GEN. LEPIDOPUS. THE SCABBARD-FISH. 227 



yond measure. But these wonders of the mighty 

 deep are almost hidden from the eye of man. These 

 meteoric fishes appear to live in the greatest deptlis, 

 and it is only at long intervals, and after a suc- 

 cession of tempests, that a solitary individual is cast 

 upon the shore, with its deUcate body torn and 

 mutilated by the elements on the rocks; so that 

 with few exceptions they are scarcely to be regarded 

 as edible fish." According to this authority, the 

 Mediterranean has hitherto produced the largest pro- 

 portion of the family ; but it is distributed from the 

 arctic regions to the sunny shores of India ; so that 

 probably a tithe have not yet been discovered. 



In the Regne Anhnal, the Family is divided into 

 two Sections, which in the Hist. Naturelle (x. 228) 

 are augmented into three ; the first having a pro- 

 longed muzzle and large mouth, armed with strong 

 and cutting teeth, the upper jaw being more pro- 

 longed than the under; — the second, most of all 

 meriting the appellation of Riband-fish, some being 

 ten feet long and only six inches broad and one 

 thick, have the mouth slightly cleft; — whilst in 

 the third it is widely cleft. Of the first section, 

 two species only have visited the British shores. 



Gen. XXXII. Lepidopus, is characterized by the 

 ventral fins being reduced to two small scaly pro- 

 cesses, by a single dorsal fin extending the whole 

 length of the body, by the anal being narrow, and 

 the tail well formed ; the gill-fins have eight rays. 



(Sp. 32.) L. argyreus. The Scabbard-fish. (PL 

 XY.) It is curious, as remarked by Cuvier, that 



