LES. XI.-SOFT-RAYED BONY FISHES WITH TUFTED GILLS: Lophobranchii. SOFT-RAYED BONY FISHES WITH SOLDERED JAWS: Plectognathii.

acus.

1. Hudson River Sea-horse, Hippocampus Hudsonius. 2. Indian File-fish, Balistes praslinoides. 3. Horned Ostracion, Ostracion cornutus. 4. Great Pipe-fish, Sygnathus 5. Equorial Pipe-fish, or Needle-fish, Acestra æquora. 6. Pennant's Globe-fish, Tetrodon Pennantii. 7. Short Sun-fish, or Head-fish, Orthagoriscus mola. 8. Oblong Sun-fish, Orthagoriscus oblongus. 9. European File-fish, Balistes capriscus.

1. THE remaining two divisions of the soft-rayed bony fishes, which are thus grouped in separate orders because they have certain peculiarities in the forms of their gills and the structure of their jaws, are embraced in the families of the Pipe fishes, the Balloon and Globe fishes, and a few armed fishes, mostly of tropical seas. In the drawing above are represented several species in each of these families. The pipe fishes, which vary from five or six inches to two feet in length, have a very remarkable appearance, the body being long and very slender, the snout also much lengthened, and the whole body covered with bony sculptured plates, like a coat of mail.

2. A remarkable peculiarity in several species of the pipe fishes is the existence, in the males, of two long and soft membranes which fold together, and form an abdominal pouch, in which the eggs are carried about until they are hatched, and into which the young retreat in case of danger. Fishermen assert that when the young are shaken out of the pouch into

the water, over the side of the boat, they do not swim away, but when the parent fish is held in the water in a favorable position, the young again enter the retreat which nature has provided for them. This provision for the care and safety of the young is strikingly similar to what is seen in marsupial quadrupeds. (See Third Reader, p. 236.)

3. A very singular species of the pipe fishes is the hippocampus, or, as it is frequently called in this country, the Hudson River sea-horse. It is five or six inches in length, the jaws are united and tubular, the shape of the head has considerable resemblance to that of the horse, the eyes move independently of each other, the body is covered with bony plates, and it is believed to be the only fish which has a prehensile1 tail, showing in this latter particular an additional resemblance of the pipe fishes to the marsupial quadrupeds. When swimming about it maintains a vertical position; but the tail, ready to grasp whatever it meets in the water, quickly entwines in any direction around the weeds; and when the animal is thus fixed, it intently watches the surrounding objects, and darts at its prey with great dexterity.

4. The globe and balloon fishes, which belong to the fifth division of the soft-rayed bony fishes, are little less singular in appearance than those of the fourth division. The globefishes, or puffers, possess the peculiar property of puffing themselves up into a globular form by swallowing a quantity of air. When thus inflated,2 in consequence of the under parts becoming lighter than the upper, the fish turns upside down, and floats about in this condition, still retaining the power of directing its course. As the inflated abdomen is covered with spines, this seems to be a means of warding off the attack of enemies.

5. The short and the oblong sun fishes appear as though portions had been cut away, so as to leave little but the head remaining. Among the armed fishes of this order, the European file-fish is the best known. It is so named because it has the first and strongest spine of the back studded up the front with small projections. In the same family is the balistes of the Indian Seas, which is armed near the tail with three rows of crooked spines; also the horned ostracion, a strange-looking fish, which has two horns extending from the head in front, and two near the ventral fins.

1 PRE-HEN'-SILE, grasping; adapted to seize, 2 IN-FLA'-TED, puffed up, or swollen by air. as the tail of a monkey.

THIRD CLASS OF FISHES. CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. (Chondropterygii.) [Shark, Sturgeon, Chimera, Ray, and Lamprey Families.]

THE SHARK FAMILY.-1. Spinous Shark, Echinochinus spinosus. 2. Greenland Shark, Scymnus borcalis. 3. Basking Shark, Selachus maximus. 4. White Shark, Charcharias vulgaris. 5. Fox Shark, or Thresher, Alopias vulpes. 6. Cirrated Saw-fish, Pristis cirratis. 7. Hammer-headed Shark, Zygiena malleus.

1.

No life is in the air, but in the waters

Are creatures huge, and terrible, and strong;

The sword-fish and the shark pursue their slaughters,
War universal reigns these depths along.

