648 



GOAT-MOTH GOBIOID.E. 



those of the ibex, and each one is curved to nearly 

 half a circle. They have a round edge to the front, 

 and numberless small transverse furrows on the sides. 

 This species, of which the natural history is not very 

 satisfactory, is understood to be abundant in the 

 mountains of Abyssinia and the elevated grounds on 

 both sides of the Red Sea, so that it does not inhabit 

 such elevated places as any of the other two species. 

 We are, however, in want of further information re- 

 specting the wild animals of those parts of the world. 



Such are a few particulars in descriptive history of 

 those species of the genus Capra which appear to be 

 best made out. Many others have been mentioned 

 by different describers ; but the tendency which the 

 whole genus has to break into varieties, both of size 

 and colour, renders it necessary to speak of them with 

 a good deal of caution. It is possible too that where 

 wild ones meet, there may be numerous crosses be- 

 tween them, which further adds to the confusion. 

 Notwithstanding these circumstances, the goats are 

 an interesting genus of animals, both because they 

 appear to have been among the first, if not the very 

 iirst, ruminating animals which man domesticated ; 

 and also because they take up their habitation in 

 those places of the earth which, though they are the 

 most sterile, are at the same time the most sublime ; 

 and there is a spirit about the animals themselves 

 which increases their interest. 



GOAT-MOTH (Phalaina, Bombyx, Cossuss, Lin- 

 naeus). Cossus ligniperda of modern entomologists. 

 The name of one of the largest species of British 

 night-moths. It is of a grey colour, with numerous 

 dark spots and lines on the wings. The larva, which is 

 supposed to have been the celebrated cossus of the 

 Roman epicures, feeds on willow-trees, which it bores 

 in all directions, sometimes rendering them so weak as 

 to be overthrown by the first high wind. This larva 

 is a large fleshy looking grub, and emits so strong a 

 scent, that its presence in a tree may be known to 

 persons accidentally passing, hence the origin of the 

 English name. It is this insect which has been the 

 subject of a series of the most elaborate dissections 

 by the celebrated Lyonuet, and which have rendered 

 his name immortal. 



GOBIOID^E. The Goby family, the twelfth 

 order into which Cuvier divides the Acanthopterygii, 

 or fishes with spinous rays to their fins. They belong 

 to that division of the order which has a portion of the 

 bones of the pharynx formed into cells partly cartilagi- 

 nous and fitted with covers, by means of which a portion 

 of water can be retained for the purpose of moistening 

 the gills. All the fishes which have this peculiar 

 form of the mouth, are remarkable for being able to 

 live some time without water. They are, generally 

 speaking, ground fishes, capable of crawling about 

 from pool to pool, when the tide of the sea or the flood 

 of a river leaves them ; and some of them are capable 

 also of making their way across the banks, and even of 

 performing short journeys upon land. An account of 

 one of the most remarkable of these will be found in 

 the article ANABAS. 



The Goby family have the spines of the dorsal fin 

 slender and flexible, they have the same internal struc- 

 ture, namely an intestinal canal without caeca, and no 

 air bladder. There are several genera in the family, 

 one of which will be found noticed under the article 

 BLENNY, and another under the article ANARRHICHAS, 

 and others in the words referred to in those articles. 



Though curious in their habits, none of these 



families are very interesting in an economical point 

 of view ; and they are, generally speaking, very 

 small in size. 



THE TKUK GOBIES (Gobius] nave the ventral fins 

 united throughout their whole length, so as to form a 

 concave disc. The body is lengthened ; the head of 

 moderate size ; the cheeks puffed out, and the eyes 

 near each other ; they have two dorsal fins, of which 

 the one is long. In general they prefer places having 

 a clayey bottom, in which they excavate passages for 

 their winter habitations. In spring they prepare a 

 sort of nest, in which the spawn is deposited and fe- 

 cundated, after which it is covered with sea-weed, to 

 preserve it from the attack of enemies. There are a 

 good many species inhabitants of the European seas, 

 none of which are of much size, or any value, except 

 as food for other fishes. 



The black Goby, or rock fish (G. niger"), is rather a 

 rare fish on the British shores ; and the following is 

 the description of it, as given by Mr. Yarrell, from 

 the manuscript of the late colonel Montagu. "The 

 head is large, the cheeks inflated, and the lips very 

 thick ; the mouth is wide, and furnished with numerous 

 small and very short teeth in several indistinct rows in 

 both jaws ; the under jaw is roughened by them like 

 a rasp ; the eyes are high up on the head, and ap- 

 proximate ; the upper part of them dusky, partaking 

 of the colour of the head, the lower part of the irides 

 golden : between the eyes are two small pores, the 

 anterior one more than double the size of the other, 

 but not distinguishable without the assistance of a 

 lens : the nostrils are placed before the eyes, on the 

 outside of each of which is a small fleshy appendage, 

 rather elevated : the cheeks and opercula of the gills 

 are furnished with lines of very minute papilla;, which 

 appear like spines ; most of these lines are transverse, 

 but some run longitudinally, observable only with the 

 aid of a glass. On the top of the head a longitudinal 

 sulcus runs as far as the commencement of the first 

 dorsal fin. The colour is uniformly dusky in the 

 matured fishes, except from the chin to the vent, 

 which is whitish, with some deep purplish black 

 between the gills beneath ; the ventral fins usually 

 more or less black. It is, when fresh, covered with a 

 thick mucous secretion ; but after having been in 

 spirits, the fish becomes extremely rough to the touch 

 if rubbed the reverse way. This roughness is occa- 

 sioned by the scales, which are large in proportion, 

 being ciliated at their free edges. 



" The ventral fins, which supply the great generic 

 character, are connected, forming a funnel-shaped 

 appendage of twelve branched rays ; and the anus is 

 furnished with an elongated tubercle. We never 

 could discover that the black goby ventured into fresh 

 water, and with us certainly spawns in the sea. 

 With respect to the union of the ventral fins, it would 

 seem to be for the purpose of forming an instrument 

 of adhesion ; but in no instance have we observed 

 that they adhered either to rocks, or to the bottom ot 

 the glass vessel, in which they have been kept alive 

 for several days." 



This species is found on the rocky shores, in all 

 parts of the country, from Cornwall to the Orkney 

 islands. The spawn is deposited on rocks ; the 

 young are plentiful in the summer, and the full grown 

 ones do not exceed five or six inches in length. The 

 ventral fins form a perfect disc. 



The double-spotted Goby. This species nas been 

 named by Mr. Yarrell, from two dark spots on each 



