230 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Peculiar power of adhesion. 



that a specific power was granted to two persons 

 to buy, take, and provide all the live lampreys 

 they could, in or out of the Seine, between 

 Rouen and Harfleur : and to two others, the like 

 power between Lislebon and Harfleur; so that it 

 should seem Henry V. was not afraid of the ill 

 effects of eating this fish, which cost Henry I. 

 his life. 



The lamprey is remarkable for its peculiar 

 adhesion; for as its mouth is formed very much 

 resembling that of the leech, so, like that crea- 

 ture, it has the property of sticking close to, and 

 sucking any body it is applied to. Such is its 

 extraordinary power in adhering to stones, that 

 it is said one which weighed but three pounds 

 stuck so firmly to a stone of twelve pounds, that 

 it remained suspended at its mouth, from which 

 it was separated with difficulty. 



This wonderful pow r cr of suction in the animal, 

 is ascribed to its exhausting the air within its 

 body bv the hole over the nose, while the mouth 

 js closely fixed to the object, and permitting no 

 air to enter. If this be really the cause, the 

 weight which the fish will be able to sustain may 

 pretty accurately be determined ; for it will be 

 equal to the weight of a column of air of the 

 ame diameter as the mouth of the fish. This 

 power of adhesion may probably be somewhat 

 increased by that slimy substance with which its 

 body is all over smeared, like the eel ; a substance 

 that serves equally to preserve its skin soft and, 



