In length, it
sometimes
reaches
five feet: it is long and slender.
five feet: it is long and slender.
Childrens - The Creation
net/2027/hvd.
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? LETTER IX.
167
The Crab lays its spawn at the bottom of the sea or river, and when
the sun comes out warm, and the weather is hot, the spawn is drawn
up to the surface, and vivifies in the heat; and when cold comes, the
little family sink down among the rocks, and contrive for themselves
in a thousand different ways; contrivance and wisdom, after a most
wonderful order, marking every movement of God's providence.
Thus having considered the great family of the ocean, under these
seven most interesting particulars:--1, their symmetry and propor-
tion; 2, their fins and tail; 3, the air bladder; 4, the beauty and
order of their scales; 5, their age; 6, their peculiar colours and
brightness of their appearance; 7, the amazing increase of the whole
family; we will now proceed, according to the Linnean arrangement,
to look at the subject in regular order.
Professor Gmelin, in his revised edition of Linnaeus's works,
arranges the whole of this great family in six orders, which again he
divides into seventy-two genera, and sub-divides into eight hundred
and seventy-three species. These have since been added to; so that
now we have near nine hundred species clearly defined. But knowing
most children are fond of tabular arrangements, by which they can take
a bird's eye view of the whole scene, I have made one out; and when I
speak of the orders separately, I will explain the difficult names to you.
the purpose, which, when filled, is hermetically sealed. The hen sits on this for
some days ; the egg is then opened, and placed in a vessel of water heated by the
sun, and when the little brood are sufficiently strong, the egg is broken, and they
are loosed from their strange imprisonment, and put into ponds to roam at large.
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? 168 THE CREATION.
A TABLE OF THE SIX ORDERS OF FISHES.
ACCORDING TO LINNAEUS.
ORDER.
NAME.
PROPERTIES.
GIN.
SPE.
I.
Apodal . . . .
12
40
II.
Jugular . . . .
With Ventral Fins before the Pectoral
6
52
III.
Thoracic . . . .
The Ventral under the Pectoral . .
21
425
IV.
Abdominal . . .
The Ventral far behind the Pectoral .
16
202
(In these four the Gills have bony rays. )
V.
Branchiostegious .
Gills destitute of bony rays . . . .
10
84
VI.
Chondropterygious
Gills with cartilaginous rays . . .
7
70
72
873
THE FIRST ORDER--APODA. "
WITHOUT VENTRAL FINS. --TWELVE GENERA. -- FORTY SPECIES.
The Eel. --The common Eel is a well known inhabitant of our
rivers, creeks, and streams. It is thought by some to be viviparous;
it survives a long while out of water, and its tenacity of life is such,
that it lives some time even after cut in pieces. Near Oxford, in the
Isis, there is a peculiar kind, called Grills, with a larger head than the
common Eel. There is no fish that comes to our table that is so liked
or disliked; however, most consider it very nutritious. It varies in
size, from six inches to two feet, and is of a dark colour.
? The word apoda is derived from the Greek word--to lack, or be deficient of
feel.
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? LETTER IX.
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The Conger. This differs from the common eel in size and colour;
and is an inhabitant of the ocean. It grows much larger also, some-
times reaching from four to eight feet in length; and sometimes ten.
It is very voracious, and if hunger impels it, eats all that comes in its
way. Contrary to the habits of the fresh water eel, they spawn their
young; immense quantities of which come up the Severn in April,
followed by the Chad; in this state they are called Elvers ,' and are
considered by some a great delicacy. The Conger abounds in the
Hebrides, or Western Islands (Scotland); but the natives in some
cases have an aversion to them, from their likeness to serpents.
The Electrical Eel. Except the Torpedo, no other animal in nature
possesses such extraordinary powers. Its size varies from three to
four feet in length: its head is blunt. When touched, it gives a
shock exactly the same as an electrical shock of the atmosphere.
Mr. J. Hunter, on examining it, found that the nerves that exercised
this power were much larger than the others*--several persons
standing together will feel the shock, if a little finger of one touches
this singular creature. It is found in Guiana and Surinam.
The iMunce Eel. This resembles in some measure the common
eel, though it is not such a snake-like looking fish; it has a long fin
the whole length of the back; also a pair of fins at the gills. It is
* There is one now exhibiting in the Adelaide Gallery, Strand; but of late its
shocks are so violent, that few are bold enough to try the experiment. It is
upwards of three feet long.
I
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? 170
THE CREATION.
destitute of scales. It is found in the sandy shores of England,
Scotland and Wales, and is considered good for the table.
The Sword-fish. This fish sometimes weighs a hundred pounds; it
is found in great numbers in the Mediterranean; and has been seen
off our own coast. The body is long, and rounded near the head; the
back is black; and the belly silvery white. The sword proceeds from,
or is a prolongation of the upper jaw. The dorsal fin extends almost
the entire length of the body. The tail is beautifully forked. It has
one pair of fins at the gills; but none on the belly. It is a very
voracious fish. The method of taking it, is by spearing. Strabo
mentions it in his day, and the very same method of taking it. It is
considered very good for food.
