MUNDIA M USAGES. 



298 



ornaments various parts of the fish, is the consequence 

 of violence ; every scale removed by force (and but 

 little is necessary) increases this colour ; it is produced 

 by extravasated blood lying under the transparent 

 cuticle, but above the true skin." 



The spring is the spawning time with these mullets, 

 and when they come into their best condition, in sum- 

 mer, it is immediately after recovering their flesh 

 subsequent to the labours of that operation. The 

 young surmullets grow pretty fast, so that by the end 

 of October in the first year they have acquired about 

 half the length and one-eighth of the weight of the 

 average ones found on our coast. Mullet appear to 

 be chiefly ground fe'eders ; and the beards, as they 

 are called, are no doubt intimately connected with 

 the finding of their food, as they are in other ground 

 fishes that possess them. The usual supposition is, 

 that those appendages are very delicate organs of 

 touch, though how they act it is not easy to say. 

 The fish that possess them have very frequently the 

 eyes directed upwards, in a different direction alto- 

 gether from the mouth ; but whether the beards of 

 the mullet act simply! as feelers under the fish, or 

 assist in raising it up (for they are very muscular), it 

 is not easy to say. It is certain, however, that mullet 

 do feed chiefly at the bottom of the water ; for though 

 a good many are taken in the surface nets, it is pro- 

 bable that this takes place chiefly when they are 

 shifting their ground from one locality to another ; 

 for the greatest number, and those in the best con- 

 dition, are got by trawl nets, worked at the bottom. 

 What the food may be is not very well known ; but, 

 from the smallness of the teeth, it cannot be of a very 

 obstinate nature. 



The striped mullet is liable to some differences of 

 colour, being of a brighter red not only at different 

 seasons, but in different individuals at the same sea- 

 son ; and altogether this is one of the most interesting 

 of our fishes. 



PLAIN RED MULLET (M. barbatus}. Barbatus, or 

 bearded, is by no means happily applied to this spe- 

 cies, because the striped one is as completely bearded 

 as the present species. This one does not attain so 

 large a size as the former ; but its colour is finer, at 

 least in those specimens which are in high condition. 

 The back and sides are a very delicate pure red, of 

 very nearly what is called the fundamental colour, 

 and this passes very gradually and softly into silvery 

 white on the under part. The frontal line in this 

 one is still more perpendicular than in the striped 

 species. The scales are smaller, the first dorsal fin 

 is more elevated, and the second one differently 

 shaped ; so that, independently of the colours, the 

 specific difference is well made out. 



It is probable, however, that either this last species 

 is subject to some varieties of colouring, or that there 

 are variations in the colours of the former one ; for 

 Mr. Couch mentions that in two specimens which he 

 obtained in the Channel, answering of course in form 

 to the plain red mullet, the sides and part of the belly 

 were dark red, and there was a longitudinal stripe of 

 yellow below the lateral line, while the back, in both 

 specimens we believe, was of a paler red than it is 

 even in the striped mullet. But the typical red mullet 

 are described as having the back very clear carmine 

 red, without any yellow between it and the silvery 

 colour on the belly. If, therefore, colour is to be 

 depended on in these fishes, Mr. Couch's two speci- 

 mens appear to have belonged to a species different 



from either the common striped, which is so \vell 

 known on our coast, or from the plain red as described 

 from the specimens found in the Mediterranean and 

 iu the Black Sea, in which it appears the red species 

 is also known. These circumstances tend to continue 

 the confusion which certainly at one time existed 

 respecting the species of these much-celebrated fishes, 

 and we must regard it as still a doubtful question, 

 whether a red mullet, identified with the plain red 

 mullet of the south of Europe, has ever yet been 

 actually met with in the British seas. The notice by 

 Pennant of one found on the Scottish shores is only 

 a hearsay notice ; and as the striped mullet is a 

 mere straggler, it' known at all on those shores, and 

 as no drawing was made of that to which Pennant 

 alludes, it is at least possible that it may have been a 

 straggler of the striped kind ; and, as a new fish, it was 

 not unnatural to refer it to that species which is re- 

 garded as having the greatest celebrity. 



The mullet most common on the south coasts of 

 England, though it does not altogether quit those 

 coasts at any season, is a little capricious even at 

 those times when it is most abundant ; for, after the 

 fishermen have had a successful fishing for some time, 

 they occasionally find that not a single fish remains 

 upon the ground, even long before the proper season 

 is over. When this occurs they have to try for the 

 shoal of fish eastward or westward, according to cir- 

 cumstances, but seldom much further out to sea in 

 one situation than in another, unless there is a great 

 difference of depth of water and character of the bot- 

 tom in-shore. This shifting of the fish makes the 

 price very fluctuating ; so that in the same season, 

 and within a few days, a mullet shall be so many 

 pence at the one time, and as many shillings at the 

 other. 



MUNDIA(Kunth). A genus of greenhouse shrubs, 

 belonging to PolygaletB ; formerly the Polygala spinosa 

 and viminea of botanical authors. Both flowers and 

 fruit are beautiful, and the plants are easily cultivated. 



MURACUIA (Jussieu). Beautiful ornamental 

 climbers from tropical America, belonging to Passi- 

 floreae. M. ocellata is one of the most desirable 

 climbers for a hothouse, as it grows freely and flowers 

 abundantly. The flowers are crimson, and extremely 

 showy. It requires a rich light soil, and may be in- 

 creased by cuttings. 



MURALTIA (Necker). A genus of evergreen 

 shrubs, natives of the Cape of Good Hope, belonging 

 to Polygalece. They are pretty greenhouse shrubs, 

 and easily kept and propagated. 



MURRAYA (Konig). Evergreen shrubs, natives 

 of China and the East Indies. The flowers are decan- 

 drious, and belong to the natural order Aurantiaccae. 

 They may be kept in the greenhouse, but flower best 

 in the stove ; they affect a light turfy loam, and are 

 readily increased by cuttings. 



MUSA (Linnaeus). A genus of the largest her- 

 baceous plants known. Their organisation and inflo- 

 rescence are so peculiar that the genus gives a title to 

 a natural order, viz. : 



MUSACE^E. This, though a small natural order, 

 contains some of the most conspicuous plants in the 

 world. There are only four genera, viz., Alusa, Ura- 

 nia, Strelilzia, and Hcliconia. Of these there are 

 already twenty-eight species described. The most 

 stately, as well as the most useful of these plants, is 

 the Musa paradmaca and sapientum, extensively culti- 

 vated in the East and West Indies for their fruit. 



