to describe, and scarcely of the pencil to draw. In this class we have the Pipe Fish, that almost tapers to a thread, and the Sun Fish, that has the appearance of a bulky head, but the body cut off in the middle; the Hippocampus, with a head somewhat like that of a horse; and the Water Bat, whose head can scarcely be distinguished from the body. In this class we find the Fishing Frog, which from its deformity some have called the Sea Devil, the Chimæra, the Lump Fish, the Sea Porcupine, and the Sea Snail. Of all these the history is but little known; and naturalists supply the place with description. The Sun Fish sometimes grows to a very large size; one taken near Plymouth was five hundred weight. In form it resembles a bream, or some deep fish cut off in the middle: the mouth is very small, and contains in each jaw two broad teeth, with sharp edges: the colour of the back is dusky and dappled, and the belly is of a silvery white. When boiled, it has been observed to turn to a glutinous jelly, and would most probably serve for all the purposes of isinglass, were it found in sufficient plenty. The Fishing Frog in shape very much resembles a tadpole or young frog, but then a tadpole of enormous size, for it grows to above five feet long, and its mouth is sometimes a yard wide. Nothing can exceed its deformity. The head is much bigger than the whole body; the under jaw projects beyond the upper, and both are armed with rows of slender, sharp teeth the palate and the tongue are furnished with teeth in like manner; the eyes are placed on the top of the head, and are encompassed with prickles immediately above the nose are two long beards or filaments, small in the beginning, but thicker at the end, and round: these, as it is said, answer a very singular purpose; for being made somewhat resembling a fishing-line, it is asserted, that the animal converts them to the purposes of fishing. With these extended, as Pliny asserts, the fishing frog hides in muddy waters, and leaves nothing but the beards to be seen the curiosity of the smaller fish brings them to view these filaments, and their hunger induces them to seize the bait upon which the animal in ambush instantly draws in its filaments with the little fish that had taken the bait, and devours it without mercy. This story, though apparently improbable, has found credit among some of our best naturalists; but what induces me to doubt the fact is, that there is another species of this animal that has no beards, which it would not want if they were necessary to the existence of the kind. Rondeletius informs us, that if we take out the bowels, the body will appear with a kind of transparence; and that if a lighted candle be placed within the body, as in a lanthorn, the whole has a very formidable appearance. The fishermen, however, have in general a great regard for this ugly fish, as it is an enemy to the dog-fish, the bodies of those fierce and voracious animals being often found in its stomach: whenever they take it, therefore, they always set it at liberty. The Lump Fish is trifling in size, compared to the former: its length is but sixteen inches, and its weight about four pounds; the shape of the body is like that of a bream, deep, and it swims edgeways; the back is sharp and elevated, and the belly flat; the lips, mouth, and tongue of this animal are. of a deep red; the whole skin is rough, with bony knobs, the largest row is along the ridge of the back; the belly is of a bright crimson colour: but what makes the chief singularity in this fish, is an oval aperture in the belly, surrounded with a fleshy, soft substance, that seems bearded all round; by means of this part it adheres with vast force to any thing it pleases. If flung into a pail of water, it will stick so close to the bottom, that on taking the fish by the tail, one may lift up pail and all, though it holds several gallons of water. Great numbers of these fish are found along the coasts of Greenland in the beginning of summer, where they resort to spawn. Their roe is remarkably large, and the Greenlanders boil it to a pulp for eating. They are extremely fat, but not admired in England, being both flabby and insipid. The Sea Snail takes its name from the soft and unctuous texture of its body, resembling the snail upon land. It is almost transparent, and soon dissolves and melts away. It is but a little animal, being not above five inches long. The colour, when fresh taken, is of a pale brown, the shape of the body round, and the back-fin reaches all the way from the head to the tail. Beneath the throat is a round depression, of a whitish colour, surrounded by twelve brown spots, placed in a circle. It is taken in England, at the mouth of rivers, four or five miles distant from the sea. The body of the Pipe Fish, in the thickest part, is not thicker than a swan quill, while it is above sixteen inches long.. This is angular, but the angles being not very sharp, they are not discernible |