BAKRACOUDA PIKE. 



267 



This long-bodied, deep-mouthed, and sharp-toothed fish beais some resemblance to the 

 pike both in general appearance and in habits, and is hardly less voracious than the 

 veritable pike of our own country. It is said that from the scales of the Becuna are 

 washed those minute crystalline spiculse, which are so useful in the preparation of 

 .artificial pearls, and which, when mixed and prepared for commerce, are termed essence 

 d'orient. Some parts of the air-bladder are also used in the manufacture of this substance. 

 The flesh of the Becuna is well flavoured and is often brought to table ; being capable of 

 being dressed in a fresh state and after salting. 



BECUNA. Sphyrcena vulg&ru. 



On the back, the colour of this fish is leaden blue with a wash of green, and on the 

 abdomen it is white. The sides are in many specimens marked with dark cross-bars of 

 the same green colour as the back. When young it is spotted with brown. 



ANOTHER species of the same genus, the BARRACOUDA PIKE, is nearly as useful as an 

 article of food, though its utility is partly impaired by the fact that at some seasons of 

 the year its flesh is of a very unwholesome character, producing sickness, pain in the 

 joints, sometimes accompanied with loss of the nails and falling off of the hair. 



It is thought that the poisonous property is occasioned by certain food of which the 

 fish partakes at such seasons, the fruit of the manchineel being the chief substance to 

 which the evil effect is attributed. For many reasons, however, among which the carni- 

 vorous character of the fish is most weighty, this suggestion appears to be groundless, and 

 naturalists have agreed that the true cause is yet to be discovered. 



Whatever may be the cause, the result is too well known, and it is said that an 

 experienced person can detect a Barracouda Pike when in this unsound condition, by 

 making an incision in the flesh, from which a whitish fluid exudes if the flesh be 

 poisonous. The liver also affords another test, contracting a peculiar bitter taste under 

 such circumstances. 



This fish attains a much larger size than the preceding species, and when full grown 

 and hungry, is thought to be little less dangerous than a shark of the same dimensions. 

 Its colour is olive-green above with a beautiful under tinting of rich green, its sides are 

 mostly decorated with brown blotches, and the abdomen is silvery white. It is found in 

 tropical portions of the Atlantic Ocean. About fifteen species are known. 



WE now arrive at a small family of fishes, termed Trichiuridae, or Hair-tailed fishes, 

 in consequence of the delicate filamentary finleta which decorate the tail in some species 



