GEN. RAIA. THE SKATE. 327 



and best known species of the genus, as it is found 

 in all parts of the coasts of Great Britain and Ire- 

 land, and is used in large quantities for the table. 

 Its ordinary size is from two to four feet, but ex- 

 amples have occurred in our seas weighing two hun- 

 dred pounds, and it is asserted that one was caught 

 in the West Indies which measured twenty-five feet 

 in length, and thirteen in breadth. The snout is 

 sharp, elongated, and conical, the sides not being 

 parallel; the whole of the surface more or less granu- 

 lated ; the tail with one or three rows of spines ; 

 the colour grey beneath, with black spots. Besides 

 possessing the ventral appendages, the males have 

 several rows of sharp hooked spines toward the sides 

 of the pectorals. The teeth are sharp in both sexes 

 when adult, but the points are usually most deve- 

 loped in the males. Various names have been be- 

 six) wed on this fish in different localities ; the females 

 are often called Maids. They generate in March and 

 April, at which time, according to Pennant, they 

 swim near the surface of the water, several of the 

 males pursuing one female. The females cast their 

 purses in May and continue doing so till September. 

 In October they are poor and thin, but they begin 

 to improve in November and grow gradually better 

 till May, when they are in the highest perfection. 

 They are very voracious, feeding on other fish and 

 Crustacea, and they do not themselves seem to be 

 mich preyed on by the other inhabitants of the deep. 

 * In the Firth of Forth" says Dr. Parnell " these 

 jshes are met with in great numbers, particularly in 



