SoFT-riNNKI) FISIIIS. 20 



iiuujy times taken al)()vi> one lnimlrcd in a tide, tliuuj^li of late 

 years tliese fish have become searee in those waters, it being 

 supposeil that their enemy, the Hhie Fish, by j)reying on their 

 younjr, have cansed the seareity." 



It is searcely necessary, I presnme, to remark that no sucli 

 teats are to he pi-rt'ormi-d ii(n\ -a-days ; and lie is a happN and an 

 envii'tl man, who succeeds at present in i-aptnring a lew In'acc 

 t)l" this (h'hcions (iamc I'ish. 



I now come to the last section ot' my work, tlie deep-sea 

 tishes, very lew of whicli arc worthy of iTmark in conni'ction 

 with the angler's sport, althongh they all arc of superior excel- 

 lence as dainties. 



These are all soft-finned fishes, but they form a separate class 

 of the Maluroptt-njifii, owing to a pectdiar arrangement of their 

 tins, the bones supporting the ventrals being attached to the 

 shoulders which support the pectorals, whence they have obtained 

 the tcnn snb-brachial. 



To this class of snb-brachial Malacopltri/f/ii belong the two 

 families of (iadUlir and PUuronertida;, Cod and Flat-fish, to one 

 or other of which pcrtaui all the s|)ccits whirh arc taken by the 

 ilrop-line on our coast ; a sport which is almost too dirty, as 

 well as too laborious, to l)e in very truth a sport. 



Of the family (i.vnin.K, of which the Cod is the type, we have 

 The Common Cod [Morr/iua Vulf/ariM). 

 The Haddock {Morr/iua yKf/hJinijtj. 

 The \Vhiting [Mcrlani/uji Ameriranus). 



And althongh there arc several other species of more or less 

 estimation for the table, ju» the Torsk or Tusk {Brosinius I'lifr/arh) , 

 the Hake [Merhirius Vulgttris), and some others, none but 



