226 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Description. 



the lob-worm, and even the minnow, a floun- 

 der weighing twenty-three ounces having been 

 caught, in 1799* with the latter. 



This fish inhabits every part of the British Sea, 

 and is found, although at a great distance, in all 

 the rivers that communicate with it ; numbers of 

 them that are not taken lose themselves, conti- 

 nuing and breeding with vast fecundity in the 

 rivers, and those grow to be the largest and best 

 flavored. They will likewise live in ponds, and 

 are a profitable fish to stock them with, as they 

 soon get fat, will live many hours out of their 

 element, and consequently may be carried to a 

 great distance; but they will not breed when 

 confined. 



THE LJMPREY, 



IS of a lighter color and clumsier make than 

 the eel, which, however, it much resembles in its 

 general appearance ; but its mouth has a greater 

 likeness to that of a leech, it being round, and 

 placed rather obliquely below the end of the 

 nose. This fish has also a hole on the top of the 

 head, through which it spouts water like the 

 cetaceous tribe. On each side are seven holes 

 for respiration ; and the fins are formed rather 

 by a lengthening out of the skin, than any set of 

 bones or spines for that purpose. 



