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A Festival of
Mathematics
A Sourcebook
A Festival of
Mathematics
A Sourcebook

Alice Peters
Mark Saul

•••
•••••• AMERICAN
~vAMS
...
••··•
MATHEMATICAL
SOCIETY
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute
Berkeley, California Providence, Rhode Island
Advisory Board for the MSRI/Mathematical Circles Library
Titu Andreescu Zvezdelina Stankova
David Auckly James Ta nton
Helene Barcelo Ravi Vakil
Zuming Feng Dia na White
Tony Gardiner I van Yashchenko
Andy Liu Paul Zeitz
Alexander Shen Joshua Zucker
Tatiana Shubin (Chair)
Scientific Editor: David Scott

This volume is published with the generous support of the Simons Foundation
and Tom Leighton and Bonnie Berger Leighton.

2020 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 97-01, 97D50, 97E30, 97U30, 97U40.

For additional information and updates on this book, visit


www .ams.org/bookpages / mcl- 28

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data


Names: Peters, Alice, 1946- author. I Saul, Mark E. , author.
Title: A festival of m athematics : a sourcebook / Alice Peters, Mark Saul.
Description: Berkeley, California : MSRI Mathem a tical Sciences R esearch Institute ; Providence,
Rhode Isla nd : American Mathematical Society, [2022] I Series: MSRI m athem atica l circles
library, 1944-8074 ; 28 I
Identifiers: L CCN 2021052340 I ISBN 9781470453381 (paperback) I 9781470469559 (ebook)
Subject s: LCSH: Mathem atics- Study a nd teaching. I Mathematics teachers- Tra ining of. I AMS:
Mathem atics education - Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) p ertaining
to mathem atics education. I Mathematics education - Education a nd instruct ion in m a themat-
ics - Teaching problem solv ing and h euristic strategies. I Mathematics education - Edu cation
of foundations of m a them atics - Logic (educational aspects). I Mathematics education - Ed-
ucational m aterial a nd media, educationa l technology in mathematics education - Teachers'
manuals a nd pla nning aids (aspects of mathem a tics education). I Mathem atics educatio n -
Educational m aterial a nd m edia, educationa l t echnology in m athematics education - Problem
books, competitions, examinations (aspects of m a them atics education).
Classification: LCC QAll.2 .P555 2022 I DDC 510.71 /2-dc23/eng/ 20211208
L C record availa ble at https: / / lccn.loc .gov / 2021052340
DOI: https://doi.org/ 10.1090/saul2/ 28

Copying and reprinting. Individua l r eaders of t his publication, a nd nonprofit libraries acting
for them, are permitted to make fair use of the m ateria l, s uch as to copy select p ages for use
in teaching o r research. Permission is granted to quote brief passages from this publica t ion in
reviews, prov ided the customary acknowledgment of the source is given.
Republication, systematic copying, or multiple reproduction of a ny m aterial in t his publication
is permitted only under license from t he American Mathematical Society. Requests for permission
to reuse portions of AMS publication content are ha ndled by the Copyrig ht Clearance Center. For
more information, p lease visit www.ams.org/publications/pubpermissions.
Send requests for transla tion rights and licensed reprints to reprint-permission©ams.org.
@ 2022 by t he a uthors . A ll rights reserved.
Printed in t he United States of America.
{§) The paper used in this book is acid-free a nd falls w ithin the g uidelines
established to ensure p ermanence and durability.
Visit the AMS home p age at https: / /www.ams.org/
V is it the MSRI home page at http://www . msri . org/
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 27 26 25 24 23 22
To the memory of Nelson Blachman,
who inspired his daughter Nancy in her study of mathematics
Contents

Foreword Xl

Preface xv

Acknowledgements XIX

Part 1. Activity Guides 1

Chapter 1. Color Triangle Challenge 3


Some Init ial Explorations 4
Toward a Generalization 9
Further Generalizations 13
Applying Arithmetic 16
Connection to t he Binomial Coefficients 18
Historical Notes 21

Chapter 2. Magic Squares and Algebra 23


Constructing a Magic Square 23
The Geometry of Magic Squares 31
Some Facts about Groups 34
Uniqueness of the Magic Square: Some Combinatoric Results 36
New Magic Squares from Old 37
The Vector Space of a Magic Square 41
Magic Squares and Tic-tac-toe 49
Historical Notes 50

Chapter 3. Nim 53
One-Row Nim 53
Nim Variants 61
Two-Row Nim 63
Historical Notes 64

Chapter 4. Palindrome Grab! 67


The Basic Game 67
The Greedy Game 69
vii
Vlll CONTENTS

The Patient Game 71


Historical Notes 74
Chapter 5. To Twos, Too! Two Twos? More? 77
SDP2 Representations 77
SP2 Representations 81
S2P2 Representations 85
Some Extensions 89
Historical Notes 90
Chapter 6. Prisoner Puzzle 93
Last Man Sitting 93
Lucky 7? 96
Changing of t he Guard 99
Historical Notes 101

Chapter 7. Broken Calculators 103


Calculator 1 103
Calculator 2 105
Calculator 3 108
Calculator 4 109
Calculator 5 110
Historical Notes 112

Chapter 8. Dominoes and Checkerboards 113


Constructing Tilings 114
Counting Tilings 121
Historical Notes 129
Chapter 9. Fair Division 131
Rectangles, Triangles, Squares 131
Quadrilaterals and Squares 136
Historical Notes 151
Chapter 10. Jumping Julia 153
Mazes and Graph Theory 153
Make Your Own Maze 161
Historical Notes 164

Part 2. Activity Handouts 167


Chapter 1. Color Triangle Challenge 169
Some Init ial Explorations 170
Toward a Generalization 171
Applying Arithmetic 171
Chapter 2. Magic Squares and Algebra 175
Constructing a Magic Square 175
CONTENTS IX

The Geometry of Magic Squares 177


Uniqueness of the Magic Square: Some Combinatoric Results 178
New Magic Squares from Old 179
Chapter 3. Nim 181
One-Row Nim 181
Nim Variants 182
Two-Row Nim 182
Chapter 4. Palindrome Grab! 183
The Basic Game 183
The Greedy Game 184
The Patient Game 184
Chapter 5. To Twos, Too! Two Twos? More? 185
SDP2 Representations 185
SP2 Representations 185
S2P2 Representations 186
Some Extensions 187
Chapter 6. Prisoner Puzzle 189
Last Man Sitting 189
Lucky 7? 189
Changing of the Guard 190
Chapter 7. Broken Calculators 191
Calculator 1 191
Calculator 2 191
Calculator 3 191
Calculator 4 192
Calculator 5 192
Chapter 8. Dominoes and Checkerboards 193
Constructing Tilings 193
Counting Tilings 195
Chapter 9. Fair Division 197
Rectangles, Triangles, Squares 197
Quadrilaterals and Squares 198
Chapter 10. Jumping Julia 203
Mazes and Graph Theory 203
Make Your Own Maze 207
Foreword

I founded the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival so that others could


have fun exploring mathematics, as I did when I was in junior high and
high school. I wanted to offer inspirational opportunities similar to what
my father offered me, especially to students who didn't have a parent who
enjoys playing with mathematics.
When I was in high school in Palo Alto during the 1970s, my mathe-
matics teacher gave interested students bimonthly qualifying problem sets
for a mathematics contest at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California.
The first few problems were usually easy, and solving one would boost my
confidence in tackling the next. Students who received sufficient points on
the year's qualifying problems were invited to the contest toward the end of
the school year. I didn't enjoy the competition itself nearly as much as I'd
enjoyed doing the qualifying problem sets. In fact , exploring those problems
with my father was one of the things I have enjoyed most in my entire life.
It certainly influenced me to study mathematics.
In the spring of 2005, when I attended a forum called "Sharing Solu-
tions: Promising Practices in Science & Math Education" sponsored by the
Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) , I asked MSRI's deputy
director, Hugo Rossi, whether he knew what happened to t he Saint Mary's
Mathematics Contest. He didn 't , but he emailed a note to some of his
colleagues asking what they knew about it. Joshua Zucker, a mathematics
teacher at Castilleja School, an all-girls middle and high school in Palo Alto,
responded; he had a book containing problems from the contest, which he
had won in his high school days at a different mathematics contest in South-
ern California.
When we connected, Joshua and I brainstormed ideas for organizing an
event for middle and high school students. We bot h wanted to create an
event that emphasized fun rather than competition. We decided to call the
event a Festival. There would be two dozen or so tables with mathematics
problems, puzzles, games, and activities, each with a facilitator, checking
and guiding students who needed or desired assistance, in a way similar to
how my father had encouraged and guided me.