THE SECOND ORDER--JUGULARES.
VENTRAL FINS BEFORE THE PECTORALS--SIX GENERA. --FIFTY-TWO SPECIES.
The God, Haddock, Pollack, Hake, Coal-fith, Ling, Burbot, Urenscope,
are of this family ; and they all come to our aid for food (especially in
our own country) in teeming multitudes.
The Cod. This valuable fish not only supplies us with food for
present use, but its flesh is of that firm nature, that when salted it will
keep as well as meat: thus, though they do not swim into latitudes
warmer than thirty-five degrees north, that is, about the latitude of
Gibraltar; yet they are carried all over the globe. Some have said,
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? LETTER IX.
171
that the banks of Newfoundland, where the Cod is found in such abun-
dance, are of more value to England than the mines of Potosi were
to Spain: and this is quite true; for the Newfoundland cod-fishing
gives employment to numerous fleets of our small shipping, and
is a hardy school for our merchant navy. The season commences in
February, and ends in May. Not that the cod is confined to the
" banks," though these indeed are their metropolis, where they meet
by millions and millions; but they are found all along our own coasts,
and those of Ireland, and in the North Sea, and about the Hebrides.
Indeed the cold North seems the home of this most prolific and in-
valuable fish. Off the coast of America, near Halifax, I have caught
them as fast as the line could be let down. The length of the cod is
from two to four and even five feet; and they weigh from twelve to
forty pounds. I have been thus particular about this fish; but I can-
not promise you to say so much on all the other species of this Order.
Haddock. This is a much smaller fish than the cod. The body
is long and slender; the back is dark; the belly silvery; the tail
bifid. The haddock is found in abundance off our own coasts; but
especially off Yorkshire, where they return periodically--the fisher-
men say, even to the very day of the month. Shoals of them have
been seen three miles in breadth. They have a deadly enemy in the
dog-fish. Their own food is principally young herrings. Through
the winter months they are much esteemed for the table. They weigh
in general from two to three pounds.
i2
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? 172
THE CREATION.
Pollack. This fish likes the rocky coast of our island; and abounds
in the summer. The under jaw of this fish is longer than the upper.
They are fond of springing from the water; and seem to rejoice in
life. They weigh from eight to twelve pounds, and sometimes more.
As food they are excellent.
Whiting. This delicate fish is well known along the coast of
England; it seldom exceeds twelve inches in length. It is beautiful
in its proportions. By act of Parliament, no whiting, of less than
six inches, is allowed to be taken in the Thames or Medway, nor at
any season except from Michaelmas to Easter week. The flesh of
this little visitor is considered the most delicate and digestible of all
this Order.
Hake. This family abounds on our coasts; but is little esteemed:
and yet, if properly managed, both fresh and salted, it makes an ex-
cellent repast. In Ireland, when cured or salted, it is called " poor John. "
It is from two to three feet in length; the back is a pale ash colour;
the belly dirty white; but though not so good as cod, yet it is a boon
to man, for which he should be thankful. In Cornwall, some part of
the year, it is the common support of the poor.
The Coal-fish. This dark fish, which derives its name from its
colour, is common near the British Isles. Its size is about two-and-
a-half feet long. When young it is considered delicate. Singular to
say, this fish is also found in the middle of the Atlantic; but only
under particular circumstances. I remember once, between the
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? LETTER IX.
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Madeira Islands and the coast of America, coming up with a large
log of mahogany, floating; but covered entirely with a shell-fish called
Barnacle, a species of mussel. When towed alongside of our frigate,
we found a number of visitors attending it; some few of which
were dolphins, but principally a fish, which, from its colour, we called
Black Fish. In a few minutes the lines were down, and no cod fish
could take the bait more rapidly; and though in England it may be
called coarse, yet we found it a most delicious repast; and he that had
caught most was looked up to as a rich man, for the fortnight they
lasted. This may seem strange to you; but, as Captain Basil Hall
justly remarks, no people have so few fish as sailors. For weeks and
weeks, they see neither fish nor fowl--nothing but the ocean and the
sky.
Ling. This is not so delicate as the cod; but large quantities are
salted for exportation. It abounds about the Scilly Islands, the coasts
of Yorkshire, Scotland, and Ireland.
In length, it sometimes reaches
five feet: it is long and slender. It is in perfection from February to
May. Its colour varies.
Burbot. This fish abounds in the Lake of Geneva, and it is also
found in the Trent. It is most forbidding to look at, but the flesh is
delicate.
Urenscope. The name of this animal is most significant: it means
" to look up to the heavens. " It is found in the Mediterranean: its
home is at the bottom of the sea. Its face is flat, and turns upwards;
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? 174
THE CREATION.
so that its eyes are always looking above it. How wonderful is this
provision! A beautiful moral is in the name of this fish, which I am
sure I need not apply.
