HOW DOES IT ACT? 501 



of this organ takes place, our naturalists do not satisfac- 

 torily explain. According to some, the remora creates a 

 vacuum between the laminae of its disc, which would 

 justify the name of " sucking-fish " frequently applied to it : 

 according to others, it insinuates its spines into the ob- 

 jects to which, it adheres. It seems probable that in one 

 or other of these ways, or perhaps in both, the adhesion 

 is produced. 



The remora would seem to have been observed in the 

 act of adhering to surfaces where its spines could not 

 possibly take hold ; as, for example, to anchors, and to 

 the keels of copper-bottomed ships. In this case, the ad- 

 hesion was evidently due to the vacuum. On the other 

 hand, the spines act in all cases where the disc comes in 

 contact with a body they are able to penetrate : thus we 

 render its contact only the more effectual when we attempt 

 to pull away the remora, and can effect its removal only 

 by impelling it forward. Otherwise, a man may spend 

 his whole strength in vain. Commerson, having brought 

 his thumb in contact with the plate of a remora, experi- 

 enced a kind of stupor, or paralytic numbness, which did 

 not pass away for some time after the experiment. 



We may add that the remora floats upon its back. Bosc 

 affirmed that he had seen two or three remoras detach 

 themselves from the ship he was on board of, to hasten 

 after some roasted beans he had thrown into the sea; and 

 they always floated in the water with their belly upwards. 



Fishing with the Echeneis. The echeneis is found in 

 many seas, and makes its appearance simultaneously with 

 the turtle. In some parts of the world, therefore, man 

 employs the one to catch the other. 