xi
Xll FOREWORD

Since the Festival was meant to nurture students' interest in mathemat-


ics, we wanted to let them work individually or in groups, as they preferred.
The problems and activities were related to one another and became pro-
gressively more difficult-we even included research problems whose answers
we didn't know ourselves. We hoped that each attendee would be able to
find something engaging and rewarding.
We wanted to name the Festival for someone inspirational, and I sug-
gested Julia Robinson. I had learned about her after watching a pre-release
version of George Csicsery's documentary Julia Robinson and Hilbert 's Tenth
Problem. Julia was a great mathematician renowned for solving, together
with Yuri Matijasevich, Martin Davis, and Hilary Putnam, Hilbert's Tenth
Problem. When we began to plan the Festival, we were able to contact
her sister, Constance Reid, who gave us permission to use Julia 's name.
The Festival was intended to honor her legacy and to encourage students to
pursue mathematics.
Constance told us that Julia had often been annoyed when people re-
ferred to mathematics as "math," so we were careful to call the event the Ju-
lia Robinson Mathematics Festival. My husband, David desJardins, emailed
Peter Norvig, a co-worker from his days at Google, and asked if Google
would host the first Festival. Feeling that the event would encourage girls
and minorities-groups underrepresented in the company's workforce-to
go further in mathematics, Google was willing to give it a try.
In March 2007, Joshua sent announcements for the Festival to many
junior high and high school mathematics teachers in the San Francisco Bay
Area. We were concerned that we might not get many students to sign up ,
but within a few weeks, the Festival was oversubscribed. With more regis-
trants than space, we asked Google for a tent to accommodate additional
students, which they provided.
The Festival featured 30 tables with activities, puzzles, games, and prob-
lems. When a participant showed insight, creativity, or perseverance, or
solved a problem correctly, the facilitator at t hat table gave the student a
raffle ticket. Students with winning tickets received a math book and/ or
Google paraphernalia, e.g., water bottles, umbrellas, hats, and jackets.
Since the response to that first Festival was so enthusiastic, we hosted
another Festival the following year. With computational geometry driving
a digital revolution in filmmaking , senior scientist Tony DeRose, lead of
Pixar's Research Group, offered to host the Festival on May 4 , 2008 at
Pixar Animation Studios.
The initial format worked so well during the first years that we have
not changed it. Julia Robinson Mathematics Festivals (JRMFs) are non-
competitive celebrations of mathematics, its great ideas, and its intriguing
problems. The problems h ave low thresholds and high ceilings. JRMFs in-
spire K - 12 students to think critically and to explore the richness and beauty
FOREWORD Xlll

of mathematics through collaborative, creative problem-solving. Partici-


pants are supported by volunteers, lovers of mathematics from different dis-
ciplines, including mathematicians, teachers, engineers, programmers, older
students, and other members of the mathematical community.
A Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival is an extracurricular event that
is organized locally, but supported by a national network of advisors, math-
ematicians, and experienced Festival hosts. The program la unched in 2007
at Google has grown exponentially over the past decade. JRMF has hosted
over 500 events (Festivals and webinars) with participants in 29 states, the
District of Columbia, one t erritory (Puerto Rico) , and 19 foreign countries.
The Festivals engage many types of students, including those who don't
enjoy participating in competitions or working under time pressure. A Fes-
tival is also a community event, bringing together institutions and orga-
nizations to celebrat e mathematics. Anyone can be a Festival or webinar
host- parents wanting to get their children more interested in mathematics,
educators looking to build excitement in their classrooms, administrators or
community members eager to reach out and engage kids and adults in their
region.
The National JRMF organization provides advice from experienced Fes-
tival hosts; activities (puzzles, games, problems, online apps) tailored to the
needs of the audience; publicity and organization items, such as signs, ban-
ners, swag available at cost; and a free online registration system. These
services are offered free of charge to hosts, although there might be incidental
costs associated with venue rental, materials, and staffing.
I hope you find the Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival puzzles, games,
activities, and problems in this book, and on the jrmf.org website, enjoyably
thought-provoking.
Try solving them yourself before checking out the hints or solutions
given in the book. The Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival problems that
Mark Saul and Alice Peters present in this book are just a small sample of
the hundreds of problems presented at Festivals. If you have other prob-
lems or solutions that you think would be of interest, please send them to
info@jrmf.org so that we can consider adding them to the library of activi-
ties.
For much more information, to sign up to host a Festival, or to attend
a Festival, please visit jrmf.org.
-Nancy Blachman
Founder, Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival
Burlingame, California
October, 2020
Preface

This book is about enjoying mathematics, about using the mind as an ath-
lete uses the body in a joyful game. Its inspiration is the Julia Robinson
Mathematics Festival, a n organization that supports non-competitive after-
school mathematical activities.
The activities in this book are just a few of the many that the Julia
Robinson Mathematics Festival has developed over the years. The problems
have a low threshold, but their ceiling is high. A game or puzzle intrigues,
then stimulates thought, that then becomes serious mathematics before the
reader is aware of the transition. A gentle on-ramp leads to an exhilarating
ride t hrough fantastic mental landscapes.
Almost anyone, at any level, can begin to engage in the sequences of
problems in each chapter. Most of the chapter problems begin with situa-
tions that require no more than simple arit hmetic or intuit ive concepts of
symmetry- and sometimes not even that. On a deeper level, the beginning
problems require intuitive logic, but not the notion of a strategy for play
or algorithm for solution. These more sophisticated ideas emerge as the
student works the puzzle, plays the game, or solves the problems that come
later. As soon as solvers can understand the statement of the first prob-
lem in a chapter, they can engage in the solution, progressing to the next
step whenever they are ready. And if students never get to the next step,
they will have learned something significant, just from understanding the
difficulties of the situation.
A Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival is a social occasion to learn
mathematics. In a large open space, tables are provided on which a va-
riety of problem materials are made available. ( Each chapter in this book
is a sample of the materials at a single Festival table.) Each table has a table
leader or facilitator, who manages the activity- but does not teach in t he
traditional sense. Students are free to wander among the tables, choosing
for themselves an activity to engage in and the amount of t ime t hey spend.
Informal social groups form around the activit ies. Students bring old friends
and make new friends. Facilitators observe and support, but intervene only
minimally.

xv
XVI PREFACE

For those planning a Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival, we have


included hints for organization, marked with a Julia Robinson logo in the
margin.
Our activities have been selected and presented based on feedback from
previous Festivals. A good problem is one that attracts students, gets them
interacting, and holds their attention for at least half an hour. The at-
tractive and accessible nature of the problems in this book are a result of
observing student engagement at a Festival, followed by a careful honing of
the materials to improve them for the next Festival.
We have written this book for a wide audience. We specifically target
facilitators at Julia Robinson Mathematics Festivals, or leaders of after-
school math circles. However, the book can also b e used in more formal
situations, including whole class activities where the teacher must give more
structure to the activity. We have chosen problems that can be used with
or without the structure of a formal classroom. The book can also be used
for self-study by a student alone.
We h ave departed somewhat from the usual presentation of problems
and solutions. The focus of the book is on mathematics and teaching. So
we have put the activity guides first . The problem statements, which often
come first in contest-problem books, are given in P art II. Some readers may
want to try the problems themselves, only later looking at the teaching
notes. And students working alone should certainly look at t he problems
first. These readers can simply turn to the activit ies section at the start of
their reading. In fact , there is no reason to begin a reading of t he book with
Chapter I. Each problem starts the exploration afresh.
The activity guide notes are more than just solutions. They are essays
about the mathematics involved, about how the first and simplest steps
mimic or foreshadow bolder progress towards deeper results. They also
contain t eaching notes gleaned from exp erience with students working these
problems. They offer hints for listening to the students and point out the
typical (and sometimes atypical) pathways that students find in working the
problem.
T he historical notes are not meant to be comprehensive. Rather, they
are there to entice t he reader to look into the people and cultures behind
the mathematics. We hope that including such notes in problem books will
become standard practice.
The best leaders are followers-followers of the minds of t he students,
looking at where t hey are, anticipating t heir next thoughts, and offering
the minimal support necessary for the student to achieve the next insight.
Hence, it is important t hat these notes be used appropriately. They are not
meant as lesson plans in the traditional sense. Rather , t hey are meant as
signposts to the user of what might lie ahead and which pathway to take.
So, for example, we sometimes offer a suggestion for a hint to t he stu-
dent , often in the form of a question. It is important that the teacher or
leader use these hints sparingly, giving as little support as possible so t hat
PREFACE XVll

students progress independently in their work. A hint given too early de-
prives the student of discovery, a hint given too late risks frustration. Timing
is everything. But timing cannot be put between the pages of a book. This
book-like any teaching guide-is only as good as the leader who uses it.
We hope readers will use it wisely.
These caveats are not meant to restrain the reader's delight in the book.
However you use it, in whatever order you read the materials, we wish you
joy in reading. We have enjoyed putting this material together and have
learned a lot in the process. We hope you will learn something as well. And
have fun while learning.
- Mark Saul and Alice Peters
Acknowledgements

It takes a village to produce a volume. We are pleased to acknowledge the


contributions of several people in the mathematics community who have
contributed to this book.
We wish to thank Nancy Blachman for founding the Julia Robinson
Mathematics Festival (JRMF) and for her generous support of the produc-
tion of this book. You can read about what led her to found the Festival in
her Foreword.
We also thank Joshua Zucker, the first Director of the JRMF, for his
guidance and for bringing Blachman's initial concept to reality. Many of the
problems presented in this book were posed by him and have been used at
Julia Robinson Mathematics Festivals.
We appreciate the work of Florence Fasanelli, who researched the history
of the problems and added enlightening notes about the p eople and cultures
that developed them.
Skona Brittain, with assistance from her daughter Rochelle Brittain,
went above and beyond what we grew to expect from editors and contributed
significantly to the correctness of the wording and mathematical content of
this manuscript.
Under the guidance of Skona Brittain, Kritika Ravichander created at-
tractive and informative illustrations for some of the chapters.
We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the following mathe-
maticians, whose work on the mathematical expositions improved the con-
tent of this book significantly: Hyman Bass, Edward Barbeau, Roger Howe,
William McCallum, Robin Pemantle. We also thank Nick Rauh for his
contribution to the notes for Chapter 5.
We are particularly grateful to David Scott for his careful reading and
re-reading of the manuscript and for his sensitive and helpful comments.

x ix
Part 1

Activity Guides
Chapter 1

Color Triangle Challenge

We start with a row of five colored disks. Each disk is one of three colors.
We then form a row of four colored disks beneath the initial row , according
to the following rules:1
• If the two disks above the disk to be placed are of the same color, then
the disk below is also that color.
• If the two disks above the disk to be placed are of different colors, then
the disk below is of the third color.