Dragonet. This fish is a great traveller; and some of its colours
are of inconceivable beauty. The blue in particular glistens like
the diamond. It has been found in the cold of Spitzbergen, and in
the warmth of the Mediterranean, and is also caught off the Yorkshire
coast.
THE THIRD ORDER--THORACICI.
THE VENTRAL FINS BENEATH THE PECTORALS. --TWENTY-ONE GENERA. --FOUR
HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE SPECItS.
Comprising the King-jish, John Doree, Turbol, and other flat flsh. The Perch,
Mackerel, and Stickle-back Gurnard.
The King-fish. I have alluded to this fish before. It is found off
the coast of Normandy; and its colours are beautiful to look at,--
green, red, purple, with oval white spots.
John Doree. This singular name is the French Jaime Doree,
anglicised, or put into English. The shape of this fish is very unin-
viting, but its colour brilliant, like gold; as its French name implies,
" The yellow gilt fish. " It is a frequent visitor to our coasts. The
Brixton boats, in the south of Devon, often take them. The
Doree is also found in the Bay of Biscay, and the Mediterranean.
Though uninviting to the sight, this fish is very nutritious and
i
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? LETTER IX.
175
valuable; it sometimes weighs even twelve pounds, but generally
between four and six.
Turbot. This fish almost takes rank above all that swim in our
native seas. It is of a square figure, rounded at the corners; its skin
is dark, speckled on the back, and white on the belly ; and this is the
case with all the fish of this family, as the Sole, Dab, Flounder,
Plaice, &c. ; but the Turbot and Sole are preferred beyond the others.
It sometimes weighs from twenty to thirty pounds.
Mackarel. This welcome fish comes to our shores in countless
numbers in the summer months. The proportions of this fish are
very symmetrical; and its colours, when in the water or first caught,
exceedingly beautiful; green varied with blue, and deep black lines, is
the colour of the back, and silvery underneath. The Romans highly
esteemed the Mackarel. It grows generally from nine inches to a foot
in length.
The Pilot-fish. This little Zebra of the water (for its stripes are
like the zebra) is an attendant on the shark. Some have said, that it
ministers to it as the jackal is said to do to the lion: certain it is that
you in general see them together; it seldom exceeds six inches, and
often not more than four.
Father Lasher. This is a curious name for a fish, and one expects
to meet something very large and formidable: but this is not the case
with it, at least not in size, though indeed it is formidable enough;
for no matter who attacks it, it directly prepares for battle. Its head.
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? 176
THE CREATION.
which is unusually large for its other parts, swells out; and
armed with long spines on it (though the whole fish seldom ex-
ceeds nine or ten inches), it lashes its enemy, and is generally
victorious. It derives its name, doubtless, from this habit. On
the shores of Greenland it is so numerous as to form the principal
food the of natives. It is said, that even the shark flees from this
little conqueror.
The Perch. This is a voracious little fish, well known in almost
all our rivers and ponds. The colours and scales of the perch are very
beautiful: the back and part of the sides are a deep green, with five
black bars; the belly is white, tinged with red; and the fins, at times,
nearly scarlet.
The Ch^todon, or Shooting-fish. I must not close this account
of the thoracics, or third order of fish, without telling you of the
singular provision of the Chaetodon. This fish has a hollow cylindrical
beak, which it uses in a very curious manner. It is a native of the
East Indies, where it frequents the entrance and banks of rivers.
When it sees a fly sitting on the grass or plants that grow in the
shallow water, it makes towards it, loads its little tube with a drop of
water, and shoots with such unerring certainty that the fly is sure to
fall, and soon becomes its easy prey.
The Parrot-fish. This singularly beautiful fish inhabits the rivers
and coasts of Cuba, and St. Domingo. Its fins are ornamented with
varied colours; indeed, what the most beautiful of the feathered tribes
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? LETTER IX.
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are to the woods, such is this brilliant fish to the waters. Its flesh,
however, is little esteemed.
THE FOURTH ORDER--ABDOMINALES.
VENTRAL FINS BEHIND THE PECTORALS--SIXTEEN GENERA. --TWO HUNDRED AND
TWO SPECIES.
Comprising the Salmon, Trout, Smelt, Herring, Sprat, Pilchard, Carp, Millet, Flying-
fish, Pike, Golden-fish.
This Order consists of fish almost all edible, and many of them well
known in our own seas and rivers.
The Salmon. This fish is too well known to need much descrip-
tion. It is fond of the north; indeed, it is never found in southern
latitudes. In some countries it is a principal commodity both of food
and commerce. There are stationary fisheries in Iceland, Norway,
the Baltic, Ireland, Scotland, and Berwick upon Tweed. The salmon
varies in size from ten to twenty and forty pounds, and sometimes it
has been known to weigh seventy. Fresh and salt water alike suit
the salmon at different seasons. Its power of leaping when ascending
rivers to deposit its spawn is almost incredible. Both in its propor-
tions and colours it is much admired; and its nutritious qualities,
whether fresh or salted, render it an invaluable gift to man.
