Nature and Art, November 1, 1866.] 
THE FLYING FISH. 
173 
We love to see flowers around us : they lend a 
charm even to the gloom of the cemetery, and 
redeem it from its sombre character ; for are not we, 
too, flowers of mortal growth, who wither and die 
here, indeed, but bloom perennial in a happier clime ? 
How greatly, too, are the houses of the living 
improved by a few flowers, not only pictorially, but 
architecturally. We remember Paris when the 
Louvre and other public buildings were unadorned 
even with grass-plots in the courts, &c. ; but now 
how charming they look, with their little borders 
of box, and grass, and sweet-smelling, sweet-looking 
flowers ! Never have we seen architecture better 
set off than in those churches which are now at 
times planted round with flower-beds. We have 
no need, however, to dilate upon this theme : who 
does not love flowers — those “ stars which in 
eai'th’s firmament do shine?” Our gossip now is 
over about architecture and gardening, and if we 
have succeeded in making out a case in favour of 
the principles of gardening in connection with 
architecture as practised during the sixteenth and 
seventeenth centuries, showing that they ought not 
to be so utterly condemned as they have been, and 
that, with all their faults, they present many points 
worthy of retention, imitation, and development, 
our jjaper on this subject will not have been written 
in vain. 
THE PLYING FISH. 
(Exocilus volitans.*) 
By W. B. Lord, 
mHE monotony of a long sea-voyage is most 
X agreeably broken by observing the habits and 
watching the movements of the endless variety of 
curious and beautiful objects hourly presented to 
view, cleaving the air on restless pinion as the good 
ship speeds on her way ; skimming the crest of 
some rolling billow ; or soaring away aloft on out- 
stretched wing ; yet ever following and keeping 
her company. There are sea treasures too, wave 
bonie, which well repay investigation. In southern 
climes the types of animal and vegetable life 
brought to the notice of the observant voyager, are 
more varied and attractive than in the colder seas 
of our own latitude. The exquisite colouring and 
beautiful form of the Portuguese man-of-toar as it 
floats gracefully by ; the huge turtle sluggishly 
drifting with the current ; the passing tufts of 
gulf weed, with the curious Crustacea and infusoria 
often found amongst them ; the pigmy sail of the 
graceful nautilus ; and the horn -like fin of the 
dreaded shark, are each in turn objects of interest. 
The stormy petrels, too, hover swallow-like in the 
wake, and appear almost disposed to peep in at the 
cabin windows to inquire after the health of 
“ Mother Carey,” whose own chickens they are, 
by the sailors, declared to be ; and who strongly 
object to their being shot at or molested in any 
way, for fear of rousing the ire of that respected 
old lady, and so bringing on a gale of wind as a 
manifestation of her displeasure. There is no 
sight more charming or pleasing to remember than 
the flight of a shoal of Flying Fish as they shoot 
forth from the dark green wave in a glittering 
throng, like silver birds in some gay fairy tale, 
— gleaming brightly in the sunshine, and then, 
* The species of Flying Fish which most frequently comes 
under the notice of the voyager is that now under considera- 
tion, which is known as the “ oceanic,” and E. Exiliens, or 
the Mediterranean Flying Fish. Although alike in general 
appearance, they are distinguished by well-marked anatomi- 
cal peculiarities. 
Eoyal Artillery. 
with a mere touch on the crest of the heaving 
billow, again flit onward reinvigorated and re- 
freshed. 
The extreme distance to which each of these 
flights extends is rarely beyond two hundred yards, 
and usually even much less space is traversed. The 
sustaining power possessed by the wings, or fins, 
appears mainly to depend on the presence of 
moisture ; but whether the act of tipping the 
waves from time to time is sufficient to communi- 
cate it, or whether the peculiar form of the tail 
enables them rapidly to cast water over themselves, 
is a question which has yet to be solved. Captain 
Tobin, in speaking of the Flying Fish, says, — 
“The lower half of the tail is fully twice the length of the 
upper. The use of it has always appeared evident to me. I 
have by the hour, watched the dolphins and bonitas in pursuit 
of them, when, without wholly immersing themselves, which 
would have proved fatal to them, they have disposed, in their 
progressive motion the lower part of the tail in such a 
manner as to supply their wings with moisture, so as to 
support them above the surface. I never saw one exceed 
the distance of one hundred yards in its flight without being 
obliged to dip for a fresh supply.” 
We, too, have had numerous opportunities of 
observing the movements of these interesting 
creatures, and incline to the belief that a moist fin 
is essential to their aerial progress ; and that both 
the stiff, outstretched form of wing made use of in 
skimming or hovering, and the rapid winnowing of 
the fins seen at particular periods of the flight, are 
each produced at the will of the fish, just as a 
hawk either soars aloft, flutters in mid-air, or 
swoops down on its prey. Mr. Swainson thus 
gives the result of his experiences in the matter 
“ It is said, also, that the fins are merely used as para- 
chutes, and do not, as in birds, propel the fish forward by 
repeated movements. This again admits of doubt. The 
flight of these fish, though short, is very rapid, almost as 
much so as that of a swallow — and every one knows that 
these birds will advance far with little or no beating motion 
of the wings. In crossing the Line in 1816, we were very 
anxious to ascertain this point in the economy of the 
