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BLUEFIELDS. 
stony scales, of extreme hardness, and somewhat 
pellucid, individually. The hide is said to be hence 
used for polishing cabinet work, but it seems to me 
hardly rough enough for such a purpose ; I have 
been informed, also, that it makes a durable leather, 
but I am not aware how it is rendered pliable. The 
teeth, which are small, have a single high central 
point, and three small points on each side. 
THE HEDGEHOG-FISH. 
Specimens of the Hedgehog-fish, or Sea Porcu- 
pine {Diodon)i are frequently carried home by mari- 
ners, and it is not uncommon to meet with one hung 
up as a curiosity in houses in England ; where it is 
sure to attract attention from its globose figure, 
bristling on every side with stiff sharp spines. In 
September I obtained one alive, the Diodon atinga, 
I observed that the spines, which vary in length 
from one-fourth of an inch to an inch, the longest 
being behind the pectorals, are transparent in their 
own substance, but are inclosed in a sheath of the 
common integument of the body ; this sheath of skin 
is either normally perHous at the tip, or made so by 
the points of the spines, which for the most part 
protrude a little. This specimen was caught in a 
fish-pot, sunk to the bottom of the sea. It lived 
some hours after it had been taken out of the water ; 
but did not inflate its oblong body. Its form was 
somewhat that of a low cone, the apex being in the 
middle of the back ; the line of the belly nearly 
straight ; the forehead high, and the profile as ver- 