Like some new island on the ocean springing,

Floats on the surface some gigantic whale,

From its vast head a silver fountain flinging,

Bright as the fountain in a fairy tale.-L. E. MACLEAN.

2. Although the cartilaginous1 division is of very limited. extent, compared with either of the preceding, yet the most formidable of the whole class of fishes are embraced in it. As their name implies, their skeleton consists of cartilage instead of bone; and it is probably owing to the comparatively soft texture of the skeleton that these fish continue to grow as long as they live. The consequence is that, as they mostly inhabit the wide ocean, and have few enemies, they are sometimes met with of a size so enormous that their weight and dimensions are almost incredible.

3. The sharks, which are the most conspicuous and the most perfectly organized of the cartilaginous division, are among fishes what the carnivorous2 animals are among quadrupeds, and the eagles, hawks, and owls among birds. Like these their representatives, they are proverbially3 the tigers and panthers of the ocean; and they frequently carry upon them, as it were, the very spots and markings of those ferocious beasts. Their forms are often gigantic, and their fierceness and voracity proverbial: they are the dread and detestation of mariners; and, even when dead, their aspect is sufficient to excite fear. These monsters of the deep are nearly all completely carnivorous; and their appetite is so voracious that they indiscriminately devour whatever living being comes in their way. It is a well-authenticated fact that some of these monsters, at a single bite, have cut a man in two; and an entire human body is said to have been found, on one occasion, in the stomach of one of them.

4. Fortunately, however, very few of the sharks found in our temperate latitudes grow to such a size as to awaken our fears, or commit injury upon our persons; but, as soon as we enter the warmer regions, toward the tropics, bathing in the sea becomes a hazardous, and often dangerous undertaking. In tropical climes the ocean swarms with sharks. They all swim with great velocity, and often in vast multitudes, especially when pursuing shoals of other fish.

5. The sharks have a hard, rough, leathery skin, sometimes covered with small warts intermingled with spines;* but none have yet been found with true scales. The skin, when dried, forms an article of commerce, and is used for polishing wood; also as a covering for boxes, watch-cases, etc., under the name of shagreen. The mouth of the shark is concealed beneath an extended snout; and it is owing to this position that the fish is compelled to turn nearly on its back when it seizes its prey.

6. Among the larger and more formidable of the sharks are the white shark, the basking shark, the fox shark or thresher, and the Greenland shark. The white shark is seldom seen on our coasts, but is abundant in the Mediterranean, and is found in great numbers in tropical climates. It is often thirty feet in length, and swims with great swiftness. It scents its prey at a great distance, and it is affirmed that it is much more apt to attack a negro than a white man; and when both

It is the character of this warty or spiny covering that places the sharks in Agassiz's division of Placoid fishes.

THE SHARKS, Continued.-1. Large-spotted Dog-fish, Scyllium catulus. 2. Tope, or Penny-dog, Galeus vulgaris. 3. Blue Shark (the most common shark on our coasts), Carcharias glaucus. 4. Porbeagle, Lamna cornubica. 5. Small-spotted Dog-fieh, Scyllium canicula. 6. Picked (or Piked) Dog-fish, Acanthias vulgaris. 7. Smooth Hound, Mustelus lævis.

are bathing together, or otherwise in its power, it generally selects the former. Cuvier thus speaks of this shark:

7. "The French name this terrible animal Requin, or Requiem, the rest or stillness of death,' in allusion to the deadly character of its habits; and when we consider its enormous size and powers, the strength and number of its teeth, the rapidity of its movements, its frequent appearance during all the turmoil and horrors of a tempest, with death and destruction apparent in every blast and every wave, to add to the horror of the scene by the phosphoric light emitted from its huge body near the surface of the troubled waters, with its open mouth and throat ready to swallow, entire, the despairing sailor, we must admit the propriety of a name expressive of the natural association of ideas which connects this cruel monster of the deep with death."

8. The spinous shark, equally frightful in appearance, but much smaller than the white shark, is covered with spines which exactly resemble the prickles from the stem of a rosebush. The basking shark, so called from its habit of remaining occasionally at the surface of the water almost motionless, as if enjoying the influence of the sun's rays, has been known to measure thirty-six feet in length. This species has the smallest teeth, in proportion to its size, of any of the sharks, and is not a ravenous fish. It is often so indifferent to the