OF SELBORNE. 91 



" the upper jaw projects beyond the lower, 

 ** and is surrounded with six feelers, three 

 ** on each side : its pectoral fins are large, 

 ** its ventral much smaller ; the fin behind 

 ** its anus small ; its dorsal fin large, con- 

 " taining eight spines ; its tail, where it 

 "joins to the tail-fin, remarkably broad, 

 ** without any taperness, so as to be cha- 

 " racteristic of this genus : the tail -fin is 

 " broad, and square at the end. From the 

 ** breadth and muscular strength of the tail 

 " it appears to be an active nimble fish." 



In my visit I was not very far from Hun- 

 gerford, and did not forget to make some 

 inquiries concerning the wonderful method 

 of curing cancers by means of toads. Se- 

 veral intelligent persons, both gentry and 

 clergy, do, I find, give a great deal of cre- 

 dit to what was asserted in the papers : and 

 I myself dined with a Clergyman who 

 seemed to be persuaded that what is re- 

 lated is matter of fact : but, when 1 came 

 to attend to his account, I thought I dis- 

 cerned circumstances which did not a 

 little invalidate the woman's story of the 



