CHAPTER I. 



FISH LIFE AND GROWTH. 



Classification of Fisli Their Form and Colour Mode and Means of Life - 

 Curiously-shaped Fish Senses of Smell and Hearing in Fish Fish nearly 

 Insensible to Pain The Fecundity of Fish Sexual Instinct of Fish 

 External Impregnation of the Ova Ripening of a Salmon Egg Birth 

 of a Herring Proposal for a Marine Observatory in order to note the 

 Growth of our Sea Fish Curious Stories about the Growth of the Eel All 

 that is known about the Mackerel Whitebait : is it a Distinct Species ? 

 Mysterious Fish : the Vendace and the Powan "Where are the Haddocks? 

 The Food of Fish Fish as a rule not Migratory The Growth of Fish 

 Shoals When Fish are good for Food The Balancing Power of Nature. 



FISH form the fourth class of vertebrate animals, and, 

 as a general rule, they live in the water ; although in 

 Ceylon and India there are found species that live in the 

 earth, or, at any rate, that are able to exist in mud, not to 

 speak of some, that are said to occupy the trees of those 

 countries ! The classification of fishes as given by Cuvier 

 is usually adopted. That eminent naturalist has divided 

 these animals into those with true bones, and those having 

 a cartilaginous structure ; and the former again are divided 

 into acanthopterous and malcopterous fish. Other natural- 

 ists have adopted more elaborate classifications ; but Cuvier's 

 being the simplest has in my opinion a strong claim to be 

 considered the best ; at least it is the one generally used. 



A fish breathes by means of its gills, and progresses chiefly 

 by means of its tail. This animal is admirably adapted for pro- 



B 



