as I am told, obliged to discontinue the improvement of his discovery. Indeed, it is a vain attempt to manufacture among ourselves those things which may be more naturally and cheaply supplied elsewhere. We have many trades that are unnaturally, if I may so express it, employed among us, who furnish more laboriously those necessaries with which other countries could easily and cheaply supply us. It would be wiser to take what they can produce; and to turn our artizans to the increase and manufacture of such productions as thrive more readily among us.

CHAP. IX.

OF ANOMALOUS CARTILAGINOUS FISHES.

Of all others, the cartilaginous class seems to abound with the greatest variety of ill-formed animals: and, if philosophy could allow the expression, we might say the cartilaginous class was the class of monsters; in fact, it exhibits a variety of shapeless beings, the deviations of which from the usual form of fishes are beyond the power of words to describe, and scarcely of the pencil to draw. In this class we have the pipe-fish, that almost tapers to a thread, and the sun-fish, that has the appearance of a bulky head, but the body cut off in the middle; the hippocampus, with a head somewhat like that of a horse, and the water-bat, whose head can scarcely be distinguished from the body. In this class we find the fishing-frog, which from its deformity some have called the sea-devil; the chimæra, the lump-fish, the sea-porcupine, and the sea-snail. Of all these the history is but little known; and naturalists supply the place with description.

The sun-fish sometimes grows to a very large size; one taken near Plymouth was five hundred-weight. In form it resembles a bream, or some deep fish cut off in the middle; the mouth is very small, and contains in each jaw two broad teeth, with sharp edges; the colour of the back is dusky and dappled, and the belly is of a silvery white. When boiled, it has been observed to turn to a glutinous jelly, and would most probably serve for all the purposes of isinglass were it found in sufficient plenty.

The fishing-frog in shape very much resembles a tad pole or young frog-but then a tadpole of enormous size, for it grows to above five feet long, and its mouth is sometimes a yard wide. Nothing can exceed its deformity. The head is much bigger than the whole body; the under-jaw projects beyond the upper, and both are armed with rows of sharp slender teeth; the palate and the tongue are furnished with teeth in like manner; the eyes are placed on the top of the head, and are encompassed with prickles; immediatly above the nose are two long beards or filaments, small in the beginning, but thicker at the end, and round; these, as it is said, answer a very singular purpose; for being made somewhat resembling a fishing-line, it is asserted that the animal converts them to the purposes of fishing. With these extended, as Pliny asserts, the fishing-frog hides in muddy waters, and leaves nothing but the beards to be seen; the curiosity of the smaller fish brings them to view these filaments, and their hunger induces them to seize the bait; upon which the animal in ambush instantly draws in its filaments with the little fish that had taken the bait, and devours it without mercy. This story, though apparently improbable, has found credit among some of our best naturalists; but what induces me to doubt the fact is, that there is another species of this animal that has no beard, which it would not want if they were necessary to the existence of the kind. Rondeletius informs us that if we take out the bowels the body will appear with a kind of transparence; and

that if a lighted candle be placed within the body, as in a lanthorn, the whole has a very formidable appearance. The fishermen, however, have in general a great regard for this ugly fish, as it is an enemy to the dog-fish, the bodies of those fierce and voracious animals being often found in its stomach; whenever they take it, therefore, they always set it at liberty.

The lump-fish is trifling in size compared to the former; its length is but sixteen inches, and its weight about four pounds; the shape of the body is like that of a bream, deep, and it swims edgeways; the back is sharp and elevated, and the belly flat; the lips, mouth, and tongue of this animal are of a deep red; the whole skin is rough, with bony knobs; the largest row is along the ridge of the back; the belly is of a bright crimson colour; but what makes the chief singularity in this fish is an oval aperture in the belly, surrounded with a soft fleshy substance that seems bearded all round; by means of this part it adheres with vast force to anything it pleases. If flung into a pail of water it will stick so close to the bottom, that on taking the fish by the tail one may lift up pail and all, though it holds several gallons of water. Great numbers of these fish are found along the coasts of Greenland in the begin ning of summer, where they resort to spawn. Their roe is remarkably large, and the Greenlanders boil it to a pulp for eating. They are extremely fat, but not admired in England, being both flabby and insipid.

