CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. 2VD 



.f we take out the bowels, the body will appear with a kind of trans- 

 parence; and that if a lighted candle be placed within the body, as 

 in a lantern, the whole has a very formidable appearance. The fish- 

 ermen, however, have in general a great regard for this ugly fish, as 

 it is an enemy to the dog-fish, the bodies of those fierce and voracious 

 animals being often found in its stomach; whenever they take it, 

 therefore, they always set it at liberty. 



The Lump Fish is trifling in size, compared to the former : its 

 length is but sixteen inches, and its weight about four pounds; the 

 shape of the body is like that of a bream, deep, and it swims edge- 

 wise ; the back is sharp and elevated, and the belly flat; the lips, 

 mouth, and tongue of this animal are of a deep red; the whole skin is 

 rough, with bony knobs; the largest row is along the ridge of the 

 back; the belly is of a bright crimson colour: but what makes the 

 chief singularity in this fish, is an oval aperture in the belly, surround- 

 ed with a fleshy soft substance, that seems bearded all round; by 

 means of this part it adheres with vast force to any thing it pleases. 

 If flung into a pail of water, it will stick so close to the bottom, that on 

 taking the fish by the tail, one may lift up pail and all, though it holds 

 several gallons of water. Great numbers of these fish are found along 

 the coasts of Greenland in the beginning of summer, where they re- 

 sort to spawn. The roe is remarkably large, and the Greenlanders 

 boil it to a pulp for eating. They are extremely fat, but not admired 

 in England, being both flabby and insipid. 



The Sea Snail takes its name from the soft and unctuous texture 

 of its body, resembling the snail upon land. It is almost transparent, 

 and soon dissolves and melts away. It is but a little animal, being not 

 above five inches long. The colour, when fresh taken, is of a pale 

 brown, the shape of the body round, and the back fin reaches all the 

 way from the head to the tail. Beneath the throat is a round depres- 

 sion, of a whitish colour, surrounded by twelve brown spots, placed 

 in a circle. It is taken in England at the mouths of rivers, four or 

 five miles distant from the sea. 



The body of the Pipe Fish, in the thickest part, is not thicker 

 than a swan-quill, while it is above sixteen inches long. This is an- 

 gular, but the angles being not very sharp, they are not discernible 

 until the fish is dried. Its general colour is an olive brown, marked 

 with numbers of bluish lines, pointing from the back to the belly. It 

 is viviparous; for on crushing one that was just taken, hundreds of 

 very minute young ones were observed to crawl about. 



The Hippocampus, which, from the form of the head, some call 

 the Sea Horse, never exceeds nine inches in length. It is about as 

 thick as a man's thumb, and the body is said, while alive, to have hair 

 on the forepart, which falls off when it is dead. The snout is a sort 

 of a tube with a hole at the bottom, to which there is a cover, which 

 the animal can open and shut at pleasure. Behind the eyes there are 

 two fins which look like ears ; and above them are two holes which 

 serve for respiration. The whole body seems to be composed of car- 

 tilaginous rings, on the intermediate membranes of which severaV 

 small prickles are placed. It is found in the Mediterranean, and also 

 in the Western Ocean ; and, upon the whole, more resembles a great 

 raterpillar than a fish. The ancients considered it as extremely 

 Miornous ; probably induced by its peculiar figure. 



