248 SALMONIA. 



creature with lungs must be on the surface 

 several times in a day and the sea is an 

 inconvenient breathing place ; and hands 

 are instruments of manufacture and the 

 depths of the ocean are little fitted for fabri- 

 cating that mirror which our old prints gave 

 to the mermaid. Such an animal, if created, 

 could not long exist; and, with scarce any 

 locomotive powers, would be the prey of 

 other fishes formed in a manner more suited 

 to their element. I have seen a most ab- 

 surd fabrication of a mermaid exposed as a 

 show in London, said to have been found 

 in the Chinese seas, and bought for a large 

 sum of money. The head and bust, of two 

 different apes, were fastened to the lower 

 part of a kipper salmon, which had the 

 fleshy fin, and all the distinct characters, of 

 the salmo solar. 



ORN. And yet there were people who 

 believed this to be a real animal. 



HAL. It was insisted on to prove the 

 truth of the Caithness story. But what is 

 there which people will not believe? 



POIET. In listening to your conversation 