The sea-snail takes its name from the soft and unctuous texture of its body, resembling the snail upon land. It is almost transparent, and soon dissolves and melts away. It is but a little animal, being not above five inches long. The colour when fresh taken, is of a pale brown, the shape of the body round, and the back fin reaches all the way from the head to the tail. Beneath the throat is a round depression of a whiteish colour, surrounded by twelve round spots placed in a circle. It is taken in England at the mouths of rivers four or five miles distant from the sea.

The body of the pipe-fish in the thickest part is not thicker than a swan quill, while it is above sixteen inches long. This is angular, but the angles being not very sharp, they are not discernable until the fish is dried. Its general colour is an olive-brown, marked with numbers of blueish lines pointing from the back to the belly. It is viviparous; for on crushing one that was just taken hundreds of very minute young ones were observed to crawl about.

The hippocampus-which, from the form of its head, some call the sea-horse-never exceeds nine inches in length. It is about as thick as a man's thumb, and the body is said while alive to have hair on the fore-part, which falls off when it is dead. The snout is a sort of a tube with a hole at the bottom, to which there is a cover, which the animal can open and shut at pleasure. Behind the eyes there are two fins which look like ears; and above them are two holes which serve for respiration. The whole body seems to be composed of cartilaginous rings, on the intermediate membranes of which several small prickles are placed. It is found in the Mediterranean, and also in the Western Ocean; and upon the whole more resembles a great caterpillar than a fish. The ancients considered it as extremely venomous-probably induced by its peculiar figure.

From these harmless animals, covered with a slight coat of mail,we may proceed to others more thickly de fended and more formidably armed, whose exact station in the scale of fishes is not yet ascertained. While Linnæus ranks them among the cartilaginous kinds, a later naturalist places them among the spinous class. With which tribe they most agree, succeeding observations must determine. At present we seem better acquainted with their figure than their history; their deformity is obvious; and the venomous nature of the greatest number has been confirmed by fatal experience.

This circumstance, as well as the happy distance at which they are placed from us, being all found in the Oriental or American seas, may have prevented a more critical inquiry; so that we know but little of the nature of their malignity, and still less of their pursuits and enmities in the deep.

In the first of this tribe we may place the sea-orb, which is almost round, has a mouth like a frog, and is from seven inches to two feet long. Like the porcupine, from whence it sometimes takes its name (being also called the sea-porcupine), it is covered over with long thorns or prickles, which point on every side; and when the animal is enraged it can blow up its body as round as a bladder. Of this extraordinary creature there are many kinds-some threatening only with spines, as the sea-hedgehog; others defended with a bony helmet that covers the head, as the ostracion; others with a coat of mail from the head to the tail, where it terminates in a point, as the centriscus; and others still armed offensively and defensively with bones and spines, as the shield orb.

Of these scarce one is without its peculiar weapon of offence. The centriscus wounds with its spine the ostracion poisons with its venom-the orb is impregnable, and absolutely poisonous if eaten. Indeed, their figure is not such as would tempt one to make the experiment; and the natives of those countries where they are found are careful to inform foreigners of their danger; yet a certain sailor at the Cape of Good Hope, not believing what the Dutch told him concerning their venom, was resolved to make the experiment, and break through a prejudice which he supposed was founded on the animal's deformity. He tried and ate one, but his rash ness cost him his life; he instantly fell sick, and died a few days after.

These frightful animals are of different sizes-some not bigger than a foot-ball, and others as large as a bushel. They almost all flatten and erect their spines at pleasure, and increase the terrors of their appearance in proportion to the approach of danger. At first they seem more inoffensive-their body oblong, with all their weapons pointing towards the tail; but upon being provoked or alarmed the body, that before seemed small, swells to the view; the animal visibly grows rounder and larger, and all its prickles stand upright, and threaten the invader on every side. The Americans often amuse themselves with the barren pleasure of catching these frightful creatures by a line or hook baited with a piece of sea-crab. The animal approaches the bait with its spine flattened; but when hooked and stopped by the line, straight all its spines are erected—the whole body being armed in such a manner at all points that it is impossible to lay hold of it on any part. For this reason it is dragged to some distance from the water, and there it quickly expires. In the middle of the belly of all these there is a sort of bag or bladder filled with air, and by the inflation of which the animal swells itself in the manner already mentioned.

