I FROG-FISHES. 175 
supplied to the water retained in the branchial 
sac, directly from the air.’*'^' 
Ij Now in the Family before us the gill-rays and 
: the operculum are enveloped in the common skin, 
I and the aperture through which the breathed 
I water is discharged is a comparatively small hole, 
1 situated behind the pectoral. This is small in 
! all the Frog-fishes, but in those species (such as 
i the genus Antennarius just mentioned), which 
[ are most addicted to roving out of their native 
element, the aperture is not only more than 
usually minute, but is produced into a short 
! tube, which opens above each pectoral fin ; and 
I thus the gill-plates can be kept moist for an in- 
, definite period of time. 
Beautiful, indeed, are such combinations of 
i structure and of function, such adaptations of 
I part to part, and of organ to organ ! They speak 
of the perfection of wisdom with which the whole 
of creation is formed ; they loudly tell that one 
infinite Mind planned and executed the whole 
in all its details. Like the glorious voice” 
I uttered forth by the rolling spheres of heaven, 
■ — the testimony of the meanest fish that hides 
; in the caves of ocean is heard ^^in Wisdom’s 
I ear,” declaring — 
“ The hand that made us is divine.” 
These fishes have indeed little claim to out- 
ward elegance, either of form or colour. They 
are characterized by a thick, heavy body, some- 
' times compressed, sometimes depressed, often 
roughened, granulated, or covered with irregular 
tubercles, but always destitute of scales ; the 
* Professor Owen. 
