NERVOUS SYSTEM OP FISHES. 



11 



FIG. 253 REMORA. 



celebrated under the name oiRemora^or Sucking-Fish, (Fig. 253) 

 has been the subject of many amusing and absurd fables. 



It has been pretended that 

 this small fish supports 

 itself by a kind of suction 

 through the disc just de- 

 scribed ; and the power of 

 stopping a large vessel in 

 rapid progress has been attributed to it. A species allied to 

 the preceding is very common in the waters of the Isle of 

 France ; and it appears that, upon the coasts of Cafiraria, it is 

 employed in fishing, by allowing it to pursue fish, and then 

 drawing it back, by means of a line attached to its tail, as soon 

 as it has fastened itself upon its prey. 



530. The life of a Fish is passed almost entirely in seeking 

 its subsistence, and in flying from its enemies. Its external 

 senses only appear to give it a few obtuse impressions ; and its 

 faculties are more or less limited. It shows no industry, nor 

 any remarkable instinct ; its brain is very slightly developed, 

 and its organs of sense are very 

 imperfect. The cavity of the 

 skull is small compared to the 

 size of the body ; and the brain 

 does not nearly occupy it. Be- 

 tween its sides and the brain is 

 found a spongy and fatty mass 

 of a considerable size, particu- 

 larly in adult individuals. The 

 lobes which compose the brain 

 are placed in a row, one behind 

 the other ; in front we see the 

 olfactive ganglia, o/, often sepa- 

 rated from the rest by a pedun- 

 cle or foot-stalk ; next the cerebral hemispheres, ch ; then the 

 optic lobes, op, which are often larger than the preceding ; then 

 the cerebellum, ce ; and, behind all these parts, the lobes belong- 

 ing to the medulla oblongata, sp. 



F;o. 254. BRAINS OF FISHES. 

 . A, Cod ; B, Shark. 



