190 BRITISH FISH AND FISHERIES. 



myxine, or glutinous hag, {Gastrobranchiis 

 ccecus.) It is a deadly foe to fish, into the 

 bodies of which it enters, in some way not well 

 understood, and devours the whole of the flesh. 

 Nilsson says, that several have been found in 

 the body of a single haddock, which was all 

 eaten away internally. The cod-fishers of Scar- 

 borough and Berwick often capture this fish in 

 the bodies of cod or haddock drawn up by their 

 lines, and some believe it enters theii- mouth 

 while they are held by the hook. But Cuvier 

 says, it attacks and pierces the fish ; aided, 

 perhaps, by the sense of touch implanted in its 

 feelers, it may have the power of suddenly 

 fixing itself by means of its hooked palatal 

 teeth, and then boring and rasping with its 

 lingual teeth, insinuate itself beneath the skin, 

 and gradually work its way into the very body 

 of its victim. Indeed, on some parts of our 

 eastern coast it is called the borer. 



Here terminates our sketch of the fish and 

 fisheries of our British islands — a sketch, indeed, 

 for our limited space will allow no more. Yet 

 Ave trust that the reader, desirous of some 

 general information on the subject, will not be 

 altogether disappointed. To those who wish to 

 make this portion of zoology a study, IVIr. Yiir- 

 rell's work on British Fishes is indispensable. 