In describing the deformed animals of this class, one is sometimes at a loss whether it be a fish or an insect that lies before him. Thus the hippocampus and the pipe-fish bear a strong resemblance to the caterpillar and the worm; while the lesser orb bears some likeness to the class of sea-eggs to be described after. I will conclude this account of cartilaginous fishes with the description of an animal which I would scarcely call a fish, but that Labat dignifies it with the name. Indeed, this class teems with such a number of odd-shaped animals, that one is prompted to rank everything extraordinary of the finny species among the number; but besides, Labat says its bones are cartilaginous, and that may entitle it to a place here.

The animal I mean is the galley-fish, which Linnæus degrades into the insect tribe under the title of the "Medusa," but which I choose to place in this tribe

from its habits, which are somewhat similar. To the eye of an unmindful spectator this fish seems a transparent bubble swimming on the surface of the sea, or like a bladder variously and beautifully painted with vivid colours, where red and violet predominate, as variously opposed to the beams of the sun. It is, however, an actual fish, the body of which is composed of cartilages, and a very thin skin filled with air, which thus keeps the animal floating on the surface as the waves and the wind nappen to drive. Sometimes it is seen thrown on the shore by one wave, and again washed back into the sea by another. Persons who happen to be walking along the shore often happen to tread upon these animals; and the bursting of their body yields a report like that when one treads upon the swim of a fish. It has eight broad feet with which it swims, or which it expands to catch the air as with a sail. It fastens itself to whatever it meets by means of its legs, which have an adhesive quality. Whether they move when on shore Labat could never perceive, though he did everything to make them stir; he only saw that it strongly adhered to whatever substances he applied it. It is very common in America, and grows to the size of a goose-egg, or somewhat more. It is perpetually seen floating; and no efforts that are used to hurt it can sink it to the bottom. All that appears above water is a bladder clear and transparent as glass, and shining with the most beautiful colours of the rainbow. Beneath, in the water, are four of the feet already mentioned that serve as oars, while the other four are expanded to sail with. But what is most remarkable in this extraordinary creature is the violent pungency of the flimsy substance with which its legs are smeared. If the smallest quantity but touch the skin, so caustic is its quality that it burns like hot oil dropped on the part affected. The pain is worst in the heat of the day, but ceases in the cool of the evening. It is from feeding on these that he thinks the poisonous quality contracted by some West Indian fish may be accounted for. It is certain these animals are extremely common along all the coasts in the Gulf of Mexico; and whenever the shore is covered with them in an unusual manner, it is considered as a certain fore-runner of a storm.

BOOK III-CHAP. I.

THE DIVISION OF SPINOUS FISHES.

The third general division of fishes is into that of the spinous or bony kind. These are obviously distinguished from the rest by having a complete bony covering to their gills-by their being furnished with no other method of breathing but gills only-by their bones, which are sharp and thorny-and their tails, which are placed in a situation perpendicular to the body. This is that class which alone our later naturalists are willing to admit as fishes. The cetaceous class with them are but beasts that have taken up their abode in the ocean; the cartilaginous class are an amphibious band, that are but half denizens of that element: it is fishes of the spinous kind that really deserve the appellation.

This distinction the generality of mankind will hardly allow; but whatever be the justice of this preference in favour of the spinous class, it is certain that the cetaceous and cartilaginous classes bear no proportion to them in number. Of the spinous classes are already known above four hundred species; so that the numbers of the former are trifling in comparison, and make not above a fifth part of the finny creation.

From the great variety in this class, it is obvious how difficult a task it must have been to describe or remember even a part of what it contains. When six hundred different sorts of animals offer themselves for considera

tion, the mind is bewildered in the multiplicity of objects, all of which lay some claim to its attention. To obviate this confusion, systems have been devised, which, throwing several fishes that agree in many particulars into one group, and thus uniting all into so many particular bodies, the mind that was incapable of sepa rately considering each is enabled to comprehend all when thus offered in larger masses to its consideration. Indeed, of all the beings in Animated Nature fishes most demand a systematical arrangement. Quadrupeds are but few, and can be well known; birds, from their seldom varying in their size, can be very tolerably distinguished without system; but among fishes, which no size can discriminate-where the animal ten inches and the animal ten feet long are just the same, there must be some other criterion by which they are to be distinguished-something that gives precision to our ideas of the animal whose history we desire to know.

