Tlie Four-horned Trunk Fish. 439 



Frog," says he, " puts forth the slender horns situated 

 beneath his eyes, enticing by that means the little fish 

 to play around till they come within his reach, when 

 he springs upon them." But it is not only the lesser 

 inhabitants of the water that the Angler ensnares ! 

 Codfish of good size are often found in his stomach, and 

 he occasionally seizes upon fishes as they are being 

 drawn up by the line. Mr. Yarrell mentions an in- 

 stance of an Angler attacking a conger- eel under these 

 circumstances : the eel wriggled through the branchial 

 aperture of his captor, and both were drawn up to- 

 gether. 



Cicero also notices this extraordinary creature, in his 

 Treatise on the Nature of the Gods. He observed its 

 wonderful construction when musing on the shores of 

 Sicily. 



THE FOUE-HOKNED TEUNK FISH. 



(Ostracion quadricornis.) 



THESE singular fishes are distinguished from most others 

 by the bony covering which envelopes them. The head 

 and body are covered with plates of bone, forming an 

 inflexible cuirass, and leaving exposed only the tail, 

 fins, mouth, and a portion of the gill opening. They 

 have no ventral fins, and the dorsal and anal are placed 

 far back. Their liver is large, and abounds with oil. 

 The Trunk fish is a native of the Indian and American 

 seas. Some of the species are considered excellent 

 eating. 



