230 THE INHABITANTS OF THE SEA. 



Vedius Pollio, a Eoman knight, has even acquired through these 

 fishes a scandalous renown, by causing now and then a slave 

 that had been guilty of some slight offence to be cast alive and 

 naked into their piscina, and amusing himself with the sight of 

 the murrys lacerating and devouring the body. That this 

 wretch was a friend of the Emperor Augustus harmonises but 

 badly with the ideas of the urbanity of his court which we may 

 have formed from the poems of Horace and Virgil. It is but 

 fair, however, to the character of the emperor to state that, 

 he reprobated Pollio's cruelty, and ordered his fish-pond to be 

 filled up. 



The Launces are distinguished from the eels by their large 

 gill openings, and their caudal fin being separated from their 

 dorsal and anal fins. The common 

 Sand Launce abounds on many parts 

 of our shore. On account of its- 

 silvery brightness it is highly esteemed 

 Ammodyte. or Lauace. b y the fishermen as bait for their 

 hooks, and its remarkable habit of 

 burrowing in the sand as the tide recedes affords easy means 

 of capture. While underground, it most likely gets hold of 

 many an unfortunate lob-worm, mollusc, or crustacean, but on 

 emerging from its retreat it is in its turn preyed upon by 

 the larger fishes. On a calm evening it is an interesting sight 

 to see the surface of the water broken by the repeated plunges 

 of the voracious mackerel as they burst upon the launces 

 from beneath. On the sands at Portobello, near Edinburgh, 

 people of all ages may be seen when the tide is out diligently 

 searching for the sand launce, and raking them out with 

 iron hooks. On the south coast of Devonshire, where the 

 sand launces are extremely plentiful, the fishermen employ a 

 small seine with a fine mesh, and are frequently so successful 

 that six or seven bushels are taken at one haul. The usual 

 length of the sand launce is from five to seven inches. In 

 many localities it is prepared for table, and considered a great 

 delicacy. 



Although the Lamprey essentially differs from the eel in the 

 formation of its gills, the softness of its cartilaginous skeleton, 

 and its funnel-shaped mouth provided with sharp teeth, disposed 

 in circles, yet it resembles it closely in its outward form. Its 



