THE LANCELET. 



349 





fifteen on each side. Altogether, it really seems to be a less perfect and less developed 

 animal than many of the higher molluscs. 



The habits of this remarkable fish are very curious ; and it will be better to give the 

 original accounts in the words of the narrators, than to condense or paraphrase them. 



The first history of the Lancelet is given by Mr. Couch, who was the first captor of 

 the fish on the British coasts. He saw its transparent tail projecting from beneath a 

 stone on the shore at low tide, and swept it into his hand together with some water. 

 " When alive," writes Mr. Couch, " this fish had a very evident though diaphanous 

 fin, extending from near the snout round the extremity of the tail, which it encircled 

 in the manner of the same organ in the eel, and terminating at the vent. This speci- 

 men was not found in a pool, but lay buried in a small quantity of sand, at about fifty 

 feet from the receding tide ; 

 and on turning over a small 

 flat stone that was on the sand 

 the tail of the fish appeared ex- 

 posed. 



When moved, it exhibited 

 signs of great activity,so that the 

 head could not readily be distin- 

 guished from the tail ; and as 

 there can be no doubt that the 

 fish had sought the shelter of the 

 sand in which it was found, there 

 is little question that mud is its 

 usual habitation ; a circum- 

 stance still more probable by its 

 want of eyes. 



It was discovered on the 2ist 

 of December, 1831, after a 

 heavy storm that had torn it 

 from its native situation, which, 

 from its rarity, we may suppose 

 to be in deep water. In Feb- 

 ruary, 1838, I obtained two 

 other specimens, which had 

 been thrown up by a tempest. 

 The largest measured two 



inches and three-tenths in length, which enabled me to discern still more of the inter- 

 nal structure of this fish." 



Several other specimens have been obtained, mostly scraped up in the dredge. On 

 the coasts of the Mediterranean this fish is not uncommon ; and the following interest- 

 ing account of some of its habits is given by Mr. Wilde, in his narrative of a voyage 

 to the Madeiras, Teneriffe," and along the shores of the Mediterranean. After describ- 

 ing the general appearance of the fish, he proceeds as follows : 



" These little animals had a power of attaching themselves to each other in a 

 remarkable manner, sometimes clustering together, and at others forming a string six 

 or eight inches long ; the whole mass seemed to swim in unison and with great rapidity, 

 going round the vessel in a snake-like form and motion. They adhered to each other 

 by their flat sides, when in line, the head of one coming up about one-third on the body 

 of the one before it ; no doubt those sides are of use in forming this attachment. 



The mouth was a circular disc surrounded by cilia that continued in constant motion. 

 When put into a tumbler of water it moved round the glass, and although no eyes were 

 perceptible, it carefully avoided the finger or any substance put in its way, stopping 

 suddenly, or turning aside from it. Both these animals, when taken out of the water, 

 kept up a strong pulsatory motion for some time. The small one by this means pumped 

 out of its interior a quantity of air and water ; and they could be seen coming to the 

 surface to inhale, and a globule of air was observed floating through the internal cavity. 



LANCELET. Amphloxls laaceolatus. 



