410 
BORER. 
they fix themselves, and in no long time devour the whole 
of the soft materials, so as to leave nothing hut the bones 
and skin, which remain untouched. One or two of these 
creatures may be sufficient to effect this destruction; but where 
the victim has been left long to them, no less than twenty 
have been found within a single fish. And the manner in 
which the entrance is effected is not less remarkable than their 
conduct when within the body of their prey. It is not by 
boring a hole like the Sea Lamprey, nor by tearing the outward 
surface like many other fishes, but a passage is accomplished 
through the gills, so that the victim bears little mark of the 
injury until the skin is found to contain nothing but the bones; 
(an effect sometimes produced also by the depredations of a 
multitude of sessile-eyed crustaceans.) 
This fish is particular in the choice of the ground on which 
it lives; which is not that which is sandy; but it gives a 
preference of what is of clay or mud, and usually in deep 
water; as from thirty even up to seven hundred fathoms. It 
is said to move into a less depth in winter, hut it never comes 
near the shore. The appearance of this fish is sufficient to shew 
that its movements are slow; and if placed in water it lies at 
the bottom as if dead; but when stirred to exertion it swims 
for a time like an Eel, but always at the bottom; and it 
cannot be made to rise above it. 
The spawn has been found enlarged in February, and also 
in July; and Ekstroin thinks that they breed throughout the 
summer; but the number of grains is few, and no more than 
twelve have been found enlarged at one time in the ovary, 
which is attached to the right side of the intestine. A remarkable 
part of the character of this fish is the enormous quantity of 
slime which is produced from its pores, and which in a state 
of liberty must tend to preserve it from some injurious influences. 
A single individual that was placed in a quantity of water 
equal to from three to four cubic feet, was found to fill it with 
this slime so entirely, that the Avhole could be lifted out with 
a stick in a single sheet. 
The example we describe was in length fifteen inches and a 
half, which is the largest on record, and two inches round 
where largest, which was about three inches from the snout; 
the body soft, flaccid, round until near the tail, when it becomes 
