so named from the use made of its horny skin after the contents are
removed and it is well dried.
Tetrodon, Linn.
*T . c u ta n e u s , Gthr.—The Bottle-fish is also found at the Cape
of Good Hope.
* T . s a n c te e h e le n e e , Gthr.—The Bastard Hog-fish has been
found also at Japan.
Orthagoriscus, Bl. Schn.
O. sp. ?—Sun-fish are taken in deep water off the Island by
whaling ships, chiefly for the sake of the oil which their live.rs afford,
but they are seldom, if ever, now captured by the Islanders.
Bam. Balistidce.
Balistes, Cuv.
*B, buniva, Lacép.—The File-fish, so called from the resemblance
to a file which it wears on its back. I t is of no use as food.
O r d er L ophobraNc h i i .
Hippocampus, Leach.
*H . sp. ?— Called the Sea Horse from the striking resemblance
between its head and that of a horse. This pretty little bright
red creature is occasionally brought up from a considerable depth by
fishermen’s lines and boats’ moorings.
Or d e r C hon d ropteryg il
Carcharías, Cuv.
C. sp. ?—The Common Shark attains a length of fifteen or sixteen
feet. Sharks prowl about the coast and bays, even approaching
close to the landing-steps in search of prey. Few accidents, however,
have been caused by these creatures, and as bathers are not
•over-cautious, it may be through some distaste for the St. Helenians,
one of them having, it is said, a long while ago, swallowed a soldier,
with great-coat, musket, and bayonet, just as he fell from his post
as sentry, and, suffering so much discomfort, was easily captured
next day.
C. glaucus, Linn.—The Blue Shark, of small size, is occasionally
taken. I t generally inhabits tropical seas.
C. o b s c u r u s , Lesueur.—The Mackerel Shark is often brought
to the market, and the poorest people consider it fair food.
Lamna, Cuv.
L. g la u c a , Miill. & Henle.—The Dog-tooth Shark, which occurs
at Java, Japan, and the Cape of Good Hope, is also occasionally
taken at St. Helena.
II. MOLLUSCA.
In Conchology the Island does not offer a very wide field for the
naturalist’s researches, but it affords one of extreme interest.
The extinct land-shells, although described as having some affinity
with those of the Polynesian Islands, Central America, Africa,
Mozambique, and the Seychelles, are for the larger part unique, and
unmistakably point to the individuality of the Island and its nonconnexion
at any time with the existing continental lands of Africa
or America. The amount of dredging that has yet been accomplished
off the Island is very small, but the treasures it has yielded to the
scientific world are quite sufficient to encourage the enthusiastic
naturalist. My own collection of shells, now in the British Museum,
has been made almost without the aid of dredging, the marine species
having been picked up on the beach or taken from the rocks a short
distance below high water. I have therefore been careful to distinguish
those which I found in a living stale, because, until the
rest have been found in a similar condition, there exists a probability
of their having been thrown, overboard from ships. I am most
fortunate in being able to record the examination of the collection
by so eminent an authority as Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, who, in
the Annals of Natural History for April, 1872, gives a list of the
species, and writes as follows :—
“ With the assistance of my friend, Mr. M‘Andrew, I have
examined a collection of shells made by Mr. J. C. Melliss at St
Helena. Most of the marine shells were picked up on the
beach, and are consequently in bad condition. The only specimen
procured from deepish water (about fifty fathoms) is Ostrea
cnsta-galli; and this is covered with two kinds of stony coral, which
Professor Duncan refers to Sclerohelia hirteUa and a species of
Balanophyllia. The land-shells of St. Helena have been already
noticed ^ by the late Mr. G. B. Sowerby in the Appendix to Mr
Darwin’s work on Volcanic Islands, as well as by Mr. Blofeld and