THE EAGLE RAY. 



221 



Along the coast, where the offensive powers of this fish arc familiarly and practically 

 known, an opinion prevails that the bony spine is supplied with poison. This notion, 

 however, is one of the many popular errors on similar subjects, having been founded on 

 the aggravated inflammation that sometimes follows the wounds caused by the Sting Ray. 

 There is no poison whatever in this bone, and any such symptoms are due, not to the 

 inherent venom of the weapon, but to the unsound constitution of the sufferer. 



The reader will at once perceive the exact resemblance between the spine of the Sting 

 Ray and the many-barbed spears used by the savage inhabitants of the Pacific islands. 

 In fact, this spine not only furnished them with the original idea of those cruel weapons, 

 but is constantly taken from the fish and affixed to the shaft of a lance. In their eyes, its 

 great merit and one which they imitate in their manufactured weapons is that when 

 the spear is struck into the body of a foe, the jagged blade is sure to snap asunder at 

 the point where it enters the body, leaving several barbs fixed in the wound without 

 any handle by which they may be withdrawn. 



EAGLE RAY.Myllobatis aquila. 



It is found that in the Sting Ray, a second spine exists below the first, which is provided 

 in order to supply the place of the first in case it should be broken off or dragged out. 



The Sting Ray is in some places called the FIRE FLAIRE, probably on account of the 

 very red color of the flesh when cut open. This fish is not approved for the table, 

 being rank and disagreeable in flavor. 



The color of the Sting Ray is grayish yellow above, taking a slaty blue tint towards 

 the middle of the body, and spotted with brown when the creature is young. Below, 

 it is white. The eyes are golden color, the temporal orifice behind each eye is ex- 

 tremely large, and the tail is very thick and muscular at the base. The spine is set 

 about one-third of its length from the base. The mouth and teeth are small. 



IN some respects, such as the long tail and double-barbed spine with which it is 

 armed, the EAGLE RAY bears some resemblance to the preceding species, but may be 

 readily distinguished from that fish by the projecting head, the bluntness of the snout, 

 the very great length and comparative tenuity of the tail, the shortness of the spine, 

 and the diminutive size of the temporal apertures. In some places this fish is called 

 the Whip Ray, in allusion to the extreme length of the slender tail. 



