ENGLISH FISHE&. 



441 



prove to the contrary. It certainly was reason- 

 able to conclude, after several dozen of each had 

 been opened by Mr Neill, and found to be con- 

 stant in sexual distinction, that these two fishes 

 were of the same species'^. Mr Neill, too, as- 

 sures us in the same work, that he had these fishes 

 brought to him in nearly equal numbers. This is 

 the more remarkable, since on the south coast of 

 England, especially Devonshire, the Dracunculus 

 is very common, and the Lyra extremely rare. 

 Previously to the discovery of this circumstance, 

 I confess, the great similarity of the two fishes, 

 had induced me to suspect only a sexual distinc-* 

 tion. 



At the fishery I am in the habit of attending oa 

 the coast of Devon, I have scarcely ever seen the 

 tack-net or ground-net used, that several of the 

 Dracunculus were not entangled : I might ven- 

 ture to assert, that more than a thousand are taken 

 by the fishermen of Torcross alone, annually, and 

 yet only one instance of the other species having 

 been taken, has ever come to my knowledge, and 

 which was sent to me by a fisherman of that 



F f 3 



* It is proper here to remark, that Mr Neill, like a true 

 naturalist, always in search of fact, has candidly admitted, that 

 his conclusions were drawn from having always found the Gem- 

 meous Dragonet a milter ; but that he never could detect either 

 row or milt in the Sordid. 



