ON THE ICHTHYOLOGY OF THE SEAS OV CHINA AND JAPAN. 19.3 



Chinese drawings. It is said by ichthyological writers to be an inhabitant 

 of all the northern part of the Old World, from the entrance of the Bay of 

 Biscay northwards, by the North Cape, along the Arctic shores of Asia and 

 down the coasts of Kamtschatka to the sea of Ochotsk, including the Baltic, 

 White sea, Gulf of Kara and other inlets *. Other kinds of salmon abound 

 in the estuaries of Kamtschatka, and on the opposite coast of America down 

 to the Oregon, but none appear to descend to China. 



In the following list Mr. Reeves's drawings are quoted by their original 

 numbers in his portfolio, and also as they are now placed in the volumes 

 bequeathed by General Hardwicke to the nation. A few of Mr. Reeves's 

 drawings, which are not in General Hardwicke's collection, are also quoted. 

 When I have seen Chinese examples of any of the species enumerated in the 

 list, I have seldom omitted to mention the museum in which they are de- 

 posited ; and when nothing is said of specimens, it is to be understood that 

 the species is named from the inspection of Mr. Reeves's drawings, or when 

 there is no figure on the authority of the authors quoted. The Chinese 

 names are in some cases written from sound and not from sensef. The sounds 

 in English characters and the translations were furnished to me by Mr. Reeves 

 and Mr. Birch, of the British Museum. 



Mr. Reeves informs me that few of the fishes represented in the drawings 

 are brought to the tables of foreigners. Soles are almost constantly presented 

 at breakfast, and the Sciama lucida generally forms a part of that meal. 

 The Leucosoma, or White Bait of the residents, and a Serra?ius, are regular 

 dinner dishes ; and the Polynemus called Salmon-fish and the Stromateus or 

 Pomfret, when in season. Sturgeon is occasionally seen. The Chinese eat 

 all kinds, from a shrimp to a shark ; but Carp, Bream, Siluri, Ophicephali 

 and Gobies, are the principal fish seen in the markets of Canton. 



In drawing up the list I have received much aid from John Edward Gray, 

 Esq., Keeper of the Zoological Department of the British Museum, who 

 had commenced a work on the subject ; and great facility in consulting the 

 books and specimens of that institution. With the same want of reserve the 

 Museum of the Cambridge Philosophical Institution was opened to me ; and 

 I have already mentioned the liberality of the late proprietor of the Chinese 

 collection at Hyde Park. 



Sub-classis Cartilaginei. 



Ordo Squall 



Fam. ScylljidjE. 



Scyllium maculatum, Gray, Hardw. Illustr. Ind. Zool. t. 98. f. 1. Miiller 



und Henle,Plagiostomen, seite 5.taf.; Icon. Reeves, 264; Hardw. Cartil. 38. 



Chinese name, Laou hoo sha, " Tiger shark " (Birch) ; Laou hoo sha, 



" Tiger shark" (Reeves). 



The British Museum possesses a Chinese specimen presented by General Hardwicke. Mr. 

 Reeves's figure measures 2 feet 4 inches, and is the portrait of an individual which was 

 3 feet long. 



Hab. China sea. Indian ocean. Canton. 



* Professor Nilsson mentions that salmon inhabit the freshwater lakes of Sweden named 

 Wenern and Siljan during the winter and spring, and then ascend the rivers to spawn, re- 

 turning to the lakes again to recruit, as salmon of other rivers do to the sea. The same 

 habit has been ascribed to the salmon of Lake Ontario. 



t That is, when the proper character is a complex one, the writer will substitute one of 

 the same sound but of a more simple form, hence the apparent want of meaning of some of 

 the English translations. See note, p. 200. 



1845. o 



