SCYLLEIM3. 313 



Breeding. — In a large marine reservoir at Concarneau a female deposited her 

 eggs, -which were hatched about nine months subsequently (Costa, Comp. Rend. 

 1867, p. 99, and An. and Mag. 1ST. H. 1867, xix. p. 227). Couch mentions (May 

 30th, 1864) his receiving an egg, or rather purse, with the young just ready for 

 exclusion ; and as he had formerly found them in this condition in April, it 

 appeared to be the usual time and continued till the autumn. Parnell opened a 

 female in September, and found two purses of large size, but the foetus was not 

 in the slightest developed. Mr. Dunn has found the young ready to swim in March. 



Uses. — The skin of this fish, according to Rutty, "is used for rasping and 

 polishing wood and alabaster, and is capable of cutting iron ; and though the 

 skin of that from the coast of Portugal is sought for, and more used by our 

 cabinet-makers and gunsmiths as preferable to ours, I have seen one of these 

 from the shore of Howth which did not only cut yew, but silver. The same skin 

 is also used to raise the hair of beaver hats instead of pumice-stone, which was 

 formerly used for this purpose." " The skin was formerly highly valued in 

 Cornwall by coopers for polishing their work. A tradesman from Truro once 

 told me that a pound of rubskin (which was the local name he gave it) was 

 worth a cwt. of sand-paper " (Dunn). Some oil may be obtained from its liver. 

 It and the last species are largely employed, along the coast of Cornwall, for 

 baiting crab pots. 



As food. — Its flesh, says Couch, is too coarse to be eaten ; but Moreau observes 

 that it is used for food along the coasts of France. Although it is not delicate, 

 still it is not exactly bad. It is hard, and gives off an ammoniacal and musty 

 smell, which, however, is lost on being cooked. Lacepede informs us of a whole 

 family having once been nearly poisoned, due to eating the liver of this fish. 



Habitat. — Coasts of Europe ; but off our shores not so common as the last 

 species, and does not appear to extend so far towards the north. 



Rare in the Orkneys and Shetlands (W. Baikie) ; has been taken at Wick 

 (Parnell) ; Aberdeen (Sim) ; Berwickshire (Johnston) ; and in the Firth of 

 Forth, occasionally in the salmon nets at Queensferry (Parnell). Murray 

 includes it among his Scarborough fishes (Fauna of Yorkshire) ; is found in 

 Norfolk (Lowe) ; Devonshire, in the trawl net, but not so commonly as the 

 last species (Parnell) ; and also in Cornwall. 



In Ireland, frequents the north-east coast, and not improbably the coast 

 generally. Mr. Ogilby has only seen two examples at Portrush, both caught in 

 deep water far off shore, on the same line, in January, 1877, both young and 

 barely a foot long. 



The example figured is 20f inches long, and in the National Collection. It is 

 said to attain to three-quarters of a cwt. in Cornwall (Cornish Fauna, p. 52). The 

 largest recorded off our shores appears to be about 3a feet long, but it sometimes 

 reaches as much as 5 feet. The figure of the egg-purse is from one sent me by 

 Mr. Dunn in March, 1882, and drawn half-size. 



EGG CASE OF NURSE-HOUND. 



