2i 4 THE RIYER-SIDE NATURALIST. 



way between the point of the nose and the end of the 

 fleshy part of the tail ; the mouth small, and placed under- 

 neath ; it has six barbels, four over the upper lip and two 

 at each angle ; the head, body, and sides are clouded and 

 spotted with brown on a yellowish-white ground ; abdomen 

 whitish-yellow ; all the fins spotted or banded with dark 

 brown ; the dorsal fin and caudal most so, the latter with a 

 large dark blotch ; the eyes (irides) blue. 



The fin-rays : dorsal, 9; pectoral, 12; ventral, 7; anal, 

 6; caudal, 19; vertebrae, 36. 



Yarrell mentions two peculiarities in the structure of the 

 bones in the loach : " Attached to each outer side of the 

 first and second vertebrae is a hollow sphere of bone of 

 equal size, between which, on the upper surface, the verte- 



THE LOACH. 



brae are distinctly seen, but the union of the two spheres 

 underneath hides the vertebrae when looking upwards from 

 below. These bones are analogous to the scapulae ; to 

 their outer surfaces the bones of the proximal extremity 

 of the pectoral fins are articulated, and the fins moved 

 by powerful muscles, which assist in producing the rapid 

 motion observable in this little fish. Another peculiarity 

 existing in the upper surface of the head is the want of 

 union in the two parietal bones at the top, which occurs in 

 the common guana ; this peculiarity of the loach, it will be 

 observed, is another instance of a relation in structure 

 between the fishes and reptiles." 



The loach seems to be extremely susceptible to atmos- 

 pheric changes, and has often been kept as a " living baro- 

 meter," its restlessness and constantly coming wriggling 

 up from the bottom, where it usually lies quite still, denot- 