We repeat the process, thus forming a row of four disks , then three disks,
etc., until we arrive at a row of just one disk. The challenge is to predict the
color of that final disk by looking at the five init ial disks. The more general
problem would be to study t he action of t his iterative rule on init ial strings
of any number of disks.
This is a classic example of a problem that can be worked on several
levels. Younger students will have fun playing wit h t he pattern of format ion.
More sophisticated students will enjoy an alyzing t he various sit uations t hat
arise. Advanced students will find connections to well-known mathematical
objects and serious investigations.
We start our analysis using very simple tools, that students in elementary
school have. We then move to an arit hmetization of t he problem , suitable
only for more advanced students. But even advanced students should prob-
ably start with the simpler analysis, jumping to the arithmetic whenever
appropriate.

We will use red, yellow, and blue disks:

1
• o•
The Color Triangle C hallenge presented here is the creation of two mathematicians
who h ave worked to popularize mathem atics, E hrhard Behrends (1946- ) from Germany
a nd t h e British mathem atician Steve Humble (1965- ). It was published in Th e Mathemat-
ics Intelligencer, Volume 35, Issue 2 (2013) , pp. 10-15. http:/ / www. ehrhard-behrends.
de/pdf_zaubern/behrends_hurnble .pdf .

3
4 1. COLOR TRIANGLE CHALLENGE

Manipulatives are essent ial t o this activity. They help organize students'
exp eriences. In addition, brightly colored chips or counters will attract
a crowd of curious students, who can then get "hooked " on the game .
Looking up "colored chips" or "counting chips" online will bring up links
t o a number of vendors of this inexpensive manipulative, which can be
used for many other activit ies as well.

For a Festival, the facilitator should probably have a few examples of com-
plet ed triangles ready to show students, so that they can learn t he rule of
formation quickly. These can be printed out , or simply left on the table (in
an undisturbed corner) t o show p articipants who ap proach .

Here is an example:

Some Initial Explorations

(1) For each of t he init ial st art ing rows below, make a guess about what
the final (single) color will be. Then construct the color t riangles to
see if your guess was correct.

(a) - - - - -

S olution: The final single disk is blue.


SOME INITIAL EXPLORATIONS 5

Solution: The final single disk is yellow.

It is not hard to see that if any row contains just one color , all
the following rows will contain that color. This observat ion can be
elicited from students now, or after working Problem l(e) .

(c) - 0 - 0 -
Solution: The final single disk is red.

See Problem 1 (b) for a possible insight that students might have.
Another important insight is that P roblems 1 (b) and 1 (c) ar e iso-
morphic; i.e., they have the same structure. This may be h ard
for students t o articulat e, even if t hey see it. The p oint is t hat
the sp ecific colors are not important. What is important is which
colors match and which do not .

(d) - - - - -
Solution: The final single disk is red . This pattern is harder t o
pick out. The last color in each row alt ernat es between red and
yellow. Students can experiment t o see how this pat tern continues
with an initial row of n blue and one red disk.
6 1. COLOR TRIANGLE CHALLENGE

(e) - - - - -
Solution: The final single disk is blue.

Note: this is a tricky one! Only a few students will be able to predict
the final color. While it is usually easier to predict t hings if t here are
many disks of a single color, this is not always the case. The pattern
seems to vary wildly with the placement of the single disk of a different
color.

Compare the following initial row and solution with the previous
one:

Students should work these problems to become comfortable with


the rule of formation and to b egin to make conj ectures about what
is happening. It is unlikely at this stage that they will get a useful
insight into the problem.
For each of Pro blems 1 (a )-1 (e), students can be encouraged to
make up t heir own problem that follows the same pattern. Because
SOME INITIAL EXPLORATIONS 7

the "same pattern" is not well-defined, answers will vary. Students


can be encouraged to describe their pattern (which is sometimes
not easy) .

One insight that younger students should get is that the last color is in
fact determined by the initial array. At first, many younger students
think of the situation as a guessing game. Gradually, they become
aware that each row is determined by the previous row. Older or more
sophisticated students will know this without prior experimentation.

At this point it often becomes clear to students that the generated


pattern is a complicated one. So the facilitator might have to ask
how to break it down. The next two problems do this.

(2) How many different starting rows of three disks are there?

Solution: The real problem is to define "different." Certainly three


red disks and three blue disks as starting rows are not really different.
They are isomorphic in the same sense that Problems l(b) and l(c)
are. While very young students may see this, they may have trouble
describing it.
Similarly, a starting row of red, red, blue (RRB) and red, red,
yellow (RRY) are isomorphic. Exchanging blue and yellow renders the
two diagrams below identical.

One way to enact this for younger students is to ask them to construct
the diagram for RRB. Then ask them to guess-and-check the outcome
for RRY. Most will then get the idea of isomorphism.

So we can say that RRB and RRY are not really different enough
to count them differently. What about RRB and BRR? Even younger
students will see that the "flipping the row around" or "reading the row
backwards" doesn't change how we think of the situation. Younger stu-
dents can then count the rows of three disks to determine the different
ones. One way to break this into cases is to consider how many disks
are the same color.
• If a ll three disks are the same color (BBB, RRR, YYY) , there is
only one case and it is isomorphic to BBB.
8 1. COLOR TRIANGLE CHALLENGE

• If there are two disks the same color, there are two cases: BBR or
BRB. Every other arrangement is isomorphic to one of these, ei-
ther by" flipping" the row or by permuting (exchanging) the colors.
• If every disk is a different color, there is only one case: BRY.
Students can be asked how many actual arrangements there are
that are isomorphic to BRY. The answer is six, and this can lead to a
discussion of counting permutations. The corresponding question for
BBR or BRB is more difficult. We must select two colors, and the order
in which we select them is significant(!). For example, if we replace B
and R (in the arrangement BBR) by R and Y, respectively, we get
RRY. But if we replace B and R by Y and R , respectively, we get
YYR, which is different. So in selecting two colors to replace B and
R , we are counting permutations again~and not combinations. There
are six ways (counting order) to select two colors out of three.
This gives 12(!) rows isomorphic to BBR, because we can flip each
arrangement backwards. But only six rows isomorphic to BRB, because
this arrangement is symmetric: we don't get a new one by reading
it backwards. This counting problem gets significantly more difficult
with a row of four or more chips and leads to some advanced topics in
combinatorics.
At this point it may be useful to write down the four patterns with
three disks. We give the colors an order, which is the alphabetical order
of their names in English: blue, then red, then yellow. This will help
us to avoid two rows that are isomorphic.

Students will also come up with some interesting hypotheses. Some


hypotheses may even fit all four cases. But it would be unusual at this
point for a student to be able to describe any pattern that is useful for
more general cases. The facilitator should lead students to ask about
the situation with four disks.

Students can now "read off" the result starting with three disks, by
classifying the init ial row as isomorphic to one of these. This exercise
provides practice with the notion of isomorphism.

0 -
-
- - - - --
0 0 0
0

- 0
TOWARD A GENERALIZATION 9

(3) Determine the final color in these situ ations starting wit h four disks.

(a) - - - -
Solution: Students should see right away t hat the result is blue.

Solution: The final disk is yellow.

(c) - - - -
Solution: The final disk is yellow.

(d) - 0 - -
Solution: T he final disk is yellow.

-
- 0

Toward a Generalization
(1) We have already found the solution for a st arting row wit h four blue
disks. We now want to investigate some more cases starting with four
disks. W h at is the final color of the single remaining disk in each case?
10 1. COLOR T RIANGLE CHALLENGE

(a) - - - -

Solution: The final disk is blue.

Solution: The final disk is blue.

(c) - - Q -
Solution: The final disk is blue.

(d) W hy is it useful to study these three examples, along with t he one


in Problem 3(a) from the previous section? What do they all have
in common?

Solution: The most fruitful way to describe what t hese examples


have in common is to note t hat t hey all begin and end wit h t he
same color. A little thought will show that in fact these are the
only arrangements of four disks that b egin and end with the same
color, up to isomorphism. And t hey all end up wit h t he single
blue disk.
TOWARD A GENERALIZATION 11

This shows:

The o rem 1. If a row of four disks begins and ends with the same color,
then the final disk is of that same color.

Note: This is not the case if we start with three disks or five disks.

Now we want to investigate what happens if the beginning and ending


colors are different.

(2) What is the resulting disk color for each of the following initial rows?

(a) - - - -

Solution: The final disk is yellow.

Solution: The final disk is yellow.

--- --- 0

(c) - - - -
- - 0

Solution: The final disk is yellow.


12 1. COLOR TRIANGLE CHALLENGE

(d) - - 0 -
Solution: The final disk is yellow.

- - -000
- - - 0

(e) - Q - -
Solution: The final disk is yellow.

-- -- - 0
0

(f) - 0 0
•o•
e
Solution: The final disk is yellow.

-- 0
0
0
- -
- - 0
All the results come out wit h the final disk yellow! Again, a litt le
thought will show that these six arrangements are t he only arrange-
ments (up to isomorphism) of four disks for which the first and last
disks are different colors. And they all result in t he third color.
The orem 2. If a row of four disks begins and ends with different colors,
then the final disk is the third color.

