TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 69 



to my mind before. For this reason the Acephala 

 may really be the most molluscous, the most stupid 

 of all the mollusca. And indeed to pass one's entire 

 existence in a closed box can scarcely be productive 

 of much intelligence. But we have lost a good quarter 

 of an hour between our mollusca and the Sepia, and 

 the shrimps await. Advance, and let us try the fortune 

 of the net." 



And the two young men, up to their waists in the 

 water, plied their nets on the bottom. The first 

 attempt was successful ; Eene brought up from the 



ACEPHALOUS MOLLUSC. RAZOR-FISH (Solen ensis). 



bottom, besides a handful of lively, leaping shrimps, 

 a fish with broad, spiny fins, and body covered with 

 thorns. An enormous mouth was the accompaniment 

 of an extremely broad head. 



It was a bull-head, or sea- scorpion (Cottus scorpius), 

 a veritable Quasimodo in the watery world. This fish 

 is rejected by the French fishermen on account of its 

 small size and very oily flesh. But in some parts of 

 Norway, where the Cottus is very abundant, an oil is 

 extracted from its liver, and is probably credited to the 

 cod and sold as such. 



Both in France and Norway the sea-scorpion, as 



