244 BLUEFIELDS. 



stony scales, of extreme hardness, and somewhat 

 pellucid, individually. The hide is said to be hence 

 used for polishing cabinet work, but it seems to me 

 hardly rough enough for such a purpose ; I have 

 been informed, also, that it makes a durable leather, 

 but I am not aware how it is rendered pliable. The 

 teeth, which are small, have a single high central 

 point, and three small points on each side. 



THE HEDGEHOG-FISH. 



Specimens of the Hedgehog-fish, or Sea Porcu- 

 pine {Diodon), are frequently carried home by mari- 

 ners, and it is not uncommon to meet with one hung 

 up as a curiosity in houses in England ; where it is 

 sure to attract attention from its globose figure, 

 bristling on every side with stiff sharp spines. In 

 September I obtained one alive, the Diodon atinga. 

 I observed that the spines, which vary in length 

 from one-fourth of an inch to an inch, the longest 

 being behind the pectorals, are transparent in their 

 own substance, but are inclosed in a sheath of the 

 common integument of the body ; this sheath of skin 

 is either normally pervious at the tip, or made so by 

 the points of the spines, which for the most part 

 protrude a little. This specimen was caught in a 

 fish-pot, sunk to the bottom of the sea. It lived 

 some hours after it had been taken out of the water ; 

 but did not inflate its oblong body. Its form was 

 somewhat that of a low cone, the apex being in the 

 middle of the back ; the line of the belly nearly 

 straight ; the forehead high, and the profile as ver- 