We can rephrase bot h t heorems combined as follows:


For a row of four disks, the final disk is determined by the first and last
disk, by the same rule that det ermines each n ew row.
This is an interesting (and even excit ing!) result t hat cracks t he prob-
lem wide open. For example, students can go back to the problems
starting wit h five disks (which is why we start wit h five , and not four).
FURTHER GENERALIZATIONS 13

We look again at Problem 1(b). Here is how it plays out in detail:

- 0 - 0 - 0 - ® ®
0 0 ®
0 ®
0
The key insight is that if we ignore the rightmost entry in each of the
first four rows (those not in color above), then the remaining triangle is
one that begins with four disks , and follows t he same rule of formation
as the whole triangle. Since it begins wit h blue and ends wit h red, t he
result (on t he next-to-last line) must be yellow.
Similarly, if we ignore the leftmost entry in each of the first four
rows (t hose not in color below) , t he remaining triangle is again one
starting with four disks, so we can jump right to the next-to-last row
and predict that it will also be yellow. Then we only need look at the
row of two disks , and we get the result : yellow.

®
® - - -
®
0
0
0
0
0
® 0
0
So we can easily go from a row of five disks to a row of two disks.
Students can now go back to the problems with five-disc rows and do them
in their head , for practice. Note that there is no easier shortcut for five-letter
rows. We must break them down into two overlapping four letter rows.

Further Generalizations
(1) Suppose we start with t he following six-disk row:

e e ooo e
What will the result be?

Solution: We can again take the disks four at a time. The result of
each of t hese subproblems give us a row wit h t hree disks, which is easy
to resolve.
14 1. COLOR TRIANGLE CHALLENGE

Looking at the starting row

e e ooo e
and working from left to right , we first look at

e e oo
and know from Theorem 2 that the result is one red disk.
Next we look at
e ooo
and can easily find that the result is one blue disk.
Finally, we look at

ooo e
which results in a red disk.
Writing this three-disk row from the results above we have

---
So with this method, we we can jump from six disks to three. And
then continue according to our rules to get
00
0
(2) Predict the result of the following seven-disk row:

e e o e o ee
Solution: An initial row of seven is interesting. We get four sub-rows
of four each, which then form another row of four , and we can predict
t hings rather quickly:
Working from left to right with groups of four disks, we have
• Disks 1- 4 gives the result yellow

• Disks 2- 5 gives the result blue

• Disks 3-6 gives the result red

• Disks 4- 7 gives the result yellow


This gives us a row of four disks: 0 - - 0
which results in one yellow disk.
FURTHER GENERALIZATIONS 15

More advanced students may be able to recognize that we only need


to look at the first four disks from the left and t he last four on the
right. This is true because in a starting row of four disks, the result is
determined by the first and last disks.

(3) What will happen if we start with an initial row of eight disks or an
initial row of nine disks?
Solution: For an initial row of eight disks , there will be five groups of
four. So we jump to a row of five disks, then to a row of two disks,
then to the final result.
For an initial row of nine disks there will be six groups of four. So
we jump to a row of six disks, then a row of three disks, then the result.
(It is probably not necessary-unless students are having fun-to
actually work these.)

(4) What about an initial row of 10 disks? Try this with the st arting row

- - oo ____ _ _
(We will stop with 10, because certain patterns will suggest themselves which
require more sophistication to investigate.)
Solution: We can break this initial row into seven (overlapping) groups of
four disks each:

- - oo - oo - oo --
o---
That there will be seven rows is hinted at by the experimentation in
Problem 3.

Using Theorems 1 and 2, these seven rows of four reduce to:

-- -- -o-
Repeating the process, we can break down this row of seven into four rows
of four disks:

-- -- ----
-- -o --0-
16 1. COLOR TRIANGLE CHALLENGE

Again using the results of Theorems 1 and 2, we have

o ee o
which gives the result of yellow.

There is another way we can look at this problem. Suppose that we replace
one or two colors with Xi where Xi can be any of the colors. (We will use
the notation of a circled letter to represent the colored disks.) We begin
with