The Trout. This species is found in almost all our rivers. The
i3
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? 178
THE CREATION.
body is long; the head round; the colour a bright brown, with
brilliant spots on it when in season.
The Smelt is a small beautiful fish, so transparent, that one can
almost see through it: its colours, at times, are very soft and silvery.
It is much esteemed by some invalids. It takes its name from its
odour, which resembles that of the cucumber.
The Herring. No fish performs the amazing voyages of the
herring. The great colonies migrate from the Polar Seas about the
middle of winter; as they advance, they separate into two great
armies: one body, moving westward, pours its millions down the
coast of America, to the Carolinas ;* the other directs its course to
Europe, and first appears off the Shetland Islands in April: here the
body again divides into two parts, one shoal thronging the eastern
coasts of Britain, on to the Land's End; and the other, the western,
to the utmost extremity of Ireland, carrying food and sustenance with
them to thousands, and hundreds of thousands of the human race; for
though I have particularized our own coasts, the shoals pass down the
northern coasts of the continent, and so on to Bordeaux, into the Bay
ef Biscay. The herring is nutritious in every state, whether fresh,
salted in brine, or preserved in the form well known as Red-herrings.
Carp. This fish, though now so generally known in ponds, was
not introduced into this country before the year 1514. It generally
weighs from three to six pounds, and sometimes more. It can be
? The southernmost of the United States of America.
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? LETTER IX.
179
domesticated to an extraordinary degree, so that at a call it will come
and take bread from its owner's hands;--but most creatures are
susceptible of kindness; and the way to reach the heart of the sternest
man, and the most violent of the brute creation, is, if opportunity
offers, to do them some act of love. You remember the thorn that
was taken from the lion's paw, was not forgotten.
The Pilchard. We must go to Cornwall, and ask the inhabitants
of this our southern county--what is the value of this fish? and they
would tell you that it is beyond value; for not only does it supply food
all through the year to the poor people, but it yields profit to all
classes: the net-makers, fish-preservers, coopers, &c. ; indeed, the
pilchard is everybody's friend, old or young. The principal season is
July; and the following little account of Dr. Borlase, will, I think,
interest you:--he says, "At one shooting of the nets, fish were
enclosed that filled 7,000 hogsheads, and each hogshead contained
35,000 fishes:" that is, 7,000 x 35,000 = 245,000,000. The common
size of the pilchard is about six inches.
Sprat. If we went to Cornwall to inquire about the pilchard, we
will now come to the fisheries of the Thames and Medway, and
inquire as to the value of the sprat; and though the answer will not
be so full as the former, yet they would tell us, indeed, good things of
this little winter visitor. The sprat comes to our coast in November,
and leaves in March--the very time the poor most need a cheap sus-
tenance. I never shall forget, after a voyage from the West Indies
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? 180
THE CREATION.
to the Medway in January, how we welcomed a boat full of sprats;
The sprat is generally about four inches long; its flesh is very
nutritious. Some have called the sprat the young herring; but this
is incorrect: for the herring has fifty-six vertebra? , or joints, in the
back-bone, the sprat only forty-eight.
Flying-fish. This is indeed a beautiful little fish to meet in the
middle of the Atlantic; and the flesh, something like the whiting, is
more valued at sea than that of any other fish. Like many fish, they
will spring to a light; and thus, in low vessels, they sometimes fly on
board during the night; and in Barbadoes, the negroes catch them
by raising nets with lanthorns behind them:--five or six canoes in a
line have upright poles, on which the nets are suspended, with lights
fastened to them; the poor little flying-fish, thus attracted, spring to
the light, and are caught in numbers. The pectoral fins are very
large; these they extend in their flight. They do not clap their
wings like the common flight of birds, but rather skim the air like the
swallow. Their flight, however, looks more like a long extraordinary
spring, prolonged, in some manner, by the silvery wings. They vary
from the size of a sprat to that of a herring, but some are rather
larger.
Pike. This fish is well known as a kind of fresh-water shark, that
is, as to its voracious power. Though an inhabitant of most of the
lakes of Europe, the finest are found in Lapland; it sometimes weighs
thirty pounds, but its general weight is about six pounds. Gessner
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? LETTER IX.
181
<<ays, that the longevity of the pike is almost incredible; he mentions,
as an instance, one that was taken in Hailborn, in Swabia, in the year
1497, with these words engraven on a ring,--" I am the fish that was
first of all put into this lake, by Frederick EL, Oct . 5th, 1230. " This
gave it the age two hundred and sixty-seven years. The pike, or
jack, was first introduced in England in 1537.
THE FIFTH ORDER-BRANCHIOSTEGII.
GILLS DESTITUTE OF BONY RAYS. --TEN GENERA. --EIGHTY-FOUR SPECIES.
