538 HISTORY OF 



head small ; both eyes on one side of the head ; the fin covering 

 the gills with from four to seven rays. 



37. The Echineis or Sucking-fish. The body almost wedge- 

 like, moderately round ; the head broader than the body ; the fin 



* To this division the Tiirbot, Sole, Flounder, Plaice, Dab, &c. belong. 

 Turbots liave sometimes been known to weigh from twenty-five to thirty 

 pounds. Their general form is somewhat square. The upper parts of the 

 body and fins are cinereous, with dark spots ; and the under parts wliite : 

 on the upper parts there are numerous short and blunt spines. The eyes 

 are on the left side of the head. 



The northern parts of the English coast, and some places oflf the coast of 

 Holland, afford turbots in great abundance, and in greater excellence there 

 than any otlier parts of the world. Lying here, however, in deep w.iters, 

 they are seldom to be caught but by lines. In fishing for turbot oft' the 

 Yorkshire coast, three men go out in each of the boats, each man provided 

 with three line;;, every one of which is furnished with two hundred and 

 eighty hooks, baited and placed exactly si.K feet two inches asunder. These 

 are coiled in an oblong piece of wicker-work, with the hooks baited and 

 placed very regularly in the centre of the coil. When they are used, the 

 nine are generally fastened together, so as to form one line witli about tu o 

 thousand hooks, and extending nearly three miles in length. This is al- 

 ways laid aeross the current. An anchor and a buoy are fixed at the end of 

 each man's line. The tides run here so rapidly, that the fishermen can only 

 shoot and haul their lines in the still water, at the turn of the tide ; and 

 therefore as it is flood and ebb about every alternate six hours, this is the 

 longest time the lines can remain on the ground. When the lines are laid, 

 two of the men usually wrap themselves in the sail and sleep, whilst the 

 tliird is on <.vatch to prevent their being run down by ships. The voracity 

 of the turbot in pursuit of its prey is oftentimes such, that it carries tliem 

 into the moutlis of rivers, or the entrance of ponds in salt marshes, which 

 communicate with the sea. But they are not contented with merely em- 

 ploying agility and strength in the procuring of their prey, they likewise 

 have recourse to stratagem. They plunge themselves into tlie mud or sand 

 at the bottom of the sea, and cover their whole body, except their eyes and 

 mouth. Thus concealed, they seize upon, and devour all the smaller kinds 

 of fish which incautiously approach them. It is said they are very particu. 

 lar in the choice of their food, refusing, invariably, all except living animals, 

 or such as are not in the least degree putrid. And the fishermen assert, 

 that they are never to be caught with baits « hich have been bitten by other 

 fibh. The Holibut has been known to attain so great a weight as between 

 two and three himdred pounds. Its general shape is long and narrow. 'I'lie 

 upper parts are dusky ; and the under parts white. The skin is smooth, 

 and destitute of spines. The eyes on the right side of the head. 



The Sole. This wellknown and delicious fish is remarkable for one very 



extraordinary circumstance ; among various other marine productions, they 

 have been known to feed on shell fish, idthough they are furnished wiih no 

 apparatus whatever in their mouth for reducing them to a state calculated 

 for digestion. Some that were purchased by Mr CoUinson, (as his letter in- 

 serted in the philosophical Transactions states,) had their bellies hard and 



