1. NILE PERCH. 2. SURMULLET. 3. STAR-GAZER.] The uppermost figure represents the NILE PERCH. This Fish is plentiful in the Nile, and in the mouths of many Asiatic rivers. It is brown above, silvery white below, and may be distinguished by the armed gill-covers, and the three strong spines of the anal fin. The tongue is smooth. Immediately below the Nile Perch is the STAR-GAZER. This Fish is found in the Mediterranean, and derives its name from the singular mode in which the eyes are set in the head, so that it looks upwards instead of sideways. It is one of the mud-lovers, a fact which accounts for the peculiar position of the eyes. It is said to feed after the fashion of the fishing-frog--_i.e._ by burying itself in the mud and attracting other Fishes by a worm-like appendage of its mouth, and pouncing on them before they are aware of their danger. This is not a pretty Fish, and as it is very spiny, is not pleasant to the grasp, but its flesh is very good, and it is much valued by those who can obtain it. The last Fish to be noticed is the SURMULLET, a Fish that is equally remarkable for the beauty of its colours and the excellence of its flesh. [Illustration: man] MOLLUSCS. The purple of Scripture--The sac containing the purple dye--Curious change of colour--Mode of obtaining the dye--The Tyrian purple--The king of the Ethiopians and the purple robe--The professional purple dyers--Various words expressive of different shades of purple. Leaving the higher forms of animal life, we now pass to the Invertebrated Animals which are mentioned in Scripture. As may be inferred from the extreme looseness of nomenclature which prevails among the higher animals, the species which can be identified are comparatively few, and of them but a very few details are given in the Scriptures. Taking them in their zoological order, we will begin with the MOLLUSCS. * * * * * We are all familiar with the value which was set by the ancients upon the peculiar dye which may be called by the name of Imperial Purple. In the first place, it was exceedingly costly, not only for its richness of hue, but from the great difficulty with which a sufficient quantity could be procured for staining a dress. Purple was exclusively a royal colour, which might not be worn by a subject. Among the ancient Romans, during the times of the Cæsars, any one who ventured to appear in a dress of purple would do so at the peril of his life. In the consular days of Rome, the dress of the consuls was white, striped with purple; but the Cæsars advanced another step in luxury, and dyed the whole toga of this costly hue.