SOFT-FINKED FISHES. 117 



armour of bony plates, closely dotted all over with 

 berry-like protuberances whence its name. On 

 examining a drawing of the coccostcus restored to 

 its original appearance, any one acquainted with 

 the fish of the present day would class it with the 

 rays. Miller compares it to a boy's kite. These 

 two ichthyolites bear no resemblance to their 

 contemporaries, which indeed, however they may 

 vary from each other in form and dimensions, and 

 in the character and position of their fins and 

 scales and therefore deserve the numerous gene- 

 ric and specific distinctions of Agassiz yet even 

 to an unscientific eye are as unmistakably fish as 

 the carp or tench of modern waters. Unfortu- 

 nately, there are no English names by which they 

 can be recognized, but their classical titles 

 derived from the Greek are singularly appro- 

 priate, and happily distinguish the more obvious 

 peculiarities of each. 



To speak broadly, they may be classed in two 

 divisions, corresponding with Cuvier's great orders 

 of Malacoptcryg'd and Acanthoptcrifjii viz. soft- 

 finncd fishes, and thorny-finncd fishes. The 

 carp and tench arc familiar modern examples of 

 the first ; the perch of the second. To begin 

 with the former. The glyptolepia carved or 

 sculptured scale must have been rather a short 



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