Comprising the Sun-fish, Pipe-fish, Sucker, and several Egyptian, Indian, and
Chinese Fish.
Sun-fish.
? LETTER IX.
167
The Crab lays its spawn at the bottom of the sea or river, and when
the sun comes out warm, and the weather is hot, the spawn is drawn
up to the surface, and vivifies in the heat; and when cold comes, the
little family sink down among the rocks, and contrive for themselves
in a thousand different ways; contrivance and wisdom, after a most
wonderful order, marking every movement of God's providence.
Thus having considered the great family of the ocean, under these
seven most interesting particulars:--1, their symmetry and propor-
tion; 2, their fins and tail; 3, the air bladder; 4, the beauty and
order of their scales; 5, their age; 6, their peculiar colours and
brightness of their appearance; 7, the amazing increase of the whole
family; we will now proceed, according to the Linnean arrangement,
to look at the subject in regular order.
Professor Gmelin, in his revised edition of Linnaeus's works,
arranges the whole of this great family in six orders, which again he
divides into seventy-two genera, and sub-divides into eight hundred
and seventy-three species. These have since been added to; so that
now we have near nine hundred species clearly defined. But knowing
most children are fond of tabular arrangements, by which they can take
a bird's eye view of the whole scene, I have made one out; and when I
speak of the orders separately, I will explain the difficult names to you.
the purpose, which, when filled, is hermetically sealed. The hen sits on this for
some days ; the egg is then opened, and placed in a vessel of water heated by the
sun, and when the little brood are sufficiently strong, the egg is broken, and they
are loosed from their strange imprisonment, and put into ponds to roam at large.
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? 168 THE CREATION.
A TABLE OF THE SIX ORDERS OF FISHES.
ACCORDING TO LINNAEUS.
ORDER.
NAME.
PROPERTIES.
GIN.
SPE.
I.
Apodal . . . .
12
40
II.
Jugular . . . .
With Ventral Fins before the Pectoral
6
52
III.
Thoracic . . . .
The Ventral under the Pectoral . .
21
425
IV.
Abdominal . . .
The Ventral far behind the Pectoral .
16
202
(In these four the Gills have bony rays. )
V.
Branchiostegious .
Gills destitute of bony rays . . . .
10
84
VI.
Chondropterygious
Gills with cartilaginous rays . . .
7
70
72
873
THE FIRST ORDER--APODA. "
WITHOUT VENTRAL FINS. --TWELVE GENERA. -- FORTY SPECIES.
The Eel. --The common Eel is a well known inhabitant of our
rivers, creeks, and streams. It is thought by some to be viviparous;
it survives a long while out of water, and its tenacity of life is such,
that it lives some time even after cut in pieces. Near Oxford, in the
Isis, there is a peculiar kind, called Grills, with a larger head than the
common Eel. There is no fish that comes to our table that is so liked
or disliked; however, most consider it very nutritious. It varies in
size, from six inches to two feet, and is of a dark colour.
? The word apoda is derived from the Greek word--to lack, or be deficient of
feel.
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The Conger. This differs from the common eel in size and colour;
and is an inhabitant of the ocean. It grows much larger also, some-
times reaching from four to eight feet in length; and sometimes ten.
It is very voracious, and if hunger impels it, eats all that comes in its
way. Contrary to the habits of the fresh water eel, they spawn their
young; immense quantities of which come up the Severn in April,
followed by the Chad; in this state they are called Elvers ,' and are
considered by some a great delicacy. The Conger abounds in the
Hebrides, or Western Islands (Scotland); but the natives in some
cases have an aversion to them, from their likeness to serpents.
The Electrical Eel. Except the Torpedo, no other animal in nature
possesses such extraordinary powers. Its size varies from three to
four feet in length: its head is blunt. When touched, it gives a
shock exactly the same as an electrical shock of the atmosphere.
Mr. J. Hunter, on examining it, found that the nerves that exercised
this power were much larger than the others*--several persons
standing together will feel the shock, if a little finger of one touches
this singular creature. It is found in Guiana and Surinam.
The iMunce Eel. This resembles in some measure the common
eel, though it is not such a snake-like looking fish; it has a long fin
the whole length of the back; also a pair of fins at the gills. It is
* There is one now exhibiting in the Adelaide Gallery, Strand; but of late its
shocks are so violent, that few are bold enough to try the experiment. It is
upwards of three feet long.
I
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? 170
THE CREATION.
destitute of scales. It is found in the sandy shores of England,
Scotland and Wales, and is considered good for the table.
The Sword-fish. This fish sometimes weighs a hundred pounds; it
is found in great numbers in the Mediterranean; and has been seen
off our own coast. The body is long, and rounded near the head; the
back is black; and the belly silvery white. The sword proceeds from,
or is a prolongation of the upper jaw. The dorsal fin extends almost
the entire length of the body. The tail is beautifully forked. It has
one pair of fins at the gills; but none on the belly. It is a very
voracious fish. The method of taking it, is by spearing. Strabo
mentions it in his day, and the very same method of taking it. It is
considered very good for food.
