LETTER LVil. 



description, may be added, the surmuler, so highly 

 valued among the Roman epicures, as \ve learn both 

 from Horace and Juvenal. In this class, also, must 

 be reckoned the mackarel, so much esteemed in the 

 British metropolis, on account of the rich and whole- 

 some nutriment which it affords. 



THE MACKAREL, 



is, when alive, a beautiful fish, and all its colours arc 

 brilliant; but their lustre fades as soon as it is drawn 

 out of its native element. This fish furnished the 

 precious ganmi of the Romans, a sort of pickle, which 

 gave a high relish to sauces, and was likfwi.se suppos- 

 ed to possess some .medicinal power.-. Among 

 then*, therefore, the fish that produced it was held in 

 high estimation. N 



Mackarel visit the British coasts in numerous shoals 

 daring the summer season. They are easily caught 

 with a bait; and a bit of white paper, or red rag, will 

 answer that purpose. Although they cannot be pre- 

 served fresh in distant carriage, they furnish a sup- 

 ply of food to those who can have them by a ready 

 conveyance. In Cornwall they are salted, and luid 

 up for winter/ provision. 



THE ABDOMINALES, OR FOURTH ORDER 



cf spinous fishes, have the ventral fins placed behind 

 the pectoral, in the abdomen; and from this charac- 

 teristic the appellation is derived. This division in- 

 cludes seventeen genera, and about loO species. 



To this numerous class belong the carp, the roach, 

 the tench, and a variety of others, which furnish co~ 

 pious supplies of excellent food, among which may- 

 be numbered the anchovy, so plentiful in the Medi- 

 terranean, and, when pickled, so highly esteemed in 

 sauces. The pike also, one of the most active and vo- 

 racious of all the finny race, is comprehended in this 

 order. 



THE SALMON 



is. a fish that may stand in the first rank in regard to 

 utility, and is too well known to need uny description. 

 It appears to be chiefly, or perhaps wholly confined 

 to the northern climates, for it is unknown in the Me- 

 diterranean, although it is diffused as far north as 



