192 SCOMBERID.E. 



Mediterranean, of the opportunity now afforded of comparing 

 the representations of fishes cut in wood at the present time, 

 with others also cut in wood nearly three hundred years ago. 

 Many of those contained in the work referred to, although 

 coarse in their execution, are by no means deficient in charac- 

 ter or spirit ; but the name of the artist who engraved them 

 at that distant period is unknown. 



The form of the body is a shorter oval than that of the 

 Dory ; the mouth protrudes ; a band of minute teeth consi- 

 derably within each jaw ; the eye very large, placed at the 

 distance of its own diameter from the end of the nose when 

 the mouth is shut ; the nostrils large, just anterior to the 

 edge of the orbit : the origin of the first dorsal, pectoral, and 

 ventral fins is nearly on the same plane ; the base of the first 

 dorsal about as long as its third spine, which is the longest ; 

 the base of the second dorsal fin equal to that of the first, 

 the rays very slender and flexible, the membrane only ex- 

 tending up one-third of the length of the rays ; the pectoral 

 fin as long as the third ray of the first dorsal fin, slender and 

 delicate in structure ; ventral fin with one strong spine, the 

 other rays flexible and branched, the membrane not extend- 

 ing the whole length of the rays : anal fin with all the cha- 

 racters observable in the second dorsal fin, and ending at the 

 same distance from the tail ; the caudal rays slender, and 

 twice as long as the fleshy portion of the tail. The number 

 of fin-rays is, 



D. 9. 24 : P. 14 : V. 1 + 5 : A. 3 + 24 : C. 12. 



No lateral line is observable ; the body is quite smooth when 

 the finger is passed from before backwards, but rough to the 

 touch in the contrary direction, from numerous small scales 

 which are minutely ciliated. The specimen belonging to 

 the Zoological Society is five inches long from the point of 

 the nose to the end of the tail ; and the colour, probably 



