220 THE WRASSE, 



Genus XXXVI.— 7^^ Wrafe, 



JL HE fifhes of this tribe are diflinguiftied by a flat and 

 oval bedy; fmall imbricated and refplendent fins ; a com- 

 preiTed head j double lips covering their long conic and 

 blunt teeth. The coverts ot" the gills are fcaly ; the tail 

 round ; aud one dorfal fin reaching the whole length of 

 the back, having a {lender ikin extended beyond each 

 ray ; The anal fin is diflinguilhed by the fame addition. 

 The fcari, fo famous among the ancients, are of this ge- 

 nus : they were deemed fuperior to the Iturgeon *, 

 Ge/ner quotes from Galen high encomiums on the falu- 

 brity of their flelh. Arijlotle^ Pliny, Oppian, and Ovid^ 

 all concur in a vulgar and unphiiofophical notion that 

 ■was anciently prevalent concerning the rumination of 

 thefe animals : The two firft of thefe authors do not in- 

 deed pronounce with confidence, or affert upon their own 

 knowledge a fa£l fo extraordinary, but deliver it as a 

 common opinion. 



But whatever ideas the ancients entertained upon this 

 fubjeft, it is fo contrary to the analogy of nature, for any 

 of this clafs of the animal kingdom to chew the cud, that 

 it merits no credit till confirmed by indubitable experi- 

 ments. After examining the teeth, throat, and inteftines 

 of the falmon, Icarus, gilt-head, and mullet, and all thofe 

 fiflies that have been confidered as ruminating, none of, 



tha 



• Plinii, Lib. ix. C. 1 7. 



