crystal cell ; 

 To wheel, with languid motion, round and round, 

 Beautiful, yet in mournful durance bound ? 

 Their peace, perhaps, our slightest footstep marr'd, 

 Or their quick sense our sweetest music jarr'd ; 

 And whither could they dart, if seized with fear ? 

 No sheltering stone, no tangled root was near. 

 When fire or taper ceased to cheer the room, 

 They wore away the night in starless gloom ; 

 And when the sun first dawned upon the streams, 

 How faint their portion of his vital beams ! 

 Thus, and unable to complain, they fared, 

 While not one joy of ours by them was shared." 



Gen. LII. BARBUS. This genus is distinguished 

 by short dorsal and anal fins, the former of which 

 have spinous rays as their second and third ; it has 

 moreover four barbules, two at the angles of the 

 mouth, and two at its most projecting portion. The 

 species are numerous, and widely diffused in the 

 New and Old World. One species only is known in 

 Britain. 



(Sp. 99.) B. vulgaris. The Barbel, or Bearded 

 Fish, from the cirri at its mouth, is unknown in 

 Scotland, frequent in England, and pretty general 

 throughout Europe. It is easily known by its pro- 

 longed head, and is very common on the Continent, 

 as stated in the Regne Animal, in clear and rapid 

 streams, where it sometimes exceeds ten feet in 