As above, we get seven groups of four disks each:

~~~
~~~~
and continuing the process we have

~~~~
0®00
... and the result is still 0! All of the X's in the middle end up not
counting.

But what if the X is on the end of a row of 10? That analysis is more
difficult, but it turns out t hat the final disk is again det ermined only by the
first and last disks.

Students may want to investigate this on their own. Or they can skip
over this case to the next sect ion, wher e it is explained more formally.

Applying Arithmetic
We can use arithmetic tools to analyze the color t riangles puzzle. Because
we have three colors we can do arithmet ic modulo 3.

Students who don't know this t erminology can sometimes intuit the
concepts just by calling the arithmetic "rem ainders when you divide
by 3" .
APPLYING ARITHMETIC 17

Suppose we let blue= 0, red= 1, and yellow = 2. We can then express


the law of formation of each row arithmetically, by examining the sum of the
numbers representing each color. We use+ here to mean addit ion modulo 3.
We will use EB, for the time being, to represent the result of two adjacent
disks.

Rule Arithmetic Equivalent


B EB B gives B 0 + 0 gives 0
B EB R gives Y 0 + 1 gives 2 (not 1)
B EB Y gives R 0 + 2 gives 1 (not 2)
R EB R gives R 1 + 1 gives 1 (not 2)
R EB Y gives B 1 + 2 gives O (which is 3 modulo 3)
Y EB Y gives Y 2 + 2 gives 2 (not 1, which is 4 modulo 3)
TABLE 1. Rules for row formation using arithmetic modulo 3.

Table 1 gives all of the possibilities (the color of the resulting disk does
not depend on the order of t he two original colors). Table 1 certainly doesn't
look like addition modulo 3. Notice that in each case, addition eit her gives
the correct answer (zero) or the "opposite" answer (1 when the result should
be 2, and 2 when the result should be 1).
Noting that 2 = -l(mod 3) , we can see that for any colors a and b, t hat
a EB b =-(a + b)(mod 3).
T his observation gives a key to the arithmetic analysis of t he game. For
example, let's take a general row of four disks:

a b C d
-(a + b) -(b + c) -(c + d)
(a+2b+c) (b+2 c +d)
- (a + 3b + 3c + d) ( 1)

But of course, 3b = 0 and 3c = 0 (mod 3) . So the resulting number is


-(a+ d) , which is just what we would get by ignoring the middle t wo disks.
We know t his from Theorem 2 in the first section, but here we have used
the tools of arithmetic to show it more elegantly. A similar an alysis can be
applied wit h starting rows of any number of disks.

(1) Apply arithmetic analysis to an initial row of five disks.


Solution: The reader may suspect that something is going to generalize.
So we will use subscripts, rather t han separate letters. And we will
b egin with the subscript 0. In the computation below, the value of
each ai is 0, 1 or 2. For reasons which will become clear , we will not
reduce modulo 3 unt il the very end.
18 1. COLOR TRIANGLE CHALLENGE

ao

-(ao + 3a1 + 3a2 + a3) -(a1 + 3a2 + 3a3 + a4)


(ao+4a1 +6a2 + 4a3+a4) (2)

Reducing modulo 3, we get t he result ao + a 1 + a3 + a4 .

(2) Check that this result matches with our computations in Problems
l(a)- 1(e) .

Connection to the Binomial Coefficients

It is not hard, looking at Expressions (1) and (2) to spot the binomial
coefficients. A binomial coefficient represents the number of combina-
tions of r items that can be selected from a set of n items and is written
as (;). It also represents an entry in P ascal's triangle (Figure 1). These
numbers are called binomial coefficients because they are coefficients
in the binomial theorem.
In fact, one way to describe the resulting color for a row of n
disks uses t he dot product. The dot product of two vectors, a =
(a1, a2 , ... , an) and b = (b1 , b2, . . . bn), is defined as a 1b1 + a2b2 + . . . +
anbn .
• We take the dot product of the original row values (expressed as
a vector) and row number (n - 1) of Pascal's Triangle (where we
st art counting the rows wit h 0), taken modulo 3.
• We multiply this dot product by (- 1r- 1 and reduce modulo 3.

1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
110 10 5 1
5
1 6 15 20 15 6 1
1 7 21 35 35 21 7 1
1 8 28 56 70 26 28 8 1
F IGURE 1. Pascal's Triangle.
CONNECTION TO THE BINOMIAL COEFFICIENTS 19

(3) How would we prove this?

Solution: As is the case with many problems involving binomial coef-


ficients, a proof by induction is not too difficult . We give an example,
not a proof, showing that t he case for n = 5 implies the case for n = 6.
A fully written-out proof is then not much more t han an exercise in
keeping track of subscripts.
We assume the result for any row of five disks. Suppose a row of
six disks is notated as

We will compute the penult imate row (consisting of two disks).


The first disk is the result of starting with the first five colors in t he
row above, so it is simply

The second disk in the penultimate row is t he one resulting for

By the induction hypothesis, this is

Note that the index of the binomial coefficient has not increased, but
the subscript of each a has.
We have computed arithmetically the two chips in the penult imate
row. To get the final chip (resulting from starting with our original
six), we add the expressions for t he two chips we have, multiply t his
sum by -1 , and reduce modulo 3. We get -1 times:
20 1. COLOR TRIANGLE CHALLENGE

But we know by t he usual law of formation for rows of Pascal's triangle


that

(~) + (~) = (~)

(~) + (~) = (~)

(: ) + (~) = ( ~)

(!) + (: ) = ( : )
Also, for completeness, we note that

So we h ave

which can be rewritten as

ao + (~)a1 + (~)a2+ (~)a3+ (:)a4 + a5.


This completes the proof.
The heart of t he proof is that t he rule for forming t he coefficients
of each row of a color triangle is the same as t he rule for forming each
row of Pascal's Triangle.

(4) We have seen that for n = 4 (a row of four disks), t he color of t he


result ing disk depends only on the first and last disk. The interior
disks of the row don't matter. Find some more values of n for which
this is true.
Solution: Now that we know that the coefficients of the resulting disk
color are the entries in Pascal's Triangle, we can see that we are really
asking which rows of Pascal's Triangle are all O modulo 3 (except for
t he init ial and final entries, which must be 1) .
Students can have fun computing this triangle. A copy of the first 35
rows is given in Figure 2. The rows 4, 10, and 28 satisfy t he condition
we describe. Students will easily conj ecture t h at the pattern cont inues
for rows numbered 3k + 1, where k = l , 2, .. ..
HISTORICAL NOTES 21

1
1 1
1 2 1
1 0 0 1
1 1 0 1
1
1 2 1 1
2 1
1 0 0 2
0 0 1
1 1 0 2
2 0 1 1
1 2 1 2
1 2 1 2 1
1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1
1 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 1
1 2 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1
1 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
1 2 1 1
2 1 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 2 1
1 0 0 2
0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1
1 1 0 2
2 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 2 0 1 1
1 2 1 2
1 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1
1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
1 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
1 2 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1
1 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
1 1 0 1
1 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
1 2 1 1
2 1 0 0 0 2 1 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 2 1
1 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 20 0 1
1 1 0 2
2 0 1 1 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 2 2 0 1 1
1 2 1 2
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1
1 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 1 1
1 2 1 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1
1 0 0 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1
1 2 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 2 1
1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1
1 1 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 2 0 1 1

FIGURE 2 . T he first 35 rows of Pascal's Triangle computed


mod 3.

Historical Notes
W hat is now known as Pascal's Triangle h as appeared in many cultures
over the centuries, so it is difficult to say where it was first thought of, or
by whom. We can distinguish two characterizations of t he entries to the
triangle. The "additive" characterization is G) + (nt1) = (~: i), where n
is t he row and k is t he column. T he "multiplicative" characterization is
(~) = n !/k!(n - k) !.
22 1. COLOR TRIANGLE CHALLENGE

In the 3rd century BC, the Indian mathematician Achary Pingala wrote
about the additive formula, and in the 9th century AD, Mahavira gave the
multiplicative characterization. A third Indian mathematician, Halayudha
(10th century) , gave an early example of these numbers placed in a triangle
form [A. W. F. Edwards, (2013), "The Arithmetical Triangle" in Robin Wil-
son, John J. Watkins, (eds.) , Combinatorics: Ancient and Modern, Oxford
University Press, pp. 166- 180].
The Persian mathematician Al-Karaji (953-1029) described the trian-
gle in a book that is now lost. Later, the poet and mathematician Omar
Khayyam (1048- 1131) used it in the extraction of roots (in a book also
lost) [Dirk J. Struik, "Omar Khayyam, Mathematician" in The Mathemat-
ics Teacher Vol. 51, No. 4 (April 1958) , pp. 280-285]. Today, in Iran,
students study the Khayyam triangle.
In China, the mathematician Yang Hui (1238- 1298) wrote of lost work
done earlier on the triangle by Jia Xian in the 11th century, so Chinese stu-
dents today study the Yang Hui triangle [Shen Kangshen, John N. Crossley
and Anthony W-C. Lun, The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, Ox-
ford University Press, 1999, p. 228].
Likewise, Italian students learn about the Triangolo di Tartaglia, named
for the mathematician Niccolo Fontana Tartaglia, who published six rows of
the triangle in 1556 [A. W. F. Edwards, (2013), "The Arithmetical Trian-
gle" in Robin Wilson, John J. Watkins, (eds.), Combinatorics: Ancient and
Modern, Oxford University Press, pp. 166- 180].
The French mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) collected some
results in Traite du triangle Arithmetique, written in 1654, and used them
to solve problems in probability theory. The triangle soon acquired the name
"Pascal's Triangle" in English texts.
Chapter 2

Magic Squares and Algebra

In the classroom, magic squares are usually seen as brain teasers, or venues
for practicing addition. We will show how they can actually be used to
introduce and develop concepts from higher mathematics.

In this activity, we use an ancient and well-known puzzle to illustrate


concepts of mathematics that were developed in modern times. It is
important t hat students work with some ma nipulative to accomplish t he
construction of t he magic squares. Ordinary p laying cards are fine to
begin with: ignore the suits and just use the numbers. For magic squares
with larger numbers, often students don't need the cards anymore. Or,
they can simply use slips of paper with the larger nu mbers written on them.

Note that for this activity it is not essential that the playing cards form a
standard deck. Many leaders of math circles or math festivals collect worn
or incomplete decks of cards, which can be used in many activities.

Const ru cting a M agic Square


(1) F ill in x and y so that the sum of the numbers in each of the three
rows is the same:

3 9 2
5 X 7
y 3 8

