427 



ART. V. Notice of a Stvord-Fish recently caugJit in the River 

 Tat/. Communicated by Rob. Knox, M.D. F.R.S.E., &c. ' 



The sword-fish (Xiphias Gladius) is of comparatively rare oc- 

 currence in the British Seas ; a specimen, which may be considered ' 

 as of larger dimensions than usual, was captured about the end of 

 July, and being sent to Edinburgh was purchased by Dr. Knox. 

 We have received from that gentlemen the following Notice re- 

 garding it. 



The sword-fish in question was found entangled in the nets of 

 the salmon fishery in the river Tay, and was dispatched by the 

 fishermen with pitchforks. Although one of the men had been 

 on the station (near the mouth of the river) for many years, he 

 had not seen any fish like it; and it was brought to Edinburgh 

 by them, under an impression that nothing of the kind had been 

 seen before. It was stated by the men to have been a female. Its 

 stomach was empty. 



Its total lengtn was found to be nine feet when measured from 

 the extremity of the snout to the middle of the caudal fin ; the 

 snout itself,* or the projecting part of the upper jaw, from which 

 the animal derives its name, measured, from the apex to the nos- 

 trils, 2 feet 8 inches ; breadth between the nostrils 44 inches. The 

 length of the mouth or gape was 10 inches, and of the tail, from 

 point to point, 2 feet 2 inches. The distance from the root of the 

 tail to the termination of the dorsal fin was 6 inches. 



Some naturalists t consider that there is but one species of this 

 genus, and they reject the determination of Dr. Leach, who, find- 

 ing in the specimen examined by him, (taken in the Firth of Forth,) 

 the dorsal and anal fins interrupted, concluded that it belonged to 

 a species diflferent from the common Xipkias Gladius, and gave to 

 it the name of X. Rondoletii, The explanation which naturalists 

 give of the interuption of the dorsal and anal fins is that, as is ex- 

 pressed by M. Cuvier, the intervening portion is worn away with 

 age, so that at last there seem to be two dorsal fins ; or, as is the 

 opinion of Dr. Fleming, it is the result of accidental lacera- 

 tion. " The intervening low membrane," he observes, " is frequent- 

 ly lacerated, and has led several observers to conclude that this fish 

 possessed two dorsal fins.":j: But several objections might be made 

 to these assertions. 



It will be freely admitted that the series of spines placed on the 

 dorsal vertebrae is uninterrupted, but not so the projecting part of 



• Pennant doubted the stories told of the extreme hardness of this part of the 

 animal, and of its occasionally piercing the solid timbers of vessels; but an exa- 

 mination of the specimen now before us, compared with the accounts of others 

 worthy the highest credit, has convinced us that no reasonable doubt can be held 

 of the truth of these accounts. 



t Fleming's British Animals, p. 220. + Ibid. 



