THE LAMPEEY. 231 



colour is generally a dull brownish olive, clouded with yellowish- 

 white variegations ; the fins are tinged with dull orange, and the 

 tail with hlue. The Marine or Sea Lamprey inhabits the ocean, 

 but ascends the rivers in spring. Though capable of swimming 

 with considerable vigour and rapidity, it is more commonly seen 

 attached by the mouth to some large stone or other substance, 

 the body hanging at rest, or obeying the motion of the current. 

 Its power of adhesion is so great that a weight of more than 

 twelve pounds may be raised without forcing the fish to quit its 

 hold. Like the eel, it is remarkably tenacious of life, the head 

 strongly attaching itself for several hours to a stone, though by 

 far the greater part of the body be cut away from it. The 

 lamprey is still considered as a delicacy; every schoolboy 

 knows that King Henry I. died of an indigestion caused by 

 this favourite dish ; and the town of Gloucester still sends every 

 Christmas a lamprey-pie to Queen Victoria, such as it was wont 

 to offer to its sovereign in the days of the Plantagenets and 

 Tudors. 



The Myxine, Glutinous Hag, or Borer, bears a near resem- 

 blance to the lamprey, but 

 stands upon a much inferior 

 degree of organisation, having 

 no eyes — (the sole example 

 of blindness among fishes), and 

 a still softer skeleton, so that, Myxme. 



when boiled, it almost entirely 



dissolves into mucus. In the lamprey and myxine, the 

 branchial cells, which admit water, are lined by the delicate 

 membrane through which the blood is aerated. In the former, 

 however, the external apertures of the branchial cells are placed 

 on the side of the neck ; while in the myxine, which' feeds on 

 the internal parts of its prey, and buries its head and part of 

 its body in the flesh, the openings of the respiratory organs are 

 removed sufficiently far back to admit of the respiration going on 

 wnile the animal's head is so inserted. Thus, even in this lowest 

 and meanest of all vertebrate animals, we find a remarkable 

 adaptation of its construction to its wants, and the proof that it 

 has been as well taken care of by its Creator as the highest 

 organised creatures of its class. 



One of the most remarkable orders of fishes is that of the 



