Class IV. P O R P E S S E. ft 



which yields a great quantity of excellent oil : from 

 this lard, or from their rooting like fvvine, they 

 are called in many places fea hogs ; the Germans 

 call them meerfchwein •, the Swedes, marfuin \ and 

 the Englijb, porpejfe, from the Italian, porco pefce. 



It would be curious to trace the revolutions of 

 fafhion in the article of eatables ; what epicure firft 

 rejected the Sea-Gull and Heron -, and what deli- 

 cate (lomach firil naufeated the greafy flefri of the 

 PorpeJTe. This latter was once a royal dim, even 

 fo late as the reign of Henry VIII. and from its 

 magnitude muft have held a very refpeclable ftation 

 at the table ; for in a houfhold book of that prince, 

 extracts of which are publilhed in the third volume 

 of the Archaelogia, it is ordered that if a PorpefTe 

 lhouid be too big for a horfe-load, allowance 

 fhould be made to the purveyor. I find that this 

 fifh continued in vogue even in the reign of Eliza- 

 ieth, for Doctor Cains * on mentioning a Dolphin 

 (that was taken at Shoreham, and brought to Thomas 

 Duke of Norfolk, who divided, and fent it as a pre- 

 fent to his friends) fays, that it eat belt with 

 Porpejje fauce, which was made of vinegar, crums 

 of fine bread, and fugar. 



v * Opuftula, 1 1 & 



F jl Orca 



