84 SKATES. 



corners; and the only use of these tendrils seems to be by 

 meeting in an arch to open the way for the free passage of 

 the case itself in the process of exclusion. They appear to 

 be cast at random, with little attention to security, and, in 

 consequence, when the parent fish reside in shallow water they 

 are frequently washed on shore by the turbulence of the waves. 

 They are safe, however, from the devourers of the deep, for 

 I have never found them in the stomachs of fishes. 



There seems to be some grounds for doubt as regards the 

 etymology and meaning of the names of the Skate and Ray; 

 of which the former have been sought in the Latin word 

 Squotina, which, however, has never been applied to any of 

 the fishes known to us by the name of Skate. The name of 

 Ray is equally uncertain, and although it is employed by Pliny 

 to signify some fish of probably this genus, it is not referred 

 to any known root in the Latin language; and in Greek, from 

 which its meaning is more probably to be sought, it was not 

 known as applied to any known species. If at all derived 

 from that language, the explanation of an author (Hermolaus) 

 quoted in Stevens' "Thesaurus," affords the only interpretation 

 we are able to assign to it. It obtained its name, says he, 

 from a likeness of its spines to a bramble, which the Greeks 

 called Batos, because it has sharp hooks on its back. The 

 Pastinaca has the like, but besides this the latter has a very 

 dreadful and poisonous dart. There is also a larger Ray, which 

 the Latins called a Smooth Ray, and the Greeks f Liobatos J 

 by a word of the same meaning, but which has no crooked 

 spines. The word Ray of course is to be supposed a trans- 

 lation of the original meaning of Batos. This etymology 

 appears sufficiently far-fetched, and it should not be forgotten 

 that as far as regards the English names of these fishes, the 

 Saxon language affords a more plausible derivation; and I 

 give it the rather that I have thus an opportunity of ex- 

 plaining some circumstances connected with the English 

 fisheries, which may be considered as a portion of the history 

 of those species. 



An adventure in the fisheries, at least in the West of 

 England, is usually set on foot by some practical fisherman, 

 who provides the boat and her outfit, and who himself acts 

 as the principal fisherman; and who seeks his profit as owner 



