36 WITH HARD CHEEKS. 



Bloch compared them to the acicular leaves of the pine, a 

 resemblance which suggested to him the trivial name of pint for 

 this species.* The lateral line bifurcates at the caudal end. 

 The colour of the body of this fish when quite fresh is a 

 beautiful bright red, the sides and belly silvery white ; the 

 first ray of the first dorsal fin slightly crenated ; the colour 

 of the fins reddish white, becoming paler the second or third 

 day after the fish has been caught. 



As the Gurnards are remarkable for the various forms of 

 the swimming-bladders in the different species, outlines of 

 two of which are added as vignettes, an account of the 

 structure, functions, and peculiarities of this singular and 

 anomalous organ is here added. 



Rondeletius was the first to notice that the swimming 

 or air-bladder was more constantly found in fresh-water 

 fishes than in those of the sea ; * and Needham and Redi 

 soon after pointed out the diversity of form in the swimming- 

 bladder that prevailed in different species. Redi afterwards 

 described the duct or tube by which this air-vessel commu- 

 nicates with the alimentary canal, and valuable additions to 

 our knowledge on this subject have been since made by 

 Monro, Lacepede, St. Hilaire, and Cuvier. 



The swimming-bladder, as before stated, varies consider- 

 ably in form in different species. In the Sapphirine Gurnard 

 it is composed of three lobes, placed side by side, as shown 

 * Montagu called this species lineata, for the same reason. 



