CHONDROPTERYGII. 193 



of a sailor in the main-crosstrees, endeavoured to 

 return to the vessel, but the monster threw one of 

 his fins over him and carried him down. Le Vail- 

 lant saw one twenty-five feet long and more than 

 thirty wide ; and Sonnini says, one appeared larger 

 and wider than the ship in which he was sailing.* 



FAM. II. CYCLOSTOMI.f 



We have now arrived at the limit of the Verte- 

 brate form of animal life. The SUCKERS exhibit 

 the lowest organisation and most rudimentary skele- 

 ton of all creatures that are built upon a bony frame- 

 work. Their spine, a mere tube of rings, enclosing 

 a mucilaginous cord, can scarcely be considered 

 solid enough for cartilage, and they have no real 

 ribs. They have neither pectoral nor ventral fins ; 

 their bodies are long and worm-like, the fore-part 

 ending in a round, or half-round, fleshy lip, sup- 

 ported by a ring of cartilage. The gills take the 

 form of purses or cells, usually opening by seven 

 apertures on each side. 



Petromyzon,^ the Lamprey. 



This finely-tasted, but luscious and rather un- 

 wholesome fish, resembles an Eel, or a Muraena, 



* Griffith's Anim. Kingd. x. p. 654. 

 f- KuxXoj, kyklos, a circle, and trr'ap.^ stoma, a mouth. 

 nir^os t petros, a stone, and (tvl^u, myzo, to suck. 

 VOL. II. K 



