On the Classification of Fishes, 217 



forming tlie greater portion of th« roof of the moutli ; tlie inter- 

 maxillaries usually form the gTeater part of the upper jaw, the 

 maxillaries lying behind them, and p^rtieulatiiig with the vomer, 

 though in some fishes, as the Salmones, the intennaxillaries and 

 maxillaries form one continuous arch ; the pharyngeal bones are 

 located in the pharynx, the cavity kading to the oesophagus or 

 .gullet. 



It is thought that the senses of taste and of touch are but im- 

 perfectly developed, and that those of sight and smell are mucli 

 more acute, while their power of hearing has been wholly doubted, 

 though it is now generally believed that they can hear. They 

 ■certainly possess some eense which enables them to find the bait 

 in the darkness of night, many feet down, in v.^aters that break 

 and boil like a caldron, when the eye of man could barely discerR 

 the white crests on the mpids. 



There is a line m.ore or less distinct along each side of the body, 

 extending from the gill-covers to the tail, known as the lateral 

 line. It is formed by a series of tubes, whose office is to pomr out 

 a slimy secretion, which covers and lubricates the body of the fish. 

 The gill-covers are usually com^posed of four bones : the anterior 

 one is called the pre-opercle ; the next and usually the largest 

 bone is the opercle ; at the posterior edge of the opercle is a bone 

 called the sub-opercle, and at the inferior edge of the pre-opercle 

 is usually a small bone called the inter-opercle. 



Most fishes are carnivorous, preying upon worms, insects and 

 •smaller fishes, even those of their own species; a few subsist 

 maiuly upon vegetable substances. 



Of the several systems of classification that have been propounded, 

 that of Cuvier has been the most extensively employed, and 

 ■though more extensive acquaintance with this branch of Natural 

 History proves the system to be somewhat too artificial, yet it k 

 indispensable that the student understand it thoroughly. Observ- 

 ing thfit some fishes had a bony skeleton of fibrous texture, and 

 that others had a cartilaginous skeleton without fibi^s, Cuvier 

 divided ail fishes into two great series, and called one of them the 

 'Osseous Series and the other the Cartilaginous Series. The 

 osseous or bony series comprises by far the greater number, and 

 this series he subdivided into three sections, which are based chiefly 

 upon the differences observable in the construction of the gills and 

 jaws. The first section is called Pectinieranohii, from i^tecten^ 

 ..a comk and hrojicJiim, £"ills. the dlls being; arrano^ed in comh- 



