4 2 



H. 



D i v. III. BONY FISH. 



THIS divifion includes thofe whofe mufcles 

 are fupported by bones or fpines, which 

 breathe thro' gills covered or guarded by thin bony 

 plates, open on the fide, and dilatable by means 

 of a certain row of bones on their lower part 

 each feparated by a thin web, which bones are 

 called the Radii Branchiojlegi, or the Gillcovering 

 Rays. 



The tails of all the fifti that form this divifi- 

 on, are placed in a fituation perpendicular to the 

 body, and this is an invariable character. 



The later Idthyologifts have attempted to make 

 the number of the branchioftegous rays a character 

 of the genera ; but I found (yet too late in fome 

 inftances, where I yielded an implicit faith) that 

 •their rule was very fallible, and had induced me 

 into error j but as I borrowed other definitions, it 

 is to be hoped the explanation of the genera 

 will be intelligible. I fhould be very difmgenu- 



ou s, 



