Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/758

 734 WRASSE WRAXALL in Russian (2 vols., St. Petersburg, 1841). In 1867 Capt. Long, in traversing the part of the Polar sea navigated by the Russian explorer, discovered a large tract of land, which Wnm- gell had endeavored to reach, and which is called after him Wrangell Land. WRASSE, the common name of the spiny- rayed fishes of the family Idttrida comprised in the genus labru* (Cuv.). The mouth is pro- trusible, with double large and fleshy lips, and jaws armed with formidable conical teeth in a single row, or with smaller and crowded ones in a second row ; no teeth on palate, but broad grinders on the coalescent lower pharyngeal bones; scales large, thin, and cycloid, with lat- eral line interrupted, and cheeks and gill covers scaly; there is a single long dorsal, the spines of the anterior portion being surmounted by short membranous filaments, and the poste- rior having soft and split rays; ventrals under pectorals; air bladder simple and strong, and stomach without pyloric caeca. The species Ballan Wrasse (Labrus maculatuo). are numerous, especially in the tropical seas, and are of moderate size, stout form, and beau- tiful colors; they are also called rock fish and old wives. They are generally seen in troops among the rocks, hiding under aea weeds, and feeding on crustaceans, mollusks, and sea ur- chins ; they bite eagerly, and are often caught by baits intended for other fish, aa their flesh is not much esteemed, being generally used as bait. In the temperate regions they spawn in April, the young, about an ineh long, being numerous about the rocks in summer; some of the Mediterranean species spawn twice a year. One of the most common species in the temperate seas of Europe is the ballan wrasse (L. macula tits, Bloch), about 18 in. long, vary- ing greatly in color, being blue or green with orange spots, or entirely of different shades of the latter ; the colors change rapidly after death. The striped wrasse (L. variegatus, Gmel.) is of a general orange color, reddish on the back, yellowish below, with the sides striped with blue, and the fins blue and oraage; the female is very unlike the male ; it is found in the same waters. The rainbow wrasse (julis vulgaris, Cuv.) has the lateral line uninter- rupted and the head without scales; the colors are varied, orange, blue, yellow, and silvery; it is common in the Mediterranean, and at Nice is considered good eating. The gilt-headed wrasse (crenilalrus tinea, Risso) has the edge of the preoperculum denticulated ; it is about 6 in. long, red varied with green, fins greenish blue, and head blue, with reddish orange stripes and spots on the cheeks ; it is found on the English coasts. These fish are represented on the North American coast by the salt-water perch (ctenolabrua cceruleus, De Kay) and the tautog or black fish. WRAXALL. I. Sir Nathaniel William, an Eng- lish author, born in Bristol, April 8, 1751, died in Dover, Nov. 7, 1831. lie went to Bombay in 1769 in the civil service of the East India company^, and in 1771 accompaniwd the ex- pedition against Guzerat and Baroach as judge advocate and paymaster. He returned to Eu- rope in 1772, travelled several years on the continent, entered parliament in 1780, and was created a baronet in 1813. He wrote " Cursory Remarks made in a Tour through sonic of the Northern Parts of Europe " (1776) ; 44 Memoirs of the Kings of France of the House of Valois, to which is added a Tour through the Western, Southern, and Interior Provinces of France" (1777); "The History of Franco from the Accession of Henry the Third to the Death of Louis the Fourteenth " (3 vols. 4to, 1795); 4t Correspondence between a Traveller and a Minister of State, October and November, 1792 " (8vo, 1796) ; " Memoirs of the Courts of Berlin, Dresden, Warsaw, and Vienna" (17U9; 2ded.,2 vols., 1800); "History of France from the Accession of Henry III. to the Death of Henry IV." (2d ed., 6 vols., 1814) ; "Historical Memoirs of my own Time" (3 vols. 8vo, 1815 ; new ed., 4 vols., 1836) ; and " Posthumous Memoirs of his own Time " (2d ed., 8 vols., London, 1836). II. Sir Frederick Charles Laseelles, an English author, grandson of the preceding, born in Boulogne in 1828, died in London, Juno 11, 1865. He was educated at Oxford, and in 1855 was appointed assistant commissary of the field train in the Turkish contingent, with the rank of captain. He served in this capacity at Kertch until the clone of the Crimean war, and published "Camp Life" (12mo, London, 1860). He had charge of the 4l Naval and Military Her- ald" in 1858, and from January, 1860, to March, 1861, was editor of "The Welcome Guest." He edited the despatches of Sir James Outram (privately printed), and published a " Handbook to the Armies of Europe " (1855) ; 44 Wild Oats," a novel (1857) ; "Armies of the Great Powers" (1859); 4< Only a Woman," a novel (1860); "Life in the Sea" (1860); with Robert Wehrhan, "Memoirs of Queen Hor- tense, Mother of Napoleon III." (2 vols. 12mo, 1862); "Married in Haste," a novel (1862); "Military Sketches" (1864); "Historic By-