NATURALISTS CABINET. 



Description. 



not so tender nor so fat as that of the preceding 

 sort, and is said to be difficult of digestion. 

 However, at Kiel, where it is caught in the 

 spring, it is considered a dainty dish. In Italy 

 it is held in no estimation. It is usually salted 

 in the same manner as the herring. 



THE THUNNY. 



THE body of this fish is round, thick, and 

 fleshy, but at the head and tail it tapers nearly 

 to a point. The skin of the back is very thick 

 and black, and that of the sides and belly silvery, 

 tinged with light blue and pale purple. The tail 

 is crescent-shaped, with the tips far asunder; 

 and the spurious fins between the dorsal fin and 

 the tail, (which mark the species,) are from eight 

 to eleven in number. This was a fish so well 

 known to the ancients, as to form one of the 

 greatest articles of their commerce. It was highly 

 esteemed by the Romans. At present it is found 

 in the German ocean and the Mediterranean, 

 and on the coasts of Guinea, Brasil, the West 

 India islands, Chili, and China. Its ordinary 

 length is two feet; but sometimes it attains a 

 monstrous size. On the Guinea shore it is found 

 of the length and size of a man ; those caught on 

 the coast of Brasil are frequently seven feet long. 

 Pennant describes one of seven feet ten inches, 

 which was five feet seven inches in circum- 



