308 



HISTORY OF FISHES. 



ing ; this then must be a prickly-finned apodal 

 fish. 01' this kind there are but three : and 

 by comparing the fish with the description, I 

 find it either of the trichurus kind, the sword- 

 fish, or the gilt-head. Upon examining also 

 its internal structure, I shall find a very great 

 similitude between my fish and that placed at 

 the head of the family. 



CHAP. II. 



OF SPINOUS FISHES IN GENERAL. 



HAVING given a method by which Spinous 

 Fishes may be distinguished from each other, 

 the history of each in particular might natur- 

 ally be expected to follow ; but such a distinct 

 account of each would be very disgusting, 

 from the unavoidable uniformity of every des- 

 cription. The history of any one of this class 

 very much resembles that of all the rest : they 

 breathe air and water through the gills; they 

 live by rapine, each devouring such animals 

 as its mouth is incapable of admitting ; and 

 they propagate, not by bringing forth their 

 young alive, as in the cetaceous tribes, nor 

 by distinct eggs, as in the generality of the 

 cartilaginous tribes, but by spawn, or peas, 

 as they are generally called, which they pro- 

 duce by hundreds of thousands. These are 

 the leading marks that run through their 

 whole history, and which have so much 

 swelled books with tiresome repetition. 



It will be sufficient therefore to draw this 

 numerous class into one point of view, arid 

 to mark how they differ from the former 

 classes ; and what they possess peculiarly 

 striking, so as to distinguish them from each 

 other. The first object that presents itself, 

 and that by which they differ from all others, 

 are the bones. These, when examined but 

 slightly, appear to be entirely solid; yet when 

 viewed more closely, every bone will be found 

 hollow, and filled with a substance less rancid 

 and oily than marrow. These bones are very 

 numerous, and pointed ; and, as in quadru- 

 peds, are the props or stays to which the 

 muscles are fixed which move the different 

 parts of the body. 



The number of bones in all spinous fishes 

 of the same kind, is always the same. It is 

 a vulgar way of speaking to say, that fishes 

 fire at some seasons more bony than at others; 

 but this scarcely requires contradiction. It is 

 true indeed, that fish are at some seasons much 

 fatter than at others : so that the quantity of 

 the flesh being diminished, and that of the 

 bones remaining the same, they appear to 

 increase in number, as they actually bear a 

 greater proportion. 



All fish of the same kind, as was said, have 

 the same number of bones : the skeleton of a 

 fish, however irregularly the bones may fall 

 in our way at table, has its members very 

 regularly disposed ; and every bone has its 

 fixed place, with as much precision as we 

 find in the orders of a regular fabric. But 

 then spinous fish differ in the number of bones 

 according to the species : for some have a 

 greater number of fins by which they move 

 in the water. The number in each is always 

 in proportion to the number and size of these 

 fins : for every fish has a regular apparatus 

 of bones and muscles by which the fins are 

 moved ; and all those fish, where they are 

 numerous or large, must, of consequence, be 

 considerably bony. Indeed, in the larger 

 fish, the quantity of flesh is so much, and the 

 bones themselves are so large, that they are 

 easily seen and separated ; but in the smaller 

 kinds with many fins, the bones are as numer- 

 ous as in the great; yet being so very minute, 

 they lurk almost in every part of the flesh, 

 and are dangerous as well as troublesome to 

 be eaten. In a word, those fish which are 

 large, fat, and have few fins, are found to be 

 the least bony ; those which are small, lean, 

 and have many fins, are the most bony of all 

 others. Thus, for instance, a roach appears 

 more bony than a carp, because it is leaner 

 and smaller; and it is actually more bony 

 than an eel, because it has a greater number 

 of fins. 



As the spinous fish partake less of the 

 quadruped in their formation than any others, 

 so they can bear to live out of their own ele- 

 ment a shorter time. In general, when taken 

 out of the water they testify their change by 

 panting more violently and at closer intervals, 

 the thin air not furnishing their gills the pro- 

 per play ; and in a few minutes they expire. 

 Some indeed are more vivacious in air than 

 others; the eel will live several hours out of 

 water; and the carp has been known to be 

 fattened in a damp cellar. The method is 

 by placing it in a net well wrapped up in 

 wet moss, the mouth only out, and then hung 

 up in a vault. The fish is fed with white 

 bread and milk; and the net now and then 

 plunged into the water. The animal, thus 

 managed, has been known not only to live 

 fora fortnight, but to grow exceedingly fat, 

 and of a superior flavour. From this it would 

 seem that the want of a moisture in the gills 

 is the chief cause of the death of these ani- 

 mals ; and could that be supplied, their lives 

 might be prolonged in the air, almost as well 

 as in their own element. 



Yet it is impossible to account for the dif- 

 ferent operations of the same element, upon 

 animals that, to appearance, have the some con- 

 formation. To some fishes, bred in the sea, fresh 



