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Fishes. 



larger kind. In appearance, these last so greatly resembled a speci- 

 men I had seen and examined several years before, that I have but 

 little doubt that they are identical. A figure of the specimen to which 

 I refer, is annexed to assist ichthyologists in determining the point. 



Thrasher, C. vulpes. Not very uncommon during the summer and 

 autumnal months. The presence of this extraordinary creature is 

 soon ascertained, by the noise it makes in beating the water with its 

 enormously long tail. 



Blue Shark, C. glaucas. Abundant during the latter part of sum- 

 mer and early in the autumn. They are frequently taken by 

 the drift-net boats during the pilchard fishery. I have seen so many 

 as seventy taken by the Mount's Bay boats during a single night's 

 fishing, and these have varied in size from two to five feet. They are 

 not, strictly speaking, gregarious, but unite from the accidental cir- 

 cumstance of their being in pursuit of the same prey. It is from 

 their pursuit of the pilchard that they become entangled in the fisher- 

 men's net. 



Porbeagle, Lamina cornuhica. Common during the summer ; asso- 

 ciating in companies to pursue their prey. 



Miller Dog, Galeus vulgaris. Common in July and August, and 

 less so in September. In habits it resembles the blue shark, but is 

 not so rapacious, probably owing to its being less powerful. It differs, 

 however, in more frequently devouring dead food, and living nearer 

 the ground. It frequently attains a large size, growing to about six 

 feet in length. During the winter, it keeps in deep water over a sandy 

 soil. The young are frequently confounded by the fishermen with the 

 picked dog, to which, however, the resemblance is not so great. The 

 ova are developed quickly, and in companies varying from twenty to 

 thirty-three, or even more. The young are excluded alive in rapid 

 succession : they attain their full size in about two years, but breed 

 when about half-grown. 



