cottus. 287 



sickle-shaped spine, sharp at the point, familiar to 

 youth, who, in the interior, have great enjoyment 

 in catching them. 



Some of them exceed a foot in length, but the 

 average in New England, is not far from seven 

 inches. One would hardly, at first, discover the 

 difference between the pout, before mentioned, 

 and the bullhead, though they are totally unlike. 



Sea-Bull, — Cottus Quadricomus . This fish 

 resembles the sculpin, but has the addition of four 

 short spines, rooted in the cheeks, below the eyes, 

 lying nearly flat to the face, and pointed backward. 

 Both pectoral and dorsal fins are broad and large, 

 and tinged with reel. It is found along the whole 

 coast, — also in the Baltic and Mediterranean. It 

 is also taken in the Duno in Livonia, and the Dal- 

 erou, in Sweden. With us, the usual length is 

 eight and ten inches. The ground-work of the 

 color is yellow, patched over with red and dark 

 brown spots, and it is called, familiarly in this part 

 of the country, the four-horned sculpin. 



Sculpin, — Cottus Scorpius. In England this 

 is the father-lasher, figured exceedingly well in the 

 old works on icthyology. Sculpin is a familiar 

 name for the family, derived, most likely, from 

 scorpcena, or scorpius. The head is large, and 