THE SECOND ORDER--JUGULARES.
VENTRAL FINS BEFORE THE PECTORALS--SIX GENERA. --FIFTY-TWO SPECIES.
The God, Haddock, Pollack, Hake, Coal-fith, Ling, Burbot, Urenscope,
are of this family ; and they all come to our aid for food (especially in
our own country) in teeming multitudes.
The Cod. This valuable fish not only supplies us with food for
present use, but its flesh is of that firm nature, that when salted it will
keep as well as meat: thus, though they do not swim into latitudes
warmer than thirty-five degrees north, that is, about the latitude of
Gibraltar; yet they are carried all over the globe. Some have said,
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that the banks of Newfoundland, where the Cod is found in such abun-
dance, are of more value to England than the mines of Potosi were
to Spain: and this is quite true; for the Newfoundland cod-fishing
gives employment to numerous fleets of our small shipping, and
is a hardy school for our merchant navy. The season commences in
February, and ends in May. Not that the cod is confined to the
" banks," though these indeed are their metropolis, where they meet
by millions and millions; but they are found all along our own coasts,
and those of Ireland, and in the North Sea, and about the Hebrides.
Indeed the cold North seems the home of this most prolific and in-
valuable fish. Off the coast of America, near Halifax, I have caught
them as fast as the line could be let down. The length of the cod is
from two to four and even five feet; and they weigh from twelve to
forty pounds. I have been thus particular about this fish; but I can-
not promise you to say so much on all the other species of this Order.
Haddock. This is a much smaller fish than the cod. The body
is long and slender; the back is dark; the belly silvery; the tail
bifid. The haddock is found in abundance off our own coasts; but
especially off Yorkshire, where they return periodically--the fisher-
men say, even to the very day of the month. Shoals of them have
been seen three miles in breadth. They have a deadly enemy in the
dog-fish. Their own food is principally young herrings. Through
the winter months they are much esteemed for the table. They weigh
in general from two to three pounds.
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? 172
THE CREATION.
Pollack. This fish likes the rocky coast of our island; and abounds
in the summer. The under jaw of this fish is longer than the upper.
They are fond of springing from the water; and seem to rejoice in
life. They weigh from eight to twelve pounds, and sometimes more.
As food they are excellent.
Whiting. This delicate fish is well known along the coast of
England; it seldom exceeds twelve inches in length. It is beautiful
in its proportions. By act of Parliament, no whiting, of less than
six inches, is allowed to be taken in the Thames or Medway, nor at
any season except from Michaelmas to Easter week. The flesh of
this little visitor is considered the most delicate and digestible of all
this Order.
Hake. This family abounds on our coasts; but is little esteemed:
and yet, if properly managed, both fresh and salted, it makes an ex-
cellent repast. In Ireland, when cured or salted, it is called " poor John. "
It is from two to three feet in length; the back is a pale ash colour;
the belly dirty white; but though not so good as cod, yet it is a boon
to man, for which he should be thankful. In Cornwall, some part of
the year, it is the common support of the poor.
The Coal-fish. This dark fish, which derives its name from its
colour, is common near the British Isles. Its size is about two-and-
a-half feet long. When young it is considered delicate. Singular to
say, this fish is also found in the middle of the Atlantic; but only
under particular circumstances. I remember once, between the
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Madeira Islands and the coast of America, coming up with a large
log of mahogany, floating; but covered entirely with a shell-fish called
Barnacle, a species of mussel. When towed alongside of our frigate,
we found a number of visitors attending it; some few of which
were dolphins, but principally a fish, which, from its colour, we called
Black Fish. In a few minutes the lines were down, and no cod fish
could take the bait more rapidly; and though in England it may be
called coarse, yet we found it a most delicious repast; and he that had
caught most was looked up to as a rich man, for the fortnight they
lasted. This may seem strange to you; but, as Captain Basil Hall
justly remarks, no people have so few fish as sailors. For weeks and
weeks, they see neither fish nor fowl--nothing but the ocean and the
sky.
Ling. This is not so delicate as the cod; but large quantities are
salted for exportation. It abounds about the Scilly Islands, the coasts
of Yorkshire, Scotland, and Ireland.
In length, it sometimes reaches
five feet: it is long and slender. It is in perfection from February to
May. Its colour varies.
Burbot. This fish abounds in the Lake of Geneva, and it is also
found in the Trent. It is most forbidding to look at, but the flesh is
delicate.
Urenscope. The name of this animal is most significant: it means
" to look up to the heavens. " It is found in the Mediterranean: its
home is at the bottom of the sea. Its face is flat, and turns upwards;
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? 174
THE CREATION.
so that its eyes are always looking above it. How wonderful is this
provision! A beautiful moral is in the name of this fish, which I am
sure I need not apply.
