438 
THE LAMPREYS AND LANCELETS 
fresh-water species are much smaller. Fortu- 
nately, none of the fresh-water species are so in- 
jurious to fishes as the Sea Lamprey. 
According to Jordan and Evermann’s “Fishes 
of North and Middle America,” there are in Ameri- 
can waters ten species of lampreys, and two of 
their very near, but still lower, relatives, the Hag- 
Fishes. They are scattered at intervals from 
Alaska to New England, in brooks, rivers, lakes, 
estuaries and various other bodies of shallow 
water. They are most accessible in fresh water, 
on a stony or gravelly bottom; and whenever in 
such a situation you find an eel-like creature 
holding fast to a stone by the suction of a big flat 
mouth on the end of its head, know of a surety 
that it is a Lamprey. 
THE LANCELETS. 
Class Leptocardii. 
The long and interesting chain of Vertebrates 
ends in a very weak and insignificant link. The 
great work entitled “Fishery Industries of the 
United States” dismisses this creature with only 
two and a half lines, and leaves three-fourths of 
the page blank. 
And truly, the Lancelet, or Amphioxus , 1 is 
not a creature calculated to arouse enthusiasm. 
Its skeleton is composed of membranes and carti- 
lages. It has no brain, nor even a skull in which 
to develop one. It is neither eel-like nor worm- 
like, but as its name implies, it is shaped like the 
head of a lance. The middle line of the body is 
provided with weak and indifferent fins. There 
is no proboscis, and the mouth is slit-like, and 
fringed with hair-like filaments. All the above 
characters, and many others of a purely technical 
nature, are set forth in “The Fishes of North and 
Middle America,” where eight species are recog- 
nized. 
These small, naked, colorless and translucent 
creatures are found “embedded in the sand in the 
shallow waters of warm coasts throughout the 
world.” They are of special interest only because 
they are the lowest of the Vertebrates, and on the 
whole they constitute a very ignominious ending 
for the highest grand division of Nature. 
1 The West Indian Lancelet ( Brach-i-os'to-ma 
car-i-bae'um) , is found from Beaufort, N. C., to the 
mouth of the La Plata. 
And thus ends our bird’s-eye view of the Vertebrates, setting forth the prominent types and 
examples which every intelligent American should know. It is here, and here only, that “ speciali- 
zation” may properly begin! Behind lie the Mammals, Birds, Reptiles and Fishes; beyond lie the 
mighty hosts of the Invertebrates, — Crustaceans, Insects, Mollusks and others. In any one of these 
grand divisions of life, the special student may wander for a lifetime in a wonderland of his own, and 
to the last find each day filled with new light and new joys in the unending revelations of Nature. 
THE END. 
