XN 
THE SALMON. 173 
we read of as worn by the tragic heroines of Tasso’s or 
Ariosto’s poetry. 
A few irregular black spots scattered along the back 
and upper regions of his sides seem to set off by the 
contrast the brilliancy of his general coloring. 
The structural peculiarities of the salmon, by which 
he is distinguished from all other families, are his sharp, 
strong, hooked teeth, and the number and formation of 
his fins. These latter are in number seven, exclusive of 
the tail—two dorsals, on the ridge of the back, the 
posterior of the two being a mere fatty appendage; two 
pectorals, immediately behind the gills ; two ventrals on 
the sides of the belly about midway the length of the 
fish ; and one anal, midway between the ventrals and 
the under origin of the tail. The peculiarity in their 
formation is that they are all supported by soft-branched 
rays, as they are called, in opposition to the sharp and 
thorny spines, which are found more or less numerous in 
the dorsals, ventrals, and anals of many other families 
of fish—as the perch, the bass, and others, one of which 
is the fish known as the Ohio or Susquehanna salmon, 
but correctly named the pike-perch, or yellow sandre. 
By the number and quality of his fins, therefore, the 
salmon family may be readily distinguished from all 
others; no other family having the hinder fatty dorsal 
fin. 
By the number of rays in the several fins, the true 
salmon, or sea salmon, may be known from the others 
