638 



A HISTORY OF 



CHAPTER CXLV. 



OF THE LAMPREY, AND ITS AFFINITIES. 



THERE is a species of the Lamprey 

 served up as a great delicacy among the 

 modern Romans, very different from ours. 

 Whether theirs be the maraena of the ancients 

 I will not pretend to say ; but there is no- 

 thing more certain than that our lamprey is not. 

 The Roman lamprey agrees with the ancient 

 fish in being kept in ponds, and considered 

 by the luxurious as a very great delicacy. 



The lamprey, known among us, is different- 

 ly estimated, according to the season in which 

 it is caught, or the place where it has been 

 fed. Those that leave the sea to deposit their 

 spawn in fresh waters are the best : those 

 that are entirely bred in our rivers, and that 

 have never been at sea, are considered as 

 much inferior to the former. Those that are 

 taken in the months of March, April, or May, 

 just upon their leaving tne sea. are reckoned 

 very good ; those that are caught after they 

 have cast their spawn, are found to be flabby, 

 and of little value. Those caught in several 

 of the rivers in Ireland, the people will not 

 venture to touch ; those of the English Severn, 

 are considered as the most delicate of all other 

 fish whatever. 



The lamprey much resembles an eel in its 

 general appearance, but is of a lighter colour, 

 and rather a clumsier make. It differs how- 

 ever in the mouth, which is round, and placed 

 rather obliquely below the end of the nose. 

 It more resembles the mouth of a leech than 

 an eel ; and the animal has a hole on the top 

 of the head through which it spouts water, as 

 in the cetaceous kind. There are seven holes 

 on each side for respiration ; and the fins are 

 formed rather by a lengthening out of the skin, 

 than any set of bones or spines for that pur- 

 pose. As the mouth is formed resembling 



discharges of his numerous cylinders, the organs of its 

 power, in the nature of a running fire of musquetry ; the 

 strong single shock may be his general volley. In the 

 continued effect, as well as the instantaneous, his eyes, 

 which are usually prominent, are withdrawn into their 

 sockets. A coated vial was applied to it, but could not 



that of a leech, so it has a property resembling 

 that animal, of sticking close to and sucking 

 any body it is applied to. It is extraordinary 

 the power they have of adhering to stones ; 

 which they do so firmly, as not to be drawn 

 off without some difficulty. We are told of 

 one that weighed but three pounds ; and yet 

 it stuck so firmly to a stone of twelve pounds, 

 that it remained suspended at its mouth, from 

 which it was separated with no small difficulty. 

 This amazing power of suction is supposed to 

 arise from the animal's exhausting the air 

 within its body by the hole over the nose, 

 while the mouth is closely fixed to the object, 

 and permits no air to enter. It would be easy 

 to determine the weight this animal is thus able 

 to sustain ; which will be equal to the weight 

 of a column of air of equal diameter with the 

 fish's mouth. 



From some peculiarity of formation, this 

 animal swims generally with its body as nrar 

 as possible to the surface; and it might easily 

 be drowned by being kept by force for any 

 time under water. Muralto has given us the 

 anatomy of this animal ; but, in a very minute 

 description, makes no mention of lungs. Yet 

 I am very apt to suspect, that two red glands 

 tissued with nerves, which he describes as 

 lying towards the back of the head, are no 

 other than the lungs of this animal. The 

 absolute necessity it is under of breathing in 

 the air, convinces me that it must have lungs, 

 though I do not know of any anatomist that 

 has described them. 



The adhesive quality in the lamprey may 

 be in some measure increased by that slimy 

 substance with which its body is all over 

 smeared ; a substance that serves at once to 

 keep it warm in its cold element, and also to 



be charged. Two other fishes are known to possess this 

 extraordinary power : the electrical Eef, which is able to 

 give a shock even greater than the torpedo; and the elec- 

 tric Silurus, whose shock is much less vigorous than either 

 of the others. 



