290 
NATURAL HISTORY 
shores. The sand is its usual dwelling, from whence it 
derives its name; it lies sometimes a foot or two from the 
surface. It lives on water-worms, which it digs up with 
its sharp snout; it feeds also on the young of its own 
species, and some of about two inches long have been 
found in its stomach. It rarely comes to the surface of 
the water; but in fine weather it may be seen coiled up 
like a snake, with its head pressed into the sand. The 
voracious fish are its destroyers, especially the mackerel. 
They spawn in May, laying their ova on the sands not 
far from the shore. They are dug out of the sands at 
the reflux of the tide, with hooks made on purpose; they 
are mostly used for bait, though sometimes eaten. 
Some naturalists say th£y are thin and dry, and very 
indifferent food; while others assert that they are deli- 
cate eating. The Greenlanders eat them both fresh and 
dried, but more frequently bait their hooks with them: 
the scales to these fish are very small and thin. 
Trumpet-Fish. (PI. 50.) The body of this fish is 
short and broad, laterally compressed, and very much 
resembles a pair of bellows in shape; it is of a pale red 
colour: the head which is broadish above, ends in a bent 
cylinder below; and the aperture of the mouth, which is 
small, is at the end of the long beak; the aperture is 
closed by the lower jaw, which shuts into the upper like 
the lid of a snuff-box: the nostrils are double, and lie 
near the eyes; the eyes are large, with a black pupil and 
a pale-red iris: the gill-covert is single: the aperture is 
large, and covers the the membrane which lies under- 
neath. This fish can hide its small ventral fins in a fur- 
row which lies behind them: all the fins are of a gray 
colour. This fish haunts the Mediterranean sea; it is 
tender, well-tasted, and easy of digestion; but, being very 
thin, it is generally sold with other small fish at a low 
price. As the fins are very small in proportion to the 
other parts, so that it cannot swim fast enough to avoid 
its enemies, Providence has given it a moveable serrated 
spine for its defence, which is the first ray in the dorsal 
fin; with this it will successfully defend itself against al- 
most any fish, unless taken by surprise. 
