136 
EUROPEAN HAEP’BEAK. 
without anything “further having come to light, when the original 
supposition appeared to be confirmed in an accidental research 
on the coast of Essex, reported by Dr. Clark, of Ipswich, by 
which a considerable number of similar fishes were obtained; 
some of which were sent to Mr. Yarrell, and from which a 
figure and description were derived, as contained in the second 
edition of his “History of British Fishes.” Again on a later 
occasion, Mr. William Laughrin, A.L.S., of Polperro, obtained 
a sight of a considerable number of these fishes, similar in size 
to those mentioned by Mr. Yarrell, as they were in active 
movement in one of those large pools on our rocky coast, which 
are alternately left and covered with the tide; and he amused 
himself in watching their actions, sufficiently near to be assured 
of the exact form of these fishes, although he was not in 
possession of means by which to obtain them. 
But in addition to this I have been favoured with a com- 
munication from J. S. Martin, Esq., of Weymouth, who kindly 
sent me two examples, which I have closely examined, and of 
which I took a figure with a description, which will be brought 
into connection with that of another presently to be mentioned 
of much larger size, of the taking of which I shall presently 
give an account. Mr. Martin informs me that the two sent 
were a portion of eight examples which were obtained alive 
in the Isle of Wight, in the month of August; and although 
six of them died soon, two of them lived for a time, and one 
survived for a week, during which it swam in a lively manner 
at the surface of the water among floating seaweed, with the 
appearance of enjoying the bright sunshine. These examples 
were about two inches in length; but even at this size it has 
been supposed they might be no other than an early stage of 
the growth of the Common Garfish ; for some naturalists were 
not at all disposed to believe that any one species of a usually 
tropical family could have come habitually to the British coast; 
and even to an eastward part of it for the purpose of shcddiuo- 
its spawn, and that too without the parent fishes having been 
discovered; and the diflierence of length in the upper portion 
of the jaw was judged to be only the primitive condition of 
that organ in the well-known British fish. The fact that these 
little Halfbeaks were found to have their bones of a green 
colour, like those of the Garfish, was supposed to add much 
