Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/129

 MYXINOIDS 121 was one of the islands of the ^Eolians, and at a very early period contained several rich and populous cities, of which Mytilene and Methym- na were the most important, on account of their fine harbors for the coasting trade. After the island had undergone several revolutionary changes, Pittacus about 600 B. 0. usurped the dictatorship, restored order, and laid the foun- dation for the future greatness of the city of Mytilene. While continental ^Eolis became subject to Persia about 550 B. 0., Lesbos main- tained her independence several years longer. About 500 it joined the revolt of the lonians, but without success. After regaining its in- dependence it became a member of the Athe- nian confederacy in 477, but revolted in the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, 428, and once more in 412, both times suffering severely. With the exception of a short period during which it was under Spartan sway, Lesbos con- Mytilene. tinned subject to Athens till 387. In 334 it submitted to Alexander. In the 1st century B. 0. the island was under the dominion of Mithridates, and after his defeat it was annexed to the possessions of Rome. In the 13th cen- tury one of the Byzantine emperors ceded it to the Venetian family of Gateluzzi as the dowry of his sister ; it was taken from them in 1462 by Mohammed II., who besieged the chief city and captured it through treachery. It was the birthplace of the poets Terpan- der, Arion, Alcseus, and Sappho, of the philoso- phers Pittacus, Cratippus, and Theophrastus, and the historians Hellanicus and Theophanes. MYXINOIDS, an order of fishes, which, with the cyclostomes or lampreys, form the class of myzonts of Agassiz, containing the lowest of the vertebrates. They form the family Jiy- perotreta (Mall. ; marsipobrancMi of Huxley), Organs of Eespiration in the Myxiiie: a, single hooked tooth; &&&&, double rows of lingual teeth; c, branchial cells ; d d d d, tentacula ; e, mucous glands. and are characterized by a cylindrical body, obliquely truncated anteriorly; the mouth is furnished with cirri or tentacles, the palate is perforated, and the cavities of the nose and mouth communicate (as in no other fish) ; the upper margin of the mouth has a single tooth, and the tongue has a double recurved row on each side ; the jaws are absent, and the inferior margin of the mouth is formed by the anterior extremity of the tongue bone; the eyes are concealed ; the branchia} are on each side, with internal ducts leading to the oesophagus. For full details see the papers of J. Muller in the " Transactions of the Berlin Academy " for 1834, 1838, 1839, and 1842, and papers by F. W. Putnam in "Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History," vol. xvi., 1874. In the genus myxine (Linn.) two spiracles ap- proximate on the lower surface behind the branchia3, each receiving the external ducts of the six branchire of its own side. The com- mon myxine or glutinous hag (M. glutinosa, Linn.) has a smooth eel-like body, wjth a very Common Myxine (Myxine glutinosa). long dorsal fin continued round the tail to the vent, a single spiracle on the head, and eight barbules around the mouth ; the color is bluish