310 



M Y X I N E. 



on cacli side, and the other only one. For this rea- 

 son the first has been called lieptabrcnnatus, and the 

 second Gastrobranchus ; thereby implying simply that 

 the first has seven openings to the breathing appa- 

 ratus on each side, while the second has only one 

 such opening, as if its gills were in its belly. It 

 should seem that those differences are quite sufficient 

 for establishing a generic distinction between the two 

 animals ; at least, genera are founded upon slighter 

 differences in many parts of the system of animated 

 nature ; and Cuvier, who, notwithstanding the pre- 

 tended refinements of later and far less experienced 

 authorities, does make a distinction of this kind, al- 

 though, as his object is to place nature itself before 

 his readers, and not his mere opinion of it, he is by 

 no means dogmatical on this point. Of the two 

 species, or genera, or whatever else we may call it, 

 one belongs to the northern hemisphere, and the 

 other to the southern ; and, so far as we have been 

 able to ascertain, they do not meet each other in the 

 middle latitudes ; neither is there, so far as is known, 

 any analogous fish to be met with there. The north- 

 ern one, which is the most peculiar in its structure, is 

 not, we believe, met with in the warmer seas even of 

 Europe ; and on the British shores it frequents the 

 comparatively cold waters of the eastern sea, ia pre- 

 ference to the warmer tide of the Atlantic. The 

 one belonging to the southern hemisphere has "not 

 been so frequently seen, or seen in so high latitudes, 

 as the northern one ; but it has not been met with in 

 any of the tropical seas of the southern hemisphere ; 

 and thus it is probable that it is also a fish of tempe- 

 rate and even of cold latitudes. 



DOMBEYA'S MYXINE (M. Dombeyi). This species 

 has no dorsal fin ; but the anal and the caudal exist, 

 and are united at the extremity. It is blunt at the 

 posterior extremity ; and the anterior one is enlarged 

 into something resembling a head, though without the 

 usual organisation of that part even in fishes. It has 

 seven breathing apertures on each side of the body, 

 the same as the lamprey has ; but in the form of its 

 mouth, and the perfectly rudimental state of its ver- 

 tebral column, and, indeed, in its general characters, 

 it more nearly resembles the myxine of the European 

 seas. Hitherto it has been found only on the coast 

 of Chili ; but whether it exists on other coasts, in 

 corresponding latitudes of the southern hemisphere, 

 has not of course been ascertained. Besides its curi- 

 osity as a subject of natural history, it possesses no 

 manner of interest ; for in an economical point of 

 view it is without value, and its services in the eco- 

 nomy of nature cannot be very great. 



THE HAG (M. glutinosa). This species gets the 

 name of hag from getting into the interior of fishes, 

 and consuming their substance ; and the epithet 

 glutinosa is added in consequence of the vast quantity 

 of mucous or gelatinous matter which it secretes from 

 the two rows of pores along the sides of the body. 

 Almost every fish is provided with pores of this 

 description ; and the secretion seems to be necessary, 

 both for preserving the flexibility of the skin, and for 

 preventing the water from acting upon it. As the 

 spinal column of this fish is little else than a flexible 

 tube, its muscles have a less stable point of insertion 

 than those of fishes in which the back bone is better 

 developed ; and consequently it has more need of the 

 secretion for lubricating the skin, so as to allow the 

 muscles to produce their proper effect. It is indeed 

 a general, though not an absolutely uniform law, that 



the secretion from the skin in fishes is inversely as 

 the bones of their skeleton ; for the cartilaginous 

 fishes have more of it than the bony fishes, and 

 among the latter the soft-finned fishes have more of 

 it than the fishes which have spinous rays to their 

 fins, and harder bones. The fact of this secretion 

 being inversely as the development of the skeleton 

 shows us, that, in proportion as the bones are more 

 flexible, provision is made for greater flexibility in the 

 skin ; and, altogether, the fishes with the soft bones 

 are more gelatinous, and, generally speaking, are less 

 provided with regular scales, though many of them 

 have spines, or plates of hard bone, upon the skin, 

 and thus make a slight approach to those molluscous 

 animals which are covered with scales. The hag, 

 though one of the least bony of the whole race, has 

 no hard substance produced by the skin ; but that 

 skin bears a considerable resemblance to the cloak 

 of some of the cephalopod mollusca, supporting the 

 muscles at least as much as the rudimental spine 

 does, and therefore require to be lubricated by the 

 glutinous secretion given out by the animal. The 

 quantity of this given out is much greater than one 

 would be disposed to believe. Kalen mentions that, 

 having put one of these fishes into a large pitcher 

 of sea-water, the quantity which it gave out was so 

 great as, in a very short time, to convert the water 

 into a transparent jelly or glue ; and that, when he 

 placed it in an additional quantity of sea-water, that 

 also was very speedily reduced to the same state. 

 The communicating of so much of this secretion 

 to the water could not be for the purpose of lubri- 

 cating the skin of the fish ; and hence some have 

 concluded that the myxine, which is totally blind, 

 and appears to have no distinct organs of sense 

 excepting the eight tentacula around the mouth, 

 employs this discharge as a means either of ofience 

 or of defence, though which of the two is of course 

 not known. 



Considered as a British fish, the hag is not rare on 

 the eastern coast, though little mention is made of it 

 on the western. Pennant says, that it " enters the 

 mouths of other fishes when on the hook, which 

 remain a tide under water, and totally devours the 

 whole except the skin and bones. The Scarborough 

 fishermen often take it in the robbed fish on drawing 

 up their lines." That it is found in the bodies of fish 

 is certain, and it is equally certain that it goes there 

 for no other purpose save that of feeding on the sub- 

 stance of the fish ; but how it gets in is another mat- 

 ter, and one upon which the authorities are not 

 exactly agreed. Some say the mouth, others say the 

 very opposite end of the digestive organs ; while 

 others, again, allege that it makes an opening for 

 itself, and for this reason it is, upon some parts of the 

 coast, called the " borer." We do not venture to 

 decide on this grave matter, though we are inclined 

 to lean to the third opinion ; because it is very un- 

 common, and also unlikely, that any animal should 

 enter the intestinal canal of another, at either end, 

 for the purpose of eating that other; and besides, the 

 hag, with its two rows of teeth upon each side of the 

 tongue, acting against each other something like a 

 pair of lateral jaws, and its strong crooked tooth on 

 the palate, is pretty well adapted for making an open- 

 ing for itself. The mode in which it makes its attack 

 is a mystery, however, and one which it may not be 

 very easy to clear up. The attack is, howerer, not 

 made singly; for Wilson mentions that, on the shores 



