3332 Reptiles.— Fishes. 



One is in the possession of my friend Mr. Vidler, of Pevensey, and the other is in Mr. 

 Johnson's possession. — /. B. Ellman ; Lewes, November 18, 1851. 



Tenacity of Life in Reptiles. — The tenacity of life exhibited by all the Reptilia is 

 so well known, that there is perhaps little novelty in the following instance ; I shall 

 however record it, with your permission, in the * Zoologist.' A specimen of the com- 

 mon viper (Pelius Berus), about a foot in length, was brought to me on the 10th inst. 

 Having procured a bottle of whiskey, and placed the reptile in a wide-mouthed phial, 

 the latter was filled up with the spirit to the very cork, leaving no breathing-space, at 

 10 minutes past 7, p.m., precisely ; in half an hour's time it was still living ; and on 

 examining the bottle at 25 minutes past 9, to my astonishment, and, I may add, dis- 

 gust, the unfortunate reptile showed evident signs of life by a strong movement when 

 the bottle was touched, after an immersion of two hours and a quarter ! After a few 

 minutes I tried the bottle again, but the reptile then appeared, like many creatures of 

 a larger growth, to have yielded up its life at the altar of Bacchus. I recollect on a 

 former occasion that a slow-worm (Anguis fragilis) lived half an hour in the same spi- 

 rit. Can you inform me of a quicker mode of killing reptiles ? I have heard that 

 creosote is soon fatal, but never tried its powers. — George Guyon ; Ventnor, Isle of 

 Wight, November 14, 1851. 



Notes on the Fishing Frog (Lophius piscatorius). — As a few notes on the anatomy 

 of that curiously developed fish, the sea devil, or fishing frog (Lophius piscatorius), 

 may not be uninteresting to some of your ichthyological correspondents, I venture to 

 offer the following on a specimen that was caught at the Aust passage, on or about 

 the 1st of November, and exposed for sale in this city. It was about 3 feet long, 2 

 feet 6 inches from the tip of one pectoral fin to the other, and weighed 56 lbs. It 

 much resembled a huge tadpole in form, whence its name of fishing frog. The anal 

 fin is wanting, but it possesses ventral and pectoral fins, which are of a flabby na- 

 ture, bearing more resemblance to the paddles of one of the cetaceous group, than to 

 the fins of osseous fishes. The pectoral fins are placed behind the ventral, and just 

 behind these is the operculum, which is comparatively very small. The skin closely 

 resembles that of the dog-fish, being devoid of imbricated scales. In another point, 

 also, it is like the cartilaginous fishes, viz., in the formidable rows of teeth with which 

 its huge jaws are armed, but these are, I imagine, rather for the retention of its prey 

 than as weapons of defence, as they are movable, yielding only in one direction, viz., 

 inwards ; but a still closer affinity is presented in the structure of the skeleton, which 

 possesses the merest trace of osseous matter, and that only on its external surface, by 

 far the greater part being cartilage. In one respect, however, it is similar to some of 

 the osseous fishes, viz., in possessing an air-bladder. There are present two well-de- 

 veloped kidneys, with a large central cavity but no uriniferous tubes. Two finger-like 

 appendages lie at the pyloric extremity of the stomach, and a good-sized liver with a 

 gall-bladder as large as a moderate-sized orange: the bulbus arteriosus is also well de- 

 veloped. The intestines are about 4 feet long, abounding in Entozoa imbedded in 

 the mucous membrane. I think, on comparing these observations, you will agree with 

 me in judging this fish to form an intermediate link between the osseous and cartilagi- 



