614 



F L Y I N G . F I S H. 



either all rise in the same direction, or they soon ac- 

 quire it ; and though their motion be a horizontal 

 spiral, or circular in the vertical direction, as it is in 

 the flight of dotterels and some other species, they all 

 keep course with each other. The motions of the 

 flying-fishes are, on the other hand, perfectly irregu- 

 lar, and they proceed in all directions just as they 

 happen to jerk themselves out of the water, evidently 

 showing that when in the air they have no power in 

 themselves, save what is derived from their simple 

 gravitation, which at last brings them to the water 

 upon the very same principle that it brings a stone 

 downwards. 



It would be by no means an uninteresting point in 

 animal mechanics to find the peculiar action of the body 

 by which those fishes raise themselves so far out of the 

 water, and especially project themselves so far by one 

 single exertion. We know from actual observation 

 that salmon, trout, and other leaping fishes whose 

 motions we can observe, leap by first curving the 

 body to one side, and then unbending the curve by 

 the exertion of the whole of their muscular energy ; 

 and as the body of a flying-fish is organised upon the 

 same general principle, there is no doubt that the im- 

 pulse is given to them in a similar manner, by the 

 whole muscles being brought into vigorous play. 

 How far the very long pectoral fins may act in ele- 

 vating the fore part of the body, and how they may 

 be assisted in this by the ventral fins, we cannot posi- 

 tively say ; for the leap of the fishes from the water 

 is too rapid for enabling us to observe it with so much 

 minuteness as to be able to determine the action of 

 the different parts. We know, however, that there 

 are fishes which, by the action of the fins, can throw 

 themselves to a considerable height, though this is 

 observed chiefly in those mud fishes which leap from 

 the oozy bottom at low water. When Captain King 

 was surveying the north coast of New Holland, he 

 found in some of the muddy bays, at low water, such 

 multitudes of those jumping fishes that at first sight 

 he imagined they were frogs; but even in the case of 

 them, the impulse is given so suddenly that it is not 

 easy to observe the manner in which it is performed, 

 that is, to refer the different parts of it to the organs 

 which more immediately produce them. In all fishes, 

 however, the quantity of muscle bestowed on the body 

 fins, to what part soever of the body they may be 

 attached, is so very trifling, compared with what moves 

 the spine and the caudal fin, that we must refer their 

 principal action, whatever it may be, to this part of 

 their structure ; nor is there any thing in the flying- 

 fishes which can make them an exception to this rule, 

 there being no more accumulation of muscular sub- 

 stance, and consequently no more muscular strength, 

 connected with that part of the skeleton to which they 

 are attached, than there is connected with the same 

 organisation of the bone in fishes which have these 

 fins much less produced, and are incapable of project- 

 ing themselves to such heights and distances. We 

 shall now give very brief notices of the leading species. 



Exocetus volitans, the common flying-fish, is the 

 one which is most common in the warmer seas of the 

 northern hemisphere. It is met with in the greatest 

 numbers from about the thirtieth degree of north lati- 

 tude to the equator ; but it is not altogether unknown 

 in seas much farther to the north. In the Mediter- 

 ranean, which has a much more tropical character 

 than its latitude would lead us to expect, this singular 

 fish is by no means uncommon, and it is as much 



1 assailed there by the coryphene as it is in the Atlantic, 

 ' though we believe that when in the air it is muni 

 more safe from the bill of the albatross. This fish, 

 besides the singular appearance given to it, by iis 

 greatly produced fins, has a stupid look, from the dis- 

 proportionate largeness of its eyes ; and it is not a 

 little remarkable that, while the shape of its body is 

 very much that of a surface fish, such as a mackerel, 

 a herring, or an anchovy, its organs of vision should 

 resemble in size those of the deep water fishes, which 

 may be supposed to have much less light in their 

 profound abodes than is enjoyed by the flying-fish 

 near the surface. The length of the common flying- 

 fish varies from six inches to a foot ; its ventral fins 

 are small, and placed in a medial situation between 

 the upper part of the gill-openings and the vent ; the 

 scales upon it are large and easily removed, and the 

 mouth is partially extended into a sort of tube. It is 

 said that there is a variety in the Red Sea very much 

 resembling this one in its general appearance, which 

 has not the habit of rising from the water ; and this 

 renders it probable that this habit is one of necessity 

 and not of choice ; that it is an attempt to escape from 

 enemies, and not a natural exertion for the procuring 

 of any gratification to the fish in a state of peace and 

 safety. 



This is the species of which examples have occurred 

 on the British shores, chiefly on the south and west ; 

 and as these are interesting from the celebrity of the 

 fish, we shall again quote Mr. Yarrell for the instances 

 of its occurrence. " Pennant states," says Mr. Yarn II, 

 "that in June, 1756, one was caught at a small dis- 

 tance from Carmarthen, in the river Towy, being 

 brought up by the tide, which flows as far as the town. 

 Dr. Heysham, in his Catalogue of Cumberland Ani- 

 mals, prefixed to Hutchinson's history of that county, 

 says, at page 32, ' Another flying-fish was seen at 

 Allowby in September, 1796, by Mr. Chancellor 

 Carlyle, when he was bathing ; it was near the shore 

 and upon the surface of the water, and came within 

 a yard of him.' According to Dr. Fleming, another 

 occurred irt July, 1823, ten miles from Bridgewaler, 

 in the Bristol Channel, a notice of which was com- 

 municated to the Linnaean Society by the Rev. S. L. 

 Jacob. 



" The following letter appears in the fortieth num- 

 ber of the Royal Institution Journal, addressed to the 

 editor. 



' f ' Sir In going down Channel on the 23rd 

 of August last, with light winds from the E. N. E., 

 inclinable to calm, when off Portland, we were sur- 

 prised by the appearance of a rather large shoal of 

 what is commonly called the flying-fish. They were 

 evidently closely pursued by some one of their nume- 

 rous enemies, from the frequent and long flights which 

 they took; but it was impossible to discover what 

 that enemy was, though passing close to the vessel. 

 The fact may possibly interest some of your numerous 

 scientific readers. 



" Sundcrland, Dec. 2, 1825. J. C. W.' 



" From the manuscript of Mr. Couch, another in- 

 stance may be quoted of a flying-fish, ' which threw 

 itself on shore, on the sandy margin of Helford River, 

 near Falmouth, at full two miles from the open sea, 

 where it was found while yet living. I was informed 

 by Mr. John Fox, at Plymouth, in whose collection 

 this specimen was in 1828, that it measured sixteen 

 inches in extreme length, and that the pectoral fin 

 was eight and a half inches long ; a size which caused 