Of the real history of fishes very little is yet known; but of very many we have full and sufficient account as to their external form. It would be unpardonable, therefore, in a history of these animals not to give the little we know, and at least arrange our forces though we cannot tell their destination. In this art of arrangement Artedi and Linnæus have long been conspicuous; they have both taken the view of the animal's form in different lights, and from the parts which most struck them have founded their respective systems.

Artedi, who was foremost, perceiving that some fishes had hard, prickly fins, as the pike-that others had soft, pliant ones, as the herring-and that others still wanted that particular fin by which the gills are opened and shut, as the eel, made out a system from these varieties. Linnæus, on the other hand rejecting this system, which he found liable to too many exceptions, considered the fins, not with regard to their substance, but their position. The ventral fins seem to be the great object of his system; he considers them in fishes supplying the same offices as feet in quadrupeds; and from their total absence, or from their being situated nearer the head or the tail in different fishes, he takes the differences of his system.

These arrangements, which are totally arbitrary, and which are rather a method than a science, are always fluctuating; and the last is generally preferred to that which went before. There has lately appeared, however, a system composed by Mr. Gouan, of Montpellier, that deserves applause for more than its novelty. It ap pears to me the best arrangement of this kind that ever was made; and in it the divisions are not only precisely systematical, but in some measure adopted by Nature herself. This learned Frenchman has united the systems of Artedi and Linnæus together; and, by bringing one to correct the other, has made out a number of tribes that are marked with the utmost precision. A part of his system, however, we have already gone through in the cartilaginous, or, as he calls a part of them, the "branchiostegous" tribe of fishes. In the arrangement of these I have followed Linnæus, as the number of them was but small and his method simple. But in that which is more properly called the "spinous" class of fishes I will follow Mr. Gouan's system; the terms of which, as well as of all the former systems, require some explanation, I do not love to multiply the technical terms of a science; but it often happens that names, by being long used, are as necessary to be known as the science itself.

If we consider the substance of the fin of a fish, we shall find it composed, besides the skin, either of straight hard, pointed, bony prickles or spines, as in the pike, or of soft, crooked, or forked bones or cartilages, as in the herring. The fishes that have bony, prickly fins are called "prickly-finned fish" the latter, that have soft or cartilaginous fins, are called soft-finned fish." The prickly-finned fish have received the Greek new-formed

name of " Acanthopterrigii;" the soft-finned fish have likewise their barbarous Greek name of Malacoptierigii." Thus far Artedi has supplied Mr. Gouan with names and divisions. All spinous fish are divided into prickly-finned fish and soft-finned fish.

Again Linnæus has taught him to remark the situation of the fins; for the ventral or belly-fins, which are those particularly to be remarked, are either wholly wanting-as in the eel, and then the fish is called "Apodal" (a Greek word signifying without feet)or the ventral-fins are placed more forward than the pectoral-fins, as in the haddock, and then the animal is called a "jugular-fish;" or the ventral fins are placed directly under the pectoral-fins, as in the father-lasher, and then it is called a "thoracic-fish ;" or, lastly, the ventral-fins are placed nearer the tail than the pectoralfins, as in the minnow, and then it is an "abdominalfish."

Possessed of these distributions, the French naturalist mixes and unites them into two grand divisions. All the prickly-finned fish make one general division-all the soft-finned fish another. These first are distinguished from each other as being either " apodal," "jugular," "thoracic," or "abdominal." Thus there are pricklyfinned apodal fishes; prickly-finned jugular fishes, prickly-finned thoracic fishes, and prickly-finned abdominal fishes. On the other hand, the soft-finned fishes fall under a similar distribution, and make the general division. Thus there are soft-finned apodal fishes, softfinned jugular fishes, soft-finned thoracic fishes, and soft-finned abdominal fishes. These general characters are strongly marked and easily remembered. It only remains, therefore, to divide these into such tribes as are most strongly marked by Nature, and to give the distinct characters of each to form a complete system with greater simplicity. This Mr. Gouan has done; and the tribes into which he has distributed each of these divisions exactly amount to fifty. Thus the reader, who can contain in his memory the characteristic marks of fifty kinds, will have a tolerable idea of the form of every kind of spinous fish. I say, of the form; for as to the history and nature of the animal itself, that can only be obtained by experience and information.

