S Y R P H I D IE. 



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it belongs, is never found but in the sea ; and thus it 

 could not, in all probability, be kept, unless in situa- 

 tions where it could have regular changes of sea water. 

 But where this could be had, and it is probable 

 that, if taken from places where the fish is found, it 

 would in all likelihood contain the requisite supply 

 of food, there is no doubt that this fish could be made 

 an amusing addition to the living- collection, as well 

 as a source of mere wonder at its form in the dead 

 one. Specimens found upon different parts of the 

 British coasts have been kept alive long enough to 

 show that they are any thing but tender of life. In- 

 deed we might come to the same conclusion a priori, 

 by attending to the structure of the breathing appara- 

 tus, which gives the air so little access to them, that 

 the fish must, according to the general analogy of 

 all fishes, live for a long time out of the water, as com- 

 pared with fishes to whose gills the air has ready 

 access. We do not know the quantity of respiration 

 which those fishes with tufted gills require, as com- 

 pared with such as have them free and pectorated ; 

 but there is every reason to believe that it is less ; 

 and thus the water in which the fishes were kept 

 would require to be less frequently changed. Mr. 

 Lukis, of Guernsey, who supplied Mr. Yarrell with 

 specimens of these fishes, of which figures are given 

 in Mr. Y.'s work, and also with every valuable infor- 

 mation, gives the following account of their manners 

 in a state of confinement : " At the time of writing, 

 June 9, 183.3," says Mr. Yarrell, " Mr. Lukis had two 

 female specimens of Hippocampus breoirottru, then 

 healthy and active, which had been hung in a glass ves- 

 sel, and their actions were equally novel and amusing. 

 ' An appearance of search for a resting place induced 

 rue,' says Mr. Lukis, ' to consult their wishes by placing 

 sea-weed and straws in the vessel ; the desired effect 

 was produced, and has afforded me much to reflect 

 upon iu their habits. They now exhibit many of 

 their peculiarities, and few subjects of the deep have 

 displayed, in prison, more sport or more intelligence. 

 When swimming about, they maintain a vertical posi- 

 tion ; but the tail is ready to grasp whatever meets 

 it in the water, quickly entwines in any direction 

 round the weeds, and, when fixed, the animal intently 

 watches the surrounding objects, and darts at its prey 

 with great dexterity. When both approach each 

 other, they often twist their tails together, and strug- 

 gle to separate, or attach themselves to the weeds ; 

 this is done by the under part of their cheeks or chin, 

 which is also used for raising the body when a new 

 spot is wanted for the tail to entwine afresh. The 

 eyes move independently of each other, as in the 

 chameleon ; this, with the brilliant changeable irri- 

 descence about the head, and its blue bands, forcibly 

 remind the observer of that animal." 



This passage, short as it is, throws more light upon 

 the character and habits of this very singular fish, than 

 all the disquisitions of the systematic naturalists put 

 together, and makes one heartily wish that there was 

 a Mr. Lukis on every part of our shores. It esta- 

 blishes beyond a doubt that the chief residences of 

 these fishes is among the sea-weed ; and that they 

 cling by their prehensile tails waiting for the very 

 minute substances on which they feed, till they are 

 brought within their reach by the motion of the water. 

 They are thus enabled to hold on in places where no 

 fish could hold on by the mere action of its fins upon 

 the water ; and we can see how well the flexibility of 

 the anterior part of the body and the double action of 



NAT. HIST. VOL. III. 



the prominent eye?, each taking in its own field of 

 action, independently of the other, enable it to cap- 

 ture the smallest food in sufficient quantity for its 

 support. What purposes the filaments and leaf-like 

 appendages upon the species which are found in the 

 tropical and southern seas may answer in their eco- 

 nomy, we are unable to say. We cannot suppose 

 that, like the barbules which are found upon many 

 common fishes, they can in any way answer as baits or 

 lures to attract the prey, for the fish itself is so small 

 and its gape so narrow, that it cannot be supposed to 

 feed upon any thing that could be lured by a visible 

 bait. There is, however, no known limits to the 

 smailness of the tenants of the deep, as they do not 

 require any apparatus for bearing them up, as is the 

 case with air animals ; and thus the total volume of 

 living creatures iu the sea which are individually too 

 small for our vision, may amount to more than that 

 of all the visible ones, abundant as they are. It is 

 only in this way that we can account for the subsistence 

 of the countless myriads barely within the range of 

 our vision, with which all parts of the ocean teem. 



SOLENOSTOMUS (Tube-mouth.) This name has 

 been given by some authors to one or other of the 

 pipe-mouthed fishes (Ranches en flute of Cuvier), which 

 are spinous finned fishes with pectorated gills, and 

 spawning in the same manner as other fishes, whereas 

 the one now alluded to (and there is only one known 

 species) agrees exactly in its physiology with the rest 

 of the present family. This one species has been 

 confounded with the said pipe-mouthed fishes ( fistula- 

 ria), which are the long-bodied division of the Bouches 

 en flute, while the name of this one has been given to 

 the sea snipe of the Mediterranean, which is one of 

 the oval-headed or Contrisii. In most of its charac- 

 ters, it agrees with Hippocampus ; but instead of the 

 pouch there are two large ventral fins in the rear of 

 the pectorals, which form a sort of apron for retaining 

 the eggs ; there are also two dorsals, one just behind 

 the head, and a smaller one near the origin of the 

 tail, and there is a long and pointed caudal fin. It is 

 found in the Indian seas, and is the Fistularia para- 

 do.va of Pallas. 



SYRPHID^E (Leach). A very extensive family 

 of dipterous insects, belonging to the section Atheri- 

 ci'ra of Latreille, having the proboscis long, mem- 

 branous, or fleshy, elbowed at the base, terminated 

 by two large lips, enclosing in a dorsal canal the 

 organs of suction, which are four in number, the 

 superior large and channelled beneath, in order to 

 receive the three other slender organs, which are the 

 representatives of the maxillae and tongue ; the palpi 

 are two in number, and attached at the base of the 

 maxillae : the head is hemispherical, and occupied, to 

 a large extent, by the eyes, especially in the males ; 

 its forehead or frontal part is often produced into a 

 sort of muzzle or nose ; the slender bristle of the 

 antennae is attached at the upper part of the third 

 joint of these organs ; the abdomen is often long and 

 depressed. Many of these insects resemble humble- 

 bees (see the article ENTOMOLOGY, vol. ii., p. 430, 

 for comparative figures of the bee and one of the 

 Syrphidai) ; others resemble wasps. They are often 

 of large size, and their colours variegated, some being 

 metallic in their tints, varied with golden or white 

 bands. They delight to rest upon flowers, the honied 

 sweets of which they extract for their food. There 

 is considerable diversity of form amongst the dif- 

 ferent species of which the family is composed ; in 



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