CLASS PISCES. 375 



pylorus any ccecal appendages. They are the least 

 carnivorous of all fishes. 



Cyprinus. 



Forms a genus very numerous and very natural, easily 

 to be distinguished by the small mouth, the jaws with- 

 out any teeth, and the three flat rays of the branchiae. 

 Their tongue is smooth; their palate is furnished with 

 a thick, soft, and singularly irritable substance, which 

 is vulgarly known under the name of carp's tongue ; 

 their pharynx presents a powerful instrument of mas- 

 tication, which consists in some large teeth adherent 

 to the inferior pharyngeal bones, and capable of press- 

 ing the aliments between them, and a stony disk en- 

 chased in a wide cavity, under an apophysis of the 

 basilary bone. These fishes have but a single dorsal, 

 and their body is covered with scales, most frequently 

 very large. They inhabit the fresh waters, and are 

 perhaps the least camassial of the entire class, living 

 for the most part on grass, grains, and even mud. 

 Their stomach is continuous with a short intestine, de- 

 void of cceca, and their bladder is divided in two by 

 a strangulation. 



We subdivide them into subgenera as follows : 



Cyprinus, properly so called, Cuv. 



With a long dorsal, which, as well as the anal, has a 

 spine more or less strong, as a second ray. 



Some have barbels to the angles of the upper 

 jaw. 



