THE LAMPREY. zi's 



are fhaped like a mackarel; except that the he?-d is much larger ; the ef- 

 feds of thefe feem alfo to differ in feme refpefbs. Condamine alfo in- 

 forms ns of a fifii poflfelTing thefe powers, reftmbling the JLamprey (th# 

 Gymriotus EU^ricus). This, if touched by the hand, or with a ftick, in- 

 lldntly benumbs the hand and arm to the very (boulder ; and fomctimcs 

 the man falls down under the blow. Inhabits America. 



THE L.AMPREY. 



THE Lamprey is efteemcd according to the feafon, or the place where 

 ic has fed. I'hofe that leave the Tea to depofit their fpawn in freOi 

 waters, are the beft j thofe entirely bred in our rivers, are much inferior. 

 In Mirch, April, or May, juft after leaving the Tea, they are very good j 

 thofe caught after they have caft their fpawn, are flabby and of little va- 

 lue. Thofe caught in feveral of the rivers in Ireland, the people will not 

 venture to touch ; thofe of the Englifh Severn are confidered as the moft 

 delicate of fifli. 



The Lamprey refembles an eel in general appearance, but is of a light-^ 

 cr colour, and ciumfier make. Its mouth is round, placed rather oblique- 

 ly below the end of the nofe, more refembling the mouth of a leech than 

 of an eel : on the top of the head a hole through which it fpouis water, as 

 in the cetaceous kind ; feven holes on each lide for refpiration ; the fins are 

 formed rather by a lengthening out the fkin, than by a fet of bones or 

 fpines for that purpofe. The mouth has a property of flicking clofe to, 

 and fucking, any body it is applied to. We are told of one that weighed 

 hut three pounds; yet (luck fo firmly to a (lone of tw el v^e pounds, that 

 i: remained fufpended at its mouth, from which it was feparated with no 

 imall difficulty. This power of fudlion is fuppofed to arife from the ani- 

 mal s exhaufting the air within its body by the hole over the nofe, while 

 rne mouth isciofcly fixed to the objeft, and permits no air to enter; has 

 twenty rows of fmall teeth in its mouth. Its adhefive quality may be in 

 fome meafure increafcd by that flimy fubftance with which its body is ail 

 over fmcared. 



From fome peculiarity of formation, this animal fwims generally with 

 i:s body as near as polTible to the furface ; and ic might cafily be drowned 