Solution: From the first row, we see that the common sum must be
3 + 9 + 2 = 14.
So 5 + x + 7 = 14, and x = 2. Then y + 3 + 8 = 14 and y = 3.

(2) Look at the square array of numbers below.

4 8 7
6 10 4
1 9 8
23
24 2. MAGIC SQUARES AND ALGEBRA

The sums of the columns (reading up and down) are different:

4 8 7
6 10 4
1 9 8
Column sums: 11 27 19

But if you switch the positions of two of the nine numbers, you can
make the column sums equal. Can you find those two numbers?

Hint: If the column sums are equal, what must each column sum be?

Solution: We follow t he hint. If we add t he column sums together, we


get
11 + 27 + 19 = 57.
This must be t he sum of all nine numbers. Since there are t hree
columns, each column sum must be 57/3 = 19. Now that we know
the target sum, we can search for the two numbers to switch. The
third-column sum is correct, so we should avoid t he numbers in the
t hird column. The first-column sum is too small, by 8. The second-
column sum is too big, also by 8. So we need to increase the first
column by 8 and decrease the second column by 8. We can do t his if
we can locate two numbers next to each other that differ by 8. In fact,
we can just switch the 1 and the 9. We get

4 8 7
6 10 4
9 1 8

and t he column sums are each 19.

4 8 7
6 10 4
9 1 8
Column sums: 19 19 19

(3) Here is a square of numbers whose column sums are the same:

10 12 8
6 10 9
9 3 8

But t he row sums are not t he same. Can you make the row sums
the same, and still keep the column sums equal?
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Fig. 241.—Lips of a Wrasse,
Labrus festivus.
The “Wrasses” are a large family of littoral fishes, very abundant
in the temperate and tropical zones, but becoming scarcer towards
the Arctic and Antarctic circles, where they disappear entirely. Many
of them are readily recognised by their thick lips, which are
sometimes internally folded, a peculiarity which has given to them
the German term of “Lip-fishes.” They feed chiefly on mollusks and
crustaceans, their dentition being admirably adapted for crushing
hard substances. Many species have a strong curved tooth at the
posterior extremity of the intermaxillary, for the purpose of pressing a
shell against the lateral and front teeth by which it is crushed. Other
Wrasses feed on corals, others on zoophytes; a few are herbivorous.
In all Wrasses the upper pharyngeal bones seem to be jointed to the
basi-occipital; but whilst in Labrus the basi-occipital is raised on each
side into a large flattish condyle, fitting into a concavity of the upper
pharyngeals, in Scarus the mode of articulation is reversed, the basi-
occipital having a pair of long grooves, in which the oblong condyles
of the upper pharyngeals slide forwards and backwards. Beautiful
colours prevail in this family, permanent pigmentary colours as well
as passing iridescent reflections of the scales. Some species remain
very small, others grow to a weight of fifty pounds. The larger kinds
especially are prized as food, the smaller less so.
Remains of Labridæ, recognised by their united pharyngeals,
which bear molar-like teeth, are not scarce in tertiary formations of
France, Germany, Italy, and England. Such remains from Monte
Bolca and the Swiss Molasse have been referred to the genus
Labrus. Others, Nummopalatus and Phyllodus, are allied, but cannot
be assigned, to one of the recent genera; the latter genus is first
represented in cretaceous formations of Germany. Another genus,
Taurinichthys, from the Miocene of France, represents the Odacina
of the living fauna. Egertonia, from the Isle of Sheppey, differs so
much from all recent Labroid genera that its pertinence to this family
appears doubtful.
[See J. Cocchi, Monografia dei Pharyngodopilidæ, 1866; and E.
Sauvage, Sur le genre Nummopalatus, in Bull. Soc. Geol. France,
1875.]
Labrus.—Body compressed, oblong, covered with scales of
moderate size, in more than forty transverse series; snout more or
less pointed; imbricate scales on the cheeks and opercles; none or
only a few on the interoperculum. Teeth in the jaws conical, in a single
series. Dorsal spines numerous, thirteen or twenty-one, none of which
are prolonged; anal spines three. Lateral line not interrupted.
Young “Wrasses” differ from mature specimens in having the
præoperculum serrated. The headquarters of this genus are the
Mediterranean, whence it ranges, gradually diminishing towards the
north, along all the shores of Europe. Nine species are known;
British are the “Ballan Wrasse” (L. maculatus), and the “Striped or
Red Wrasse” or “Cook” (L. mixtus). The two sexes of the latter
species are very differently coloured; the male being generally
ornamented with blue streaks, or a blackish band along the body,
whilst the female has two or three large black blotches across the
back of the tail.
Crenilabrus are Labrus with serrated præoperculum; the number
of their dorsal spines varies from thirteen to eighteen, and the scales
are arranged in less than forty transverse series.
The range of this genus is co-extensive with Labrus. C. melops,
the “Gold-sinny,” or “Cork-wing,” is common on the British coasts.
Tautoga.—Body compressed, oblong, covered with small scales;
scales on the cheek rudimentary, opercles naked. Teeth in the jaws
conical, in double series; no posterior canine tooth. Dorsal spines
seventeen, anal spines three. Lateral line not interrupted.
The “Tautog,” or “Black-fish,” is common on the Atlantic coasts of
temperate North America, and much esteemed as food.
Ctenolabrus.—Body oblong, covered with scales of moderate
size; imbricate scales on the cheeks and opercles. Teeth in the jaws in
a band, with an outer series of stronger conical teeth; no posterior
canine tooth. Dorsal spines from sixteen to eighteen; anal spines
three. Lateral line not interrupted.
Four species, from the Mediterranean and the temperate parts of
the North Atlantic, Ct. rupestris being common on the British, and Ct.
burgall on the North American coasts.
Acantholabrus.—A Wrasse with five or six anal spines, and with
the teeth in a band.

From the Mediterranean and British coasts (A. palloni).


Centrolabrus.—Wrasses with four or five anal spines, and with
the teeth in a single series.

Two species are known from Madeira and the Canary Islands,
and one from northern Europe and Greenland. The latter is scarce
on the British coasts, but bears a distinct name on the south coast,
where it is called “Rock-cook.”
Lachnolaemus from the West Indies, and Malacopterus from
Juan Fernandez, are Labroids, closely allied to the preceding North
Atlantic genera.
Cossyphus.—Body compressed, oblong, with scales of moderate
size; snout more or less pointed; imbricate scales on the cheeks and
opercles; basal portion of the vertical fins scaly. Lateral line not
interrupted. Teeth in the jaws in a single series; four canine teeth in
each jaw anteriorly; a posterior canine tooth. Formula of the fins: D.
12/9–11, A. 3/12.
Twenty species are known from the tropical zone and coasts
adjoining it; some, like G. gouldii from Tasmania, attain a length of
three or four feet.
Chilinus.—Body compressed, oblong, covered with large scales;
lateral line interrupted; cheeks with two series of scales;
præoperculum entire; teeth in a single series, two canines in each jaw;
no posterior canine tooth; lower jaw not produced backwards. Dorsal
spines subequal in length; formula of the fins: D. 9–10/10–9, A. 3/8.
Common in the tropical Indo-Pacific, whence more than twenty
species are known. Hybrids between the different species of this
genus are not uncommon.
Epibulus.—Closely allied to the preceding genus, but with a very
protractile mouth, the ascending branches of the intermaxillaries, the
mandibles, and the tympanic being much prolonged.
This fish (E. insidiator) is said to seize marine animals by
suddenly thrusting out its mouth and engulphing those that come
within the reach of the elongated tube. It attains a length of twelve
inches, is common in the tropical Indo-Pacific, and varies much in
coloration.
Anampses.—Distinguished by its singular dentition, the two front
teeth of each jaw being prominent, directed forwards, compressed,
with cutting edge. D. 9/12, A. 3/12.
Beautifully coloured fishes from the tropical Indo-Pacific. Ten
species.
Platyglossus.—Scales in thirty or less transverse series; lateral
line not interrupted. A posterior canine tooth. Dorsal spines nine.
Small beautifully coloured Coral-fishes, abundant in the
equatorial zone and the coasts adjoining it. Some eighty species are
known (inclusive of the allied genera Stethojulis, Leptojulis, and
Pseudojulis).
Novacula.—Body strongly compressed, oblong, covered with
scales of moderate size; head compressed, elevated, obtuse, with the
supero-anterior profile more or less parabolic; head nearly entirely
naked. Lateral line interrupted. No posterior canine tooth. D. 9/12, A.
3/12; the two anterior dorsal spines sometimes remote or separate
from the others.
Twenty-six species are known from the tropical zone, and the
warmer parts of the temperate zones. They are readily recognised
by their compressed, knife-shaped body, and peculiar physiognomy;
they scarcely exceed a length of twelve inches.
Julis.—Scales of moderate size; lateral line not interrupted. Head
entirely naked. Snout of moderate extent, not produced; no posterior
canine tooth. Dorsal spines ten.
Co-extensive with Platyglossus in their geographical distribution,
and of like beautiful coloration and similar habits. Some of the most
common fishes of the Indo-Pacific, as J. lunaris, trilobata, and
dorsalis, belong to this genus.
Coris.—Scales small, in fifty or more transverse series; lateral line
not interrupted. Head entirely naked. Dorsal spines nine.
Twenty-three species, distributed like Platyglossus; two reach the
south coast of England, Coris julis and C. giofredi, said to be male
and female of the same species. Some belong to the most
gorgeously coloured kinds of the whole class of fishes.
Genera allied to the preceding Labroids are—Choerops,
Xiphochilus, Semicossyphus, Trochocopus, Decodon, Pteragogus,
Clepticus, Labrichthys, Labroides, Duymæria, Cirrhilabrus,
Doratonotus, Pseudochilinus, Hemigymnus, Gomphosus, Cheilio,
and Cymolutes.
Pseudodax.—Scales of moderate size; lateral line continuous;
cheeks and opercles scaly. Each jaw armed with two pairs of broad
incisors, and with a cutting lateral edge; teeth of the lower pharyngeal
confluent, pavement-like. Dorsal spines eleven.

One species (P. moluccensis) from the East Indian Archipelago.


Scarus.—Jaws forming a sharp beak, the teeth being soldered
together. The lower jaw projecting beyond the upper. A single series of
scales on the cheek; dorsal spines stiff, pungent; the upper lip double
in its whole circuit. The dentigerous plate of the lower pharyngeal is
broader than long.

The fishes of this genus, and the three succeeding, are known by
the name of “Parrot-wrasses.” Of Scarus one species (S. cretensis)
occurs in the Mediterranean, and nine others in the tropical Atlantic.
The first was held in high repute by the ancients, and Aristotle has
several passages respecting its rumination. It was most plentiful and
of the best quality in the Carpathian Sea, between Crete and Asia
Minor, but was not unknown even in early times on the Italian coasts,
though Columella says that it seldom passed beyond Sicily in his
day. But in the reign of Claudius, according to Pliny, Optatus
Elipentius brought it from the Troad, and introduced it into the sea
between Ostium and Campagna. For five years all that were caught
