The Father Lasher The Sword-Fish. 433 



THE FATHER LASHER. (Coitus scorpius.) 



THE whimsical denomination of Father Lasher, given to 

 this fish, cannot be easily accounted for ; perhaps it may 

 be ascribable to the quick and repeated lashings of its 

 tail, when the fish is caught and thrown upon the sand. 

 The length is about eight or nine inches, and it is usually 

 found under stones, on the rocky coasts of our island. In 

 Greenland these fish are so numerous, that the inhabit- 

 ants depend largely upon them for their food. When 

 made into soup, they are nutritive and wholesome. The 

 head is large, and armed with spines, by which this 

 fish combats every enemy that attacks it, swelling out its 

 cheeks and gill-covers to an unusual size. Its colour is 

 a dull brown, mottled with white, and sometimes mixed 

 with red ; the fins and tail are transparent, and the lower 

 part of the body a shining white. 



THE SWORD-FISH, (Xiphias glaclius,) 



WHICH belongs to the mackerel family, has received its 



2 F 



