ANOMALOUS CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. 315 



is principally brought from Russia, where great quan- 

 tities of it are prepared remarkably cheap : and though 

 one of our ingenious countrymen discovered a substi- 

 tute that answered the purpose, yet the arts that were 

 practised to prevent him from perseverance, soon 

 brought the article into discredit and disuse. Isinglass 

 is not only serviceable in a medical capacity, but the 

 wine merchant, the varnisher, and the clothier, are all 

 materially benefited by its use. 



OF ANOMALOUS CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. 



Of all the various classes in animated nature, none 

 seems to abound with such a number of disproportioned 

 shapes as those which are attached to the cartilaginous 

 tribe; there is the pipe-fish, that almost tapers to a 

 thread ; the sun-fish, that has the appearance of a bulky 

 head, with the body cut off in the middle ; the hippo- 

 campus, with a head somewhat like that of a horse ; 

 and the water-bat, whose head can scarcely be dis- 

 tinguished from *he body : the fishing frog, which, 

 from its deformity, has been styled the sea-devil ; the 

 chimcera ; the lump-fish ; the sea-porcupine ; and the 

 sea-snail. 



The sun-fish sometimes grows to an astonishing size, 

 for one taken near Plymouth was five hundred weight ; 

 and in form it. is thought to resemble a bream. The 

 fishing-frog is like the animal from whom it derives its 

 appellation, allowing for the very great difference in 

 size, as it grows to above five feet in length, and its 

 mouth is generally a yard wide. The deformity of this 

 animal cannot be exceeded, for its head is larger than 

 the rest of its frame ; the under jaw projects beyond 

 the upper, and both are defended by rows of sharp 

 teeth : the eyes are placed on the top of the head ; and 



