46 CLASSIFICATION OF FISHES. 



to attract others, upon which they prey. The cat-fish, 

 safely screened from observation in the natural hollows 

 or holes of the bank, throws out his long cirri, which, 

 being flexible, may well be taken for worms by other 

 smaller fish, which are thus brought within reach of 

 their true owner. Among the cod-fish they are-much 

 shorter ; and in the tench family they are very slightly 

 developed. We find them, in a slight degree, in the 

 cartilaginous genera of Acipenser, Squatina, and. Cros- 

 sorhinus ; but in this latter they assume the form of 

 short flat processes, so that they may here perform a 

 different office. Perfectly analogous to these cirri is 

 the long appendage rising from the nose of the frog- 

 fishes, composing the genus Lophius of Linnaeus. It 

 is probable that these amphibious-looking creatures are 

 the most imperfect swimmers in the whole class ; and 

 being carnivorous, this inaptitude for pursuing their 

 prey is made up to them by a very long filament, rising 

 from the head, and terminated by a flat spoon shaped 

 enlargement, so as to bear a ludicrous resemblance 'to a 

 fishing-line with a bait at the end : the fish lurks in 

 its hole, and throws out this natural line, and thus at- 

 tracts its prey. Its vulgar name of fishing-frog is, 

 therefore, peculiarly expressive ; for it not only angles, 

 but it is of that type which represents the amphibious 

 frogs among the aberrant fishes. Having now laid 

 before the reader the chief characters of structure by 

 which the different tribes, families, and genera of fish 

 are distinguished, we may briefly touch upon the senses 

 they seem to possess, and then enumerate some of the 

 most interesting points of their natural history or 

 economy. 



(48.) The senses of fishes are much less developed 

 than those of quadrupeds or birds. Some of these 

 faculties have been already incidentally mentioned, to 

 which it is only necessary — in such a rapid view as we 

 are now taking — to add the following: — The sense of 

 touch is very partially developed, for it is difficult to 

 understand how it is possessed by those families which 



