ANGEL-FISH ANGUILLARI A. 



Ill 



ANGEL-FISH, or " Monk-fish." The common 

 English name of a species of Squatina Angelus, a 

 genus of chondropterygious or cartilaginous fishes, 

 with fixed gills, and in their characters intermediate 

 between the sharks and the rays or skate. These 

 three genera may, indeed, be considered as forming a 

 series which, in the gradations of the different species, 

 extends from the surface of the sea to the bottom, at 

 least to the bottom of the shallows near the shores ; and 

 from the wide range of the ocean to particular spots, 

 from which they seldom migrate. The white shark 

 is the most discursive as well as the most formidable 

 and voracious of the series ; arid the spineless rays, 

 as, for instance, the common skate (ram baits'), the 

 least voracious, and the most localised. They are all, 

 however, rather voracious, and they are active and 

 powerful fishes. 



The genus to which the angel-fish belongs gets the 

 name ofsquatina, because the body is in all the species 

 flattened or depressed, though not so much so as in 

 the rays, but much more so than in the true sharks, 

 with which this species used, very improperly, to be 

 associated ; but the body is not nearly so much de- 

 pressed as in the rays, and the pectoral fins, though 

 large, do not pass insensibly into the body, and appear 

 to form part of it, as in those. The tail also is not 

 nearly so slender as in the rays ; and the whole out- 

 line of the fish can be distinctly traced, the large pec- 

 toral fins having something the appearance of wings, 

 but still bearing the character of distinct appendages. 

 It is from this wing-like, or tunic-like form of the fin's, 

 that the fish gets the names of angel and monk, for 

 otherwise there is nothing either very angelic or very 

 monastic in its appearance or its habits. 



The mouth opens at the end of the muzzle, and not 

 below, as in the sharks, and, generally speaking, in the 

 rays. The teeth are formidable ; they are broad at the 

 base and narrowed to the points, so that they pierce 

 and cut like broad arrows, and they admit of a lateral or 

 sawing motion upon their articulations ; but they are 

 not quite so ragged and formidable as those of the 

 sharks. The eyes are placed in the upper part of the 

 head, whereas those of the sharks are placed laterally. 

 The pectoral fins, as has been hinted, are very large, 

 and they are armed with small spines on their margins. 

 They stand forward at the front edges, something 

 like the wings of a dragon-fly, only they are broader 

 in proportion. Their front edges are closely united 

 to the body, but their posterior ones are separated by 

 a sort of slit. They have two dorsal fins ; and the 

 ventral fins are abdominal, or placed behind the last 

 dorsal. There is no anal fin, and the caudal is 

 placed equally upon the upper and under side of the 

 termination of the vertebrae. The skin is rough and 

 granulated, ash-coloured on the back, having a row 

 of osseous plates with sharp points along the ridge, and 

 white on the under part. 



It often attains the length of eight feet, and is 

 withal a most formidable fish, and dangerous to be 

 approached when taken alive, as it not only bites 

 desperately, but tears and lacerates with the spines on 

 its pectorals and the points on the ridge of its back. 

 It is not uncommon in the British seas, especially the 

 Atlantic and the parts contiguous to it, but it keeps 

 near the bottom, and thus it is not often seen in pro- 

 portion to its numbers. The sole and flounder banks 

 are its favourite haunts, and it captures vast numbers 

 of those fish. There is, however, no clanger of its ex- 

 terminating them, for they breed so much faster, that 



a brood of flounders can support a brood of angel-fish, 

 and yet have abundance for a succession. Like the 

 sharks and rays, the angel-fishes are ovo-viviparous, 

 or perhaps almost viviparous, though these are points 

 difficult to be ascertained; and fishes which are 

 either one or the other are never so prolific as the 

 oviparous fishes. 



ANGELICA (Linnaeus). A large herbaceous 

 plant cultivated in gardens, a native of Britain. Lin- 

 nasan class and order, Pentandria JDigynia. Natural 

 order, UmbeUiferce. Generic character : no universal 

 involucrum ; fruit somewhat flat, margin winged, 

 three acute costae on the back, furrowed below. 

 Species, nine ; biennials and perennials. In a wild 

 state angelica is unpalatable, and even dangerous as 

 a salad herb ; when cultivated it is increased in bulk, 

 and loses its harshness of both fibre and flavour, par- 

 taking of that of celery, chervil, and parsley. 



Cultivation. Sow the seed in March, and when the 

 seedlings are three inches high, transplant them on a 

 shady border three feet apart, there to remain. As it 

 is a large rambling plant, it may be planted in any 

 open part of a shrubbery. Being a biennial, annual 

 sowings are necessary. The confectioner makes an 

 elegant sweetmeat ot the leaf-stalks. 



ANGOPHORA (Cavanilles). A genus of two 

 species of greenhouse shrubs introduced from New 

 Holland. Linnsean class and order, Icosandria Di~ 

 Pcntagynia. Natural order, Myrtaceae. Generic cha- 

 racter : calyx turbinated, five-ribbed, and five-toothed ; 

 corolla five-petaled, inserted in the calyx ; stamens 

 numerous, inserted in the throat of the calyx ; fila- 

 ments awl-shaped ; anthers somewhat round; style 

 like a thread ; capsule three-celled, three-valved, 

 three-seeded ; seeds roundish, plane on one side, 

 convex on the other, appended by their back ; seed- 

 leaves roundly foliaceous. These plants resemble 

 metrosideros, and are esteemed ornamental. 



ANGR^ECUM(Thouars). A small family of hot- 

 house perennials belonging to the orches tribe. Lin- 

 naean class and order, Gynandria Diandria. Natural 

 order, Orchidccc. Generic character : perianthium, 

 somewhat resupinate ; three upper petals like a 

 helmet ; labellum sitting, jointed with the column, 

 often united ; columna without wings, curved, 

 produced above the anthers ; pollen united in a 

 glandular mass. All of this curious tribe of plants 

 are interesting, but difficult of culture. 



ANGUILLA (Eel). A genus of soft-finned fishes, 

 without ventral fins, belonging to the family Angiiif- 

 lidce, and form the leading or typical genus of that 

 family. Every one is so familiar with the general 

 form and appearance of eels, that they need no de- 

 scription ; but many of their habits are so singular, 

 they are so valuable in an economical point of view, 

 and, now their physiology is a little better understood, 

 the fresh-water ones, at least, may be rendered so 

 much more valuable by culture, that they demand 

 more particular explanation than could well be given 

 in a general article upon a genus the species of which 

 are so numerous. [See EEL, for the popular history 

 of the eel, properly so called ; and ANGUILLID^E, for 

 the names of the several genera of eel-shaped fishes, 

 under which their generic character and particular 

 history, where necessary, will be found.] 



ANGUILLARI A (R. Brown). A genus of three 

 species of herbaceous perennials, chiefly from New 

 South Wales. Linnsean class and order, Ilcxandnu 

 Tirgynia. Natural order, Melanthacece. Generic 



