"^10 lllSroRY OK 



CHAP. IV. 



OF THE LAMPREY, AND ITS AFIJNITIES. 



Tjiebb is a species of tlie Lamprey served up as a great rieli- 

 «';icy iimong the modern Romans, very different from ours. 

 Whether theirs be the maraena of the ancients, I w ill not pre- 

 tend to say ; but there is nothiig more certain than that our 

 lamprey is not. The Roman lamprey agrees with the ancient 

 fish in being kept in ponds, and considered by the luxurious as a 

 very great delicacy. 



The lamprey, known among us, is differently estimated, ac- 

 cording to the season in which it is caught, or the place where it 

 has been fed. Those that leave the sea to deposit their spawn 

 in fresh waters are the best : those that are entirely bred in our 

 rivers, and that have never been at sea, are considered as much 

 inferior to the former. Those that are taken in the months of 

 March, April, or May, just upon their leaving the sea, are 

 reckoned very good ; those that are caught after they have cast 

 their spawn, are found to be flabby, and of little value. Those 

 caught in several of the rivers in Ireland, the people will not 

 venture to touch ; those of the English Severn, are considered 

 as the most delicate of all other tish whatever. * 



eliook of the torpedo was imitated by artificial electricity, and sliowii to be 

 producible by a quick coucussion of minute shocks. This, in the torpedo, 

 may be effected by the successive discharges of his numerous cylinders, 

 the organs of its power, in the nature of a running tire of musquetry ; the 

 strong single shock may be his general volley. In the continued eflect, as 

 well as the instantaneous, his eyes, which are usually prominent, are with- 

 drawn into their sockets. A coated vial was applied to it, but could not be 

 charged. — Two other fishes are known to possess this extraordinary power : 

 the electrical Eel, which is able to give a shock even greater than the tor. 

 pedo; and the electric Silurus, whose shock is much less vigoroius than 

 either of the others. 



* There are about 9 species of lampreys known. — Tlie Lesser Lampret/. 

 This fish inhabits Europe, Japan, and the lakes of South America ; it mea- 

 sures from twelve to fifteen inches long : it ascends fresh water rivers in the 

 spring, and after a few months returns again to the sea. Its body is varied 

 with transverse waved lines, above it is blackish, yellowish at the sides, and 

 whitish beneath ; its head is of a greenish colour ; behind the row of lesser 

 teeth there are larger ones, of which there are seven coiuiected above, be- 

 noatli there are two distant ; the eyes arc small ; the iris it. of a gold colou i 