in the nets were thrown into the sea again, and from that time it was
an abundant fish in that locality. In the time of Pliny it was considered
to be the first of fishes (Nunc Scaro datur principatus); and the
expense incurred by Elipentius was justified, in the opinion of the
Roman gourmands, by the extreme delicacy of the fish. It was a fish,
said the poets, whose very excrements the gods themselves were
unwilling to reject. Its flesh was tender, agreeable, sweet, easy of
digestion, and quickly assimilated; yet if it happened to have eaten
an Aplysia, it produced violent diarrhœa. In short, there is no fish of
which so much has been said by ancient writers. In the present day
the Scarus of the Archipelago is considered to be a fish of exquisite
flavour; and the Greeks still name it Scaro, and eat it with a sauce
made of its liver and intestines. It feeds on fucus; and Valenciennes
thinks that the necessity for masticating its vegetable diet thoroughly,
and the working of it with that intent backwards and forwards in the
mouth, may have given rise to the notion of its being a ruminant; and
it is certain that its aliment is very finely divided when it reaches the
stomach.
Fig. 242.—Scarichthys auritus.
Scarichthys.—Differing from Scarus only in having flexible dorsal
spines.

Two species from the Indo-Pacific.


Callyodon.—Differing from Scarichthys in having the upper lip
double posteriorly only.
Nine species from the tropical zone.
Pseudoscarus.—Jaws forming a strong beak, the teeth being
soldered together. The upper jaw projecting beyond the lower. Two or
more series of scales on the cheek. The dentigerous plate of the lower
pharyngeal longer than broad.
This tropical genus contains by far the greatest number of
Scaroid Wrasses, some seventy species being known, and a still
greater number of names being introduced into the various
Ichthyological works. They are beautifully coloured, but the colours
change with age, and vary in an extraordinary degree in the same
species. They rapidly fade after death, so that it is almost impossible
to recognise in preserved specimens the species described from
living individuals. Many attain to a rather large size, upwards of three
feet in length. The majority are eaten, but some acquire poisonous
properties from their food, which consists either of corals or of fucus.
Odax.—The edge of each jaw is sharp, without distinct teeth. The
dentigerous plate of the lower pharyngeal triangular, much broader
than long. Cheeks and opercles scaly; scales of the body small or
rather small; lateral line continuous. Snout conical. Dorsal spines
rather numerous, flexible.

Fig. 243.—Odax radiatus.


Six species from the coasts of Australia and New Zealand. Small.
The species figured (O. radiatus) is from Western Australia.
Coridodax.—Jaws as in Odax, head naked. Scales of the body
small; lateral line continuous. Snout of moderate extent. Dorsal spines
numerous, flexible.

The “Butter-fish,” or “Kelp-fish” of the colonists of New Zealand


(C. pullus), is prized as food, and attains to a weight of four or five
pounds. It feeds on zoophytes, scraping them from the surface of the
kelp, with its curiously formed teeth. Its bones are green, like those
of Belone.
Olistherops, from King George’s Sound, has scales of
moderate size, but agrees otherwise with Coridodax.
Siphonognathus.—Head and body very elongate, snout long, as
in Fistularia; upper jaw terminating in a long, pointed, skinny
appendage; opercles and cheeks scaly; scales of moderate size;
lateral line continuous. Dorsal spines numerous, flexible. Jaws as in
Odax; the dentigerous plate of the lower pharyngeal very narrow.
S. argyrophanes, from King George’s Sound, is the most
aberrant type of Wrasses, whose principal characters are retained,
but united with a form of the body which resembles that of a Pipe-
fish.

Third Family—Embiotocidæ.
Body compressed, elevated or oblong, covered with cycloid
scales; lateral line continuous. One dorsal fin, with a spinous portion,
and with a scaly sheath along the base, which is separated by a
groove from the other scales; anal with three spines and numerous
rays; ventral fins thoracic, with one spine and five rays. Small teeth
in the jaws, none on the palate. Pseudobranchiæ present. Stomach
siphonal, pyloric appendages none. Viviparous.
Marine Fishes characteristic of the fauna of the temperate North
Pacific, the majority living on the American side, and only a few on
the Asiatic. All are viviparous (see Fig. 70, p. 159). Agassiz
describes the development of the embryoes as a normal ovarian
gestation, the sac containing the young not being the oviduct but the
ovarian sheath, which fulfils the functions of the ovary. This organ
presents two modes of arrangement: in one there is a series of
triangular membranous flaps communicating with each other,
between which the young are arranged, mostly longitudinally, the
head of one to the tail of another, but sometimes with the bodies
curved, to the number of eighteen or twenty; in the other, the cavity
is divided by three membranes converging to a point, into four
compartments, not communicating with each other except towards
the genital opening, the young being arranged in the same
longitudinal manner. The proportionate size of the young is very
remarkable. In a female specimen 10½ inches long, and 4½ inches
high, the young were nearly 3 inches long and 1 inch high.
Seventeen species are known, the majority of which belong to
Ditrema, and one to Hysterocarpus. They do not attain to a large
size, varying from three-quarters to three pounds in weight.
Fourth Family—Chromides.
Body elevated, oblong or elongate, scaly, the scales being
generally ctenoid. Lateral line interrupted or nearly so. One dorsal
fin, with a spinous portion; three or more anal spines; the soft anal
similar to the soft dorsal. Ventral fins thoracic, with one spine and
five rays. Teeth in the jaws small, palate smooth. Pseudobranchiæ
none. Stomach coecal; pyloric appendages none.
Freshwater-fishes of rather small size from the tropical parts of
Africa and America; one genus from Western India. The species with
lobate teeth, and with many circumvolutions of the intestines, are
herbivorous, the other carnivorous.
Etroplus.—Body compressed, elevated, covered with ctenoid
scales of moderate size. Lateral line indistinct. Dorsal and anal spines
numerous. Teeth compressed, lobate, in one or two series. Anterior
prominences of the branchial arches not numerous, short, conical,
hard. Dorsal fin not scaly.
Two species from Ceylon and Southern India.
Chromis.—Body compressed, oblong, covered with cycloid scales
of moderate size. Dorsal spines numerous, anal spines three. Teeth
compressed, more or less lobate, in one series. Anterior prominences
of the branchial arches short, thin, lamelliform, non-serrated. Dorsal
fin not scaly.
Some twenty species are known from the fresh waters of Africa
and Palestine; the most celebrated is the “Bulti,” or “Bolty,” of the
Nile, one of the few well-flavoured fishes of that river; it grows to the
length of twenty inches. Two or three species of this genus occur in
the Jordan and Lake of Galilee.
Fig. 244.—Chromis andreæ, from the Lake of Galilee.
Hemichromis, differing from Chromis in having conical teeth in
one or two series.

Ten species, the range of which is co-extensive with that of


Chromis. One species, H. sacra, is abundant in the Lake of Galilee.
Paretroplus, differing from Hemichromis in having nine anal
spines.

One species from Madagascar.


Acara.—Body compressed, oblong, covered with ctenoid scales
of moderate size. Dorsal spines numerous, anal spines three or four;
base of the soft dorsal nearly uncovered by scales. Teeth in a band,
small, conical. Anterior prominences of the first branchial arch very
short tubercles.
Some twenty species are known from the fresh waters of Tropical
America, A. bimaculata being one of the most common fishes of that
region. All are very small.
Heros.—Differing from Acara in having more than four anal
spines.
Some fifty species are known from the fresh waters of Tropical
America, especially Central America, where almost every large lake
or river is tenanted by one or more peculiar species. They are of
rather small size, rarely exceeding a length of twelve inches.

Fig. 245.—Heros salvini, from Central America.


Genera allied to Heros, and likewise from Tropical America, are
Neetroplus, Mesonauta, Petenia, Uaru, and Hygrogonus.
Cichla.—Form of the body perch-like. Scales small; the spinous
and soft portions of the dorsal fin of nearly equal extent, and
separated by a notch; anal spines three. Each jaw with a broad band
of villiform teeth. The outer branchial arch with lanceolate crenulated
prominences along its concave side. Dorsal and anal fins scaly.
Four species from Brazil, Guyana, and Peru.
Crenicichla.—Body low, sub-cylindrical; scales small or rather
small. The spinous portion of the dorsal is much more developed than
the soft, both being continuous, and not separated by a notch; anal
spines three. Præopercular margin serrated. Each jaw with a band of
conical teeth. The outer branchial arch with short tubercles. Dorsal
and anal fins naked.

Ten species from Brazil and Guyana.


The following genera complete the list of South American
Chromides: Chætobranchus, Mesops, Satanoperca, Geophagus,
Symphysodon, and Pterophyllum.

THIRD ORDER—ANACANTHINI.
Vertical and ventral fins without spinous rays. The ventral fins, if
present, are jugular or thoracic. Air-bladder, if present, without
pneumatic duct.
These characters are common to all the members of this order,
with the exception of a freshwater-fish from Tasmania and South
Australia (Gadopsis), which has the anterior portion of the dorsal and
anal fins formed of spines.

First Division—Anacanthini Gadoidei.


Head and body symmetrically formed.

First Family—Lycodidæ.
Vertical fins confluent. Ventral fin, if present, small, attached to
the humeral arch, jugular. Gill-opening narrow, the gill-membrane
being attached to the isthmus.
Marine littoral fishes of small size, resembling Blennies, chiefly
represented in high latitudes, but a few living within the tropical zone.
Lycodes.—Body elongate, covered with minute scales imbedded
in the skin, or naked; lateral line more or less indistinct. Eye of
moderate size. Ventral small, short, rudimentary, jugular, composed of
several rays. Upper jaw overlapping the lower. Conical teeth in the
jaws, on the vomer, and on the palatine bones. Barbel none. Five or
six branchiostegals; gill-opening narrow, the gill-membranes being
attached to the isthmus. Pseudobranchiæ present. Air-bladder none.
Pyloric appendages two, or rudimentary, or entirely absent. No
prominent anal papilla.
Fig. 246.—Lycodes mucosus, from Northumberland Sound.
Nine species are known from the Arctic Ocean, four from the
southern extremity of the American continent.
Gymnelis.—Body elongate, naked. Eye of moderate size or rather
small. Ventrals none. Vent situated at some distance backwards from
the head. Small conical teeth in the jaws, on the vomer and palatine
bones. Jaws equal anteriorly. Barbel none. Six branchiostegals; gill-
opening narrow, the gill membranes being attached to the isthmus.
Pseudobranchiæ present; air-bladder none. Pyloric appendages two;
no prominent anal papilla.

Fig. 247.—Gymnelis viridis.


One species (G. viridis) from Greenland, the other (G. pictus)
from the Straits of Magelhæn.
The other genera belonging to this family are Uronectes from
Baffin’s Bay, Microdesmus from Panama, Blennodesmus from the
