CARTILAGINOUS FISHES, 305 



tition, and this double capacity of breathing is one of 

 the most remarkable features in the history of nature. 



Such are the peculiar marks of the cartilaginous class 

 of fishes, of which there are many kinds : to give a dis- 

 tinct description of each of these little animals would 

 swell the Work to an immoderate size ; but to omit 

 naming those striking features which distinguish them, 

 would be treating the subject with unpardonable neglect. 



Cartilaginous fish may first be divided into those of 

 the shark kind, with a body growing less towards the 

 tail ; a rough skin, with the mouth placed far beneath 

 the end of the nose ; five apertures on the sides of the 

 neck, for breathing ; and the upper part of the tail 

 longer than the lower : in this class are included the 

 great white shark, the balance fish, the hound fish, 

 the monk fish, the dog fish, the basking shark, the 

 zygoena, the tope, the cat-fish, the blue shark, the sea 

 ibx, the smooth hound-fish, and the porbeagle. 



The next division is that of the flat fish, which, from 

 the form, may easily be distinguished ; in this tribe we 

 may place the torpedo, the skate, the sharp-nosed ray, 

 the rough-ray, the thornback, and the fire-flare. 



The third division is that of the slender snake-shaped 

 kind, such as the lamprey, the pride, and the pipe fish. 

 The fourth division is of the sturgeon and its variety, 

 and the isinglass fish. And, in the last division, may 

 be comprised the sun-fish, the tetroden, the lump-fish, 

 the sea-snail, the chimara, and the fishing-frog ; each 

 of these have something peculiar in its form, which 

 serves to distinguish it from the rest. 



