MUGILIDjE. 



MULE. 



baa a 5-cleft calyx ; a 5-fid beU-haped equal corolla ; a globose 

 3-valved capsule, with a central placenta, free, or connected with a 

 abort dissepiment below, 1 -celled. 



L. aqualica is the only liritish specie*. It baa lanceolate spathulate 

 leave* on long stalks; pedicle* axillary, crowded, shorter than the 

 petioles. It baa small white or rose-coloured flowers. It is found 

 growing in muddy places, where water has stagnated. 



MUGI'LID^E, the Mullet Tribe, a family of Fishes of the order 

 Acanlkoptcryyii. This family may be distinguished by the following 

 characters : Body nearly cylindrical, covered with large scales; dorsal 

 fins (two in number) separated, the first with only four spinous rays ; 

 the ventral fins hare their origin a little behind the line of the pec- 

 torals ; branchiostegous rays, six. The head is somewhat depressed, 

 and, like the body, is covered with Urge scales or polygonal plates ; 

 the muzzle is very short ; the mouth is transverse, and when closed 

 forms an angle, the lower jaw having an eminence in the middle, 

 which fits into a corresponding hollow in the upper; teeth very 

 minute ; pharyngeal bones much developed. 



There are three genera belonging to this family Athfrina, Jfugil, 

 and Tetragonurta. 



Atherixa has the body rather elongated; two dorsal fins widely 

 separated ; ventral fins placed far behind the pectorals ; sides with a 

 broad longitudinal silver band ; teeth minute ; branchiostegous rays 6. 



A . praoyter, the Atherine, or Sand-Smelt It was at one time sup- 

 posed that the Atherine of the British coasts was the A. heptetut of 

 Linntcus, but after a close examination Hr. Yarrell comes to the 

 conclusion that the British species is A. prabytcr of Cuvier. 



The British Atherine is a handsome small fish from 5 to 6 inches in 

 length. It is found on the coast of Cornwall at all seasons of the 

 year. It is also frequently caught at Brighton, where large quantities 

 are eaten in the winter season by the inhabitants and visitors. Dr. 

 Parnell has taken it in Scotland, and Mr. Thompson in Ireland. 



itugil has the body nearly cylindrical, covered with large scales ; 

 two dorsal fins widely separated, the rays of the first fin spiuous, those 

 of the second flexible ; ventral fins behind the pectorals ; middle of 

 the under jaw with an elevated angular point, and a corresponding 

 groove in the upper ; teeth small ; brauchiostegous rays 6. 



IT. capita (Cuv.), the Gray Mullet, or Common Mullet, is not uncommon 

 on many parts of the British coast. It is rather more than a foot in 

 length ; the length of the head compared with that of the body and 

 tail is as one to four ; the greatest depth of the body, which is beneath 

 the first dorsal, is about one-fourth the whole length, excepting the 

 tail. The head is broad and depressed ; snout rounded ; the akin of 

 the anterior and posterior margins of the orbit does not advance over 

 the eye. First dorsal fin commences about the middle of the body, 

 its height is equal to twice its length ; between the first and second 

 dorsal there is a considerable interval; its proportions, as regards 

 height and length, the same as the first. The upper surface of the 

 body is dusky-gray, tinged with blue ; the sides and belly are silvery- 

 white, marked with longitudinal dusky lines ; fin-membranes dirty- 

 white ; a dark spot on the base of the pectoral fin. 



It is found plentifully in Cornwall and Devonshire, and along the 

 oath coast. It is also taken on the eastern coasts. This fish never 

 goes to a great distance from land, and delights in shallow water. It 

 Is on this account probably that it bears confinement better than other 

 fishes, and is one of thine which have been most successfully kept in the 

 Aquavivarium of the Zoological Society in Regent's Park. They seem 

 more intelligent than most fish. Carew, the Cornish historian, had a 

 pond of salt water in which he had naturalised these fish, and he 

 could assemble them together to be fed by knocking on a stick. 

 Fishermen also relate numerous instances of its intelligence, and the 

 devices it ha* recourse to for the purpose of escaping from the net 

 when once caught. It takes its food from the mud at the bottom of 

 the water in which it lives, and seldom partakes of any living food. 

 It is moat readily taken by fat, or cabbage boiled in broth. 



This finh frequently goes up rivers, and is thus often caught by the 

 angler. When taken young and placed in fresh water it has been 

 found to thrive. 



M. chtlo, Cuvier, the Thick-Lipped Gray Mullet, according to Mr. 

 Couch's manuscript*, communicated to Mr. Yarrell, seems to be abun- 

 dant on the coast of Cornwall, but no other British naturalists appear 

 to have noticed it. It is distinguished from the Common Gray Mullet 

 chiefly by its large and fleshy lips, the margins of which are ciliated ; 

 the teeth resemble hairs; the maxillary bone curved, and showing 

 iUelf behind the commissure. 



M. curt m, the Short Gray Mullet of Yarrell, U a third species, found 

 in the British seas. " The length of the head, as compared with that 

 of the body and tail, is as one to three, the proportion in the Common 

 Gray Mullet being as one to four ; the body is al.-o deeper in pro- 

 portion than in M. capita, being equal to the length of the head : 

 the head is wider, the form of it more triangular, and also more 

 pointed anteriorly ; the eyes larger in proportion ; the fin-rays longer, 

 particularly thoe of the tail ; the ventral fins placed nearer the pec- 

 toral, and a difference exist* in the number of some of the fin-rays : 

 the colours of the two species are ncirly alike ; and in other respects, 

 except those named, they do not differ materially." (Yarrell, ' Kritinli 

 Fishe*.') Mr. Yarrell caught this new species at the mouth of Poole 

 harbour. 



