208 



LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



appearance, as well as taste, that of the ordinary salmon. It reaches quite a large size, 

 having been ftmnd at least four feet Ion"-. 



Another small group of fishes is represented by the John Dory, or, as the name is 

 sometimes shortened, dory of the English. The group is of family value, and has 

 been named Zenid^ or Cyttid^. The body is much compressed, and rhombiform 

 or sub-oval in contour, sometimes extended toward the base of the ventrals, and 

 the profile is nearly rectilinear, and declivous from the dorsal to the mouth ; the head 

 is extended forwards and short behind, the eyes being very near the occiput ; tlie 

 jaws are quite extensile, and the mouth moderately large ; there are two dorsals, the 



..r. 



first having eight or ten spines, and the second being long and low; the anal fin is 

 larger even than the second dorsal, and the anus consequently advanced in front of 

 the middle. 



The John Dory, Zei/sfaber, is quite a common fish in the English seas, and has for 

 a century past been held in high esteem as a food fish, on account of the fashion inaugu- 

 rated by James Quin, the celebrated gourmand and actor of the last century. Some 

 naturalists and etymologists have gone a good deal out of the way in seeking the 

 origin of the name John Dory. One of the most recent, Dr. Giinther, thinks that it 

 is "partly a corruption of the Gascon 'Jaw,' which signifies cock, 'dory' bemg 