SEC. I.-PRICKLY-FINNED FISHES.

PRICKLY-FINNED APODAL FISH.

The Trichurus.-The body of a sword form, the head oblong, the teeth sword-like, bearded near the points, the fore-teeth largest; the fin that covers the gills with seven spines, the tail ending in a point without fins; an inhabitant near the oriental and American shores; of a silvery white, frequently leaping into the fishermen's boats in China

The Xiphias or Sword-fish.-The body round; the head long; the upper-jaw terminating by a long beak, in form of a sword; the fin that covers the gills with six spines; an inhabitant of Europe; an enemy to the whale.

The Ophidium or Gilthead.-The body sword like; the head blunt; the fin covering the gills with seven spines; the opening of the mouth side-ways; the fins of the back, the anus, and the tail all joining together; the most beautiful of all fishes, covered over with green, gold, and silver; it is by sailors called the dolphin, and gives chase to the flying-fish.

PRICKLY-FINNED FUGULAR FISH.

The Trachinous or Weaver.-The body oblong; the head obtuse; the bones covering the gills jagged at the bottom; the fins covering the gills with six spines; the anus near the breast; buries itself in the sands, leaving only its nose out; and if trod upon, imme

diately strikes with the spines that form its dorsal fins, which are venomous and dangerous.

The Uraoscopus.-The body wedge-like; the head almost round, and larger than the body; the mouth flat; the eyes on the top of the head; the fin covering the gills with five spines; the anus in the middle of the body; an inhabitant of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Callyonymus or Dragonet.-The body almost wedge-like; the head broad, and larger than the body; the mouth even with the body; the bony covering of the gills close shut; the opening to the gills behind the head, the fin covering the gills with six spines: an inhabitant of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Blennius or Blenny.-The body oblong; the head obtusely bevile; the teeth a single range; the fin covering the gills with six spines; the ventral fins have two small blunt bones in each; a species of this animal is viviparous.

PRICKLY-FINNED THORACIC FISHES.

The Gobius or Gudgeon,-The body round and oblong; the head with two little holes between the eyes, one before the other; the fin covering the gills with six spines; the ventral fins joined together.

The Cepola.-The body sword-like; the head blunt; the mouth flat; the fin covering the gills with six spines; the fins distinct; an inhabitant of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Coryphana or Razor-fish.-The body wedge-like; the head very bevile; the fin covering the gills with five spines.

The Scomber or Mackarel.-The body oblong; the line running down the side zigzagged towards the tail; the head sharp and small; the fins covering the gills with six spines; several false fins towards the tail.

The Labrus or Wrasse.-The body oval; the head middling; the lips doubled inward; both cutting and grinding teeth; the covers of the gills scaly; the fin covering the gills with five spines; the pectoral fins pointed.

The Sparus or Sea-bream.-The body oblong; the head middling; the lips not inverted; the teeth cutting and grinding; the cover of the gills scaly; the fins covering the gills with five rays; the pectoral fins pointed.

The Chatodon or Cat-fish.-The body oblong; the head small; the teeth slender and bending; the fin covering the gills with five or six spines; the fins of the back and anus scaly.

The Sciana. The body nearly elliptical; the head bevile; the covers of the fins scaly; the fin covering the gills with six rays; the fins of the back jagged, and hidden in a furrow in the back.

The Perch-The body oblong; the head bevile; the covers of the gills scaly and toothed: the fin covering the gills with seven spines; the fins in some jagged.

The Scorpana or Father-lasher.-The body oblong; the head large, with beards; the covers of the gills armed with prickles; the fin covering the gill with seven spines.

The Mullus or Surmulet.-The body slender; the head almost four-cornered; the fin covering the gills with three spines; some of these have beards; a fish highly prized by the Romans, and still considered as a very great delicacy.

The Trigla or Gurnard.—The body slender; the head nearly four-cornered, and covered with a bony coat; the fin covering the gills with seven spines; the pectoral and ventral fins strengthened with additional muscles and bones, and very large for the animal's size.

The Cetus or Bull-head.-The body wedge-like; the head flat and broader than the body; the fin covering the gills with six spines; the head furnished with prickles, knobs, and beards.

