104 
THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
The Mullet ( Mullus barbatus) of the ancients has long - been celebrated for 
the enormousness of the sums expended for it by the wealthy Romans, and for 
the tributes which their writers 
'' have paid to its flavor. 
The Swallower ( Chiasmodon 
niger) can swallow fishes larger 
than itself, but it has to pay an 
extraordinary price for this feat of 
necromancy, for the distention of its 
stomach always kills the magician. 
The Sculpin ( Coitus scorpio ) 
so frequently destroys the illusions 
and endangers the good temper of 
the fishermen that poetical justice 
seems to demand that the uninten¬ 
tional offender should receive hon¬ 
orable mention in a work which 
discusses curious, well-known or 
valuable fishes. Its large head and 
gaping mouth do not add to the 
beauty of the sculpin . but its fins 
and markings are both attractive 
to the eye when regarded from 
a proper distance. The sculpin is 
generally about six inches in length, 
and when not bothering the fisher¬ 
men hides under the rocks and the 
sea-weed. Its vivacity leads it to 
fall an easy prey to those who are 
not fishing for the compliment, and 
ci,imbing perch. its valuelessness being increased by 
the constant danger threatened by its 
sharp spines, leads to its harsh treatment. Perhaps its best use is as a symbol 
for that self-conscious irritability which is so often claimed as the “ perquisite 
of genius.” 
The Sea Raven is only a 
species of the sculpin family, as 
is also the Great Weaver, whose 
spines are particularly dangerous. 
The Growling Cock ( Trigla 
hirundo ) is somewhat of the color 
of sapphire; is abundant in Euro¬ 
pean waters. It is eaten, although 
its flesh is somewhat dry. This 
species might have been described 
among the flying fish, although 
its flight is purely one of the 
fisherman’s imagination, though 
species 
SEA barbel {Mullus barbatus). 
_ 0 J|_, _ 0 _ another species is a flyer. The American 
the sea robin ( prionotis ), is said by some gourmands to be a table 
