FISHES. IIJ 



out this operation, they would not be able to keep 

 them under water. 



The teeth of fishes are usually situated in their 

 jaws : sometimes, however, they are found on the 

 tongue or palate, and even in the throat. They are 

 generally sharp-pointed and immoveable j but in the 

 Carp they are obtuse, and in the Pike so moveable 

 as to appear fixed only to the skin. — The tongue is in 

 general motionless, obtuse and fleshy ; and in the 

 Herring, and some other species, this is set with 

 teeth, to enable them the better to retain their 

 food. — Being furnished with nostrils and olfactory 

 nerves, there can be little doubt of fishes possess- 

 ing the sense of smelling. 



The bones are formed of a kind of intermediate 

 substance, between true bones and cartilages. The 

 back-bone extends through the whole length of the 

 body, and consists of vertebrae, strong and thick to- 

 wards the head, but weaker and more slender as 

 they approach the tail. Each species has a deter- 

 minate number of vertebra?, which increase in size 

 with the body. The ribs are attached to the pro- 

 cesses of the vertebrae, and inclose the breast and 

 abdomen. Several fish, as the Rays, have no ribs ; 

 and others, as the Eel and Sturgeon, have very short 

 ones. Between the pointed processes of the ver- 

 tebra? lie the bones that support the anal and dorsal 

 fins, which are connected with jhe processes by a 

 ligament. At the breast lie the sternum, the clavi- 

 cles, and the scapulae, on which the pectoral fins 

 are placed ; the bones that support the ventral fins 

 are called the ossa pelvis. Besides these there are 



VOL. Ill, I 



