24 MARINE AND FRESHWATER FISHES 



is the modification throughout the Pediculati of the spinous 

 first dorsal fin, the anterior rays of which are developed 

 separately, so far forward as to be even in front of the 

 eyes ; one of them mostly bearing at its free extremity 

 the laminate membraneous appendage, which, in conjunction 

 with its supporting ray, is usually described as the "rod 

 and bait," from whence the European Angler, in particular, 

 derives its popular name. A very remarkable osseous ring- 

 joint at the base of this first spinous ray interlocks into a 

 similar ring developed from the substance of the skull ; 

 this arrangement admits of the free play to and fro, with 

 the current of the ray in question, and no doubt assists in 

 maintaining the illusion presently described. That the fish 

 deliberately used this structure, as a fisherman does his rod 

 and line, for the purpose of alluring and capturing other 

 smaller fish, is a matter of tradition handed down to us 

 from the time of Pliny and Aristotle, and which scarcely 

 any authority since their time has ventured to gainsay. 

 Nevertheless, like many of the delightful natural history 

 romances bequeathed to us by the ancient philosophers — 

 that of the asserted navigating habits of the Paper 

 Nautilus being a prominent illustration — this one of the 

 Angler-fish will, it is anticipated, have to be relegated to 

 the limbo of disproved fiction. The plain and certain 

 ground of facts, all the same, has frequently more startling 

 revelations in store for us than the most fervid imaginations 

 of philosophers, and that this assertion holds good in the 

 case now under consideration must undoubtedly be 

 admitted. It is here proposed to show, in fact, that the 

 Angler is one of the most interesting examples upon which 

 nature has exercised her handicraft, in the direction of 

 concealing the identity of her protege, such ingenuity being 

 sometimes utilised with the object of protecting the organism 



