THE MILLER'S THUMB. 97 



tries ; yet Pallas assures us that in Eussia no one 

 will taste it, although the common people hang it 

 around their necks as an amulet, under the impres- 

 sion that it acts as a preservative against the at- 

 tacks of tertian fever. 



Does the reader know why this fish is called 

 the Miller's Thumb, or for what reason a miller is 

 supposed to have a thumb different from that of 

 other men? The following is Mr. YarrelPs ex- 

 planation of these two mysteries. The head of the 

 creature in question (we mean of the fish), is 

 smooth, broad, and rounded, and exactly resembles 

 the form of a human miller's thumb, as that form 

 is superinduced by a peculiar and constant action 

 of the muscles in the exercise of a particular and 

 most important part of his vocation, i. e. the as- 

 certaining, by actual contact, the character and 

 qualities of the meal. In this habitual act the 

 thumb is the guage of the value of the produce, 

 and hence has arisen the phrase of " worth a miller's 

 thumb," as well as that other adage, " an honest 

 miller has a golden thumb," in reference to the 

 amount of profit likely to reward his conscientious 

 labour. By the frequency of this mechanical pro- 

 cess, a characteristic form is produced, which, if it 

 does not altogether resemble the head of the fish 

 in question, has at least led to the latter being 

 likened to the former, and named accordingly. 



This is the only fresh water species of the genus, 

 but several kinds of Coitus occur along our sea 

 shores, and afford occasional amusement to the 

 young angler. Their forms and general aspect are 



