406 HISTORY OF ZOOLOGY. 



motion. After long examination, I have found that 

 the least bad of these characters is, after all, that 

 employed by Ray and Artedi, taken from the nature 

 of the first rays of the dorsal and of the anal fin. 

 Thus ordinary fishes are divided into MALACO- 

 PTERYGIANS, of which aft the rays are soft, except 

 sometimes the first of the dorsal fin or the pecto- 

 rals ; and ACANTHOPTERYGIANS, which have always 

 the first portion of the dorsal, or of the first dorsal 

 when there are two, supported by spinous rays, 

 and in which the anal has also some such rays, 

 and the ventrals, at least, each one. 



" The former may be subdivided without incon- 

 venience, according to their ventral fins, which are 

 sometimes situate behind the abdomen, sometimes 

 adherent to the apparatus of the shoulder, or, 

 finally, are sometimes wanting altogether. 



" We thus arrive at the three orders of ABDO- 

 MINAL MALACOPTERYGIANS, of SUBBRACHIANS, and 

 of APODES; each of which includes some natural 

 families which we shall explain: the first, especially, 

 is very numerous. 



" But this basis of division is absolutely imprac- 

 ticable with the acanthopterygians ; and the pro- 

 blem of establishing among these any other subdivi- 

 sion than that of the natural families has hitherto 

 remained for me insoluble. Fortunately several of 

 these families offer characters almost as precise as 

 those which we could give to true orders. 



"In truth, we cannot assign to the families of 



