580 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



his feet." It was estimated to weigh 5 to 6 cwt. The fish was quite fresh 

 and was well fed, but its stomach was empty. Much of the flesh was 

 eaten; this was red in colour and very firm when raw; fried, it resembled 

 Eel, and fried well in its own fat, like that fish ; boiled, it somewhat 

 resembled Skate, the flesh being stringy. — Edward A. Fitch (Maldon, 

 Essex). 



The Germon in British Waters. — The Germon, or Long-finned 

 Tunny, Orcynus germo, Day, has long been known as a visitor to British 

 seas; but so infrequent are its occurrences on our coasts that the late 

 Dr. Day could only enumerate four distinct occasions upon which this fine 

 species had been obtained within our limits, the whole of these relating to 

 the south-west of England. No specimens were taken between 1865 and 

 1889, in which latter year I obtained an example from a creek upon Burgh 

 Marsh — i. e. upon the upper shores of the Solway Firth. I have now the 

 pleasure of recording the capture of a second specimen of this handsome 

 Tunny in the Solway Firth. On October 25th, 1897, a living Germon 

 was found stranded upon the sands near Silloth. It was secured by a 

 labouring man, who saw that he had obtained a prize. He had the sense to 

 ride off to me on his bicycle; but unfortunately I was away from home. 

 He then wrote to my taxidermist, and offered it to him as representing me ; 

 but he, being very busy, and supposing the fish to be a common Tunny, 

 declined it, and wrote to me to report it. On my return home I found 

 that the owner of the fish had kept it (in the hope of a high price) until it 

 became decomposed, and he had to bury it in his garden. I dug it up 

 myself, and found the fish but little altered in appearance. It was a 

 Germon, with a pectoral fin sixteen inches long. It measured 27£ inches 

 in girth, and 38 inches in length from the tip of the nose to the fork of the 

 tail. I compared it with the figures given by Couch and Day. Couch's 

 figure represents the Germon as tapering more sharply to the tail than was 

 the case in this specimen; but perhaps this may be accounted for by 

 the excellent condition of the recent wanderer. The left pectoral fin was 

 damaged when disinterred ; but I cut out the right pectoral fin as a proof 

 of its identity. My identification of the 1889 specimen was confirmed at 

 the Natural History Museum by Mr. Boulenger ; since then I have procured 

 other species of Tunny from the Solway Firth, as has my neighbour 

 across the water, Mr. R. Service. — H. A. Macpherson (Allonby Vicarage, 

 Cumberland). 



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