THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
87 
The Weis or Sheat Fish (, Silurus glams), is one of the largest of Euro¬ 
pean fishes, frequently weighing four hundred pounds. It is a great, lazy gor¬ 
mandizer, lying in the mud and waiting until some victim swims into contact 
with its immense barbels. It is not an epicure, but a glutton, eating all fish 
but the perch ; destroying the water-dwelling birds, and not at all objecting to 
human flesh. Many stories of this man-eater are told, and though readily 
believed by the Turks and Hungarians, are considered by naturalists as not 
well authenticated. The dark green color of the upper portion of its body, its 
yellow abdomen, and the yellow and blue tints of its fins, make it seem to be 
clad in the gorgeousness of the mediaeval knight whose armor reflected in 
many a color the light which glanced upon it. The North American species 
of catfish is smooth and naked, its thin-cut lips adorned with eight barbels; 
fins short, but in the case of the dorsal, as well as that of the pectoral fin, 
sharply spined. 
The Stone Cat ( Noturns ) is the brook cat so common in the South and West. 
The Blind Cat ( Gronias nigrilabris) is a cave-dweller in Pennsylvania, 
and is supposed to be a recent variation. 
The Bull Head, or Horned Pout (. Amiurus ), is sluggish, loves to grovel 
in the mud, will bite at any 
kind of bait, and exhibits the 
greatest indifference when 
hooked. 
The Mississippi Cat (Am- 
turns ponderosus ) frequently 
weighs two hundred pounds; 
and the Lake Cat ( Amiurus 
nigricans ) if also a weighty 
member of the fish community. 
The Channel Cat {Icta- 
larus punctatus ) is a very excellent article of food. The male carries the eggs 
in his mouth until the young are born, thus alw r ays giving evidence that the 
father is a good provider. 
The Doradinae are inhabitants of South American fresh-water streams, and 
are very curious because they belong to the nest-building fishes, and in sea¬ 
sons of drouth travel in great numbers in search of water. The procession is 
a nocturnal one, and frequently occupies several nights. Its carpal, or wrist 
bones, are lengthened, and support the short, stiff, claw-like pectoral fins, and it 
is thus able to walk over the land. 
The Electric Catfish ( Malapterurus electricus) is one of the curiosities 
of the Nile. Its battery extends over its whole body and can magnetize an 
iron rod. An unsophisticated fisherman, having stuck his knife-blade into an 
electric cat, was surprised by receiving a very severe shock. 
The Trichomyteridae are found at great altitudes upon the Andes, and 
some species take up their homes in the gill cavities of larger species. 
The Hypophthalmidae have their eyes placed below the level of the 
mouth. 
The Seyphophori, or Cup-bearers, are an important food fish to the 
dwellers in tropical Africa. They possess two rudimentary electric organs, 
placed one on each side of the tail. 