Tttrayonurui, so named from the projecting keels or ridges on each 

 Mile, near the base of the caudal. There is only one species, an 

 inhabitant of the Mediterranean, about a foot long, and black, and 

 reputed to be poisonous. 



MUGWORT, the common name for the Artemitia vulgarit. ThU 

 species of Artemuia is known by its leaves being woolly beneath, with 

 lanceolate, acuminate, cut, and serrated segments. It is a very common 

 plant on waste ground in Great Britain. [ARTEMISIA.] 

 MULBERRY. [MoHus.] 



MULE. This word is, in its particular sense, used to denote the 

 offspring of the male ass and the mare [EquiPf] ; but, in its general 

 signification, it is applied to the offspring of any two animals of distinct 

 species, and is then synonymous with the term ' Hybrid.' [HvimiD.] 



" The true distinction between different species of animals," writes 

 John Hunter, " must ultimately, as appears to me, be gathered from 

 their incapacity of propagating with each other an offspring capable 

 again of continuing itself by subsequent propagations : thus the horse 

 and ass beget a mule capable of copulation, but incapable of begetting 

 or producing offspring. If it be true that the male has been known to 

 breed, which must be allowed to be an extraordinary fact, it will by 

 no means be sufficient to determine the horse and ass to be of the 

 same species ; indeed from the copulation of mules being very fre- 

 quent, and the circumstance of their breeding very rare, I should 

 rather attribute it to a degree of monstrosity in the organs of the 

 mule which conceived, as not being a mixture of two different species, 

 but merely those of either the male or female ass. This is not so far- 

 fetched an idea, when we consider that some true species produce 

 monsters which are a mixture of both sexes, and that many animals 

 of distinct sex are incapable of breeding at all. If then we find 

 nature in its most perfect state deviating from general principles, why 

 may it not happen likewise in the production of mules, so that some- 

 times a mule shall breed from the circumstance of its being a monster 

 respecting mules ? " We think that the views here laid down are clear 

 and satisfactory BO far as they go, and that the question with which 

 the paragraph concludes is in no danger of a contradictory answer. 



But the student should be on his guard as to an unhesitating 

 admission of everything that is laid down even by an authority so 

 deservedly eminent as that of the great physiologist whose opinion we 

 have just quoted. Professor Owen, for instance, in one of his valuable 

 notes on another part of this very paper, truly observes that John 

 Hunter's assertion that the fertility of a hybrid with an individual of 

 a pure breed proves the fact of identity of two supposed distinct 

 species equally with the production of offspring from the connection 

 of hybrid with hybrid, cannot be admitted. " To prove the identity 

 of two supposed distinct species," continues the Professor, " granting 

 the fertility of the hybrids from the two to be the proof required, it 

 should be shown that such hybrids are fertile inter se, and capable of 

 propagating indefinitely an intermediate variety. Now this is precisely 

 the fact which is wanting in the evidence adduced in the text. All 

 that Hunter proves is that two species very nearly allied to each other 

 will produce a hybrid offspring, and that the hybrid is again produc- 

 tive with an individual of the pure breed ; but this only illustrates a 

 general law by which the reversion of the hybrid to the pure breed is 

 provided for ; while, ou the other hand, the intermixture of the dis- 

 tinct species is guarded against by the aversion of the individuals 

 composing them to a sexual union." And it is no contradiction to 

 this general rule to show that in some instances this aversion is over- 

 come, as in the case of the lion and tigress to cite an example, 

 among the Carnicora [FELIDX], and in that of the pheasant and 

 common fowl : and the hen canary-bird with the goldfinch, linnet, &c., 

 among birds. [CAXAUY-BIRD.] Such cases are the exceptions, and 

 prove the generality of the rule or law. 



Doubtless there must be a concurrence of predisposing accidents to 

 bring different species, in their anxious desire to obey the all-powerful 

 impulse of reproduction, together ; and the presence of such predis- 

 posing causes may be generally traced in most of these erratic alliances. 

 In the great majority of them the species thus mingled are very nearly 

 allied. Thus there are several instances on record of the Hooded Crow 

 (Corvat C'orniz) pairing and producing offspring with tho Carrion Crow 

 (Corvtu Corone) ; the male of Montagu's Harrier (Circtu hytmalit) and 

 a Ringtail (Circut cyanctui) having been shot at the nest feeding their 

 young (Yarrell, ex relatione Sweeting). Mr. Berry notices tho pairing 

 of a Blackbird and a Thrush in Lancashire : these birds reared their 

 broods, which were strongly-marked hybrids, for two successive years. 

 ( Magazine of Nat Hist,' vol vii.) 



Mr. Yarrell, who in his ' History of British Birds ' mentions the 

 last-named cases in detail, adds that several instances are known in 

 which the female of the Black Grouse, usually called the Gray Hen, 

 has bred in a wild state with the Common Pheasant ; such a hybrid 

 is represented in the title-page of Mr. T. C. Kytou's ' History of the 

 Rarer British Birds.' [BLACK GROUSE.] The last-named ornithologist 

 has also recorded the fruitful connection between the Common Gooso 

 and the Chinese Gander ; and the Hon. Twiselton Fieunes communi- 

 cated to the Zoological Society of London an instance of the Common 

 Will Duck breeding with the male Pintail. [UucKS.] 



The author of tho ' History of Britinh Birds ' above quoted has had 

 so much experience on this intricate subject, so far as it relates to birds 

 that the following observations by him are worthy of all attention : ' 



