422 



PERCH. 



longer hair projected through It. The females are 

 furnished with the marsupium. This genus are, in a 

 great measure, earth animals, digging passages under 

 the ground, something after the manner of moles, and 

 living upon dead animals, small reptiles, and insects. 

 They are pretty numerous in various parts of New 

 South Wales, where they make their burrows in the 

 dry and sandy ground. 



LONG-NOSED POUCHED BADGER (P. nasuta). This 

 species has the head very long, and the muzzle drawn 

 out and flexible, and the nose or point of the muzzle 

 extending a good way beyond the mouth ; the body 

 is about sixteen inches long, and the tail about six 

 inches more ; the ears are short and oblong, and the 

 eyes very small ; the fur is pretty thick all over the 

 body, but most abundant on the shoulders and ridge 

 of the back, where the long hairs are also the most 

 plentiful ; they are ash-coloured at their origin, and 

 black or fawn-coloured at the points ; the mixture of 

 colours makes the whole of the upper part appear, as 

 it were, of a uniform brown ; and the under part is 

 white, and the claws are yellowish ; the tail is dark 

 brown on the upper side, with a streak of maroon 

 down the middle, and chestnut on the under side. 



BOUGAINVILLE'S POUCHED BADGER (P. Sougain- 

 villcii). Though this has been described as a separate 

 species, and differing in some of its characters from the 

 former, it is highly probable that it is nothing else 

 but the young of the others ; but these are obscure 

 creatures in their habitations, and their history is not 

 much known. 



FAT-POUCHED BADGER (P. obesuila]. This differs 

 a good deal in form from the other, has the nose 

 short, and the outline of the forehead arched. It is 

 also a much smaller animal, being only about the 

 size of the brown rat ; the form of its body is very 

 thick and short ; its ears are rather large and rounded, 

 the general colour of the fur is reddish-yellow on the 

 upper part, with black points to the silky feather?, 

 and it is white on the under part ; the manners of this 

 one are just as little known as those of the others, 

 because the creatures live lonely, and seldom appear. 



PERCH (Perca, or rather, perhaps, Pcrridce, the 

 perch family). A genus, and also a family of spinons- 

 finned fishes, and remarkably characteristic of that 

 order of the finny tribes. So characteristic are they 

 indeed, that Cuvier has given them the foremost 

 place in his arrangement, and placed the common 

 perch at the head of the family, as a most typical 

 fish. The family contains a vast number, not of 

 genera merely, but of sub-families or groups. There 

 is a sort of general likeness running through all these 

 groups ; and yet, in the details of their characters, in 

 their haunts, and in their habits, they differ greatly 

 from each other. Some are of considerable size, 

 others are small ; some are armed with spines capa- 

 ble of inflicting very serious wounds, and others have 

 none of the spines capable of inflicting an injury. 

 Some swim in the free waters, others lurk in the mud 

 at the bottom ; and there are even some which are 

 capable of journeys, though very short ones, upon 

 land. Some notice will be found of the place of the 

 family in the article FISH ; and some of the more 

 singular species arc described under their proper 

 names in the order of the alphabet. 



The leading divisions of the family are, first, the 

 true perches, Perca, which have the ventral fins 

 placed exactly under the pectorals, the gill-lids armed 

 with spines, and the gill-flaps toothed 5 second, Ce n- 



frojyomus, which have the flaps toothed, but the gill- 

 lids without spines ; they have often, however, a spine 

 near the orbit of the eye ; third, Enoplosm, which 

 differ from the second [division in the height of the 

 body, and also in the greater production of the dorsal 

 fins ; their gill-lids have spines on them, and the 

 flaps are toothed, and also have a few spines ; fourth, 

 Prochilus, which have only one tooth in the gill-flap ; 

 fifth, Sanclnt, which have the flap toothed, but no 

 spines on the lid ; their heads are without scales, and 

 their jaws are armed with pointed teeth ; sixth, Tcrn- 

 pon, having the body and head oblong, the muzzle 

 blunt, the scales minute, and the body small, and with 

 even rows of teeth. Fishes of this sixth division 

 are very abundant in many latitudes, and very 

 easily caught. The master fishers of those latitudes 

 feed their slaves with the flesh of these fishes, which, 

 though not very palatable, yet can be eaten ; and 

 this is the reason of the name Tcrapon being given 

 lo them, which, we believe, is the Japanese for slave's 

 meat ; seventh, Apogon, the fishes of this division 

 make a very close approach to the mullet?, but they 

 can hardly be considered as true perches in any but 

 the first of these divisions ; to it, therefore, we shall 

 restrict the remainder of our observations. 



THE COMMON PERCH (P.fuvialUis), is the typical 

 species of the genus ; and it is a fish with which 

 every one who knows anything about the fishes of 

 the still fresh waters of Britain must be well ac- 

 quainted. 



The characters of the genus are : two dorsal fins, 

 separated from each other by a smooth space, the 

 first having spinous rays, and the second flexible ones ; 

 both jaws, the front of the vomer and the palatal 

 bones are armed with teeth ; the tongue is smooth ; 

 the gill-lid is bony, and terminates in a flattened 

 point ; the under gill-flap is toothed behind, and has 

 a notch below ; there are seven rays in the gills, and 

 the scales are rough and hard, and not easily de- 

 tached from the skin. The common perch is found 

 in the lakes, large ponds, and other currentless waters 

 of all Europe, and the corresponding latitudes of 

 Asia. There is some reason to believe that it agrees 

 better with cold latitudes than with those which are 

 warmer ; for perches, three or four feet long, are 

 mentioned as being taken in Sweden and Lapland ; 

 whereas in Britain or in France, they rarely exceed 

 a foot and a half. Specimens larger still are men- 

 tioned as occurring in some parts of Siberia ; but 

 thej' leave some room for doubt. The perch has 

 been known in all ages, as well as in all countries 

 whose story in the history of civilised man is of any 

 considerable length. The Greeks and Romans were 

 well acquainted with it, and described it accurately ; 

 and it is not a little remarkable, that in most coun- 

 tries in Europe, its name differs very little from 

 the specific one given to it by Aristotle. Few lakes 

 or large ponds in Britain are without perch, and as 

 they are exceedingly bold and voracious, they arc 

 very easily captured. We shall quote Mr. Yarnell's 

 accurate description of its appearance. " The perch," 

 says Mr. Y., " though very common, is one of the 

 most beautiful of our fresh-water fishes, and when in 

 good condition, its colours are brilliant and striking. 

 The upper part of the body is a rich greenish 'brown, 

 passing into golden yellowish-white below ; the sidqs 

 ornamented with from five to seven dark transverse 

 bands ; the irides golden yellow ; the first dorsal fin 

 brown, the membrane connecting two or three of the 



