222 The Flying^fish 



in which I casually alluded to the minor fact well- 

 known to all deep-water sailors, of the small cuttle- 

 fish or Loligo leaping high enough to be carried on 

 board during rough weather, and in consequence 

 often being found upon a vessel's decks. Shortly 

 afterwards the editor forwarded me a letter from 

 a gentleman, who stated that, although not a sailor, 

 he had been round the world in sailing ships six or 

 seven times, that he had never heard of the ' leaping ' 

 squid, and that it was perfectly ridiculous to say that 

 such a clumsy creature as a cuttle-fish could leap on 

 board a vessel. Consequently it was obvious that 

 I was knowingly making an extraordinarily idiotic 

 misstatement, etc. To which I replied (to tlie editor 

 only) that the matter was one that could be tested 

 any day by asking the first half dozen sailors met 

 with at Green's Home, or any similar place, and that 

 it being so well-known a fact to all seafarers, I did 

 not think it worth while to answer the gentleman's 

 letter. 



But in the case of the Flying-fish I readily admit 

 that an observer may have an honest opinion based 

 upon casual observation, or misconstruction of terms. 

 The difference between leaping and flying may be 

 narrowed down until some sort of an agreement be 

 possible, and yet neither party feel that they have been 

 worsted in the field of argument. However, I must 

 bring the Flying-fish himself forward. As in the case 

 of several other deep-sea fish, naturalists have been 

 gradually compelled to treat minor differences in 

 individuals as accidental, and not as constituting 

 differing species, until at last they have most sensibly 

 reduced the Flying-fish family (Exocetus) to two 

 species : E. volitans and E. nigricans. 



The first named, and the smaller of the two, has the 



