CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. 



291 



later naturalist places them among the spinous 

 class. With which tribe they most agree, 

 succeeding observations must determine. At 

 present we seem better acquainted with their 

 figure than their history : their deformity is 

 obvious; and the venomous nature of the great- 

 est number has been confirmed by fatal ex- 

 perience. This circumstance, as well as the 

 happy distance at which they are placed from 

 us, being all found in the Oriental or Amer- 

 ican seas, may have prevented a more critical 

 inquiry; so that we know but little of the 

 nature of their malignity, and still less of their 

 pursuits and enmities in the deep. 



In the first of this tribe we may place the 

 Sea Orb, which is almost round, has a mouth 

 like a frog, and is from seven inches to two 

 feet long. Like the porcupine, from whence 

 it sometimes takes its name, being also called 

 the Sea Porcupine, it is covered over with 

 long thorns or prickles, which point on every 

 side; and, when the animal is enraged, it can 

 blow up its body as round as a bladder. Of 

 this extraordinary creature there are many 

 kinds : some threatening only with spines, as 

 the Sea Hedgehog ; others defended with a 

 bony helmet that covers the head, as the Os- 

 tracion; others with a coat of mail from the 

 head to the tail, where it terminates in a point, 

 as the Centriscus ; and others still armed of- 

 fensively and defensively with bones and 

 spines, as the Shield Orb. 1 



Of these scarcely one is without its peculiar 

 weapon of offence. The centriscus wounds 

 with its spine ; the ostracion poisons with its 

 venom ; the orb is impregnable, and is abso- 

 lutely poisonous if eaten. Indeed, their figure 

 is not such as would tempt one to make the 

 experiment ; and the natives of those countries 



1 The Eared Ostracion (See Plate XXI. fig. 21.) 

 This fish has a brown spine over each eye, two on each 

 side of the back, the same on each side of the abdomen, 

 and one on each side of the body. Its teeth are cylin- 

 drical, blunt, and pointing forwards. The whole body 

 is mailed with a complete bony covering. This species 

 is found about the islands of the Pacific ocean, and is 

 readily distinguished from the rest of its cogeners. Its 

 length is about four inches and a half. (For Ostracion 

 turritus, see Plate XXII. fig. 13.) 



The Lineated Tetrodon. The jaws are bony, and 

 divided at the tip; the body is roughened beneath, and 

 the ventral fins wanting; the abdomen is variegated by 

 longitudinal brown bands. This singular fish, which is 

 a native of the Mediterranean sea, is also said to be 

 sometimes found in the river Nile. Like many others 

 of its genus, it has a power of inflating at pleasure the 

 skin of its body ; and being covered on the abdomen with 

 numerous small spines, is said to inflict considerable pain 

 on the hands of those who incautiously touch it. It grows 

 to the length of from eight to ten inches. (For Tetrodon 

 hispidus, see Plate XXI. fig. 4.) 



The Orbicular Diadon. This remarkable fish grows 

 about a foot in length, and is a native of the tropical seas. 

 It is of a rounder shape than the Diadon Hy striae, or 

 Porcupine Diadon ; (for which see Plate XXII. fig. 17.) 



where they are found, are careful to inform 

 foreigners of their danger: yet a certain sailor 

 at the Cape of Good Hope, not believing what 

 the Dutch told him concerning their venom, 

 was resolved to make the experiment, and 

 break through a prejudice, which, he supposed, 

 was founded on the animal's deformity. He 

 tried, and ate one ; but his rashness cost him 

 his life; he instantly fell sick, and died a few 

 days after. 



These frightful animals are of different 

 sizes ; some not bigger than a foot-ball, and 

 others as large as a bushel. They almost all 

 flatten and erect their spines at pleasure, and 

 increase the terrors of their appearance in 

 proportion to the approach of danger. At first 

 they seem more inoffensive ; their body oblong, 

 with all their weapons pointing towards the 

 tail ; but, upon being provoked or alarmed, 

 the body, that before seemed small, swells to 

 the view ; the animal visibly grows rounder 

 and larger, and all its prickles stand upright, 

 and threaten the invader on every side. The 

 Americans often amuse themselves with the 

 barren pleasure of catching these frightful 

 creatures by a line and hook, baited with a 

 piece of sea-crab. The animal approaches the 

 bait with its spines flattened ; but when hooked 

 and stopped by the line, straight all its spines 

 are erected ; the whole body being armed 

 in such a manner at all points, that it is 

 impossible to lay hold of it on any part. For 

 this reason it is dragged to some distance from 

 the water, and there it quickly expires. In 

 the middle of the bejly of all these there is a 

 sort of bag or bladder filled with air, and by 

 the inflation of which the animal swells itself 

 in the manner already mentioned. 



In describing the deformed animals of this 



its jaws are bony, and undivided ; and the body beset 

 with movable spines. The spines are much shorter than 

 the porcupine diadon, with broader bases, forming a kind 

 of curved reticular pattern on the skin. 



The Scaly Centriscus. The head of this fish is pro- 

 duced into a very narrow snout; its mouth is toothless, 

 with the lower jaw longer than the upper one. The 

 gill-openings are wide; its body is compressed, with the 

 abdomen carinated; and the ventral fins united. The 

 Scaly Centriscus or Bellows Fish is a native of the Me- 

 diterranean sea, and grows to the length of five or six 

 inches: it feeds on worms, and the smaller kinds of ma- 

 rine insects. 



The Telescope Fish. The whole body of this fish, and 

 the ground colour of the fins, is of a beautiful red, darker 

 towards the back, and lighter towards the belly: the 

 membranes of the fins are almost white ; and the red 

 rays shining through them have a very fine eflect; the 

 three white points of the tail give you an idea of a tri- 

 dent or tulip. The head is short, but large; the mouth 

 is small ; the nostrils single. The pupil of the eye is 

 black, the iris yellow ; the back is round ; the lateral 

 line nearer the back than the head. The scales on the 

 belly are large; the rays of the fins are ramified. This 

 beautiful fish is found in the fresh waters of China, and 

 is supposed to be a variety of the gold fish. 



