COMMON WOLF-FISH, 95 



teeth, making the number in the upper jaw seven- 

 teen or eighteen, and in the lower eleven or twelve : 

 the sides of the under jaw are convex inwards, which 

 greatly adds to their strength, and at the same time 

 .allows room for the large muscles with which the 

 head of this fish is furnished : the molares or grinders 

 of the under jaw are higher on the outer than on 

 the inner edges, which inclines their surfaces in- 

 wards : they join the canine teeth in that jaw, but 

 in the upper are separate from them : in the centre 

 are two rows of strong flat teeth, fixed on an oblong 

 basis, upon the bones of the palate and nose : these 

 and the grinding teeth are often found fossil, and 

 in that state have been called Bufonites or Toad- 

 Stones: they were formerly much esteemed for 

 imaginary virtues, and were set in gold and worn 

 as rings : the two bones that form the under jaw 

 are united before by a loose cartilage, which me- 

 chanism admitting a motion from side to side, most 

 evidently contributes to the design of the whole ; 

 viz. a facility of breaking, grinding, and comminut- 

 ing its testaceous and crustaceous food: at the 

 entrance of the gullet, above and below, are two 

 echinated bones ; these are very small, being the 

 less necessary, as the food is in a great measure 

 comminuted in the mouth by the aid of the grinders : 

 the body is long, and a little compressed sideways : 

 the skin smooth and slippery: the colour is an 

 obscure livid brown, with several deeper transverse 

 bands, which in some individuals are narrower and 

 more irregular than in others : the pectoral fins are 

 moderately large, rounded, and placed very near 



