200 THE USE OF A BEARD. 



that stand up and curve backwards like the horn of a 

 Ehinoceros in miniature ; while the whole under sur- 

 face of the head, which is flat, is coveired with a beard 

 of horny thread-like filaments, very numerous and 

 close-set, hanging perpendicularly downwards. Let 

 me not, however, be understood as speaking disrespect- 

 fully of this mental adornment ; for I doubt not it 

 would be considered quite an elegant appendage in 

 Regent Street or Pall Mall. 



In t^e Aquarium the Pogge soon showed how ex- 

 clusively he is a bottom-fish. Though his fins are 

 ample, he has scarcely any power of swimming except 

 by strong muscular effort, struggling upward for a 

 little distance, and sinking to the bottom the moment 

 the effort is relaxed. In general it lay motionless on 

 the ground, while I had it ; and I presume this is its 

 habit when at liberty. The beard-filaments are pro- 

 bably delicate organs of touch, endowed with a high 

 sensibility; and these, when the fish lies on a soft 

 bottom, such as mud or sand, would be partly buried 

 in it, and would be cognizant of the presence of any 

 Annelide or Echinoderm that might be burrowing in 

 the ground or crawling over it, fit for the capacious 

 mouth to engulph, and the ample gullet to swallow. 



THE NOTHE LEDGES. 



In pursuing the hue of shore which extends from 

 the foot of the Lookout to the Nothe Point, beneath 

 a range of low, crumbling, marly clifi", we pass for 

 a while over nearly horizontal ledges, which dip suc- 

 cessively into the sea, as I have more than once had 

 occasion to mention. This is a rich collecting ground. 



