FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 171 



This is not a common fish in Massachusetts Bay. Occasion- 

 ally, two or three years pass in succession without a single 

 specimen heing met with ; at others, several may be taken. 

 Its motions are very sluggish, and it swims near the surface of 

 the ocean. On account of the great elasticity of its flesh, it is 

 captured with great difficulty ; it is generally gaffed at or near 

 the branchial aperture. Its flesh is sometimes used for balls. 

 Its liver is very oily, furnishing two or more quarts of oil, 

 which is used by the fishermen to grease their masts with ; and 

 is also by many of them considered a valuable application in 

 cases of sprains and bruises. To the kind attentions of Capt. 

 Blanchard, I am indebted for a fine male specimen of this spe- 

 cies, which he harpooned in Boston Bay, early in July. It 

 presents the following appearances : 



The body is oval ; its whole surface a fine, unyielding, gran- 

 ulated cuticle, covered with a thick adhesive mucus ; back, 

 dark gray. Abdomen nearly white ; the right side of the body 

 rather darker than the left ; both sides of a dirty white color, 

 with silvery reflections. Length 54 inches ; depth across, from 

 the middle of the pectorals, two and a half feet ; from the top 

 of the dorsal to the extremity of the anal fin, six and a half 

 feet. Weight about 200 pounds. Length of the head, from 

 the tip of the snout to the base of the pectoral fin, 17 inches ; 

 flattened over the snout, which is obtuse, and projecting about 

 an inch in front of the upper jaw. Eyes rather large, convex, 

 very moveable in their orbits ; pupils black ; irides a dark 

 brown, encircled within by a silvery ring ; larger diameter of 

 the eyes, 2J inches; smaller diameter, 2 inches. Nostrils 

 double, just in front of the eyes. Mouth small. Jaws armed 

 with a broad bony plate, sharp at the edges. Upon the top of 

 the head, an arched ridge commences on a line with the ante- 

 rior angle of the eyes, and is continued to a line above the ori- 

 gin of the pectorals, then a straight line is continued to the dor- 

 sal fin. The sides of the head project out from the body quite 

 prominently over the eyes to the branchial aperture. Opercu- 

 lum directly in front of the pectorals, three inches in its great- 

 est diameter. 





