Mr. James Hov's Account of the Trichiurus Lepturus. 211 
them ; the dorsal fin was the only part of a different colour, being 
a blackish green: this fin ran all along the back from the gills to 
the tail, consisting of a great number of rays, soft, and little more 
than an inch long. Each of the pectoral fins had six double 
rays. There were no ventral nor anal fins ; but the belly was a 
sharp, smooth, and entire edge. The tail ended in a point, con- 
sisting of three or four soft spines or bristles of different lengths, 
not exceeding two inches. The body was nearly of the same 
breadth for one half of its length, and then its breadth diminished 
gradually till within three inches of the tail, when the diminution 
became more quick. The lateral line was straight, and Se 
marked along the middle of the two sides. 
This was the first individual of the genus Trichiurus (as far as I 
know) that had ever been found on the British coast. But although 
the fishermen have not found out the means to catch them, it now 
appears that these fish inhabit our seas; for upon the 12th of 
November 1812 another of them was found on the beach, hard 
by the same fishing village as the former, but of a much larger 
size ; it was brought next day in a cart to the Duke of Gordon, 
at whose desire I made the following observations: 
Its head had been broken off, and was quite gone, a small bit of 
the gills only remained about the upper part of the throat ; from 
whence to the extremity of the tail its length was twelve feet 
nine inches: its breadth, eleven inches and a quarter, was nearly 
equal for the first six feet in length from the gills, diminishing 
gradually from thence to the tail, which ended in a blunt point, 
without any of those kind of bristles which projected from the 
tail of the one found formerly : its greatest thickness was two 
inches and a half. The distance from the gills to the anus forty- 
six inches. "The dorsal fin extended from the head to the tail, but 
was much torn and broken: the bones or muscles, to which the 
VOL. XI. i 2r pectoral 
