614 



SCILLA SCINCUS. 



effectual, it was pretended that the wearer must have 

 received them as a grift ; if they were purchased, they 

 had neither preventive nor curative power. 



The general aspect of the Maigre is heavy and 

 lumping ; but it is a remarkably well-finned fish, and 

 gets quickly through the water. The family are in- 

 habitants of the pure water, rather than bank fishes. 



UMBIUNA. This genus resembles the former in 

 the main features ; but it has a barbule at the point of 

 the lower jaw ; the teeth are smaller and more nume- 

 rous, and the rays of the anal fin are stouter. 



The common Umbrina ( U. vulgaris), is a species of 

 this genus, very common in the Mediterranean, and 

 one solitary stray at least has found its way to the 

 British coast. This was to the coast of Devon in 

 1827 ; but none, even of the most experienced fisher- 

 men, had any name for it. 



It is a very beautiful fish in the colours, and de- 

 scribed as being excellent. The following cut will 

 give some idea of it. 



The ground colour of the back is golden yellow, 

 more or less bright according to the season, and con- 

 dition of the fish. The oblique bands are silvery white 

 and steel blue ; and the under part is white. The 

 irides are silvery, and the pupils of the eyes deep 

 black. The head is short and blunt ; the upper jaw 

 the longest, with three mucus pores at the extremity ; 

 and the lower one flat, and with a short barbule at the 

 junction of the maxillary bones. The teeth are small 

 but numerous, forming a broad baud like a rough 

 pavement in each jaw. The rays in the fins are 

 ten in the first dorsal, and twenty-two in the second ; 

 seventeen in the pectorals ; one spine, and six soft 

 rays in the ventrals ; one and seven in the anal ; and 

 seventeen in the caudal. The lateral line is high 

 on the side, and parallel to the outline of the back. 

 The fins on the back are brown, with two bars across ; 

 the caudal fin is red ; and all the remaining fins are 

 nearly black. 



As a fish for the table it is superior to the maigre, 

 notwithstanding the celebrity which that has acquired. 

 It is generally about two feet long ; but some speci- 

 mens weigh forty pounds, it being a very deep and 

 thick fish in proportion to its length. The flesh is 

 white and well flavoured. Altogether it is a much 

 more handsome fish than the maigre ; and it is still 

 more common. Its food is various, small fishes 

 mollusca, and, as it is said, sea-weed. It is much 

 more common on the Spanish coasts than the 

 other ; is well known at Gibraltar, and Umbrina the 

 Spanish name for it. It is said to occur not unfre- 

 quently in the Bay of Biscay. 



Oto'lithus. The fishes of this genus have no bar- 

 bule on the jaw ; they have the teeth very large anc 

 crooked ; and the anterior part of the swimming 

 bladder is divided into two branches. They are all 

 or chiefly natives of the warm seas, the tropica 

 parts of the Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean. One i 



he stone perch of the Coromandel coast, another the 

 uljan of the West Indies. They are in fact nume- 

 rous, and most of them are esteemed as food. 



Carvina. This genus have the teeth small and i 

 i band like those of the Umbrina., but no barbule ; 

 hey also differ from the preceding genus, in having 

 the second ray of the anal fin thick and strong. One 

 species is very abundant in the Mediterranean, and 

 here are various others in the Indian and Ame- 

 rican seas. 



Johnhis. The fishes of this genus very much re- 

 semble those of the last mentioned one, only they 

 nave the second spinous ray of the anal fin shorter 

 and weaker. They are natives of the warm seas, and 

 are caught on the shores of India, Africa, and Ame- 

 rica. Their flesh is white and light, highly esteemed, 

 and can be had in abundance, so that they are very 

 valuable fishes to the inhabitants of those countries. 



Pagonias (Drummers). These fish get that name 

 because the sound which they utter resembles that of 

 drums at a distance. They are very like the genus 

 Umbrina, only instead of one barbule on the under 

 jaw they have a number. One species, Fasciatus, is 

 of a silvery colour, with brown bands, which are most 

 conspicuous on the young. It has the bones of the 

 pharynx thickly set with large and flat teeth. It is 

 an A'merican fish, and grows to a size not interior to 

 that of the maigre. 



SCILLA (LinnaDus). A beautiful genus of bul- 

 bous stemmed plants, mostly natives of Europe. 

 The flowers are hexandrous, and the genus belongs 

 to Asphoddia. The squill is a native of the southern 

 parts of Spain, Italy, and Greece. It has (the S. 

 maritimd) long been celebrated for its medicinal 

 virtues ; it is extremely bitter, and is esteemed as 

 an expectorant, nauseant, and diuretic. The small 

 hardy specios are in every flower garden. 



SOINCUS (SKINK, and also SCINCOID^: the 

 Skink family). The skinks form the eighth and last 

 of the families into which Cuvier divides the saurian 

 reptiles, and the general characters of the family are : 

 the legs very short, the tongue not extensile, and the 

 body and tail covered with imbricated scales, all of 

 equal size. They all have more or less of a snake- 

 like form, and some of them have two of the feet 

 merely rudimental, or altogether wanting. The 

 family comprises these genera . Scinciis, Seps, Bipes, 

 Chalcides, and Chirotes or Siniana. Some of them 

 have acquired an interest in the history of quackery, 

 but they rank rather low in the scale of animals. 



SCINCUS. This is the typical genus of the family, 

 and of course the one upon which the name is 

 founded. The following are the generic characters : 

 the feet four in number, and short ; the body and 

 tail of nearly the same length ; no power of inflating 

 the nape ; no crest on the back ; and no ruff or other 

 appendage to the throat; the feet are rather well 

 formed, and the hind ones are longer than the fore ; 

 the tail in general conical, and that and the body 

 covered with scales, not very large, and regularly 

 imbricated ; the tongue is capable of but little exten- 

 sion ; it is of a fleshy consistence, and cleft at the 

 tip ; the toes, which are longer on the hind feet than 

 on the fore, are generally five in number, and have 

 small claws ; the head is small, generally of a quad- 

 rangular shape, and hardly to be distinguished from 

 the neck at the occiput ; both jaws are closely set 

 with small teeth for their whole length, and, in addi- 

 tion to these, there are two rows on the palate ; the 



