ORDER I. BONY FISHES. ACANTHOPTERYGII (SPINY-FINS). 153 
nets, which closes the passage against them, and obliges them to enter the 
tonnaro through the opening which is left for them. When once in, they are 
driven, by various means, from chamber to chamber to the last, which is 
called the ‘chamber of death.’ Here a strong net, placed horizontally, that 
can be raised at pleasure, brings the Tunnies to the surface, and the work of 
destruction commences. The tonnaro fishery used to be one of the great 
amusements of rich Sicilians, and, at the same time, one of the most con- 
siderable sources of their wealth. When Louis XIII. visited Marseilles, 
he was invited to a Tunny-fishery, at the principal madrague of Morgiou, 
and found the diversion so much to his taste, that he often said it was the 
pleasantest day he had spent in his whole progress through the south.” 
There are several species of Tunny, of which the bonito is the most strik- 
ing. It forms the principal food of the sword-fish. 
Xupuias.— This genus comprises the Sword-fishes, which, in their in- 
ternal organization, minute scales, and the power of their caudal fin, resem- 
ble the tunnies. Their principal characteristic, however, is a long, pointed 
beak, formed like a sword or spit, which terminates their upper jaw, and is 
a most formidable weapon. The gills are not divided, “but each consists of 
two large and parallel lamin, with reticulated surfaces.” Their movements 
are extremely swift, when pursuing their prey, but often their motions are very 
slow and deliberate, and we have frequently seen them, for a considerable 
period, apparently at rest, showing the apex of the dorsal fin above the 
surface. 
Niphias gladius, the species common in our waters, attains a length of 
about fifteen feet. As the remarkable beak, or sword, that distinguishes 
this fish, is not required or employed in procuring its food, which consists 
chiefly of small fishes, especially the bonito, it must probably be regarded 
as a weapon of defence against the attacks of powerful enemies. The stories 
regarding the warfare made by the sword-fish upon the whale are, undoubt- 
edly, “fables of the sea,” which have come to be believed from their long 
repetition.. Experienced and intelligent whalers repudiate all these tales as 
impossibilities. Yet it is true that, when in eager pursuit of its prey, — the 
bonito, —it sometimes unintentionally, and unfortunately for itself, rushes 
against a whale, and loses its sword in the whale’s blubber, which does not 
materially injure the latter, while the sword-fish is irreparably damaged 
thereby. In the same way, while similarly engaged, it has been known fre- 
quently to run against the sides of a ship, and thrust its sword through its 
thick and strong timbers. We have seen such timbers, with the broken 
weapon still adhering. But these must be considered accidental and unin- 
tentional encounters. : 
There are several varieties of this fish; one, Tetrapturus, has a beak 
