214 ISLANDOFCEYLON. 



A VERY large ipecies oi fivord-JiJJj, (different from that de- 

 fcribed in the ^r. Zool. iii. N" 68), is found in thefe and other 

 of the Indian fe3.s. There is a very fine fpecimen of it in the 

 BiHttfb Mufeum, which is elegantly figured in Do6tor Shaw's 

 Naturalift's Mifcellany, vol. ii. tab. 88. It grows, as I have been 

 informed, fometimes to the length of thirty feet : It is at per- 

 petual enmity with the whale tribe ; and a mofl dangerous ene- 

 my, for it will fmk beneath thofe monftrous animals, and rifing 

 with great force, transfix them with its vaft fnout. There 

 have been infl:ances of its miflaking a fhip for one of the 

 cetaceous genus. An Eq/l India-m3.n. had its bottom pierced 

 through by a fword-fiili, and the weapon quite embedded to 

 the very bafe in the timber. The fifli was killed by the vio- 

 lence of the fnock ; but had it been able to withdraw the 

 fword, the vefTel probably muft have funk in confequence of 

 the leak. The timber, with the weapon lodged in it, is pre- 

 ferved in the Mufeum, to authenticate the fad;. This verifies 

 the report of Flim, lib. xxxii. c. 2, refpeding the common 

 fword-fifn, in cafes wholly fiaiilar. Xiphiam, id eft, Gla- 

 DiuM, rop-o mucronato eje : ab hoc navis perfojjas mergi in 

 Qceano ad locum Mauritaniae, ci\\i gotta vocetur, non procul 

 Lixo fiumine. Opp'w.n gives a true account of the Xiphias, in 

 Book ii. L. 462, hi. 547. The lail has a very entertaining de- 

 fcription of the manner in which the antient Majfdians took 

 thefe fmgular fillies. 



A MOST elegant flriped fpecies of Scorpana. 



The Echineis lineatus, a new fpecies; and finally the Labrus 

 Zeylanicus, Ind. Zool. tab. xvi. 



While 



