Gibbon’s Wrasse. 103 
reddish-gold fish lying at my feet, which had been stranded by the 
ebbing tide. In shape, it was somewhat that of the fresh-water 
perch, and is, in consequence, as I ascertained from an intelligent 
old fisherman, who was “titivating” his boat on the sands, popu- 
larly known as the sea-ferch. He informed me that it was a very 
rare visitor to our seas; that, in fact, he had only known it appear 
in any number three or four times in his somewhat long life, and, 
as settling the fact of its rarity on the English coast, he added 
that, at the Albert Museum at Exeter, there 1s one of a former 
batch of immigrants, which arrived many years ago, carefully pre- 
served as a curiosity. Leaving my informant, and proceeding to 
the rock-pools, in which an unusually low tide had left all that the 
micro-fisher could desire, I found here and there, left by the tide, 
in isolated pools, living and vigorous specimens of the same 
lovely fish, suggesting, at first sight, the gold-fish of our window 
aquaria and garden-ponds, but larger and squarer in shape. The 
name which heads this paper is, so far as I can ascertain, correct, 
but I cannot find any mention of this particular species in any 
work of reference in my possession. Why these denizens of 
warmer seas should visit us at all I am not going to speculate on, 
and certainly not why they should select such an inclement season 
as the present; but, at the same time, any information on this 
point would be interesting. I secured a piece of the skin, having 
a microscopist’s eye to chances, and find that it is densely crowded 
with scales that are very peculiar certainly, and, in wy experience, 
unique. ‘The scale itself is entire—ze., unbroken in its outline. 
It would, therefore, I suppose, be correctly described as cycloid, 
but at first sight it appears more decidedly comb-like than any 
scale I have ever met with. This appearance is due to the 
presence of a number of spines (forty to fifty) proceeding from the 
free half of the scale, inclined only very slightly downwards and 
directed backwards, and as each spine is about one-third the 
longest diameter of the scale itself, they must, without over- 
lapping, form a perfect chevaux-de-frise armature, effectually pro- 
tecting its owner from all enemies not very superior in size and 
courage. Those of my readers who remember the tortoise-shell 
head-comb formerly worn by ladies in their coiled-up back hair 
have only to imagine the teeth of that same comb springing from 
its plane instead of from its margin, and they have the scale of 
the sea-perch “to at.” Any reader who has been at all interested 
_in this bit of gossip, and would like to have one or two of the 
scales to mount for his micro-cabinet, will be welcome to them as 
far as my stock goes, if he will send a stamped, directed envelope 
to “EF. R. Brokenshire, 24 Oxford. Terrace; Exeter.” 
