725 



SCOLOPENDRA. 



SCORODITE. 



726 



G. Sabinti, Sabiue's Snipe. 

 O. media, the Common Snipe. 

 0. Brehmii, Brehm's Snipe. 

 O. gallinula, the Jack-Snipe. 

 Scolopax rusticoia, the Woodcock. 



VI. Phalaropodince. 



Pkalaropus fulicarius, the Gray Phalarope. 

 P. hyperboreus, the Red- Necked Phalarope. 



SCOLOPENDRA, Latreille, a genua of Animals belonging to the 

 order Myriapoda, and belonging to a section of that order termed 

 Chilopoda. The species of the genus Scolopendra, as now restricted, 

 are distinguished from others of the section of which they form a 

 part, by their possessing at least twenty-one pairs of legs, and there 

 are more segments apparent on the upper surface of the body than on 

 the under; the antennae are composed of seventeen joints: the eyes 

 are distinct, and are four in number on each side. The species 

 inhabit the southern parts of Europe, and all the tropical portions of 

 the globe; their mandibles (which, strictly speaking, it would appear 

 are formed by the second pair of legs) are terminated by a sharp 

 hook, which is pierced for the transmission of a venomous fluid. The 

 Scolopendne have the body long, slender, and depressed, and protected 

 liaceous plates : they run very fast, and shun the light, living for 

 the most part under logs of wood and the loose bark of decayed 

 tree*. [MYRIAPODA.] 



SCOLOPE'NDRIUM, a genus of Ferns belonging to the natural 

 order Filicacece and tribe Asplmieas. The sori elongate, straight, and 

 two together ; the indusia of each pair opening towards each other. 



K. vulgarc, Hirt's Tongue, is a particularly handsome and ornamental 

 fern, and very different from every other British species. It is uni- 

 versally and abundantly distributed throughout the British Isles. It 

 is very commonly found on old walls and ruins. It is also found in 

 Europe, sparingly towards the north, and in the United States. It is 

 not however described as growing in Africa, Asia, or South America. 

 The roots are black, stout, and very long and strong; the rhizoma is 

 tufted, blackish, scaly, almost spherical ; the young fronds make their 

 appearance in April, growing in an erect position ; by degrees they 

 become horizontal, and at length pendulous. They arrive at maturity 

 at the end of September, and continue in full vigour throughout the 

 whole winter. The form of the frond is linear, elongated, and quite 

 undivided, acute at the apex, and cordate at the base. This fern is 

 the Phyllitia of Ray and all older botanists. It was once much in 

 vogue as a medicine ; Ray mentions it as an astringent, and speaks of 

 its healing powers, applied as an ointment to wounds and ulcers. 

 Lightfoot says it is used by the country people of Scotland as a 

 vulnerary for burns and scalds, and we learn from the ' Flore Francais' 

 that it is used in France as an astringent in cases of diarrhoea and 

 haemorrhage. 



(Newman, Sritiik Fernt ; Babington, Manual of British Botany.) 



SCOLOPHORUS. [ANTILOPE^.] 



SCOMBKR. [SCOMBBID.E.] 



SCOMBERESOX, a genus of Fishes belonging to the family Esocidce. 

 The only British species of this genus is the Gar Pike or Skipper, 

 called also Gowdnook in Scotland. It was first described as a British 

 species by Ray. It is not an abundant fish, but has been taken off 

 Berwick and Yarmouth, and Portland Island, and on some occasions, 

 baa been even plentiful on the coasts of Scotland. [Esox.] 



SCO'MBRID^E, a family of Fishes of the section Acanthopterygii, 

 of which the Common Mackerel may be regarded as a type : the Tunny, 

 Sword-Fisb, Dory, and Boar-Fish, also belong to this group, which 

 contains a multitude of species and many genera. The body is gene- 

 rally covered with small scales ; the tail is usually very powerful and 

 deeply cleft : in most of the species the pectoral fins are long, narrow, 

 and pointed ; the dorsal fins arc two in number, the foremost of them 

 being composed of bony rays ; the hinder dorsal is chiefly supported 

 by soft rays, and is often divided into numerous small false fins. 

 They are provided with numerous c;eca, and these are often united 

 in clusters. 



In the genua Scomber, as now restricted, the body is covered with 

 small smooth scales ; the dorsal fins are widely separated ; the hinder 

 part of the second dorsal, as well as of the anal fin, is divided into 

 numerous small spurious fins or fiulets, which extend along the hinder 

 part of the body, above and beneath, almost to the tail ; the sides of 

 the tail are carinated, and the body is elongated and tapering at both 

 extremities. 



& Scomber, Linnoous (S. vulgaru, of some authors), the Common 

 Mackerel, is a fish too well known to require to be described here. 

