Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/301

Rh, at the mercy of the waves, that this animal is really most secure; for the numerous spines with which the surface of the body is universally beset are raised and erected by the stretching out of the skin, thus presenting an armed front to the enemy on whatever side he may venture to begin the attack.”

Specimens of a species called Pennant's Globe-fish (Tetraodon Pennantii .) are

taken on the coast of Cornwall. It is about a foot and a half in length; of a rich blue colour on the superior parts, and silvery white on the sides and belly, studded all over the last-named part, which is capable of inflation, with clusters of spines, each group consisting of four radiating from a centre.