SWORDFISH. 



169 



unclerpart of this fish is of a fine pure silver colour, shaded 

 with bluish black on the upper part. Very young specimens 

 of twelve or eighteen inches long have the body covered with 

 small tubercles : these inequalities on the surface disappear as 

 the fish increases in size, first on the back, afterwards on the 

 belly, and, by the time it attains the length of three feet, are 

 no longer apparent. 



Most of the works on Ichthyology containing a figure of 

 the adult fish, such as that represented at the beginning of 

 this article ; in which the fins are worn, a young one, with 

 perfect fins, has been selected for representation in the cut 

 used as a vignette below. 



