256 CLASS IV. PISCES. 



the bottom of shallow water, or on the surface ; and con- 

 sequently few of them, comparatively speaking, are ever 

 brought into life. Were it otherwise, the seas and rivers 

 would be overstocked. A single cod is said to produce 

 as many eggs in one season as there are inhabitants in 

 England, and other species are not less prolific. 



As an article of food, the value of fishes is well known ; 

 though all of them are not proper to be eaten. This kind 

 of aliment, however, it has been contended, is less nutri- 

 tive than flesh, as it has fewer volatile particles ; while 

 some think it more salutary, and not less substantial. 



Fishes are divided into four orders, namely : 



I. APODES, or such as are destitute of ventral fins; as 

 the eel, conger, &c. 



II. JUGULARES, having the ventral fins placed before 

 the pectoral ; as the cod, &c. 



III. THORACICI, or fishes which respire by the gills 

 only, with the ventral fins under the pectoral; as the 

 perch, &c. 



IV. ABDOMINALES, with the ventral fins placed behind 

 the pectoral in the abdomen ; as salmon, pike, &c. 



These comprehend forty-seven genera, and upwards of 

 four hundred species ; but recent discoveries in the Oriental 

 regions and the South Seas, have considerably increased 

 the catalogue, and an extensive field is still open to future 

 investigators. It is extremely probable, that, in the deep 

 bobom of the ocean, many species of fish (particularly of 

 the larger kinds) reside, which have never yet visited the 

 shores, or shallow water ; and, if so, will probably remain 

 for ever hidden from human observation. 



As the system of Artedi has attracted much notice, and 

 the terms which he employs are frequently used, it may 

 not be improper to subjoin the outlines of his arrange- 

 ment. He distributes fishes into five orders: the mala- 

 copterygii, or soft-finned ; the acanthopterygii, or prickly- 

 finned ; the brancheostegii, or fishes without bones in the 

 membranes over the gills ; the chondropterygii, or fishes 

 with cartilaginous rays in the fins ; and the plagiuri, or 

 fishes with horizontal tails. 



