The Yazoo City weekly Whig. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 18??-1855, 1854-02-03
Vol. Is, No. 30 whole No. 9gl.

Commodore Sl0at, occupied at that time In
locating Navy Yard on the coast Of Cali
fornia. On his return il the month Of Seq
tember following, to bis home in Scheme.
tady, NJ Y, he wrote to Professor Agassiz.
informing him Of his discovery. He had
not been able to preserve the fishes which
he bad taken on account Of the impossible
" Of procuring the alcohol necessary Gor
that purpose. He, however, made every
arrangement for securing specimens when
the proper season should arrive, and in, the
meanwhile sent to Professor Agassiz mi
mute description Of the fish, accompanied
by an outline drawing Of the female, from
a sketch made 1T the time in California. Blr.
jackson died very suddenly in the following
March; but the agent Of Professor Agassiz.
al his request. and guided Mr.. Jacksonis
instructions, has since been enabled to Sc
cure several specimens. and send them to
the Professor for examination.
The great order Of fishes to which this
remarkable type would seem properly to be-
long, contains numerous and well known
families. as curious and interesting to the
naturalist as valuable to man. The com
mon Perch which frequents the streams Of
every land; the Old Wife Of the British seas;
the Rock fish or Striped Bass,.so much es-
teemed by us as an article Of food; the Null
let, still more highly priced BY the ancients
for the beautiful changes Of color which it
exhibited while dying; the Anabas of India,
which. from its labyrinthiform cells, is ena-
bled to remain for a long time out of water,
to crawl upon the ground, and even, it is
said, to climb trees; the Loxotes iacuIatOr
Of the Ganges, and the Chatodon rostratus,
adroit archers, who project water from their
mouths upon their prey to the height of
several feet, and never miss their aim; the
Sparus sargus, whose teeth resemble SO
closely those Of man; the Flying fishes Of
the tropical seas, and the Drum fishes, mu-
sicians Of our own coasts; the MackereI, of
such inestimable value in our New England
fisheries, and the Tunny no less a source of
wealth to the Mediterranean shores; the
Sword fish; the Surgeon, with his mimic
lances; the beautiful Umbrina, and the Pilot
| fish. who with such unerring instinct con-
duets the Shark to his prey, are all mem
bers Of the same great order to which these
new fishes in all probability belong.
Professor Agassiz's account Of their ap-
Ipearance and structure, in his minute and
scientific Investigation, win be interesting
to naturalists:--
"The general appearance, !" he says, ''of
the fishes upon which this family is found
ed. is that Of our larger species Of Pomotis
(Perch. or ratherthat Of the broader types
Of Sparoids (sea Bream. Their body is
compressed. oval. covered with scales of
meaium size The scales are cycIoid, In
which respect they differ widely from those
fishes they resemble most in external ap-
pearance. Head small, with scales only on
the cheeks and opercular pieces. Teeth in
both jaws, short cOmical, arrangcd in one
row. and slightly recurved. The pharyn-
geal teeth much shorter and bluntel than
those d the jaws, and arranged like pave
ment. One long dorsal FIN. the anterior
portion Of which is supported by spinOur
rays, and the posterior By numerous articu-
lated branching rays, which are sheathed
at the base BY two or three rows of scales,
seperated from those Of the body BY a rath-
er broad and deep scaleless furrow. This
last peculiarly has not yet been observed
in any fish, SO far as know.
.'The yentrals are sublhoracic as il the
SparOids, and provided with strong spin
GUS and Eve soft rays.
''Four bronchial arches supporting four
complete branchiae with two rows Of lamel-
la iDeach. The opening behind the last
arch is very smalfand entirely above the
base o. the pectoral fms Pseudobranchia
very large. and composed Of sixteen or
seventeen lamalIB The alimehtary canal
Us remarkably uniform ID width for lis whole
length. There are no coecal appendices at
an il any part IF The intestine. The oYary
/ is extended into sack like large bag,
subdiEided internally into number Of dis
tinct pouches. in each Of which young Is
wrapped up as in Sheet and al are pack
ed ii the most economical manner IS far as
saving space IS concerned; some having
their head turned forwards. and olbersbach
wards The size 81 the young. compared