FODI A- 



me to suppose it might be the E. cvolans, of which 

 I possess a specimen twenty and a half inches long. 

 There can be little doubt that this fish had been 

 chased out of its usual haunt by some one of those 

 voracious inhabitants of the deep by which they are 

 continually persecuted.' " 



We have given this quotation from Mr. Yarrell's 

 work at length, because we know that he is very par- 

 ticular as to his authorities ; and the evidence which 

 he has brought together renders it highly probable 

 that more than one species of those curious fishes 

 occasionally occur on the British shores, though so 

 rarely and so incidentally that of course no one need 

 directly look out for them, farther than by having 

 their eyes about them, when they visit those parts of 

 the coast where such fishes are most likely to be met 

 with ; and if they do this, they have a chance, indeed 

 a certainty, of being repaid for their trouble, or rather 

 the pleasure of using their eyes, whether they may 

 happen to see a flying-fish or not. 



As one of the distinctions of the different species 

 of those fishes is the number of rays in the several 

 fins, and as this is, we believe, very constant in each, 

 we shall mention them. The present one has four- 

 teen rays in the dorsal, fifteen to seventeen in each 

 of the pectorals, six or seven in each of the ventrals, 

 thirteen in the anal, and fifteen in the caudal. 



Exocetits cvolans. This species, which has been 

 mentioned as sometimes occurring in the British seas, 

 attains a larger size than the former, being sometimes 

 as much as twenty inches in length. It is abundant 

 in the Mediterranean, and when it can be captured 

 it is excellent eating. It is also not unfrequent on 

 the coasts of Spain. Its mouth has not the tubular 

 form of that of the common flying-fish : its form is 

 more nearly that of a herring, or rather of the sardine, 

 its eyes are much smaller, and it is altogether a more 

 handsome fish. The number of rays on its fins are 

 thirteen or fourteen in the dorsal, thirteen in the pec- 

 torals, six in the ventrals, eleven to thirteen in the 

 anal, and fifteen in the caudal, so that, though a larger 

 fish, it is not so well finned, excepting in the tail, as 

 the common flying-fish ; and hence we are to con- 

 clude that though it is an equal swimmer, it is an 

 inferior leaper. 



Exocetus exsitiens. This species has not been found 

 of exactly the same size as the last mentioned, though 

 it has been met with larger than the common flying- 

 fish. Its forehead is very elevated, and its ventral 

 fins are pointed and placed nearer the tail than in 

 the preceding species. Its anal fin is placed imme- 

 diately under the dorsal, and is a little longer in the 

 front portion than in the rear. It is represented as 

 inhabiting both the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, 

 as being discursive, and found in the Red Sea, in the 

 Mediterranean, on the coasts of Brazil, and as far 

 north as the southern parts of the United States. The 

 rays in its fins are ten in the dorsal, fifteen in the 

 pec*orals, six in the ventrals, eleven in the anal, and 

 ten in the caudal. 



Exocetus mesogastcr is a species of the West Indian 

 seas. Tlxs dorsal and anal fins have the form of a 

 sithe-blade or falchion, which completely distin- 

 guishes it from all the others. Its ventral fins have 

 six rays each, and its caudal twenty ; those on the 

 others have not been determined. 



Exocctus Mitchcllii. This species has been found 

 on the American seas, and is described by Mitchell, in 

 his account of the fishes of New York. Its head is 



F 05 N U S. 515 



very like that of a herring, and the outlines of the 

 dorsal and anal fins are nearly parallel to those of 

 the body. 



Exocctits Nutalii has been found in the Gulf of 

 Mexico. Its pectoral fins are brown at the base, 

 witli two transverse bands, of which the first is forked 

 on the outer side, and the ventral fins are marked 

 with three brown spots. There are some other 

 species of the division now under consideration which 

 have been figured and described, but it is doubtful 

 whether they may not be accidental varieties of some 

 of those which we have noticed. All which we have 

 hitherto alluded to have the muzzle and the lips plain, 

 or without barbules or fibrous appendages ; and we 

 believe that most of them have been met with on 

 both sides of Africa, though they are perhaps more 

 abundant in the Atlantic than in the other oceans. 

 There are a few other species, which have appendages 

 to the mouth, and which are, we believe, so far as is 

 known, peculiar to the American shores. 



Exocctus comatits. This species has been observed 

 on the shores of the United States. Its ventral fins 

 are very long and pointed, and situated a little farther 

 forward than in most of the others. Its anal is one 

 half shorter than the dorsal ; it has a long barbule 

 attached to the under jaw, and the mouth is very 

 small. The rays on the fins are, pectoral twelve, 

 ventral six, anal six, caudal eleven. 



Exocetus fitrcatus. This is found on the same 

 shores as the former, but it is of smaller size. Its eyes 

 are large and prominent, like those of the common 

 flying-fish ; its ventral fins, which are large, pointed, 

 and marked with spots, are placed at the middle of 

 the length. There is a barbule at each angle of the 

 mouth, which extends, when stretched, as far as the 

 base of the pectorals. This is rather a rare species, 

 and the ra3 r s of its fins have not been counted. 



Exocetus ffisciatns. This species has been ob- 

 served in the West Indian Seas, and it gets its trivial 

 name from the brown bands or fascia which cross the 

 pectorals. It has two long barbules on the under lip 

 the extremities of which are divided into three 

 branches, the middle one longer than the other two. 

 The rays in the fins of this species are, twelve in the 

 dorsal, ten in the anal, eighteen in the pectorals, 

 sixteen in the ventrals, and twenty in the caudal, 

 from which last circumstance we may be led to infer 

 that this species is the best swimmer of the genus. 



We have no doubt that, besides those which we 

 have mentioned, there may be many species of those 

 singular fishes ; and though they are not among the 

 most interesting inhabitants of the sea in an econo- 

 mical point of view, we have been induced to notice 

 them at some length ; first, because of the singularity 

 of their habits ; and secondly, because, according to 

 many of the published accounts of them, the functions 

 which they are said to perform are inconsistent with 

 their structure, for a real flying-fish is as much a 

 creature of the imagination as a flying horse. 



FODI A (De Blainville). A naked mollusc, one 

 species of which has been described, but it is so little 

 known, that the propriety of constituting a new genus 

 of it appears problematical. 



FOZNUMGRjECUM, is the Trigonclla fccnum- 

 grtEcum, or common fenugreek of authors, an eco- 

 nomical plant, found wild in many places on the 

 continent. 



FCENUS (Fabricius). A remarkable genus ot 

 hymenopterous insects, belonging to the section 

 KK2 