Dragonet. This fish is a great traveller; and some of its colours
are of inconceivable beauty. The blue in particular glistens like
the diamond. It has been found in the cold of Spitzbergen, and in
the warmth of the Mediterranean, and is also caught off the Yorkshire
coast.
THE THIRD ORDER--THORACICI.
THE VENTRAL FINS BENEATH THE PECTORALS. --TWENTY-ONE GENERA. --FOUR
HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE SPECItS.
Comprising the King-jish, John Doree, Turbol, and other flat flsh. The Perch,
Mackerel, and Stickle-back Gurnard.
The King-fish. I have alluded to this fish before. It is found off
the coast of Normandy; and its colours are beautiful to look at,--
green, red, purple, with oval white spots.
John Doree. This singular name is the French Jaime Doree,
anglicised, or put into English. The shape of this fish is very unin-
viting, but its colour brilliant, like gold; as its French name implies,
" The yellow gilt fish. " It is a frequent visitor to our coasts. The
Brixton boats, in the south of Devon, often take them. The
Doree is also found in the Bay of Biscay, and the Mediterranean.
Though uninviting to the sight, this fish is very nutritious and
i
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valuable; it sometimes weighs even twelve pounds, but generally
between four and six.
Turbot. This fish almost takes rank above all that swim in our
native seas. It is of a square figure, rounded at the corners; its skin
is dark, speckled on the back, and white on the belly ; and this is the
case with all the fish of this family, as the Sole, Dab, Flounder,
Plaice, &c. ; but the Turbot and Sole are preferred beyond the others.
It sometimes weighs from twenty to thirty pounds.
Mackarel. This welcome fish comes to our shores in countless
numbers in the summer months. The proportions of this fish are
very symmetrical; and its colours, when in the water or first caught,
exceedingly beautiful; green varied with blue, and deep black lines, is
the colour of the back, and silvery underneath. The Romans highly
esteemed the Mackarel. It grows generally from nine inches to a foot
in length.
The Pilot-fish. This little Zebra of the water (for its stripes are
like the zebra) is an attendant on the shark. Some have said, that it
ministers to it as the jackal is said to do to the lion: certain it is that
you in general see them together; it seldom exceeds six inches, and
often not more than four.
Father Lasher. This is a curious name for a fish, and one expects
to meet something very large and formidable: but this is not the case
with it, at least not in size, though indeed it is formidable enough;
for no matter who attacks it, it directly prepares for battle. Its head.
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THE CREATION.
which is unusually large for its other parts, swells out; and
armed with long spines on it (though the whole fish seldom ex-
ceeds nine or ten inches), it lashes its enemy, and is generally
victorious. It derives its name, doubtless, from this habit. On
the shores of Greenland it is so numerous as to form the principal
food the of natives. It is said, that even the shark flees from this
little conqueror.
The Perch. This is a voracious little fish, well known in almost
all our rivers and ponds. The colours and scales of the perch are very
beautiful: the back and part of the sides are a deep green, with five
black bars; the belly is white, tinged with red; and the fins, at times,
nearly scarlet.
The Ch^todon, or Shooting-fish. I must not close this account
of the thoracics, or third order of fish, without telling you of the
singular provision of the Chaetodon. This fish has a hollow cylindrical
beak, which it uses in a very curious manner. It is a native of the
East Indies, where it frequents the entrance and banks of rivers.
When it sees a fly sitting on the grass or plants that grow in the
shallow water, it makes towards it, loads its little tube with a drop of
water, and shoots with such unerring certainty that the fly is sure to
fall, and soon becomes its easy prey.
The Parrot-fish. This singularly beautiful fish inhabits the rivers
and coasts of Cuba, and St. Domingo. Its fins are ornamented with
varied colours; indeed, what the most beautiful of the feathered tribes
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are to the woods, such is this brilliant fish to the waters. Its flesh,
however, is little esteemed.
THE FOURTH ORDER--ABDOMINALES.
VENTRAL FINS BEHIND THE PECTORALS--SIXTEEN GENERA. --TWO HUNDRED AND
TWO SPECIES.
Comprising the Salmon, Trout, Smelt, Herring, Sprat, Pilchard, Carp, Millet, Flying-
fish, Pike, Golden-fish.
This Order consists of fish almost all edible, and many of them well
known in our own seas and rivers.
The Salmon. This fish is too well known to need much descrip-
tion. It is fond of the north; indeed, it is never found in southern
latitudes. In some countries it is a principal commodity both of food
and commerce. There are stationary fisheries in Iceland, Norway,
the Baltic, Ireland, Scotland, and Berwick upon Tweed. The salmon
varies in size from ten to twenty and forty pounds, and sometimes it
has been known to weigh seventy. Fresh and salt water alike suit
the salmon at different seasons. Its power of leaping when ascending
rivers to deposit its spawn is almost incredible. Both in its propor-
tions and colours it is much admired; and its nutritious qualities,
whether fresh or salted, render it an invaluable gift to man.
