SCOMBEROID.E. 



623 



Common Sivonl-fah, (Xiphias gladius). This is the 

 one which there is the greatest probability, (though 

 not a very great one,) of meeting with on the British 

 coasts ; arid it happens also to be the typical species, 

 so that on both these accounts it is the one of which 

 it is desirable to give a lew details. 



The generic characters are ; the head triangular 

 in profile, but drawn out into the lengthened sword 

 of the upper jaw in the manner that has been already 

 described ; the thickest part of the body near the 

 setting on of the head ; one dorsal fin rising from the 

 nape and continued for a great part of the length of 

 the body, the outline of the anterior part concave, 

 and that of the posterior part convex ; no ventral 

 fins ; the tail with strong keels, and the rays of the 

 lobes greatly produced ; the gape not very deep, the 

 lower jaw pointed ; the jaws without teeth, and the 

 sword-shaped portion of the upper jaw very long, 

 and strongly supported at its base ; the body covered 

 with very minute scales. 



The common sword-fish is very abundant in the 

 Mediterranean, where it has attracted much notice 

 from the most early times. As is the case with all 

 the family, it is discursive, excepting at those times 

 when it approaches the shores for the purpose of 

 spawning ; and although it would not, perhaps, be 

 quite correct to apply the epithet " timid" to a fish 

 whose armature enables it to defy all its fellow in- 

 habitants of the deep, yet it is at all events a cautious 

 fish. Though longest and best known to naturalists 

 as a native of the Mediterranean, it often roams into 

 the ocean, seldom, as it is said, upon the parallel, 

 but either northward or southward, of the strait of 

 Gibraltar. That this should be the direction which 

 it takes in its wanderings, we might be prepared to 

 expect, for in the sea, especially, we know of no 

 animal that migrates longitudinally upon the parallel, 

 neither do we know of any cause or inducement that 

 they could have so to migrate ; because in the sea, 

 there is no change of climate upon the parallel, and 

 nothing for which a fish could migrate, except toward 

 the shore to spawn, and from it after that operation 

 is over. Even in this case there appears always to 

 be a movement in latitude, and in the case of the 

 summer spawning fishes, this movement appears, in 

 our hemisphere, to be chiefly toward the north. We 

 have already pointed this out in the case of the 

 common mackarel, and we believe it will be found 

 that in the Mediterranean, the whole family resort 

 much more to the northern shores than to the 

 southern ones for the purpose of spawning. There 

 are physical reasons why this should be the case, but 

 our limits will not allow a full examination of them, 

 and a partial one would be of little use. 



From the time of the very earliest authentic notice 

 of British fishes, the sword-fish has been included in 

 the number, though only as an occasional straggler ; 

 but out in the ocean it is much more common, and 

 ranges further to the north. Indeed, as an occasional 

 fish on the coasts, it has oftener appeared on the 

 Scottish than the English ; and in latitudes still 

 higher it is more common both in the open ocean and 

 in the Baltic. 



Its antipathy to the whale has been the subject of 

 much description, and though there seems to be no 

 reason for doubting the fact, the reason is by no 

 means so apparent. That a sword-fish could "swallow 

 a whale," is of course out of the question, and as little 

 could_it bite, as it has got no teeth in the jaws ; and 



then though it may use the sword in "cutting up" 

 large animals into mouthable morsels, the fact of its 

 actually doing so has not been to any extent proved. 

 We quote an account of the mode of attack on the 

 whale by the sword-fish, and its auxiliary, the 

 thrasher, given by Captain Crow, as having been 

 witnessed from a vessel on its passage to the Baltic. 

 "One morning," says he, "during a calm, when near 

 the Hebrides, all hands were called up at three AM., 

 to witness a battle between several of the fish called 

 thrashers, or fan-sharks, (Carcharias vulpes,} and some 

 sword-fish on the one side, and an enormous whale 

 on the other. It was in the middle of summer, and 

 the weather being clear and the fish close to the 

 vessel, we had a fine opportunity of witnessing the 

 contest. As soon as the whale's back appeared 

 above the water, the thrashers springing several 

 yards into the air, descended with great violence 

 upon the object of their rancour, and inflicted on 

 him the most severe slaps with their long tails, the 

 sound of which resembled the reports of muskets 

 fired at a distance. The sword-fish, in their turn, 

 attacked the distressed whale, stabbing him below ; 

 and thus beset on all sides, and wounded, when the 

 poor creature appeared, the water around him was 

 deluged with blood. In this manner they continued 

 tormenting and wounding him, until we lost eight of 

 him, and, I have no doubt they in the end completed 

 his destruction." 



Such is the account given by Captain Crow of 

 what he saw, and of course we do not mean to call 

 the seeing of it in question, because we think every 

 man has a right to see all that he can see, and as 

 much more as possible. We almost regret, however, 

 that it has been quoted by Mr. Yarrell, because those 

 who cannot draw distinguishing lines, will be apt to 

 fancy that he saw it, and we are quite sure that Mr. 

 Yarrell has too much good sense for seeing any such 

 thing. In the first place we would ask, from what 

 fulcrum, or point-d'appui, did the sharks deliver the 

 blows with their tails, so as to give reports like 

 muskets, when they descended on the whale ? If the 

 body of the shark was supported upon that of the 

 whale, then the tail might strike ; but if the shark 

 made its stroke from the air, falling from the height 

 of only a few yards, we know of no momentum that 

 it could have, beyond that of its body, as a certain 

 weight of matter falling from this trifling height, and 

 that could not be very great. Then there is another 

 trifling question connected with the conduct of the 

 sharks ; what part of their backs served as the ful- 

 cra from which they leaped out of the water ? We 

 of course do not mean to deny this statement, neither 

 do we mean to deny that the shark in question can 

 give double blows with the long lobe of its one-sided 

 tail. All that we doubt is, that the leaping of the 

 shark some yards into the air could much help the 

 violence of its blows, because the force of a blow 

 must always depend on the power of resistance in 

 that from which it is delivered. 



But supposing all that is said of the thrashers to 

 have been seen, there is more of doubtful matter in 

 this most marvellous infliction upon the poor whale. 

 The sword fishes made "their gashes" upon the 

 under side of the enormous brute, (we presume we 

 may say "brute" as the whale is mammalia, not 

 fish ?) and the question to which we desiderate an 

 answer is this : How were the attacks of these fishes 

 upon the under side of the whale seen ? A whale of 



