450 PEOSE HAIIBFTICS. 



prey, and afterwards of banqueting upon it without wit- 

 nesses, present so many striking points of resemblance 

 to the evolution of rapacious birds, that several of these 

 fish have received names from different members of the 

 Falcon family ; names, not more appropriate from this 

 mode of hunting and dealing with their victims when 

 caught, than from the efficient and formidable weapons 

 by which they secure them. These weapons, from very 

 early times, rendered the possessors objects of public 

 curiosity and interest. Few fish, indeed, as a group, are 

 better prepared for aggression or self-defence than the 

 rays, many of the larger kinds being armed from the 

 tail to the very teeth : but there are -some kinds that, 

 since the days of Aristotle, have enjoyed ' throughout all 

 the posterities ' a reputation quite sui generis, for certain 

 supposed poisonous instruments, which are commonly, 

 like the sting in bees and scorpions, seated in or near the 

 tail. The most renowned of these ' noli me tangere ' 

 rays is the sea-eagle. This colossal fish possesses an 

 enormous pair of fins, which, stretching out from either 

 side of the body, offer a striking resemblance to a pair 

 of wide-spread wings; he possesses moreover a detached 

 head, terminating in a porrect process, like a beak, and 

 a large pair of piercing bright eyes : these are the fan- 

 cied analogies which have procured him the honour of 

 dividing his name with the king of birds. 



The vast carcase of the sea-eagle often challenged our 

 attention, when it lay extended on the lava flags of the 

 Neapolitan market-place. Alive, in the water, it is said 

 to be of all swvaimex& facile princeps, performing all nata- 

 tory evolutions in a manner so graceful and stately as to 

 defy competition. Gliding in slow majestic pomp through 

 the waters, with the dignity of a tragedy queen, her 

 marine majesty seems to have attracted particular atten- 

 tion along the Marseillais coast, where the more polite 

 and educated class of observers conferred on this ray 



