[■HE SKATE, J 05 



Section IV, 



'^he SkaU *. 



X HE Ikate is the largell of this genus, and thinneft in 

 proportion to its bulk : In thefe colder latitudes it is fel- 

 dom found above two hundred pounds weight. IVH- 

 loughhy mentions one fold in the market of Cambridge^ 

 which, when drelTed bj the cook of St. 'John'i college, 

 dined an hundred and twenty ftudents f . 



The nofe, though not long, is fliarp pointed ; above 

 the eyes there rifes a fet of fhort fpines : The whole up- 

 per part of the body is a pale brown, refembling the wet 

 faud with which the animal is faid to cover itfelf. The 

 body, towards the fides, is thinned down into two fins, 

 that have the appearance of wings -, and at the buttocks 

 there are others of a thick flelhy fubftance. The tail of 

 this fpccies is fhort, obtufe, of a roundifli form, but 

 comprefled a little towards the fides |. 



The lower part of the body is white, plentifully 

 marked with a great number of minute black fpots, 

 which are fuppofed to be the glands, by which that flimy 

 mucus which covers the fifli is fccrcted. All fifli covered 

 with a fimilar glutinous matter, are obferved to poflefs 

 the fame organs of fecretion §. The flvull of the lliate- 



VoL. III. O is 



* Rai» Batis, Lin. Syft. The Skate or Flalre, Will, 

 •}■ Vide Ichthyol. page 7 1. ^ Idem ibidem. 



5 Nicolas Steno apud Willough. 



