2518 Marine Zoology. 



enabled to produce colours, such as scarlet and crimson, of a more 

 beautiful and permanent description even than those which were in the 

 greatest repute among the ancients. It is the female insect only which 

 is employed for this purpose. Externally she is of a deep brown co- 

 lour, and not much bigger than a peppercorn : the internal substance, 

 when reduced to powder, is of a rich purple. Cloth which has been 

 dyed with cochineal is devoid of any strong or unpleasant smell. 



James Smith. 

 Manse of Monquhitter by Turriff, Aberdeenshire, 

 June 15, 1849. 



Notes on the Marine Zoology of Dunbar. — Fishes, Annelides, Crustacea and Zoophytes, 



By Robekt Gray, Esq. 



(Continued from page 2468). 



At neap tides the shore of Dunbar presents an interesting 1 field of observation, 

 extending upwards of a mile on each side of the town, with a large exposed surface 

 of black rocks intersected in many places by deep pools. In the latter are found 

 most of the fishes of the Forth which prefer a life among sea-weed, such as Cottus 

 scorpius, Crasterosteus spinachia, Blennius pholis, Muraenoides guttata, Zoarces vivi- 

 parus, the young of the ling (Lota molva), Motella quinquecirrata, &c. Many of 

 these, from their small size, escape general observation, and are left to multiply to a 

 great extent, having no human enemy but the prying schoolboy and the rambling na- 

 turalist. In summer, however, there is a more attractive inhabitant, the lump-sucker 

 (Cyclopterus lumpus), which is eagerly sought for by fisher-boys and others. This fish 

 is very plentiful from May to September, especially in the pools farthest distant from 

 the ordinary tide-mark, where the large blades of Fuci afford concealment to numbers ; 

 but even there they are speedily discovered and torn from their fixture, by the ruthless 

 rock-fishers, to supply the demand in the market. Considerable numbers are killed 

 in this way ; but the boats never bring one to land caught by a hook, as this fish 

 rarely takes a bait. The ballan wrasse (Labrus maculatus) and the red or trimaculated 

 wrasse (L. carneus), although common in some localities near the shore, are seldom 

 caught by the fishermen, for they have an aversion to take any fish not in general use 

 as food. A light fishing is the only incentive to bring ashore all that comes in their 

 way, and it is then the wrasses, besides many others, are sold in the streets. On some 

 occasions upwards of fifty specimens of the ballan wrasse, and half that number of 

 the three-spotted wrasse, are offered for sale in a forenoon ; and, as if conscious of the 

 insignificance of its local name, ' sea sow,' as well as the caution of purchasers in 

 taking a fish under such a title, the fish-wives — despite the wide separation of species 

 — do not hesitate to sell the wrasse as perch. That the contents of their baskets may 

 better sustain this valuable transformation of character, the vendors assure their cus- 

 tomers that the said perch have been carried to the sea by the late floods, if* such have 