The Zeus or Doree,-The body oblong; the head bevile; the fin covering the gills with seven rays; the fins jagged: the upper-jaw with a loose floating skin into the mouth.

The Thrachipterus or Sabre-The body sword-like; the head bevile; the fin covering the gills with six spines; the lateral line straight; the scales in a single order; a loose skin in both the jaws.

The Gesterosteus or Stickleback.-The body broadest towards the tail; the head oblong; the fin covering the gills with three spines; prickles starting backward before the back fins of the anus.

PRICKLY-FINNED ABDOMINAL FISH.

The Silurus or Sheatfi-sh.-The body oblong; the head large; the fin covering the gills from four to fourteen spines; the leading bones or spines in the back and pectoral fins toothed.

The Mugil or Mullet.-The body oblong; the head almost conical; the upper-jaw with a furrow, which recives the prominence of the under one; the fin covering the gills with seven rays.

The Polynemus.-The body oblong; the head with a beak; the fin covering the gills with from five to seven spines; the bones that move the pectoral fins not articulated to those fins.

The Theutus.-The body almost elliptical; the head abruptly shortened; the fin covering the gills with five rays; the teeth in a single row, close, strong, and even.

The Elops or Sea-Serpent.-The body slender; the head large; the fin covering the gills double with thirty spines, and armed externally with five bones resembling teeth.

SEC. II.-SOFT-FINNED FISHES.

SOFT-FINNED APODAL FISHES.

The Murana or Eel.-The body round and slender; the head terminating in a beak; the fin covering the gills with ten rays; the opening to the gills pipe-fashion, placed near the pectoral fins; the fins of the back, the anus, and the tail united in one.

The Gymnotus or Carapo.-The body broadest on the back, like the blade of a knife; the head small; the fin covering the gills with five rays; the back without a fin; two beards or filaments from the upper lip; an inhabitant of Brazil.

The Anarchias or Wolf-fish.-The body roundish and slender; the head large and blunt; the fore-teeth above and below conical; the grinding-teeth and those in the palate round; the fin covering the gill has six rays.

The Stromateus.-The body oblong; the head small; the teeth moderately sharp; the fin covering the gills with five or six rays.

The Ammodytes or Launce.-The body slender and roundish; the head terminated by a beak; the teeth of a hair-like fineness: the fin covering the gills with seven rays.

SOFT-FINNED JUGULAR FISHES.

The Lepodogaster.-The body wedge-like; the head oblong, forwarder than the body, flattish, the beak resembling that of a duck; the pectoral fins double, two on each side; the ventral fins joined together; a kind of bony breast-plate between the pectoral fins; the fin covering the gills with five rays; the opening to the gills pipe-fashion.

The Gadus or Cod-fish.-The body oblong; the head wedge-like; the fin covering the gills with seven rays; several back and anal fins.

SOFT-FINNED THORACIC FISHES.

The Plemonecles or Flumide.-The body elliptical; the head small; both eyes on one side of the head; the fin covering the gills with from four to seven rays.

The Echeneis or Sucking-fish.-The body almost wedge-like, moderately round; the head broader than the body; the fin covering the gill with ten rays; an oval breast-plate, streaked in form of a ladder, toothed. The Lipidopus or Garter-fish.-The body sword-like; the head lengthened out; the fins covering the gills with seven rays; three scales only on the whole body-two in the place of the ventral fins, the third from that of the anus.

SOFT-FINNED ABDOMINAL FISH.

The Loricaria.-The body crusted over; the head broad with a beak; no teeth; the fin covering the gills with six rays.

The Atherina or Atherine.-The body oblong; the head of a middling size; the lips indented; the fin covering the gills with six rays; the line on the sides resembling a silver band.

The Salmo or Salmon.-The body oblong; the head a little sharp; the fin covering the gills from four to ten rays; the last fin on the back without its correspondent muscle; fat.

The Fistularia-The body angular, in form of a spindle; the head pipe-fashion, with a beak; the fin covering the gills with seven rays: the under-jaw covering the upper one.

The Esox or Pike.—The body round; the head with a beak; the under-jaw pierced longitudinally with small holes; the fin covering the gills with from seven to twelve rays.

The Argentina or Argentine.-The body a little round and slender; the head with a beak, broader than the body: the fin covering the gills with eight rays; a spurious back-fin.

