THE PELAMID. 19 



and on the west side off Connecticut, at New York, and 

 on the Brazil coast. Ichthyologists might naturally have 

 looked in the British seas for this active and wide-tra- 

 velling fish, especially on the Cornish or Irish coasts ; but 

 the first of our naturalists who has had the fortune to 

 procure a British example, or at least to recognise the 

 species, is William Beattie, Esq., Honorary Secretary of 

 the Montrose Natural History and Antiquarian Society. 

 The specimen was captured in a salmon -net set at the 

 mouth of the North Esk, which falls into the North Sea 

 in latitude 56|, and fortunately came into the posses- 

 sion of a gentleman competent to understand the value 

 ichthyologists set on such a discovery. Before intelli- 

 gence of this fish reached us the entire impression of 

 the third edition of British Fishes had been printed off; 

 but as there had been no issue, we are enabled to inter- 

 polate this notice in the place that the species ought to 

 occupy in the volume : and we beg to tender many 

 thanks to Mr. Beattie and Dr. Gray for their communi- 

 cations ; and to the directors of the Montrose Society 

 for their liberality in lending the specimen. 



According to Pallas, the Black Sea specimens attain 

 the length of an ell ; Webb and Berthollet's Canary 

 example was twenty-five inches long ; Storer quotes the 

 dimensions of the New England ones at two feet; and 

 Mr. Beattie's Forfar one measures twenty-two inches and 

 three-quarters. These dimensions approach those of the 

 Tunnies, and sailors very commonly confound the Striped 

 Thynni and the Pelamids with each other under the 

 general term of Bonitos ; they also give them the name 

 of Skip-jacks, expressive of the habit which many of the 

 large Scomberoids have of skimming the surface of the 

 sea, and springing occasionally into the air. 



Pallas describes the Black Sea Pelamids as being vari- 



c 2 



