106 Gossip about Fish. 



blance our forefathers could have discovered between the man 

 who first bore the appellation and the creature itself, history, 

 as known to us, does not record. 



As we come to the conclusion of Mr. Couch's work, we 

 find ourselves passing out of the fish world altogether, through 

 those singular transition links — the myxine, or borer, and the 

 aurphioxus, or lancelet. The myxine, Mr. Couch tells us, is 

 scarcely rare in our northern waters, especially about Scarbo- 

 rough, and is no favourite with the fishermen, as it attacks the 

 fish caught on their long lines as soon as they are dead. The 

 myxine is worm-like in aspect, and breaths by means of little 

 vesicles or chambers, the lining of which forms folds. The 

 spine is a cartilaginous tube, and the nervous cords lie upon 

 it unprotected by bone. This creature enters the bodies of 

 larger fish through the gills when they are dead, and devours 

 their muscular structure very much as the lamprey feeds. 



Older naturalists took the myxine for a ivorm ; and the 

 lancelet, another of the lower fishes, was regarded as a slug. 

 This very curious creature is of small size, the largest Mr. 

 Couch has seen being two inches and three-tenths long, with a 

 depth of about three-tenths of an inch, exclusive of the fins. 

 Its gelatinous vertebral column exhibits separate joints ; but 

 it has no skull and very little brain. It has no true gills and 

 no true heart. 



In taking leave of the fishes, we strongly recommend those 

 who wish to acquire a general knowledge of them in a very 

 .agreeable way to turn over the pages of Mr. Couch's splendidly 

 illustrated volumes, and glance at his descriptions. For 

 strangeness and variety of form and beauty of colouring, fish 

 are not surpassed by any other animals, and we have no doubt 

 Mr. Couch will tempt many to become real students of fish 

 under his able guidance, whose original intention went no 

 deeper than to amuse an hour by looking through his plates. 



