F'ishes of Massachusetts. 349 
are taken upon the coast of Great Britain, upon the 
Cornish Coast, upon the islands west of Scotland ; 
and it has been taken at the mouth of the Thames. 
That it is not every where held in the same estima- 
tion as by the Sicilians or even our Portsmouth 
friends, is evident from the following extracts from 
* Alezander's Narrative of a Voyage of Observation 
among the Colonies of Western Africa," 1838. Vis- 
iting the Market at Funchal, the capital of Madeira, 
he remarks: “in the market I observed some large 
tunny, junks of which, resembling red beef, were 
cut up with huge knives, like small scythes, and 
sold for a mere trifle.” On the coast of New Eng- 
land, this fish is called “ horse mackerel” and “ albi- 
core." It is seldom seen; never noticed in shoals, as 
in the Mediterranean. 
The specimen I had an dén- Hu of examining 
was publicly exhibited here, and was visited by sev- 
eral of my scientific friends. 
Entire length nine feet and three inches: two 
feet deep across the base of the pectorals: fifteen in- 
ches in depth across the base of the anal fin ; and four 
inches deep at base of the caudal fin. Form elonga- 
ted; gradually sloping from the beginning of the 
dorsal to the snout, and tapering from the dorsal to 
the tail. Color of the whole upper part nearly black : 
sides silvery: beneath white. Scales on the back, 
in front of the first dorsal, at base of, and beneath 
the pectorals, very large. 
Length of the head, two feet three inches; jaws 
equal when closed; tongue large, broad, black ; all 
