224 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF DUBLIN. 



At a meeting of this Society, held on the 1st of March, 1850, the 

 first European specimen of this handsome fish was exhibited and re- 

 corded. That specimen vividly pourtrayed all the rich and brilliant 

 markings which Mr. Couch, in his carefully illustrated " Fishes of "the 

 British Islands," has given in detail from the " Proceedings" of this 

 Society. There can now be no doubt of its characteristic affinities with 

 the Cottus Grcenlandicus of Cuvier, and figured and described* by Sir 

 John Richardson, C. B., F. R. S. In the third edition of " Yarrel's 

 British Pishes," edited by Sir John Bichardson, he remarks — " An ex- 

 ample of this species was captured in Dingle Harbour in February, 

 1850, and exhibited in the Dublin Natural History Society by Mr. 

 William Andrews. As yet this and the one seen by Dr. Ball are the 

 only recorded examples of the fish that have been met with on our 

 shores. The figure at the head of this article, which corresponds closely 

 with the one published by Mr. Andrews, and the vignette at the end, 

 are borrowed from the ' Fauna B or eali Americana,' where a Newfound- 

 land specimen is described at length."f 



Sir John Bichardson' s remarks are perfectly correct, and it is only 

 right to explain the circumstances under which such an awkward oc- 

 currence took place. A drawing was carefully and beautifully made on 

 stone, from the original specimen, by my friend Mr. B. P. Williams, 

 and who did not see the figure in the American Fauna. It was in- 

 trusted to be lithographed to a Mr. Fleming, who unfortunately broke 

 the stone. This so much annoyed Mr. Williams that Fleming un- 

 dertook to replace the drawing, which he appears to have done by copy- 

 ing the figure from the " Northern Zoology." Of that incident I was 

 ignorant until long after the plate was published with the Society's 

 " Proceedings." 



Dr. Ball was not aware of the species in the collection of the Uni- 

 versity Museum until I pointed out its specific distinction, nor had he 

 any record from whence it was brought. 



The C. Grcenlandicus described by Sir John Bichardson was from 

 specimens he obtained from Mr. Audubon, taken at Newfoundland, and 

 which, likely, did not present the varied and beautiful colours and 

 markings that I have described. The colours in the living state are 

 most vivid ; but they are so fleeting, that very soon after death they fade, 

 and totally so when placed in spirits in the dead state. As the pigment 

 of the skin of fishes is similar to the rete mucosum of human anatomy, 

 it is difficult to prevent the evanesence of colours, especially crimson or 

 scarlet, no matter how strongly shown in the recent fish. The best pro- 

 cess I have found is to secure the fish in the living state, free it as much 

 as possible from adhering slime by washing, and then plunge it at once 

 into the preserving bottle or jar of spirits of wine. The fish instantly 



* "Fauna Boreali Americana. 

 f Yanell's "British Fishes." 



