G554 The Zoologist— April, 1871. 



entangled in tlie hevring-nets. The liver of a shark, perhaps of this 

 species, which was captured on the western shore of Newfoundland, 

 is said, when cut up, to have filled ten barrels ! The settlers make 

 inoccassins of the skins, but they do not wear so well as those made 

 from the skin? of seals. 



Dogfish [Spinax acatithiaa, Linn.) Within the last five or six 

 years this species has almost disappeared from some parts of the 

 coast of Newfoundland, where, within the memory of man, it had 

 always been most abundant. It is a popular opinion among the 

 settlers that it has been " ciirsed" away ! From what 1 could learn, 

 it appears that the rough skin of the dogfish was most destructive 

 to their salmon-nets; but 1 think that the immense quantity of oil 

 obtained from the liver of this species quite compensated for any 

 damage done to the nets, although, when it is said that "every 

 mesh contained a dogfish," it certainly u)ay have prevented so 

 large a take of salmon as was desirable. 



Sculpin {Coitus Grcsnlandicus). Abundant all along the coast, 

 and used by the fishermen as bait for codfish. It is very rarely 

 eaten on the N.W. coast of Newfoundland. Juveniles amuse them- 

 selves "sculpin catching," using lobsters for bait! Such is the 

 inherent love of sport in the human species that a most delicious 

 crustacean is wasted to catch a worthless fish ! It is very pro- 

 bable that the C. Virginianus occurs on the coast of Newfound- 

 land. 



Two-spined Stickleback {Gasterosteus biaculeatus). Common, 

 especially in the estuaries of rivers. 



Three-spined Stickleback {G. aculeatus). Common. I brought 

 home specimens of this species, which, across the Atlantic, Dr. 

 Giinther inforins me, had only been recorded from Greenland. 



Ten-spined Stickleback [G. puvgitius). Common in fresh as 

 well as brackish water. I obtained some from small brackish 

 streams near St. Paul's Bay. One which I preserved in alcohol, 

 with some of the preceding species, and forwarded to the British 

 ]\Iuseum, appears to have been lost or overlooked, as it was not 

 observed by Dr. Giinther, who obligingly examined the contents of 

 the bottle for me. If I remember rightly I never found a specimen 

 with more than nine spines, but I certainly captured more than 

 one on which I could not detect more than eight spines, and I fully 

 believe that the specimen referred to above had only the latter 

 number : I am grieved thai it is lost, as it may have proved a 