coast of North-Eastern Australia, and Maynea from the Straits of
Magelhæn.

Second Family—Gadidæ.
Body more or less elongate, covered with small smooth scales.
One, two, or three dorsal fins, occupying nearly the whole of the
back; rays of the posterior dorsal well developed; one or two anal
fins. Caudal free from dorsal and anal, or, if they are united, the
dorsal with a separate anterior portion. Ventrals jugular, composed of
several rays, or, if they are reduced to a filament, the dorsal is
divided into two. Gill-opening wide; the gill-membranes generally not
attached to the isthmus. Pseudobranchiæ none, or glandular,
rudimentary. An air-bladder and pyloric appendages generally
present.
The family of “Cod-fishes” consists partly of littoral and surface
species (and they form the majority), partly of deep-sea forms. The
former are almost entirely confined to the temperate zones,
extending beyond the Arctic Circle; the latter have, as deep-sea
fishes generally, a much wider range, and hitherto have been found
chiefly at considerable depths of rather low latitudes. Only two or
three species inhabit fresh waters. They form one of the most
important articles of food and subsistence to the fishermen in Europe
and North America, and to whole tribes bordering upon the Arctic
Ocean.
Fossil remains are scarce. Nemopteryx and Palæogadus have
been described from the schists of Glaris, a formation believed to
have been the bottom of a very deep sea. In the clay of Sheppey
species occur allied to Gadus, Merluccius, and Phycis; others, not
readily determinable, have been found at Licata in Sicily (Miocene).
Gadus.—Body moderately elongate, covered with small scales. A
separate caudal, three dorsal, and two anal fins; ventrals narrow,
composed of six or more rays. Teeth in the upper jaw in a narrow
band; vomerine teeth; none on the palatines.
Arctic and temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere.
Eighteen species are known, of which the following are the most
important:—
Gadus morrhua, the common “Cod-fish”—in German called
“Kabeljau” when fresh and old, “Dorsch” when young and fresh,
“Stock-fish” when dried, “Labberdan” when salted—measures from
two to four feet, and attains to a weight of one hundred pounds. On
the British coasts and in the German Ocean it is generally of a
greenish or brownish-olive colour, with numerous yellowish or brown
spots. Farther northwards darker-coloured specimens, frequently
without any spots, predominate; and on the Greenland, Iceland, and
North Scandinavian coasts the Cod have often a large irregular black
blotch on the side. The Cod-fish occurs between 50° and 75° lat. N.,
in great profusion, to a depth of 120 fathoms, but is not found nearer
the Equator than 40° lat. Close to the coast it is met with singly all
the year round, but towards the spawning-time it approaches the
shore in numbers, which happens in January in England and not
before May on the American coasts. The English resorted to the cod-
fisheries of Iceland before the year 1415, but since the sixteenth
century most vessels go to the banks of Newfoundland, and almost
all the preserved Cod consumed during Lent in the various
continental countries is imported from across the Atlantic. At one
time the Newfoundland cod-fishery rivalled in importance the whale-
fishery and the fur trade of North America. Cod-liver oil is prepared
from the liver on the Norwegian coast, but also other species of this
genus contribute to this most important drug.
Gadus tomcodus abundantly occurs on the American coasts; it
remains within smaller dimensions than the common Cod-fish.
Gadus æglefinus, the “Haddock” (“Schell-fisch” of the Germans,
“Hadot” of the French), is distinguished by a black lateral line and a
blackish spot above the pectoral fin. It attains to a length of three feet
in the higher latitudes, but remains smaller on more southern coasts;
like the Cod it extends across the Atlantic. The largest specimens
are taken on the British coast in winter, because at that time they
leave the deep water to spawn on the coast. Gadus merlangus, the
“Whiting,” with a black spot in the axil of the pectoral fin. Gadus
luscus, the “Bib,” “Pout,” or “Whiting-pout,” with cross-bands during
life, and with a black axillary spot, rarely exceeding a weight of five
pounds. Gadus fabricii, a small species, but occurring in incredible
numbers on the shores near the Arctic circle, and ranging to 80° lat.
N. Gadus pollachius, the “Pollack,” without a barbel at the chin, and
with the lower jaw projecting beyond the upper. Gadus virens, the
“Coal-fish,” valuable on account of its size and abundance, and
therefore preserved for export like the Cod.
The fishes of the genus Gadus are bathymetrically succeeded by
several genera, as Gadiculus, Mora, and Strinsia; however these do
not descend to sufficiently great depths to be included into the deep-
sea Fauna; the two following are true deep-sea fishes.
Halargyreus.—Body elongate, covered with small scales. Two
dorsal and two anal fins; ventrals composed of several rays. Jaws with
a band of minute villiform teeth; vomer and palatines toothless. No
barbel.
The single species known, H. johnsonii, proves to be a deep-sea
fish by its organisation as well as geographical distribution. Originally
known from a single specimen, which was obtained at Madeira, it
has since been found off the coast of New Zealand. There is no
doubt that it will be discovered also in intermediate seas.
Melanonus.—Head and body rather compressed, covered with
cycloid scales of moderate size, and terminating in a long tapering tail,
without caudal. Eye of moderate size. Villiform teeth in the jaws, on
the vomer and palatine bones. Barbel none. A short anterior dorsal,
the second extending to the end of the tail, and the anal being of
similar length. Ventrals composed of several rays. Bones soft and
flexible.
This is one of the discoveries made during the expedition of the
“Challenger.” The single specimen obtained is of a deep-black
colour, and was dredged up at a depth of 1975 fathoms in the
Antarctic Ocean.
Merluccius.—Body elongate, covered with very small scales. A
separate caudal; two dorsal fins and one anal; ventrals well
developed, composed of seven rays. Teeth in the jaws and on the
vomer rather strong, in double or triple series. No barbel.
Two species are known of this genus, widely separated in their
distribution. The European species, M. vulgaris, the “Hake,” is found
on both sides of the Atlantic, and grows to a length of four feet. It is
caught in great numbers, and preserved as “Stock-fish.” The second
species M. gayi, is common in the Straits of Magelhæn and on the
coast of Chili, less so in New Zealand.
The vertebral column of this genus shows a singular modification
of the apophyses. The neural spines of all the abdominal vertebræ
are extremely strong, dilated, wedged into one another. The
parapophyses of the third to sixth vertebræ are slender, styliform,
whilst those of all the following abdominal vertebræ are very long
and broad, convex on the upper and concave on the lower surface;
the two or three anterior pairs are, as it were, inflated. The whole
forms a strong roof for the air-bladder, reminding us of a similar
structure in Kurtus.
Pseudophycis.—Body of moderate length, covered with rather
small scales. A separate caudal, two dorsals, and one anal; ventral
fins very narrow and styliform, but composed of several rays. Jaws
with a band of small teeth; vomer and palatines toothless. Chin with a
barbel.
Two species, of which Ps. bachus is common on the coast of
New Zealand.
Allied genera are Lotella, Physiculus, Uraleptus, and
Læmonema, from moderate depths, obtained chiefly off Madeira and
the Southern Temperate Zone.

Fig. 248.—Pseudophycis bachus.


Phycis.—Body of moderate length, covered with small scales.
Fins more or less enveloped in loose skin. A separate caudal; two
dorsal fins and one anal; the anterior dorsal composed of from eight to
ten rays; ventrals reduced to a single long ray, bifid at its end. Small
teeth in the jaws and on the vomer; palatine bones toothless. Chin
with a barbel.
Six species from the temperate parts of the North Atlantic and the
Mediterranean, one, Ph. blennioides, is occasionally found on the
British coast.
Haloporphyrus.—Body elongate, covered with small scales. A
separate caudal, two dorsal fins, and one anal; the first dorsal with
four rays; ventrals narrow, composed of six rays. Jaws and vomer with
villiform teeth; palatine bones toothless. Chin with a barbel.
A small genus of deep-sea fishes, of which three species are
known. They offer a striking instance of the extraordinary distribution
of deep-sea fishes; H. lepidion occurs in from 100 to 600 fathoms in
the Mediterranean and the neighbouring parts of the Atlantic, off the
coast of Japan, and various parts of the South Atlantic; H. australis
in from 55 to 70 fathoms in the Straits of Magelhæn; and finally H.
rostratus in from 600 to 1375 fathoms, midway between the Cape of
Good Hope and Kerguelen’s Land, and in the South Atlantic.
Lota.—Body elongate, covered with very small scales. A separate
caudal, two dorsal fins, and one anal; ventrals narrow, composed of
six rays. Villiform teeth in the jaws and on the vomer; none on the
palatines. The first dorsal with from ten to thirteen well-developed
rays. Chin with a barbel.
The “Burbot,” or “Eel-pout” (L. vulgaris, Fig. 8, p. 43), is a
Freshwater-fish which never enters salt water. It is locally distributed
in Central and Northern Europe and North America; it is one of the
best Freshwater-fishes, and exceeds a length of three feet.
Molva.—Differs from Lota in having several large teeth in the
lower jaw and on the vomer.
The “Ling” (M. vulgaris) is a very valuable species, common on
the northern coasts of Europe, Iceland, and Greenland; and
generally found from three to four feet long. The larger number of the
specimens caught are cured and dried.
Motella.—Body elongate, covered with minute scales. A separate
caudal. Two dorsal fins, the anterior of which is reduced to a narrow
rayed fringe, more or less concealed in a longitudinal groove; the first
ray is prolonged. One anal fin. Ventrals composed of from five to
seven rays. A band of teeth in the jaws and on the vomer.
Eight species of “Rocklings” are known from the coasts of
Europe, Iceland, Greenland, Japan, the Cape of Good Hope, and
New Zealand. They are of small size, and chiefly distinguished by
the number of their barbels. British are the Five-bearded Rockling
(M. mustela), the Three-bearded Rocklings (M. tricirrhata,
macrophthalma, and maculata), and the Four-bearded Rockling (M.
cimbria). M. macrophthalma comes from a depth of from 80 to 180
fathoms. The young are known as “Mackerel Midge” (Couchia), and
sometimes met with in large numbers at some distance from the
coast.
Raniceps.—Head large, broad, and depressed; body of moderate
length, covered with minute scales. A separate caudal. Two dorsal
fins, the anterior of which is very short, rudimentary. One anal fin.
Ventrals composed of six rays. Cardlike teeth in the jaws and on the
vomer.
The “Trifurcated Hake,” R. trifurcus, not uncommon on the coasts
of Northern Europe.
Bregmaceros.—Body fusiform, compressed posteriorly, covered
with cycloid scales of moderate size. Two dorsal fins; the anterior
reduced to a single long ray on the occiput; the second and the anal
much depressed in the middle; ventrals very long, composed of five
rays. Teeth small.

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