VII 

 JULY. 



A MILE or two eastward of Babbicombe and Petit Tor, 

 in from ten to fifteen fathoms water, there lies a stretch 

 of flat stony bottom, reaching away from the island 

 known as the Ore Stone, towards the mouth of the river 

 Exe. This is a bit of ground to which a boatman 

 whom I occasionally employ often resorts with the 

 dredge, and rarely or never without a fair harvest of 

 curious and interesting creatures. Among other things 

 he brings me from time to time numerous specimens of 

 what Yarrell calls the Bimaculated Sucker; 1 the pro- 

 priety of which name will be evident the moment you 

 examine one of these little fishes alive. Cuvier named 

 the group in which they are found (a group comprising 

 very few species) Discoboles, because the ventral pair of 

 fins are united so as to form a circular disk or saucer, 

 by means of which the fishes have the power of 



1 Lepidogaster Umaculatus, of which individuals of different varieties of 

 colour, and in different attitudes, are represented in Plate xix. 

 168 



