280 ZOOLOGY. 



thus impregnated came at any time under our observa- 

 tion. The Mackerel and Bonita, congeners of the Al- 

 bacore, are decidedly oviparous ; and the Albacore, or 

 Tunny (S. Thynnus) of Europe, is well known to fre- 

 quent the shores of the Mediterranean to exclude its 

 eggs or spawn. 



Ships, when cruizing slowly in the Pacific Ocean, are 

 usually attended by myriads of this fish, for many 

 successive months. A few days rapid sailing is, ne- 

 vertheless, sufficient to get rid of them, however nu- 

 merous they may be ; for they seldom pay more than 

 very transient visits to vessels making a quick passage. 

 When the ship is sailing with a fresh breeze, they swim 

 pertinaciously by her side and take the hook greedily ; 

 but should she be lying motionless or becalmed, they 

 go off to some distance in search of prey, and cannot 

 be prevailed upon to take the most tempting bait the 

 sailor can devise. 



follow. The two organs which may be considered as uteri, in the female 

 fish, are situated close to the spine, one being placed on each side of 

 the swim- bladder. They are about four inches in length, red, and of 

 fleshy texture. Their anterior extremity is rounded and impervious, and 

 attached to a broad membrane, which in consistence and colour bears 

 some resemblance to the parenchyma of the lungs of amphibia ; their 

 posterior extremity is narrower, and terminates in a slender tube. The 

 interior of each uteroid body is a cavity or bag, but its sides are in 

 contact, and lined with longitudinal folds of the same structure as the 

 rest of the organ. 



The terminal tubes of both uteri conjoin to form a more capacious 

 canal, which is separated from the vesical tube, or urethra, by a thin 

 membranous septum ; while the rectum opens by a distinct channel : 

 thus, although but one common orifice or cloaca exists, there are, im- 

 mediately within it, three distinct orifices. What would appear to be 

 sexual organs in the male fish, are narrow flattened bodies, similar in 

 situation, length, and colour, to those of the female ; but their structure 

 is glandular and solid, and they are only perforated by a minute tube or 

 duct, passing through the centre of their entire length. 



