URANOSGOPUS. 283 



and their dependencies contain between three and 

 four hundred." We fully assent to the opinion of 

 the probable number of species, but, so far from 

 consenting to the supposition that four hundred of 

 them live upon the Atlantic coast of the United 

 States and the inland waters, we confess our belief 

 is that the number will fall far short. Nature has 

 been bountiful beyond the deserts of the country, 

 in natural productions, but we are too apt, in the 

 love of home, to over estimate its comforts — not 

 that we would be understood, as it regards their 

 value to ourselves, but as they would be estimated 

 by the stranger. 



Our coal mines are no better than those of Eng- 

 land, our metals are neither more abundant nor 

 purer ; the birds in America are not more musical 

 than on other continents, nor are the fishes more 

 various, or of a superior quality ; all our writers on 

 natural history have fallen into an error, we appre- 

 hend, in multiplying species unwarrantably, — 

 which will not only subject us to ridicule, but also 

 retard the advancement of true scientific knowl- 

 edge, by requiring the industry of future writers 

 to correct old and deep-rooted errors. 



GEN. URANOSCOPUS. 



Uranoscopus Scaber, — Among the singular 

 productions of the ocean, this fish must be regard- 



