354 Storer on the 
The Caudal fin lunated, of a dirty bluish color ; 
length of the exterior rays, compared to distance be- 
tween the extremities when expanded, as 3 to 53. 
The fin rays are as follows: D. 20-14; P. 24; 
V. 6; A. 14; C. 24. 
Xipuias. Lin. 
. Generic characters. Body fusiform, covered with — 
minute scales; a single elongated dorsal fin; ven- — 
tral fins wanting ; tail strongly carinated ; upper 
jaw elongated, forming a sword; mouth without 
teeth ; branchiostegous rays 7. 
X. gladius. Lin. The Sword Fish. 
Pennant’s British Zoology, vol. iii. 141. 
Strack’s plates, 21. 1. 
Me Murtrie's Cuv. ii. 148. 
Cuv. et Valenc. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. viii. p. 255. 
Yarreli's British Fishes, vol. i. 143. 
Although this species is not included by Richard- 
son, in his * Fauna," on account of its presence on 
the American coast not having been ascertained 
with certainty by those who had referred to it, itis — 
frequently met with in our waters, and is becoming 
quite an article of commerce with us. It is generally 
discovered by the projection of its dorsal fin above 
the surface of the water, as it is pursuing shoals of 
mackerel, upon which it feeds, about 15 or 20 miles 
from the shore of. Martha’s Vineyard. The fisher- 
men capture it by means of an instrument called a 
* lily iron,” from the form of its shafts or ja 
which resemble the leaves of a lily. This i : 
