94 SQUALID.E. 



obliquely,'" just as in Pristiurus melanostomus ; but the lobes of the 

 nostrils are large, and united across into a sort of flap or curtain before 

 the mouth, which they partly overhang. The other species, the Large- 

 spotted Dog-fish {Sc. caiulus, Cuv.), Yarrell, ii. 373, has the lobes of 

 the nostrils distinct or separate, like Pristiurus melanostomus ; but the 

 ventral fins are truncate or " cut nearly square behind ;" the body is more 

 bulky, and the spots less numerous and larger than in Sc. canicula. By 

 these characters the species will be easily recognized, should either of them, 

 which is not improbable, occur hereafter in Madeira. 



The ffzvXiov of Aristotle (Z. ;. 3, 4, 9) appears to be sufficiently iden- 

 tified Avith the modern genus Scylium^ by what he says of their anatomy in 

 relation to their horny egg-cases, and by his remark that they are also 

 called vz^^ioti yoCh&o] ; the former word being derived from fsS^oV a fawn, 

 or vgjS^/V its hide, and conveying plainly an allusion to their dappled skin. 

 I cannot find in ^lian or Oppian, however, either of these names ; or any 

 clear allusion to these Sharks under any other, unless, perhaps, by Op- 

 pian, where he mentions 



yaXewz/ 8' ireporpoTra (f)vKa 

 'Skvixvoi Koi XeToi Koi aKavdiaf iv S' cipa to'kti 

 'Plvai, a\(07T€Kiai,, Koi ttoiklXoi' 



0pp. Hal, A. 379—381.* 



this last word appearing no inappropriate designation in reference to their 

 varied markings. 



I would restore from Aristotle the correct orthography of Scylium, 

 the principal genus of this group, which has been neglected by Cuvier and 

 others ; and, following a hint afforded by a remark of Schneider, "|" I ven- 

 ture to suggest that Aristotle's czvXiov is a much more probable etymology 

 for the Latin Squalus of Pliny, which in pronunciation of the first syllable 

 at least it would nearly resemble, than the common derivation of the word 

 from squalor^ filthiness ; founded on the wholly false position, that " this 

 fish is found to delight in impure and dirty places." I 



The more common species of ScT/litim, above referred to, are called by 

 the French Roussettes, in allusion to their russet-brown or reddish colour. 



* A very similar enuraerative passage occurs in Atlienseus, VII. 43 (Dindorf. ii. p. 639). 

 ' AffiiTTOTiXfis Ss £»'§») auray (riwv yaXiaiv^ ipniriv ihai •rXiiia, a,Kav6ia.v, Xuov, <!roix.iXov^ ffxufcvov, ccXwriKictv, 

 piviiv. It is difficult to conceive the Cilician poet not to have had this sentence in his eye when 

 writing the verses above quoted in the text : for I cannot find it extant, nor indeed does it profess to 

 be taken seriatim from the writings of the Stagyrite, though it may well be collected from them. 

 And on the other hand, had Athenaeus copied Oppian, he would scarcely have referred simply and 

 directly thus to Aristotle. 



+ "GrsBcis hodie squalus stellaris audit Squilo-psaro, teste Sonuini, T. ii. p. '212." — Schn. Arist. 

 Hist. Index, i. 541, voce y,x,uXioy. 



J Rees' Cyclop, voce Sqiudus. 