The Clupea or Herring -The body a little oblong; the head with a small beak; the fin covering the gills with eight rays.

The Exocetas or Flying-fish.-The body oblong; the head almost three-cornered; the fin covering the gills with ten rays; the pectoral fins placed high, and as long as the whole body; the back fin at the extremity

of the back.

The Cyprinus or Carp.-The body elongated almost round; the head with a small beak; the binder part of the bone covering the gills, marked with a crescent; the fin covering the gills with three rays.

The Cobitis or Loach.-The body oblong; almost equally broad throughout; the head small, a little elongated; the eyes in the hinder part of the head; the fin covering the gills from four to six rays; the covers of the gills closed below.

The Amia or Bonito.-The body round and slender; the head, forehead, and breast without skin; the fin covering the gills with twelve rays; two beards from the

nose.

The Mormyrus.-The body oblong; the head elongated; the fin covering the gills with a single ray; the opening to the gills is linear, and has no bone covering

them.

Such is the system of Mr. Gouan; by reducing to which any fish that offers we can know its rank, its affinities, and partly its anatomy, all which make a considerable part in its natural history. But to show the use of this system still more apparently, suppose I meet with a fish, the name to me unknown, of which I desire to know something more. The way is first to see whether it be a cartilaginous fish, which may be known by its wanting fins to open and shut the gills, which the cartilaginous kind are wholly without. If I find that

it has them, then it is a spinous fish; and in order to know its kind I examine its fins, whether they be prickly or soft: I find them soft; it is therefore to be ranked among the soft-finned fishes. I then examine its ventral or belly fins, and finding that the fish has them, I look for their situation, and find they lie nearer to the tail than the pectoral fins. By this I find the animal to be a soft-fiinned abdominal fish. Then to know which of the kinds of these fishes it is, I examine its figure and the shape of its head; I find the body rather oblong; the head with a small beak; the lower-jaw like a saw; the fin covering the gills with eight rays. This animal must therefore be the herring, or one of that family, such as the pilchard, the sprat, the shad, or the anchovy. To give another instance:Upon examining the fins of a fish to me unknown, I find them prickly; I then look for the situation of the ventral fins, I find them entirely wanting; this then must be a prickly-finned apodal-fish. Of this kind there are but three; and by comparing the fish with the description, I find it either of the trichurus kind, the sword fish, or the gilt-head. Upon examining, also, its internal structure, I shall find a very great similitude between my fish and that placed at the head of the family.

CHAP. II.

OF SPINOUS FISHES IN GENERAL.

Having given a method by which spinous fishes may be distinguished from each other, the history of each in particular might naturally be expected to follow; but such a distinct account of each would be quite unneces sary, from the unavoidable uniformity of description. The history of any one of this class very much resembles that of all the rest: they breathe air and water through the gills-they live by rapine, each devouring such animals as its mouth is capable of admitting-and they propagate, not by bringing forth their young alive, as in the cetaceous tribes, nor by distinct eggs, as in the generality of the cartilaginous tribes, but by spawn, or peas as they are generally called, which they produce by hundreds of thousands. These are the leading marks whtch run through their whole history, and which have so much swelled books with tiresome repetition.

It will be sufficient, therefore, to draw this numerous class into one point of view; to mark how they differ from the former classes; and what they possess peculiarly striking so as to distinguish them from each other. The first object that presents itself, and that by which they differ from all others, are the bones. These, when examined but slightly, appear to be entirely solid; yet when viewed more closely, every bone would be found hollow, and filled with a substance less rancid and oily than marrow. These bones are very numerous, and pointed; and, as in quadrupeds, are props or stays to which the muscles are fixed which moves the different parts of the body.

The number of bones in all spinous fishes of the same kind is always the same. It is a vulgar way of speaking to say that fishes are at some seasons more bony than at others; but this scarce requires contradiction. It is true, indeed, that fish are at some seasons much fattter than at others; so that the quantity of the flesh being diminished, and that of the bones remaining the same, they appear to increase in number as they actually bear a greater proportion.

All fish of the same kind, as was said, have the same number of bones: the skeleton of a fish, however irregu larly the bones may fall in our way at table, has its members very regularly disposed; and every bone has its fixed place, with as much precision as we find in the orders of a regular fabric. But then spinous fish differ