SHORES OF THE CLYDE AND FIRTH. 
129 
thought they were actuated by the desire of putting the 
sufferer quicker out of pain. 
On such a beach as this some of the rare curiosities of 
the deep are frequently to be met with, and now we are 
fortunate in securing one of them. What sort of strange 
thing is this ? From the accompanying representation it 
will be seen to be shaped something like a little hand- 
barrow, with the four arms stretched out to a taper, and 
the body bilged like a cushion or purse. The colour is 
nearly black, and the texture is a tough, leathery substance, 
about three inches over all. This is the egg of the skate 
skate's egg. 
or ray, a fish that attains a pretty large size, particularly 
the thornback species. For many years the outlines of a 
specimen of this tribe, measuring about eight feet in length 
from the tip of the tail to the snout, were to be seen 
portrayed upon the boards of a boat-shed on the shore of 
Ascog Bay, Bute. This specimen was captured by the late 
Sir William Murray of Auchtertyre, Perthshire, a gentle- 
man who indulged in the pastime of deep-sea fishing, and 
was the occupier of Ascog Hall at the time. When taken 
with a hook and line it is sometimes very difficult to raise 
this fish. When they feel themselves being drawn up, they 
flatten upon the bottom, and with the aid of their fringes 