 " This fish," Mr. Yarrell observes, " it is probable inhabits almost the 

 whole of the European seas ; and the law of nature which obliges it 

 and many others to visit the shallower waters of the shores at a 

 part cular season, appears to be one of those wise and bountiful provi- 

 sions of the Creator by which not only is the species perpetuated with 

 the greatest certainly, but a large portion of the parent animals are 

 thus brought within the reach of man, who, but for the action of this 

 l.i.v, would be deprived of many of those species most valuable to him 

 aa food." It may be further observed, says the same author, that 

 there is scarcely a month throughout the year in which the fishes of 



some one or more species are not brought within the reach of man by 

 the operation of this law. " On the coast of Ireland the mackerel is 

 taken from the county of Kerry on the west, along the southern shore, 

 eastward to Cork and Waterford ; thence northward to Antrim, and 

 north-west to Londonderry and Donegal. Dr. M'Culloch says it 

 visits some of the lochs of the Western Islands, but is not considered 

 very abundant. On the Cornish coast, this fish in some seasons occurs 

 as early as the month of March, and appears to be pursuing a course 

 from west to east. They are plentiful on the Devonshire coast, and 

 swarm in West Bay about June. On the Hampshire and Sussex 

 coast, particularly the latter, they arrive as early as March, aud some- 

 times even in February ; and the earlier in the year the fishermen go 

 to look for them, the farther from the shore do they seek for and find 

 them. Duhamel says the mackerel are caught earlier at Dunkirk than 

 at Dieppe or Havre : up our own eastern coast however the fishing is 

 later. The fishermen of Lowestoffa and Yarmouth gain their great 

 harvest from the mackerel in May aud June. Mr. Neill says they 

 occur in the Forth at the end of summer ; and Mr. Lowe, in his * Fauna 

 Orcadeusis,' states that they do not make their appearance there till 

 the last week in July or the first week in August. 



" The most common way of fishing for mackerel, and the way in 

 which the greatest numbers are taken, is by drift-nets. The drift-net 

 is twenty feet deep, by one hundred and twenty feet long ; well corked 

 at the top, but without lead at the bottom. They are made of small 

 fine twine, which is tanned of a reddish-brown colour, to preserve it 

 from the action of the sea-water ; and it is thereby rendered much 

 more durable." 



& colias, the Spanish Mackerel, is a rare fish on the British coasts. 

 It is the Colias JRondeletii of Ray. 



Thynnus has the form of the body like the Mackerel, but less 

 compressed, with numerous scales surrounding the thorax, and the 

 first dorsal fin extending nearly to the second. 



T. vulgarie, Cuvier (Scomber Thynnus, Linnaeus), the Tunny. It is 

 taken in large numbers in the Mediterranean, but is seldom fished for 

 on the British coasts, although in some parts it is said to exist iu 

 abundance. Like the Mackerel, they come in shoals to the shallow 

 parts of the water to deposit their spawn. They sometimes attain a 

 great size, weighing above four hundred pounds and measuring nearly 

 eight feet in length. 



T. pelamyi, the Bonito, Scomber pelamys of Linnaeus, is an occasional 

 visitor to the coasts of England, but its true realm is iu the tropics. 

 It is a very beautiful fish of a fine blue colour, with four dark lines 

 extending from the pectorals along the side of the belly to the tail. 

 It rarely exceeds 30 inches in length. The Bonito of the Mediter- 

 ranean, a fish of equal beauty, is a distinct species, and is the Pelamyx 

 Sarda of -Cuvier. Its back and sides are marked by dark oblique 

 transverse bauds. It has much stronger teeth than the Bonito of the 

 tropics. 



Avxis has a nearly cylindrical body; the two dorsal fins widely 

 separated ; one row of minute teeth in each jaw. 



A. vulyaris, Cuvier, Thynnus Rocheanus of Risso, the Plain Bonito, 

 is also a native of the Mediterranean. It is only a straggler on the 

 British coasts. 



Xiphiat has the upper jaw elongated, forming a sword. 



X. gladius, Linnceus, the Sword-Fish, is an inhabitant of the 

 Mediterranean and Atlantic, occasionally visiting our coast. It mea- 

 sures from 10 to 15 feet in length. Its body is lengthy and co' 7 3red 

 with minute scales, the sword forming three-tenths of its length. On 

 its back it bears a single long elevated dorsal fin ; there are no central 

 fins. The tail is keeled. The lower jaw is sharp ; the mouth without 

 teeth. The upper part of the fish is bluish-black merging into silver 

 below. 



The Sword-Fish is said to attack the whale, wounding it with its 

 beak. There are many well-authenticated instances of the planks of 

 ships being perforated by the upper jaw of this powerful creature, 

 which it has been supposed occasionally attacks the hulls of ships iu 

 mistake for the whale. Specimens of ships' timbers penetrated by 

 its sword are preserved in many museums. The Xiphias is mentioned 

 by Aristotle (' Hist. Anim.,' viii. 19), who notices the fact of its 

 striking vessels. The young fish is said to be good eating. When 

 very young the body is covered with small tubercles, which disappear 

 before it attains the length of three feet. 



The other British fishes belonging to this family are Lamprii 

 guttatua, the Ojpah or King-Fish [LAMPBIS] ; Caproa Aper, the Boar- 

 Fish [CAPBOS] ; Zeus fober, the Dory [ZEUS] ; Centrolopkus pompilus, 

 the Black Fish [CENTROLOPHUS] ; Caranx trachurus, the Scad or 

 Horse-Mackerel [CABANX] ; and Naucrates ductor, the Pilot-Fish 

 [NAUCRATES]. 



SCOPELIUjE, a family of Malacopterygious Abdominal Fishes. 

 This family is closely allied to the Salmonidw. They have the snout 

 short, the mouth deeply cleft, the teeth rather small and sharp ; the 

 branchial rays 8 to 15; the first dorsal behind the ventral ; the body 

 iu some is semitransparent. 



The geuus Scopelus is found in the Mediterranean. 



(Manual of Natural Histoni.) 



SCOPOPHORUS. [AmiLOFU] 



SCOPS. [STRI 



SCORODITE. 