The Trout. This species is found in almost all our rivers. The
i3
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THE CREATION.
body is long; the head round; the colour a bright brown, with
brilliant spots on it when in season.
The Smelt is a small beautiful fish, so transparent, that one can
almost see through it: its colours, at times, are very soft and silvery.
It is much esteemed by some invalids. It takes its name from its
odour, which resembles that of the cucumber.
The Herring. No fish performs the amazing voyages of the
herring. The great colonies migrate from the Polar Seas about the
middle of winter; as they advance, they separate into two great
armies: one body, moving westward, pours its millions down the
coast of America, to the Carolinas ;* the other directs its course to
Europe, and first appears off the Shetland Islands in April: here the
body again divides into two parts, one shoal thronging the eastern
coasts of Britain, on to the Land's End; and the other, the western,
to the utmost extremity of Ireland, carrying food and sustenance with
them to thousands, and hundreds of thousands of the human race; for
though I have particularized our own coasts, the shoals pass down the
northern coasts of the continent, and so on to Bordeaux, into the Bay
ef Biscay. The herring is nutritious in every state, whether fresh,
salted in brine, or preserved in the form well known as Red-herrings.
Carp. This fish, though now so generally known in ponds, was
not introduced into this country before the year 1514. It generally
weighs from three to six pounds, and sometimes more. It can be
? The southernmost of the United States of America.
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domesticated to an extraordinary degree, so that at a call it will come
and take bread from its owner's hands;--but most creatures are
susceptible of kindness; and the way to reach the heart of the sternest
man, and the most violent of the brute creation, is, if opportunity
offers, to do them some act of love. You remember the thorn that
was taken from the lion's paw, was not forgotten.
The Pilchard. We must go to Cornwall, and ask the inhabitants
of this our southern county--what is the value of this fish? and they
would tell you that it is beyond value; for not only does it supply food
all through the year to the poor people, but it yields profit to all
classes: the net-makers, fish-preservers, coopers, &c. ; indeed, the
pilchard is everybody's friend, old or young. The principal season is
July; and the following little account of Dr. Borlase, will, I think,
interest you:--he says, "At one shooting of the nets, fish were
enclosed that filled 7,000 hogsheads, and each hogshead contained
35,000 fishes:" that is, 7,000 x 35,000 = 245,000,000. The common
size of the pilchard is about six inches.
Sprat. If we went to Cornwall to inquire about the pilchard, we
will now come to the fisheries of the Thames and Medway, and
inquire as to the value of the sprat; and though the answer will not
be so full as the former, yet they would tell us, indeed, good things of
this little winter visitor. The sprat comes to our coast in November,
and leaves in March--the very time the poor most need a cheap sus-
tenance. I never shall forget, after a voyage from the West Indies
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THE CREATION.
to the Medway in January, how we welcomed a boat full of sprats;
The sprat is generally about four inches long; its flesh is very
nutritious. Some have called the sprat the young herring; but this
is incorrect: for the herring has fifty-six vertebra? , or joints, in the
back-bone, the sprat only forty-eight.
Flying-fish. This is indeed a beautiful little fish to meet in the
middle of the Atlantic; and the flesh, something like the whiting, is
more valued at sea than that of any other fish. Like many fish, they
will spring to a light; and thus, in low vessels, they sometimes fly on
board during the night; and in Barbadoes, the negroes catch them
by raising nets with lanthorns behind them:--five or six canoes in a
line have upright poles, on which the nets are suspended, with lights
fastened to them; the poor little flying-fish, thus attracted, spring to
the light, and are caught in numbers. The pectoral fins are very
large; these they extend in their flight. They do not clap their
wings like the common flight of birds, but rather skim the air like the
swallow. Their flight, however, looks more like a long extraordinary
spring, prolonged, in some manner, by the silvery wings. They vary
from the size of a sprat to that of a herring, but some are rather
larger.
Pike. This fish is well known as a kind of fresh-water shark, that
is, as to its voracious power. Though an inhabitant of most of the
lakes of Europe, the finest are found in Lapland; it sometimes weighs
thirty pounds, but its general weight is about six pounds. Gessner
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<<ays, that the longevity of the pike is almost incredible; he mentions,
as an instance, one that was taken in Hailborn, in Swabia, in the year
1497, with these words engraven on a ring,--" I am the fish that was
first of all put into this lake, by Frederick EL, Oct . 5th, 1230. " This
gave it the age two hundred and sixty-seven years. The pike, or
jack, was first introduced in England in 1537.
THE FIFTH ORDER-BRANCHIOSTEGII.
GILLS DESTITUTE OF BONY RAYS. --TEN GENERA. --EIGHTY-FOUR SPECIES.
Comprising the Sun-fish, Pipe-fish, Sucker, and several Egyptian, Indian, and
Chinese Fish.
Sun-fish.
