Cummings, A biographical sketch of Col. George Montagu. 3IQ 



distinct advance on previous work was indicated for Montagu 

 here proceeds from a study of structure to the study of function 

 and is well on his way to the ideal combination of the two. 



(c) FISHES. 



Montagu's ichthyological work was almost entirely faunistic 

 but he made known several very interesting new fishes and 

 added a considerable number to the list of British fishes. Day, 

 in his well-known "British Fishes" remarks on the Gurnard 

 that Linnaeus by a slip of the pen describes Tri'gla hiritndo as 

 "linea laterali aculeata" which caused Pennant and others to 

 describe the side line as rough and this again doubtless induced 

 Montagu to describe his fish without a rough lateral line 

 as a new species. He called it T. laevis "at once distinguished 

 by the smoothness of the skin." Montagu's Sucker [Liparis 

 Montagui) was discovered by Montagu at Milton, on the South 

 coast of Devon. The Gilthead {Pagrus auratus) was another of 

 his discoveries specimens being received from Torcross. He 

 made a special study of the Rays and wrote an excellent 

 account of the British species in a paper contributed to the 

 Wernerian society. He took the rare Chagreen Ray [Rata 

 fullonicci) of the South coast of Devon and was the first to de- 

 scribe Rata niicrocellata. At Salcombe Bay, Montagu captured 

 the first two British species of Cepola riibesceits. At Torcross 

 he added the beautiful Butterfly Blenny {Blennius ocellaris) to 

 the British list. In his account of a Leptocephahis he corrects 

 some of Pennant's descriptive details helping to dispel the scep- 

 ticism which prevailed as to the existence of this fish. His "Sil- 

 very Gade" is a name which he bestowed on what has since 

 proved to be the young of the Threebearded Rockling [Motella 

 tricirrata). Blennius galerita was another of his South Devon 

 captures and is now known as "Montagu's Blenny" in his honour. 



(d) MOLLUSCA and WORMS. 



By his indefatigable work and great industry Montagu was 

 able to make very considerable additions to our knowledge of 

 British molluscs. In his Testacea Brittannica, he enumerated 

 nearly 470 species upwards of 100 of which had not been described 

 before or else were then for the first time ascertained to be 



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