THE aURNARD GEOTJP. 179 



sufficiently shallow to allow of securing tliem either by 

 hand or by a landing-net ; the whole procedure being 

 so simple, says iElian, that women and children were 

 fuUy competent to manage, and, in fact, generally con- 

 ducted it. 



Of the sixth family of Acanthopterygii, the Msenidse, 

 we have nothing to record ; of the seventh, or Squam- 

 mipennse, only to notice, that amongst the subdivisions 

 are found two individuals, perfect sharpshooters, chcetodon 

 rostratus, and ch. toxotes, whose instinct prompts them 

 to lie in wait for insects; and whenever any come within 

 reach of a jet-d^eau which these chcetodons have the 

 power of squirting to a considerable distance, they sur- 

 prise their victims as they rest on adjacent aquatic plants, 

 drown, and then devour them ; ' II lance I'eau (says M. 

 Cuvier, speaking of the last), 'quelquefois k trois ou qua- 

 tre pieds de hauteur, et les manque (les insectes) bien 

 rarement/ 



