FI-SHES. 117 



the time, it is said, of Francis the First, and which 

 have been individually known to the persons who 

 have succeeded to the charge of them ever since 

 that period. 



The Rev. Mr. White, of Selborne, observed the 

 mode in which fishes die. As soon as a fish sickens, 

 the head sinks lower and lower, and the animal 

 stands, as it were, upon it ; till, becoming weaker, 

 and losing all poise, the tail turns over, and at last 

 it swims on the surface of the water with its belly 

 upwards. The reason why fishes, when dead, float 

 in that manner is obvious, because, when the body 

 is no longer balanced by the fins of the belly, the 

 broad muscular back preponderates by its own 

 gravity, and turns the belly uppermost, as lighter, 

 from its being a cavity. 



Fish, like the land animals, are either solitary or 

 gregarious. Some, as Trout, Salmon, &c. migrate 

 to deposit their spawn. Of the sea-fish, the Cod, 

 the Herring, and many others, assemble in immense 

 shoals, and migrate in these shoals through vast 

 tracks of the ocean. 



In the Gmelinian edition of the Systema Naturae 

 the fishes are divided into six orders : 



1. Apodal; with bony gills, and no ventral fins. 



1. Jugular; with bony gills, and ventral fins 

 before the pectoral ones. 



3. Thoracic; with bony gills, and ventral fins 

 placed directly under the thorax. 



4. Abdominal; with bony gills, and ventral fins 

 placed behind the thorax. 



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