JULY 161 



outline bears a general resemblance to that of a 

 tadpole. 



Howbeit, despite its ungainly figure and forbidding 

 aspect, Lophius cannot be destitute of all virtue, for he 

 practises an art which, as Izaak Walton assured us, is 

 followed only by ' men of mind and sweet and peaceable 

 spirit.' His tackle, and the use to which he puts it, 

 are among the most surprising instances of Nature's 

 anticipation of human invention. Of the rays of the 

 dorsal fin, six in number, only the posterior three sup- 

 port any membrane, and that a very small one. The 

 anterior three are greatly prolonged and are placed 

 between the eyes, the foremost of them being tipped 

 with a silvery tag or double lappet. This ray is slender 

 and wandlike, working in a joint just above the centre 

 of the upper lip, and can be waved about in every 

 direction. When Lophius goes a-fishing, he buries 

 himself on a bed of seaweed, assimilating his body 

 colour with wonderful exactitude to the surroundings, 

 his concealment being rendered perfect by a fringe of 

 membranous fronds which grow along his lips and 

 round the entire length of his head and body. Then 

 he erects his fishing-rod, waving it to and fro in the 

 tide, till some wandering whiting or flounder makes a 

 dart at the glittering bait; whereupon the concealed 

 angler opens his vast mouth, the inrush of water 

 engulfs the prey, and the bait is set once more. 

 ' Half the animal world,' wrote Yarrell truly enough, 

 'seem destined to destroy each other, some by open 

 violence, others by stratagem.' The angler-fish employs 

 both ; but not being endowed with swiftness, relies on 

 L 



